The thing about being away is, it makes you want to be home.
Yesterday I had this niggling sense of something, something being amiss. Perhaps it was because my headache was back with a raging vengeance. Perhaps it was because I’d spent almost every night dreaming about work and mistakes I would make and kids I missed diagnoses on. Perhaps it was because I vommed, a lot. Perhaps perhaps perhaps.
In any case, Hoi An was lovely. Our days there were short but I think we did what we set out to do – relax.
Sunday we spent most of the day on the beach. We met a Danish girl who quit her job and is travelling for 4 months. She was cool. Everything amused or disappointed her. It was quite funny actually. And then we showered, ‘ate’ and made our way to the airport.
A short hop, skip and a jump later, we were in Hanoi and I for one, passed out.
Today, we hit Halong Bay. Two days, one night. L made an executive decision given the state of me yesterday to cut out Sapa – I suspect she made the right call. This is supposed to be a holiday after all, and the trepidations of returning to work and all the stress and exams and extra shifts and courses and presentations and papers to be written were sort of driving me mad.
I need a break.
So we will chill in Hanoi for the rest of the week. And Sapa will remain a place to return to.
In any case, there is much we have missed. Da Lat, Nha Trang, Hue, more time in Hoi An and of course, Sapa. There is so enough for another trip.
Our hostel here have recommended a day trip to Ninh Binh. We’ll see how we feel when we return from the Bay.
And in my head I sing-
‘Far across yonder blue lies a true fairy land
Where the sea ripples over, the shingle and sand
Where the gay honeysuckle is luring the bee
And the green Glens of Antrim are calling to me
But if only you knew, how the lamp of the moon
Turns a blue Irish bay to a silver lagoon
You’d imagine the picture of heaven it would be
Where the green Glens of Antrim are calling to me…’
A tout a l’heure!
Tiny
Tiny Indian Girl Up A Mountain 