Ha Long Bay

First of all, I want to call the attention of all those who read these words to what is happening in Turkey and in Brasil, and declare that I fully support the protests and demands they make, and would be myself very happy to join them in the streets of Istanbul or São Paulo. Turkish and Brasilian friends; do not forget this feeling. Do not forget this power we all have. Let's organize and create a better world, because the current one is mostly a big load of crap.

If you don't know what is happening in those countries, please stop reading this and look it up, as those events are more important than what I did last week in Vietnam.

Now, on with the Travelogue.

This week in Hanoi was great fun. I explored the city a bit further, found some great bars and even an excellent Jam Session - Hanoi Rock City. I played the hell out of their drum kit (with a double bass pedal, for which I was so thankful), until the session leader (some US or Canada dude) asked me to play Michael Jackson with them. I thought that was a good moment to leave the stage.

I met some strange and interesting people these days; a French expat who owns a great bar, a British toyboy to an elder, empowered, westernized, rich and vulgar Vietnamese woman (a remarkable exception among the 'marry as a virgin' majority of -probably not really so- shy Vietnamese ladies), and a plethora of locals who wanted to practice their English.

On the weekend, however, I went to Ha Long Bay.

In this UNESCO heritage site, tourist activity is intense. The bay is quite beautiful, but failed to impress me as 'the most beautiful place in Vietnam', as I heard some people say. I experienced the same feeling as in Angkor Wat; it seemed like I was looking at nothing but (very) pretty rocks.

In the morning, rain struck hard, so we had to postpone the trip to the afternoon. Which was great, as I don't like doing anything in the morning. When the weather was good enough, we enjoyed a tour of the bay and caves, which were interesting, but I ended up taking a nap on the boat after a while.

I avoided the biggest traps (I hope) by travelling with locals, of course, but even then, vulgar capitalism slapped me in the face time and again.

No collective music in the city and beaches, and no communist spirit to be found, only good old money-making greed. Private beaches in a country that hangs The Hammer and Sickle flag everywhere makes no sense at all. Upon being denied free access to a certain beach, I tried to find some path that could lead me to the sand, but all was blocked everywhere, and unless you pay 200.000 VD, no beach for you. While exploring the area, I chanced upon a motorbike driver who introduced himself as "Captain Cheap-Cheap", and offered to take us on his boat for dinner and swimming for 1.000.000 VD. We refused, decided to head back home and enjoy some swimming at a different beach the next day.

That we did, and though it was a decent beach, it is not comparable to Da Nang at all. After a nice swim, I joined my friends, who were sitting on chairs under beach umbrellas. A young man came to take my order, but I thought it was too expensive and declined his offer. He said something in Vietnamese and left. A few moments later, we took off, but the fellow and some more Vietnamese youths came after us, saying we should pay 40.000 VD for sitting on their chairs.
I am outraged by people charging for a seat and shade anywhere in the world, as I have been in Brasil, Italy and wherever else people try to charge me for urinating, seating down or enjoying shade. Those things I refuse to pay for. A man should have the right to enjoy these simple pleasures without having to pay for it. But to have this done to me in a country controlled by The Communist Party makes me raving mad. We were also charged when using an elevator to access a bridge later that day. That is not what Uncle Ho lived and died for.

Staying at a local's place and sharing these (and other) experiences with them was alright, and all in all I can say it was not a bad trip. I tried several local dishes, but nothing really exceptional or eccentric. The greatest lesson learned is that, unfortunately, there are some places and situations in Vietnam in which they fail to live up to my expectations (which were quite romantic and idealistic). The police bribery system (which didn't fall upon me, but was quite evident in people's complaints), the women abuse, despite the deep respect most men have for most women (I heard a lot of stories of young, long haired beauties being kidnapped and sold...), and some other difficulties have become the plague of this country, and consumerism has arrived here as well. That is not to say that they haven't surpassed many other expecations; in areas where I expected to find ignorance and negative outcomes, I was greeted with intelligence, culture, modernity and open mindedness beyond my most optimistic ideas of this country. It certainly is far from being perfect and has its own (many) vices and faults, but it has a lot to teach, in my opinion. Lessons that perhaps the Brasilians and Turks can draw upon now, to organize, fight and win some rights, without forgetting that after these rights are won or lost, you must choose carefully what you do with them.

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Hanoi

After a whole week in Hanoi, I can give a decent opinion of the capital of Vietnam: not my type of city, but certainly worth seeing.

The streets are always busy, the bars are crowded, the beer is cheap and the weather is unbearably hot. I have a view of the sunset that does not ever let me down; the nice shades of red, purple and blue are splendid every evening, as I watch it all happen from my hotel window. I prefer the smaller, quieter towns, but I'm not unhappy at all in Hanoi.

I have made some interesting acquaintances, went to a few nice bars and events and look forward to the rest of this week. The Ho Chi Minh museum was a great surprise; it is a modern, enticing building paying a well-deserved tribute to one of the greatest men who ever lived. I knew little about him until I visited the museum, but was already a shallow fan. Now I am more than that; I am inspired by his ideals and way of life.

