"Holiday" in the Philippines

My 2 week "holiday" to the Philippines was a blast. You may think it is selfish of me to call this a "holiday" as I am traveling around the world. But travel and vacationing are completely different things. Travel is exhausting, complicated, but rewarding. Vacations are relaxing, easy, and kill a lot of brain cells.
My friend Jeremy came to visit me. If you remember from my "Prince and the Pauper" blog, he likes to travel well. He also has a college friend that works in Manila named Eric Calhoun and then my friends parents (the Boyce's) live there as well.
When I arrived to the airport, the Boyce's picked me up. Actually, their driver, Mario drove me back from the airport. The Boyce's have been residing in Manila for 5 years working for Emerson (a US company). Life is very different in the Philippines for them. They have a personal driver, cook, maid, gardner, and pool guy. It was a bit overwhelming for me to come from the backpacking lifestyle to this situation. Joan Boyce explained to me that it was a little strange for them at first as well, but that it is how the culture is. It isn't just the expats that have the working help either. The Boyce's lived in a very nice subarb and said that it was 95% Filipino. Some houses had security guards out front and tons of workers in the yard etc. It was just the way the society worked.
My experience in the Philippines was a unique one. I spent it from the perspective of the expat life....it was interesting to visit a 3rd world country from that point of view. Honestly, it was hard for me to come to grips that the place was at 3rd world status. We visited mega malls with stores like Gucci, Prada, Louie, etc. We dined at upscale restuarants and everything was in English. But as soon as you got out of the "comfortable" areas, it was poverty stricken. With the few days I had in Manila, I tried my best to get a glimps of the culture and history. I didn't even skim the top of it though. But here is what I absorbed.
First of all, the Philippines is so different from any of the other Asian countries I have visited. They say...(which by the way, when I say "they", I mean LonelyPlanet guidebook) that you think you have seen SE Asia until you get to the Philippines. Well, they were right. It is this weird mixture of Spanish (yes spanish!) and American influences. Spain conquered the islands in the 1500s and then America purchased Puerto Rico, Guam, and Philippines for 20 million in 1898. The Americans pushed the english language and developed much of the urban areas of the country that are used today. The sad part of all of this, is that the Filipino culture itself has always been on the backburner and most of the progress comes from America. After WWII they gained their own independence, but it is clear today, that America is still a big presence.
So back to why it is so much different then the other Asian countries I have visited. Instead of monks walking around everywhere, you see priests. The spanish missionaries converted every island except for one, which is muslim. It is interesting how much a religion can define a culture. It doesn't have the same vibe as Cambodia or Laos in regards to the spirituality of Buddhism.
My favorite thing so far is the transport. Here, they have what is called a Jeepney. They were built in the 1950s. The front part is an American jeep from WWII and then they expanded the back into a bus. For 7cents you can go 5 blocks. This is how all the locals get around. Each Jeepney driver jazzes up the truck in their own custom-built way. They have names like "Elmer Gonzales" on the front and "In God We Trust" down the side. Some are super pimped out with shiney clean tires and music blaring and then others are pretty run down. Here is an example of one.
If I ever come back to Philippines I want to take tons of photos of the jeepneys and make a picture book. They each had their own personality and I loved it!!!
Mario, the Boyce's driver, took me and Jeremy around town for a few days. We went to the famous "Greenhill's Market" where you can barter and buy knock-offs of whatever you can imagine. Since I live out of a backpack I don't purchase many items, but Jeremy went to town. He was trying on sunglasses, shoes, Lacoste shirts, and flip-flops. I think he spent about $30 and walked out of the place with multiple bags. Joan also took us to her DVD dealer. Jeremy bought tons of DVDs for about $1 a pop. It was hilarious because the vendors have all these hand signs and eye movements with each other to communicate if the police are coming to invade and do a round up. Nothing happend when I was there, but Joan said one time there was a raid and within 30 seconds all of the DVD stores were packed up and on the move. It is a blackmarket business!!
Next we went to the American Cemetary. It was humbling to see all of the graves and lists of people that died in WWII in the Philippines. During WWII, Japan took advantage of the war going on in Europe to invade the Philippines. Many people died, but the invasion wasn't successful. I didn't really know about all of that side of history so it was pretty interesting.
For dinner a few of the nights, their cook Lisa would make an outstanding meal for us. I couldn't imagine having my own personal cook each night. Every day they would wash and iron our clothes. Even my underwear was ironed!!!! And not to mention, I had my own room for the first time in 6 months!!! It was a nice few days in Manila....like I said, the perception was interesting...3rd world country, but the poshest I have traveled since I started my journey.
For 2 days, the Boyce's took us a few hours away to this place called Puerto Galera. It is this gorgeous fishing and beach island where you can scuba dive. I have not been diving in 5 years so I was a little worried about getting back into it. Luckily, I felt relaxed underwater and rememberd just how amazing scuba diving is. The marine life was awesome! I saw tons of nudibranchs (little colorful snails), coral reef fans, lion fish, eels, etc. The colors were so vivid. On our 3rd dive we went to this place called Verde Island. Normally you have to be a little more advanced to dive there, but no one said anything to me. When we got down in the water they realized the current was super strong. We were being pushed out everywhere and trying to stay together. It was a pretty intense dive and Jeremy said it was one of the hardest he had dealt with. I was excited that I handled it so well. The reef that we were on was filled with 1000s of fish. I was swimming amongst them and thought to myself, if I were ever a fish...this is the place I would want to live. It was AWESOME! Here is a pic of a nudibranch.
After Puerto Galera, we headed back to Manila to meet up with our friend, Eric Calhoun. We were going to go with him to this destination party island called Boracay. Just google image Boracay to see what type of place this is.....freaking awesome!!!!
We were flying on this super sketch prop plane called SeaAir. We said our Hail Mary's and borded the plane. It was definitely a scary take-off and landing, but we made it ok.
As I mentioned before....we were on "Holiday", so we splurged for a nice hotel and ate at swanky restaurants. The beach was gorgeous!!!!!! Seriously, if you ever need a place to relax and beach it up, come to the Philippines. We spent our days lounging on the beach, drinking cocktails, and getting massages. The massages are so cheap here that I decided to get AT LEAST 1 a day. I'm talking hot rock, thai, swedish, body scrubs....anything you want...they got it over here for cheap!
On the beach, we met a few local waiters who hooked us up with drinks. We tried to give them a tip, but they just said they would rather come party with us and buy them a few drinks later instead. The next day we met up with them and they showed us the town...all the hip bars and fun places. It is always cool to go out with a local.
We decided to go scuba diving one day. It was another interesting dive for me. I was swimming around when all of a sudden this trigger fish started biting on my flippers. The fish was about 2 feet long and angry. Apparently, I swam over its nesting area and it was full-on attacking me. I screamed and tried to swim away but it kept coming after me...finally I got out of the nesting area. After the dive, the instructor said I was lucky that it did not bite my flesh, because it would have been a big chunk out of my leg. I am really glad that did not happen....not sure how well I would have remained calm in that situation. I have been more concerned about my breathing technique and boyancy, that I forgot about the possibility of getting attacked by some sea creature.
After relaxing for a few days, I decided to take Jeremy and walk around the island. I knew there was more to it then just the touristy spots. We found our way to where the locals lived. Like I said before....step a little bit outside the comfort zone and it gets rough real fast. It was neat though to see the "local" part of town.
Philippines has been a fun 2 week "holiday". I really enjoyed the people and getting to see a bit of the culture. But most of all, it has been nice to see some familiar faces. Two weeks just isn't enough time to get a grasp of a country, so I hope to come back here someday.

Well, only a few more days of the nice life and then I move on again. I am going to spend some time in Thailand on my own. I am looking forward to getting back on my own again. I am hopeing to do some site seeing, yoga, and preparing myself for Nepal and India. Time flies by soooo fast, but there are still some amazing countries ahead of me.

ChillLAOt!

At the end of my last blog, I mentioned how we were going to be taking a 24 hour long bus ride across to the border of Laos. All of the sleeper buses were booked so we bought cheap "sitting" bus tickets. We knew it was going to be a rough ride, but I had no idea just how rough it was going to be.

