As I’ve stated before, things began to unravel within days of my landing in Da Nang. A unilateral revoking of all Visas not currently in country and all travelers facing two options, quarantine, or go home. I slipped into Vietnam in a very small travel window. I had purchased my tickets months ago and secured my itinerary long before this outbreak occurred. It was designed to fit around several distinct dates. My Wives birthday, the fundraising barbeque for my church and to take advantage of low travel dates for optimum savings. All of this was out the window, yet all of those dates facilitated the only path to me staying here for now.
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
Travel within Vietnam was still, for the most part, unchanged. We would hold my wife Diem’s Baptism, then head into the countryside to wait out any difficult times and possibly go to Saigon to visit my brother in laws. The Baptism was amazing and it just happened to fall on the most beautiful day in weeks. Blue skies, clear seas, providence. We had a wonderful luncheon with the church afterwards and life seemed to be perfect.
Then things quickly changed. The local party in An Lao spoke to my father in law directly. I was not welcome. I, and my wife who is native to An Lao, could only arrive via a 14 day quarantine there.
So we accepted that our daughters, who we had sent there weeks before to ride out the government mandated school closings, would be isolated from us indefinitely. We accepted the circumstances and adjusted. I was also isolated from my children back in the states, things were getting serious. We have sat within our apartment, a fantastic one so I can’t complain, for many days growing restless. I finally overcame my jet lag and was ready to explore, but exploring would have to wait. Usually when arriving in Vietnam I have no time to rest, this trip, all there is to do is rest.
And that’s ok. As the days went on the pressure and reality began to sink in. The world was changing. We booked two tickets to Saigon on a bus, only to be told that anyone holding a foreign passport could not ride. We then tried to book two plane tickets to Saigon and were told anyone landing in a Vietnamese airport was to be quarantined, domestic or foreign, for 14 days. That too was not an option.
The noose was tightening quickly and all options seem to be to stay in Da Nang. I don’t have much else to discuss on this. I have all the media outlets from back home and Google works just fine. I can only tell you that it must be truly providence that I am here, all things considered, I shouldn’t be. So I will take this time to spend with my wife and bring The Constant Epicurean to a pause. Not a stop, but a pause. I could write about us eating and sitting and watching as all of you are doing, but that is not what this is about. This is about the joys of travel, the experience of new things, the exploration of the human spirit.
A Sobering Decision
For now those things, the things that I hold incredibly dear to the human experience, are on pause. If you haven’t read all of my posts or are new to our experience, then please start from the beginning here. This is a link to my very first post. The road is often rough and the road to make this website clean was also rough. Though it may have grammatical errors and early mishaps, it should be enough reading to keep you occupied for at least a bit. Thank you to all that have been with me from the beginning. These are incredible times and I hope soon to have a rebirth of our mission to bring the world to you in a pure and true way.
Thank you all and may you all be safe and take care of everyone around you. One act of kindness can negate a lifetime of ill. From myself, Diem, our families and the entire world that has helped to facilitate the content thus far on The Constant Epicurean, we love you and God Bless.
For a video of the baptism click here.