Before I move on to more serious and important remarks, I want to pay a tribute to the beauty of Vietnamese ladies. I have travelled to many places, and I have lived in a few countries. The beauty of Italian women is famous throughout the world and the French ladies are almost a cult, though I personally always preferred the Dutch with their generous proportions, fair skin, independence, long legs and strong character. I had the privilege of being close to all these beauties, and know how true they are. Thus, I expected the Vietnamese ladies to be nothing in comparison to the fantastic beauties of the north. How wrong I was!

These ladies are like delicate flowers blooming out of the strongest of stems: they are usually very fit, perfumed, with gentle, happy faces that show a certain pride that I find lacking in most women around the world. They are also witty (at least the ones I had the chance to meet) and very determined. How they age is an entirely different matter, and I must confess that in my humble opinion, the French are still the best at this art. Nevertheless, looking at old propaganda posters and their messages, I could see that the empowering of women here began a long time ago; the men needed the women to win the wars against the French and the United Stateans. They could not treat them as child-bearing beasts, as most men around the world tend to do. They needed partners, fellow warriors. And that these women were. And that shows in today's culture; Vietnamese men respect the Vietnamese women like I have seldom seen, perhaps only in the Netherlands and Scandinavia. I also noticed that quite many of them do not shave their legs. That is only visible on the whitest of them, but still I noticed it quite often. I prefer it like that; I don't see the point of a lady going through the painful ordeal of shaving or waxing her legs every week, making the hair uglier and tougher. These ladies have very few hairs, fair and soft, and let them grow freely, as nature intended. Some of them are still among the prettiest I have seen, though the 'hairy leg' thing is not 'in' where I was brought up.

It's interesting to see, though, that despite all this respect for, and strength of, women, the roles are still quite clear: I have never seen a woman driving a taxi or giving paid rides on their motorbikes, just as I have never seen men roaming the streets selling pineapples and sweets.

I read a lot, nowadays, about the ongoing protests in Brasil; comments from both 'sides'. The protesters want a lower bus fare, the right-wingers want them dead because they are 'a bunch of miscreants who only want to make a mess'. In all honesty, I know that Vietnam has many problems, their currency is worth shit, their politicians are corrupt and the bribe system rules the land. But I wish Brasil was half as well off as Vietnam; I could easily live for many years here. I dread going back to Brasil even for a quick visit to see old friends and family. I hope the students and protesters in Brasil get their way and move towards a society a bit more like this one, and less like the USA Wannabe that they currently are - exploring neighbour countries and creating the mega-rich and the despairingly poor.

A Vietnamese friend invited me to drink last evening. She told me we would meet some Australians at the bar. There I was, drinking with my friend and 4 people I had never met. The couple in front of me was Irish, and I couldn't really recognize the accent of the other 2 people, so I just assumed they were Australian like she said. At a certain point, one of them, the organizer of the whole tour (they were all travelling together), points to the 'Old Propaganda Posters' shop across the street and says "I want to buy a poster, but I need a Vietnamese to assure me that what I'm buying does not say 'Death to America'". The whole table laughed for a while and I said "Well, I think it's highly unlikely that there is such a poster". They all quickly disagreed, and my Vietnamese friend backed them up: "I'm sure there is some poster that says that", to which I replied "Well, if there is, I want to buy it". A shy burst of laughter came from the other people. The tour organizer seemed to increase his aversion towards me (which was apparent from the beginning), and the other fellow whose accent I could not recognize said: "I'm from the US, and I think it would be funny to have such a poster!". I looked very serious and asked "Why?" to which he replied, embarrassed; "Well, it reminds us of how cruel we were in this country!". I proceeded to ask "How on Earth can that ever be considered 'funny'?". To which he had no reply. From then on I just ignored the rest of the table, finished my drink and went back to my hotel. If remembering how cruel you have been to another country, dropping napalm and killing children, is "funny", there is something really wrong with you, my friend.  

Despite all those wars, the propaganda they had to create to encourage an increased rice production and the role of women in the war (and I did not find a single poster which said "Death to America", though many said great stuff like "let's get rid of the US invaders" and "Let's celebrate the destruction of the 4000th US airplane"), just 50 years ago, this country is quite developed, peaceful, safe, modern and clean. I cannot help but imagine what they would have achieved if they didn't have to get rid of imperialist invaders so often, and I cannot help but wonder what their future will be. I admire this country more and more - its people, its ideals and its beauty, even though I must recognize it has many flaws and problems, as any other place in the world. I look forward for these last 10 days in Vietnam, and I am sure that I will miss it sorely once I'm gone.

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PS - I wish all the luck in the world to my Turkish friends and their friends and families. Hopefully, it will all have a happy ending soon.

Hoi An, Da Nang, Hue

Watching the sun set always brings up the possibility of having a great moment. As I watched it settle between low clouds over Hanoi, I embarked on one of those moments, thinking about the past few weeks while appreciating the great blue and red combination over the rooftops of the city.

