Happy New Year

Hello friends, I was going to write a blog, but this keyboard barely works. Happy New Year!

We're not in Kansas anymore

I'm in Phnom Penh and I'm really surprised at how different from Vietnam it feels. I remember when I was little, I used to play the computer game "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego." Anyone remember that game? It was also a tv show on PBS. Anyhoo, I distinctly remember 2 places from that game: Lima and the picture of Lake Titicaca that accompanied it and...you guessed it, Phnom Penh. I had no idea how to pronounce it. I still don't, really. It's funny to be someplace that I don't think I even had a concept of as a real, actual, existing place when I was playing that computer game. Am I making sense???
I think the French influence is much more apparent here than it was in Vietnam. I'm seeing and hearing a lot more French tourists, and the signs in the museums were in Khmer, English and French. Sometimes only French and Khmer. I went to the National Museum today, which houses all kinds of art and stuff. It was cool. There was an exhibit of photographs and drawings done by Rodin of Cambodian dancers. He was here back in the day. That never even occurred to me.
I also visited the Royal Palace today. Lots of gold covered everything.
Call me raised in the Judeo-Christian, monotheistic, thou shalt have no idols, etc tradition, but I found the temples I visited today a little odd. Excuse my judgement, but I saw a 100% gold, diamond encrusted, 90 kilo buddha today. I guess the whole worshipping a man-made statue full of such oppulence seemed strange to me.
I broke down and had a completely Western meal in a totally Western cafe that might as well have been in the States. I had a chicken, sun-dried tomato, artichoke and hummus wrap. It was divine. Then they played "Superstition" on the stereo and things just got better. I didn't get up and dance, though.
There are lots of monks here. I saw very few in Vietnam. They're all over the place here.
I got up and practiced yoga this morning. It felt really nice. I let myself sleep in and chill out for a while in the morning. Then I moved to a slightly more expensive guest house that feels less dodgy than the last one. What's a few dollars when it means sleeping well at night! They're super friendly here and one of the women that works here speaks the best English of anyone I've met so far in Asia.
I'm seeing a lot of cars here. Lots more than in Vietnam. I've seen a ton of Lexus(es?), which seems strange. Also, monkeys. Monkeys running free. This makes me nervous. Don't they sometimes have rabies?
I'm writing very stream of consciousness.
I feel like there's more disparity of wealth here than in Vietnam. I've seen some really grandiose things and then you turn the corner and there's a giant pile of trash, people sleeping on the sidewalk and a pile of fly-covered fresh meat for sale. Eeew. I also saw tiny roasted chicks for sale (head and feet not removed). I'll avoid eating those. Where's my sense of adventure! I don't know.
I was finally able to upload lots o' photos on a refreshingly fast internet connection. Apparently the earthquake in Taiwan dislodged all kinds of internet cable and interupted internet service all over Asia. Enjoy! http://new.photos.yahoo.com/laurenemilywinter27/
Look at ''all photos' when you view them--I was having trouble organizing them into albums.

Phnom Penh Party

Hello friends, I got here this afternoon from Saigon. So far, not bad. I'm feeling a little homesick now that I'm alone again and experiencing the culture shock of yet another new place.
On the bus here, the guy next to me was holding a two-year-old who pooed in the aisle of the bus. That's where the guy had him go, on top of a napkin. It was a bit of a shock to me. Usually, I'm not that squeamish about sanitation, but with all the poo everywhere here, I'm getting to be more and more excited about Purell hand sanitizer.
One of the main differences I've noticed between here and Vietnam is that rather than lots of motorbikes, there are lots of people sitting on top of vans. Or on top of the load a pickup is carrying.
I was thinking of staying here 2 days, but now I'm thinking I'll just stay tomorrow. I think I'd rather be at Angkor Wat for New Year's than in Phnom Penh. We'll see.
I'm having trouble uploading more photos. Sorry.
Thanks to those of you who've been emailing/commenting on my blog. It helps to get some word from home when I'm feeling lonely. Those of you who've not emailed me lately (you know who you are), consider this a guilt-trip into sending me an email about your lives.
TTFN,
Lauren

Heretofore Unshared Observations

Well folks, I'm back in Saigon. I felt bad that I'd be "wasting" a day in Saigon and thought it would be better to go straight to Phnom Penh. Now that I'm here, though, I'm glad. It feel so nice to be back in Saigon with a better attitude than when I first got here. It's also interesting to feel the very stark contrast between Hanoi and here. People here are so nice! In the north I started to feel like "charge you for the lice, extra for the mice, two percent for looking in the mirror twice" (I hope you all have that song in your heads for the rest of the day, just like George Costanza!). People here are nice and helpful. I sat down at a street cafe and the cafe lady sat down and tried to talk to me, even though she speaks no English and I no Vietnamese. Then I got my toenails painted on the street. They quoted one price and then charged LESS, because they thought I was so nice. NIGHT AND DAY COMPARED TO HANOI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People here want to take you on their motorbikes, but it's like a polite suggestion. They don't drive into you, cut you off and then get mad when you say no.

