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my 5th country

i'm in malaysia, my 5th country on this trip, thanks to tiny singapore being the 4th. this is my first visit to an islamic country. i can't keep pork in the fridge at my guesthouse.

my ankle doesn't seem to be getting any better, but i use it too much.

today, malacca. tomorrow, kuala lumpur.

a shocking second opinion

i combined a visit to the indian consulate with a trip to a western clinic this morning, just to let them have a quick look at my crappy cast and my ankle and tell me how things looked. they x-rayed my ankle several times and decided that they don't think my ankle is broken at all. yes, according to them, my break was misdiagnosed, or at least they're 95% sure. how do you look at an x-ray and declare a break where there isn't one? and the other doctor seemed so sure. i'm not sure who to believe. perhaps they were both right and i have superhuman healing powers.

anyway they've removed the cast, which they declared the worst cast they've ever seen. walking still results in pain and my foot is still badly swollen, but i guess i'll see how the next few days go. oh and thanks to the cast, i now have additional bruises on my foot as well.

interesting facts:

my charges at the filthy vietnamese hospital:

exam, x-rays, cast: 140,000 dong, or about $9.

at the clean, air-conditioned western clinic:

exam, x-rays (they only charged me for one of the several), cast removal, a few ankle supports (stiff socks really): 1,200,000 dong or about $75.

and i assume the price at home would go up one order of magnitude.

more rotten luck

i tried to reach singapore today, but a tropical storm delayed my flight from phu quoc island to siagon by 2+ hours and i missed the connecting flight to singapore. attempting to purchase a flight on the spot increased my $6 flight to well over $300. i balked at that price and headed into the city to reevaluate how best to get to bangalore. all the old familiar hustlers and street urchins remember me and seem happy for the second opportunity to sell me their wares, while sharing their curiosity and concern over my leg of course. i found this strangely comforting.

i wonder if i should call hong or my other siagonese contacts.

new post

http://www.ballofdirt.com/entries/5262/46861.html

bangalore or bust

thanks everyone for the concern. i fly to singapore tomorrow, where medical care is on par with the west. there i'll probably have my leg checked again just to be sure things are ok. my cast is already falling apart anyway, and i need to buy some proper crutches.

as much as i'll miss hong, it's looking like i'm going to go with the bangalore option, so i'll be working with some of you again shortly, just a bit indirectly.
i'm not sure how long it will take to arrange the visa.

perhaps my indian fiends can give me some advice on how best to set up life in bangalore.

what the hell do i do now?

i broke my ankle. my leg from knee to toes is encased in a shoddy vietnamese cast and according to my "doctor", it will need to remain on my leg for a month. i hope it heals correctly given the shoddy medical care in these parts. it took me two more days to find some tiny and uncomfortable crutches, but now i can finally get around.

i spent yesterday sitting on the porch of my beach bungalow staring at the sea and mulling over my options.

1. go home - this would be the obvious choice, but is complicated by the fact that i have no home. and do i resume my trip at some point?
2. go to bangalore and work from my company's office there for a month or so, and resume my trip afterwards. i'd need to see if my company would be willing to let me do this.
3. go back to saigon and enlist my vietnamese girlfriend, Hong, to assist in my convalescence (i haven't told this story yet).
4. go to cu chi (home of the infamous vc tunnels) and stay with the kind elderly woman who has declared herself my "vc guerilla mother" (i haven't told this story yet).
5. continue on my trip, maybe staying put in a few comfortable places for a while.

3 & 4 are probably bad ideas.

i need to look into what my travel insurance policy pays for...