Hoi An was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise; a charming place, with a couple of pretty bridges and a great taste in clothes, music and colors. Wikipedia describes its Ancient Town as "an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century". The tourists area is surrounded by tailors and shoemakers, and they're good at what they do. It's easy to ride a bicycle around town, and though the sun was very punishing, the place had a certain freshness to it, with lots of trees everywhere. On a random evening I decided to go out of the hotel room and explore the city properly, taking my time to roam around. I did not know it then, but the moon was full, and they celebrate that occasion quite elegantly. The whole city center had dimmed lights, with beautiful lanterns hanging everywhere, and down by the water people were carrying candles, monks had their banners, children laughed and music was played. But not as it usually happens in such occasions. I don't know if this is common elsewhere, but it seems to me that this was the first time I heard all the shops and bars in a whole city center playing the exact same music. What bliss, this gift from socialism, that night - no ultrabass systems booming rap next to a bar that is about to explode with electronic music, and so on down every street you walk by. No! All the shops, restaurants and bars were playing lovely European classical piano music - Beethoven, Chopin, etc, on a reasonable volume.

Da Nang offered me a similar experience, at the beach; there too, between the announcements through the public speakers, vietnamese music played through the whole extension of the beach; the same song all over, in a very decent volume, which also created a beautiful delay effect as the sound brought by the winds play the exact same thing you just heard, but softer and mixed to the sounds of the pacific ocean. Da Nang is one of the biggest cities in Vietnam, and developing quite fast. I didn't really explore the city itself, as I was busy during those days, but decided to at least visit the beach before moving on to Hue. My hotel was about 5 km from the beach, and the sun was also very punishing there. To that problem, I had 3 possible solutions. Renting a bicycle was not possible, so, in order to go to the beach and return from there, I could either hire a taxi car for about 150.000 VD, hire a taxi scooter for about 120.000, or rent the scooter itself for the whole day for 100.000. As I started an automatic scooter for the first time in my life, after putting on the helmet, I heard the owner ask - "You good driver?", to which I replied "Not really. First time for me". He looked concerned, but said "Go slow". I started, and went quite slow. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I just hopped on and got off, enjoying the feeling of finding the balance on a new ride. Then I heard the owner of the scooter shout like crazy, and realized I was driving in the wrong direction on a one way street, with two police officers riding straight towards me. They were baffled by the situation, slowing down to witness it, but moving on to more important things, probably. Realizing my mistake, I turned around and took off, and had no more problems throughout the rest of the day, in which I enjoyed a large stretch of white sand beach, with clear, warm ocean water, mysteriously empty from 14.00 to 17.00. After that it got crowded, but during those 3 hours, I had it all for myself - I saw very few others enjoying the sea, and a small number of people people walking by or jogging. There, as well as with the sun set, one of those great moments just brought itself up, and enjoying the sea while watching the distant fishermen on their floating baskets made me feel like this trip is definitely something I should be doing right now.

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As I said, I was quite busy during those days, so I ended up taking only the few photos above. Nevertheless, I add the below images, which were not captured by me, but I think is important to have here to make justice to both events, which I enjoyed thoroughly.

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I then travelled to Hue, were I stayed for a bit longer and allowed myself to be more of a tourist. There, I crossed paths with the Elder Sisters for the second time, after meeting them in Siem Reap weeks ago, visited the Imperial Citadel, got really drunk, visited a nearby cave, thought about getting a tattoo, worked quite some and moved on further north.

The work was carried forward thanks to Google Hotel's Internet. Something else they offered was free beer from 17.00 to midnight. That, combined with the presence of the powerful Elder Sisters meant a great time and a great hangover the next day. They're rarer and rarer, but they still happen sometimes.

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The Imperial Citadel was ok, but I was not very impressed. The tattoo was postponed to Hanoi. Phong Nha caves, a few hours north of Hue, however, were beautiful, and travelling on little boats through it was a very comfortable and enjoyable experience. After enough time in this mildly enjoyable city (which unfortunately had none of that beautiful harmony of music of Hue or Da Nang), I moved on to Hanoi, where I am at now, after having one of those great moments. Despite the heat, which was a big problem at the beginning, I have definitely fallen in love with Vietnam.

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Da Lat + Nha Trang

Well, I spent a whole week more in Da Lat, as I was really enjoying the cool weather, the surrounding nature and the few attractions the city had to offer. It is very interesting to notice how much more gentle and elegant cold cities are compared to hot ones; streets are cleaner, colours are more delicate and people, of course, dress much better. I don't know if it was the landscape and atmosphere, but I also think that the prettiest girls I've seen so far were there (though many were not originally from Da Lat). I visited a few more interesting places, and the winner is definitely the Hang Nga Guesthouse. An architect inspired by Dali and Gaudi created this great looking guest house, which is still under construction:

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I know I have been overdoing the whole "Communist Fanboy" rap recently, so this time around I'll just go with the anti-theocratic stuff. I get angry when I see monks nowadays. Specially the Thai ones. Not only do they have great, clean, comfortable temples decorated with gold back in Thailand, where people are sleeping in the streets with rats and cockroaches, prostituting themselves cheaply and working from sunrise to sunset to barely make it through life, they are also to be seen everywhere in Vietnam and Cambodia enjoying trips to other temples, taking photos with their iPads, smiling away and 'meditating' on nice, touristic spots. Bastards.

At the last few days in Da Lat I had a great time with several locals, some of which I will consider friends from now on. I visited neighbouring small villages, had a good time at a couple of English Clubs (locals and travellers meet to practice the language) and enjoyed the rain.

