I am writing this post sitting in a guesthouse in Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh city. I just spent the last 5 days on the back of a motorcyle making my way down through the central highlands of Vietnam. I'll back up a little explain this. In Dalat there is a group of guys known as the "Easy Riders." They started just after the war with 10 guys who would take tourists through the country on the ho chi minh trail from Hanoi to Saigon. Now there are over 80 men wearing the Easy Rider jackets in Dalat. I was approached in Dalat by a guy my own age who offered to show me around Dalat for less than the easy riders were asking. He told me he charged less because he didn't pay the fee to own the jacket. He had started a new company called "Free Riders." This is how I met Tien and spent 5 days riding with him through some of the most beautiful country side I've ever seen.
The first day we went around Dalat looking at local goods such as coffee, rice wine, silk production and a huge assortment of fruits and flowers. The next day we headed high into the mountains and came down long winding roads through endless jungle. We spent the evening near Lak lake and I roomed with four Easy riders who were there as well. The other tourists stayed in nicer accomidations but I really enjoyed the company of these friendly bikers. We ended up playing cards all night together. They taught me a Vietnamese game called Phom and I taught them Texas hold'em. Needless to say the odds were in the favor of the person who knew their game better. I won at poker and quit early at phom.
Over the next two days Tien and I road 350 Km over winding, bumpy, dusty roads through the highlands. We often stopped by the road to lay in hammocks strung up between rubber trees and drank sugar cane juice. The people of the highlands are of the old hill tribes who moved near the roads after they assisted the Viet Cong in the war. They were the friendliest people I've met, often waving vigorously by the road side when they saw I was a foriegner. In those two days I only saw two other foreigners.
The last two days we road the Ho Chi Minh trail towards Saigon. By this point I was driving the bike fairly often to give Tien a break and to enjoy the feeling of driving in the countryside. I won't lie though, I nearly was run off the road a few times by buses and government cars. I'd stop after these incidents, shaken, and look back at Tien. He would smile, looking back at the wild driver careening down the road and say "Crazy driver." He didn't seem to worried or flustered and said I'd done fine. I would often give him back the drivers seat for an hour or so after these events.
When i finally reached Saigon I visited the Cu Chi tunnels north of the city. These tunnels run over 250 Km over the area and were a vital strategy of the Viet Cong during the war. I went inside a few and had to nearly crawl to get by. My guide said "these tunnels for Vietnamese, not American. American to big." I watched a movie that was pretty unsettling. It was shot during the war and showed young women firing rockets at american tanks and then the going back to farming the next day. It is weird to realize that the whole country came up in arms during the war. Later I went to the war memorial museum and was nearly in tears looking at the brutality of war. I saw pictures of people covered in napalm or deformed by the defoliant Agent Orange. I saw a photograph that will haunt me for a long time, of a US G.I. holding up the remains of a man he shot with a gernade launcher. The whole time I just kept thinking that this wasn't about America being wrong but really just war was wrong. Millions of Vietnamese farmers died in the war, killed by both sides, just to fulfill a politcal and economic agenda.
Well, on that depressing note I have to go. I am going to be late for my bus to Cambodia. I've truly loved Vietnam and feel I have expereinced it in some unique ways. I hope all is well at home and I'll check in soon.
Namaste,
Adam
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Halong bay, Hoian and the buses that took me there.
Well, as you can probably tell by the length of times between posts Vietnam is crazy. After pulling a group together of 15 other travelers I booked us a private junk in Halong bay. We argued for about an hour and a half with the company to stay two nights on the boat as opposed to one night on the boat and one night at a hotel on Catba island. It turned out to be one of the best choices I could have made since the group got along so well and loved to hang out together. We arrived at halong bay city and were escorted to a fantastic junk with a sun roof, fancy dining room and air conditioned rooms on the bottom deck. The food was excellent after I convinced our guide that fish and seafood were the same thing to me and that tofu was really not cutting it for meals. That's the story with this whole country though. You've got to argue, cajole, get frustrated, leave, come back, try again and maybe you'll get what you want half an hour later.
