So today we headed to Siem Reap by bus. The most exciting part of the day came when we pulled in a roadside food selling stop- kind of like a truck stop but way more fun. As soon as we were off the bus we were surrounded by cute little girls trying to sell us pineapple. We couldn't help but notice one little girl had a giant tarantula crawling all over her shirt- we thought it was a pet until she dragged us over to a woman with a giant bucket ful of live tarantulas and a big pan full of deep fried tarantula's for your culinary pleasure. Before we could argue one of the women had thrown a live tarantula in Tim's direction- next he had one on his shirt and another in his beard. The women thought it was truly hilarious! Before I could join in the laughter i had one thrust upon my bosom. It wasn't nearly as horrible as one might imagine. Although I was quietly thankful it wasn't a frog. NExt we bought a couple of deep fried crickets and had a taste. As soon as i had popped it in my mouth the children said "no don't eat that bit!"I hope they were having a lend of me. The Khmer people have a fairly Australian sense of humour and Tim and i are really enjoying meeting these people who (not sure if I should make the call so early) are the best we've met so far. great fun genuine and warm people.
While we chomped on fairly average grasshoppers we were surrounded by the little pineapple sellers who were equally fascinated by both Tim's beard and my fair skin. They kept saying "White skin you very beautiful lady"- wow imagine if they met someone who actually had really beautiful skin. They were fairly deligthed when we said they were all very beautiful and chatted to them about how old they are etc.
When we eventually arrived in Siem Reap we were picked up by Martins cousin and taken to his brothers guest house. WE went to this crazy palce for dinner called the "dead fish Tower". It used to be a crocodile farm and now the crocs swim about beneath the dining areas. Dumb waiters lift food to the many open split level dining areas and Traditional dancers entertain.
next we wandered through the night market- the classiest we've ever seen. The fish massage tanks were hilarious- you stick your feet in and let the fish eat your dead skin. We're yet to try!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Phnom Penh - crazy mixture of emotions
So we set out this morning with the friendly tuk tuk driver Martin who helped us find a hotel last night and insisted he take us around the city today- he had such a big smile we couldn't say no. In fact most of the people here are all smiles- which has surprised me I don't know why.
We went straight to the Tul Sleng Museum to satisfy my appetite for modern history. This was a highschool that was converted into a prison in 1975 under Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge- they drove the people out of the city and into the country side to work while taking all the educated people from both city and country and locking them here where they were tortured in the cruelest of ways and eventually taken to the killing fields and executed (if they didn't die in prison first). I can't reall express in writing what this place felt like- but as soon as we faced the entrance I knew why Martin had chosen to park his tuk tuk and himself around the corner and away. The atmosphere and energy were unlike anything I have ever felt before and I very nearly couldn't get past the ticket booth. I felt nauseated and headachey before we even got inside. But something inside me pressed me on- I think its important to understant this history so we don't let it happen again (even though it is happening in various places around the world- sadly!). The buidlings were as they were and you could tell it had been a school at one point which only added to the eerieness- a place of education and innocence usually. We wandered through the classrooms turned cells which were dirty and not really sanitised for "tourist consumption". But the worst part was the photo exhibition. Every prisoner to come to this place was photographed - even the children and babies. Women were not excluded from the prison either. These photographs lined the walls and the vacant stares of the people was haunting. I can't really write much more because it overwhelmed me in such a way that I think I have already blocked some of it from my mind. I found it extremely hard to breathe and got quite teary. It was not a pleasant experience but I don' t regret going- it has enlightened me so much about Cambodian history and given me a new insight into the contemporary people.
When we returned to Martin he opened up and told us about his experiences as a child under Pol Pot. His emotions were still extremely raw and I still can't beleive he told us so much. His father was killed by the Khmer Rouge soldiors and Martin witnessed it. He had his hands bound, blindfolded adn while music played to cover the sounds of murder he was pushed down a well to drown. Martin also lost other members of his extended family. His father was killed when his mother was 7 months pregnant. His little sister is now 31 and her birth marks the year of their fathers death. MArtin was about7 or 8 and he was also forced to work- all the children had to collect both the animal and human shit to use as fertilizer on the rice fields. They were woken up at 6am and worked til 12- have an hour to eat rice soup (about 10 spoons each which was mostly water) and then back to work until 6. Then more rice soup and meetings of indoctrination- then sleep at 9- wake at 6 again. They weren't allowed to talk at niht- they would be killed. Basically the Khmer Rouge aimed to break up family groups, destroy connections, remove educated people so there was no risk of an uprising.
After this Martin took us to the killing fields which are slightly out of town. Neither of us were sure we really wanted to go after this but we didn't say anything. TheKilling fields were where people were taken to be killed and thrown into mass graves. These graves were dug up in the 1980s and now the skulls of the dead are displayed in this massive monument. Its quite weird but I didn't feel as off at the fields as I did at the prison even though such horrible things happened here. The energy here was more peaceful and calm- I suppose once your dead nothing can hurt you anymore.
After this we had had enough of depressing history and Martin took us for lunch at a local (very local) eating house. There were no other tourists and no english menus so Martin ordered some dishes for us- which turned out to be very tasty. I was surprised considering we were sitting at tables with rubbish all on the ground. Not really bad rubbish just paper but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that i don't get sick. Martin was such a cool genuine guy he just chatted on about Cambodian history, culture and his own life and family. He is dedicated to giving his 3 daughters a good education and is paying for the eldest to attend public school as well as English and Chinese schools. he also helps his community as he was involved in setting up water wells for country villages etc. He hates the political party here which is completely corrupt and is saddened by the fact that many of his peers spend all their money gambling and drinking and complain when he has a house and his daughters are at school. But he only earns about 80 US dollars per week. We gave him 20 bucks for the day (he asked for 15) and we shouted him lunch and a drink etc. through the day adn still felt like we were ripping him off.
After lunch he took us to a small orphanage. Before we went we stopped off to buy some rice to give to the kids- we got about 25 kilos - wish we could have coughed up the 50 bucks for 60 kilos but I suppose something is better than nothing. When we arrived the 6 kids that were at the Orphanage (the other 17 were at school) rushed out immediately and threw their arms around us- I wasn't expecting such a warm welcome. They tugged at our hands and led us around to show us their beds and one little imp had a great time jumping all over Tim. One of the little boys also was an expert on our camera and had a great time taking shots and videos. I felt sad to have to take it off him when we left. They were so full of excitement it was a nice change to the feelings of the prison. It was weird to have these random kids hugging you and not letting go when in australia you could get arrested for that kind of thing!
Next we went to a temple on a hill in the middle of the city. IT was pretty cool- but coolest of all were the many monkeys on the hill! Monkey Town part 2- oh how I love monkeys! We have many more photos now!
This marked the end of our day. Tomorrow we head to Siem Reip by bus- there are heaps of things to see in that area so we thought we would get there asap. It was sad to say goodbye to Martin who was such a cool guy. When we paid him he was so genuinely grateful that we had employed him for the day and said we were helping his daughters be educated- which was nice to know as an educator and just as a Stephie and a Tim. I have felt so weird that we have been touring around these poor countries and now I feel that we have at least made a very small contribution to someone. I would love to come back here and do some volunteer work at that orphanage. The kids could speak a little English and I'm sure would benefit from help with reading and writing and speaking and just generally some attention- whcih is what they seem to crave the most.
We went straight to the Tul Sleng Museum to satisfy my appetite for modern history. This was a highschool that was converted into a prison in 1975 under Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge- they drove the people out of the city and into the country side to work while taking all the educated people from both city and country and locking them here where they were tortured in the cruelest of ways and eventually taken to the killing fields and executed (if they didn't die in prison first). I can't reall express in writing what this place felt like- but as soon as we faced the entrance I knew why Martin had chosen to park his tuk tuk and himself around the corner and away. The atmosphere and energy were unlike anything I have ever felt before and I very nearly couldn't get past the ticket booth. I felt nauseated and headachey before we even got inside. But something inside me pressed me on- I think its important to understant this history so we don't let it happen again (even though it is happening in various places around the world- sadly!). The buidlings were as they were and you could tell it had been a school at one point which only added to the eerieness- a place of education and innocence usually. We wandered through the classrooms turned cells which were dirty and not really sanitised for "tourist consumption". But the worst part was the photo exhibition. Every prisoner to come to this place was photographed - even the children and babies. Women were not excluded from the prison either. These photographs lined the walls and the vacant stares of the people was haunting. I can't really write much more because it overwhelmed me in such a way that I think I have already blocked some of it from my mind. I found it extremely hard to breathe and got quite teary. It was not a pleasant experience but I don' t regret going- it has enlightened me so much about Cambodian history and given me a new insight into the contemporary people.
When we returned to Martin he opened up and told us about his experiences as a child under Pol Pot. His emotions were still extremely raw and I still can't beleive he told us so much. His father was killed by the Khmer Rouge soldiors and Martin witnessed it. He had his hands bound, blindfolded adn while music played to cover the sounds of murder he was pushed down a well to drown. Martin also lost other members of his extended family. His father was killed when his mother was 7 months pregnant. His little sister is now 31 and her birth marks the year of their fathers death. MArtin was about7 or 8 and he was also forced to work- all the children had to collect both the animal and human shit to use as fertilizer on the rice fields. They were woken up at 6am and worked til 12- have an hour to eat rice soup (about 10 spoons each which was mostly water) and then back to work until 6. Then more rice soup and meetings of indoctrination- then sleep at 9- wake at 6 again. They weren't allowed to talk at niht- they would be killed. Basically the Khmer Rouge aimed to break up family groups, destroy connections, remove educated people so there was no risk of an uprising.
After this Martin took us to the killing fields which are slightly out of town. Neither of us were sure we really wanted to go after this but we didn't say anything. TheKilling fields were where people were taken to be killed and thrown into mass graves. These graves were dug up in the 1980s and now the skulls of the dead are displayed in this massive monument. Its quite weird but I didn't feel as off at the fields as I did at the prison even though such horrible things happened here. The energy here was more peaceful and calm- I suppose once your dead nothing can hurt you anymore.
After this we had had enough of depressing history and Martin took us for lunch at a local (very local) eating house. There were no other tourists and no english menus so Martin ordered some dishes for us- which turned out to be very tasty. I was surprised considering we were sitting at tables with rubbish all on the ground. Not really bad rubbish just paper but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that i don't get sick. Martin was such a cool genuine guy he just chatted on about Cambodian history, culture and his own life and family. He is dedicated to giving his 3 daughters a good education and is paying for the eldest to attend public school as well as English and Chinese schools. he also helps his community as he was involved in setting up water wells for country villages etc. He hates the political party here which is completely corrupt and is saddened by the fact that many of his peers spend all their money gambling and drinking and complain when he has a house and his daughters are at school. But he only earns about 80 US dollars per week. We gave him 20 bucks for the day (he asked for 15) and we shouted him lunch and a drink etc. through the day adn still felt like we were ripping him off.
After lunch he took us to a small orphanage. Before we went we stopped off to buy some rice to give to the kids- we got about 25 kilos - wish we could have coughed up the 50 bucks for 60 kilos but I suppose something is better than nothing. When we arrived the 6 kids that were at the Orphanage (the other 17 were at school) rushed out immediately and threw their arms around us- I wasn't expecting such a warm welcome. They tugged at our hands and led us around to show us their beds and one little imp had a great time jumping all over Tim. One of the little boys also was an expert on our camera and had a great time taking shots and videos. I felt sad to have to take it off him when we left. They were so full of excitement it was a nice change to the feelings of the prison. It was weird to have these random kids hugging you and not letting go when in australia you could get arrested for that kind of thing!
Next we went to a temple on a hill in the middle of the city. IT was pretty cool- but coolest of all were the many monkeys on the hill! Monkey Town part 2- oh how I love monkeys! We have many more photos now!
This marked the end of our day. Tomorrow we head to Siem Reip by bus- there are heaps of things to see in that area so we thought we would get there asap. It was sad to say goodbye to Martin who was such a cool guy. When we paid him he was so genuinely grateful that we had employed him for the day and said we were helping his daughters be educated- which was nice to know as an educator and just as a Stephie and a Tim. I have felt so weird that we have been touring around these poor countries and now I feel that we have at least made a very small contribution to someone. I would love to come back here and do some volunteer work at that orphanage. The kids could speak a little English and I'm sure would benefit from help with reading and writing and speaking and just generally some attention- whcih is what they seem to crave the most.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Two days of travel
So yesterday we bussed it from saigon to Chau Doc a Cham town near the border of Cambodia. Basically the bus trip was fairly heinous as it was a mini van not really intended for backpackers but just locals with no luggage and it was a 7 hour trip over raod that barely exists. Probably the bumpiest so far and being wedged in between Tim and two Vietnamese men with limite air con was less than fun. But we arrived in one piece and quickly found our way to the dodgiest hotel we've stayed in so far but I suppose at 8 US dollars per night you can't complain too much. Chau Doc is sort of in the Mekong Delta and so very much about fishing and other watery revenue. We didn't get much of a chance to look around but I don't think we missed out on a lot.