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After a great time in Da Lat, I was starting to ponder if I should just stay there until the end of my visa period, but I really want to see more of Vietnam, so I had to move on. While my European friends strongly advised me against going to Nha Trang, the Vietnamese themselves were very generous when praising the beaches and the food, and all of them said I should visit it. So I did. My European friends were correct. It's not that bad, but it's not so interesting either. The worst part may be that the city has been taken over by ugly Russians. Never had I seen so many Russians, and most of them were exceptionally ugly (specially when you expect the Russian ladies to be like the ones you see on TV, which are very good for the eyes). I remember taking a ride with a motorbike driver, and a few meters after we started, he pointed at two Vietnamese girls and said "Good, eh?". They were quite fit, with beautiful legs, long, shiny hair and nice smiles. I agreed with him, pointed at two blond, white girls and said "Fat, eh?" and he laughed a lot, and asked me why is it that most people from the west are so freaking fat. Those two were exceptionally fat though; obese, which made the moment quite a funny one.

The food was just decent, or I was unlucky not to find a good restaurant (Vietnamese, that is - I ate the best Greek food in my life in Nha Trang). This time around, the new animals to have been eaten by me were the Eel and the Crocodile. The crocodile was not as chickeny as people told me it would be - I felt like I was eating something between chicken and pork. It was very well prepared and seasoned, so it was quite a pleasure, though the meat itself did not have such a strong taste. The eel was delicious, though, very soft, and very specific. I love when I eat something that I cannot really describe or compare, and eel is certainly one of those types of meat.

Finally, again I had the opportunity to meet locals and see their homes. One of them was specially generous, and took me on a tour around the market, temple and a more humble part of town, free of tourists (there I was, braving unchartered territory)! This was a highlight of Nha Trang, as the food was great, the kids were a blast and the narrow streets (parts of it over the water, both road and houses) were a unique experience.

Now I just arrived in Hoi An, and so far the impressions are good.

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DaLat

After my last post, I went from Binh Phuoc to Buon Ma Thuot, a small city in the Vietnamese highlands. As I am not on vacation, and that city was refreshingly cold and remarkably non-touristic, I took the whole week to work, on my job and on my projects. That means I did not spend a lot of time being a tourist, and had nothing to post about. Buon Ma Thuot was a very pleasant experience mainly for two reasons: the excellent coffee and the refreshingly cool weather. It is the capital of coffee in Vietnam, which is one of the main exporters in the world. There I was told about a quite peculiar type of coffee they produce: Cà Phê Chôn, or "Weasel Coffee". In practice, coffee producers feed the coffee beans to weasels, let their digestive systems somehow 'improve' the coffee, which is later... defecated, separate the grains from... the rest, and sell this 'shit coffee' for quite steep prices. I haven't tried it, mainly because I have never been into coffee at all, and it wouldn't make sense to spend so much money in something I am ignorant about, as the 'regular' coffee was enough for me - very good indeed.

After that I came to Dalat, a beautiful city also located on the highlands, with even cooler weather. Finally, the rain season started and every afternoon greets me with a blast of tropical rain, which I honestly missed.
Dalat is, from what I understand, a favorite destination of the Vietnamese tourists. It is considered a romantic city, where lovers come to enjoy their honeymoon around the lakes and waterfalls. There are far less international tourists than the other main cities, and I thoroughly enjoy that. One interesting fact about this place is that it is the only one in Vietnam that has no traffic lights. Good thing the traffic here is not nearly as chaotic as in Ho Chi Minh city.

Dalat is very different from any other Vietnamese city, or at least that is what people say. It was mostly built by the French, including the Royal Palace, before the 1950's. Most of its buildings are no higher than 2 stories, as the vista is beautiful, and people don't want to ruin it with ugly modern buildings.

I arrived here on the 29th of April, which is a national holiday (from the 28th to the 30th). On the 30th of April, 1975, the communist troops finally managed to defeat the US troops and take control over former Saigon, which was renamed after their inspiring leader - Ho Chi Minh. The whole city was out celebrating, and the party was great - good food, good live music and lots of happy people. Not surprisingly, the farther north I go, the more they are proud about their communist ways and victory over the invading troops, which had their headquarters in the south. I can only imagine what it will be like in Hanoi.

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All in all, I have not been a good tourist in the past two weeks, but have instead been enjoying what you can call 'the life of a local' - working during the day and enjoying a couple of drinks with the locals I have befriended at night. They even have a rock'n'roll bar with a jam session, which I very much enjoyed playing at - something I had not seen in Vietnam yet (Siem Reap, in Cambodia, offered a couple of great jam sessions). Talking of Cambodia, I forgot to mention something that quite surprised me about that country: many food places, both street stalls and restaurants, cook your meals with instant noodles! They are actually not that bad, after all, I imagine they have been doing this for years and can make them as good as they get, but still, this says quite a lot about the economic situation of the country. Fortunately, in Vietnam the noodles are fresh and made of rice: usually quite good.

Binh Phuoc

I ran away from the Cambodian new year; I had already overstayed, and if I had let the new year celebrations grab me, I'd stay for another 4 or 5 days. I was glad to be back in Ho Chi Minh, and soon after on my way to Binh Phuoc.