Anyhoo, I forgot to tell you all that the guide in Sapa read all our palms after getting a little tipsy and taking some hits off his bamboo water pipe (it was tobacco, friends, tobacco). Here is what he told me about my future....(play new-agey music now):
1. I will have one son, one daughter
2. I will be married before I'm 30
3. When I'm 57 I will have something disasterous happen, from which Iwill recover. I will live to be 85. This will really help me plan myretirement savings.
4. I will have many, many boyfriends. They only have 5 years to showup, because they haven't done so yet.
5. I will get lots o' education.
6. I'm very handy, but my friends at Habitat already knew that.

Here are my heretofore unshared observations:
1. The kitchen and the bathroom in many small eateries are the samething. This prompted Krystyna and I to compose a song.
Sung to the tune of "Farmer in the Dell":
"The kitchen is the sameThe bathroom is the same
The kitchen and the bathroom are the same damn thing"
Allow me to explain. The bathroom and the food prep area are separated by an accordion-like door. You squat to do your business and realize that you have just eaten off of the now "clean" dishes sitting in the corner of the bathroom. You try not think about it. Ever.

2. I've seen all manner of things carried on the back of mopeds:
-live chickens, dead chickens
-baskets of live puppies :(
-an entire, unbutchered, dead water buffalo
-refrigerator
-door
-pane of glass
-families of 4 or 5

3. Moving a group of people from one spot to another is mass chaos. It's every man for himself, which confuses me in a communist country. When emptying a bus, there's no polite waiting for the person(comrade?) in the seat in front to get up before you go down the aisle. No sir. No waiting for old ladies either. You have to assert yourself, or you'll never get anywhere. Getting on the plane today, no one even attempted to form a queue to get on the plane. Instead, a mob just pushed itself towards the lady taking boarding passes and everyone hoped they got there first.

4. We have a lot in common culturally with the Canadians, British, Australians and New Zealanders. Call me Captain Obvious, but I'd never hung out with this many people from the Commonwealth before (actually, I didn't even know there was a Commonwealth before...), soI didn't know.

5. I was really freaked out about leaving home. I got here and kept asking myself what the hell I was doing here (why am I here? whathave I done? here? I came here?). Anyhoo, for those of you who think I'm so brave and yada yada, I'm actually just stubborn. I decided to do it, and I couldn't let myself back down, despite being scared,because I'm stubborn. I'm here because I played a game of chicken with myself. I'm pretty sure I won.

6. I've been thinking a lot about how we live in what one could call a post-industrial society. I'm sure someone else has already thought up a better name, but work with me. It's interesting to be in a place where people want the kind of lifestyle we live, to some extent--cars,tvs, money, freedom of movement, stuff--when they have things that we've lost and are now working hard to get back. For example, local markets/fresh, locally grown food, sense of community, etc.

7. Meeting people who are traveling is unbelievably easy when you're open to it. I met some girl who was having her toenails painted next to me and we're going to get a beer later. Everyone's open to making new friends.

8. I noticed this morning in Hanoi, when I was telling people I wa sflying to Saigon, they corrected me: you mean Ho Chi Minh City?
In Saigon, no one calls it Ho Chi Minh City. They correct you: you mean Saigon?
I think the name change must have been a mandate from the north.

9. The cabbie who took me to the airport this morning's cell phone had the same ring as my cell phone.

Two blogs in one day. Holy crap. Consider yourselves lucky. These were the things that were on my mind and I wanted to write them down before they were gone.The next time you hear from me I'll be in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Goodbye Vietnam

