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INDEPENDENCE DAY - Sam's Entry
Today is a great day for Dave and I - our group travelling has come to an end and we have to look after ourselves now.
Since Sihanoukville we travelled across the Vietnamese border to Chau Doc. I was expecting blatant displays of communism, armed guards and brainwashing, but all that we got was a manky bridge and a load of sleeping officials in porta-cabins. Oh well. Chau Doc was another taste of the authentic Indochinese city life that I've come to respect far more than those tainted by Kebab shops, western bars and R&B anthems blasting out of every side street. Knackered after a 6 hour bus journey (certainly not the longest one we've had by now) the group took motorbikes up 'Sam Mountain'. The motorcyclists were all real comedians, racing each other up the mountain at breakneck speeds and observing "Vietnamese Driving Rules" which seem to be that the vehicle with the highest speed, largest girth and biggest horn dominates the road. The way of crossing the road is akin to the game "Frogger" - take it step by step making wild arm gestures to indicate your presence, lest ye be splatted unceremoniously across the street. It's not so bad because literally everyone drives a motorbike. It makes every city in Vietnam have it's own soundtrack... and I love the way that every street is lined with knackered old hairdryers, Lambrettas and Vespas!
Sitting and enjoying the sunset on the summit with an ice-cold Saigon beer was a real treat, and to be honest it's gotten better. We dropped into Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, to be politically correct - they renamed it after the Communists wiped out the democratic government when the Americans backed out of the 'Nam conflict) the other day, and for the first time in a few weeks got back in touch with developed civilisation. My favourite memories have to be being dragged into a frozen yoghurt shop by Dave and spending a whopping 50,000 Dong on vanilla + passion fruit yoghurt. So worth it though. We also got lost on route to the clinic where I was trying to get some cream for a heat rash, and walked past a load of art galleries with Vietnamese artists painting in full view of everybody. I found a really good picture and bought it hastily, can't wait to send it home. Probably the longest lasting memory will be going to the Cu Chi fighting tunnels - being a bit of a history fanatic it was the only thing I really wanted to do in Vietnam. At first it seemed the experience would be a bit second-hand, because the entire jungle in Cu Chi was razed by Agent Orange, literally nothing survived. the new jungle was very young and small, and cute little trails had been made for the mass of tourists so it wasn't quite what I expected. However, nothing could prepare us for actually going down the tunnels. We were told to crawl through a 100m stretch of tunnel, and there were emergency exits every 30m, which turned out to be vital for the majority of people who got an attack of chlostrauphobia. How people survived down there I do not know. Towards the end of the tunnel I was having to inch forward on my stomach, it was pitch black and unbearably hot. I'm really glad I made it to the end though. The other cool thing was a shooting range, further proof that you can get anything you want in Southeast Asia - 5 of us decided to buy a magazine of ammunition for different war-era weapons; Steven and Emma went for the AK47, Chris went for the monstrous M16 and I chose the M1 Carbine. Got that out of my system and headed out before I spent any more money.
We left Saigon yesterday evening on a 9 hour sleeper train journey. Far from being a brain-numbing chore, we went to find the group on another carriage and I recklessly stayed up almost all night drinking rum with Steven and singing badly - to the annoyance of the rest of Vietnam, probably. Whilst it's good to have independence to find better deals on accomodation and transport, get up when we want etc. I also realise I've made some good friends I might not see again. Tonight we've planned a big session out in Nha Trang to say goodbye, which I'm really looking forward to.
Nha Trang itself has been unbelievably good. We stumbled into the train tation at about 5am, and luckily we'd planned ahead using my Lonely Planet guide so got taxied to a great little hostel next to the beach. After a brilliant lie-in we hit up the beach and enjoyed about 8 shameless hours of playing in the sea like little boys. The waves are scarily massive, about 6 foot tall... diving into them, bellyflopping them, trying to jump over them and getting claimed by the waves in a horrifically painful way amused the local Vietnamese kids for hours.
Our battle to resist Western food has finally come to an end after 12 days. Completely riced and noodled out, we got two large stonebaked pizzas and drenching pepperoni pizza in tobasco was one of the most satisfying things I've done today.
I've basically had an amazing day. And I'm not even feeling pain from the sunburn yet!
I will raise a few man-sized bottles of Saigon for you all tonight. Hope you're enjoying our teenage maunderings and photos.
Sam
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Good morning everybody, hope this reaches you in good health!
So there is plenty to update you all with since the last time I managed to find a spare half hour! The morning after my last blog entry we headed out of Sihanoukville towards Chau Doc and the Vietnamese border. It was an absolute scorcher, and after peeling myself out of bed with extremely bad sunburn there was just about time to shower before hopping on the bus for the painstakingly long bus journey. I learned a couple of things that morning, one is that Oreo’s are an essential part of any travelers diet. It’s amazing how home comforts of the smallest kind can lift the spirits. Secondly, that foolhardy frolicking in 37 degree heat without wearing sunburn is a recipe for pain. Imagine my reaction when Steve told us we would be crossing the border into Vietnam by foot, carrying our bags. I was running on excitement, so managed to heave the bag across to the air conditioned bus on the other side. Something else that no one will understand but long distance travelers, is that group activities such as the name game see you through the journeys from A to B. A three hour marathon between me, Sam, Chris, Emma and Scott managed to pass the time relatively smoothly. The bus journeys, for all I have moaned about them, have actually been some of my favourite moments. When keeping a day by day journal it is often very difficult to find the time to do the day’s experiences justice, or even find the time everyday to write. So the travel periods have become my writing sanctuary, where I can sit for hours, listening to Bob Dylan’s greatest hits, admiring Southeast Asia’s beautiful countryside and write about my journey around these magical places.