A minivan loaded with other tourists picked us up at our hotel to take us to the bus station. We got dropped off at the station and this local guy whistled us over and said we needed to walk to another area. We all grabbed our bags and followed him past the station down these back alleys to this desolate corner in a warehouse district. There were about 15 tourists and we were all wondering why we were not at the station anymore. A few minutes later a busted up bus came barreling down the road. We loaded on and a guy working the bus motioned for all of us to go to the very back seats. Normally, you can spread out and sit wherever, but he was very adamant that we all squeeze together at the back. Laura and I got stuck on the very back row with 3 other people. This is the row that sits right over the engine. An Australian girl, named Belinda, was one of the people on the back row with us…we would all become very close through this bus journey.

Our tickets said that it would be an aircon bus, but there was no air conditioning. Some of the seats we were in were broken, so those people tried to move to the seats up front. The guys working the bus however, would come storming back yelling in Vietnamese at them and motioning them to get back in the other seats. They would even come and grab peoples arms and throw the bags to the back of the bus…it was very aggressive and I was beginning to wonder what kind of bus we were on. I felt like Rosa Parks in the back of the bus because there were locals in the front seats, but the white people had to go to the back. No one knew what was going on and why the bus crew was so mean to us. There was no English spoken...we sort of felt like prisoners…it was all very confusing. After driving for a few hours, we pulled over to a shop and the bus guys started loading goods on. They loaded on bags of rice and animal feed all down the aisles and in the other seats. It was to the point where we had to crawl on top of these bags to even get out of the bus. They put bags under our feet as well so we just basically sat on top of them. Every few hours we would stop and load more bags on. At one point, we pulled over on the side of the road. A few of us got out to use the restroom. We waited at this point for awhile until another truck pulled up next to us. The bus crew started loading all of our bags that were on the bottom storage onto the roof. Then they loaded a lot of coolers from the truck onto the bottom. We had no idea what was in the coolers. After they filled the lower part of the bus up, they chained it together and locked it. Then one of the guys took a hammer and busted the lock in so there was no way to open it. I am not sure what was going on, but it appeared that we were “smuggling” something across the border…..why would they bust the locks in? And why did they make the cooler transfer on the side of the road miles away from any town? It was weird.

At about 2am we pulled over for a rest stop and saw 7 other tourists on the side of the road with their bags. Apparently, they were on a bus to cross the border, but the bus dropped them off 1 hour ago and told them to wait for another bus to pick them up. They looked a little freaked out like we were and weren't sure what was going on. They were going to be getting on our bus. I had no idea where they were going to sit as the rest of the bus was filled with cargo. They ended up having to sit in the aisles and riding on top of the bags of rice. The ride was 24 hours long with no aircon and we were crammed on top of each other surrounded by cargo. Since we were sitting on top of the engine, we were sweating profusely. I had to close my eyes and meditate to a happy place for hours at a time so I wouldn´t go crazy. In all the months of travel, this was the worst bus trip so far. But alas…..we crossed the border and arrived to Vientiane, Laos. The one positive thing out of the bus journey was that we met Belinda…aka “Super Onesy” (which I will explain later in the blog). Laura, Belinda, and I would end up traveling together through Laos.

The vibe and culture in Laos is a complete polar opposite from Vietnam. It is like all of a sudden you can take this breath of fresh air, release the tension in your shoulders and relax. I absolutely loved my time in Vietnam, but it is a fast paced hustle and bustle type atmosphere….in Laos….you just chill out! There was no traffic, no honking, and no vendors at every street corner hustling you for a buck. In fact, if you wanted any type of service you had to go looking for it yourself. Even in the restaurants, you had to get up to tell the waiter you were ready to order or wanted the check. Some people refer to the Laos people as “lazy”, but I think they just relax and take life at a slower pace. I was immediately drawn to the vibe and knew that it was going to be an enjoyable, slow paced month of travel….a much needed time to chill out after Cambodia and Vietnam.

In Vientiane, we all found a dorm room for really cheap. I had not stayed in a dorm room since Australia so it was kind of fun for a change. Ah…the dorm life. You meet so many interesting characters when you stay in a dorm. This particular room had 18 beds in it. To my left I had the new age hippie girls who had dreadlocks, hairy armpits and nose piercings, but all of the latest technology like cell phones and iPods. They had these banjos and musical instruments that they would spend hours tuning and talking about playing, but never actually played them. To my right I had the Nigerian who would dress in a suit everyday and stroll around town. He would also talk on his cell phone in a very loud voice at all hours of the night. Then we had the Chinese, who we nicknamed “plastic bag man” because he wrapped everything he had into little plastic bags and felt the need of wrapping and un-wrapping them all the time. Word of advice….if you stay in a dorm, avoid plastic bags as they can be really annoying. Then there was this other Asian guy who had his bicycle and had cycled through 35 countries already. And let us not forget the crazy Australian man who looked to be in his 70s. He would sit on the balcony next to the no smoking sign and puff on marijuana joints 24 hours a day. Tons and tons of characters…..

One day I went to go visit the COPElaos rehabilitation center. It is an organization to help Laos victims that have been injured by UXOs (Unexploded ordinances) from nearly 100 years of warfare. During the Vietnam War, there was a “secret war” that took place in Laos. There were strict regulations on where the Americans could drop bombs in Vietnam, but there were no regulations in Laos. To demolish supply routes and combat Viet Cong in the Laos territory, the Americans bombed the hell out of Laos. In fact, Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the world! Unfortunately, the American public would not be aware of this until many years after the Vietnam War. So many bombs were dropped that it is said that spanning 9 years, a plane would drop bombs every 8 minutes. Of all the bombs dropped, one-third did not explode. This has made for a very messy situation. The bombs have made much of the land unusable for crop growing, and to subsidize their income, villagers now collect scrap metal from the UXOs to sell on the black market. Each year, there are many deaths and injuries due to the UXOs detonating when tampered with. Most of the injuries happen to small kids who are curious about the foreign metal objects stuck in the mud. It is really sad because even though the wars are over…Loatians still live with the atrocities of the aftermath…much like the Agent Orange in Vietnam. The rehabilitation center is a place for victims to go and get wheelchairs or prosthetics made for them and to spread awareness to villages about how dangerous the UXOs are. I watched an amazing documentary called “Bomb Harvest” which won a few awards. If you get a chance you should check it out to get a better understanding of the situation over here. Also, if you are looking for an organization to support and maybe donate money to this holiday season, COPELaos is legitimate and I truly believe they are making a lot of progress to spread awareness, help victims, and deal with the undetonated bombs still in the country.

In Laos, there is a government run curfew each night for 11:30pm. All bars and restaurants close at that time and you must return back to your guesthouse. But the curfew doesn´t stop locals from enjoying Beerlao and one of their favorite activities…bowling. We decided to hit up the local bowling alley one night. It was absolutely hilarious….they blare western hip-hop music, drink beerlao, and bowl for hours. I forgot to bring socks, so when we arrived; I had to buy a pair of socks at the alley. Once again, I was reminded how big I was compared to Asian people. The socks barely fit around my feet. In fact, I had to cut the ankle part so that it did not cut off my circulation. Ahh……the joys of being a fat American in an Asian country.

After Vientiane we headed North. There is this infamous party town in Laos called Vang Vieng. It is world famous for its tubing. You rent these tubes and go down the river and the locals throw a rope to you and pull you into their bar. I have met a few travelers along the way who said it was the most amazing week of partying they have had....and that the town changed their lives. I have done my fair share of partying in my days and was pretty sure this place was not going to change my life....but why not check it out for a few days, right? The busride was only a short 3 hours. This peculiar guy sat next to Belinda. I think he had a really bad case of ticks and possibly teret syndrome. He was constantly making weird noises and doing these hand motions all over the place. I thought to myself how difficult it would be to travel alone with a problem like that. As we arrived into Vang Vieng, he got up and stormed to the driver....all of a sudden he began yelling histerically " Let me off this fucking bus you fucking crazy people...I know you are trying to kill all of us. I know what you are up to. Let me off this bus. FUCKKKKK.I am going to the police...I know you are trying to kill me. Let me fucking off NOW!" The bus stopped and he got off and started walking calmly down the street. I was in shock at the situation...I had no idea what this guy was about to do. Clearly he had major issues going on and even though I sympathize that he has a disorder, he probably should not be traveling alone. I was really glad he was not on the 24 hour busride...that would have been interesting.