Hello all, sorry about the delay in getting you another blog entry, but apparently an earthquake in Taiwan knocked out all the internet in the city yesterday.
I'm in Hanoi, getting ready to fly back to Saigon this afternoon. I think I'll have to stay there the night and then take a bus to Cambodia tomorrow morning.
I spent three days in the mountain town of Sapa. It was beautiful. The main attraction of the town is the opportunity to interact with some of the minority ethnic groups that live in the area. This raises some questions about the ethics of cultural tourism. But I digress.
We arrived in Sapa and met our guide, along with the other members of our group. The most interesting pair was a couple from Canada that now teaches English in Hong Kong. They were very nice and had some interesting stories about Hong Kong.
We were scheduled to go on a mountain trek for the day, but I think our guide didn't feel like doing the hard walking. We just walked down a road in the mountain. I didn't realize that he took us down the easy, unexciting road, and not climbing through the rice paddies like he was supposed to till we met people who'd done a similar trip and the guide gave them a choice between the two routes. I think my dissatisfaction with our guide may already be apparent.
We walked to a village of the Black Hmong people and then we slept in a Day village. These people survive raising rice and bringing tourists into their homes. We slept the night in the village. It was really cold. Definitely below freezing. We huddled around an indoor open fire in a hut made of bamboo. It was more fun in retrospect than it was at the time. We had grilled water buffalo meat that was flavored with chilis. It was delicious but my mouth was so on fire I had to go walk around outside and breathe the cold air for about ten minutes to calm it down.
The next day we walked to another village and to a waterfall that was pretty. It was a sheer rock face with water running down it. We climbed up part way and realized getting down would not be so easy....so we came down very carefully.
The trip was nice and I'm glad I had the experience, but some things about it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. We met some nice kids that walked to their village with us. They speak freakishly good English and you can tell they speak it every day with foreigners. We had fun with them. Then came the hard sell. They were really upset when I didn't want to buy anything. The whole time we were walking, both days we had native women in hot pursuit of us, trying to get us to buy their embroidery and other things. They were really aggressive and got angry when you didn't buy.
An English woman tagged along with our group on the hike and homestay and the guide tried to charge her $20 for the night. I thought $6 was a reasonable charge for the services we received. The thing that's upsetting isn't the money. It's not about the money, it's about the principle of the thing. I'm happy to pay for what I receive, and so are most tourists here. It's being grossly overcharged because the guide wants to take his cut off the top, or because he thinks he can that's offensive. Same with the incident with the lady with the bread--it's about the principle, not the money.
Also, I can't help but feel like tourist presence is a serious intrusion on these people's lives. But then, maybe the extra money has improved life for them, I don't know. I'm also told that the "cultural tourism" has actually helped some of these people maintain their communal identities in the face of the government's effort at "Vietnamization." A lot of these people didn't support the communists and don't want to be assimilated into Vietnamese culture. There are probably posititives and negatives to the situation.
We spent the morning of the 26th doing some more hiking around the city. I bought some embroidery work from a Red Dao woman. It's really pretty and very old. One of the women made it for her own dress and when she was done using it she sold it. I like having things like that that people made for themselves--they are made with a different level of care and it shows.
Back in Sa Pa, there was a fatal car accident, I saw a serious fight between 2 women (I'm talking fisticuffs, hair pulling, knees to the stomach, etc), a woman who had fainted get put on a motorbike and driven away, and a bird in its death throes all in the space of an hour. Bad ju ju in the area, time to go. We took the night train back to Hanoi and spent the day here yesterday.
Krystyna and Derrick left for Malaysia yesterday afternoon, so I'm back to being by myself for now. It was really fun to travel with them.
I'm feeling pretty ready to leave Vietnam. People keep telling me other places are nicer than this. People are more friendly, etc. People in the north have been more aggressive about selling things and get angry when you say no. I have motorbikes driving into me and asking if I need a ride. I've taken a couple tours and they end up being disappointing. I don't feel like I learned a lot about Vietnam from any of the guides. They just kind of herd you around, but don't offer any interesting information. I don't get the sense that they're excited to share their country with visitors or that they understand that we want to learn about their country. I also get the impression that the tourism industry is not well developed here, which has a down side. It means that only one tour exists, basically. In other places, if you want to go trekking, you can. If you want to go to the jungle/national parks for a few days, you can. When the industry is more developed, there are more niche markets and a better variety of things to do. Here, it was nearly impossible to get to the national parks or do any kind of ecotourism.
I've had a nice time in Vietnam, but I feel ready to move on and I'm excited to see more places. I think these 3 weeks have really helped me ease into traveling and I've learned a lot about how not to get ripped off, how to meet friends, how to find something to eat (sometimes more difficult than you'd expect), etc.
I'm also excited to try some different food. I've been really disappointed with the food here. I've eaten in a wide variety of places, lots of food on the street, Vietnamese restaurants not catering to tourists, etc and the food is all the same. It's either Pho--noodle soup, or Com--rice with some stuff mixed in.
Taxi is here for the airport. Love you all and I will write again soon!

Creepy, Embalmed Ho Chi Minh

Hello friends, I said I'd be out of contact for several days, so consider this an extra-special-bonus blog! I don't leave for Sa Pa on the train till tonight.
Today we visited Ho Chi Minh's masoleum. We got there about a half hour before it closed and were nearly denied entry. There's a big square/plaza thing around the masoleum, but no fence or sign that says you can't walk on it. We found out the hard way--trying to understand from the guards why we had to walk 3 blocks to a controlled entrance when the masoleum was 100 feet in front of us. I still don't get it, but we complied. They weren't joking around.
We tried to approach the masoleum, after going through security and again got yelled at. We had to stand on a dotted line on the street, two by two and wait until we were instructed to start walking towards the building. We saw Uncle Ho's embalmed remains. It was kinda creepy. He gets sent to Russia for 2 months a year for them to do upkeep on his body. The visit didn't last long and we were hurried out of the compound.
We went to the Ethnology museum also. The museum detailed all the different ethnic groups in Vietnam. It was pretty interesting. They also had an outdoor area where they reconstructed examples of houses of different ethnic groups.
Then we visited the Hanoi Hilton. Most of the museum's focus was on the French use of the prison for Vietnamese revolutionaries prior to 1954. The area of the museum that talked about holding American POWs showed what a happy time they had in the prison and how well they were treated. I also saw the flight suit John McCain was wearing when he was shot down above Hanoi. And then it's now.
Tonight, the night train to Sapa.
I'm hoping I can get my Cambodian visa in a day and that I won't get stuck in Saigon waiting for it. We'll see.
TTFN,
Lauren

