Ruth Elisabeth in Asia, and or Europe (currently Bulgaria)

This poor little travel blog has been neglected for a long, long time. I eventually got over my travel burnout, but not completely. I'm an expat (well, currently) and vacationer. I'm not a backpacker or flashpacker and that's totally fine with me.

Posterous.com is closing and so this blog with disappear on 30th April. But, I still occasionally tweet at my personal twitter and moreover, I have a new project: a language blog to help people learn Vietnamese. Say hello to...

Before travelling, what to do about my eyesight was a bit of a concern. I've never liked wearing glasses for a variety of reasons so contacts are my sight modification of choice. However I set off with no firm idea of how long I was going to spend in South East Asia, nor where I would like to teach after the TEFL course I hadn't yet applied for. Ah, the unknown entity of open-ended travel!

A few months before I went, I asked my optician at my last check-up and they'd advised that I should be able to get my brand of contact lenses easily in Singapore and Hong Kong. As I've had a bit of trouble finding a comfortable lens, sticking with the same brand was a high priority. Neither country was on my itinerary but not that far away either (and in fact, I did end up going to Singapore). However they are also pricier countries than where else I was travelling in SE Asia. So I left with 4 pairs which would last me about 4 months.

After numerous attempts at finding a comfortable contact lens, this is the brand I settled on the UK. (Although I had been using a slightly newer model, I have used these exact lenses before too.)

As Thailand was my first destination, there was no point buying them when I got there because I had the 4 pairs I'd brought with me. In Malaysia and my sort of unplanned sojourn to Singapore, I didn't even think about it and in Sumatra I doubted there would be any point in trying while I was there (although I'm sure you could buy some brand of contact lenses there). When I went back to Thailand though, this was now 2.5 months in and so it was time to stock up before I went to Laos.

As Thailand is a highly touristed country, more developed than some of its neighbours, and home to many expats I assumed I would have some success in the capital. (Even though I didn't ask any locals, expats or the frosty front desk staff in my 160B a night guesthouse.) I took my box of lenses to several opticians in Bangkok - from shops near Kao San Road to the big shopping malls in Silom to random shops in the centre near various BTS stations. And nowhere had the brand I use. In fact, the only thing I remember being offered (after having to explain that I needed lenses to see, not to change my eye colour...) was 'DUNA Life'. Everywhere. As though it was synonymous with 'contact lenses'. Despairing as I was keen to head north, I bought a pair to try and set off for the Isaan region.

A couple of weeks later I tried them and... *!?*#* they were so uncomfortable they hurt! The most uncomfortable lenses I've ever tried, I couldn't wear these 'monthly' lenses for more than a day because they simply did not fit the shape of my eye.

The offending DUNA life contact lenses. I still shudder at the thought.

Starting to panic slightly as I was heading to Laos and possibly on into China with just over a months' supply left, I tried for a second time in the North-Eastern city of Udon Thani, not far from the Laos border. I only frequented two places (and the first shop I tried kindly directed me to the second because they only had...DUNA life) before I found an alternative. I keenly bought a pair and tried them immediately. No problems on the first day – this looked promising!

I travelled to the beautiful province of Loei and hopped along the Mekong-front villages in Nong Khai province and still no problems with these new lenses. Success? I thought so, so in Nong Khai, on the border with Laos, I went armed with the box from the new lenses and sought out some opticians. Uh-oh! None in stock. But they could order them from Bangkok(!) if I could wait a couple of days. I was itching to move on at this point so instead I chose to continue my plan of going to Laos the next day...via Udon Thani to visit the optician I got the original pair from.

An alternative to DUNA life - at last!

Leaving in the morning, with backpack and all, I arrived in Udon Thani in less than an hour by bus and I went straight to the optician, bought 3 months' supply and caught the uber-cheap 3rd class train back to Nong Khai, from where I headed straight to the Laos border.

Unfortunately, the tale doesn't end there. Six days of wearing the contact lenses had been fine but on the seventh day they began to be uncomfortable. Only now, I'm in Laos.

The Mekong Delta is famous for Cho Noi, the morning market on the river. The closest town to the market, a few kilometres downstream, is Can Tho.

The floating market is best seen early in the morning - the earlier the better! Unfortunately the day we went we woke at 4:30am to a storm. After phoning the lady who, the night before, had offered to take us in her boat for a good rate, we delayed our start until the storm eased off. But the market probably wasn't quite the same.

The approach to the market in a motorised small boat

After stopping for breakfast on a floating shack we cruised around the market and bought a plethora of pineapples for a mere 40,000 VND (around $2 USD).

Then onto the nicknamed 'fruit island' where you can wander around a water apple and jackfruit orchard, and for a small entrance fee, eat whatever you can pick.

The freshest and most flavourful water apples I've ever eaten

Beside the floating market, there's not an awful lot to see in the town - one day is enough to take in the morning market, fruit island and wander round the small town on foot. To explore the famous 'Mekong Delta' and the different pace of life, head elsewhere in the region.