We arrived in Chau Doc late in the afternoon, and many (including myself) were wondering what we were doing in what appeared to be a relatively small, uninspiring town. We had motorbikes organised to take us all to the top of nearby Sam Mountain to watch sunset that evening but apart from that this place seemed like little more than a convenient stop over to break the journey to Saigon up. However my thoughts radically changed after the enthralling journey on the back of my overly friendly driver’s motorbike to the top of the mountain. Bikes are the most popular mode of transport in Vietnam, they genuinely fill the towns. It’s a great way to travel because you catch a good breeze and see so much more than from a bus. The kids here are so friendly and all shouted hello while waving at us as we sped by! The journey to the top of the mountain was great fun but the view was something quite different. Seeing a beautiful sunset, over the rice fields, the fish farms, the smoking plains with silhouetted mountains in the distance is something very special. The fusion of orange, red and pink, gave the sky a magical quality. Sitting at the peak with the gang, sipping an ice cold Saigon beer was about as good as it’s been so far. These are the moments I will remember, that no one else will ever be able to quite comprehend how special they are to me. Southeast Asia in many ways feels like a waking dragon, with booming economies, growing populations and constant development, the region feels like it is constantly moving forward, at a pace. It is a region of charm, mystery and great tradition, and the old legends of Dragon’s lurking inside the mountains were borne from mystical landscapes such as the one you can see from the top of Sam Mountain. The trip back down the mountain was once again great fun, and after a long day traveling, a solid dinner was quickly followed by much needed sleep.
On the road. Again. This time we were traveling from Chau Doc to Saigon, the journey fortunately wasn’t quite as long as the one undertaken the day before. Once again, the name game prevailed to pass the time. Saigon is Busy. That is the best way to describe the place. It has that special quality that only the big cities I have visited have, the sense that everyone is in a great rush, everyone is heading somewhere and there is purpose all around. It was admittedly a bit of a shock to the system after the much quieter travels through Cambodia but also very enjoyable. Me and Sam decided to have a wander the afternoon we arrived, lazily strolling through the Parisian style street art galleries and shops. Ho Chi Minh City as the Vietnamese communist government would have it called is an interesting city. 9 million people, 4.5 million motorbikes. Yes, crossing the road was a challenge. Best tactic, head down, keep walking and wait until you find the pavement before stopping. That evening we explored the night markets after dinner, leisurely bartering with aggressively hard salesman in the form of the stall vendors. Vietnam and my first experiences of it have been vastly different to the place I expected to find. The expectations were of a disciplined, unimaginative and conformed people, driven by the communist propaganda machine. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The people are individual, opportunistic and mostly very friendly. The communist party here is a dwindling force, free market capitalism is beginning to shape the Vietnam of the future, the industrial powerhouse, the waking Dragon.
The next morning we undertook a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels. The tour guide we had was a very amusing chap who had a genuine passion for hamburgers sparked whilst serving the American army as a translator during the American insurgency. His stories encapsulated and enthralled (most of) the group. The highlights of the tour were crawling through the 100m preserved tunnel, not a task for the faint hearted, or those wishing to come out the other side clean. Also actively starting a one man pacifist protest against the shooting range which all the other male members of the group indulged in. Why shoot bullets when you can eat ice cream. In all seriousness, the tour was a real eye opener, the stats shocked me. Of 3 million killed, 1 million were civilian casualties. Seriously these things have to be known, people have to be educated as to the atrocities of war. I couldn’t help but feel sad when viewing the history, seeing the ingenuity of the Vietcong soldiers being used to set such barbaric plans and traps against the American enemy. I felt as if these people of great intelligence, determination, skill and ingenuity had simply been wasted, instead of driving forward social progress, the economies and education, they had been pushed into a corner where there skills were only used for one purpose, to take other men’s lives. That’s my final thought on that.
That afternoon me and Sam went back to the Ben Thanh market, much similar to the Russian market in Phnom Penh but more spacious, cooler and stocked with much better quality goods, a big recommendation from me for anyone visiting Saigon. After that we headed back, stocked up on food supplies from the bakery and headed towards the train station to catch our sleeper train to Nha Trang. The train journey was awesome, fuelled by my first taste of Vietnam’s answer to fast food “Lotteria” I set about winning card games and staying up to write in dense detail in my journal.
Arrived in Nha Trang at 5am this morning, slept, got breakfast, headed for the beach. Spent all day relaxing in 30 degree heat, this time luckily I didn’t fry, and enjoyed the splendor of watching Sam get smashed into the sand by huge waves! Great day, writing about all my experiences is so much fun. If anyone reads this, I hope my passion for what we are doing comes across, whilst I understand I am so far away, I want you all to walk my path with me.
Today its 1 year and 8 months, since I asked Charlotte Kingston to make me a very happy young man by being my girlfriend. Her love and support played a huge part in making this journey possible and she keeps me going through the hardest, loneliest days on the road. This entry is dedicated to her.
Until the next time, take care. David.
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