To be honest it sounds like your drive is goosed
You might be able to do a short term fix on it but in the time frame you want to use it on I don't think it will survive until your escape date.
If your over in Asia you should be able to pick one up for next to nothing.
If you pull the battery and power cable flip the laptop upside down and look at the bottom. Find the compartment with a disk picture and open it. The disk will be in a caddy of some form held in by 4 screws. Remove the caddy and takeonly the disk with you to get another one.
If you go to a tech shop they should be able to setup the disk and blow a image across to the new disk. That should keep you running until you can get home and have access to the install disk. Although as your fiddling with it anyway it might be worth going for windows 7. Should be able to get the thing fixed and upgraded for less than $100