Viva Viet Nam!

Viet Nam happened on a whim with my visa up in Indonesia and more than 2 months left in Asia I started to wonder where i should go next (my itinerary only half intact from the days of original planning) I decided to go to Viet Nam. I flew back to K.L to await a visa and in less than a week I was landing Hanoi. As it turns out the only conceptions I had of Nam were misconceptions. Everything I was expecting never came; I thought I might find a country still harboring bad feelings over the “American War” as it is called over here, I thought it might be a bit off the “Travelers Path” , for some dumb reason I thought I would encounter seedy cities, dirty and poor towns. I also figured getting around with English would be a bit of a problem. Boy was I way off.

After days here you learn real quick why no on has any problems with Americans, The Vietnamese have been fighting wars with outsiders since time began. The Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, Americans all tried to come in for one reason or another. You find that the war museums around Hanoi focus the majority of their attention on obtaining freedom from the French and only a few walls or rooms out of a museum are reserved for the American conflict. No one at all cares when you say your from America, as one friend put it “Why should they care who visits, they won the war, remember.” How true, I mean they endured attacks from land, sea and sky and came out on top, why would they care that after almost 40 years those who attacked wanted to come back and see the culture during peace and prosperity.

As it turns out Hanoi is an amazing city, it’s cleanliness is very un-Asian, the old city area is beautifully dotted with lakes and riversides, trees line the streets they have streets lined in French style architecture, cafes and a beautiful Catholic church set in a square that still holds Sunday Mass. The history is also awe inspiring they have the “Temple of Literature” a “university” founded in 1076 to teach the works of Confucius. also as it would turn out Hanoi has a large Backpacker scene and I finally found where the Americans in Asia go, Vietnam, I have met in one week more Americans than I did in my first 2 months of travel.

There are of course some downsides to Viet Nam, after all you are in a communist country, and they seem to embrace it. There are yellow hammer and sickle emblems on red flags hanging next to the Vietnamese single Yellow Star on a red flag everywhere. I learned after speaking with some university students that the education is very censored, one of them asked me who the president of the USA was, but in all fairness I have no clue who the president of Viet Nam is either. But in Hanoi you do see Fords, Mercedz, BMWs, Porches and Lexus roaming between the motorbikes and bicycles so obviously someone is embracing capitalism.

I fell in love with Hanoi, the secon day I was here, it’s just mind opening. We went to see Ho Chi Menh’s mausoleum where you can view his body preserved under glass, what a trip that is. You have to walk 2 by 2 through the room with his body under glass your elevated above the body by about 6 feet you have to keep you hands at your sides at all times and there is no talking. Lord help you if you smuggle a camera in and get a picture off, you will be taken into a room detained and you must write your name in a log book of international offenders by nationality. The oddest thing about Ho Chi Menhs body laying there,is that he wished to be cremated.

One day we went to the war history museum where like I said the American stuff is no so heavily displayed inside, but outside behind the building they have 2 captures Navy planes (Prop planes) and intact helicopter, tank, missile launcher, jeeps and various pieces and parts of planes they shot out of the sky. Museums are another place you witness communist propaganda being thrown around, exaggerations on numbers and events preformed by “proud Vietnamese” soldiers. We also went to the Hanoi Hilton where John Mcain and other P.O.Ws were held, but mainly again the prison focuses on the prisoners thrown into jail and executed by the French {They built it ), you see many stories of Vietnamese rebels escaping through a sewer, but they do have an American area. In the American rooms are propaganda photos of soldiers at pay in the yard or celebrating Christmas dinners and such which I’m sure lasted just long enough to snap a photo. They do have Mcains Flighsuit hanging up.

I made friends with a Venezuelan named Miguel the first day and then the next we made friends with a Columbian named Jose and we all went about Hanoi seeing things. One evening we sat by the lake with a bunch of college students who wished to talk to us to practice their English skills (you find that all over Asia) one conversation involved them trying to convince to eat dog, it’s apparently a delicacy and not all can afford it. No one in our group wanted any part of it.