The first day out to sea we went kayaking in the bay. The tour guide put us in two person canoes with a guy in the back and a girl at the front. A girl I'd met in Hanoi named Maria was in my boat and we both decided to cut out from the rest and go exploring. There are 1900 islands in halong bay and I found out very quickly how confusing that is. We found some cool caves and little floating houses that farm clams. Pretty soon we realized that everyone had followed the guide and that we were lost. We paddled for about 45 minutes before our boat found us and offered us a ride. We tried to save some of our dignity and instead paddled after the boat to shore. On the way we realized that no one would believe we had just got lost looking at caves and talking about politics. Sure enough as we neared the shore the entire group came down to the water and all of the guys started clapping and cheering. I don't know if my sunburn or by blush was a brighter red. The tour guide walked up to me later and said "next time I send two girls together and two guys, yes?"
The group traveled to an island called monkey island later on after lunch. We took bicycles 6km over the mountainous terrain to a beautiful village in the valley. We hiked around the forest and looked in caves. The tour guide and the guys kept cracking jokes throughout the cave. We spent the next day swimming and hiking. The evenings were spent laughing, playing games and generally enjoying ourselves in one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.
Within a few days many of us decided to travel to Hoian together. Hoian is a very beautiful small town near the coast. It was used as a place for R&R by American troops during the war. It sits along 30 km of perfect white sand beach that the GI's called "china beach." We spent the days at the beach and playing in the countryside on motorbikes. I've got to say that driving in Vietnam is insane. No one uses turn signals, stops at red lights or checks before merging and passing. At one point I was driving on a bridge when a truck passed another truck. Then as this was happening a third truck attempted to pass the second truck. I now had a wall of steel flying at me on a bridge at about 80 km per hour. I realized the only thing to do was go native. I began ducking and weaving through traffic, staying right on the tail of the motorbike in front of me. As the trucks passed, horns blaring, I breathed a silent prayer. I looked over at the bike I had followed through this ordeal only to see a young women with her child looking completely unphased by the whole ordeal! Just another day in Vietnamese traffic. Still, I will be renting another bike out here in Dalat to go look at water falls, lakes and countryside.
I guess I should mention that's where I am right now. Dalat is a high altitude town high in the interior mountains. The weather is about twenty degrees cooler and the land is suitable for growing coffee, grapes and other fruits. This is the town where many French people built chalets during their colonial time in Vietnam. The food up here is done in the French way at many places, especially the coffee. They pour the water into a metal cup that slow drips into the cup below. It's very strong and absolutley delicious. I can get a meal of garlic bread (with real garlic), french or italian pasta, coffee, juice and an after dinner glass of port for about $6-$7. This region is also known for it's candied fruits, so I'll be buying those before I go down to Saigon in a few days.
One last thing to mention is how we travel in Vietnam. From Hanoi to Hue we took a reclining bus, as in a bus that has seats that ever so slightly recline. This bus drove from 8 pm until 10:30 am through bumpy and winding road honking all the way. The Vietnamese use the horn to indicate their presence and to let you know they will be attempting to pass you. So the whole ride is spent bouncing in the back with a cacophony of horns and whistles with the occassional horn battle followed by a screeching halt and break neck acceleration. A second bus took us the four hours down to Hoian, which I assume is for the drivers sake so he can get some therapy before he does the return trip. From Hoian to Dalat we spent 12 hours in a "sleeper bus." This bus has tiny bunk beds throughout it. 29 in all, so you can imagine how crammed in you have to be to fit everyone. Then we took a 6 hour bus ride in the most cramped bus up the winding slope of Dalat's mountains without airconditioning. This makes for fast friends as you comisserate with the people around you. But we are finally here so I really can't complain. Well, wish me luck on my adventures tomorrow. I hope everyone is well and I will write again soon.
Namaste,
Adam
P.s. there was no spell check so please exscuse typos. Thanks.