Today we woke up at 5.30 am as we had to be on a boat at 7am to look around the waterways before heading up the Mekong to the cross the border into Cambodia. This proved to be a very entertaining little journey. Tim and I were alone in a long boat steered and rowed by a very fit odler lady. We were guided through the floating villages where children laughed and waved from their floating shacks. Eventually we came to a Cham village. Cham people used to occupy a larger portion of Vietnam but now live mainly in the Delta - they are Muslim but seemingly a slightly different more laid back version of the religion. When we wandered through the village we had about ten kids trying to sell us waffles "Madam, madam 6 waffles, 3 coconut and 3 banana for one dollar, you buy from me, you buy from me please!"
Steph: No thankyou
Tim (silent and skillfully storms ahead)
Children: Maybe later, maybe later, not now for you madam maybe later you buy from me, you have to buy from me.
This chorus continued the length of the street up the the Muslim mosque. Then started again when we reemerged
Children: Madam Madam maybe later 6 waffles! Maybe later maybe later
ME: no thankyou
Children" You make me cry Madam, madam maybe later. You make me cry!
I can't express how funny this actually was and I wish I could have secretly video taped it!
Anyway we then left on a slightly larger (only slightly) boat up the Mekong River taking about 3 hours to get to the border. Aside from the uncomfy board seats we had a good time- there is a lot of life along the Mekong- its too much to describe here and we have some good video.
Crossing the border was kind of weird. We surrendered our passports to this guy who went an got our visas for us along with those of many other people crossing over. But eventually we got across not mcuh stress. Then it was another 2-3 hours on the boat and another 2 hours on bus to get to Pnom Penh where we are now. Very tired.
We had dinner at this great restaraunt called "Friends whihc is a charity restaraunt with all profits going to help orphaned children and street children with education and development of skills etc. Reall great stuff. Anyway too tired for more detail. tomorrow the killing fields, orphanages and torture museums- as Tim would sarcastically put it "uplifting stuff"!
Today we woke up at 5.30 am as we had to be on a boat at 7am to look around the waterways before heading up the Mekong to the cross the border into Cambodia. This proved to be a very entertaining little journey. Tim and I were alone in a long boat steered and rowed by a very fit odler lady. We were guided through the floating villages where children laughed and waved from their floating shacks. Eventually we came to a Cham village. Cham people used to occupy a larger portion of Vietnam but now live mainly in the Delta - they are Muslim but seemingly a slightly different more laid back version of the religion. When we wandered through the village we had about ten kids trying to sell us waffles "Madam, madam 6 waffles, 3 coconut and 3 banana for one dollar, you buy from me, you buy from me please!"
Steph: No thankyou
Tim (silent and skillfully storms ahead)
Children: Maybe later, maybe later, not now for you madam maybe later you buy from me, you have to buy from me.
This chorus continued the length of the street up the the Muslim mosque. Then started again when we reemerged
Children: Madam Madam maybe later 6 waffles! Maybe later maybe later
ME: no thankyou
Children" You make me cry Madam, madam maybe later. You make me cry!
I can't express how funny this actually was and I wish I could have secretly video taped it!
Anyway we then left on a slightly larger (only slightly) boat up the Mekong River taking about 3 hours to get to the border. Aside from the uncomfy board seats we had a good time- there is a lot of life along the Mekong- its too much to describe here and we have some good video.
Crossing the border was kind of weird. We surrendered our passports to this guy who went an got our visas for us along with those of many other people crossing over. But eventually we got across not mcuh stress. Then it was another 2-3 hours on the boat and another 2 hours on bus to get to Pnom Penh where we are now. Very tired.
We had dinner at this great restaraunt called "Friends whihc is a charity restaraunt with all profits going to help orphaned children and street children with education and development of skills etc. Reall great stuff. Anyway too tired for more detail. tomorrow the killing fields, orphanages and torture museums- as Tim would sarcastically put it "uplifting stuff"!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Steph and Tim in the hills around Dalat- central highlands of Vietnam
No one can imagine the joy of finding a handcrafted connect four in the "Before and Now" Bar in Hoi An after 3 days of consecutive rain!
The river in Hoi An floods every evening
Tim challenging the dragon at temple in Dalat
Tim with our motorbike guides Hun and Nam (right to left) in Dalat
The Cu Chi Tunnels
This morning we headed about 30km out of Siagon to Cu Chi where parts of the imfamous tunnel network of the Viet Cong are situated. This particular system stretched from Saigon all the way to the Cambodian border- crazy! It was quite strange to meander through the forest/jungle where not so long ago soldiors trampled through and the Viet Cong sprung up from underneath to ambush them. The effect was only amplified the by shooting range on sight where you could pay 2 bucks to shoot a gun- we opted out of that option.
I wasn't really sure what to expect but after seeing a small man descend and ascend from the tiny trapdoors hidden by leaves and other forest rubbish I can totally understand why the Vietnam Vets have issues. I can't imagine how terrifying it must have been to not know where the enemy was coming from at any time. Also we got to see some of the Viet Cong traps that were set- trapdoors that the soldiors would fall through onto carefully arranged spears etc. Not nice.
There was an option to move through a small stretch of tunnel (about 30 metres or so) - and I bravely decided I would attempt this scary feat. I did descend into the tunnel and got about 3 steps in- the tunnely was about one metre high and about 40 cm wide and extremely dark- it also twisted and turned so you could never see the light at the end of the tunnel. So after my very brave 3 steps in I fled in the other direction (as I must admit did some other grown men!). But Tim soldiored on and was able to come back out into the light and tell me the tales.
We also watched a weird little video made by the Vietnamese about the tunnels. They kept telling us about Viet Cong soldiors who killed hundreds of american soldiors and were awarded "American soldior killer hero medals". We're not sure if the orginal euphamism was lost in translation or whether they Vietnamese don't bother with such politically correct medal titles and just tell it like it was.
They fed us some sweet potato type things tat were served cooked but room temperature as that was what the people in Cu Chi lived on during the war- not ahving access to rice. It was surprisingly ok- well we hadn't had breakfast and were close to eating each other by this stage anyway.
At the very end of the tour Tim and I got to taste some more rice wine- but this time with a twist- and no not a twist of lime but a twist of venemous cobra snake. There was a whole cobra snake (dead) inside the bottle of rice wine. I didn't think too much about it but knew I would regret not giving it a go when offered the chance- I will admit though that it wasn't particularly great....
We are now taking it easy in Saigon. tomorrow we are up early to travel to Chau Doc- where we will hop on a boat and float up the Mekong River to get to Pnom Penh in Cambodia.... sad to say goodbye to Vietnam. I have had a love hate relationship with this country- but do crave a little more! Next time Gadget, next time!
I wasn't really sure what to expect but after seeing a small man descend and ascend from the tiny trapdoors hidden by leaves and other forest rubbish I can totally understand why the Vietnam Vets have issues. I can't imagine how terrifying it must have been to not know where the enemy was coming from at any time. Also we got to see some of the Viet Cong traps that were set- trapdoors that the soldiors would fall through onto carefully arranged spears etc. Not nice.
There was an option to move through a small stretch of tunnel (about 30 metres or so) - and I bravely decided I would attempt this scary feat. I did descend into the tunnel and got about 3 steps in- the tunnely was about one metre high and about 40 cm wide and extremely dark- it also twisted and turned so you could never see the light at the end of the tunnel. So after my very brave 3 steps in I fled in the other direction (as I must admit did some other grown men!). But Tim soldiored on and was able to come back out into the light and tell me the tales.
We also watched a weird little video made by the Vietnamese about the tunnels. They kept telling us about Viet Cong soldiors who killed hundreds of american soldiors and were awarded "American soldior killer hero medals". We're not sure if the orginal euphamism was lost in translation or whether they Vietnamese don't bother with such politically correct medal titles and just tell it like it was.
They fed us some sweet potato type things tat were served cooked but room temperature as that was what the people in Cu Chi lived on during the war- not ahving access to rice. It was surprisingly ok- well we hadn't had breakfast and were close to eating each other by this stage anyway.
At the very end of the tour Tim and I got to taste some more rice wine- but this time with a twist- and no not a twist of lime but a twist of venemous cobra snake. There was a whole cobra snake (dead) inside the bottle of rice wine. I didn't think too much about it but knew I would regret not giving it a go when offered the chance- I will admit though that it wasn't particularly great....
We are now taking it easy in Saigon. tomorrow we are up early to travel to Chau Doc- where we will hop on a boat and float up the Mekong River to get to Pnom Penh in Cambodia.... sad to say goodbye to Vietnam. I have had a love hate relationship with this country- but do crave a little more! Next time Gadget, next time!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Saigon day two
So we had the first reasonably relaxed day in ages- we slept in and had a long breakfast over ridiculously expensive cappuccinos. You don't see them here much and it was worth it- the Vietnamese drink drip coffee over condensed milk. We have developed a bit of a taste for it but I have been craving something more close to home.
Then we walked to the reunification Palace. This is so named after a long and bloody history. If was called the presidential palace until after the Geneva Convention decided that the french should piss off out of Vietnam in the mid 50's and was then renamed the Independence Palace. Here the "puppet" government of the South hung out during the war or "American aggression" as it is called here. In 1975 the tanks from the North stormed the gates and the prime minister of the South signed an unconditional surrender. Without the Americans for back up they were left with little choice. Then the Palace became the Reunification Palace, signifying the unification of the North and South as the Socialist REpublic of Vietnam. This was fairly interesting and we wandered about for a couple of hours taking in a short documentary. i would love to get hold of the doco and watch it and sort through the word choice propoganda- it showed a lot of American news footage but without the sound, and had a Vietnamese narrative (in English)- there were many times that the narrative would describe the country of vietnam as great and unbeatable when it suited the topic and then change to say that Vietnam was a small and poor nation when discussing the atrocities of american invasion. Interesting to say the least.
After this we walked to the War Remnants museum which is basically a series of photographs depicting the heinous nature of war crimes (mostly those inflicted by the Americans). It was a very moving, frustrating and infuriating experience and has got me "over thinking" life as I am prone to do even on a good day. We saw some hideous photographs of the effects of agent orange on people. They showed a photo of a baby born in 1996 who had no legs and another child born in 1992 whose forehead was swollen and disfigured from parental exposure. Further inflaming my anger was the fact that the American government paid out 200 000 000 dollars to American, Australian and Korean troups affected by the chemical but has yet paid any compensation to the civilians of Vietnam. Seeing the effects on children born in the 1990s made me think of my own family- if we were Vietnamese myself, my brothers and sisters could all be significantly deformed due to something we weren't even alive to be a part of. Disgusting.
I am further confused by things visitors had written in the guest book- many claiming to love the Vietnamese and hate all Americans (mostly European people not connected to the war) and while I consider myself to be somewhat anti-american and extremely cynical I can't help feeling that its this kind of absolutism that leads to war in the first place. It is very difficult to claim that either side was completely right or completely wrong- I don't agree with american involvement in the war (I think I don't anyway- after my discussions with Nam I am left a little confused and think maybe thats a good place to be- to question and reconsider is probably the safest way to discovering the truth)- but I don't agree with a blanket hatred of all Americans (even if they do make for annoying tourists). I also read a very heart moving comment from an Australian Vietnam vet who said that he couldn't stay in the museum for long because it was too emotional for him, he went on to say a heartfelt apology for his involvement in the war, saying that as a 20 year old he believed everything he was told and now knows that he was wrong. I felt such sadness for him- I thought about how at age 20 I had many convictions that I have since had the freedom to reassess due to experience and maturity- some of whihc I may feel embarrassed by but at the very least had limited impact on others. It must be excruciating to live with that kind of regret and feelings of guilt.
being at this museum also made me angry and frustrated in other ways. The war in Vietnam is such recent history and yet we seem to be making the same mistakes still. War in Iraq and Afghanistan - killing civilians using democracy to mask a mroe sinister and greed fueled aim and yet few people stand up and protest. We seem to make movies about and reminisce about how romantic and passionate the moratorium rallies of the 60s and 70s were yet when Tim and I attended rallies in Sydney protesting australian war involvement and affiliation with America there were shamefully few people there. Why are we so apathetic and willing to make the same mistakes again and again? As we have been travelling it has really impacted upon me how similar people are regardless of language and culture barriers and yet we don't identify with these people who are being killed and robbed of the opportunities that we take for granted because they have a different language and religion. I am rambling now, but I can't get my feelings or ideas straight- I feel like I want to know where I stand- but feel very on the fence in many ways. After today I feel confused but extremely extremely lucky to be born in Parkes in NSW in Australia.