An afternoon's wanderings took us to:

A Khmer pagoda on a short stroll to the north (and the delicious avocado shakes on the street just next to the pagoda - so good we came back the next day just to have another).

The old market building next to the river full of clothes and souvenirs.

Passing a couple of hours playing games and karaoke at the arcade in the supermarket complex. Popular with the local young people for a mere 2000 VND a pop it was a cheap way to wile away time.

Last week I took an early morning flight to Singapore then caught a bus to Malaysia - meaning I passed through immigration in three different countries in one day!

Perhaps a bit much for a 3 day getaway (come visa-run) but the delicious cheap street food - take your pick of Malay, Chinese or Indian for 3 or 4RM (around 1USD) a meal - and cute 1RM earrings in Malaysia made the bus ride oh-so worth it. That and the chance to speak a little Bahasa again!

It was a nice change of pace from the vibrant but chaotic Sai Gon:

To this in the state of Johor, Malaysia:

Although I've occasionally been mentioning this in person, I've never admitted online that five months after arriving in HCMC, my toes still curl at the thought of backpacking again. 

My interest in exploring this diverse world of ours hasn't waned and I'm continually adding new tidbits to my artfully named 'Places To Go' text file. And I frequently daydream about going back to Indonesia. But it's all for a vague point in the future.

I sometimes get strange looks when I tell people I have done anything touristy in Saigon, or that I haven't left this sprawling city since I arrived. While I do want to see more of Vietnam while I'm here, I just don't have the enthusiasm for it. Instead of soldiering on half-heartedly like I did in the last couple of months of my travels, I'm still taking a hiatus. Not just for a week, a month or five but for however long it takes to get my travel joie de vivre back again.

Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed some of the little changes I've made in my habits and mannerisms: a bit of Asia that's creeping into my disposition.

First off, It is essential to adapt to the local way of crossing the road else you will be waiting forever to cross most roads and you'll never get anyway. Basically, the method is just to walk across as confidently as you can and let the motorbikes weave round you (if however it's a car or bus that's approaching, stay well back!). For a visual, here's a video of a typical man crossing a typical busy street in Saigon as picked up by UK tabloid The Sun as so-called 'news'.

Soon after arriving in Vietnam I subconciously picked up the Vietnamese 'go away' hand wave (like the gesture you'd use to shoo someone away) which I began using for pestering touts without even registering I was doing it. Though I feel awkward using it when I'm walking along the street, when chatting over lunch with a friend I flap my hand without the blink of an eye. I've recently learnt there's another one that's a more polite 'no thanks' and added that to my arsenal.

Then last week while eating at an establishment whose target is tourists, I was geniunely flummoxed when presented with a knife and fork. I surreptiously switched the knife for a spoon before anyone could notice my confused attempt to eat rice with such Western implements.

But what made the change really hit home was when I decided to use my umbrella as a parasol as I was melting in the heat on the way to work one morning.

I wonder how many of these are temporary habits and how many will stick with me after I leave? In the meantime, I'm working on adding the local ubiquitous exclamation 'troi oi' into my set of natural reactions.

Photo: Storm Brewing in Saigon

I'm perfectly happy with the length of contract I have at my first teaching job. Maybe later I will want to stay beyond these initial six months, maybe not. But as it is, it's long enough to settle down and get to know the city well, to reach a conversational level in the language and to take up some activities that I've always meant to try and fit into my routine. I can finally have a place to call my own and living on my own terms rather than packing up every few days to move from guest house to guest house.

It's a nice feeling.

At the same time, six months in an awkward period of time because it's not enough to build a multi-layered life if your interests lie offline.

It takes time to network and find things you want to get involved in. Some things are easy: you can find umpteen yoga classes listed online. Once you've found a good expat website for your area there are events galore, especially in a vibrant city like Saigon.

But if you want to contribute to society, to be a volunteer or a changemaker for instance, it's much harder to find your 'in' and by the time you've manoeuvred it it might be time to move on. You can't commit to many projects, and especially not beyond a casual contribution such as taking on organising capacities because you don't have the longevity.

The other, more practical problem, is the attraction and attrition of 'stuff'. You begin to want a few creature comforts that you couldn't justify when backpacking. Some of them are almost necessary - is that third work shirt or an extra pair of shoes really a luxury when otherwise you'd be wearing the same couple of items to work every single hot, humid day for six months? Or buying an actual bottle of shampoo instead of using the handy but not quite the same shampoo bar you bought for its space-saving and leak-proof traits.

Or how about when you move into your own place at long last and you want to make it feel like a home not just another bed for a night so you acquire a few useful household items and a couple of bits of decoration to add a personal touch. Or perhaps you have a fiction or music weakness. Having gotten back into the habit of reading while on the road and having finished both of my books in a dreary, remote corner of Laos it's tempting to buy extra books instead of just continuing to swap the two I have.

Buddha's birthday parade

The pho (noodle soup)

The big, juicy mangoes available by the kilo

The iced tea that often comes with your meal

The ice-cream cones