Oh the people and places you'll see

There is a part of me that really wants to write a rant-ridden blog. I could go on and on about tourists and the clothes they wear, Cambodians and their seemingly odd montone way of trying to sell you things, the ubiquitous nature of air freshener scent on things like napkins, or the way that children always seem to be in-transit between school and home rather than actually in school. However, I've decided to take a different tack and consider some of the interesting people I've met. Plus, as always an update of my recent activities. I imagine some of those little digs will be in this post and probably some in the future.

Cambodia has been absolutely amazing and interesting. First off, it is gorgeous. Because it is quite flat, you can look out for miles on bright green rice fields, stilt houses, and palm trees. I'm continually amazed by the scenery. In my two short weeks of being in the country I've gotten a very different feel from the people and the way things work than I did in the other South East Asian nations. Of course, if I stayed here a few years I would probably have a much fuller understanding of the culture, but I'm also getting this from expats and locals I've met. Here's my theory: these people have been through so much crap over the years and have just been shat on by their own government time and again, they are all kind of like screw you. For instance, in both Vietnam and Cambodia there is a helmet law for moto drivers. In Vietnam, absolutely everyone wears a helmet. Even moto taxis have an extra one for you, and they really will not drive off until it is buckled under you chin. Here, they only wear helmets when there are cops around. To the point where they signal to each other, cops up ahead, and guys stop and put on their helmets. In a country with so many traffic accidents, why wouldn't you wear your helmet? Because they want to buck the system. No, I'm not following your stupid rules, I'm going to ride without as long as I can. Even if it means having the cops almost yank you off your bike to get you to stop. Yes, cops are extremely corrupt here, so why give them a reason to pull you over? Odd to me. It is just a theory, but Cambodia/Vietnam kind of seems like the New Hampshire/Vermont divide. Neighboring places with similar topography, but Cambodia seems to have the "Live free or Die" vibe to it, while Vietnam is out to develop and become the next Thailand.

So there are many things which I find particularly fascinating about this Country. For instance, when there's an accident, the two parties settle it before moving on. And if you have white skin or are assumed to be rich, you are paying for their bills. According to Simon, a Brit who ran my guest house in Kampot, if you see an accident, make a break for it. If you've caused an accident, make a break for it. Even if you've killed someone. And, get this, if a cow comes into the road and hits you, the cow gets arrested. I'm absolutely not kidding. I guess the idea is that the cow will be sold and that money will be used to pay your medical bills. Kind of a good way of doing things, but hilarious, they take the cow to the station.

The Khmer people are beautiful as a whole, I think they are the most beautiful in south east asia, that I've seen. And actually, many people speak a lot of English, much more than in Vietnam. However, there is a way in which I just don't get the culture. Unlike in Vietnam, the tuk-tuk drivers in Phnom Penh have absolutely no idea where they are going. So I've learned a new trick (this also came from Simon) ask, "are you wearing green socks today?" after each place you tell them that you want to go. If they say yes, find someone else. They just say yes, yes, even if they have no idea what you are saying. If they keep saying yes, move on. I used this trick but actually it didn't totally work when I got a guy to take me to the India Embassy. I asked about his socks, and he registered it was weird question and seemed to know what I was saying. First he tells me that he knows where it is. Then he goes about half a block and turns to look back at me, which way? I tell him, just follow this street, but he doesn't, he turns and gets us so lost he has to stop and ask like 3 other drivers. Then, of course I get there and the Embassy only accepts visa applications from 9-11am and gives back passports from 4-5pm. Of course, it is 3:30 and it is raining, so I wait in the tuk tuk. This guy's got nowhere to be, he's absolutely unfazed. Thankfully, I've got my book (Bryce Courtenay, the Power of One, anyone ever read it? Great book!) Anyhoo, of course I need like copies and all kinds of stuff so I have to go back the next day even if they would have accepted it, which I assure they wouldn't have, the embassy guy was a real intense dude and a rule follower.

