Day 56 - Dalat

Just back from meeting Tuan, of the Easy Riders group. Real sound guy, laidback, nice and chatty. Bar was playing Dave Fanning's top 50, including Whipping Boy's 'We don't need nobody else'. Tuan recommended we do a five day trip to Hoi An, which means we bypass Na Trang, which has been the prevailing advice from other travellers. Wanted to go canyoning tomorrow on Stefan's recommendation, but no tours are running - I'm the only person in town who wants to do it. sigh.

***

Good night last night. Dinner at the barbecue place again, had some delicious barracuda. Cards and drinks at Joe's, Brigitte gently interrogated me about Jeany. A reasonable discussion ensued.

Second (?) night in Mui Ne, we narrowly avoided being hit by a falling coconut. I know there's statistics about the amount of deaths every year, but the sound it made on hitting the ground was shocking!

***

Travelled to Dalat by bus. Minibus arrived outside the hostel, said goodbye to Brigitte, and hopped on. Jammed onto a stool in the aisle, desperately hoping this was a shuttle bus. Five hours later, got off the bus with a sore arse.

***

Heard account of eating snake. First, the head is cut off with a scissors, and the blood drained into a flass. Then one eats the still-beating heart, and the rest is cooked.

Day 55 - Mui Ne

Still here, for one more day at least. Was supposed to leave yesterday, but between Seb's ilness, and the chilled out pace of life here, we haven't budged. Jeany left this afternoon, so back into the dorm with the others again, though Brigitte has been spending a lot of time with some other Dutchies. She's abandoning her plans in order to fly to Bali, sacrificing her time in Australia - freedom!

Did nought today. Breakfast next door in Joe's with Jeany. Joined by Stefan, and his friend Lee. Then saw Jeany to the bus, and decamped to the beach. Reading Gulliver's Travels - one chapter, then swim. Repeat. Got a bit of burn on my back yesterday, so slightly pink today.

The weather today is overcast - it's the first time there hasn't been a blue sky since we arrived. It's far more pleasant, especially with a breeze. I have to live beside the sea. The sound of the breakers, battling playfully with the waves while swimming. Fiona would love it here.

It must be a holiday destination for Russians - plenty of the local restaurants and tour agents have signs in Russian, and a couple in German. I suppose one can get the train all the way from Russia. Or perhaps there's cheap flights. Can't blame them for making the giant journey here - so beautiful, relaxed and peaceful.

***

RWC final - Weepu (NZ) missing two penalties and a conversion, and gifting France the ball for that try. Donald (NZ) coming on to groans from his own supporters, only to score a penalty. A NZ player running into touch with the ball. France's inspiring moves in the second half, and their defence in the first. NZ constantly attacking.

The NZ supporters - vocal, but friendly with the table of French beside me. Celebratory in black. Seeing both parties around town later, on the dunes the next day. Smiles and nods of recognition. Kiwis deserved to win, and probably by a greater margin.

Also, I had a swim at half-time!

***

A note on the Golden Lingua - worshipped by the Khmer of Ankgor Thom, it was looted by Thailand during a war. They have it still, as part of the crown jewels. I asked Paean about it - if Cambodia wanted it back, but he just said that they would take t back if they could, and right now they couldn't, so they didn't want it. I wonder if it's like the Elgin Marbles. Must look it up.

Day 54 - Mui Ne

It's idyllic here. Sun shines all day, pace of life is so relaxed, cheap food, but good quality. Lots of people to meet and chat, and a model who's acting as my girlfriend.

***

Seb is very unwell today, so might end up staying another day. Not the worst place in the world to so do. There is only one street in Mui Ne, almost exclusively lined with restaurants, spas, and hostels/guesthouses. The beach is white, fine sand. Kite-surfers dot the skyline, though the water is rather salty.

There's not a lot to do except sit back and relax. One tour operates so you can see the local dunes. Like small patches of white and red desert, and a stream - the fairy stream - that runs alongside some dunes, and eroded rocks. Very pleasant.

The Fairy Stream

Tried sand-sledding with a Scottish couple, though Stefan (another member of the tour) was not pleased that we took so long [the driver never gave us a time at which to come back]. Almost missed sunset because of our time spent having fun, but the colours were worth the rush.

 

Saw sunrise this morning also - just me and the sea.

 

***

Shaved off my beard yesterday.

Day 53 - Mui Ne

Met Crystal & Jeany for a drink that evening, while Seb & Nicci sorted out transport to Mui Ne. They had to go to the train station themselves in the end. I had a far more pleasant evening. A couple of beers, then Crystal went home, and myself & Jeany went for a short nearby. The bar was playing AC/DC, Eminem, Bryan Adams, so we went to dance, but the club portion was, of course, more dance than rock. Barefoot dancing ensued alongside a group of maybe ten 20yr olds. Techno remix of 'Zombie' was played.