Communist Karaoke

Good evening (or morning) friends! It's been several days since my last post. I spent the last 3 days in a delightful spot called Ha Long Bay. The ad posted in the comments was not put there by me--I'll leave it in case people are curious.
Anyhoo, Ha Long Bay was unbelievably gorgeous. The bay is full of over 2,000 limestone islets jutting out of the sea. We went kayaking on the first and the second day, which was incredible. It was very relaxing to be out on the water, sleep on the boat, not hear any noise or smell any exhaust. We were able to kayak into little lagoons through tunnels in the limestone. The second day, our guide took sea urchins out of the water and set them on our kayaks. We could see them move! It was so cool. We paddled to a secluded beach and hung out for a while. We harrassed a sea cucumber--it was pretty gross looking. I took a million pictures and will post them soon. I think the afternoon kayaking yesterday was the best time I've had so far. It was so calm and beautiful. The ocean is a turquoise color.
People live in houses floating on the water in secluded areas of the bay. They drink rain water, cook with gas and have fish farms. We took our kayaks from one of these "houses." They barely seem seaworthy to me, but people live on them. I think they don't know the saying "don't shit where you eat," because there was a lot of trash in the water, no indoor plumbing and they're raising fish right next to their dwelling. Made me think twice about the squid we ate for dinner.
Last night was Christina's birthday and we went to a karaoke bar on one of the islands. The karaoke guy kept letting me have the remote to find a song to sing, then he'd take it away as soon as I found the right song and give it to someone else! He was ruling the karaoke with an iron fist. So, I decided it was communist karaoke.
I was waiting for the bus to take us to the boat a couple days ago and a lady appeared at the door of the hotel selling some bread. She pointed to the bread and said "chocolate" as clearly as the day is long. I thought, "I'd like some chocolate-filled bread!" I bought one from her, opened it to eat it AND NO CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!!! I was unhappy. I went and found her and demanded my money back. She tried to shoo me away, but I told her I was going to follow her up and down the street all morning and tell people she was running a scam unless she gave me my money back. She spoke no English, but she did speak the international language of "this person is pissed because I unequivocably ripped them off." I got my money back and had plain bread for breakfast. Sigh.
I'm having trouble staying fit on this trip. There's not a lot of time to do yoga when you're going from a bus to a boat to an island to a boat to Hanoi to a bus to another bus. My goal for the rest of the trip: take as few buses as possible.
In other news, I'm disappointed to discover that although I applied for early action at the U of M law school, they deferred my application. This (I think) means I've neither been rejected nor accepted yet. I have to wait to May to find out their decision. On the positive side, I did get accepted to the University of Iowa, a similarly ranked school that's close to home. So I don't have to go to Hamline. Yay.
Tomorrow, Christina, Derrick and I head north to Sa Pa, a mountain town. We are going hiking for a couple days and get to spend a night with one of the hill tribes (the black Hmong--not to be confused with the black lung). It should be really fun. I'll probably be out of contact for several days again. I get back to Hanoi on the morning of the 27th. I have to arrange my visa to Cambodia here and then I'm off to Phnom Penh.
Vietnam has been fun. I think I've learned:
1. I don't want to spend my whole trip on buses
2. Even with lots of time, you can't see everything--you must pick and choose!
3. Go with the flow and things will be fine
4. It's really unbelievably hot in Saigon
5. Traveling is fun
6. Traveling is tiring
7. I love you guys! (I already knew that before though...)
The internet connection here is the fastest of all time! Or the fastest I've had in Vietnam yet. It's great.
TTFN,
Lauren

Almost north of the DMZ....

Hello friends, I'm leaving the former Imperial city of Hue tonight for Hanoi. I went to the old Imperial City this morning and to the tomb of one of the old emperors. It was really cool. Unfortunately a lot of the city was bombed in the war (the VC held this city for 25 days during the Tet Offensive), so a lot of the historic areas were destroyed.
The tomb was beautiful. There was a pond and some forest, etc. I thought it looked a little bit like Lakewood Cemetery. It thought it was interesting that natural beauty seems to be universally enjoyed.
I went with my new Canadian friend Christina to get a massage this afternoon. She's had really nice ones in the past, but we got scammed. It was really upsetting. We paid for an hour massage and got 15 minutes of uncomfortable poking. We tried to get our money back and they wouldn't budge. It was frustrating.
We had a fabulous lunch in a little street cafe that I don't think ever gets any foreigners. It was one of the best meals I've had here so far--all for $1. I've had some crappy food for a lot more than that. There was a piece of pork on top of delicious rice. The pork was marinated in something sweet and salty that had formed a gooey crust on the outside (but in a good way). It was terrific. The ladies let me take a picture of their "kitchen" and we all had fun trying to understand each other.
I bought a plane ticket to Saigon today for December 28. I don't like backtracking, but I'm trying to go easy on myself. I didn't know when I started that I want to spend time in Malaysia more than in Laos. So, I'll get to Saigon and take a 6 hour bus ride to Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh to Siem Riep to Bangkok to lots of fun, fun, fun.
I'm really happy I'm here. I'm also really happy my horrible homesickness was short-lived. I know it'll be back, but I think I know how to deal with it better now than I did before. I'm excited for the other things I'm going to do in Vietnam, but also to move on to other countries.
For some reason I'm having some trouble viewing my blog and comments, though I'm not having any problems with posting. I don't know why, but it may be a few days before I can read your comments.
XOXO!
Lauren

All's quiet on the Western front...