The first day out to sea we went kayaking in the bay. The tour guide put us in two person canoes with a guy in the back and a girl at the front. A girl I'd met in Hanoi named Maria was in my boat and we both decided to cut out from the rest and go exploring. There are 1900 islands in halong bay and I found out very quickly how confusing that is. We found some cool caves and little floating houses that farm clams. Pretty soon we realized that everyone had followed the guide and that we were lost. We paddled for about 45 minutes before our boat found us and offered us a ride. We tried to save some of our dignity and instead paddled after the boat to shore. On the way we realized that no one would believe we had just got lost looking at caves and talking about politics. Sure enough as we neared the shore the entire group came down to the water and all of the guys started clapping and cheering. I don't know if my sunburn or by blush was a brighter red. The tour guide walked up to me later and said "next time I send two girls together and two guys, yes?"
The group traveled to an island called monkey island later on after lunch. We took bicycles 6km over the mountainous terrain to a beautiful village in the valley. We hiked around the forest and looked in caves. The tour guide and the guys kept cracking jokes throughout the cave. We spent the next day swimming and hiking. The evenings were spent laughing, playing games and generally enjoying ourselves in one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.
Within a few days many of us decided to travel to Hoian together. Hoian is a very beautiful small town near the coast. It was used as a place for R&R by American troops during the war. It sits along 30 km of perfect white sand beach that the GI's called "china beach." We spent the days at the beach and playing in the countryside on motorbikes. I've got to say that driving in Vietnam is insane. No one uses turn signals, stops at red lights or checks before merging and passing. At one point I was driving on a bridge when a truck passed another truck. Then as this was happening a third truck attempted to pass the second truck. I now had a wall of steel flying at me on a bridge at about 80 km per hour. I realized the only thing to do was go native. I began ducking and weaving through traffic, staying right on the tail of the motorbike in front of me. As the trucks passed, horns blaring, I breathed a silent prayer. I looked over at the bike I had followed through this ordeal only to see a young women with her child looking completely unphased by the whole ordeal! Just another day in Vietnamese traffic. Still, I will be renting another bike out here in Dalat to go look at water falls, lakes and countryside.
I guess I should mention that's where I am right now. Dalat is a high altitude town high in the interior mountains. The weather is about twenty degrees cooler and the land is suitable for growing coffee, grapes and other fruits. This is the town where many French people built chalets during their colonial time in Vietnam. The food up here is done in the French way at many places, especially the coffee. They pour the water into a metal cup that slow drips into the cup below. It's very strong and absolutley delicious. I can get a meal of garlic bread (with real garlic), french or italian pasta, coffee, juice and an after dinner glass of port for about $6-$7. This region is also known for it's candied fruits, so I'll be buying those before I go down to Saigon in a few days.
One last thing to mention is how we travel in Vietnam. From Hanoi to Hue we took a reclining bus, as in a bus that has seats that ever so slightly recline. This bus drove from 8 pm until 10:30 am through bumpy and winding road honking all the way. The Vietnamese use the horn to indicate their presence and to let you know they will be attempting to pass you. So the whole ride is spent bouncing in the back with a cacophony of horns and whistles with the occassional horn battle followed by a screeching halt and break neck acceleration. A second bus took us the four hours down to Hoian, which I assume is for the drivers sake so he can get some therapy before he does the return trip. From Hoian to Dalat we spent 12 hours in a "sleeper bus." This bus has tiny bunk beds throughout it. 29 in all, so you can imagine how crammed in you have to be to fit everyone. Then we took a 6 hour bus ride in the most cramped bus up the winding slope of Dalat's mountains without airconditioning. This makes for fast friends as you comisserate with the people around you. But we are finally here so I really can't complain. Well, wish me luck on my adventures tomorrow. I hope everyone is well and I will write again soon.
Namaste,
Adam
P.s. there was no spell check so please exscuse typos. Thanks.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
The river Kwai and snakes blood
Well, the monotony of being sick passed very, very quickly. As soon as I felt better on Wednesday I jumped on a train to the town of Kanchnaburi 100km west of Bangkok. This towns sits on the river Kwai and is the home to the bridge that became the subject of a movie by the same name. This bridge was built during the Japanese occupation of Thailand using hundreds of thousands of prisons and slave laborers to complete the task. The bridge is such a small thing to have cost the lives of 70,000 allied prisoners of war.
