A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
My parents are notorious for timing their vacations in the worst possible way in terms of the international political situation. They visited Israel a week after the prime minister was assassinated, Egypt shortly after terrorist tourist shootings in Cairo and Luxor, and were scheduled to fly to Prague on September 11, 2001. When they rescheduled that trip, they managed to arrive in eastern Europe just a few days after the waters receded from the worst floods in a centure. Predictably (and with impressive timing, considering they planned the trip months in advance), they just flew out for a week in Brussels and Bruges on the very weekend that the US went to war with Iraq.

In an effort to meet the stringent requirements of this new family tradition, I too engaged in international air travel this week. And since Cambodia to Vietnam isn't such a popular route for international terrorists, Heike and I managed to coordinate our trip with a global outbreak of some mysterious and deadly flu-like virus that originated in southern China, Hong Kong and Hanoi. Guess where we are? Hanoi. Guess where I'm heading next week? Southern China.

Some would call it foolhardy -- I would call it too damned lazy and cheap to change plans at the last minute. Here's hoping for continued good health for both of us.

Copyright 2003 Katy Warren




posted by Katy at 2:28 AM