I am at the border town of Hekou, and sick, after a few very tumultuous days. First off, on Saturday, I discovered the Vietnam consulate in San Francisco issued my Visa for the wrong dates. Their emergency email addresses all bounced and they have not responded to my messages on their emergency lines. I was forced to go off the itinerary and head to the border town a day early to get a new Visa with the correct dates. There is a girl here, who has connections (I still don't quite understand who she is or what she does), and she was able to turn it around in one day.
To add to the misfortune, I was robbed yesterday at a local market. The thief took my wallet and phone. He snapped the button of my front pocket with a knife and made the grab. I didn't feel it. I was buying lychee fruit with Emma. All of a sudden a very concerned Chinese lady holding a baby started speaking loudly at me and pointing. I thought she was begging or wanted me to buy something, but in a few seconds a crowd had gathered, so I elbowed Emma and asked her what the lady wanted. "You've just been robbed", she said, and I patted my pocket and felt nothing in it. My stomach dropped. The lady with the baby and others were wildly pointing in a direction, so we ran off and tried to see if we could see the thief, but had no luck. I used a local shop's phone to call my parents (2:00 a.m. their time!) and had them cancel my credit cards and phone. Emma flagged down some cops (in plain clothes, strangely enough) and they took us to the police station. The whitnesses had a good description of the man, and added that he robbbed the person next to me too.
The police station was a joke, with a bunch of (apparently) plain-clothed officers sitting around smoking. We came back later in the night to file a report (which was also a joke, illustrated by the reporting officer smoking a cigarette through a 3 foot water bong as we filled out the paperwork). They couldn't give me a copy of the report (which I need for insurance purposes!), but said I could write a letter accounting what happened, and they'd stamp their seal on it. I wrote the letter, Emma translated, and it was reviewed by superior officers while I went to the border town today. Emma picked it up, and said the police had changed my letter-- so I'll look forward to what 'creative' changes they made.
The wallet was also turned in today, without the cash... and, of course, now all my credit cards are canceled.
The hotel we were at was the only one so far lacking internet access. I used the dial-up at the front desk and attempted to Western Union Money to myself. As I was doing it-- I kid you not-- the power went off.
So I was in the dark-- moneyless, communication-less, and without a valid Visa for Tuesday. I used Emma's phone to call my parents, and coordinate a money x-fer. After several hours, about 2 a.m. here, the money was transferred. I went to bed and got up 3 hours later to catch the 6:30 bus to to Hekou.
To make matters EVEN worse, I am sick now, throwing up, with a temperature of 101. With my luck, I'll be sitting in a Vietnamese quarantine room tomorrow, waving my group goodbye as they move on to Sapa.
I also have to pick up my money x-fer tomorrow. Hope that goes well. Ha.
I have some great things to post, once I'm out of China, get my affairs in order, and can legally upload to this blog and YouTube (censored in China).
But, for the record: I am OK, have a FANTASTIC guide who is doing everything she can for me, and am accompanied by a very supportive group. Though times are a tough right now, I am well taken care of, and things will be fine.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg){kind=link}