Then we walked to the reunification Palace. This is so named after a long and bloody history. If was called the presidential palace until after the Geneva Convention decided that the french should piss off out of Vietnam in the mid 50's and was then renamed the Independence Palace. Here the "puppet" government of the South hung out during the war or "American aggression" as it is called here. In 1975 the tanks from the North stormed the gates and the prime minister of the South signed an unconditional surrender. Without the Americans for back up they were left with little choice. Then the Palace became the Reunification Palace, signifying the unification of the North and South as the Socialist REpublic of Vietnam. This was fairly interesting and we wandered about for a couple of hours taking in a short documentary. i would love to get hold of the doco and watch it and sort through the word choice propoganda- it showed a lot of American news footage but without the sound, and had a Vietnamese narrative (in English)- there were many times that the narrative would describe the country of vietnam as great and unbeatable when it suited the topic and then change to say that Vietnam was a small and poor nation when discussing the atrocities of american invasion. Interesting to say the least.
After this we walked to the War Remnants museum which is basically a series of photographs depicting the heinous nature of war crimes (mostly those inflicted by the Americans). It was a very moving, frustrating and infuriating experience and has got me "over thinking" life as I am prone to do even on a good day. We saw some hideous photographs of the effects of agent orange on people. They showed a photo of a baby born in 1996 who had no legs and another child born in 1992 whose forehead was swollen and disfigured from parental exposure. Further inflaming my anger was the fact that the American government paid out 200 000 000 dollars to American, Australian and Korean troups affected by the chemical but has yet paid any compensation to the civilians of Vietnam. Seeing the effects on children born in the 1990s made me think of my own family- if we were Vietnamese myself, my brothers and sisters could all be significantly deformed due to something we weren't even alive to be a part of. Disgusting.
I am further confused by things visitors had written in the guest book- many claiming to love the Vietnamese and hate all Americans (mostly European people not connected to the war) and while I consider myself to be somewhat anti-american and extremely cynical I can't help feeling that its this kind of absolutism that leads to war in the first place. It is very difficult to claim that either side was completely right or completely wrong- I don't agree with american involvement in the war (I think I don't anyway- after my discussions with Nam I am left a little confused and think maybe thats a good place to be- to question and reconsider is probably the safest way to discovering the truth)- but I don't agree with a blanket hatred of all Americans (even if they do make for annoying tourists). I also read a very heart moving comment from an Australian Vietnam vet who said that he couldn't stay in the museum for long because it was too emotional for him, he went on to say a heartfelt apology for his involvement in the war, saying that as a 20 year old he believed everything he was told and now knows that he was wrong. I felt such sadness for him- I thought about how at age 20 I had many convictions that I have since had the freedom to reassess due to experience and maturity- some of whihc I may feel embarrassed by but at the very least had limited impact on others. It must be excruciating to live with that kind of regret and feelings of guilt.
being at this museum also made me angry and frustrated in other ways. The war in Vietnam is such recent history and yet we seem to be making the same mistakes still. War in Iraq and Afghanistan - killing civilians using democracy to mask a mroe sinister and greed fueled aim and yet few people stand up and protest. We seem to make movies about and reminisce about how romantic and passionate the moratorium rallies of the 60s and 70s were yet when Tim and I attended rallies in Sydney protesting australian war involvement and affiliation with America there were shamefully few people there. Why are we so apathetic and willing to make the same mistakes again and again? As we have been travelling it has really impacted upon me how similar people are regardless of language and culture barriers and yet we don't identify with these people who are being killed and robbed of the opportunities that we take for granted because they have a different language and religion. I am rambling now, but I can't get my feelings or ideas straight- I feel like I want to know where I stand- but feel very on the fence in many ways. After today I feel confused but extremely extremely lucky to be born in Parkes in NSW in Australia.
Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City
We travelled 7 hours by bus yesterday to arrive in Saigon. Alas we are coming to the end of our Vietnam adventures and just when I feel we are really getting inside the culture and the country. Disturbingly on the bus journey and just on the outskirts of Saigon I looked up from my book because there were massess of people crowding the opposite side of the highway and traffic was stopped. It was one of those moments where you see something and can't quite reconcile with it so you keep staring until you regret it. A man had been hit by a car on his motorbike and was lying dead under a bamboo covering, his helmeted head out the end and blood everywhere. I have never seen such a sight and it really shocked me actually. Tim was also fairly unnerved and it took me a while to get it out of my system. I have to admit I was waiting to see soemthing like it though- the traffic here is waaaaayyyy crazier than Thailand!
We arrived in the centre of the backpacker area, grabbed a hotel and went for a wander. The Reunification palace was closed for the day so we wandered through the markets.
We arrived in the centre of the backpacker area, grabbed a hotel and went for a wander. The Reunification palace was closed for the day so we wandered through the markets.
Dalat Easy Rider Adventures!
So we were convinced by a man called Nam to go on a motorbike tour with him for the day (he thought we should book in for a week!) around Dalat and the central highlands. We were exceptionally glad that we did as it was such a great day. Nam brought along his touring buddy Hun and Tim rode with Hun and I with Nam. Nam explained that he sued to work for the Easy Rider tour groups, which are people who take you on motorbike tours but that he found that they ripped off tourists and the tour guides equally so branched out on his own, recruiting customers from hotels and the street. This sounds dodgy (maybe it is?) but Hun and Nam were such great guides and really nice guys that we didn't care.
After taking us for breakfast at his mates cafe 'The Peace Cafe", we learnt that Nam (I suppose he would be about 50 or so- Hun was 30) fought on the South side in the Vietnam war. He didn't actually participate in armed combat but flew helicopters to spy on the movements of the Viet Cong. He was adamant that he didn't want Communism then and still does not. I learnt a lot from Nam throughout the day and feel exceptionally lucky to be offered his personal perspective on the war and Vietnam today (although he spoke in hushed tones and cryptic messages for concern that communist Party members should hear him and report his negative ideas). Nam told us that he wanted to be a teacher or a doctor (and as we got to know him over the day his high level of intellect became apparent) but because of the war he said he was about 20 when we joined the army his dream could never come true. In 1975 when the South surrendered to the North all soldiors from the South were taken to the North for one year to live in "re-education camps". Basically these camps indoctrinated them on the merits of communism- Nam didn't go into much more detail so I am not sure how well the pupils were treated during camp time.
So after breakfast we rode to this magnificent Buddhist Temple where Nam explained the various Buddhist ideologies that were reflected in the architecture, the dragon statues etc. Nam was actually Catholic but told us that every night he does more research on various things to tell people on his tours. A very well read man. This temple was extremely colourful and was influenced by the Indian Buddhist principles. The whole front felt like a strange quasi-religious theme park with this massive, rainbow coloured dragon snaking around the whole front area. There were colourful pheonix statues as well. Nam told us that the dragon represents the beginning of the Vietnamese people. A dragon marries a pheonix and has 100 children- then they seperate and the mother takes 50 children into the hills. These children become the current hill tribe people and their last names are taken from their mothers line. The dragon (father) takees the other 50 children into the midlands of Vietnam and these become the current populations of Vietnam and they take their fathers last name.
At the back of this temple was the largest happiest Buddha statue ever. It was white and laughing so hard if he was alive the whole town would rumble. Very beautiful and hilarious at the same time.
Next Nam and Hun drove us out of Dalat and through the mountainous country side, stopping frequently to tell us about the beautiful country side and various farms etc we could see. We stopped at one hillside where they directed us to go for a short hike to the top to check out the view of Dalat in the valley. We wandered up (wuite steep) and indeed the view was spectacular. Tim stopped a lot to take photos of various bugs, fungus and flowers. We were supposed to walk down the other side and meet the guys but got a little confused and wandered down the wrong side- luckily Nam found us!
So off to a coffee farm- where we checked out some plants etc. It was hilarious to see the coffee berries lying in mounds to dry out- complete with pig and chicken sitting amonsgt it. Vietnam is the second highest exporter of coffee next to Brazil. Recently the farmers have been recieving a higher price per kilo for their coffee which has resulted in some new fabulous houses being built around the area that Hun calls the "coffee houses". I have to say watching the farmers and their families slave away proves they deserve more than the 10 000 dong they were getting per kilo before. Always buy free trafe coffee! These people deserve something for their backbreaking work!
Next we rode to this magnificent waterfall called "Elephant Waterfall". Hun took us down a very steep and slippery (it was raining and a little dangerous but very fun) walk to get right down to the bottom of the waterfall, even then walking through a small cavern to go behind the waterfall itself. I was slightly hopeless and ended up getting mud all over me after deliberately sliding down a rock to get to the waterfall. I think the dirtier you get the more fun you end up having in these situations. Needless to say I need new shoes when I get to London as I stepped through mud so sludgy it went nearly to my ankle.
After this Hun and Nam took us to a place to eat lunch where they ordered us traditional Thai Pho- and proudly explained how to eat it. It is basically a noodle soup which is served wqith a range of spices and flavours to add according to your taste- eg: garlic water, chilli, lettuce, lime, mint. It was really delicious. We also hooked into a Saigon beer on Hun's recommendation and it was pretty great too. The whole meal cost 40 000 dong for both tim and I (beer included) which is less than 4 dollars. Unbelievable. I felt like I was robbing them. Here Nam also got us to try a shot of rice wine as we hadn't tried any yet- it tasted similar to vodka but ten times more drinkable. Im sure it gives a nasty hangover though.
But the best part about lunch was that I got Nam talking about Vietnam and I learnt a lot. I asked him about the popularity of Ho Chi Minh in the South- to which he said he could not give a direct answer for fear of who might be listening. Basically the walls have ears in Vietnam and you don't know who is or isn't a loyal Communist Party Member. I think Nam really wanted to communicate his distaste for the regime and we ended up chatting about it for a fair while. He told us that Ho Chi Minh has become a God in Vietnam- which he doesn't agree with because clearly how can any human be a God. He also told us about how the history taught in schools in distorted and every student has to learn the COmmunist Manifesto and study Karl Marx etc. but they don't learn anything about Vietnam before the Revolution. He told us that you cannot ciriticise the government or you will be imprisoned- yet people in the Government can't even operate computers properly. he knows this because his son is in IT and installed computers for the Communist Party in Dalat and yet they ended up not using them and selling them back to him because they couldn't figure them out. these people are not educated and only aquire power thorugh birth and other corrupt means. Vietnam holds elections but the counting of votes isn't made transparent to the people and their is no way to scrutinise the results. Basically the elections are a sham. The same people get into power and won't be removed because to criticise the way they operate would mean imprisonment. These same politicians may hold official positions fpor only 4 years before retiring and living on an infalted pension. The common people of Vietnam do not recieve a pension- when they can't work anymore (and only then) do their chidlren look after them. The homeless and other disadvantaged people recieve no financila assistance from the government. Although Hun said that poor students have free university- but I don't know how poor you need to be and I am supposing that the homeless don't count! It seems very much to be in opposition to the ideologies of Ho Chi Minh we have been reading about on our travels. I do beleive Ho Chi Minh had a great vision for his country but it has been severely distorted and corrupted by greedy and stupid power mongers. Nam also told us that the internet here is censored so it is difficult for people to get real news stories. The only people who can easily travel outside Vietnam are the government officials. He tried to go to America for his nieces wedding (who was going to pay for eveyrthing as the Dong is worthless) bvut America wouldn't let Nam in for fear he would stay. It is the same for many Vietnamese trying to holiday or visit family in america as well as Australia. Very sad. I can't see how the system will change if the people can't get access to the real world to make life comparisions. They are trapped.
After lunch we went to a silk worm factory and a rice wine farm.
Finally we made our way back into Dalat where we went to this place called 'Crazy House"- and it lived up to its nickname and then some. Designed and built by the dauighter of the Secretary of the COmmunist Party and official for Propoganda ( I love it how they openly admit to having an official for propoganda- in a democracy we would call it Public relations!)- the house is built to be like a giant tree. It is massive and each bedroom has a different animal inside it - basically its a kids cubby house dream and Tim and I ahd an excellent time wandering around, climbing up the drum like stairs and crossing the rickety bridges. I can't explain what it was like in words- so if your interested google "crazy house Dalat"- Im sure there will be pictures.
This marked the end of the day and it was sad to say goodbye to Hun and Nam who were so wodnerful. If we had met them at the beginning of our trip we would have definitely signed up for a week long adventure with them- if you go to Vietnam we will give your their email- amazing!
