If someone was to grant one of our earth's more disgusting creatures the power of flight, I fail to see why they neglected to give them any navigational skills to boot. There is something quite mesmerising about the incompetence of a cockroach in flight. It sits very still for a long time and then some impulse hurls it into the air , as if by accident. Seemingly surprised, and unsettled, to find itself air-born, it crashes about noisily banging into things before settling, dazed once more to recover itself, before repeating the whole business again. When you know full well that your face could easily be the next impact spot, you find yourself watching this giant tumbling insect with trance-like terror. This was exactly what I was doing while I finished blogging the other day, when I finally lost my nerve, hurridly paid up and scuttled past the offending bug (now come to rest on the floor) and made my exit before he once more resumed flight. I do not posses the presence of mind, or inclination, of the Vietnamese to simply pick them up and throw them outside. I am pathetic I know, but really, you should see them, they are huge.
Until now I had got off rather lightly on the insect front. Creepy crawlies did not show themselves in the abundance I had expected from South East Asia. But the rainy season has been established for a couple of months in Vietnam and I suspect that has something to do with it.
Sandflies too have launched a major offensive and I have watched with a mixture of awe and alarm as the unsightly blotches on my legs, as a result of constant nibbling, have swollen up, joined together and thrown a party which no amount of Witch Hazel can subdue. This leads to frantic midnight fidgeting. Far from pleasant.
So, with this in mind, I left the sultry, muggy coast and headed for the breezy relief of the highlands...