The town of Vang Vieng was this weird vortex of tubing, partying, and re-runs of Family Guy, Simpons, and Friends. It seriously felt like going to a circus on hallucinogenic drugs. Because of the government curfew, everyone partied by day and slept at night. Apparently, about 15 years ago it was a famous town for foreigners to come visit, get high on Opium and chill out for weeks. There was even a spread in National Geographic about this lush "off the beaten path" chill-out town. However, once the government cracked down on the drug use, the town had to find another way to make a living....so they turned their market towards partying and tubing for young backpackers. After a few days though, I started to see how the whole town really worked. When you get to a bar or restaurant, they will hand you 2 menus. One is the food menu and the other is a drug menu. You can get "happy" pizza or shakes, opium, marijuana, or mushrooms. I am not big into the drug scene, but if you were...then this place would be heaven. Then the bars choose between playing re-runs of Family Guy or Friends. And you then sit for hours vegging out at the TV. Some of the bars have negotiations with the police and pay them a certain amount of money each month to stay open past curfew. If the owners think the police are nearby, they will pick up the drug menus and stop dealing....However, if a policeman catches you smoking a joint or doing drugs of some sort, you can either pay them $500 out of pocket, or go to jail. There is a little bit of corruption going on. The tubing is even crazier....it is like tubing in the Guadalupe but on steroids. The bars on the side of the river are insane....with mud wrestling pits and colossal rope swings. I stuck to drinking the booze and hung out on the sidelines in awe of the craziness happening around me. All I could think about was how easy it would be to get seriously hurt.

There are foreigners chilling in this town for competitions on duration. For instance, there is this guy named Trent who has been tubing for 265 days straight. His goal is to do it for a full year....tube everyday for 1 full year!!!!!!!! I couldn't even imagine. Then we met this girl named Becky who had been tubing everyday for 80 days. I mean, don't get me wrong....the tubing was a blast and this town is a party haven, but to stay there for that long did not make sense to me.

After a few days in town we had met so many people and had our local hangouts. I would walk down the street saying hi to new friends and I felt this weird acceptance. If it was this easy to fit in....then I could begin to see how it may be hard to leave for some people. I would walk into bars and the owners would come up and put there arm around my shoulder to say hello....we were getting free drinks and hanging with locals. I knew it was time to leave before it got too comfortable. Vang Vieng is a wild town...not like anything I have ever seen. I am glad we checked it out and I had a blast, but it was time to move on....

We decided to continue up north to get back into the culture and Laos life. We headed to Luang Prabang, the enchanting city that is under UNESCO World Heritage for helping to preserve the culture. The town is beautiful. It is filled with french colonial buildings, temples, and the Mekong River. There are 1000s of monks walking around each day. At night, there is this night market that sells textiles and goods from the nearby villages. There are food stalls at every corner and you can eat like a king for only a few dollars a day. I spent my days here strolling the streets, visiting nearby waterfalls, and riding bicycles. It is such a pictruesque city and I am glad that it is under the UNESCO World Heritage. This means that they are doing what they can to preserve the culture, architecture, and local traditions. There are regulations on the amount of cars and trucks in the area and building styles etc. So much changes in underdeveloped countries when tourism is introduced, that I think it is good that they are working to keep the charm of the city intact. One day I was walking through a Wat...or temple...and noticed a group of young monks working on cutting some wood. The monks must have been around 12 years old. I was trying to find a particular building and decided to see if the monks could help. I had no idea what the etiquette was in talking to monks...I knew that I was not allowed to touch them, but I figured it was ok to ask for directions. I walked over and pointed on the map and asked in English where the building was. All the boys were kind of giggly and tried there best to help me. We exchanged a few words but I felt funny so I didn´t pry to much in the situation. As I was walking off...I had to laugh...they seemed like ordinary 12 year old kids to me, but they were monks! It is a normal thing for men to join the monkhood for a period in their lives. Some do it for only a few months, while others dedicate their lives to it. During the rainy season (when there is not much work in the fields), families will send their kids to be monks for a few months because they will get educated and fed well. It is rainy season now...so the temples were filled with them. I have tried to take some pics of the monks and there are a few photos on Picasa.

After days of wandering around the world heritage city, we hopped in a minivan that would take us to a town called Luang Namtha 9 hours away. It was another interesting transport experience. After about an hour we had a flat tire. The driver fixed the tire and Laura mentioned how now we had no spares left. I thought to myself that the chances of another blow-out was extremely low. Well...it wasn´t 1 hour later that all of a sudden I heard this loud pop and then the van started rolling unevenly. Conveniently, we had the blow-out right next to a tire store. I truly think that the tire store set up booby traps for passing cars to create business for themselves. It was all just to perfect of an accident. We sat in the town for 2 hours while they worked on the tire and waited for some part. Finally, we were on the road again. Driving through the small villages was a sight to see. When it is raining, naked kids play and splash in puddles everywhere, men fish off the side of bridges, woman nurse their babies while selling vegetables on the side of the road. You see the daily village life while looking outside the windows while traveling. A few hours later we were flying through a village and there were all of these kids on the side of the road waving to us...all of a sudden a dog jumped out into the road. The driver tried to miss it, but there was no way around it. Thump Thump and then a howl beneath our feet. We totally hit and killed a dog in front of about 20 village kids. I was mortified.....it was awful! We kept on driving.

Luang Namtha is a northern town known for its trekking and rafting tours. I was interested in doing a trek into the hill tribe villages to see what their culture and life was all about. Our first day in town, Belinda had this great idea to rent motorbikes. It was only $4 to rent a bike for 1 day. I had been avoiding renting a bike because of my segway accident a few years ago. I just don´t have the confidence on things like that. Belinda assured me that it was super easy and a total blast. We went to the rental place and the lady asked me how much experience I had. I told her I had never driven a motorbike in my life...and did not know how to drive manual either. You think that would be a clear sign not to rent to bike to me, but instead, the lady just smiled and said "I teach you". Next thing I knew, I was on this bike going down her driveway wobbling from side to side. I really didn´t feel comfortable, but Belinda kept telling me that it gets easier the faster that you go. FINE....I decided to just do it. There was not a lot of traffic in town and I was just going to take it easy. Well Belinda was right. After a few minutes, I built up my confidence and was having a total blast on the bike. We cruised through all the town streets then went and visited temples and villages outside of town. I have totally been missing out on not renting bikes before. It is much easier then driving a segway. At the end of the day, we had gotten pretty far out of town and needed to head back before sunset. Belinda turned her bike around, but then all of a sudden her handle bar got stuck and she lost control and crashed straight into the ditch. She flew off the bike into the side of the hill. It all happend so fast and I was so worried that she was hurt. I ran over to see if she was ok. She popped up and said she was fine and was more concerned about her bike. She couldn´t afford any major damages. I knew that she was in a bit of shock, but at least she wasn´t too hurt. The bike was mostly ok except the basket was banged in pretty good. Once we knew the bike was ok and that she wasn´t hurt badly, we both started laughing histerically. It was one of those laughs like...holy shit...that could have been real bad. Belinda was wearing this one-piece demin outfit where the shorts and shirt are all connected. We call these "onesies". I kept replaying her accident in my head and seeing her fly off the bike in her onesy. That is when I nicknamed her "Super Onesy". THANK GOD she was ok!!!! After the accident we went back to the hotel and woke Laura up from her nap to help us make-shift the basket back to the way it was. We got it back to almost normal and they didn´t notice anything when we returned it.