I've also had some interesting encounters with kids who are selling me things. By and large this is quite annoying. Especially at the temples, where they scream out in a montone, all one word type of phrase, "hellomadaaaam, colddrinkforyoooouuuu? Pinneapplebananaaaaa? Ifyoubuy, youbuyfromme, okaaaaaymadaaaam? Maybelaterrrrrrr?" On and on and on. It doesn't mattter if you say no thank you, ignore them, copy them, etc. Nothing works, they do not let up. However, sometimes the kids are really funny. For instance on my bus trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap we stopped at this market. Other tourists get off the bus and I hear the typical, "ifyoubuy, youbuyfromme, okaaaayy?" and I thought I do not want to get off this bus. But, I did and these were the cutest kids ever. So chill, wanted me to buy, but when I didn't, took a different tack. This one little kid asks me, how old are you? I am a bit taken aback, so I say how old are you. "8, how old are you?" So I tell him, 30. You should have seen his face. Shock registers. "Why you look so young if you so very old?" I crack up. "30 is old?" "Yes, very old, but you look very young." I was dying. He had conned me with his cuteness, I had to buy 50 cent pinneapple from him.

Then I spent the rest of the time taking photos of these beautiful girls, who also wanted me to buy from them, but weren't whiny about it the way many of the child sellers are. Instead, they try to appeal to your sensibilites. "You can save for later, you will be hungry" etc. This one little girl was like, "banana? pinneapple? spider?" I'm like, spider? She turns and shows me her shoulder with this giant hairy thing crawling on it. I kind of pull back in horror. She thinks this is so funny and all her friends start to gather round. I'm like, "you like that?" "Oh yes, very tasty." Soon after it was time to go and all my little friends bid farewell and wish me good luck and happiness. Adorable. Oh, and all the girls are wearing the classic Asian female outfit of matching pajama sets. Hilarious. I think the thing is to get outfits made of the same material top and bottom, that looks smart, but if you can't have that, then you wear pajamas, bc they match.

Today at the temples I had another funny one. She spoke in the typical monotone, but also tried to move away from the basic script. She's trying to sell us postcards and i'm so tired I take the approach of just looking at her and shaking my head no. So she keeps going, "If I tell you the president, the vice president, the capital and the population of the united states, you buy from me?" I didn't, but we started quizzing her, she knew France's president and population, Vietnam, Korea, the list went on. All in this glassy-eyed monotone, but somehow it was fascinating to me that she knew it. She must have some incredible memory. Yes, she does this all day, but population of Korea? Anyway, probably should have given her something, but I didn't.

Lot's of people warned me about Cambodia, saying it feels really poor, they don't leave you alone. Which is true, but somehow it feels really cool when you find those interesting kids or guides with whom, however fleeting, you kind connect with. And in a way, it is a lot more contact than I had in other countries with locals. That's looking on the bright side, and if I had been writing this yesterday, after a day of humid temple-climbing and people hawking stuff, and my tuk tuk driver not going where I wanted, it would have been a different story. However, after a nap and some food I'm able to think a bit more globally about the whole experience.

In terms of tourist friends, I've spent the past week with Bjorn, the Belgian from the last post, and Justin, a typical agro new yorker. It has been quite a change of pace as Bjorn is quiet and somewhat introspective and Justin is ADD and sorta spazy. Justin and I went to the sunrise at the temples this morning. It was cool, sadly the colors weren't as awesome as I would have liked, but I'm glad I managed to get out of bed for it. Being around Justin is something of reminder of why I live on the West Coast. He's fun and will say pretty much anything to get a reaction, but he also voted for Bush and makes racist comments and is rude to the locals. We had some good times but I was ready to move on and be on my own for a bit.

So, I've moved on from Siem Reap, after two full days of viewing temples. They were pretty amazing, but I was pretty much ready to register with the temple burnout foundation of cambodia by the end of the second day. I know people warned me to get a guide but I didn't so I pretty much just took a lot of photos and climbed around for two days.