After taking us for breakfast at his mates cafe 'The Peace Cafe", we learnt that Nam (I suppose he would be about 50 or so- Hun was 30) fought on the South side in the Vietnam war. He didn't actually participate in armed combat but flew helicopters to spy on the movements of the Viet Cong. He was adamant that he didn't want Communism then and still does not. I learnt a lot from Nam throughout the day and feel exceptionally lucky to be offered his personal perspective on the war and Vietnam today (although he spoke in hushed tones and cryptic messages for concern that communist Party members should hear him and report his negative ideas). Nam told us that he wanted to be a teacher or a doctor (and as we got to know him over the day his high level of intellect became apparent) but because of the war he said he was about 20 when we joined the army his dream could never come true. In 1975 when the South surrendered to the North all soldiors from the South were taken to the North for one year to live in "re-education camps". Basically these camps indoctrinated them on the merits of communism- Nam didn't go into much more detail so I am not sure how well the pupils were treated during camp time.
So after breakfast we rode to this magnificent Buddhist Temple where Nam explained the various Buddhist ideologies that were reflected in the architecture, the dragon statues etc. Nam was actually Catholic but told us that every night he does more research on various things to tell people on his tours. A very well read man. This temple was extremely colourful and was influenced by the Indian Buddhist principles. The whole front felt like a strange quasi-religious theme park with this massive, rainbow coloured dragon snaking around the whole front area. There were colourful pheonix statues as well. Nam told us that the dragon represents the beginning of the Vietnamese people. A dragon marries a pheonix and has 100 children- then they seperate and the mother takes 50 children into the hills. These children become the current hill tribe people and their last names are taken from their mothers line. The dragon (father) takees the other 50 children into the midlands of Vietnam and these become the current populations of Vietnam and they take their fathers last name.
At the back of this temple was the largest happiest Buddha statue ever. It was white and laughing so hard if he was alive the whole town would rumble. Very beautiful and hilarious at the same time.
Next Nam and Hun drove us out of Dalat and through the mountainous country side, stopping frequently to tell us about the beautiful country side and various farms etc we could see. We stopped at one hillside where they directed us to go for a short hike to the top to check out the view of Dalat in the valley. We wandered up (wuite steep) and indeed the view was spectacular. Tim stopped a lot to take photos of various bugs, fungus and flowers. We were supposed to walk down the other side and meet the guys but got a little confused and wandered down the wrong side- luckily Nam found us!
So off to a coffee farm- where we checked out some plants etc. It was hilarious to see the coffee berries lying in mounds to dry out- complete with pig and chicken sitting amonsgt it. Vietnam is the second highest exporter of coffee next to Brazil. Recently the farmers have been recieving a higher price per kilo for their coffee which has resulted in some new fabulous houses being built around the area that Hun calls the "coffee houses". I have to say watching the farmers and their families slave away proves they deserve more than the 10 000 dong they were getting per kilo before. Always buy free trafe coffee! These people deserve something for their backbreaking work!
Next we rode to this magnificent waterfall called "Elephant Waterfall". Hun took us down a very steep and slippery (it was raining and a little dangerous but very fun) walk to get right down to the bottom of the waterfall, even then walking through a small cavern to go behind the waterfall itself. I was slightly hopeless and ended up getting mud all over me after deliberately sliding down a rock to get to the waterfall. I think the dirtier you get the more fun you end up having in these situations. Needless to say I need new shoes when I get to London as I stepped through mud so sludgy it went nearly to my ankle.
After this Hun and Nam took us to a place to eat lunch where they ordered us traditional Thai Pho- and proudly explained how to eat it. It is basically a noodle soup which is served wqith a range of spices and flavours to add according to your taste- eg: garlic water, chilli, lettuce, lime, mint. It was really delicious. We also hooked into a Saigon beer on Hun's recommendation and it was pretty great too. The whole meal cost 40 000 dong for both tim and I (beer included) which is less than 4 dollars. Unbelievable. I felt like I was robbing them. Here Nam also got us to try a shot of rice wine as we hadn't tried any yet- it tasted similar to vodka but ten times more drinkable. Im sure it gives a nasty hangover though.
But the best part about lunch was that I got Nam talking about Vietnam and I learnt a lot. I asked him about the popularity of Ho Chi Minh in the South- to which he said he could not give a direct answer for fear of who might be listening. Basically the walls have ears in Vietnam and you don't know who is or isn't a loyal Communist Party Member. I think Nam really wanted to communicate his distaste for the regime and we ended up chatting about it for a fair while. He told us that Ho Chi Minh has become a God in Vietnam- which he doesn't agree with because clearly how can any human be a God. He also told us about how the history taught in schools in distorted and every student has to learn the COmmunist Manifesto and study Karl Marx etc. but they don't learn anything about Vietnam before the Revolution. He told us that you cannot ciriticise the government or you will be imprisoned- yet people in the Government can't even operate computers properly. he knows this because his son is in IT and installed computers for the Communist Party in Dalat and yet they ended up not using them and selling them back to him because they couldn't figure them out. these people are not educated and only aquire power thorugh birth and other corrupt means. Vietnam holds elections but the counting of votes isn't made transparent to the people and their is no way to scrutinise the results. Basically the elections are a sham. The same people get into power and won't be removed because to criticise the way they operate would mean imprisonment. These same politicians may hold official positions fpor only 4 years before retiring and living on an infalted pension. The common people of Vietnam do not recieve a pension- when they can't work anymore (and only then) do their chidlren look after them. The homeless and other disadvantaged people recieve no financila assistance from the government. Although Hun said that poor students have free university- but I don't know how poor you need to be and I am supposing that the homeless don't count! It seems very much to be in opposition to the ideologies of Ho Chi Minh we have been reading about on our travels. I do beleive Ho Chi Minh had a great vision for his country but it has been severely distorted and corrupted by greedy and stupid power mongers. Nam also told us that the internet here is censored so it is difficult for people to get real news stories. The only people who can easily travel outside Vietnam are the government officials. He tried to go to America for his nieces wedding (who was going to pay for eveyrthing as the Dong is worthless) bvut America wouldn't let Nam in for fear he would stay. It is the same for many Vietnamese trying to holiday or visit family in america as well as Australia. Very sad. I can't see how the system will change if the people can't get access to the real world to make life comparisions. They are trapped.
After lunch we went to a silk worm factory and a rice wine farm.
Finally we made our way back into Dalat where we went to this place called 'Crazy House"- and it lived up to its nickname and then some. Designed and built by the dauighter of the Secretary of the COmmunist Party and official for Propoganda ( I love it how they openly admit to having an official for propoganda- in a democracy we would call it Public relations!)- the house is built to be like a giant tree. It is massive and each bedroom has a different animal inside it - basically its a kids cubby house dream and Tim and I ahd an excellent time wandering around, climbing up the drum like stairs and crossing the rickety bridges. I can't explain what it was like in words- so if your interested google "crazy house Dalat"- Im sure there will be pictures.
This marked the end of the day and it was sad to say goodbye to Hun and Nam who were so wodnerful. If we had met them at the beginning of our trip we would have definitely signed up for a week long adventure with them- if you go to Vietnam we will give your their email- amazing!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Hoi an and rain
So today is the 20th? I don't know just guessing. But we are leaving tonight on the overnight bus (groan!) to Nha Thrang where apparently it will be raining also- so much for lounging on the beach cocktail in hand. We might go to Dalat in the highlands instead. But today we spent the afternoon sitting in the pub drinking irish coffee playing foozball and pool. Nice to unwind after constant sightseeing. Even though its all incredible- it gets a bit relentless and you don' appreciate it if you don't take a break. So in a way weather is welcome- but not now we want Beach!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Hoi An again!
We wanted to get the overnight us today to Nha Trang but missed out on seats- so we thought we would spend a lazy day on the beach- unfortunately we woke to find that it was pissing down with rain again! So we slowly made our way t a cafe for lunch/breakast and playe some pool. Not much else to tell really.
Hoi An and My Son
This morning we travelled by bus to My Son which is aout 35km out of Hoi An and translates to mean Beautiful Mountain. Built between the 4th and 14th Centuries these temples combine Cham culture and Hindu religious symbols. It is an extremely interesting place and is listed as a world heritage site as well. Unfortunately the atmosphere as spoiled by the masses of tourists- but Tim and I seperated from the group and managed to get soem good shots minus all the tourists. Many of the sites have been destroyed from age and the war- but what was left was beautiful. We spent a couple of hours here wandering through the jungle and looking at these temples. Tim and I wandered off the official path and made our way through a muddy hidden path to find a small ruin others didn't see. Nice to be naughty!
We then came home and spent the afternoon relaxing over lunch, dinner and then some drinks at the Before and Now bar- this place mixed revolutionary images with pop culture- Che Guevara in a Coke adertisement for example. There was an art work that had portraits of Che, Kafka, Ho Chi, Stalin, Lennin, Marx, Maralyn Monroe, Jennifer, Garner, Mao, Nelson Mandela. This guy told us that art exhibits in Vietnam have to be authorised by the government and that images of Stalin and Lennin couldn't be placed beneath other images of poeple. It was a good place with the end of happy hour marked by a great bronze gong!
We then came home and spent the afternoon relaxing over lunch, dinner and then some drinks at the Before and Now bar- this place mixed revolutionary images with pop culture- Che Guevara in a Coke adertisement for example. There was an art work that had portraits of Che, Kafka, Ho Chi, Stalin, Lennin, Marx, Maralyn Monroe, Jennifer, Garner, Mao, Nelson Mandela. This guy told us that art exhibits in Vietnam have to be authorised by the government and that images of Stalin and Lennin couldn't be placed beneath other images of poeple. It was a good place with the end of happy hour marked by a great bronze gong!
Hoi An - officially in the South!
So we jumped on a bus early this morning headed to hoi An. Its like 200km but again was a 4 hour journey due to dodgy roads and a infestation of crazy motorbike drivers.
Hoi An is a lovely spot- the centre of the town is like a French village with narrow streets and French style buildings along the river. Beautiful Vietnamese lanterns line the streets. We hired some bikes and decided we would ride the 5km out of town to the Beach (it is called Cau Dai- but runs in the famous China Beach down to Danang- American soldiors used this beach on their r and r). We had a very limited map and thought we were headed in the right direction- after about 10 kms we kind of thought we would have seen some trails of sand or something! But it wasnt all a loss- we cycled through some great country side and stumbled into a little handicraft village that specialises in pottery. Here we stopped because Jenny rang and while tim was chatting on the phone I chatted to three mischevious boys of about 4! Well I hope we chatted- they talked in Viet and I spoke in English and they seemed to think it was hilarious- they kept singing this song to me and laughing and running around excitedly- they could have been singing "ugly white tourist" for all I know - but I thought they were pretty funny and cute. No video games to ocupy these guys- sticks, dirt and song! good times!
So when we eventually realised we were headed to Danang and not ot the beach we turned around. Eventually we made it t the beach and sat down to chill out- it was about4pm- cold by this time and no good for swimming. We were seated for about 2 mins when a woman came and joined us trying to sell us some cheap wallets and other crappy items- I swear these people need to get an idiots guide to marketing- if they were selling drinks and icecreams we would have bought up big- no point buying purses you can get in Clints Crazy Bargains back home. She tried every trick in the book- flattery, guilt, blackmail and bribery- but we didn't give in! We were forced to move and went for a walk along the beach, padding our feet along the way.
We went to this hilarious restaraunt on the river for dinner. It is run by this guy called Mr Kim. There is no set menu- you just choose vegetarian, meat or seafood and he serves you a 5 course meal of whatever he fancies cooking that night. He has had food exhibitions in Europe and is very proud of the little book that tourists write in praising his food! As soon as you go inside he asks where you're from and presents you with the countless testimonies from your national commrades. The food was great and we are now getting into the Vietnamese food with gusto. Its a nice change from Thai as the flavours are a little more subtle.
When we left the restauraunt we foudn that the King tide had swelled the river up to lap at the steps of the restaraunt. No one seemed t care- waking through it up to their ankles.
Hoi An is a lovely spot- the centre of the town is like a French village with narrow streets and French style buildings along the river. Beautiful Vietnamese lanterns line the streets. We hired some bikes and decided we would ride the 5km out of town to the Beach (it is called Cau Dai- but runs in the famous China Beach down to Danang- American soldiors used this beach on their r and r). We had a very limited map and thought we were headed in the right direction- after about 10 kms we kind of thought we would have seen some trails of sand or something! But it wasnt all a loss- we cycled through some great country side and stumbled into a little handicraft village that specialises in pottery. Here we stopped because Jenny rang and while tim was chatting on the phone I chatted to three mischevious boys of about 4! Well I hope we chatted- they talked in Viet and I spoke in English and they seemed to think it was hilarious- they kept singing this song to me and laughing and running around excitedly- they could have been singing "ugly white tourist" for all I know - but I thought they were pretty funny and cute. No video games to ocupy these guys- sticks, dirt and song! good times!