The following day, Laura and I set off for a 2 day trek to visit local hill tribe villages. Belinda stayed behind because she didn´t have any hiking gear. We were joined on the trek with a french gay couple. When I first introduced myself I asked them what their names were. In thick french accents they told me their names. I had NO IDEA what they said. In my head I was like"yeahhh...no idea what they just said...not even going to try". After a little while though, I finally asked them to write their names down for me since I am more of a visual learner. They were Fred and Oliver....hahahah...just goes to show how thick the accent was that I couldn´t figure out those simple names. They were a very nice couple and since Laura knows french she was able to translate conversations between us.

It is the rainy season now so the trek was extremely muddy. We slipped and fell down paths and stepped in mud that covered our shoes. Another downfall to the rainy season was leeches. I felt a few on my legs and would try to get them off. At the end of the day when I took my pants off, I had leech marks all over my legs.....soooo gross!

The hike was a very unique experience. The hill tribe that we visited was named Lanten. The villagers are very poor and they spend their days harvesting and growing crops, raising farm animals, and maintaning the village. There is no electricity and they bathe and drink water from the river. I took this time to ask questions to our guide, Ef, about the villages and the Laos government. The villages used to burn down forests to grow crops and then after the season was over, move to another area and repeat the cycle. The government finally cracked down for environmental reasons and now give the villages a small sum of money so they do not move around so frequently.

As for the government, I think Laos is similar to Vietnam in that they are called Communist countries but that it is merely a title and free market situations exist. In the reading I have done, Laos receives a huge amount of financial aid from other countries including the US. Without this aid, they would be one of the poorest countries in the world. To try and help the country from the inside out, the government began introducing free markets so that they can improve and compete with the rest of the world. I have really tried to read books about the wars, governments, and histories of the countries I have visited....trying to better understand it all. Eventually, the communist governments seem to turn back to free markets in order to give the people a better quality of life. At least that is the conclusion that I have come to at this point...I still have much research and learning to do.

Fred and Oliver had done a lot of traveling and been to many villages in Nepal and Burma. Oliver brought balloons for the kids and crayons and paper to draw and interact with them. I was told not to bring things to the villages so that the kids don´t have expectations from foreigners. Tour companies suggest bringing toothpaste or pens for school. However, whether we are supposed to or not, they LOOOVVVEED the balloons. All the kids came running out of their huts waiting to get a balloon. I have tons of pics of the kids on Picasa that you can check out. Most of the kids are naked or wearing really torn clothes so keep that in mind when viewing the pics.

We learned about the rituals with coming of age, marriage, and village leaders. I tried to ask the guide as many questions I could think of....I was just fascinated with the basic lifestyle. In all of my travels, the one thing that has been the most apparent is that we are all still human. No matter how much money you have, your education, your religion, or government.....we all still laugh, cry, love, hurt, want, and need. For me, this village was one of the closest things that I have seen where they spend each hour of the day getting their basic needs met...Food, Water, Shelter. It is so different then the life I live back home. We have so much time on our hands that we create activities and material goods to satisfy us. We struggle with obesity, stress, depression....This village doesn´t even have electricity!

Ef lived back in the city. He was better off then the villagers, but still did not make much money. I think he said that he makes a few $1000 a year. It felt weird when he asked me how much my camera cost and I told him it was $400 because that is a huge part of his annual income. Ef also asked me a lot of questions. He wanted to know what it felt like to fly in a plane, see snow, and be able to travel between different countries. He explained to me that I am able to visit his country, but that he would never be able to come to the US. You could tell that Ef understood the world a little more then the villagers did. His job was to be a tour guide to foreigners who flash money around like it is paper. Meanwhile, he tries to work enough to afford school and english classes and still lives at home with his family at 25 years of age. It is always hard to talk to locals when they start to compare their lives to yours. I do not have a lot of money for an American...but in Laos I am extremely wealthy.

My time in Laos has been interesting and entertaining. Everyday it seems something interesting happends. On a different note though, there are some things happening back at home that I am missing. My dad´s fiance has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. I had prepared myself to miss good things, like weddings, birthdays, and my nieces growing, etc....but I didn´t prepare myself to miss situations like this. The hard thing with travel is you are away from family and home. I wish I could give Jatana a big hug and let her know I am thinking about her.

I have a few more days in Laos and then I part my ways from Belinda and Laura. My friend Jeremy is meeting me in the Philippines for a 2 week "holiday". After that, back to flying solo ...........

Mot, Hai, Ba.....YO!!!!!!