A young vietnamese lady, Cherry, invited me and an English traveller to spend the weekend in her home town, a quiet village 3 hours north of Ho Chi Minh City. We stayed at her family's house, far from the center, in a sort of almost rural area - big gardens where people keep their own animals and grow their own vegetables and fruits. Apart from Cherry, no one Vietnamese I spoke to understood any English. I communicated the most with the little girl, who really didn't care if I understood her or not, and was not really worried that she couldn't understand the sounds I produced. Unfortunately, this was also the very first time I felt sorry for a cat - she seemed to love it alright, but had no idea it was crying because it was desperately trying to run away. Instead she thought it meant it liked it, and that she should squeeze the poor animal harder.

There was not much to see in the area, but it was quite interesting to share a couple of days with a local family. Of course, I tasted a few new flavours during those 2 days: watermelon seeds, boiled rooster head (brain included), duck blood soup and fried cicada, which they catch in their own garden - very nice. That, my friends, I recommend. When asked 'what does it taste like?', my only answer is 'like fried cicada'.

We ate those meals sitting on the ground, no table between us. After dinner, they cleaned that spot and prepared it for sleeping. Only the guests had mattresses - the rest of the family slept on the ground. The Grandmother had a folding bed in the kitchen, and they had a couple of hammocks which were tied to something that must be quite common, but I saw for the first time: a hammock holder that can easily be transported.

The town itself was quite nice, clean and spacious, with a beautiful and well lit park, which displays spotless, grand statues of communist heroes. The parks and squares were crowded until late, and the children played freely, not unlike Ho Chi Minh City.

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Cherry told me that behind the wall that limits their garden, there are U.S. soldier graves. If we had been there 5 years earlier, we could have taken a walk, but since the wall was built, the field is left to grow and it's impossible to see through barbed wire and thick vegetation. The father said he had to hide in the tunnels during the conflict and the grandmother explained that her husband was not really in with the United Stateans - they threw her in jail, releasing her a week later, when her husband enlisted to fight against the North.

In practical terms, I am being led to the conclusion that there are only few minor differences between a socialist country and the rest, at least when it comes to everyday life. I've seen rich and poor and I've seen happy and hungry, but all that I have seen in each country. The main difference I see as a tourist between Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, as far as law and customs are concerned, is that roads are cleaner (not always, unfortunately) and prostitutes are less abundant in the country run by the communist party - whereas the Monarchies kinda stink and are filled with mildly aggressive hookers walking around exaggerated tourist areas. Many people also told me that the Vietnamese will try to rip you off at every turn, and charge you a lot more than what they should. My experience so far leads me to consider two possibilities: people were wrong, or they have become so good at it that I'm not even noticing. Whenever you buy something, anywhere, you are being ripped off. Coming from Brasil and then a period in Italy, you get really used to identifying those moments, and I honestly think I have had very few of them in Vietnam. And on top of that, all the Vietnamese people with whom I created the tiniest of bonds of friendship have offered me drinks, food, rides and even their full hospitality.

Angkor

After some time in Ho Chi Minh City, I realized I would not have time to see all the other countries I had in mind: Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and all the rest will have to wait for a second Asian trip. For now I will focus on what one may call "the communist trip"; Vietnam, Laos and China (and I was hoping for North Korea, but that sounds quite far-fetched at the moment) before I reach my oh-so-desired period in Mongolia.

But, before I dive into it, I had to go check out something I have been curious about for a long time: Angkor.

Thus I bought a ticket to Siem Reap (it was sold to me as a direct bus trip), the small town next to the ancient temples, in the Kingdom of Cambodia. They call themselves "The Kingdom of Wonder".

Of course the direct trip became a trip with a change in the capital, Phnom Penh, at 14.30. That was not a problem, even though the day was incredibly hot and the roads were dusty. There as well, I had the impression of being in a big dirty city, and I didn't really feel like going around to check it out. On the way to Siem Reap, I tried some fried spider, which was disappointingly similar to shrimp. That doesn't mean it was bad at all, but I was hoping for a unique flavor. I still didn't feel like eating the grasshoppers or beetles. Maybe later.

Siem Reap is my only impression of Cambodia, and that is probably a very poor one, because the place is filled with tourists, from all over the world. The Cambodians seemed to be a nice and open people, but it was hard for me to be in an environment that had no tourists. And whenever I managed, conversation was a difficult task. I did talk to some locals, of course, and their main theme is still the horrors of the Khmer Rouge. It's amazing how young the country is, because of that conflict. And though I had a great time, and prices were very comfortable, it was not the best place to be. Apart from the dust and the dirt, the incredible heat was killing me - for a couple of days, I was officially at the hottest place on the planet, according to some weather reports. But what is more; there still is something quite dark about Cambodia - the prostitution, the child-beggars asking for milk (which is actually quite expensive there), and the many orphanages are just a part of that. Pub Street, while a very western and exaggerated party-like part of town, can be fun for music and drinking, and other parts of town were not bad at all either, including the Night Markets. It is a place on the rise. Great numbers of tourists visit it, so they can see those fabled temples, which I had the opportunity to explore:

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While they are impressive and it is a beautiful scenery, I honestly expected a bit more, both from size and from 'vibe'. Unfortunately, there is not much 'holy' or 'spiritual' left in those temples. The vast quantity of tourists changes whatever buddhist or hindu atmosphere it had into a regular tourist attraction. Nice to look at, though.