...and by the Western front I mean my intestine. I know you're all dying to know about my digestive health after 2 weeks in Vietnam. I'm happy to report everything is functioning normally! I think that's unusual for travel, but I'm not complaining.
I'm currently in the city of Hue, which was the Imperial city of the Champa empire for awhile. I'm traveling with 2 fun Canadians (oxymoron? just kidding...). They're a guy and a girl, but not a couple, so I don't feel like a 5th wheel (or is it the 3rd wheel? let's call it an awkward extraneous wheel). We'll probably head to Hanoi together too, and then go our separate ways.
I'm discovering I can't fly from Hanoi to Siem Riep, so I may go to Kuala Lumpur instead. That way I can do a huge loop, and I won't have to backtrack at all. KL to Sarawak to KL to Bangkok to Siem Riep to Chang Mai to Lao? Something like that.
It's raining a whole lot here, which puts a damper on fun. I'm glad I'm with some hilarious people, or it would be a little depressing.
People are getting more aggressive about selling stuff as I'm going north. "YOU! YOU BUY SOMETHING!" or "YOU! MOTORBIKE! YOU!" and then they follow you for a half hour until they realize you don't require their services. It gets to be too much. I feel like a walking dollar sign and I want to tell people to piss off. It's raining, why would I want to go with you on your motorbike? Even if it weren't raining...
I'm also discovering what, in South America, we used to call the gringo tax. Everything costs at least twice as much for foreigners as for Vietnamese. We went to the market today and the people I'm with needed to buy something warm. They drove hard bargains. The prices started out at about 3 times what they haggled down to. In other words, they're trying to take us for a ride as much as possible, all the while saying "same same Vietnamese" (as in: Vietnamese pay the same price, but it's a lie!).
I wish I'd brought a map of the US so I could show people where Minnesota is. No one knows where it is.
YOU! YOU BUY MY SOMETHING!!!

Singin' in the rain

Hello gentle readers, just a warning that the keys on this keyboard are terrible and i may miss some capital letters.
I'm writing to you from Hoi An, a bit of a tourist trap, but also very lovely (mom, dad, zayde, it's akin to our "religious shopping experience" in Tzfat). There is an old city here that hasn't changed for about 200 years. The streets are narrow, the buildings are only 2 stories and you can see the Chinese and french influence. It's really pretty. I thought I'd see more architecture like this in other cities here, but i haven't.
The city is famous for its tailors. One can get all manner of things made to order. I broke down and got a cotton summer dress and a wool coat (one I certainly do not need) made.
I went to My Son this morning, some old Cham ruins. Apparently it's a UNESCO site. It was jungle-y and overgrown--lots of atmosphere. I'm told Angkor Wat is a million times more spectacular, so I can't wait to see that.
I'm already feeling a little bit of a time crunch here in Vietnam. I've been here nearly 2 weeks and haven't even made it north of the DMZ. So much to see, so little time! Anyways, I decided to spend about one more week here. Then, i'm going to fly to siem riep, the city in cambodia where angkor wat is. From there i can get into Thailand and malaysia. I decided Thailand and malaysia were more of a priority for me than Laos. If I have time near the end of my 3 months in SE Asia, I can get into laos from Northern Thailand.
Allow me to wax philosophically for a moment. I'm getting a little more used to being on the road and going with the flow. I'm noticing that if i'm open to meeting people, finding fun new things, etc, opportunities present themselves to me. My point is, if you don't worry and are open, good things come your way. Life lessons from Lauren.
It's pouring rain here, which is less than pleasant, but thanks to my technical quick-dry REI travel clothes, I dry off pretty quick.
Here's a bit of culture shock for you all. Last night, I had a few beers with about 5 other people I met. We drank "fresh" beer, which seems to be home brew. It was unbelievably cheap. 5 BEERS FOR $1!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE DRANK 25 BEERS FOR $5!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still having a hard time fully grasping this.
My chore this afternoon is to figure out how to ship home all this crap I bought.
I hope you are all well.

Under the Sea

Hello friends, I completed my SCUBA certification today and in an hour am leaving on an overnight bus for the city of Hoi An.
I uploaded some photos, but I had to do it one by one and it took forever, so there are only 12 here:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/laurenemilywinter27/albums
We saw a Devil Scorpion Fish today. Pop quiz: is the Devil Scorpion Fish a) warm and fuzzy or b) deadly poisonous. It's quite poisonous. It looked a little like a dead fish to me. I guess it buries itself in the sand and waits to prick something and then eats it. We also saw an octopus, but I didn't recognize it as such. Clown fish, corals, cleaner shrimp, sea anemonies (got to touch some), etc. It was fun. We went down as far as 16 meters today. It doesn't really feel any different than being at 5 or so really, as long as you equalize the pressure in your mask and ears. The SCUBA was fun, but really tired me out. I ended up napping this afternoon.
That's all there is to report, really. Enjoy the photos!