Three hours from Hanoi is Halong Bay in which sits about 3000 craggy Islands only a few large enough to be inhabited, the largest Cat Ba is large enough to have cities and a national park. We however had a package where the first night you spend partying it up on a large wooden ship and sleeping aboard as well, that was a blast we jumped off the boat (25 feet) did a bit of kayaking and had a great wild night on the boat with about 25 people on board. The following day half the group goes home after kayaking and the rest of us go on to a full day of sleeping off the night before, more kayaking or as Miguel and I did you can go rock climbing all day. Climbing was cool they have 2 guides and established “courses” of ropes kind of like a rock gym just outdoors. That day absolutely wrecked me and after dinner on Cat Ba I crashed out around 11pm.The next day we went back to Hanoi.

That same day we got back we caught a night train to a mountain town called Sapa about 30 miles from the China boarder. What breath taking scenery, perched in the rice terraced valleys between 9,000 foot mountain peaks Sapa is at bout 4,000 feet and offers a cool climate to tour local villages, swim in cold mountain pools and just all around relax, but you could climb mountains or go on long treks. We however (now Miguel, Nate from Seattle and Matt from England) decided to do a self guided trek through a village and to a waterfall, after which we hiked over a large hill down it’s opposite side and found a large pool f water to swim in, with a large boulder to leap from and other rocks to lounge in the sun and take a nap (night trains are not the best) The rest of that day was spent soaking up the local Sapa town and it’s food. We ate (and yes I tried a bite of it all) wild deer, rabbit, wild pig and chicken (guess who ordered the chicken) The following day we booked motorbikes (scooters) and a guide to show us some villages and waterfalls outside of walking distance. We had a great time with those bikes, they handle any terrain known to man it would seem (except water and mud slicked pavement, mine went down once, not injuring me in the least, as I have a dad who rides motorcycles and was always to wear long pants when riding. Thanks dad!. I did however have to pay a whopping 4 bucks to replace the foot peg that got sheered off.) Once again the highlight of that day was swimming in a huge pool of water with a waterfall and 35 foot cliffs to jump from into pristine and cold clear mountain water. The rest of the day was spent motoring about to villages and a high mountain pass with the most rewarding view of the entire area. At 6pm it was time to get the bus to the train and head back to Hanoi.

All that was about a week ago and now I am in the middle of Viet Nam, I have been traveling with a large pack of people (Miguel, Nate and Matt all flew to Saigon) now I am with 3 Canadians, 4 Brits, 1 Australian (Emily the lone girl puts up with all us boys oh so well), and an Irishmen. I have been neglecting my photographs for fun times around Hoian, beach and bars, had a great birthday party last night, but I will write in depth about the Middle of Nam later. Thanks every one, Hanoi pictures are up.

Bali Hai

I arrived in Kuta beach, Bali on Friday at 10pm via taxi , post ferry and 8 hour bus ride, I had been up since 3am that morning, safe to say I was a half awake Zombie. I had the address of a place to stay but no reservations Kuta beach on a Friday night is slammed packed "Full" was the response everywhere I went. After walking around with no luck, I started to wonder where it was that my buddy Miko worked in Kuta (I had no idea, just a name of the shop) as I wandered down the street I thought I heard my name being called, I thought I must have been delirious from lack of sleep. I turned around to see Miko standing in front of his shop (I hadn't been looking at names, just my feet and the inside of my eyelids as I walked). He said he thought he saw me walking down the street and knew right away it had to be me. So for the second time in a month, Miko saved me from Indonesian Unknowns. He recommended a cheap place to stay, which luckily had a vacancy and I promptly crashed out until 10 the next morning.