After getting clothes tailor made and stomaching the amount of money we spent on uneccesary items, we decided to continue up north to a town called Hue. Hue used to be the capital of Vietnam and is famous for its "Imperial City". I'll admit, I did not take the time to really research the city and history of everything. Sometimes your mind just needs a break. I ended up just walking around and enjoying all of the old buildings and asian architecture. A lot of the Imperial city was damaged by natural disasters and war, but they are working hard to rebuild it. It is pretty fascinating to view the intricate designs and bold colors. I can only imagine what the city looked like at its prime. Perhaps I will come back to visit in 10 years when everything is rebuilt again.
Our last night in Hue, we decided to have a couple of cocktails. I have to be careful not to go out too often because of my budget, but every few weeks we have a "party" night. We moved from one bar to the next. I was really on a mission to have a good chat with other travelers. Since we don't go out too often sometimes you don't meet as many people. Especially since I have been traveling with Laura, I don't go out of my way to socialize as much as I do when I am alone.
I started chatting with this Indian guy named Sumit. He lives in England and was traveling with 4 other Brits. Laura was getting tired (or as I say....wussing out!) and wanted to go home. I was just getting on a roll for the night. I asked Sumit if I could tag along with them. Our hotels were in the same area so it was safer for me. We ended up finding this one bar with a pool table. We asked the locals what time it closed...they said as long as we were buying beer and betting on pool with them, we could stay there as long as we wanted. After rounds of pool, drinks, and deep conversations about how our generation needs to make the changes to better the world, the sun was starting to rise. I could not believe I was still awake....I thanked the British boys for the nice chat and drinks and headed back to my room.
Back in Cambodia, we met an American couple from Idaho (Katie and Andy). They were on the same route as we were so we ran into them often. We all decided to hire a boat together in Halong Bay.In order to meet up with them in time,Laura and I needed to catch an overnight bus to Hanoi. Until now, we had not done a proper overnight bus. I did them a lot in South America and had gotten used to them. But I would soon learn that overnight busses in Asia are a little different then the busses in South America. We got to the bus station and saw a bus with tons and tons of Vietnamese people pushing to get on. There are no queues here or any form of standing in line. The asians are so little and they just push by you and squeeze around everything to get where they need to go...kinda like little ants. I finally got onto the bus and the driver handed me a plastic bag to put my shoes in. You cannot wear shoes anywhere near where people sleep. As I looked around the bus to find a seat I noticed that there were none left. My ticket did not have a seat number. It was complete chaos...I finally got my shoes back and stepped off the bus. There were about 5 other foreigners that did not get on as well. Clearly, the neanderthal white people were not the quickest ones onto the bus. The driver told us there would be another bus shortly that we could get on. I am kind of glad we didn't get on the bus because as I looked more closely, I realized that half of the front window and door was ducked taped together.
The next bus came and we were all able to get on. The bus has 3 rows of these things that they call beds. It is only a bed if you are shorter then 5 foot 5. If you are a tall person then it is very uncomfortable. All of the single beds were taken except for the very back of the bus. There were 5 beds together in the very back where the A/C was not working. Laura and I threw our bags over and jumped in. I was laughing histerically because all of these kids were running around with face masks and vietnammese music was blaring...it was one of those "What the F is going on" moments!
No one else came on the bus so it appeared that we were going to have the 5 beds all to ourselves...which we were excited about. But at the last minute, 3 foreign guys jumped on and headed to the back. They were 3 Irish lads named Ollie, Eoin, and Patrick. Patrick and me were stuck in the middle beds. He jokingly leaned his hand over and introduced himself. We were literally laying so close to each other as if we had known each other for ages. They were very tight quarters. The Irish boys were a good crack and we strategically placed our bodies around each other so we could play a few rounds of cards. After a little while we all decided to lay in the beds and try to get some rest. Patrick and I continued chatting while everyone else drifted asleep. He was a very cute guy who is a teacher back in Ireland. We got to know each other while chatting for a few hours. We joked back and forth about how we all 5 had to spoon in one direction in order to fit on the beds. Then we would all have to switch over to spoon the other direction every so often. The beds were not made for 5 foreigners. I am not sure if it was the tight space, the daunting sticky heat, or the 12 hour bus ride....but you could feel the attraction between Patrick and I as we laid close to each other chatting. I have met plenty of people while traveling but it is not so easy to meet guys since you move around so much. I am not interested in the party hook up travel circuit either, which so many people get involved in. It would be nice to meet someone genuine, but it is not that easy with this type of unpredictable lifestyle. Anyways...the whole point of my schpeil is that it was nice to have a good chat with this guy for a few hours. Even though we had only just met...we ended up having a good cuddle session on the cramped, hot bus. It made my bus ride a lot more enjoyable then it could have been. I will probably never see Patrick again, but it was fun :) Next time I take an overnight bus I will request a cute Irish talkative lad to sit next to me..HA!
Our bus arrived to Hanoi which is the capital city. However, we needed to get to Cat Ba Island about 5 hours away so we could meet up with the Americans to get on our boat. When we got off the overnight bus, a rush of motorbike locals came up yelling for us to get on. It is always overwhelming when you have been on a bus for hours and then have to deal with the chaos of a new city. We negotiated a price for these 2 guys to take us to another bus station. 30,000 dong...which was way more then we needed to pay, but sometimes you don't feel like fighting the scams. The drivers then took us to a completely different bus and tried to get us to go to a different city. Hanoi is known for this type of scam where they convince you that this is the correct bus just so you pay money to their friends, etc. I had prepared myself for this scam and was not going to fall for it. I jumped off the bike and told the guy he took us to the wrong place and I didn't want to ride with him anymore. I still gave him the money because I didn't want to deal with him. I gave him 50,000 dong and asked him for 20,000 back. He pretended to ignore me and started his bike again. Meanwhile, another guy came over and grabbed my bag and tried to stick it on the bus. It was all happening so fast. I can normally keep my cool, but they are now trying to steal money from me and grabbing my stuff. I started yelling at them to leave my bag alone and continued asking the driver for the change. I finally reached in his pocket and grabbed my money back. He grabbed my arm and I told him he was not getting any money unless he gave me my change back. At the same time I was kicking the other guy away from my bag and causing a minor scene on the street. The driver pulled out 10,000 dong....I said that wasnt enough. "give me fucking 20,000 change back mister or you get nothing from me". All the men started laughing and he finally gave me the change. I grabbed my bag and Laura and I told everyone to get away from us. Welcome to Hanoi....sheeesh!!! Fortunately, the place we needed to go to was not that far and we were able to walk. Another 5 hour busride and a 1 hour boat ride and we were on the island of Cat Ba. It was gorgeous. Cat Ba is the place where Vietnamese people come for holiday. It would be like Florida or Hawaii for us. We kinda forgot that it was summer and holiday break for the Vietnamese as well....so it was a madhouse on the Island. We had a tough time finding a place to stay and the prices were really jacked up. It was pretty cool, though, to see how the locals spend their vacation. They work hard all year and save money to bring their entire family to this island for a few days....they have a good time, too.
We met up with the Americans and finalized our plans for the boat. We were going to spend 2 days and 1 night on a private boat cruising through Halong Bay. The company we went through was Slo Pony...It is run by 3 American guys who specialize in rock climbing and boat tours. They take people to areas of the bay that are far from all the tourists. Most tour groups always say that, but this is one of the first times where they were telling the truth. The reason I mention their name as a company is because they were very helpful. Instead of trying to scam you or give you a bad deal (which often happens to foreigners over here), they were very upfront and honest about their services. I was intrigued as to how 3 Americans were running a business in a communist country. Oslo, one of the owners, explained that he could write a book about the loopholes they went through to have a business here. He said that you would be amazed how business and the government works in Vietnam. They were the first foreigners to ever live on Cat Ba. He said they had to live in Hotels for a year in a half before they were allowed to buy a house. One of the guys is married to a Vietnamese girl now, so I wonder how much that has helped their situation. I didn't ask many questions, but what they are doing has not been done too often here. And it sounds like a pretty interesting situation that they have with the government to run the shop.
Anyways, we met another couple from Spain and Germany who put money in on the boat as well....there were 6 of us. Early the next day we boarded the boat and set off to Halong Bay. It was pouring down rain, but it was still a sight to see. Limestone cliffs and rock formations are all around the bay and gives it a very mystical look. The first day we went kayaking. There are all these caves that go into private lagoons. There were hardly any other tourists around. One thing we noticed, were that there were a lot of jellyfish swimming around the lagoons. It was fun to look at them, but we sure as hell didn't want to get stung so we stayed in the kayaks. We spent the rest of the day eating, swimming, and chatting with each other. It was so chill and nice to relax after our hectic travel up there. At one point it was pouring down rain, but we all decided to swim out to this island. It was awesome being in the middle of Halong bay in a storm. We joked about jellyfish...I was seriously paranoid about them, but tried to keep my cool. Everyone else seemed so comfortable frolocking in the water, but I was constantly looking around me and making sure nothing came near. That night, Katie, Andy, Laura and I stayed up late drinking beer and chatting about our travels. Katie and Andy are from Idaho and have been on a 4 month trip. They only have 5 more days left of their trip. Katie is going back to school to be a scientist and Andy is going back to start medical school. It was nice to chat with 2 American travelers and compare stories. When it was really late we decided to go night swimming because you could see the phosflurescents...which is the glow of the algea swimming in the ocean. As we were about to get in, the captain came running over and said that there were a lot of jellyfish out that night. We decided to just stick a paddle in the water to see the glow...it was neat. I passed by the other couples room (they had gone to sleep a few hours before) and noticed that the light was still on. As I peered through the window I saw Chemma (the spanish guy) walking around blindfolded and Carina (the german girl) laying in bed watching him. I was like...WTF? are they doing in there? I seriously thought they were playing some sort of sex scharade game. We had a laugh outside about it because Katie and Andy had to share a room with them. They felt awkward going back in later that night. Well as it turns out, they were not playing a weird sex game, but instead they were sleeping with the lights on because there were so many cockroaches crawling all over the beds. Carina woke up to one in her hair and you could hear them crawling all over the sideboards. With the lights on they would stay hidden. They laughed so hard the next day when I told them that I thought they were getting all kinky on the boat.
The next day we continued to do more kayaking and swimming. We went deep into one cave and were surrounded by bats. The bat poo smelled awful, but it was pretty cool to be that deep into a cave. After that though, another round of nausea came over me. Ever since I have been sick in Cambodia I get these weird waves. Most of the time I can mentally convince myself that I am fine and it will pass, but for some reason it would not pass this day. I went back to the boat and layed down. Lunch was ready and I thought that maybe I was just hungry and not nauseas. I tried to eat, but as soon as I smelled the food I ran to the bathroom and vomitted. After that I was fine. I must have a weird parasite living in me because I have never thrown up this much before. After getting sick I was back to my old self again and continued hanging out on the boat. We decided to go for one last swim before we headed back to the island. We were all laying in the water and chatting it up. I joked how the ocean scared me because you never knew what was below...I was more of a lake girl myself. The water felt so nice and I would lay on my back and stare up at the sky....so relaxing. And then I felt it....this wave of burning fire stroked my right ass cheek and I instantly knew that I had been hit. "Oh my God...Oh my God...I've been hit. Seriously y'all....I am not joking...a jellyfish...Oh my God" I screamed this as I swam the fastest I have ever swam to the boat. I was out of the water in olympic time. Meanwhile, everyone in the water was freaking out because usually there are schools of jellyfish so they all grabbed the side of the boat and were hanging there paranoid. I climbed out but was so scared to look at the burn on my ass. For all I knew there could have still been a jellyfish hanging off of me. Chemma walked out of his room after he heard the commotion. I asked him to tell me how bad it was. "Yeah...you got stung" is all he said as he stared at it wide eyed. I started shaking because I was kinda freaking out and tears formed in my eyes. It burned bad, but on top off that I was so frustrated that it had been me who got stung. The one who was most paranoid. My voice quivered as I said "Why me....why did it have to be me". I looked down at everyone hanging off the boat and asked "So...which one of you is going to piss on me." No one replied. I sure as hell wasn't going to piss on myself. After my initial freak out and being upset that I was the one that got stung, my whole entire body started to itch really bad. It was at that point when I realized I knew nothing about jelly fish stings. Was my body about to go into cardiac arrest? Was I going to have temporary paralysis? What the hell happens to you? Chemma just looked at me and said "Well its been 5 minutes and you haven't died yet....so I think you will be ok". We headed back to the port. I sat up on top and tried to get my mind off of my burning ass. And the fact that it was on my ass pissed me off even more....of all the places! Anyways, I continued scratching my body and figured it was just the toxins circulating through my blood stream...no big deal. We arrived back to the Slo Pony shop about 1 hour later. I went up the Eric, another owner, and asked him how bad a jellyfish sting was. His first question he asked very seriously was "What color was the jellyfish?" None of us actually saw the it after it stung me...we had no idea what it looked like. "Does it matter what color it was?" I replied. Then he asked how long ago it had happened. I told him it had been an hour. "You got stung an hour ago and you are this coherent and talking to me right now?...Wow...that is pretty amazing. I think you will be ok." People react differently to the stings and it sounds like I was pretty lucky. He then told us a story about how his friend was rock climbing and fell off the cliff into the water. He came up with a jellyfish wrapped around his face. He layed on the rocks for 6 hours crying with agonizing pain. He ended up peeing in a cup and pouring it on his face. After I heard that story I was very thankful it stung me on my ass and that my reaction was minor.
It was Saturday night and the Vietnamese holiday was in full effect. We had not booked a hotel in advance. We asked Slo Pony if they could help us find accomodation. They said they had a few people they could call, but it was not likely they would find something...but they offered the couches in their office. Fortunetaly, one of the rooms they own in a hotel was open so they put us up there for the night for a really cheap price. As I mentioned before...these guys were super cool dudes. The room was pretty decent. It was your typical bachelor pad. A tiled artwork of a naked asian woman in the bathroom and dishevled furniture. But it was clean and a roof over our head. The AC unit was directly over where I was sleeping. Every now and then a drip would fall on me when I was sleeping, but it didn't bother me too bad. However, at about 3 am a rush of water came out of the unit onto my face like a waterfall. I woke up freaking out....."make it stop..make it stop". We were all disoriented and Katie found the remote to turn it off. I was soaking wet and so was the bed. I turned around and slept in the opposite corner in a ball. It just wasn't my day I suppose :)
The next day we made our journy back to Hanoi. We continued traveling with Katie and Andy and all decided to get a hotel room together to save on the costs. It was a sweet room with plenty of space, air con, and a flat screen tv. Hanoi is a crazy city...much crazier then Saigon in my opinion. A lot of people do not enjoy Vietnam because they feel that the people are pushy and in your face. If you started your travels in Vietnam up North in Hanoi, I could understand why you would start off on the wrong foot. I was not that impressed with the vibe in the city. I am thankful that we started traveling South and then up because we were able to see a better side of the country.
One night we all went out to dinner. In Vietnam they have these places called Bia Hois. It translates to Draught beer. Each day they make batches of this fresh draft beer and sell 1 glass for 3,000 dong. 18,000 dong equals a dollar so you can have 6 beers for 1 dollar. It is brilliant! Anyways, at dinner we were given a drink list. There were regular priced beers and then 2 items at the bottom for about 8,000 dong. We figured this was some of the local beer but that the prices were jacked up a bit since it was a proper restaurant. We ordered 2 of each of the "local beers". 5 minutes later the waitress walked out with 2 bottled waters and a plate of shredded beef. Wow...how cool... we thought. They give you free water and a snack before dinner. Well, it turns out we just didnt know what the hell we were ordering. We ordered water and shredded beef instead of beer....we had a good laugh over that.
The next day I ran into my old British friend Dave and some people that he had met. We all decided to go out to have a big dinner together. It was me and Laura, Katie and Andy, Dave, and french guy named Antione, and Brit named Chris, and a Belg named Jeremy. I always love the international dinners. Before dinner though, Andy and Katie wanted to have a few cheep beers and the Bia Hoi. It was there last day in Vietnam so we wanted to celebrate. I know it sounds like I have been drinking a lot in this blog, but seriously.....6 beers for $1. How can you pass that up? The beer started flowing, we all met up for dinner and then continued on to more Bia Hois after dinner with our big group of international travelers. We went on a Bia Hoi crawl from one street corner to the next. They are not proper bars by any means. It is simply a keg surrounded by small plastic chairs on the sidewalk. Very basic, very cheap, very amazing! Instead of saying cheers...in Vietnamese you say Mot, Hai, Ba....YO! and clank your drinks together. It was a fun night!
Well today is our last day in Vietnam. Dave, Laura and I all crossed from Cambodia to Vietnam so we decided to cross together to Laos. All of the sleeper buses were booked for days so we bought tickets for a "sitting" bus. It is going to be a 24 hour long bus ride to cross the border and we will be sitting the whole time. It is going to be one hell of a busride. Ah well.....another epic journey to a new country. Vietnam has been awesome.....I have had some really cool experiences here. Goodbye Vietnam. Let's see what Laos has to offer :)

