M-whY

By seeing Halong Bay though, I had done just about everything I wanted to do in Vietnam, and so it was time to go. My plane took off early in the morning, and rather than taking the risk of walking 20 minutes to the US$2 airport shuttle to find out the service didn't begin til later, I had my hotel arrange a US$10 taxi for me. Having not slept well the night before, I climbed into the cab half asleep. But with the crazy traffic and persistent honking by virtually every vehicle on the road, I was wide awake halfway into the 45minute ride to the airport.

It was my intention all along to send out some postcards from the airport, since I've been negligent about doing so the past four months. After paying the cheeky 222,600 dong (US$14) departure tax though, I had exactly 4000 dong left on me, not enough to pay for postage, which would've cost 9000 dong per postcard.

In southeast asia, I try to budget myself to US$25 a day, though realistically, it's not possible considering after considering visa application fees, plane tickets, etc. The taxi ride and departure tax had already accounted for 96% of my daily allowance, and it wasn't even past noon, but amazingly, I managed to stay under budget for the day.

Mostly because my flight took me back to Thailand, where Deer was waiting for me at the airport. International flights out of Hanoi, as I've discovered, are expensive, and by flying to a major hub such as Bangkok first before continuing to Hong Kong the next day, I saved myself about US$50. I had only a bit of Thai baht left on me, just enough to pay the departure tax tomorrow, and so Deer willingly took care of me the rest of the day. (While going out, I had picked up the tab whenever appropriate. For both of us, it was a comfortable arrangement.)

Bangkok traffic is a bit easier on the ears (people aren't as attached to their horns) but is instead plagued by heavy traffic during the day. It took another hour to get home, and I immediately collapsed for a much needed nap. In the meantime, Deer went out to take care of some business. She returned a while later and we went out for dinner at Oishi Express, which I swear, is the best sushi buffet I've ever had. For only 399 baht per person (roughly US$10), I gorged myself on an endless supply of raw fish.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" she asked, after I had stuffed myself to the point of bursting.

"I don't know, I can't really move." Neither of us were in the mood to go to Khao San Road anyways, so we ended up patronizing a luxurious spa near her condo for a Thai massage. The two hours seemed to fly by. Just like the last six months have.

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!