HAPPY REUNIFICATION DAY!

I made it to Hue, which is just below the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) that splits the country in two. Feeling like I was getting away from my original goal of meeting locals, I took a friend's advice and registered with Couchsurfers.com. This is a service that pairs travelers with locals willing to either lend a couch or be a guide. This is how I meet Lien. Lien is a student in Hue and spoke very good English (On the couchsurfer.com website, people usually list their language proficiencies so you can check ahead of time whether or not you will be able to communicate with the person.). She had made this intricate plan to take me to various tombs and pagodas (by this point in the trip, I have developed a high pagoda/tomb/Asian night-market tolerance). However, she let slip that she was going to miss her family's Independence Day celebration in order to do this. Of course, I would not let this happen, so she invited house to instead.

The next day she picked me up early on her moto and we went to see the family. This time, I was smart enough to buy good chocolates as gift. We arrived in her village, which she told me used to be very poor, but after the war many residents emigrated to the states or Australia and sent money back. As such, the village now looks more like a nice western suburb than a settlement of subsistent fishermen. I was floored to see her family lives in a giant two-story house (granted, six people live there) with beautiful tiled floors and hardwood furnishings. Lien had told her family that I was coming, still many of them seemed surprised by my presence (The children most of all. Following the trend, the little niece burst into tears every time I looked at her.) Still, they welcomed me and fed me a delicious meal of rice, grilled fish, beef, fruit and plenty of beer. My chocolates were a big hit (even with the crying girl) and, again, even though I was the center of many jokes I did not understand, I had a great time.

Afterwards, I was invited to take a nap while the women cleaned up. Mats were laid on the stone floor and all the men went to sleep. To my surprise, I slept incredibly well. When Lien shook me awake, I learned that we were going to the beach for dinner. The beach was really just the docking dunes for the fisherman junks. There was one little restaurant (more of a wooden shack) with two people working in it. We stopped there and had a dinner of fishhead soup (two thumbs down) and fresh crab (two thumbs up!). We drank some more beer and talked while the sun set in front of us. Watching the family together was really incredible. Everyone talks. Everyone plays with the children. Not to say that we lack this in the west, but here the family is the whole world and there is almost nothing that exists outside of it. Reflecting on my own life and the choices I've made, I feel that I've lost something in the rabid pursuit of individualism and accomplishment. The simplicity of this style of living appears more natural and healthy to me.

After racing home through moonlit rice paddies, Lien took me on a boat ride up the Perfume River (which no longer smells like perfume). The boat rides are a big attraction in the city and were nearly sold-out as it was Independence Day. Lien managed to score us some tickets and while riding on the boat, we were treated to traditional Vietnamese music and dance from live performers. This was great save for the drunk Japanese tourists who kept talking over the music (Why do you pay to go to a concert and not listen to the music?).

The next evening, I invited Lien to dinner with me and an English couple from my hotel. In the couple, one was a vegetarian and the other was not partial to seafood. I did not learn this until we arrived at the restaurant which naturally only served shrimp dishes. They were good sports about this, but I saw right away that I was going to have to do the lion's share of the the eating (From what I've seen, Southeast Asians do not believe in wasting food and get offended when you leave even grains of rice on your plate.). Lien ordered us six different dishes that looked nearly identical. They consisted of congealed rice flour which formed a sort of clear gel, whole or crushed baby shrimp, and occasionally a pork strip. I would pay for this meal later, but I wasn't going to disappoint my incredible guide and friend, so I cleaned all the plates.

Back at our hotel, I thanked Lien for an absolutely wonderful time. Again a stiff bow did not seem sufficient, so I broke the mold and gave her a hug.