Hit the road, Jack!

Before I start anything, I just want to say that Vietnam is awesome. I love this country and it has made my list of top places I have visited. Every traveler will tell you that your experience in a country depends on a lot of factors. Some people may have an amazing time somewhere while others would never go back to visit. The experiences you have, the people you meet, your health, the weather, and the cultural connection can all play a big part in how you perceive a place. After a few weeks of health problems and coping with a round of homesickness, I hoped that something would shift in my surroundings to give me a zest of refreshment and motivation to get my travel mojo back. Well...I am back!

While in Saigon, Dave, Laura, and I signed up for a half day tour to visit the war tunnels outside of town. We loaded onto a bus with about 10 other tourists. Our tour guide was named Joey, or at least that was the name he told us to call him. He had a microphone at the front of the bus and as soon as we were all seated he started explaining how he got the name Joey. He said that he had befriended an Australian ex-pat and they hung out a lot. The ex-pat called him Joey like the kangaroo. They got to know each other well and the ex-pat was going to try to get him into Australia to live. However, he ended up dying in a car accident….and Joey never got to Australia. His dream of starting a life there was shattered. The entire bus was silent after his introductory story. We weren’t sure why he had just told us that and what type of response he was wanting. Shortly after the story, Joey tried to liven up the group by telling jokes. I am not sure if it had something to do with the language or cultural barrier, but Joey did not have the concept of political correctness. Let’s just say, if you were black, gay, America, or catholic, you would have been offended. After calling Obama a “chocolate baby” and gay men “3 dollar bills” we started looking around each other wondering what type of tour we had signed up for. After he got out all of his bad jokes though, Joey ended up being pretty informative and I learned a lot about the war that day.

