oozing pus now

The surgeon "opened" up the wound yesterday evening. He made a small incision, then took foreceps & moved it around the wound area. It appeared to be separating the skin layers from the muscle. He squeezed out pus. Then, then packed Dave with about 6 inches of gauze. When I talked to Dave this morning, he said it had actually drained quite a bit. I haven't gotten to the hospital this morning.

He's getting really frustrated lying in bed. If he was feverish, unconscious, feeling ill - that would be one thing. But he's in better shape than he was in Hoi An, or even Hue (2nd day). He's also frustrated to be in such an amazing city like Saigon, Vietnam & all he's seen of it is The Blue Room (pictures later).

My wonderful tour contact - Mr. Quoc Minh, of Exotissimo rode me through the streets of Saigon on a motorbike. I was one of the raindrops! After all the landline problems of yesterday I decided to buy a mobile phone. It cost less than the phone bill for all the connected calls who couldn't hear me yesterday.

I called Quoc up yesterday asking to get a guide's help in buying a phone. He offered to come pick me up & help me buy one instead. It was so much fun being one of the hoarde. We rode to a store which specializes in mobile phones. I swami, they had about every brand out there. I picked my Nokia up for less than I paid for dinner. I guess it might have been around $30 or so. I got 150 minutes with that as well. I think. That, or the $9 minute card bought me 150 minutes. I'm not quite sure. I've been going up to Vietnamese people & asking them what things mean. Registration, though, was in English. Email me if you want my number.

Quoc's taken good care of me during this time. I haven't had to worry about accommodations or other arrangements. Here's a BIG KISS to Mr. Quoc Minh of Exotissimo & a "Tell All My Friends" about this agency. It's been amazing.

Ate dinner at The Refinery again last night. One thing Dave & I have learned about travel is that it can be tiring always trying new things. Especially at the end of trips, if we find a restaurant we're comfortable with, we simply go there for our meals instead of trying to go to the Next New One. I'm at that stage now. Beautiful little place with limewashed stucco walls, there's a huge round pass through area. I'd sit outside but I'm tired of sweating, so I go in. The waiters recognized me after night before last. Things like that, plus good wine & the availability of at least a 12 year Glenfiddich, make a restaurant a place to return to when one is tired. It's located in a courtyard. Address is 74 Hai Ba Trung in Q1. You have to walk through what looks to be a terrifying garage entrance, but which is really the entrance to the courtyard it shares with what looks to be two other restaurants.

I'm walking in Saigon alone at 10pm - no problem. It's balmy and loud. They've torn up the sidewalks. What's left of those are filled with parked scooters. Mostly people smile back as I pass by. There's some shops with incredibly detailed wooden ships. I'll take pictures, but Fraser will have to identify the types of ships these people are modelling. They've got sails and lines. How's that for technical detail.

-a