My first few days in Bali were rather boring, as I did not have much cash, and had to wait until Monday to get money. Fortunately breakfast is free with the room, and food in general at the right places is cheap. I spent many hours roaming the beach, just sitting and people watching. There was a ton of people to watch. Kuta on a weekend is swarming with vacationing Indonesians and all the other travelers and Aussies, Kuta is teeming with Aussies, so many so that I started calling it an Australian territory. On Sunday I sat in my room and read all day since I was out of money.

Bali is a very interesting place, think of the crowds of Waikiki and the shops and crowds of Miami then throw in the crowds, cleanliness and sales tactics of Tijuana. Every little shop along every little or big street has someone standing out front and they call everyone "Mate" ( Aussie influence) or Boss (no clue who's influence, I never knew I had so many employees) typical sales approaches go something like; " Hey Mate! yes? shopping?", "Yes, Boss you like, 10,000" they never state what is 10,000 it all must be, by the way that is normally to much and 10,000 is only about $1.10. Also it seems that every women on the island is a masseuse because that is offered to you 20 times a day. The beach scene is also incredibly different than anything anyone back in the States would tolerate. The stuff sold on the beach boggles the mind; Sarongs, jewelry, watches, clothes, hats, food, drinks, massage, pineapples skinned on the spot and of course ice cream, a classic.

Kuta was fantastic for getting a brake from the food fare of day to day Indo life, you can find anything you could possibly want to eat. I ate pizzas, burgers with imported Aussie beef, and even Mexican food all for the first time since leaving home. Beer too is also super cheap, I spent almost every sunset at a little bar on the beach (actually it is a guy with a cooler, ice and cold drinks, oh and the cooler is on a stand, that males it a bar?) watching the sun fade behind the clouds and beautiful blue ocean. Most evenings were spent out with people I had met or ran into from other travels, out at bars listening to live music or watching, various Australian sporting events. Although I never did the party scene, most nights I was back in my room watching movies and videos I had stored in the Ipod, don't get me wrong I did have some magical and fun evenings out.

After a half week hanging around Kuta beach I became very restless and had to get out and explore the rest of Bali which is a large but not huge island. I booked a tour through an agency and for a day I go to visit temples (Hindu and Buddhist temples, always found together.) I also saw rice paddies, waterfalls, fruit markets and other gorgeous beaches. It was a great tour, if you go to Bali please do more than just Kuta. Another day my sunset Bartender Wiggy said he would take me around the next day on his motorbike so he could make some extra cash. Who wouldn't trust their bartender named Wiggy to take them around? I did he was a great guide, took me to a huge Hindu statue, with it's pieces still being carved, it will be massive when completed. Wiggy and I also went to the side of the island that houses two famous surf spots. Padang- Padang where they hold a huge contest and a gorgeous beach set in a cove surrounded by cliffs. We also went to Uluwatu which is an amazing break, which can get very large. I took some surfing photos and then we went to the Uluwatu Hindu temple for the sunset and a Fire Dance, a reenactment of a Hindu story with actors all dressed up and an all male chorus of singers who make very simple sounds to make a very interesting song. That too was a very interesting day around the Island, so was Wiggy's night time driving.

I also got to surf while I was there, Miko's friend worked at a surf shop and they rented me a board for the week for about $16 dollars, if you rent a board on the beach it cost 5 an hour. So I was very excited and although the waves weren't great and were crowded most days, there was a morning with good waves and very little crowd. It's amazing how such a simple act like catching a wave (well simple to those who can) makes such a major improvement in a persons mood.

My 9 days spent in Bali were magical, hectic, crowded, calming, spiritual and filled with fun. It is a great place to visit however for a traveler it can kill the adventure in you, you have everything so close at hand you forget you are here to explore this part of the world. It is a well deserved break though for a weary traveler or a great place to end a long trip, for me however I am back on the adventure road. I'm in Kuala Lumpur again, awaiting a visa for Vietnam, I hope to be in Hanoi by Friday. Tons of new pictures are up, thanks for reading and looking.