The Bends

Hello friends, luckily, I don't have the bends, but I did go SCUBA diving today! It was really fun and I'm glad I got over my apprehension and did it. I have to do 4 dives in 2 days to complete my Open Water Diver certification, so tomorrow I'll do 2 more dives. I felt pretty relaxed in the water. We were 12 meters deep at one point. I had no sense that we were so far under water.
I was concerned about controlling my buoyancy today, so I don't feel like I got a really good look at all the fish and coral. I did see a lion fish and a really big, bright blue starfish. As I feel more comfortable controlling where my body is in space, I'll be able to focus on the wildlife a bit more. The day on the boat was a really nice break from days of tours and buses and all that. My instructor was really nice and helpful also.
This town is a nice little beach town. Big waves, sun, islands, diving, etc. It's been nice. It's warm, but not unbearably hot.
Not a whole lot more to report. I had a delicious Thai curry with prawns for dinner. Yummy. I think that makes up for the Pringles I had for lunch. I felt silly about it, but I just really wanted Pringles.
I tried to post my photos online tonight, but am having some difficulty with it. I'm going to have to find a tech savvy traveler to help me with it. Photos soon!
Tomorrow night I take an overnight bus to Hoi An, which is supposed to be very nice. Cheap tailored clothes are supposedly a big draw.
One of the members of the family that runs the hotel I'm staying at is a photographer. Apparently he used to take people around on his motorbike. Then some tourists gave him a camera and he started taking pictures. He had a photography exhibition in Norway in September. I bought one of his photos that I thought was particularly nice. I wouldn't have bought it, but he put it in a tube of pvc and stood on it and showed me it wouldn't get damaged in my backpack. I'm going to have to ship a box of stuff home sooner than I thought.
I hope you are all well!

No wacky title.

Hello friends,
I'm feeling a bit better today than I was yesterday. I woke up this morning feeling really sad, so I went on a tour through the place I'm staying, rather than staying in my room all day and feeling sorry for myself. It was actually a really nice day.

I went with a couple from England, one from Poland and 3 guys from Israel (Nahariya and Haifa). All very nice. The couple from Poland were botanists. The Polish man was so enthusiastic and excited about everything. It was contagious. They told us all about the plants we saw, where they are originally from, if you can eat them, how people use them, etc. For example, the said that passion fruit is so called, because the flower represents the passion of Christ--it looks like his crown of thorns and has the three points where he was nailed to the cross. I did not know that.

The most fascinating thing they told me is that when they wanted to travel under the communist regime, they could only do so as students. They could not exchange Polish currency when they were traveling, so they had to bring contraband with them to sell wherever they were going--vodka, cigarrettes, etc. I thought that was incredible! That's how they got around Egypt and India in the early eighties.

We traveled to the countryside around Da Lat. They grow a lot of vegetables here. Vietnamese tourists come here a lot to get away from the heat. There are pines and things growing and a nice cool breeze.

The area used to have volcanic activity, so the soil is very fertile. We visited a coffee plantation and saw the coffee plant. They take the berry off the plant and dry it in the sun, remove the husk and then dry it again. The dried coffee sells for $2/kilo--very little, I thought.
We also saw a flower farm and cauliflower and cucumbers.

Highlight of the day: we went to a silk making factory. First we went to some people's house where they keep silk worms. They feed the worms and when they form a pupae(chrysallis?), they sell them to the factory. Then, they plunge the chrysallis into boiling water, which kills the worm that's inside and loosens up the silk. They grab a strand of the silk, feed it into a bobbin and it gets spun into thread. It was unbelievable. The raw silk thread looked and felt like hair and was an ivory color. I always knew about the silk worms, but I never really gave where silk comes from a lot of thought.

We also visited a fairly large waterfall. We climbed down so we were right next to it. It was creating a wind tunnel and I got really wet from the spray without really realizing it. It was pretty cool.
Then we saw a giant happy buddha.

Then, we went to a minority ethnic group's village. They are weavers and I got a chance to look at the loom in detail. I took pictures--I don't know what the loom's parts are called, so I can't describe very well how it was hooked up. They have a matrilineal society, where men go to live in their wives' villages, not vice versa. Before women can marry, they must make their own wedding sarong. I thought it was very similar to when I was in the Andes--the people there prize weaving very highly. An excellent weaver had a better chance of finding a good husband. I bought one of the wedding sarongs--my first souvenier. I am a sucker for textiles. They weave with silk and a silk and cotton blend.

We also visited a place where they grow mushrooms.
It was a very nice day, with nice company. I think I just have to trust that I will meet people everywhere I go. I have so far.

There are national parks here, but they're very difficult to get to. When I was in Ecuador, I went to the jungle by myself and it was really easy to do. Not so here. I found a place that offered canyoning, rock climbing, mtn biking, etc. It looked really fun. Trouble is, they need more than just one person (me) to operate the trip, and the season's been slow. So, no fun adventure sports for me for now.

The Polish couple was telling me about Sarawak--the island that has Malaysia and Brunei and I think Indonesia--where you can see orangutans and all kinds of wildlife. They said it was spectacular and easy to arrange trips into the jungle. I wasn't originally planning on going there, but I think I might now. I expected to be able to do more ecotourism/adventure sport, etc, but it's been difficult to arrange. I think there's some trekking in Northern Vietnam.

Tomorrow, I'm taking the bus to the beach town of Nha Trang. It's one of the places here you can go scuba diving, but a typhoon just went by here last week and the water's all churned up. I think I'll wait till Thailand to finish my course. I'm hearing people say that diving in Thailand is more spectacular than the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It seems like that's saying a lot.

I did some yoga the other day and am going to again tonight. I'm having an easy enough time staying focused and making it through the whole practice. I think it's because I have the time.