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Food was also quite good there, and very cheap. I specially liked their bread and their banana pies, and fish amok was a great dish to find out. It was also interesting to meet quite many travellers who have the intention of staying there for a longer period, teaching english and crafts; German, Cuban, Valencian, English, South African... it seems the whole world took an interest in these children, and want to help build a better Cambodia. I wish them all the luck in the world!

Mekong Delta

I apologize for skipping a beat last week. I had problems with the internet connection. In two days I will publish another post, for I have accumulated experiences enough for a week with two posts. This, for now:

My second week in Vietnam has been a slow one, but filled with delight. I have seen little other than the center of Ho Chi Minh, but that is not a problem - the trip is long, and this place is pleasant. The food is quite interesting: I have recently tried (for the first time) duck fetus and dog meat. I prefer the duck - quite tasty and unique. Dog meat was very similar to pork, but much fatter. Not bad at all, but not special as I had hoped. In the coming days I hope to try serpent and turtle, and I've been told pregnant spiders make for a delicious snack.

At the beginning of last week, I was introduced to a Vietnamese tradition. While I worked in my room, I heard a marching band play outside. As any good curious tourist, I took advantage of my balcony to take a look and enjoy the show. It was quite a good band. Later that day, celebrations continued to happen at the street I was staying in. I thought nothing of it, and went to bed. Next morning, I woke up to some loud Vietnamese sounding Blues-Rock; good stuff. And the celebrations continued throughout the day. At a certain point, I had to check out the precise spot where that was coming from, and to my surprise, there was a coffin there. It was a Funeral Party. Monks dressed in white prayed, people left offerings and musicians played, all day long. For 1 day. 2 days. 3 days. On the third day, when I was starting to get tired of the whole thing, they played some Deep Purple. I couldn't believe it - I too want Deep Purple on my funeral, that's the kind of goodbye party I'd be happy with.

Later in the week, I made great trip to the Mekong Delta - I met some girls who were going there to escape the big city vibe, and I rode the free seat on one of their motorbikes. We travelled for almost 3 hours to get there, and despite the uncomfortable bumpy road and the effect it had on my behind, the trip was worth it. I also had some sugar cane juice on the way, which is as good as the Brasilian one. The delta is a beautiful place, and the boat ride was pleasant, despite the blistering heat.

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Finally, the third and main moment of the week was going to the War Museum, which has exhibitions on weaponry, photos, the effects of Napalm, and about the schools and children during the war against the U.S.

It was heavy. I felt filled with sadness and anger, and of course, again, more admiration for the Vietnamese. Certain quotes exhibited explain the whole thing magnificently. Parts of Eisenhower's Domino Theory include these passages -

"... two of the items from this particular area that the world uses are tin and tungsten. They are very important. There are others, of course, the rubber plantations and so on." He goes on to finish his explanation with "it takes away, in its economic aspects, that region that Japan must have as a trading area or Japan, in turn, will have only one place in the world to go--that is, toward the Communist areas in order to live.

So, the possible consequences of the loss are just incalculable to the free world."

Lyndon Johnson also said something quite interesting: "Tell the Vietnamese they've got to draw in their horns or we' re going to bomb them back into the Stone Age."

So, the 'free world' needed tin and tungsten, and they needed Japan to have a nearby trading area which was not communist (in theory, 'communist' means a strong state that manages resources for the people, instead of private organizations doing that). The 'free world' needed communist dictatorships to fail, otherwise the whole world would eventually become an evil place where states are corrupt, and keep their tin and tungsten for themselves! How dare they! Well, I ask you, is Vietnam doing any of that? Did the communist victory (which was expensive in terms of lives) do any harm to the world? And what is more - why was the Vietnamese communist government a dictatorship that had to be bombed back to the stone age unless they gave up, but the Khmer Rouge genocidal dictatorship, also communist, had sponsorship from the U.S.? Anyone with half a brain can understand why.

But what impressed me the most about all of this was the Vietnamese attitude. They hold no grudge against the French or the United Stateans. They have truly forgiven all those sins, threats, killings and napalm spraying - even in the museum, where they show the cruelty of the enemy, the main message is "this is in the past, let us look to the future together and try to bring peace and happinness to the world". They are indeed one of the happiest people I have seen, in general. And that does not come from religion or financial wealth either - they claim that 90% of their population is non-religious, and they are quite clearly in a bad financial situation, having one of the least valued currencies in the world. Even so, they forgave the Chinese, the French and the United Stateans. Even at the photos you see in the museum, of the fighting during the war - the United Stateans usually have two expressions - anger or mockery. The Vietnamese usually show sadness, fear, or pity. It's hard to find anger in a Vietnamese face. And that I cannot relate to - I am an American as well, and when I see those images, and the result that that war had on this country, I cannot forgive. Just as the United Stateans on those photos, my reaction is to feel anger towards their evil motives, and to mock their incompetence and their defeat.

Maybe in time I will be able to learn this from the Vietnamese.

Ho Chi Minh

My first week in Vietnam was better than I expected. After a disappointing stay in Bangkok (though Ko Samui was quite relaxing and enjoyable), I had imagined the high-density Ho Chi Minh City to be as bad, or even worse.

