Indian Girl Backpacking Across Vietnam & Cambodia : Part 1

Travelling Solo; I stumbled across many friends/ blogs that swore by it. The more I read, the more I wanted to try it! Circumstances were such that my friends’ availability was as certain as the Bangalore rain this summer. So began this adventure of a lifetime, not always in the way my imagination had thought it would play-out. Here is the quick story of my adventure. Me and my green backpack.

I have only 2 bookings.

My flights out of and back to India & my HaLong Bay 3 day tour in Vietnam.

Everything else will be circumstantial. My mother asked me for a list of my flights and plans before I left, lets just say she wasn’t too happy with what she got ! lol

The first flight to Bangkok, is also my first international flight. Here I miss the immigration form the air hostess is passing. When you live in a country like India and interact with foreigners so much, your mind needs a jolt to remember you are the foreigner here! Geez, embarrassing.

Two novice mistakes follow, I don’t have a connecting flight to Hanoi, which means that I need a visa into Thailand just to pick up my bags from one conveyor belt and check it in. I also checked in the passport size photos of myself in India!

So a 1000 Baht down, I walk to the immigration line and my heart sinks. That queue is not going to clear before my flight leaves for Hanoi. So I put on my brightest smile and walked to the immigration office and desperately ask for help.

3 and a half hours, a lot of stress and running around later the journey to Hanoi begins! The flight truly feels like a holiday flight as it is half filled and delayed by 20 minutes after all the stress I took just to get on it. Hello holidays.

Hanoi

Vietnam is surprisingly developed, and very tourist centred. The cabs have wifi, my hostel has wifi, so far its a great start. The traffic lights have ginormous countdown boards, I suppose its for people stuck all the way at back of traffic. The American influences can be seen in the left hand drive, which messes me up as I bicycle around Hanoi exploring coffee shops,shopping and eating on the streets of Hanoi.

Hostel life, was an experience I loved! I walk into my mixed dorm a little apprehensive, all the Indian shyness getting the better of me. But I got to meet and make friends with so many different kinds of people.

Hanoi is small and bustling with activity. Its crowded but being Indian comes in handy cuz this crowd hardly compares to the hustle back home. I sat on the pavement and ate some noodle soup topped with pork and soy sauce. Yummy!

For dinner, I sit on some blue plastic chairs out on the pavement. I'm cycling down the street and a woman calls out to me. Her smile is so friendly I decide to stop, park my bike and walk up to her. She motions for me to sit and decides what I would eat. Amused, I have dinner with a fellow traveller who was already seated at the table. This was such a fun dinner, firstly because I am a shy person. I'm very friendly but I would never be the one start a conversation let alone eat with a stranger. He was a Canadian and we exchanged stories of our countries, had a pleasant dinner together and went on our ways — you know like the movies.

Sapa

That night I boarded a bus to Sapa, where I planned to trek to a village homestay, have lunch and hike back. The main attraction was the view of terrace farming the place had to offer.

The bus to Sapa was pretty neat, it was called a soft sleeper. Every passenger has to take off their shoes, put it into a plastic bag that you can carry into the bus. The seats are reclined and have small cubbies where your feet go.

Sapa is a hill station north of Hanoi. The weather is extremely unreliable. The day I arrived unfortunately was a bad weather day but that didn't stop me from doing the medium intensity hike.

The trail was misty and steep. We crossed a little stream of fresh water but saw nothing of the view we were all expecting.

About 15 minutes into the hike I had a fall. I twisted my ankle and the pain was so intense, it was almost impossible to put my foot down. The local ladies all asked me if I had some Tiger balm — the Viet solution to all ailments!

Thank God for the friends I had made at breakfast earlier. Jasmine and Benjamin were in my group and stopped to help. I had another backpacker friend , Sasha from another group stop by to help as well.

Then we began the painful and long journey back to the road. I'm so thankful for these guys who took me piggyback all the way to the main road!

Benjamin’s name was — Benjamin Cornelius : that is the first name of both my maternal and paternal grandfathers together.

From here I hitch-hiked on a bike to my hotel and from there I got a cab straight to the hospital.

The Hospital

My mind is slowly processing all the events of this morning at this point. First thoughts are - I hope my entire trip is not jeopardized by this. The doctor walks in, interrupting these thoughts and telling me he believes I have a broken ankle but will take an x-ray to confirm. My heart sinks.

Being in a country where people do not speak English, having never broken a bone or gone to a hospital for myself other than the time I was born, everything was a bit overwhelming. But God sent encouragement in the form of a very helpful taxi driver who did all the running around and talking for me.

The x-ray confirmed what I was dreading, I did have a fracture. The doctor said it was a hairline fracture (or so I thought ) , prescribed medication for the pain and swelling and said do not put weight on it. At this point my courage is all out and the grown woman is in tears, not in pain but because my trip seems all over even before it started!

My taxi driver is literally my family and support at this point and he cracked a 100 jokes in his broken English as the doctor and two nurses prepare and put a cast on my leg.

I also call home at this point and explain what happened. My parents need to be appreciated here. They did not panic. They supported and allowed me to decide what to do based on how I was feeling. I know they were worried but they dealt with the worry on their knees.

I take the bus back to Hanoi that night as planned and reach my hostel at 4 in the morning. I should be going to HaLong Bay today but caution prevails and I decided to stay back.

Church

I found a church service I could go to , hired a cab and got a ride to church.

The Easter service was in a high rise building and by the time I climbed the 5 steps to the elevator my leg, body and mind were exhausted. But I was determined to attend the service and pushed myself to walk into church. I was late as well. I sat at the back and Pastor says Easter challenges our immobility -holding back from sharing the good news!

After service I meet Mrs. Gwen Johnson. She was such an encouragement to me. She looked exhausted herself and as I spent time with her I understood that she was but she was still here in church! The church also had an extra pair of crutches that they so generously gave to me. I almost burst into tears at this point. How great is our God?

Philippians 4:19 (King James Version)

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

I was immediately encouraged and went to have lunch with the Young Adult Fellowship.

I went back to my hostel, a plan brewing in my head. I had already reached out for help from a friend who was part of the initial group of friends and I, who had planned this trip together. He was returning from Ha Long Bay only later in the night. I waited and decided I needed help if I hoped to see Vietnam and I prayed that he would be okay with me tagging along. Taking care of a person with special needs like this is not something people will jump at.

Prateek Agarwal arrived. Saw me. Said I needed to go home. I refused. He caved. By the end of the night, we had tickets to go south to Hoi An on the Vietnamese Railways. We were leaving at 4am. Prateek was still skeptical about me continuing and I had to prove to him that I could manage. So I packed, slept with my single slipper on, ready to roll out of bed using my crutches!

~The girl with the broken ankle