I spent the night before at a small bungalow on the river. In fact if I had splurged a little I could have stayed in a floating house on the river. The town of kanchanaburi is slowly becoming a tourist hot spot due to the bridges fame but it still has an interesting mix of old Thai and new western feel. I spent the evening hanging out with a group of Thai guys who had moved out of Bangkok to open a tiny bar in the town. They spoke excellent English so we talked about Thailand and America while listening to some of the best music I've heard in a long time.
The trip really boosted my spirits and settled my nerves so I was much calmer when I entered the frantic city of Bangkok on Thursday. I spent the last two days hanging out with a group of Hilarius (and cute!) Dutch girls before I boarded my plane Saturday for Vietnam. Nothing in Thailand could prepare me for the pace and insanity of this country!
I met a PE teacher from New York on the plane and we got along pretty well so we decided to team up and face Vietnam together. As soon as we entered the main lobby of the airport we were accosted by taxi drivers. They got right in your face and saying no didn't deter them for a second. I went to the ATM to grab a million Dong ($66 US) and then we went to find the minibus to town. We asked an information lady how much we should pay and she said $2. When we fought our way through the mass of eager taxi drivers demanding $12 to drive us to town we found the bus. It was filled to capacity and we hunkered down in the back with our bags piled on us.
As we entered the road way I realized that all the complaining I'd done about Thai drivers was unjustified. Clearly, Vietnamese drivers are the worst drivers in south east Asia. I thought we were going to be in a accident about ten times in the ten minute drive to town. When we finally convinced our driver that we wanted to be dropped off the real fun began. We were swarmed by eager bike-taxi drivers and offers for cheap hotels and so forth. The driver asked for our 30,000 Dong and all I had was a 200,000 note. I gave it to him and he pocketed it with a look that said trouble was coming. As Doug and John (the other white passenger on the bus) argued loudly that they did not need a taxi, I watched as our driver got into the bus and started the engine. Thank god for crappy southeast Asian cars! As he began to drive away his minibus back firer and gave a me the chance I needed. I dove through the passenger door as he attempted to restart the truck. I yelled that he owed me 170,000 Dong and that I would not leave until he gave it to me. Five minutes of yelling between four Vietnamese and three foreigners and I got back 160,000. "Welcome to Vietnam!" I said to my new friends.
We finally found a place that had a room but they wanted $18, which is expensive for this country. When I saw the room though I nearly fainted. Air-con, TV, Queen bed with clean covers, private bathroom with a bath tub! After nearly three weeks living in tiny rooms with just a towel for a blanket this was the Hilton. After I was all clean and shiny (and had stopped jumping on the bed out of excitement) I headed over to a guest house across the street. As I attempted to go into the common area I was stopped by a hoard of people with blue and yellow sombreros. I asked what they were all about and the leader of the group said, "Do you wanna drink snake blood?" and I replied the way any good traveler does with, "Of course!" A sombrero was dropped on my head and we trekked off to find this most fabled Vietnamese delight.
To say that snake farms are not suited to 30 screaming tourists is an understatement. The look on the face of the owner was a very mixed expression. It was the fearful look of someone watching the mongol horde fall on their city mixed with the look of someone who has just won the lottery. By the end of the night this guy was going to be holding 4,500,000 Dong in return for a few snakes! Long story short, we proceeded to consume snake in every conceivable way: fried snake skin, snake ribs(think really small pork ribs. really small!), sauteed snake and various other dishes made of snake including a few soups. Of course, we also needed snakes blood shots. We drank a whole assortment of snake fluids that I won't go into detail about here but let's just say I truly feel I am more well acquainted with snakes anatomy than I ever thought possible.