Let me first point out that the flight between Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh with VietJetAir was the best low-cost flight I ever had. Comfortable leather seats, good service, very well organized and on time. One thing that made a big impression on me was the seriousness of the flight attendants. As I was seated on the Emergency Exit seats, they came to me and explained in detail what I had to do if we had an emergency, making sure I understood all the procedures. Once the fasten seatbelts sign was on, they really made sure everyone had fastened their seatbelts, and turned off their electronic devices. (It is so sad to see how people nowadays cannot part with their 'smart'phones even for a second, and try to hide it from flight attendants). As they explained the safety measures, I was delighted to see them interrupt the whole thing twice or thrice, to point at somebody and say "Pay attention. And TURN THAT PHONE OFF". I wanted to get out of my seat and grab the damn phones and step on them, but I'm sure they would have told me "Sir, please, remain seated while the seatbelt sign is on".

When I got off the plane, I had to go through immigration, of course. Some people told me that might be difficult, specially because I did not have a visa, and I do not have a ticket to get out of Vietnam (obviously, I'm the "one way trip guy").

As I gave them all the documents to request the visa, the vietnamese lady told me to sit next to that United Statian who was waiting for his visa. He seemed grumpy and was mumbling something about having to wait such a long time to get into that goddamned country. I felt a bit afraid the same might happen to me. Nevertheless, around 45 seconds later I was called, much to the disbelief of the United Statian next to me, who went on complaining to himself, counting his many USDollars. She told me "It's ok. Pay 95 dollars". I said "Sorry, I don't have dollars. How much is that in Thai Baht?". As it turned out, I had miscalculated and did not have enough to pay for my visa. She advised me to go to the ATM right next to her counter. I did, and the ATM did not accept my card. I was growing more and more worried I might get kicked out, specially with that US fella counting all his money there and still not being allowed to go through. I told her I couldn't take money on that ATM. She smiled gently and said "No problem. Go out of the airport, there are several ATM machines there, get money, and come back". The United Statian was baffled at how well and smoothly I was treated even if I had no money, but he had to wait. That is what you get when your country SUCKS! I went out, withdrew a couple of millions of Vietnamese Dongs, which were enough to grant me 3 months stay in this great nation.

I was very surprised to see that Ho Chi Minh City is modern, clean, aesthetically not that bad and people go around smiling and having a good time. There are several playgrounds where children play until very late, students play badminton at the city's squares, others play a rather unique game, in which they kick a badminton shuttlecock with rather interesting moves. Of course, there are dirty areas, and people sleeping in the streets just as Bangkok had, but I saw no prostitutes, no rat-cockroach encounters and no over the top ripping off of tourists.

I initially thought I'd stay 3 days in Ho Chi Minh and then leave for more 'paradisiac' destinations, but I am growing quite fond of this city. Great night life, good food at very low prices and, according to locals, 90% atheists. I still have no big updates or great photos to share, as I have only been in the city center and a few museums, but that will come with time. For now, I just want to share my admiration for this brave people who have fended off the French in a war in the 50's, then the United Statians in the 60's and 70's (at great costs, I must say), toppled the evil regime of the Khmers in the 80'as and fended off the Chinese in the early 90's. No other nation can boast such a record in recent wars, and it's mainly a rice farmers' country. The two airplanes you see on the photos below each have a great story. One was from the Saigon forces, who were pro-US. A northern spy worked at one of the airbases for some months, and was handed the airplane so he could bomb communist bases. Instead, he took off and bombed the palace in which the United Statians were based, becoming a national hero. The other plane was captured at a battle. One vietnamese engineer studied it for a couple of hours, took off with it, flew to a US air base and destroyed 26 fighters that were landed there. This is the kind of smart move a less technologically developed country needs to have when fighting against 'war giants'. Official calculations say that the US spent 10 dollars for every 1 dollar they destroyed in Vietnamese soil - meaning that to destroy another nations property, they spent 10 times that which they destroyed was worth. Talk about being stupid.

Apart from the communist flags and revolution feeling everywhere, which I really enjoy, I must say that I find the people very open and rather curious - they want to know all about me and all about Brasil, asking as many questions as they think is acceptable (which many foreigners - swedish, germans, etc - think is way too much, and that the vietnamese are 'TOO curious'). Two other things I think is worth mentioning - the traffic rules here are CHAOS. Being a pedestrian means "close your eyes and trust the cosmos". You can't really wait for a proper moment - if you do, you'll wait forever. You just have to start walking and trust that the hundreds of scooters will be able to calculate your trajectory and avoid you. Also, the number of people who offer me weed in the streets makes me think that this country has HUGE plantation fields - every two steps, some street hussler asks "you want marihuana?". I can't really believe they all have it, because that would mean a third of the vietnamese population has weed to sell.

This weekend I plan on going to the Mekong Delta, but I am unsure, since I am really enjoying Ho Chi Minh. I highly recommend Vietnam to anyone who is interested in traveling Asia.