I think the homesickness/culture shock/heat shock will probably come and go. I've only met one other American since I've been here. Maybe it will help to meet more as I go. I met some people from Argentina briefly, but didn't get a chance to talk to them. I think they were as excited to find someone who spoke Spanish as I was.

I love you all and I miss you and I'm hanging in there. I'll try to figure out how to post my photos soon so you can see what I've been seeing. I'm not usually a big picture taker, but I've been trying to take lots of pictures so I can share them.

Da Lat

I'm writing from the French town of Da Lat, 1500 meters up in the mountains. This morning, I was on the beach, looking at sand dunes.
Not much to report right now, except that I'm feeling really, overwhelmingly homesick. I've met some people who tell me it's normal to feel this way, but it's hard.
That's all for now.

I love the smell of diesel in the morning

Hello friends,
I'm back in Saigon. Tomorrow I head to a beach town called Mui Ne. Hopefully it will be nice.
Today, I started out in a much more rural part of the delta, near the Cambodian border. The Khmer Rouge attacked this area in 1978, because historically it was part of the Khmer empire. The Vietnamese fended them off.
It was interesting to see a more remote area. There were endless rice paddies. We took a little boat ride again this morning and saw people fishing. There were little neighborhoods floating on the water. Neat little rows of houses.
We stopped at a Cham village. We looked at their mosque. I was interested to see the Cham weaving, but it was more trying to sell us stuff than looking at how they make things. They were selling very beautiful silk items for very cheap. Mom, you'll be happy to know that I decided not to keep myself from buying something if it really catches my eye. I'll just ship it home sea mail.
We spent a LOT of time on a bus today. I'm happy to be off it, even though I'm getting right back on tomorrow. We took a ferry across the river. People got on with their mopeds. We were waiting in a ceilinged area, and people let their engines run. I thought I was going to yak from the fumes.
Highlights of the last day:
1. I met a very nice couple of women from New Zealand who are coming from where I'm going. I had dinner with them and chatted with them for the afternoon. It was nice to be with people who already know the ropes. They told me all the nice things they saw in Laos and said they didn't care much for Cambodia. Anyhoo, it was very nice to meet them and hear what a nice time they've had.
2. It took me these 5 days to realize that people here are incredibly friendly and nice. I feel bad it took so long, but I've never, ever been to a developing country where people yelling at you just want to say hello and talk. It's so refreshing! The town we were in yesterday, Chao Doc, was full of little kids yelling, "hello, hello." They got so excited when you said hello back. They wanted to play and shake hands. It's so joyful. It took a while to realize they didn't want my money, because everywhere else I've been, if you give people yelling at you the time of day, they follow you around and won't leave you alone.
On a ferry over the river today, an older Vietnamese woman leaned over and started talking to me. She asked me about myself and then asked me to keep talking so she could listen to me and practice her English. It was really fun.
On the street, if people are trying to sell something, if you say "no, thanks," they go away. It's unbelievable.
I'm so used to getting harrassed by beggars, harrassed by men, etc abroad. It seems like people here just genuinely want to say hello.
I'm feeling better about being here. I was apprehesive about leaving home. It's taken a couple of days for me to feel relaxed and comfortable. I think the organized tour was probably a good way to let myself get acclimated to traveling. Now I'm excited not to be herded like cattle as I go up north.
I was eating dinner at a restaurant on the street today and someone offered to sell me marijuana, ecstasy and coke, in that order. I politely declined.
Next time I write I will be on the Pacific, perhaps holding a delicious beverage in a coconut.
Oh, and Mom, I keep trying to reply to your email and it won't go through.

Mekong Delta Blues

Hello friends, I'm waiting for a bus to take me to another part of the Mekong Delta, so I thought I'd use the opportunity to let you know what I'm up to.
I left Saigon yesterday morning and we took a bus to My Tho. From there, we took a boat around the delta, to various islands. It was very beautiful. It's sort of like Venice, where everyone gets around in their boat. There were an unbelievable number of boats, big and small. People build their houses on stilts partially in the water. We could see people washing their clothes and such from the boat.
We got in a smaller boat and went through some smaller canals. Highlight of the day: I saw an electric blue kingfisher with a white band around it's neck. It was really cool! It was about the same size as the kingfishers in Minnesota.
We visited some cottage industries--coconut candy makers, honey producers. Today we visited a small spot where they make rice noodles. They have what look like drums with boiling water in them, they take a liquid made with rice and manioc root starches and spread it in a thin layer on the top of the drum. It cooks for a few minutes and they take it off. It looks like a crepe. Then they dry it in the sun. When it's dry, they cut it into noodles. They fuel the fires with the rice husk.
This morning we got up early to go the floating market. When the French were in power, they taxed all the business that took place on land, so people took their business to the river. They put up tall poles on the bow of the boat with fruits and vegetables hanging from them. That way, they advertise what they are selling.
Tomorrow, we are going to see some Cham weavers. I'm excited to get a look at the textile production.
I've met some nice people on the trip. They tell me that the north is much nicer than the south. I'm glad. I like it here, but am having trouble adjusting to the heat. Also, I think the north is less densely populated. There are 8 million people in a 200 km square are down here.
I met a guy from Japan on the trip who was also traveling alone. We went to dinner last night on the street and had some steamed mussels. I helped him a little with his English.
The food has been fairly good, but I haven't had my socks knocked off yet. I've had several dishes that are heavily seasoned with pepper. So much so that they are spicy. It's good. At a market today I had a crepe filled with sweetened, shredded coconut. A mixture of French and Vietnamese? Seemed like it. It was delicious. Oh, and at lunch today I tried snake. Someone else ordered it and let me try. It was very chewy and unexciting.
I hope you all are well!