I am sitting in a bustling hostel right now writing this before I plan my trip out to Ha long bay to cliff jump, cave walk and kayak. Hope you all are well and I will check in when I have more to report. To everyone let me say, "Good morning, Vietnam!"
Adam
I spent the night before at a small bungalow on the river. In fact if I had splurged a little I could have stayed in a floating house on the river. The town of kanchanaburi is slowly becoming a tourist hot spot due to the bridges fame but it still has an interesting mix of old Thai and new western feel. I spent the evening hanging out with a group of Thai guys who had moved out of Bangkok to open a tiny bar in the town. They spoke excellent English so we talked about Thailand and America while listening to some of the best music I've heard in a long time.
The trip really boosted my spirits and settled my nerves so I was much calmer when I entered the frantic city of Bangkok on Thursday. I spent the last two days hanging out with a group of Hilarius (and cute!) Dutch girls before I boarded my plane Saturday for Vietnam. Nothing in Thailand could prepare me for the pace and insanity of this country!
I met a PE teacher from New York on the plane and we got along pretty well so we decided to team up and face Vietnam together. As soon as we entered the main lobby of the airport we were accosted by taxi drivers. They got right in your face and saying no didn't deter them for a second. I went to the ATM to grab a million Dong ($66 US) and then we went to find the minibus to town. We asked an information lady how much we should pay and she said $2. When we fought our way through the mass of eager taxi drivers demanding $12 to drive us to town we found the bus. It was filled to capacity and we hunkered down in the back with our bags piled on us.
As we entered the road way I realized that all the complaining I'd done about Thai drivers was unjustified. Clearly, Vietnamese drivers are the worst drivers in south east Asia. I thought we were going to be in a accident about ten times in the ten minute drive to town. When we finally convinced our driver that we wanted to be dropped off the real fun began. We were swarmed by eager bike-taxi drivers and offers for cheap hotels and so forth. The driver asked for our 30,000 Dong and all I had was a 200,000 note. I gave it to him and he pocketed it with a look that said trouble was coming. As Doug and John (the other white passenger on the bus) argued loudly that they did not need a taxi, I watched as our driver got into the bus and started the engine. Thank god for crappy southeast Asian cars! As he began to drive away his minibus back firer and gave a me the chance I needed. I dove through the passenger door as he attempted to restart the truck. I yelled that he owed me 170,000 Dong and that I would not leave until he gave it to me. Five minutes of yelling between four Vietnamese and three foreigners and I got back 160,000. "Welcome to Vietnam!" I said to my new friends.
We finally found a place that had a room but they wanted $18, which is expensive for this country. When I saw the room though I nearly fainted. Air-con, TV, Queen bed with clean covers, private bathroom with a bath tub! After nearly three weeks living in tiny rooms with just a towel for a blanket this was the Hilton. After I was all clean and shiny (and had stopped jumping on the bed out of excitement) I headed over to a guest house across the street. As I attempted to go into the common area I was stopped by a hoard of people with blue and yellow sombreros. I asked what they were all about and the leader of the group said, "Do you wanna drink snake blood?" and I replied the way any good traveler does with, "Of course!" A sombrero was dropped on my head and we trekked off to find this most fabled Vietnamese delight.
To say that snake farms are not suited to 30 screaming tourists is an understatement. The look on the face of the owner was a very mixed expression. It was the fearful look of someone watching the mongol horde fall on their city mixed with the look of someone who has just won the lottery. By the end of the night this guy was going to be holding 4,500,000 Dong in return for a few snakes! Long story short, we proceeded to consume snake in every conceivable way: fried snake skin, snake ribs(think really small pork ribs. really small!), sauteed snake and various other dishes made of snake including a few soups. Of course, we also needed snakes blood shots. We drank a whole assortment of snake fluids that I won't go into detail about here but let's just say I truly feel I am more well acquainted with snakes anatomy than I ever thought possible.
I am sitting in a bustling hostel right now writing this before I plan my trip out to Ha long bay to cliff jump, cave walk and kayak. Hope you all are well and I will check in when I have more to report. To everyone let me say, "Good morning, Vietnam!"
Adam
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