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Thailand

Both flights with Malaysia Airlines were quite good, specially the second one, Kuala Lumpur - Bangkok (the first one being Amsterdam - Kuala Lumpur). Time flew (tududum pash) and before I knew it, I was in Thailand. The first impression was great - the train from the airport to the city is excellent: modern, fast and clean. But then the good impression started to fade as the scenario started to remind me more and more of São Paulo. A big city with an endless skyline, it shows lots of grey, and the green you can see is filled with rubbish. Maybe it is true that all big cities are alike. Of course, the temples are impressive, but they are, nevertheless, temples, and I cannot help but dislike the grandeur and luxury of faith being shown right next to the misery of common men. 

Mixed feelings dominated my first days in the Kingdom of the Thailand: on one hand, I felt it is too similar to Brasil. People are lazy, streets are dirty, buildings are not taken care of (unless they are a temple, of course), stray dogs roam the streets during the day while cockroaches and rats are often seen during the night. The amounf of people sleeping in the streets is appalling - I saw hundreds of people lying everywhere, sleeping and eating on the sidewalks. On the other hand, the atmosphere is peaceful, people are gentle and generous, and that aggression that overflows in Brasil is nowhere to be found in this clearly buddhist land. The food is tasty though not very varied, and the prices are quite good for foreigners. 

Going out during the day means facing the scorching sun and the pollution of the heavy traffic, which is 'inverted', like in the UK. Going out during the night means facing the hordes of tourists, the impressive quantity of prostitutes (both girls and boys dressed as girls) and the risk of stepping on unseen animals due to poor lighting.

I went out one morning and was stopped by an extra-friendly man who was opening his restaurant. He told me I should go see this and that, and wrote down a few Buddha statues I should check out. He also told me I was lucky to be wearing yellow that day, because that was the colour of their monarchy, and that today was some holy day for them. A day in which the government offers Tuk Tuk rides for free. That was, of course, the beginning of the most well known scam in Bangkok. I was oblivious to any such thing, and knowing how lucky I am, I thought "Hey! Got lucky again! Let's ride that Tuk Tuk for free!". Their idea of a scam is - the Tuk Tuk driver takes you around to see main touristic points for free, and stops at certain shops, which pretend to have great deals and offers, so you spend lots of money in them. The shops give the drivers some money for helping with the tourist trap. So there I went, riding the Tuk Tuk, visiting many temples and quite some shops. I saw the giant Buddha, the standing Buddha, the lucky Buddha, the bored Buddha, the black Buddha, the harlem shake Buddha, you name it. In between, the Tuk Tuk driver made me go into shops so he could get his bonuses for taking the idiot tourist around. It was their loss; the jewelry shopkeepers who claim to have rare stones and gems (which are fake, I've later been told) at low prices, which you can buy cheaply in Thailand and sell back in the country where you live for higher prices, were disappointed to know they were dealing with a nomad who has no intention of buying shiny things for far away women. The travel agencies that want to sell overpriced packages to naive tourists were disappointed to know that I was thoroughly going through all of them with a notebook with the sole intention of writing down prices and looking at pictures. And finally, the tailor who took my measures to produce a beautiful silken shirt did not expect me to have so much Arab blood in me; I bargained until the price was excellent. In the end, they fell for my scam.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

After a few days in Bangkok, I was quite ready to leave, as many people I met were. Tourists said they wanted to get away from it as soon as possible, and migrants were of the same idea. I spoke to several people, but I'll mention two that said the exact same thing. A prostitute from Laos and a bellboy from Burma. They both have about another month in their visa, and they both said they had enough, that their homeland is a corrupt and dirty place, but still their lives were better there than in Bangkok, and that they were looking forward to going back. It reminded me of some Africans I talked to in Italy - they wanted to experience that 'western' something, and realized it just sucks, and they're better off in their own land. I am of the opinion that the tourists ruin the few things that the Thai manage to do right.

The next evening I took the night bus to Suratthani, 700 km away, so the next morning I could take the ferry to Koh Samui, the biggest island in Thailand. After all that research with the travel agencies, I found a nice bungalow 10 steps away from a quiet, peaceful beach. That is where I spent the rest of my week, lying in the hammock, watching the sunrise, the sunset and the beautiful, clear sea. Now, that was much better than Bangkok. Most tourists go on elephant rides, safaris, marine parks, scuba diving, etc. I saw them going out each day early in the morning and coming back exhausted at the end of the day. I stayed around, with the locals, thinking about the meaning of life, eating good food, listening to the wind and taking these pictures whenever I was not napping. Now I will leave Thailand, before this good impression also fades. I know 12 days are not enough to be considered an expert in any subject, and I probably went around in touristic areas, but I have been to the capital and to the main island, and I guess I had a good sample of what Thailand probably is.

Next stop: Vietnam.

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PS- Dear Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of the Thai,

Have you ever taken a stroll around your Kingdom? Have you noticed half of it smells of urine? Have you noticed that your subjects are sleeping in the streets? Have you ever used a 'public' toilet in your own kingdom? I'm not talking about the free ones, I'm talking about the ones you have to pay to use. Have you noticed that most of them don't have a flushing system, and that you have to fill a dirty bucket with water to get rid of your own waste? And have you noticed that many places still don't have a waste treatment system? Also, have you noticed that the Wikipedia entry for your name has been blocked by the Ministry of Information here in your own Kingdom?