During the war against the French, the hill tribes and Vietnamese created tunnel systems throughout certain regions of the county. These tunnels were so intricate and certain areas were 3 levels deep. They included full-on living areas, breathing holes, watering wells, and booby traps. Some of the systems went on for miles and miles. During the “American War” the US soldiers would build camps over the tunnels without having a clue what was below them. In the middle of the night, VC would come out of hidden trap doors and ambush soldiers and then retreat back into the tunnels without leaving a trace behind. It took a very long time for the US Soldiers to realize what they were up against. Once they were aware of the tunnel systems, they did whatever they could to figure out where the hidden doors were located. Dogs were used to sniff out the area. However, the VC would steal American soap and other items and place them around the breathing holes. This way the dogs could not identify a foreign smell. Sometimes the American soldiers would find an entrance, but most often their bodies were too big to make it past the first level or they would get caught in a booby trap. Keep in mind, the tunnels were most often without electricity. The VC knew the systems by the back of their hands and even though it was dark, they would navigate around the booby traps. At the tunnel site, there was an area that had been cleared of any traps to allow tourists to crawl through. It was a 700 meter long tunnel and they actually made it slightly bigger to accommodate the western sized bodies. As soon as I entered a wave of heat hit me. I managed to bend my back over my knees and walked through most of it. Certain areas I had to get on all fours to get through. However, my shoulders rubbed against the ceiling and it was extremely tight fitting. If you were any bigger than me then it would have been difficult to fit through. After about 2 minutes of being in the tunnel I got a little claustrophobic. I knew as long as I kept moving I would reach the end, but there was no way that I was comfortable being down there. Sweat was dripping down my back and all I could think about was how the villagers and VC would stay in these tunnels for months at a time. They built weapons, devised strategies, cooked, slept, had babies, and raised families in these tunnels and here I was about to faint from crawling through 700 meters for 5 minutes. When we finally reached the end of the tunnel I ran out grasping the fresh air and wiping the sweaty mud off my body. This Taiwanese girl came out behind me and said in a gasping voice “No wonder they won”….I had to agree with her.

After Saigon, we decided to catch a bus to a town called Dalat. It is the gateway town into the Central Highlands. Most tourists follow up the coast line of the country, but I had heard that the highlands were a good alternative if you wanted to get off the beaten path. Dalat was a really nice town. When the French colonized, a lot of them would live in this area because it has the best weather in all of Vietnam. Throughout the year it ranges from 60-80 degrees, which is much cooler than the rest of the country. Because of the weather, they grow an abundant amount of fruit, vegetables, and flowers. It is also decent for grapes, so it is the town where the only Vietnamese wine comes from.

I had heard that there were these motorcycle groups in the highlands that would take you around on day tours. They were called the “Easy Riders”. After walking around the town for a bit, Laura and I stopped at a tourist office to inquire about it. We just wanted to see the countryside of the town and figured the best way to do it was by bike. We jumped on the back of these guys bikes and headed out for a day tour. Our first stop was a flower farm where we saw rows and rows of beautiful flowers. Each day they are trimmed and taken all over the country to be sold in the markets. Next stop was a coffee farm. Apparently, Vietnam is the 2^nd largest export of coffee behind Brazil (this is according to my guide). Most of it goes to China and Japan and surrounding countries. I have really enjoyed the coffee here; it almost has a rich mocha taste to it. After that, we went to a Buddhist temple where I saw the most amazing “Happy Buddha”! Happy Buddha´s are the ones that have the big fat bellies. That type of Buddha comes from China, but there is a lot of Chinese influence in Vietnam being that they are neighbors and have fought many wars against each other. The Buddha was huge and baby blue. I have pictures on my picasa so you can see the magnitude of it. Behind its head were circles of neon lights. At night they are glowing all different colors behind his head – I would have loved to have seen that. We also went to a silk factory which was fascinating. I saw the entire process of the seeing the silk worm from the mulberry tree all the way to the weaving machines. Our guides then took us to a local´s house that distilled rice wine and grew mushrooms. It was such a jam packed day and we learned so much about the area. After the tour, our guide Vinh, told us about how we could hire them to take us through the Central Highlands on a 5 day tour through the Ho Chi Ming Trail (the rode built to carry military supplies to the VC). For whatever reason, Laura and I looked at each other and agreed that it was something we should do. I figured it would be a great chance to learn about the country, government, and lifestyles of the people. I was a little bit weary though, because I had not gone a solid 5 days without some sort of stomach issue. Laura had a stomach of steal, but I frequented the bathroom a lot. I rubbed my belly and asked her to be good for the motorcycle trip.

The next morning Vinh and the other driver Cho picked us up. We tied our luggage to the back, strapped on our helmets, grabbed our crotches and spit on the ground….I felt like a renegade! As we meandered out of town I leaned forward and asked Vinh if he had actually ever seen the movie “Easy Rider”. He said “Yes...Hit the Road, Jack!” (In a thick Vietnamese accent).

One of our first stops on the tour was a villager who made rice paper. The process was similar to the rice paper that I saw being made in Cambodia except that they put roasted sesame seeds into the rice paste. The family that we visited was so precious. This old man had a permanent indention on the bottom of his lip where a lit cigarette rested. He stirred the rice paste and scooped it up, placed it on a hot stove top like a crepe and then covered it. After about 20 seconds he would lift the top off, and pull up the circular shape off and place it on a bamboo tray to dry. He did this about 5 times in a row while staring at me and speaking Vietnamese. He was explaining the whole process to me as if I could understand his language. His wife walked onto the porch where we were standing and brought us the finished product. After the paper dries, they roast the paper over a fire and it forms this crunchy type rice cake. You break it apart and dip it into soy sauce for a snack. As I was trying some of it, the older woman walked up to me and stared into my eyes deeply. She then started rattling off in Vietnamese and kept looking at me. I wasn´t sure what was going on, but it appeared that she was saying something meaningful. “What is she saying….Vinh, what is she saying to me” I asked as if I was missing some really important information from this wise old woman. “She asked if you had been here before…because you white people, you all look the same to her. She can´t tell one person from the next.” Vinh and the older couple laughed about her comment. I had to chuckle to myself, too. There was a point in my life where I thought that all Asians looked the same as well. The old man let me and Laura try to make rice paper. Mine did not turn out to good and had a big circle in the middle like a donut. Laura´s was perfect, but I think it is because she lives in France and makes crepes. Afterwards, the old man said that he would hire Laura to make rice paper and I was reduced to feeding the pigs at the back of the house.

Our first night we arrived to a hill tribe village. They are the tribes that lived in the hills way before the Vietnamese arrived to the area. Nowadays, the government designated land for them and gives them a small sum of money to keep the village running with electricity and water. The village was filled with long houses and we were to stay in a family’s home for the night. Pigs, chickens, oxen, cattle, and an elephant roamed the streets. The villagers really didn´t pay us too much mind. There was no bathroom in the area that we were sleeping. It was at least a 10 minute walk to a toilet facility at a family run restaurant down the road. As we went to bed that night, Laura and I joked about how crappy it would be if one of us got diarrhea in the middle of the night since there was no toilet and we were unfamiliar with the area. Unfortunately, Laura did end up getting sick. Poor girl got up to walk outside and get some fresh air, but ended up clothes lining herself with one of the mosquito nets draped across the room. Once she made it outside she had to try and find an area to use the bathroom where she wouldn´t have a pig or oxen sneak up on her. It was a rough night for her. (Finally, it wasn´t me who had to use the bathroom!)

The following day, Vinh informed me that I would be changing drivers. Apparently, 2 other foreigners were interested in a Mekong Delta tour which Vinh specialized in. His brother, Chan, would be my new driver. Chan was a 25 year old single guy who was 4 foot 11 inches and probably weighed 100 lbs. I was HUGE compared to him. When I first met Chan, both he and Vinh told me that I looked like their cousin. I thought that was interesting considering I look nothing like a Vietnamese person. Chan was a lot more outgoing then Vinh, but his English was not as clear. He drove well though, and that was the most important to me. Chan and Cho often called us “Happy Buddhas” and would pat our bellies. Normally, I would be a little offended, but everyone looked fat compared to Chan.

Riding on the motorcycle with the wind in your face was exhilarating. We cruised through the mountains and passed small villages. We would stop at little food stalls to have coffee, sugarcane, or tea. The people would run to the road and wave to us as we drove by. Most everyone had a smile on their faces even as they worked diligently in the rice fields.

On the second day we stopped at a petrol station to fill up. Laura and I were stretching out our “monkey bums” as the drivers called it. We went to get back on our bikes. Laura swung her leg over her bag to the other side and heard a big rip. Turns out she ripped a huge hole in the crotch of her pants all the way down her leg. It was so funny too because this day involved a lot of hiking. She was so embarrassed about the hole that she wrapped her sarong around her pants. It was so deadly hot outside and she had all these layers on trying to hike up these hills and down these waterfalls.