So when we eventually realised we were headed to Danang and not ot the beach we turned around. Eventually we made it t the beach and sat down to chill out- it was about4pm- cold by this time and no good for swimming. We were seated for about 2 mins when a woman came and joined us trying to sell us some cheap wallets and other crappy items- I swear these people need to get an idiots guide to marketing- if they were selling drinks and icecreams we would have bought up big- no point buying purses you can get in Clints Crazy Bargains back home. She tried every trick in the book- flattery, guilt, blackmail and bribery- but we didn't give in! We were forced to move and went for a walk along the beach, padding our feet along the way.
We went to this hilarious restaraunt on the river for dinner. It is run by this guy called Mr Kim. There is no set menu- you just choose vegetarian, meat or seafood and he serves you a 5 course meal of whatever he fancies cooking that night. He has had food exhibitions in Europe and is very proud of the little book that tourists write in praising his food! As soon as you go inside he asks where you're from and presents you with the countless testimonies from your national commrades. The food was great and we are now getting into the Vietnamese food with gusto. Its a nice change from Thai as the flavours are a little more subtle.
When we left the restauraunt we foudn that the King tide had swelled the river up to lap at the steps of the restaraunt. No one seemed t care- waking through it up to their ankles.
Hue- the town beore being officially in the South!
So we spent the next day in Hue aboard a boat going down the Hoan something river (I forget- but it translates to the Perfume River - as seemingly do a lot of places!). Again we were with a bunch of super sour European tourists- they all look like they'd been intellectually raped by very boring Mr Sheen lool alike university lecturers. You couldn't get a smile out of these people if you threatened them with a shot gun. So I am going to assume they are all Polish- I've heard the polish are very displeased with life. The weather decided to keep the morose Polish tourists company by raiing drearily the whole day. But it was ok- I got to buy a huge purple rain coat and make Tim wear it! So that made everything fun again!
We cruised the river first stopping at this temple that was also a monastry. It was first built in the 12th Century and was incredibly beautiful. The grey rain seemed to heighten the atmosphere. The temple with three buddha statues inside was surrounded by very structured gardens with many bonzais etc. You can really see the difference between the Thai temples and the Vietnamese temples in the architecture- the Vietnamese are more influenced y China and use a lot of red and gold- the Thai are more white and gold and have different rooves. Tim and I never end up sticking with the tour group at these places a.) because the tourists are such mouldy companions and b.) bcause the tour guid is so hard to understand it doen't really enlighten us any.
In the temple complex was a school- we assume it was a it of Sunday school type thing as it was full of boys with really awesome monk haircuts (and it was Sunday). But I found it a bit weird to see all the tourists sticking their cameras inside the windows and photographng the boys- maybe its the educator inside me but I can't imagin they could concentrate very well- also they didn't ask their permission which I think is a human rights violation however small and insignificant.
After this we sailed to the Tu Doc Tomb- which is a big complex pretocted by world heritage that has the tombs of some Emporer from 1840 and his wife and adopted son. Again I have no idea why he was adopted- we didn't stick with the guide. But it was a sprawling complex with beautiful gardens and amazing old ruins. Much had been bombed by the Americans and some was under reconstruction. We were lucky to see much of it as it would have been though.
We then continued to the Ming Manh tomb- which Lonely Planet claimed was the most magnifient- well Lonely Planet I would like to refute that! Tu Doc was far more exciting.
After this we sailed back into Hue and Tim and I made our way to the DMZ (demilitarised zone)bar- which is basically a backpacker hot spot- but has a lot of personality with graffiti over the walls and cieling, great music and great cocktails and beers. We spent the evening drining the local brew (Hue beer and Huda Beer) which is by far the best beer we've had- super tasty and super potent apparently as after 3 I was pissed as a parrot. It was a really great evenign though- drinking and chatting and planning. But it made me a little homesick for the good times at the Union on King street.
We cruised the river first stopping at this temple that was also a monastry. It was first built in the 12th Century and was incredibly beautiful. The grey rain seemed to heighten the atmosphere. The temple with three buddha statues inside was surrounded by very structured gardens with many bonzais etc. You can really see the difference between the Thai temples and the Vietnamese temples in the architecture- the Vietnamese are more influenced y China and use a lot of red and gold- the Thai are more white and gold and have different rooves. Tim and I never end up sticking with the tour group at these places a.) because the tourists are such mouldy companions and b.) bcause the tour guid is so hard to understand it doen't really enlighten us any.
In the temple complex was a school- we assume it was a it of Sunday school type thing as it was full of boys with really awesome monk haircuts (and it was Sunday). But I found it a bit weird to see all the tourists sticking their cameras inside the windows and photographng the boys- maybe its the educator inside me but I can't imagin they could concentrate very well- also they didn't ask their permission which I think is a human rights violation however small and insignificant.
After this we sailed to the Tu Doc Tomb- which is a big complex pretocted by world heritage that has the tombs of some Emporer from 1840 and his wife and adopted son. Again I have no idea why he was adopted- we didn't stick with the guide. But it was a sprawling complex with beautiful gardens and amazing old ruins. Much had been bombed by the Americans and some was under reconstruction. We were lucky to see much of it as it would have been though.
We then continued to the Ming Manh tomb- which Lonely Planet claimed was the most magnifient- well Lonely Planet I would like to refute that! Tu Doc was far more exciting.
After this we sailed back into Hue and Tim and I made our way to the DMZ (demilitarised zone)bar- which is basically a backpacker hot spot- but has a lot of personality with graffiti over the walls and cieling, great music and great cocktails and beers. We spent the evening drining the local brew (Hue beer and Huda Beer) which is by far the best beer we've had- super tasty and super potent apparently as after 3 I was pissed as a parrot. It was a really great evenign though- drinking and chatting and planning. But it made me a little homesick for the good times at the Union on King street.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Tim is super popular in Vietnam!
I will just start this blog (which will be very long covering about 5 days worth of exciting adventures) by saying that Tim is the new poster boy in Vietnam! Women love him and men want to be him. Everywhere we go we get stopped so that people can have photos with Tim- seriously at Ho chi Minh's house on stilts there was a longer line of people wanting to have photos with Tim than to see the house! Its the beard. Its quite Ho Chi Minh reminiscent and they can't get enough of it- the men give him thumbs up and rub their beardless faces in self pity and the women blush and giggle when they stand near him. Its hilarious! If we had charged per photo we could have financed at least another month of travel!
Ok so we got roped into this tour to Halong Bay. Having arrived in Hanoi and been completely shocked by the chaos we couldn't get our bearings to figure out how to get there on our own and because it was a good price we thought it would be nice and relaxed and easy. Wrong. We have learnt a seriously big lesson- NEVER even think about, consider briefly, contemplate, day dream about or actually take an organised tour! EVER! The tour itself was fairly bland but was not the worst aspect at all. Tim and I have enjoyed the independent nature of our trip, making our way to places as we want to and just exploring them at our own pace in our own way, wandering, biking etc. Obviously on this tour everything is structured- they pick you up, tell you when to eat, when to relieve yourself, when to sleep. Our tour guide (one of about 6 as we were constantly shuffled between different groups for some reason) on the boat was very nice. He spoke enough English to communicate and had a good sense of humour. But seemed insistent upon organising people to eat with their own kind- Aussies with Aussies etc. But Tim and I got rejected by this Australian group of two middle aged couples claiming "We don't want to sit with other australians" like we were the scum of the earth or something. But thank god because as it turned out- they were the scum of the earth. Maybe I exaggerate slightly for dramatic affect- but they were pretty bad. We had to travel 4 hours by mini bus to Halong City which is where we boarded an old junk to cruise to and around Halong Bay and also to sleep on that night. It was pretty fun getting to just soak up the sun and let the giant limestone rocks and floating fishing villages pass us by. But during this 3-4 hours the Australian females got loaded up on a cheap bottle of scotch and then the embarrassment began. I had quite nastily labeled them as bogans even before this and was quite impressed with my own instincts when their actions continued to prove correct to my estimations. During the meal times one of the women very loudly and rudely made comments about how disgusting the food was and about how she didn't like rice and then continued to make rude comments about how the Vietnamese people couldn't speak English. I wasn't game enough to ask her how fluently she spoke Vietnamese. Anyway it proved to be quite entertaining to watch her husband trying to keep her in line and also the next morning to see her thrown out of her cabin with a hangover! Justice comes to all that wait.
We went into a massive cave called "The surprising cave" and we were surprised to see that there was no running water in it... very odd! Also it was decked out in garish disco light decor. Not that great. Bit touristy.
Anyway onto more exciting and less nasty blogging. We were fortunate enough to meet a lovely Father daughter traveling duo from Singapore. We also met a family from Singapore earlier that were incredibly friendly. Good people so far! The daughter had spent time in Melbourne at university and they had both traveled around Australia a bit and were keen for a chat and sharing information about life in Singapore which was great. But we were only traveling with them for one night (as I mentioned before we were shuffled around a lot- which probably made the tour less fun- couldn't bond with anyone for long and make new friends).
Anyway our little cabin was rather romantic- slightly dodgy but that made it all the more exciting. For example the sink wasn't attached to the wall and the water ran straight down the sink and onto the floor. but I digress again....
After a night on the boat we woke up to the singing of the cabin crew preparing breakfast in the kitchen next door. Then we went kayaking. This was the part we were both looking forward to and have been told would be lengthy and involve exploring caverns in the bay etc. So we were disappointed when our guide told us we had 25 minutes and should just lap the boat 5 times. Lap the boat? Bullshit! We decided to take our time exploring and ended up rowing around the rocks and little fishing villages for more like 40 minutes (still too short) before being called back in. we were able to see goats waking up the steep rock faces which was pretty cool- from a distance we thought they were monkeys! Idiots!
After this we continued on the junk to Cat Ba island. We were again sent to another group to do a 2,.5 hour trek up the tallest peak on the island. It would have been great if there weren't 40 other people walking in a line. It was very steep and involved clambering over a lot fo big rocks- I felt extremely adventurous! Tim less so as he is more of a trekker than I. The top of the mountain had a big metal ladder thingy on it you couldn't continue up- Tim made it to the top but I stopped 2 thirds of the way up- little bit of vertigo! Views were pretty cool. On the way back down we got chatting to another Australian couple who relieved us of the cultural shame we were suffering from the boat bogans. Really nice people- shame we again got split up before going to the hotel. The girl was an english teacher and Tim thinks teachers just seek each other out- maybe true.
anyway that afternoon we were given free time (or so we think!). Tim and I were dropped at one hotel on our own with limited explanation. Also the people at the hotel spoke no english and we weren';t sure whether we were supposed to get picked up again or not. We decided to just go for a wander ourselves and made our way to the beach for a swim and relax. It was kind of cold but fun. No waves but very deep.
The next day we were picked up again and cruised the Bay again. We eventually got back to Halong city and were dropped off and shoved into yet another group for lunch. We sat with a couple of French Canadians and a Vietnamese tourist. We had only been there about 20 minutes- not even finished our lunch when we were ushered onto another bus to go. another reason tours are no fun. we had been having a good time eating and chatting only to be moved on because some other tourists were in a bad mood and wanted to go. We got into the bus where an extremely rude and abusive American woman and an even ruder French couple were abusing the Vietnamese tour guys - they were so over the top I got instantly angry and made some rude comments about them myself - then I went over the top and TIm had to calm me down. But the French guy got right into the Vietnamese guys face and spoke so patronisingly to him about wanting to leave that I just felt sympathy for him and couldn't help but be bitchy to the asshole. We had to spend 4 hours with these dickwads who kept whinging about it being slow because they ahd planes to catch that night. The tour said we weren't due back in Hanoi until 5 so I don't know why they felt the right to complain. Anyway we made it back by 5 and Tim and I went to our hotel again.
The next day (i think 12th?) we were due to go on the overnight bus to Hue- so we had the whole day in Hanoi again. Which turned out to be great. We caught a cyclo to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. unfortunately his body in in Russia at the moment where it goes every year for maintenance. I suppose they get all the dead Socialist Revolutionary's together for a bit of a repair and funfare! It was a shame because as far as dead revolutionary's go Ho Chi Minh is at the top of my list. I have a growing crush. He has a very cheeky smile and after going to the museum and learning more about him he was a very amazing leader.