I walked Jeany home, then went back to my own hostel, where the Vietnamese staff were sitting on the steps, strumming a guitar gently. The song was familiar, and I paused, trying to place it, singing half-remembered words until I realised it was the Corrs [I later found out the original was by Jimi Hendrix]. Was tempted to hang out with them, but had to wake in four hours, so bed.

Was woken by the entry into the dorm of Glyn, Frenchie and an Irish girl who lived in Rathmines. So not much sleep in the end. But a very happy night!

***

Woke at 5.30 yesterday, downstairs to meet S&N for the taxi. It took a bit of explaining that we had to collect Jeany also, but we managed in the end. Train only took 4.5 hours, short taxi from Phan Thiet to here. Room for the five of us at $5 a night. It is literally a stone's throw from the beach. A little piece of paradise. The sea is populated by kite-surfers, while backpackers and holiday-makers sun themselves on the sand.

Spent a couple of hours there yesterday - myself and Jeany playing in the waves. S&N aren't feeling great, while my stomach seems to have cleared up (fingers crossed). After a delicious dinner, we had a few rounds of cards at a café, sitting next to the beach. We were at the very back, with most of the patrons at the front, so it was just us and the sound of the waves breaking. I could've sat there all night, just listening.

This is definitely a rest and recuperation stop.

Day 51 - Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon

Still a bit drunk this morning. Spent last night at a bia hoi again. Dinner was a table-top barbecue - tasty meat, but the hottest I've ever been to outside of a sauna. Sweated a disgusting amount - went back to the hostel to change my top. Few cheap beers, then thought about going to a 'happy hour' bar, but with a bewildering array of special offers, and terms and conditions, as well as annoying busboys wheeling and dealing, and pushing and touching, we soon abandoned that plan and went to another bia hoi. Stumbled back to the hostel many beers later. James, the Manxman from my dorm, was with us for the evening as well.

HCMC has a great vibe, such energy! Cheap, cheerful, I can see why it's a backpacker haven.

***

For a war zone, the Cu Chi tunnels are bizarrely removed from the realities of war. Now they're a tourist's playground. Our guide, self-named 'John Wayne', was a right character, playful but informative. Showed us a tiny tunnel entrance in the jungle floor - I was the first to get in, and he demonstrated various traps filled with pointy bamboo.

Fired off ten rounds on a fixed mount AK47, bit of a disappointment really. No recoil, and no idea how accurate my shooting was. 350,000VND for the pleasure - €13.

Going through the tunnels wasn't as claustrophobic for me as it was for others, but I can only imagine what it would be like in pitch black, with a bombardment overhead. The shooting gallery provided an authentic soundtrack to the day though.

Got chatting to two girls then - Crystal (IT & writer, Chinese) and Jeany (model, Indonesian). Exchanged smalltalk and stories, and had lunch together. Meeting for drinks later, and Jeany is coming to Mui Ne with us tomorrow. Spontaneous company!

Cu Chi visit ended with an old "documentary" film, blatant anti-American propaganda from the 70s, featuring 'hero American-killers', and 'evil devils' (US troops).

Day 50 - Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon

Dreamt last night of a petite German who thought I was too forward. And lots of people dancing.

***

Jesus. The faces of so many children. Bodies destroyed by Agent Orange, but not their lives. Harrowing, I think, is the most accurate word. An armless man looks for money in the grounds, cornering me between two tanks. The $20 I gave in SR seems a pitiful amount. Inside, I donate more in one of the boxes.

The War Remnants Museum. Went with S&N, and Jake and Bec, whom we met last night. Went for a few drinks of one of the super cheap bia hoi joints - 6,000VND a beer. That's about five glasses for a euro. Chatted with two Viet students, wanted to practice their English - a teacher and a physicist. They teach me, "một, hai, ba, yo!", the traditional toast in Vietnam. "Doh Maui Mai!" is motherfucker.

Breakfast of noodles and sausage, met a girl Jo who had met Brigitte. Bumped into her at the museum later. We wandered through the city - the market, Notre Dame cathedral, the Post Office (nice building) - again, more practising English with locals. Lunch at a place with no English, got a hot pot. Tried to order dog, got dogfish instead.

Notre Dame

Not dog

The museum though - lots of tanks and plans in the grounds. Ground floor dedicated to international protests against the US war. Fairly presented.

"Aggressive War Crimes" painted the US in a horrific light, as did the Agent Orange exhibitions. Children born with deformities. So crippling, and with such little support from anyone beyond their own families and villages.

