FAQ

You’d think that an FAQ page would require having actually been asked questions before – but that’s not always the case in the world of webpages. In this case, most of these questions my family members/friends of the family have asked at one point or another. If you have any other random questions, leave me a comment and I’ll be happy to answer them.

Q. Why Vietnam?
A. I cover this in the About page.

Q. Do you speak Vietnamese?
A. No. I understand a little bit of French, but I don’t speak it and I doubt that French will be a priority.

Q. Do they speak English there?
A. From everything I’ve read, there is a lot of English spoken there, particularly in the 25 and under crowd. But for things like buying food and items from vendors, bargaining at the market, etc. – I’ll have to know a bit of Vietnamese.

Q. Do you plan on doing any traveling outside of HCMC?
A. Within Vietnam, I’d really like to take the train up to Ha Noi at some point. There are also some excursions with the group “…to the Mekong Delta town of Cần Thơ, the old communist resistance base on the Cần Giờ peninsula, the beachside resort of Mũi Né, and Buôn Đôn National Park in the central highlands.” (Source: My CIEE Handbook)
Within Cambodia, I will spend two days at Angkor Wat and some time in Tonle Sap.
In Thailand I will be on my own (probably) and spending most of the time in Bangkok, but I am really excited to go explore Ayutthaya City while I am there.

Q. How are you keeping in contact with home?
A. Through this blog, email, and gizmo (internet phone).

Q. What shots/drugs are you taking to prevent “exotic” diseases?
A. I had my typhoid and Hep A vaccine, polio booster, as well as three rounds of Japanese Enciphilitus.
In addition to my normal meds, I’m on doxycycline in order to prevent malaria. I burn really easy anyway, plus one of the side effects is our favorite problem, yeast infection (and I’m taking acidophilus to counter act that), so I’m sure being on it will be a thrill. My other major option was one that doesn’t work in all parts of Cambodia and Thailand, plus causes nightmares and depression. I’ll take the possible yeast infection and the sunburns.

Q. What camera are you using?
A. My spankin’ new Nikon D50 digital SLR.