Flood. Fled.

And so it ends, not with a bang or a whimper but a flee.

In our last episode, we narrowly avoided a typhoon in central Vietnam. Our itinerary had us heading north to Hue shortly afterwards. Yes, this would be following the path of the storm, where flooding was worse. With the assurance that they too were largely spared, and with floodwaters receding, we stuck with the plan.

We were due to stay in Hue for a while. It’s the ancient capital of Vietnam so there would be things to see. Hue is also reported to have the best food so there would be lovely things to eat. I can confirm that this is true, but it’s a question of degree. Just about everything we’ve eaten in Vietnam qualifies as so good you could cry.

We were due for a rainy stay, but not too bad. On and off. After our typhoon experience, I was keeping a close eye on my weather apps, or as I like to call them, the whether or nots.

The afternoon of our second full day, I checked the oracles again. Crap. Five days of heavy rain incoming. Floods predicted. Oh no. Oh hell no.

Good thing we’re skilled at hasty exits. Mark started packing and I started booking. We left the next morning. Through some stroke of luck, our flight was one of the only ones not majorly delayed as the stormy weather began.

So hello from Ho Chi Minh City, another place that was never on my list. That hardly matters, it’s a means to an end.

We’ve both been having those « there’s no place like home » feelings more frequently, answering the big Big Scram question: what place does home have in my life? Before moving to France, we never felt like going home when home was the US, no matter how long the trip was.

Good lord willing and another creek don’t rise, we’ll be in Paris in 3 days. Is the Big Scram over? I don’t know yet. The SE Asia part is, in any case. The world is still a big and fascinating place, but I think we’ll be content with our little corner of it for a while.