On the mend?

After writhing in bed all morning, seeing the doctor and fighting fever, watching endless HBO and gazing out the window wishing I could enjoy the city, eventually really craving a double cheeseburger(settled for a kfc haha) and having a really hot bath, Im finally feeling a little bit better. The fever is gone, stomach still a bit painful but generally i think im on the mend. I feel like Ive been in bed for days though, like Ive missed precious time. We are flying to Hanoi tomorrow (i shouldve listened to my students when they said flying was much better- and only marginally more expensive) to stay for one night, then Friday morning are being picked up for our Halong Bay cruise! So Im really hoping to feel better by then.
Im feeling a bit guilty about being taken care of in illness after seeing the living conditions of so many people here. Their bodies must build up so many immunities- you would, growing up as they do. When you see the conditions they eat sleep and work in, its quite shocking. The filth is something i wasnt quite prepared for. And yet, and Im by no means dismissing any suffering people experience, but i must say that the majority of the people weve seen, even in the poorest areas, seem in good spirits. When we were on the train yesterday, we 'spoke' (very brokenly) to a nice man, who turned out to be 80 years old. He was carrying huge bundles of heavy stuff, which seemed nothing to him, and when we got off the train, hugo helped with a bag, and the man helped us get a good taxi who wouldnt rip us off. We kept saying to each other how amazing it was that he was 80 and doing what he was. I wonder what he has seen in his life. When we passed through Danang on the train he pointed out where the american base on an island was- i
Imagine he mustve fought in the war- probably for the south if he was living in Hue, as the demilitarized zone which served as the separation point between 'north' and 'south' vietnam during the war (technically called the second indochina war, or some vietnamese call it the 'american war') is about 100km north of here.
I may have said it before, but one of the things i have found most interesting here is the older people, especially in cambodia but here too, and wondering what things they have been through, what theyve seen...