One highlight was 'Requiem', a display of war photography - Larry Burrows, Robert Capa, Henri Huet... such superb work. Reminds me why I wanted to take up photography, those childhood dreams of being a photojournalist, cutting out shots from the paper to hang on the wall.

But it's the images of the children that will stick in my mind - armless, legless, eyeless, withered, dwarfed... every kind of physical limitation. Preserved conjoined foetuses. The horrors of war. What mankind does to its own kind.

Harrowing.

Day 49 - Phnom Penh (bus)

Early morning bus to HCMC, Vietnam. Will meet Jake there, do some laundry, chill out. Hopefully end of illness. Then maybe Mui Ne, meet Brigitte. Then north.

Left the hostel at 6am, place reeking of hash again! I suppose it masks the rubbish in the alley outside. Ended up in a Cambodian guesthouse after a mix-up with our reservations at the hostel. $6 a night for a/c and a private room is okay though. Very chilled atmosphere here. Cambodia seems to have that effect on people. Rosy's was the same.

We've stayed in some stuffy spots - Royal Asia, Sant Asar, Jin Jiang Inn. Unfailingly, the staff have always been helpful and personable. The only places they weren't was at Godzilla's and in Listvyanka. And Sant Asar after we broke the mirror (then everyone chipped in to pay for it!), and the Fenghe Xi'an "IYH" for the bed pollution.

The ger camp was the most fun environment, but there'll always be a special place in my heart for the Apple hostel, and Cloudland. Such nice places. Rosy's too, but that was more upmarket.

Hostels often act as a Western enclave - insulating the traveller from the local food and people. Definitely met more Chinese people on the train than anywhere else. Any Russians were guides or from Apple. Since Bangkok it's nearly all been ex-pats.

I think I need to get away from S&N. Not that they're not good company, I just don't have much opportunity for spontaneity, nor for getting out and about with others. Haven't met any lovely girls yet, which disappoints me. Still, 4.5 months to go.

***

Random memory #1: the Milky Way stretched across the sky in Mongolia. So many stars that familiar constellations were unrecognisable.

#2: Andy being mistaken as our guide/interpreter in China, and being spoken to in rapid-fire Chinese on the bus.

***

Arrived in HCMC a little after one, walked to the hostel without much hassle. Bus was alright - ferry crossing, lunch stop in Bravet. Thor on the telly, conductor managing the border crossing. Rather pleasant!

HCMC isn't hotter than anywhere else (at least, not especially so), but it's infinitely more humid, and sweatier. Sitting down is a sweaty activity. Walking induces small rivers of sweat. Anything beyond that... well I haven't tried yet.

Pottered around the Reunification Palace, getting my Khmer and Vietnamese histories mixed up. Impressive place, lots of marble and stately furniture. Now is showering time, and recharge before dinner and beers.

Reunification Palace

Bust of Ho Chi Minh himself

After some initial scepticism, Seb decided to be a plane too!

***

A note on religion: most people in Asia seem to be Buddhists, though Paean described himself as Hindu-Buddhist. Perhaps he was identifying with Angkor Wat. Originally, the Khmer of pre-medieval times adopted the Hindu gods of Indian traders. Shiva (the destroyer), Vishnu (the protector), Ganesh. The temples of Angkor Wat and Thom were originally built to worship these. It was only from 1181 that Buddhism began to replace it. Thus the architecture and sculpture of the original buildings are all relating to Hindu legends. Later, statues of Buddha were inserted.

Hinduism and Buddhism (and Taoism and Confucianism) do not seem to be mutually exclusive at all, and aspects of each are probably observed in Cambodia today.

Across SE Asia, special treatment is still give to monks, and natives are reverent even at the most touristy of shrines and temples. Mongolia too is Buddhist, but Dawa said it's in decline there.

***

Lashing rain again now. Doesn't bother natives for the most part. most of life happens outside - shops are mostly stalls, garages and workshops are open to the street. No a/c for the majority, just grin and get on with it. very social, very... enduring? Hardy maybe. Come what may, life goes on, they'll find a way to get by.

Foot-volleyball in the park

So many mopeds!

Day 48 - Phnom Penh

Stomach still ill. bleah. N&S had a late morning, so got some Internetting done. Went to Nat. Museum then - large collection from Khmer kingdoms, little else. Paid $1 for camera pass, but wasn't allowed take photos except in the garden. Sham! Then the Royal Palace - lots of temples, some child monks, all in saffron. It's odd - children of maybe nine or ten, already monks. Apparently it is not a life-long vocation, but something many men take up for a couple of years and then resume normal life.

Museum

Palace

The rain is pouring again. Came back to the hostel at 7pm, could've sworn it was 10pm. Dinner in the Mad Monkey, watched the sun set and some bats flit about. Lightning again tonight too.