day 65 – phu my, vietnam

pictures coming soon... very slow today...

so i had ipm today, but bob was free to roam about.  we did get up to see the sunrise, and that was really beautiful, and well worth the early wake up call.  we went up the mekong river delta and into a fairly industrial port area, so didn’t see much of scenic beach-y areas on the coast.  bob didn’t have time for a 3-hour tour to go to ho chi minh city and back since we had a compulsory lifeboat drill at 10:30 and he has to work at 4:30, so he was going to opt for a shorter 25 minute ride to vung tau for souvenirs and pictures… turns out the cabbies wanted 80 bucks for the fare, so he was, like, “whatever!” and decided to get some souvenirs on the pier and come back for some hang time together…  good choice – more change for beer and chicken rice in singapore! 

we were ready to take a nap this afternoon right as the earthquake hit in japan and stayed glued to the news.  there was a lot of worry and tension throughout the ship as crew members were worried about the tsunami warnings for philippines  and Indonesia, and we all held our breaths and watched the nightmarish footage from japan.  luckily a the evening wore on, we were grateful that our crew families seemed to dodge the bullet…

i have to say that being in the world with people from all over the world, and more tuned into situations in other parts of the world has made me feel more a citizen of the world.  i think this is a good thing.  i could care less about charlie sheen or lindsay lohan, and the world at large is far more fascinating and there are so many more compelling things happening in real life with real people, and truly important things at stake.  america is great in so many ways, and i feel so lucky to be born there, but we are also pretty damn ridiculous and could take a few lessons in priorities from other cultures.  the world is so much bigger than we are, y’know?

port song for phu my, vietnam

(to the tune of billy joel’s “river of dreams”)

in the middle of the night,

we go walkin on the deck

there’s nobody else around,

and so we figure what the heck

we stroll along holding hands,

and talk about days to come

like tomorrow early morning, on the delta of the mekong

in the middle of the night

even though we both stay up very late

we decide to get up and watch the sun as it rises

and then we’ll go back to bed before the lifeboat drill

and wake up and wipe the sleep from our eyes

in the middle of the night,

as we go walkin on the deck

i know tomorrow’s ipm for me,

but bob is free to inspect

what he can find there shoreside,

maybe a cab or a bus

so he can go on out and find

some cool souvenirs for us

he knows he won’t have the time

to go to ho chi minh city or to do a big tour

but he will try to get a ride to vung tau

and get some cheap souvenirs and any bargains du jour

in the middle of the night,

as we go walking on the deck

with so very little sleep,

i hope we won’t feel a wreck

there’s afternoon time for napping,

so i’m sure we’ll catch up

and so we both hit the sack,

for that early waking up

we both get up at 5 in the morning

and make our sleepy way up to old deck nine

we watch the morning stars and venus fade out

as o’er the mekong delta the rising sun shines

and now the day is so bright,

we go back and go to bed

we do our scheduled boat drill,

and for the shore my baby heads

he comes back in awhile,

you know the cab was too much

so he went outside the gangway,

and he bought some cheap stuff

they wanted 80 damn dollars to take him to town,

he said no thanks i’ll buy some crap on the pier

i figure that’s more money we saved

for singapore so we can have some chili crab and some beers

this port was out of sight

and yes, we caught up on our rest,

we got to see a lovely sunrise

and i think that was the best

watching the fisherman go by

in those funky little boats

and we didn’t overspend

and that’s all she wrote

in the middle of the night