While on the bus today, I began to think about the many parts of this culture that I do not understand (I guess here comes the ranty-ness).
-The number systems--simply put, things do not go in order. For instance the streets in Phnom Penh, I was all excited thta they are numbered. You know, like New York or Chicago. Oh no, there is no rhyme or reason to the way they are numbered, you might be at street 187 and the next one is 156 and then after that 195. And they don't all go the same direction either. Same thing with the restaurants near Angkor Wat. They're numbered, but they don't go in order.
-the use of headphones doesn't seem to have caught on. A number of locals have music on their phones, but none of them have headphones, so they just play it out. And not quietly either.
-the way every child's voice sounds exactly the same when they are trying to sell you things.
-karaoke on busses--why oh why is that what they play? I mean, so loud and just the most budget cheesy videos that go with them. Like women in traditional clothes with socks and shoes on (pretty much all asian people are in some sort of a flip flop or heel at all times) dancing in a circle. I couldn't tell if watching the videos was giving me some insight into the culture or not. Like, is that what Cambodian weddings look like? They sometimes even have poor children jumping into streams, a very common occurence here.
-The incessant asking you if you want a tuk-tuk. I literally told a guy today that even if I needed one, I wouldn't go with him bc he was following me and pestering me.
-knowing when I am understood and not understood. As I mentioned above, Simon taught me the green socks trick. However, other times I'll really think we're on the same page and boy am I wrong. So Bjorn had never really had street food. It can be a bit intimidating when you first venture into the world of dirty floors of a restaurant, stalls outside, unidentifiable foods. So, I tell him, I'll show you, its easy. You look for a place where others are eating and you get what they get by pointing. Well, we didn't totally follow those rules. I saw a little restaurant that was really someone''s front of their house, pretty typical. It is breakfast, I figure we'll get some eggs and rice. So through a great deal of pointing and acting out a chicken, I ask for coffee, no sugar, no milk, and eggs. She seems to get it, brings us over the best coffee I've had in Cambodia. I'm feeling pretty good. See, local spots are the best. Then she points to noodles, you want that. I'm like, okay, eggs on noodles, why not? Literally, she had pointed to the eggs at the beginning. She goes away and brings us back this oily reddish meat stew thing on top of noodles. I was stunned. I really thought she and I had connected. We ate a bit of it and then went to pay. She shows me her index fingers both up, okay 11,000, a little under $3 for both of us. I gesutre, for one or for both? She shows 5 for me, 6 for him for the extra coffee. So we give her the money and she kind of looks at me, nods and smiles and points back and forth to me and herself, a gesture which I assume means, wow we really understand each other. Oh yeah, crystal clear lady.


So that's the update for now. I'm headed to Bangkok by bus tomorrow as the flight was too expensive. Then I'll be there for a day or so and take the train down to Krabi, the south of Thailand for some snorkeling, sea kayaking, rock climbing and possibly diving. After a mini-cation from all my hard sightseeing and challenging life, I''ll venture to India in 2 weeks. All bets are off on that one...

xoxo,
Dina

p.s. sorry it took me a couple days to actually publish this post because I need to upload some photos. This one over here just cracked me up. It should say Rabbit Hut Bungalows. For all my Jewish and jew-aware goys out there...

Living large in Kampot

When I embarked upon this trip I wasn't really sure what I was looking for. I knew I was going to escape the norm, learn something about the world and people, and have some fun. Interestingly, and I guess not that surprisingly, mostly what I've learned and discovered seems to be within me. For instance, I've learned to read. Yes, I actually knew how to read before I came, in fact, I taught children how to do it. But I couldn't really do it. I couldn't sit down for an hour or two and really read. And think about the characters and find new meanings in books that relate to my situation. And now I can. And I do. I've read so many books sometimes it can even be a challenge to get new ones if I'm not in a super touristy spot. Perhaps that is more about a general sense of slowing down and relaxing that is much easier to have when your daily obligations are finding a place to sleep and eat and take photos of something cool.

In a way this whole trip feels quite self-serving. Like I see these Cambodian women who will thread your legs, massage you, paint your toe nails. I mean, they'll do absolutely anything to make money for their families. And there are the tourists, sitting there like kings and queens just absorbing or taking it all. Yes, we're contributing to their economy and hopefully we aren't breaking too many cultural norms, but there's something about it that feels somewhere between human zoo and personal spa.

However, it has been an incredible experience, and hanging out with my new friend Bjorn that has reopened my eyes to the fact that I'm in Asia. I kind of have to remind myself of that every week or so. Take photos of everyday life that I've just gotten really used to: people eating at stalls on the street, the architecture, the motos with tons of people on them, the little stores and restaurants. I'm not going to be here forever (only a little over 5 more weeks) and it is a little like, wake up Dina, look around you, you don't see this every day.

