DATE: November 29, 2005
New Photos:
Vietnam
Cambodia
Koh Phi Phi 6 months later (and 1 year after the tsunami)
Since I last wrote, I've descended the length of Vietnam, crossed Cambodia, and returned to Thailand (including Koh Phi Phi) briefly before.... FLYING HOME! Gasp! Yes, I surprised my parents for Thanksgiving, which was really, really fun. Managed to hitch a ride from the ferry boat to my parents' new house and watch my dad nearly have a heart attack when I jumped out in front of him on opening the front door. =) I'm only here for a month and staying at the parents' place, with some brief stints in Seattle.
So Vietnam... yeah, very interesting place. I began in the north, Hanoi. It's a quiet city - feels almost classy. Saw Halong Bay which is beautiful (full of limestone karst-islands), swam at night with the illuminescent plankton, and slept in a giant chinese "junk" boat... it was a good time.
Hanoi
On the Junk Boat in Halong Bay
Jumping off the Junk Boat
After that headed up to Sapa where some new friends and I followed some random ladies with baskets full of hemp (what?!) to their house where they served us not tea, but hot water. Actually it was the highlight of my trip up north. The kids up there were absolutely adorable. The hemp is used for their clothing... but we certainly did do a double-take when it looked like these women had huge baskets of marajuana on their backs!
Baskets of Hemp
Child in Sapa
Dolcie drinking hot water with an audience
Sigh... another boring day on a bull
Then I headed south to Hue and Hoi An where the food is good and apparently there are beaches. I wouldn't know as a giant TYPHOON hit us when I was there. Apparently 20 people died in the storm - it was a pretty strong. I was the good 'American Idiot' that went out on a bicycle and took pictures like a good tourist. It was actually really fun. =) Funny, the only other tourists I saw out and about were American or Kiwi. haha Anyway I bet we had more fun that day than any other tourists just sitting around lamenting their flooded rooms and bored state of mind. ;)
My bicycle in the water
Having some scooter trouble
The morning after
Saigon was a modern, bustling city where I got a good dose of biased war history and communist propaganda. It was a great experience - learned a LOT. Saw the famed "Cu Chi" tunnels and shot my first gun, an M-1 carbine!
Saigon at night
Squeezing into the Cu Chi Tunnels
Firing my first gun
Cambodia won the "most culturally kind-of-changes-you" award. The people were amazing. Very nice. Also very desperate. It makes your heart ache - they have suffered so incredibly much. I didn't even know it, really, until I saw it first hand. It's not a place where you throw away your dinner leftovers. There's someone right there who's happy to finish for you - if they have the hands to eat it.
Visited the "S-21" prison where the Pol Pot regime tortured and killed about 17,000 people... as well as the killing fields where thousands were exterminated and buried in mass graves. Walking around you see bits of bone and clothing in the dirt under your feet. I've never actually cried in a museum until the S-21 experience.
Eerie photos of S-21 prisoners
Classrooms turned to cells
Angkor Wat, one of the seven wonders of the world, was truly impressive. I was templed-out after one day, though. People say you can spend a week at Angkor. I don't know how - they all start to look the same after a while. My pics could amaze and bore you at the same time. ;) I probably could have done two days with a rest day in between, but didn't have that kind of time, so I satisfied myself with a day templing and a day to check out the hell-hole of Siem Riep and the very interesting Land Mine museum. I have never seen so many people in such a small area missing limbs... and this museum helped explain why.
Angkor Wat
Hanging out in a temple
Back in Thailand I visited Koh Phi Phi one last time and saw the improvements over the last 6 months. The island is a LOT greener than it was. Grass is growing everywhere and many buildings have been repaired and new ones in construction. It was good to see old friends - I got to stay with Thai friends, which was GREAT! :)
Much more green than before
Living in a climbing shop with my Thai hosts
Now I'm home and it's COLD HERE! G'ah!!! SOMEONE GIVE ME A POLAR SUIT. I hope those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving had a fabulous one, and those who don't... well... you are thinner than the rest of us for it. ;)
Happy Holidays!