For lunch each day we would stop at these local restaurants. Our drivers would order a little bit of everything on the menu for us to try. It was really neat because there was no way I would have the guts to order this type of food or even know how to order it. We ate pork, beef, chicken, fish, and all sorts of vegetable platters. The food was delicious. It was so interesting to see the different eating styles. For instance, when Chan and Cho ate fish, they would shove the entire piece in their mouth and then spit out the skin and bones onto their plate. I would meticulously pick the bones out of my fish before I put the piece in my mouth. Every time I ate something, I would rub my Buddha belly and ask her to cooperate. Somehow, it seemed to work. For once, I was eating street food and drinking ice but my stomach was doing well. Laura on the other hand, was not doing so hot. I gave her some of my Immodium and told her that should stop the bathroom issue for the rest of the trip.

The third day was our longest distance of travel. We had to ride 260 km. This may not seem that long but the bikes can only go 40k in the cities and 60k on the highways. We made plenty of stops to give our bums a rest. In the afternoon we stopped at this beautiful lake which had an overlook. Laura and I walked to the viewpoint to take some photos. There were tons of Vietnamese tourists there. They all stared at us and pointed. We were getting a lot of attention in SE Asia for being foreigners. Laura especially got attention because she is 6 feet tall with blue eyes. As we were looking out at the lake, a group of people came up to us and asked us to be in their family photo. They had a professional photographer and they all stood around us for the picture. As we walked back to the motorbikes, several other people came up and asked to have a photo taken with us. Most of the people came up to Laura´s elbow or bicep. I took a few photos as well because it was just so funny. I don´t think Laura found it as amusing.

That night we ate another fabulous Vietnamese dinner. Laura and Cho were tired so they went back to the hotel while Chan and I walked around the city. I needed to get some supplies at the grocery store so he took me there. When I was browsing through the store I noticed how everyone was looking at me. I don´t think many tourists made it to this particular town and certainly don´t go to the supermarket very often. Before I knew it, I had about 7 kids following me around each aisle. When I would turn around they would run off laughing. Teenage kids would come up to me and ask me what my name was and where I was from. The Vietnamese are very well educated with a 90% literacy rate. They love to practice their English whenever they get a chance. I spent about 45 minutes in the store having small conversations with people and kids following me around. It was a little bit awkward, but interesting none the less.

The next day they took us to an old airport strip that was used by the American Soldiers. Surrounding the airfield was land that was destroyed by Agent Orange. Many of the villagers that lived in and around this particular area suffered from horrible side effects from the toxins. A lot of the babies that are born have deformities. Still today, the land has not fully grown back, but each year more and more plants fill in the areas. When we were leaving the area, Chan was talking to me about the history. He said “my grandfather was a farmer in the central highlands when the war started. The center part of Vietnam was not really affiliated with the north or the south. However, it is where most of the battles took place. When the bombs started dropping around my grandfathers land he just started running to save himself. He ran for days trying to find safety. He didn´t understand the war or what was really happening. He was just trying to survive. Turns out he ran south. Because of the direction he ran, he ended up joining with the American soldiers. There were many Vietnamese and minority people who fought on sides without even knowing what they were fighting for. I think there were many American soldiers who didn´t know what they were fighting for as well. You and me, we are both young now. It is the older generation that had to deal with it. I like you now and you like me. I like Americans. I do not like the American Government, though. I don´t even like my own government. Who are these people that we call the Government? The Government is not fighting; it is the people that fight….but why? What do we fight for? A lot of people here believe in God. But God does not give me food to eat. I work and make money. Because of this I can eat every day. No, I do not believe in God and I do not know who the government is….the only person I can believe in is Myself. I know what I need to do to survive.”

It was one of those conversations that had me thinking the rest of the day. Here is a 25 year old guy living across the world from me, and he questions faith, government, and his own life. We are of the same generation who has troubled histories and government changes ahead of us. I wonder what life will be like for both me and Chan in 20 years. I think there are many people my age who have a lot of questions about the way things have been handled and I hope that the generations to follow continue to question and challenge and progress to a more peaceful world.

During our tour I also wanted to take some time to understand the communist government of Vietnam. I have been raised to view communism as a negative thing, but it seemed to me like most people in Vietnam were happy. I asked Chan and Cho about their jobs, their rights, and their overall lifestyles. From what I saw and gathered from our conversations, Vietnam didn´t exactly seem like a communist government to me at all. People can move freely through the land, own property, and start their own business. They still had to pay for their own healthcare. Ever since Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization and tourism became a big industry, a more capitalistic mindset has taken effect. I was still confused by it all. I did some internet searching and read that Vietnam is still considered a communist government but that they have a controlled capitalistic society. I guess you can grab a piece of the pie, but if it gets too big then the government may step in for a slice.

Laura reiterated to me that it takes a lot of years for a government to stabilize and find that right balance to work well for its people. The “American War” was fought to unify the North and South of Vietnam under a communist government. However, once the war was won, there were some tough years ahead for Vietnam in getting everything in order. But now-a-days, it seems like things are working well. When I asked Chan if Vietnam was still a communist country, he told me no. He said things are much better now, and even if they call themselves a communist party, it is not the same as it was 15 years ago. I guess the easiest way for me to understand it all is if you look at a spectrum. One end is communism and the other end is capitalism. If you are 100% communist then you lose progression. If you are 100% capitalist then a lot of people will fall into the cracks and their opportunities of succeeding will drop drastically as the richer get richer. There has to be a balance of some sort. Vietnam is communist with a capitalistic edge…while America is capitalism with some social programs. Obviously, I have no background in Political Theology and this is simply the observations and questions that I have asked myself. It is interesting to me to travel to each country and see how their governments work for them….and the opinions of the local people.

At one point in the ride, the chain on our bike broke. Chan pulled over to a mechanic shop to have a look at the damage. Laura and I sat down in some chairs and waited for them to fix it. This sweet woman came up to us. She was wearing gum boots and had the classic Vietnamese wooden hat on her had with a face mask on (tons of Asians where facemasks to not catch germs). She didn´t speak any English but came over and put her leg next to Laura´s and laughed. She was trying to emphasize how much bigger we were then her. I was holding my camera and she pointed at it. Then she pointed at herself. She stood up straight, removed her facemask, and gave me the biggest smile ever. I couldn´t believe she was asking me to take her picture….I stood up immediately and snapped a shot. I showed her the image and she laughed so hard, then grabbed her shovel and ran back to work. It was one of the coolest moments for me. She was a classic Vietnamese woman and I have been dying to get a good photo of a villager, but always feel awkward taking pictures of people. I will never forget that.

On our last day of the tour, we stopped at a little shop for fresh pineapple and coffee. Chan asked us why Europeans eat each other’s faces when he sees them on TV. At first we were really confused by the question. Then we realized he was talking about kissing. Chan has never had a girlfriend before and I don´t think sexual activity is very common unless you are married. We just shrugged and said it was a type of affection that we use in our culture. It is pretty common for people to kiss each other if they are dating. Then he asked us what it tasted like?......I thought for a really long time about the question and just told him that someday he would find out.

Overall the motorcycle trip was amazing. It was one of the coolest 5 days of my trip. It was really a neat experience to hang out with 2 local guys and learn about the culture and lifestyle of the people. It gave me an opportunity to ask questions that I normally would not ask a random stranger. We tried interesting foods and drinks and drove through amazing scenery. I photographed most of the trip and wrote descriptions on Picasa so you could see the different places that we visited.

Now we are in Hoi An. This town is known for tailor made clothes. I have not been shopping much on my travels but decided it would be fun to get some things made. So far, I got a fitted coat, silk dress, 2 cotton dresses, a pair of shorts, and flip flops made. I have NO IDEA where I am going to put all of this stuff and I think I will have to ship it home. It has been a bit overwhelming trying to pick colors, fabrics, designs, etc. But it has been fun, too. So far Vietnam has been awesome. We have about 12 more days to travel up the coast to the northern areas. I am looking forward to it!