We went to his stilt house where he lived while he was president. It was minimalist and represented the fact that he didn't want to be above the people. Comparing this residence to the nearby Presidential Palace of the turn of the 19th century really exemplified this fact. we also saw the house where he lived during the resistance to the French in the 1950s. it was only slightly more luxurious. Nearby was the bunker he and others hid in during bombing raids by the Americans.
Next to all of this was a man made lake thing full of massive koi. Here we saw one of the weirdest things. A woman threw food into the lake and suddenly out of nowhere hundreds of koi were literally jumping out of the water to get the food- they were so frantic they were moving on top of each other above the surface of the water. So weird I can't properly explain it- but we have good video!
Anyway we moved onto the Ho Chi Minh museum- which was incredible. Amongst detailing the Socialist movement in Vietnam and aspacts of the american aggression, memorabilia, letters etc of Ho Chi Minh were these aamazing symbolic art works. They were put together to show a variety of things, including the rise of Facism around the world and how it impacted on the Socialist movement etc.
Most inspiring to me were the words of Ho Chi Minh- which were all about creating a socially responsible country where all people are educated, respected and about progressing the nation towards increased wealth and participation in the world. I can't explain his work really- but he was very focused on education and would bring the top students to the Presidential palace every year to encourage them and the nation to learn and work. He also visited remote farming villages and particiapted in every aspect of the nation. i think he really was a man of the people and you can tell by all the photos that he was genuine unlike many other world leaders and revolutionary's.
By this stage of the day we had to make our way back to our hotel and go to the bus.
Wow the overnight bus was an experience. Each person is given a bed to lie on- it is half raised and half flat- and about 5 feet long. Really weird! The journey was supposed to take 12 hours- al night. Huy is only about 500 km's from Hanoi but the roads and traffic are so bad that it takes this long. we were driving over half build roads and in the middle of the night the tire blew. My bed was directly over the tire area and I awoke thinking we were having an accident. SO ultimately our trip took more like 15 hours! We arrived in Hue at about 9am.
We booked into a hotel and set about hiring some bikes and taking a look around the city. The city has a population of about 260 000- so a bit smaller and more accessible for exploration. We rode up to the Forbidden Purple City- which is an ancient walled section of Hue that the Emporer used to live in. Much of this was destroyed by bombs in the war but what does remain is quite magnificent. We wandered (tiredly) around this for a few hours- there was a lot of explore. Then we rode around the city some more - in the area known as the Citadel- basically the city centre. We managed to ride off the beaten track into a residential area- which was really interesting- as we were able to see some of the houses (even perving inside as a lot were open) and see how they live.
Tomorrow we hope to cruise the Perfume River and see the tombs of the Emperors.
Ok so we got roped into this tour to Halong Bay. Having arrived in Hanoi and been completely shocked by the chaos we couldn't get our bearings to figure out how to get there on our own and because it was a good price we thought it would be nice and relaxed and easy. Wrong. We have learnt a seriously big lesson- NEVER even think about, consider briefly, contemplate, day dream about or actually take an organised tour! EVER! The tour itself was fairly bland but was not the worst aspect at all. Tim and I have enjoyed the independent nature of our trip, making our way to places as we want to and just exploring them at our own pace in our own way, wandering, biking etc. Obviously on this tour everything is structured- they pick you up, tell you when to eat, when to relieve yourself, when to sleep. Our tour guide (one of about 6 as we were constantly shuffled between different groups for some reason) on the boat was very nice. He spoke enough English to communicate and had a good sense of humour. But seemed insistent upon organising people to eat with their own kind- Aussies with Aussies etc. But Tim and I got rejected by this Australian group of two middle aged couples claiming "We don't want to sit with other australians" like we were the scum of the earth or something. But thank god because as it turned out- they were the scum of the earth. Maybe I exaggerate slightly for dramatic affect- but they were pretty bad. We had to travel 4 hours by mini bus to Halong City which is where we boarded an old junk to cruise to and around Halong Bay and also to sleep on that night. It was pretty fun getting to just soak up the sun and let the giant limestone rocks and floating fishing villages pass us by. But during this 3-4 hours the Australian females got loaded up on a cheap bottle of scotch and then the embarrassment began. I had quite nastily labeled them as bogans even before this and was quite impressed with my own instincts when their actions continued to prove correct to my estimations. During the meal times one of the women very loudly and rudely made comments about how disgusting the food was and about how she didn't like rice and then continued to make rude comments about how the Vietnamese people couldn't speak English. I wasn't game enough to ask her how fluently she spoke Vietnamese. Anyway it proved to be quite entertaining to watch her husband trying to keep her in line and also the next morning to see her thrown out of her cabin with a hangover! Justice comes to all that wait.
We went into a massive cave called "The surprising cave" and we were surprised to see that there was no running water in it... very odd! Also it was decked out in garish disco light decor. Not that great. Bit touristy.
Anyway onto more exciting and less nasty blogging. We were fortunate enough to meet a lovely Father daughter traveling duo from Singapore. We also met a family from Singapore earlier that were incredibly friendly. Good people so far! The daughter had spent time in Melbourne at university and they had both traveled around Australia a bit and were keen for a chat and sharing information about life in Singapore which was great. But we were only traveling with them for one night (as I mentioned before we were shuffled around a lot- which probably made the tour less fun- couldn't bond with anyone for long and make new friends).
Anyway our little cabin was rather romantic- slightly dodgy but that made it all the more exciting. For example the sink wasn't attached to the wall and the water ran straight down the sink and onto the floor. but I digress again....
After a night on the boat we woke up to the singing of the cabin crew preparing breakfast in the kitchen next door. Then we went kayaking. This was the part we were both looking forward to and have been told would be lengthy and involve exploring caverns in the bay etc. So we were disappointed when our guide told us we had 25 minutes and should just lap the boat 5 times. Lap the boat? Bullshit! We decided to take our time exploring and ended up rowing around the rocks and little fishing villages for more like 40 minutes (still too short) before being called back in. we were able to see goats waking up the steep rock faces which was pretty cool- from a distance we thought they were monkeys! Idiots!
After this we continued on the junk to Cat Ba island. We were again sent to another group to do a 2,.5 hour trek up the tallest peak on the island. It would have been great if there weren't 40 other people walking in a line. It was very steep and involved clambering over a lot fo big rocks- I felt extremely adventurous! Tim less so as he is more of a trekker than I. The top of the mountain had a big metal ladder thingy on it you couldn't continue up- Tim made it to the top but I stopped 2 thirds of the way up- little bit of vertigo! Views were pretty cool. On the way back down we got chatting to another Australian couple who relieved us of the cultural shame we were suffering from the boat bogans. Really nice people- shame we again got split up before going to the hotel. The girl was an english teacher and Tim thinks teachers just seek each other out- maybe true.
anyway that afternoon we were given free time (or so we think!). Tim and I were dropped at one hotel on our own with limited explanation. Also the people at the hotel spoke no english and we weren';t sure whether we were supposed to get picked up again or not. We decided to just go for a wander ourselves and made our way to the beach for a swim and relax. It was kind of cold but fun. No waves but very deep.
The next day we were picked up again and cruised the Bay again. We eventually got back to Halong city and were dropped off and shoved into yet another group for lunch. We sat with a couple of French Canadians and a Vietnamese tourist. We had only been there about 20 minutes- not even finished our lunch when we were ushered onto another bus to go. another reason tours are no fun. we had been having a good time eating and chatting only to be moved on because some other tourists were in a bad mood and wanted to go. We got into the bus where an extremely rude and abusive American woman and an even ruder French couple were abusing the Vietnamese tour guys - they were so over the top I got instantly angry and made some rude comments about them myself - then I went over the top and TIm had to calm me down. But the French guy got right into the Vietnamese guys face and spoke so patronisingly to him about wanting to leave that I just felt sympathy for him and couldn't help but be bitchy to the asshole. We had to spend 4 hours with these dickwads who kept whinging about it being slow because they ahd planes to catch that night. The tour said we weren't due back in Hanoi until 5 so I don't know why they felt the right to complain. Anyway we made it back by 5 and Tim and I went to our hotel again.
The next day (i think 12th?) we were due to go on the overnight bus to Hue- so we had the whole day in Hanoi again. Which turned out to be great. We caught a cyclo to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. unfortunately his body in in Russia at the moment where it goes every year for maintenance. I suppose they get all the dead Socialist Revolutionary's together for a bit of a repair and funfare! It was a shame because as far as dead revolutionary's go Ho Chi Minh is at the top of my list. I have a growing crush. He has a very cheeky smile and after going to the museum and learning more about him he was a very amazing leader.
We went to his stilt house where he lived while he was president. It was minimalist and represented the fact that he didn't want to be above the people. Comparing this residence to the nearby Presidential Palace of the turn of the 19th century really exemplified this fact. we also saw the house where he lived during the resistance to the French in the 1950s. it was only slightly more luxurious. Nearby was the bunker he and others hid in during bombing raids by the Americans.
Next to all of this was a man made lake thing full of massive koi. Here we saw one of the weirdest things. A woman threw food into the lake and suddenly out of nowhere hundreds of koi were literally jumping out of the water to get the food- they were so frantic they were moving on top of each other above the surface of the water. So weird I can't properly explain it- but we have good video!
Anyway we moved onto the Ho Chi Minh museum- which was incredible. Amongst detailing the Socialist movement in Vietnam and aspacts of the american aggression, memorabilia, letters etc of Ho Chi Minh were these aamazing symbolic art works. They were put together to show a variety of things, including the rise of Facism around the world and how it impacted on the Socialist movement etc.
Most inspiring to me were the words of Ho Chi Minh- which were all about creating a socially responsible country where all people are educated, respected and about progressing the nation towards increased wealth and participation in the world. I can't explain his work really- but he was very focused on education and would bring the top students to the Presidential palace every year to encourage them and the nation to learn and work. He also visited remote farming villages and particiapted in every aspect of the nation. i think he really was a man of the people and you can tell by all the photos that he was genuine unlike many other world leaders and revolutionary's.
By this stage of the day we had to make our way back to our hotel and go to the bus.
Wow the overnight bus was an experience. Each person is given a bed to lie on- it is half raised and half flat- and about 5 feet long. Really weird! The journey was supposed to take 12 hours- al night. Huy is only about 500 km's from Hanoi but the roads and traffic are so bad that it takes this long. we were driving over half build roads and in the middle of the night the tire blew. My bed was directly over the tire area and I awoke thinking we were having an accident. SO ultimately our trip took more like 15 hours! We arrived in Hue at about 9am.
We booked into a hotel and set about hiring some bikes and taking a look around the city. The city has a population of about 260 000- so a bit smaller and more accessible for exploration. We rode up to the Forbidden Purple City- which is an ancient walled section of Hue that the Emporer used to live in. Much of this was destroyed by bombs in the war but what does remain is quite magnificent. We wandered (tiredly) around this for a few hours- there was a lot of explore. Then we rode around the city some more - in the area known as the Citadel- basically the city centre. We managed to ride off the beaten track into a residential area- which was really interesting- as we were able to see some of the houses (even perving inside as a lot were open) and see how they live.
Tomorrow we hope to cruise the Perfume River and see the tombs of the Emperors.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
We are Hanoi capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam!
So we arrived on our delayed flight from Bangkok to Hanoi last nhight. I feel weird getting into a new place in the dark- it feels covert and suspicious. Plus its hard to get a feel for where in the hell you are sleeping! Our motel is in the Old Quarter which is a rabbit warren of little alleyways divided up by old french style apartments and shops. I have decided that Hanoi is the weirdest place we have been to so far. The streets are about 2 metres wide and you can't walk on the pavement because they are cluttered with parked motorbikes and people sitting outside their shops. So you have to walk in the gutter or along the middle of the road which is buzzing with motorbikes, bicylcles and the occasional car not to mention people. There seems to be absolutely no order- there are some pedestrian crossings on the larger roads- but cars and motorbikes only slow down if you are crossing in front of them- so you have to just cross and hope for the best because the stream of traffic is constant and if you wait you will be there until the day you die. Sometimes we are pros and other times not so pro. I have found my hat obscures my vision and is a road crossing hazard! We woke up this morning to the incessent sound of horns honking! They never stop- a horn is supposed to warn you that there is a car or motorbike approaching you- but considering in Hanoi you are basically drowning in a sea of traffic it seems a little redundant.
I am not sure what I expected from Hanoi- but already we feel that Vietnam is completely different to thailand- which is nice. New culture, new landscape, new food, new language to devour.
Anyway we walked from one side of the Old Quarter to the other today. We stopped at the Ngoc Son temple whihc is on a little man made island in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake. Apparently in the 1800's the emporer of the time was given a magic sword by this giant toroise that lived in the lake which gave him the power to rule. Anyway they say these tortoises still live in the lake- but we didn't see any!
