This spectacular little fly was stuck in our hotel room yesterday, clinging to the curtains. Check out those eyes! I'm not sure I've ever seen a fly quite like that. I took its picture and then caught it in my hand, took it to the door and watched it fly off into the afternoon.
Later I tried to look up what kind of fly it was, and I'm not sure, but it seems like it might be a type of horsefly. Which is the "sad trombone" ending to my fly story, because I'm sure I've smacked the hell out of many horseflies in my lifetime, and liberating one seems a little silly.
Then again, it didn't bite me, so who knows.
Ho seems to have lessened his grip on my gut, which is much appreciated. I still didn't feel 100 percent yesterday, but this morning I feel better. I'm going to go to town today, although it is freaking hot out there. I walked the beach this morning, a bit later than in previous days, and the heat made my limbs heavy and my head as light as a balloon.
Let's talk about this crazy Vietnamese money. The currency here is called the dong, and there are lots of superfluous zeros attached to it. That 200,000 dong note above is worth about $8.65, or £6.55. The other notes are basically small change -- the top one is worth less than a quarter.
Consequently using dong can be a little cumbersome. For example, I signed up for a guided excursion to a waterfall and some other local sights tomorrow, and the cost was 2.36 MILLION dong (roughly $100 or £77). Seeing it on a bill can be a little scary, but you soon learn to disregard all those extra digits. (Of course, this is true only when you're lucky enough to be converting foreign currency -- I'm sure to the Vietnamese 5,000 dong actually means something.)
In Cambodia, we barely even saw the local money. All our transactions were in US dollars, the currency of choice in Siem Reap and the touristy Angkor area. Occasionally when we were due less than a dollar in change, we'd get a Cambodian bill instead, but I usually just gave it right back. I'm doing my duty to boost the local economy!
Your head was as light as a balloon? What colour was the balloon? I am guessing green given the attack of Ho's Revenge. As for dong, over in Vietnam it is illegal to flash your dong in public so be warned!
ReplyDeleteI have a dislike for the horse fly,, they bite! Sorry to hear you're still under the weather, the money is lovely in all the colors, sort of like our Canadian money but I must say all the zeros do startle me a bit,, kind to support the local economy,,
ReplyDeleteWhew, glad to know that the (as Pooh would say) rumblies in the tumblies have subsided. What a bother.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed that you can translate the dong into two other currencies, American and British. And with all those zeros to deal with, if it were me I would need lots of bottled booze at the end of the day.
how silly to have money with so many unnecessary zeros. probably the cheapest thing you can buy with a dong still has three extra zeros. but I'm glad you are feeling better. and yeah, hot here too. we just don't go out.
ReplyDeleteInteresting zeroes on their money. It must relate to the solution of some economic problem.
ReplyDeleteThose horsefly bites are really hurtful!! Worse than a bee bite, I think. Hope you feel better for the rest of your trip.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are feeling somewhat better. Raining in the morning here, so no sunrise...
ReplyDeleteHo be gone! And take your little fly with you. Not a fan of horseflies, miserable little buggers, but I must say, that is the softest , most delicate shade of green, and for that reason alone I am glad you rescued it.
ReplyDeleteCrazy money!
You are a brave soul, capturing an unknown insect in your hand. I'm afraid Mr. Horsefly would have had a much sadder ending if he had flown into my room. That money makes me think of the Mexican Pesos we see here every now and then. Lot's of zeros on that currency as well.
ReplyDeleteI become even less wise around foreign money than I am around American dollars which is not very wise at all. Money gives me anxiety more than any other thing or subject. As for that fly -- it looks like it could be some kind of emerald brooch!
ReplyDeleteI like that you rescued that horsefly and glad it didn't bite you. I rescue all the bugs that come into the house. They don't want to be there as much as I don't want them there. Your dong money story is really funny. A million dong excursion seems wildly expensive, and then not. Glad to know you are feeling better, may it continue to be so.
ReplyDeleteThe fly looks like it has been altered in paint shop, lol
ReplyDeleteGlad your tummy is getting better.
Briony
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Long live Stephen, friend of insects and spender of extravagant dong. Long may he prevail.
ReplyDeleteI'd be too much of a wuss to pick up an unknown insect in my hand! Come to think of it, I'm too much of a wuss to pick them up in my hand even when I know what they are. I use a small clear container and a piece of card to transport them outside.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're feeling better. And that is colourful money, like Canada's (as laurie said).
One of the perils of travelling in non-Western countries - being struck down by the dreaded Ho!
ReplyDeleteAs for all those zeroes, it seems to me to relate somehow to the economy & a sense of not being so impoverished if you are very poor. The easiest way of dealing with multiple zeroes, as I'm sure you've learned, is to reduce them down to two & work from there...
Alphie
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