A Vietnam Run

9:00pm.... 91 degrees.

Just put your tennies on, Kelsey.

Surely 91 degrees is an unsafe temperature to run in.  

I'll just go tomorrow.

Check the weather report.  More 91 degrees for tomorrow.  

If you're a runner, you know the magic of that crucial step in suiting up.  If the shorts and tennies aren't on, there's still hope for backing out.    

This blog post isn't meant to be a humble brag.  I've enjoyed quite a bit of laziness here.  Compared to my schedule in the states, life in Vietnam has been full of available, unfulfilled running time.  This is actually the first time in months that I've felt the desire to pour out some thoughts and experiences. I haven't felt a lot of newness to report but during my runs, I see a different side of Vietnam that I will surely miss in the coming geo-transition.  

It's 9:00pm.  My mom, who inspires me in many aspects of my life, whispers in my ear that I should just go put my tennies on and see how I feel.  I do it.  Ok I'm ready.

Diversity Break

I am afraid of public transportation.  There.  I said it.  Not the people or the drivers or even the reliability.  I am afraid of my inability to navigate a new system.  Some of this unwarranted fear has been alleviated after my recent trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

After a travel guardian helped me get a skybus ticket on the plane, I reviewed my notes ten more times before we touched down.  I actually felt pretty confident, even though I couldn't picture how anything was going to look or how it would happen.  After a long line of foreign passport holders, I crossed to the other side - the side of busy travelers eating, duty free-ing and finding their ways home.  After some wandering and a few questions, I found the skybuses and boarded one bound for the city.  A little after an hour later, I was in KL Sentral - the main station.  From there I needed to get on the LRT (light rail transit) to the stop nearest the guesthouse.  To my surprise, the LRT map looked very similar to my hometown transit in Chicago (the "L").  I was taking the red line and instead of a ticket, I was given a token.  A quick swipe of the token over a sensor got me through the gates and I'm glad I held onto it because I wouldn't have been let through the doors of my stop without sliding the token down a slot which corresponded with how much I paid.  Check!

I hate being the one at a corner staring at a map at night, so I hid myself behind a bush studying my surroundings.  After a few street crossings, I stood in front of the guesthouse shaking my head and smiling at how seamlessly all of that transportation went.  I felt like I leveled up in traveledom.  Such a contrast from my ridiculous first night in Vietnam.

Guardians and Ax Murderers

I know one reason for American international absence: flight cost.  This is certainly not the case in Asia, and I'm pretty sure the planes here use the same fuel as the planes in the states.  It costs more to travel between US states than it does to travel between Asian countries (with comparable distance).  So with that being said, I was finally able to take advantage of this cost phenomenon during Vietnam's Tet Holiday.   Being a smaller city, Da Nang only has non-stop flights to a few destinations, and most of them are in Vietnam.  One of the only international options was Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - and why not?  I've never been there.  Booked.

Namaskar

My motorbike pulls up to the spaceship-looking building and a guard smiles and waves as if I’m a long lost friend he hasn’t seen in ages.  I enter the large opening in the building and directly opposite is a room full of mirrors and glass with about fifty sweaty bodies.  At first, I look away but I cannot avert my gaze for long.  They are wearing incredibly short spandex shorts and matching sports bras.  This must be a qualification for this room because the fit bodies and…developing…bodies are all wearing it.  The music is blaring and their hips are thrusting and gyrating.  Am I in Da Nang’s finest red light district?  No – I’m watching Zumba.  My roommate can attest to this suggestive workout as she is a bit of a regular.  I don’t realize I’m staring until one of them looks over at me.  My whiplash heel turn was probably pretty obvious.  I locate the dimly-lit room I was looking for and quickly flip my sandals off, spread my towel out on an unattended mat and assume the laying position everyone else is in. 

[Crap!  I’m late!] 

One minute later, the instructor speaks softly in Vietnamese and everyone rises in unison, grabbing their belongings to leave.  I’m not late.  I’m early.  And I just crashed this class’ meditation.  Awesome.

Anchor Yearn for A Mossless Stone

“…so many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day, to have a new and different sun. ”


Chris McCandless, ‘Into the Wild’