We wandered around the lake- which is quite scenic amidst all the chaos- some awesome sculptures surround ( we suspect made of marble).
We walked across the Old Quarter to the Hoa Lo Prision Museum or "Hanoi Hilton" as nicknmaed by US prisoners of war held there in the 70s. It was pretty interesting and brought back many memories of studying the Indochina conflict for the HSC. The museum focused primarily on the conditions that revolutionary Vietnames prisoners lived in in the museum under french colonial rule. They showed photographs of the american prisoners who were kept there during the war- but they all looked tlike they were having a great time- eating Christmas Turkey and getting medical examinations... maybe a little bit of propoganda? can't be sure. But I can't blame the poor old Vietnamese... John McCain was one of the prisoners- hope they gave him a hard time! Not much else to be said that you can't find in a history book- except that seeing an original French guilotine was fairly chilling....
We topped the afternoon off with an icecream at "Fanny's" - I can't resist blogging about an icecream parlour with such a great/unfortunate name! I am lame and childish it can't be disputed. But the icecreams were pretty good- at 50 000 dong they would want to be. No thats actually onyl about 5 bucks. I can't quite get over the currency. 10 000 dong is about 1 dollar Australian.
Tomorrow we are going to Halong Bay- we turned lame and decided to take a tour- its super cheap and covers everything we want to do so we thought we would remove some of the hassle of independent travel. So we are up early to bus it to Halong city then we cruise the Bay- sleeping on the boat- then next day to Cat ba island, kayaking, swimming, rare monkey sighting etc.
So will keep all informed!
I am not sure what I expected from Hanoi- but already we feel that Vietnam is completely different to thailand- which is nice. New culture, new landscape, new food, new language to devour.
Anyway we walked from one side of the Old Quarter to the other today. We stopped at the Ngoc Son temple whihc is on a little man made island in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake. Apparently in the 1800's the emporer of the time was given a magic sword by this giant toroise that lived in the lake which gave him the power to rule. Anyway they say these tortoises still live in the lake- but we didn't see any!
We wandered around the lake- which is quite scenic amidst all the chaos- some awesome sculptures surround ( we suspect made of marble).
We walked across the Old Quarter to the Hoa Lo Prision Museum or "Hanoi Hilton" as nicknmaed by US prisoners of war held there in the 70s. It was pretty interesting and brought back many memories of studying the Indochina conflict for the HSC. The museum focused primarily on the conditions that revolutionary Vietnames prisoners lived in in the museum under french colonial rule. They showed photographs of the american prisoners who were kept there during the war- but they all looked tlike they were having a great time- eating Christmas Turkey and getting medical examinations... maybe a little bit of propoganda? can't be sure. But I can't blame the poor old Vietnamese... John McCain was one of the prisoners- hope they gave him a hard time! Not much else to be said that you can't find in a history book- except that seeing an original French guilotine was fairly chilling....
We topped the afternoon off with an icecream at "Fanny's" - I can't resist blogging about an icecream parlour with such a great/unfortunate name! I am lame and childish it can't be disputed. But the icecreams were pretty good- at 50 000 dong they would want to be. No thats actually onyl about 5 bucks. I can't quite get over the currency. 10 000 dong is about 1 dollar Australian.
Tomorrow we are going to Halong Bay- we turned lame and decided to take a tour- its super cheap and covers everything we want to do so we thought we would remove some of the hassle of independent travel. So we are up early to bus it to Halong city then we cruise the Bay- sleeping on the boat- then next day to Cat ba island, kayaking, swimming, rare monkey sighting etc.
So will keep all informed!
Friday, November 7, 2008
mundane stuff
Here's a quick overview of what we have been up to since last post. We left Kanchanaburi by bus the next day- we had to be back in Bangkok by 5 to pick up our passports. So the trip by bus only took about 2 hours- but getting from the bus station to Siam square was another arduous journey. We had it all worked out how we would get a city bus from the Northern terminal and it would be super easy- but what we didn't realise until it was too late was that this bus was taking us to the Southern bus terminal in Bangkok. Again we though oh well we will just catch a bus from there- thinking we are so awesome at public transport we will be able to do it. All in all it took us a KFC lunch and nearly 3 more hours to make it back to Siam Centre to get our passports. But we did it! We kept saying we wanted to go to "Mo Chit" which was the start of the sky train- and they kept sending us to Mo Chit Mai- which we were worried was a completely different place. So it took us a hiwl to have faith that we were actually going to Mo chit- we ended up back at the Northern bus station which was called Mo Chit Mai and then we were able to make our way to the skytrain. Pretty boring to blog about- but a proud moment in the Tim Steph communicating with Thai speaking taxi drivers and bus personell adventures.
So we then had a day and a half to kill before heading to Hanoi. We are a bit over Bangkok and its expensiveness and hurriedness- so we decided to head to an "art house" cinema- which means a cinema that has English speaking American blockbusters. We watched this movie called "The Fall"- which if you want to see a movie I highly recommend- can't be bothered explaining plot but will jsut say one of the best movies I've seen in a while. Most interstingly was that before the film they play the National Anthem and put up images of the King. Youa re required to stand during this. I ensured I was the last to sit lest I be shot like that guy who was the first to stop clapping one of Stalin's speeches in Communist Russia. you can't be too careful! Anyway no one was shot and I got to thinking maybe loving the King isn't quite as oppressive as loving Stalin was! ( I hope that tone can be communicated through blog speak!).
Anyway we spent the rest of the evening eating pizza and reading books. I have read so many fabulous books while on trains and buses- I have totally rediscovered my love of reading. I am again in need of a second hand book shop- there was this excellent one in Chiang Mai that we both could have spent our fortunes in. It had a better selection of novels than any angus and Robertson in Sydney. Titles I had always wanted to read but could never remember when it came time to go buy a book or go to a library. But I am digressing from anything very important.
This brings me to now- our flight is at 6.30 tonight. So we are killing time at the internet place. its too hot to lug our packs around endlessly.
So while I have time to kill I thought I would record a few things I have been thinking while travelling. Its very interesting to watch children in a foreign country (I say that at the risk of sounding dodgy). But it really illuminates how similar people are the world over. Children behave exactly the same no matter where they live, what language they speak- they all play the same funny little chasey games, and tug on their parents shirts and get overly excited by things. Its quite amazing. Well it is to me- it just makes things feel less different and scary. I can;t really express ecactly what I mean- but am really just writing it so I don't forget what I was thinking about.
So we then had a day and a half to kill before heading to Hanoi. We are a bit over Bangkok and its expensiveness and hurriedness- so we decided to head to an "art house" cinema- which means a cinema that has English speaking American blockbusters. We watched this movie called "The Fall"- which if you want to see a movie I highly recommend- can't be bothered explaining plot but will jsut say one of the best movies I've seen in a while. Most interstingly was that before the film they play the National Anthem and put up images of the King. Youa re required to stand during this. I ensured I was the last to sit lest I be shot like that guy who was the first to stop clapping one of Stalin's speeches in Communist Russia. you can't be too careful! Anyway no one was shot and I got to thinking maybe loving the King isn't quite as oppressive as loving Stalin was! ( I hope that tone can be communicated through blog speak!).
Anyway we spent the rest of the evening eating pizza and reading books. I have read so many fabulous books while on trains and buses- I have totally rediscovered my love of reading. I am again in need of a second hand book shop- there was this excellent one in Chiang Mai that we both could have spent our fortunes in. It had a better selection of novels than any angus and Robertson in Sydney. Titles I had always wanted to read but could never remember when it came time to go buy a book or go to a library. But I am digressing from anything very important.
This brings me to now- our flight is at 6.30 tonight. So we are killing time at the internet place. its too hot to lug our packs around endlessly.
So while I have time to kill I thought I would record a few things I have been thinking while travelling. Its very interesting to watch children in a foreign country (I say that at the risk of sounding dodgy). But it really illuminates how similar people are the world over. Children behave exactly the same no matter where they live, what language they speak- they all play the same funny little chasey games, and tug on their parents shirts and get overly excited by things. Its quite amazing. Well it is to me- it just makes things feel less different and scary. I can;t really express ecactly what I mean- but am really just writing it so I don't forget what I was thinking about.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Kanchanoburi, temple caving and more scary bridge crossing!
Due to our usual lack of planning we were forced to dump our idea of heading to Kai something National park and instead grabbed a bus to Kanchanoburi. We have to be back in Bangkok on thursday to pick up our Visas- so we can only have one night away. Kanchanoburi is situated on the famous River Kwai- where many Australian soldiors were prisoners of war in World War II and were foreced to build the Thai-Burma railway (or death rail). So after a three hour bus ride we arrived, grabbed a couple of bikes and rode a couple of kms to the Bride over River Kwai. It was not that exciting really - but now we have been. It is single lane and still used by trains but the trains have to go very slowly to avoid all the crazy tourists wandering along it.
After this quick trip we headed in the opposite direction towards temple caves. The caves were about 5km from town and the ride there was quite scenic- lovely forest lined roads and corn fields etc. On seeing a sign saying "Monkey School" we couldn't help ourselves but turn down a narrow track. It was very disappointing (yet not unexpected) to see monkeys caged and tied up only to be released for shows they put on whenever a tourist would pay money. Extremely sad. worst of all was a nocturnal monkey in a small cage his eyes wide open and looking tired and scared- unable to sleep in this well lit environment. After asking the workers if the monkeys always lived in the cages, and getting a vague response we decided to leave. They told us we could take a short cut over the railway track behind monkey school to get to the cave. So we wandered through this great canyon of rock divided by the train line (here we had to cross another incredibly scary bridge- I'd say the worst so far!) and up to the top of a hill complete with massive fat, jolly gold Bhuddha and magnificent views of the river Kwai and surrounding landscape. We then followed another path around to the temple caves. These caves are home to both Buddhist and Hindu religious statues and symbols. I felt extremely brave walking into and through the caves as I can be very claustrophobic and had to be coaxed by Tim most of the way. The initial part of the cave was massive with a huge reclinng buddha statue and other religious paraphenalia but the you continue around through narrow twists and turns, head bowed to get through to another deeper level. It was well worth it even though my heart never stopped pounding and I kept panicking that i couldn't breathe. Another scary aspect of the caves was that in 1995 a drug addicted monk who lived there murdered a British backpacker inside the cave. Luckily I forgot about that until safely out in the open again. it was extremely atmospheric and beautiful- however we didn't get a lot of photos- it was a bit dark and I was freaking out too much to care.
It was hilarious though- just as we were coming out of the cave temple we got a call from jenny telling us about the US election. its crazy to think that even though we are in the middle of Thailand and in a cave modern communication is such that it can reach us.
By this stage we were very sweaty and tired. So we rode back to our guesthouse which is along the river and went for a swim in their pool.
After this quick trip we headed in the opposite direction towards temple caves. The caves were about 5km from town and the ride there was quite scenic- lovely forest lined roads and corn fields etc. On seeing a sign saying "Monkey School" we couldn't help ourselves but turn down a narrow track. It was very disappointing (yet not unexpected) to see monkeys caged and tied up only to be released for shows they put on whenever a tourist would pay money. Extremely sad. worst of all was a nocturnal monkey in a small cage his eyes wide open and looking tired and scared- unable to sleep in this well lit environment. After asking the workers if the monkeys always lived in the cages, and getting a vague response we decided to leave. They told us we could take a short cut over the railway track behind monkey school to get to the cave. So we wandered through this great canyon of rock divided by the train line (here we had to cross another incredibly scary bridge- I'd say the worst so far!) and up to the top of a hill complete with massive fat, jolly gold Bhuddha and magnificent views of the river Kwai and surrounding landscape. We then followed another path around to the temple caves. These caves are home to both Buddhist and Hindu religious statues and symbols. I felt extremely brave walking into and through the caves as I can be very claustrophobic and had to be coaxed by Tim most of the way. The initial part of the cave was massive with a huge reclinng buddha statue and other religious paraphenalia but the you continue around through narrow twists and turns, head bowed to get through to another deeper level. It was well worth it even though my heart never stopped pounding and I kept panicking that i couldn't breathe. Another scary aspect of the caves was that in 1995 a drug addicted monk who lived there murdered a British backpacker inside the cave. Luckily I forgot about that until safely out in the open again. it was extremely atmospheric and beautiful- however we didn't get a lot of photos- it was a bit dark and I was freaking out too much to care.
It was hilarious though- just as we were coming out of the cave temple we got a call from jenny telling us about the US election. its crazy to think that even though we are in the middle of Thailand and in a cave modern communication is such that it can reach us.
