Day 12..Laura's Longest Journey
(A note to Laura's parents..she is fine now and will take it easy the last two days of the trip)
We all relaxed at the Sandy Beach resort in Da Nang before heading to the airport. We needed a little rest and a good morning run on the beach was good for everyone..
We have had no problems getting through the airports in Vietnam. Da Nang was no exception. The flight to Ho Chi Minh City was on a brand new 767 . Anna, Angela and Esther from Giving it Back to Kids were waiting for us at the airport.
We have changed our plans on the fly. The distribution in Can Tho is about 160 KM from HCM and will start at 8 AM. So we headed straight from the airport to Can Tho. We picked up Samuel, a Pasteur with the Assembly of God Church. He will be helping with the distribution. Samuel told us that only in the past five years have they been allowed to openly minister to their religion in Vietnam. Before that he worked strictly underground to avoid being arrested. We also had four young girls from his congregation along with us to take down stories of the wheel chair recipients.
It would turn out to be a very long drive. There were 16 of us in the van and it was somewhat tight quarters. As soon as we got off the plane Laura started to feel dizzy and achy. Since all of us have had some form of distress at various times during the trip she thought it would pass. One hour into a 6 hour drive she kept getting worse. It was clear that she was running a fever but not much we could do about it but keep pushing forward to Can Tho where there would be hospital facilities if needed. The girls started singing Hymns and Vietnamese folk songs to pass the time. It was well intended but Laura clearly wanted some peace and quiet.
The road was much better than those we travelled in the North but the traffic was still heavy.
The countryside was similar yet different than in Central or Northern Vietnam. The landscape is much more jungle like and there are many rivers that we had to cross. The water in the rivers was moving at a pretty good clip which is different than I expected. I later found out that this was mostly influenced by the tide since we are very close to the ocean. This is much more a fishing and fruit growing area of the country although there is still some rice growing being done. Everywhere you look there are trees laden with fruit. The mango ere is fantastic.
We drove for hour upon hour and poor Laura was in misery. Every KM traveled seems like any eon to her. To cap it off, you must take a ferry across the Mekong to get to Can Tho. The wait for the ferry was about 30 minutes. This wait was only surpassed by the 1 1/2 hour wait to get back the next day. They had built a bridge across the river two years ago but we were told it had collapsed killing 100 people. Perhaps the ferry wasn't such a bad option.
Can Tho is a busy city with lots of river oriented commerce. We checked into what was once a nice hotel right on the river. It is a little long in the tooth now but clean. We got Laura into her room and Erin stayed with her to help her in any way she could. We pooled all our various medicines in hopes that one of them might do some good. We hoped that a cool bath and a good nights sleep might knock down the fever.
We relaxed a little bit on the hotel rooftop patio and observed the hustle and bustle along the river. The Mekong is much larger here than in Phnom Penh.
We all went to bed praying that Laura would improve by morning.
Day 12 was a very long day for Laura.
(A note to Laura's parents..she is fine now and will take it easy the last two days of the trip)
We all relaxed at the Sandy Beach resort in Da Nang before heading to the airport. We needed a little rest and a good morning run on the beach was good for everyone..
We have had no problems getting through the airports in Vietnam. Da Nang was no exception. The flight to Ho Chi Minh City was on a brand new 767 . Anna, Angela and Esther from Giving it Back to Kids were waiting for us at the airport.
We have changed our plans on the fly. The distribution in Can Tho is about 160 KM from HCM and will start at 8 AM. So we headed straight from the airport to Can Tho. We picked up Samuel, a Pasteur with the Assembly of God Church. He will be helping with the distribution. Samuel told us that only in the past five years have they been allowed to openly minister to their religion in Vietnam. Before that he worked strictly underground to avoid being arrested. We also had four young girls from his congregation along with us to take down stories of the wheel chair recipients.
It would turn out to be a very long drive. There were 16 of us in the van and it was somewhat tight quarters. As soon as we got off the plane Laura started to feel dizzy and achy. Since all of us have had some form of distress at various times during the trip she thought it would pass. One hour into a 6 hour drive she kept getting worse. It was clear that she was running a fever but not much we could do about it but keep pushing forward to Can Tho where there would be hospital facilities if needed. The girls started singing Hymns and Vietnamese folk songs to pass the time. It was well intended but Laura clearly wanted some peace and quiet.
The road was much better than those we travelled in the North but the traffic was still heavy.
The countryside was similar yet different than in Central or Northern Vietnam. The landscape is much more jungle like and there are many rivers that we had to cross. The water in the rivers was moving at a pretty good clip which is different than I expected. I later found out that this was mostly influenced by the tide since we are very close to the ocean. This is much more a fishing and fruit growing area of the country although there is still some rice growing being done. Everywhere you look there are trees laden with fruit. The mango ere is fantastic.
We drove for hour upon hour and poor Laura was in misery. Every KM traveled seems like any eon to her. To cap it off, you must take a ferry across the Mekong to get to Can Tho. The wait for the ferry was about 30 minutes. This wait was only surpassed by the 1 1/2 hour wait to get back the next day. They had built a bridge across the river two years ago but we were told it had collapsed killing 100 people. Perhaps the ferry wasn't such a bad option.
Can Tho is a busy city with lots of river oriented commerce. We checked into what was once a nice hotel right on the river. It is a little long in the tooth now but clean. We got Laura into her room and Erin stayed with her to help her in any way she could. We pooled all our various medicines in hopes that one of them might do some good. We hoped that a cool bath and a good nights sleep might knock down the fever.
We relaxed a little bit on the hotel rooftop patio and observed the hustle and bustle along the river. The Mekong is much larger here than in Phnom Penh.
We all went to bed praying that Laura would improve by morning.
Day 12 was a very long day for Laura.
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