This trip is about living and experiencing. With that, I finally conquered my fear of moto bikes that I've had since I tried to ride one in Cuba about 5 years ago. For those who don't know, I didn't make it out of the parking lot that day. Couple that with my bad bike accident right before I left and you can imagine I was a little nervous. But after 10 weeks of riding on the backs of them, I finally decided, how hard could it be? Well, let me back up. I'm in this cute and sleepy river town of Kampot, Cambodia. It is something of an expat mecca--almost every guesthouse is owned by a mixed couple of foreigner married to a local. There are good restuarants and just a generally chilled out atmosphere. There is little traffic and it was a beautiful sunny day. I woke up on Wednesday with absolutely no plan for what I was going to do that day. I wasn't sure if I was staying in town or not. I met a guy named Bjorn from Belgium as I walked out of the guesthouse to look for coffee and breakfast. He told me he was in search of good coffee and we became fast friends. So after I skyped with Matt and Marissa, I was in this great mood and Bjorn comes back and says, ''I think it is a good day to ride motos to Kep'' a seaside town about 20 km from here. He also didn't know how to ride a moto, so it was a bit of an adventure. I was hoping to find someone who did know how to ride to help me, but hey, here was my opportunity, time to seize it.

My first ride down the street was frightening. My hands were shaking, I didn't want to give it too much gas so I was kind of moving in short spurts. I tried to stop and I wobbled and quickly put my feet down. I looked back, ''I don't think I can do this.'' Bjorn's just smiling, ''just go slow, you can do it.'' So I turned around, tried again, still shaking. Mind over matter, I can do this. By my third circle my body relaxed and I was like, okay, this is easy. So off we went, down the countryside, my max speed was about 25 km/hr, but it was thrilling. The bright green rice paddies, the children screaming hello, the farmers working their fields, riding the buffalo, bicyclists carrying massive amounts of grass, vegetables, etc. There was just so much to see and at the same time, I was a driving a moto!

We reach Kep, took us about an hour, as I said, I was going 25, and hey, it was 20 km away, so you do the math. But we got there, found some shacks that served up amazingly cheap crab, and other seafood. We ordered a bunch and sat back to enjoy the view of the ocean. Our trip home was just as amazing, I even managed to go about 40 km/hr! I have a new found joy and pasttime. I mean, you just can't come to Asia and not learn to drive a moto. It is such a part of the culture here, I'd really be missing out.

Other than that I've had some other great experiences here in Kampot. Yesterday we headed out to this cave and we had this child as our tour guide. This is actually quite common. You show up to a place, a some child walks you in and out and expects a tip. But this was different. This was one of the best guides I've had on my whole trip. He knew all about the cave, knew how to hold the flashlight so we could see where to step, showed you where to mind your head, just so professional. He said he was in grade 7. It was amazing. We happily gave him and his crew a couple of bucks upon leaving.

That's it for now. I also have done a few not very exciting but chill little river boat rides, hiked pretty much straight up Bokor mountain and back down and had a massage by a blind person. Overall Kampot is one of my favorite places on my trip but I am ready to move on. I'm headed out to a small island called rabbit island for a day or so before I head back to Phnom Penh to get my visa for India.

Hope all is well with all of you. I enjoy hearing from all of you, even the everyday details of your lives, but I know everyone is busy. Lot's of photos up at on picasa.

xoxo
Dina

Delta delta delta, can I help ya help ya help ya?

Whaaa, sorry to any of you who may have just received a blank post--hit the wrong button there.
Okay, deep breath. Sometimes it is so hard to start a new post because it is just so overwhelming, but here I go. First off thanks to all of you who have written or commented on my blog. It is really good to hear from people. I may seem busy, but mail from home is always great.