By this stage we were very sweaty and tired. So we rode back to our guesthouse which is along the river and went for a swim in their pool.
Back in Bangkok
So we had to come back to this crazy city to apply for a Visa to Vietnam. Fingers crossed the Embassy knows what they're doing and doesn't lose our passports! Anyway this time we are staying in Siam Square which is the business/shopping centre of Bangkok. Its the most Western place we have been in Thailand so far and its a little weird actually. I am afraid to admit it but we were forced to eat at Macdonalds- starvation and lack of imagination are to blame- they call it McThai and have some weird shit on the menu. The shrimp burger that Tim ate was particularly questionable- but worse than that was the sweet corn ice cream sundae! We went to this mall that was 9 stories tall and the biggest shopping complex I have ever experienced. Very overwhelming- people everywhere. A new side to Bangkok to experience.
Other than marvelling at the imperialism of the Western world we mastered the public transport system- no more pushy tuk tuk drivers and lying lost taxi drivers for us! Well when i say mastered we caught the sky train and the ferry! The sky train is basically a monorail and after the rickety trains we have been catching it felt very futuristic- reminded me of the film "Bladeunner" as there are tv's everywhere just playing various advertisements. Fairly entertaining actually. So the point of catching the sky train was to head to the Museum of Forensic science. This is part of Bangkok hospital. When we arrived it absolutely bucketed down with rain and we had to sit in the waiting room of the hospital and listen to an old lady singing along to a grand piano- weird to have live entertainment in a hospital.
Anyway the forensic science museum was fairly stomach churning and even tough old Tim was a little overwhelmed by the gruesome pictures of mutilated bodies, mummified corpses of rape murderers put to death and the blood stained T-shirt of a murder victim who was stabbed to death with a dildo. my only regret was they didn't actually show the offending weapon - I dred to think why a woman would be interested in using a sex toy that can also stab! If anyone can fill me in I am interested in finding out. Damn it Tim jsut told me it was there- and I missed it. Apparently it looked like an ordinary dildo.
Anyway I tried to be brave and look at the 2 headed babies in jars etc. But Tim kept "worrying that I didn't like it" and ushered me out. Personally I think he got a bit sooky and I was a good manly excuse for leaving.
So we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering about Siam Square and eating icecream.
Other than marvelling at the imperialism of the Western world we mastered the public transport system- no more pushy tuk tuk drivers and lying lost taxi drivers for us! Well when i say mastered we caught the sky train and the ferry! The sky train is basically a monorail and after the rickety trains we have been catching it felt very futuristic- reminded me of the film "Bladeunner" as there are tv's everywhere just playing various advertisements. Fairly entertaining actually. So the point of catching the sky train was to head to the Museum of Forensic science. This is part of Bangkok hospital. When we arrived it absolutely bucketed down with rain and we had to sit in the waiting room of the hospital and listen to an old lady singing along to a grand piano- weird to have live entertainment in a hospital.
Anyway the forensic science museum was fairly stomach churning and even tough old Tim was a little overwhelmed by the gruesome pictures of mutilated bodies, mummified corpses of rape murderers put to death and the blood stained T-shirt of a murder victim who was stabbed to death with a dildo. my only regret was they didn't actually show the offending weapon - I dred to think why a woman would be interested in using a sex toy that can also stab! If anyone can fill me in I am interested in finding out. Damn it Tim jsut told me it was there- and I missed it. Apparently it looked like an ordinary dildo.
Anyway I tried to be brave and look at the 2 headed babies in jars etc. But Tim kept "worrying that I didn't like it" and ushered me out. Personally I think he got a bit sooky and I was a good manly excuse for leaving.
So we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering about Siam Square and eating icecream.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Elephant Nature Park part2
The mothers and aunties are always getting spooked by something and crowding round the baby elephants, which only seems to freak them out more, shortly after this the little one tripped over, funny stuff.
Max, the tallest elephant on record in thailand, and at 62, the park's stately gentleman.
Check out the grass mohawk!
Max, jokia and mae poong
Elephant Nature Park part1
The view from our lodge.
A crowd pleasing baby elephant shot
One of the elephants waiting to be washed
At the park they wash the elephants twice a day, which seems excessive but keeps the visitor busy.
I wanted to get a close up of the curl of the trunk but I wasn't quick enough
Elephant loving... the ethical kind!
So after finally getting our stomachs in gear we headed off for this elephant sanctuary about an hour and half to the north of Chiang Mai. it is run by this woman nicknamed Lek- which means small in Thai. And she is incredibly tiny. We were very lucky to meet her briefly as she is an incredible woman. She grew up in a hill tribe where her father was a shaman and spent a lot of her time with elephants. She created the park as a safe haven for retired working elephants. We learnt a lot about how elephants in Thailand have been mistreated. Its so bizairre considering that elephants are such a strong symbol of Thai culture. They are very revered creatures that helped to build the nation and yet are abused in appauling ways. I feel so ashamed that I wasn't aware of the torture that all working elephants go through. When they are babies they are placed inside a tiny wooden box where they are beaten and jabbed into submission for days on end. Sometimes weeks. The mahouts use little picks to keep them in line. Many of the elephants in the camp were personally rescued by Lek who found them in terrible conditions. There was an elephant that had its pelvis broken in a logging accident, then was kept to have babies. They tied her up while a male elephant was on heat (during this time the male elephant's testosterone rises to high levels and they are quite crazy). But elephants are very picky when it comes to choosing a lover and in the wild won't just let any big elephant shlong near their pink bits. So this elephant continually refused the male elephant until he got so frustrated that he attacked her and broke her back legs. Lek rescued this elephant and brought her to the park where she now lives. It was beautiful to see that this elephant was eventually befriended by another elephant who is mostly blind and they protext each other from the more rambuctious elephants in the park. The elephants are based in family and friendship groups and breaking these up so that elephants can become workers, all alone and moving wherever their owners decree is another sad part of a working elephants life. In the wild the male elephants are usually kicked out of the family group when they are old enough to mate and they live solitary lives or move around with other males. But the females all stick together and look after the babies. Elephant babies are fussed over not only by their mother but a group of aunties as well. In the park we were so fortunate to observe a 5 month old and a 1 year old with their mothers and aunties. I can't really explain what it was like but we have some good videos.
Lek is hoping that through her park she can transform the life of elephants throughout Thailand.
Because logging was banned in 1989 many elephants lsot their jobs- which meant they were too expensive for their owners to feed. So many elephants walk the streets of big cities with a mahout begging. There mahouts make a lot of money out of getting tourists to pay to feed the elephant. But it is a horrible life for an elephant and many are involved in car accidents etc. Other elephtants have been forced into the tourist trade where they have to perform and take tourists for rides. (We ensured that we rode an elephant bareback which is much more comfortable and chose an elephant camp where the elephants were loved- as far as we could tell). Elephant tourism is not a bad thing in Lek's opinion- but she wants to change it. She wants elephants to live as they would in the wild, without being tamed through torture, but only through words and love. She has two elephants at the camp that were orphaned and came straight to the camp, so they have never been tortured or "tamed"- but they are beautiful and happy creatures- much more fun to watch playing as elephants would. Lek is not interested in making a profit- however ensures that the park does (with all profit going straight into further elephant care and a program called Jumbo express where she provides free medical treatment for elephants, people and other creatures in remote areas). She needs to prove that this kind of elephant tourism (where elephants live natural lives)_ will make money so that other elephant camps will follow suit.
At the park we were able to feed the elephants, watch them move freely throughout the 130 acres of the park (they have more space in a place called elephant heaven in the mountains as well). We were able to bath the elephants and walk amongst them. It was much more exhilirating to be with elephants who were free (and slightly dangerous: if we ever heard the word"run"we had to jsut run-a s these elephants are allowed to do as they please and can runa t 25 km per hour and can be very playful with each other and with humans) than to watch elephants forced to pain pictures and stand on their heads. Even though i do admit I enjoyued the elephant show I saw in Ayatthyua- I now know its nothing compared to what we have just experienced.
We stayed the night at the park and were treated to a fabulous dinner where we sat on the floor and ate with our hands, balling up sticky rice and dipping it in the various different dishes. Tim enjoyed it the most (I was still a tad queasy). We sat with a couple of uni students from America. I wasn't sure what to make of them- they were studying comparitive religion and travelling around as part of their course. We discussed politics in America and Australia and various other things but generally I think the Americans weren't that interested in interacting with us. So we got chatting with one of the guys who works at the camp. He was born in a hill tribe and explained to su what that was all about. His parents still live in the hill tribe and he was sent to be a monk at age 7- so he could learn Thai and go to school. He was a monk until he was about 15 and eventually he got a loan and went to uni to study tourism and now works in the camp. He was pretty drunk and friendly and it was nice to get to talk to someone with such different life experiences to us.
The little bamboo hut we stayed in was right in amongst all the elephants which were freely wandering about- and we were able to sit on our verandah and watch them. the park is also home to a bunch of cows, water buffalo, cats and dogs. We woke to the sounds of elephants trumpeting- pretty crazy. On the second day we again were able to participate in feeding the elephants, bathing them, went on a walk around the park with a guide who told us stories about all the elephants. They are such complicated creatures, who form intricate relationships with each other and the people who work in the park know every elephant by site, know everything about their history and the current family and friendship groups they move in. It was a very amazing and enlightening experience. Tim wants to come back in the future and spend some time at the camp as a volunteer. I think it would be great if we could get a group of us together and all go- any takers?
Lek is hoping that through her park she can transform the life of elephants throughout Thailand.
Because logging was banned in 1989 many elephants lsot their jobs- which meant they were too expensive for their owners to feed. So many elephants walk the streets of big cities with a mahout begging. There mahouts make a lot of money out of getting tourists to pay to feed the elephant. But it is a horrible life for an elephant and many are involved in car accidents etc. Other elephtants have been forced into the tourist trade where they have to perform and take tourists for rides. (We ensured that we rode an elephant bareback which is much more comfortable and chose an elephant camp where the elephants were loved- as far as we could tell). Elephant tourism is not a bad thing in Lek's opinion- but she wants to change it. She wants elephants to live as they would in the wild, without being tamed through torture, but only through words and love. She has two elephants at the camp that were orphaned and came straight to the camp, so they have never been tortured or "tamed"- but they are beautiful and happy creatures- much more fun to watch playing as elephants would. Lek is not interested in making a profit- however ensures that the park does (with all profit going straight into further elephant care and a program called Jumbo express where she provides free medical treatment for elephants, people and other creatures in remote areas). She needs to prove that this kind of elephant tourism (where elephants live natural lives)_ will make money so that other elephant camps will follow suit.
At the park we were able to feed the elephants, watch them move freely throughout the 130 acres of the park (they have more space in a place called elephant heaven in the mountains as well). We were able to bath the elephants and walk amongst them. It was much more exhilirating to be with elephants who were free (and slightly dangerous: if we ever heard the word"run"we had to jsut run-a s these elephants are allowed to do as they please and can runa t 25 km per hour and can be very playful with each other and with humans) than to watch elephants forced to pain pictures and stand on their heads. Even though i do admit I enjoyued the elephant show I saw in Ayatthyua- I now know its nothing compared to what we have just experienced.
We stayed the night at the park and were treated to a fabulous dinner where we sat on the floor and ate with our hands, balling up sticky rice and dipping it in the various different dishes. Tim enjoyed it the most (I was still a tad queasy). We sat with a couple of uni students from America. I wasn't sure what to make of them- they were studying comparitive religion and travelling around as part of their course. We discussed politics in America and Australia and various other things but generally I think the Americans weren't that interested in interacting with us. So we got chatting with one of the guys who works at the camp. He was born in a hill tribe and explained to su what that was all about. His parents still live in the hill tribe and he was sent to be a monk at age 7- so he could learn Thai and go to school. He was a monk until he was about 15 and eventually he got a loan and went to uni to study tourism and now works in the camp. He was pretty drunk and friendly and it was nice to get to talk to someone with such different life experiences to us.
The little bamboo hut we stayed in was right in amongst all the elephants which were freely wandering about- and we were able to sit on our verandah and watch them. the park is also home to a bunch of cows, water buffalo, cats and dogs. We woke to the sounds of elephants trumpeting- pretty crazy. On the second day we again were able to participate in feeding the elephants, bathing them, went on a walk around the park with a guide who told us stories about all the elephants. They are such complicated creatures, who form intricate relationships with each other and the people who work in the park know every elephant by site, know everything about their history and the current family and friendship groups they move in. It was a very amazing and enlightening experience. Tim wants to come back in the future and spend some time at the camp as a volunteer. I think it would be great if we could get a group of us together and all go- any takers?
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