Tunnel of Love

I wasn't going to write anything this evening, but after reading everyone's lovely comments, I felt like I had to give something back!
I spent most of the day on a bus today. Not entirely pleasant, but I got to see some of the countryside. We went Northwest of Saigon to a temple of the Cao Dai--a religion that started in Vietnam and is a blend of Western and Eastern philosphy. I wish I could tell you more, but my lack of context/knowledge of the area + the extreme difficulty in understanding what people are saying = half the time I have no idea what's going on.
It rained today, which was nice, because it cooled stuff down.
I woke up, jet lagged, at 5:30, unable to sleep anymore. What better way to pass the time than do practice yoga! So I did my whole practice. It only took me an hour, which is pretty fast for me--I think I was breathing faster because it's hot or because I'm in a new place (for the uninitiated, breath sets the pace of the whole practice).
More bus time after the temple (sorry this is not chronological), we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels. After the area had been defoliated in the war, the people who lived in Cu Chi built a gigantic network of tunnels so they could keep fighting in the area. We had the opportunity to crawl through 100 meters of tunnel. UNPLEASANT! is the only way to describe it. Pitch black, hunched over and hot. And, that part of the tunnels had been widened to accomodate Westerners--so it was once even smaller.
We got funneled through a couple tourist traps today, perhaps the function of being with a large group. I booked a 3-day tour through the Mekong delta and I have a feeling it will be just as tourist trapy. Eeew. But, it is the easiest way to see the region. And I'm still largely unfamiliar with how to travel all alone here. It's also disconcerting to always need a translator.
I will probably be out of contact till Friday. I hope you are all well!

Ho Chi Minh City

I had a long night last night of jet-lagged sleep. There are no windows in the bedrooms here, so I had no idea what time it was when I kept waking up.
I got up this morning and went to the HCMC Museum. It was built by the French for the governor back in the 1880s. There were about 5 couples getting wedding photos taken in and around the museum. It was neat to see wedding dresses, etc.
When I left the museum, I decided to go with a persistent man who insisted on taking me around the City. I was going to walk, but now I'm glad I went with him. He biked me around and told me about the city, took me places I probably wouldn't have gone otherwise.
Walking in the streets here is taking your life in your own hands. Everyone gets around on mopeds and motorcycles. There doesn't seem to be any system for taking turns, staying in lanes, crossing streets, etc, except cross your fingers and hope no one hits you. It's like that frogger episode of Seinfeld times 100.
I visited a Chinese pagoda, built in 1900, the old presidential palace, and the Vietnam War Remnants Museum. The last place had an amazing display of photography taken during the war by photojournalists who were later killed.
It's hot here, but not unbearably so. There's a nice breeze that blows. None of the museums were air conditioned, so it got a little oppressive.
The city looks a lot like other cities I've been in. I'm looking forward to getting out of the city. Tomorrow, I'm going to visit the Cu Chi tunnels. They are tunnels the VietCong used during the war. Then, I'm going to explore the Mekong delta for about 3 days before I head north.

Boy are my arms tired!

Hello friends, I finally arrived in Vietnam and am writing to you from a computer in my hostel. I'm pretty physically and emotionally exhausted after 4 flights and over 30 hours of travel from there to here.
The hostel overbooked the dorm style rooms, so I get my own room for tonight. I think I'm going to sleep for a very long time and go exploring tomorrow.
I just wanted to let you all know that I got here safely and that I miss you!

The Minnesota long goodbye

Now I'm saying goodbye for real! To some of you, for the 5th time.

Mom and Dad went to the airport without me this morning (they were going to see Aaron in Nashville). It was hard to say goodbye to them and then sit around without much to do. I really love them a lot and am sad that I won't see them for such a long time. Sigh. Even though I know it will go by in a flash.

I saw the chiropractor this morning. He thinks my back problems may be a result of damage I did to ligaments in my ankles, probably during capoeira. The instability multiplies as it moves up my body. Anyhoo, he showed me a way to tape my ankle with athletic tape and said if I do that every day for two months my ligaments should heal. What have I got to lose? The tape is not uncomfortable and it would be nice to banish my back problems into oblivion! I will try it.

I would like to take this opportunity to tell the people in my life how much I truly love and care about them. If you don't know who you are, then shame on me.

Tomorrow, I fly through Denver (Zayde's driving me to the airport at 4:30 am), rather than disastrous Chicago. I take the same plane from Denver to San Francisco to Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City. I get to Vietnam at 10:10 pm Vietnamese time (13 hours ahead of Minneapolis) on Sunday, December 3.
I'm a little nervous about maybe forgetting some important travel document or something. Otherwise, I'm not really anticipating. I know I'll have a wonderful time, but it's hard to say goodbye to so many people I care about.