The not-so-lonely planet

So, the girls have grown and flown and I decided the best thing to do these holidays is return to my passion of solo travel. I picked Vietnam as my destination, close to home, great food, and somewhere that has been a destination of fascination for many reasons. Some I may reveal later, but for now I am in the first stages of my trip..the one that comes after discovering I can no longer read Lonely Planet Guides because the print is too small. I have ditched my previously favoured - just look at my bookshelves some day - travel guides to pursue an online itinerary. Tuesday June 22nd 2010 Kepsibel left at midday on a flight to Melbourne and I am now by myself... 

 I have used Air Asia and agoda, and I am, or was optimistic, no I AM optimistic about both these services..it's not their fault that I am now in a very cheap well located hotel in central Kuala Lumpur being disturbed by a large number of Russians as they conduct some sort of family reunion in the hallway. A family reunion that despite polite requests, two , from me, two visits by security and now one far less polite request from me, has continued on and left me wide awake at 1.30 am with only Nicholas Cage in Bangkok Dangerous on the tv..the only thing that is dangerous about this movie is his hair! The hotel it has to be said is really central to the station where I go tomorrow to catch the 'green link' train to LCCT for my flight to HCMC. While KL hasn't really lured me into discovering any more of its charms than the three streets around the hotel I think there has been quite enough excitement for one day. Russians notwithstanding.. There is a large contingent of blind people in this area, they work in the many Blind Massage Clinics that line the first floor level of the street's chop houses. I had to try one for myself. The massage was fantastic. I wondered, at one point about the degree of ethics my masseuse had when he asked if he could massage my chest.. That aside the actual massage technique was really brilliant and I think he explained it by saying I had only requested a half hour massage so he had to do an hour massage very quickly..interesting.. There are many street cafes with a variety of 'cuisines', Chinese and Indian predominate, Roti Channai at lunch time was super-tasty, served with highlights of Portugal v Korea and frothy spiced tea..maybe why, Russians or no, I am still awake. For dinner I tried to find a different spot. There seem to be a lot more men eating out than women so I chose a table in a Chinese place that had women 'eating' or at least at tables, and it didn't take long to figure out they weren't diners but hookers waiting for customers. I ate noodles in peace and returned to take advantage of a quiet evening in a room with no windows..and chance to dive into the timeless zones of grazing reading materials, facebooking with friends and researching the academic achievements of the gifted and talented David Duchovny..that is until the Russians and Nick Cage messed it all up...