So, on to my exploits. Well, when I last left off I was in Saigon. I had a nice, if somewhat tame, time there. Had a funny experience when I wandered down a side street and found a new street food option. I gave the woman a look like, what is it? She points to a sign in english--fried rice flour. So, I thought, okay, why not? So she has me sit down, beaming, she's so excited that I want to eat her food. She offers me fruit while I wait. Then the rice flour comes out. It is in 3 cm rectangles, looks kind of like tofu, but wonderfully fried. on top is an egg and it is served with some lime and a special sauce. Omg, it is delicious. I can't remember when I've had anythigng so good. The best part though, was that she kept telling this kid to tell me things. Like that I should scoop it up with the spoon, not the mini oyster fork thing that I have, that's just for putting it on your spoon apparently. She just sits there the whole time I'm eating, just beaming. I keep telling her, so good, I take a picture, she's just so happy. As I''m ready to leave she hands me a whole bunch of fruit to take with me. I don't really want it, but I think it would be rude not to take it, so I take it and search for some poor child to give it to.
Speaking of food, while in Saigon I also ate what they call a kabob sandwich, which we would call a gyro. Oh, heaven again. the meat was succulent, and the veggies fresh, the bread hot and the sauce to die for. Mmm, my mouth is watering right now just thinking about it. Those are the main new foods I've had in the past week.

The delta tour was fun. It wasn't a ton of biking, more like ride for an hour, have some coffee and fruit, ride for an hour, take a boat ride, etc. But it was really great to see life on the delta and I think I saw more than I would have just being on a big boat. Our guide was really good and the group was fun-an Irish couple in their thirties and a Danish couple in their forties. Strangely, the two 65 year old Danish women that I thought I was going with weren't there. Anyway, we saw a lot of people washing clothes, cooking, working on their houses, etc. We also saw a brick factory where we were able to see the whole process from beginning to end. The delta with so much in the way of natural resources and that coupled with access to many parts of Asia via the river makes it kind of a bees nest of activity at all times. We also saw the floating markets which is basically a bunch of boats on the river with whatever they are selling advertised via a large stick that shoots up vertically waving their product i.e. pineapple, potatoes, clothing.

At the end of the trip we asked our tour guide about getting a massage. Ahh, I had just written this whole story and then the power went out and I lost it. So, I'll try again but I don't know how good it will be. So, we asked our guide about massage. He points out a hotel we should go to. We wind about 10 minutes through the streets of the not very exciting town of Can Tho. We enter into this hotel, seems pretty fancy. Bellhops in some serious old school uniforms. We are led up stairs and my eyebrows raise. The floor is a bit dingy, there's kind of an odd blue light and there's a sign for karaoke (for those of you that read my last blog post, you catch my drift). But, there's still a really nice pool and well, we've been sent by our guides, so okay, whatever. We negotiate down the price to $8 since there's so many of us, stilla bit expensive but I've got Vietnam Dong to burn as I'm leaving the country in a day, so I figure, why not? I decide to do body massage along with this older dutch couple who were on a different tour with our same company. Sioban and Simone, two women from my tour opt for foot massage. So, I'm waiting for the body massage room bc, as the guy tells us, the clients need to get dressed. Eyebrows raise again. Then, out of each room comes a girl in a short pink mini-skirt with an asian guy hanging on to her, arm around her shoulders, looking extremely smug. There are about seven of them, they just keep coming. I'm like, oh no, I'm outta here, I'm switching to foot massage. The manager/john, oh no madam, no problem, you have your own room. I was like, no, I'm switching. So I go running into the foot massage room, which at least looks like a normal room and is in the open so there's safety in numbers. Simone and Sioban are like, what's wrong? I tell them, which completely horrifies Simone. A few minutes later, the Dutch couple come in to our room. I guess the girls kept winking and beckoning the guy. They were disgusted. Anyway, we all get subpar foot massages and after a forced tipping find out that the girls don't get paid at all, only tips. Simone's like, well, what are we paying $8 for, he's like, for me, I'm the manager. Oh, that was pretty much the icing on the cake for her. She was so pissed. It is all pretty sad, disturbing and disgusting.

Anyway, we recovered from that and the next day I moved on to Chau Doc, along with David and Sioban so that we could take the speed boat to Phnom Penh. The boat ride was long, about 7hrs, I thought it was meant to be 5. Frustrating beacuse I had to pay $60 to get out of Vietnam as a bribe bc i overstayed my visa. Before you tsk tsk me, just listen. Everyone I talked to told me it should be no big deal, maybe $2 a day, and I should be able to negotiate with them. This was from vietnamese people and ex-pats and even my tour company. So, I believed it. But unfortunately, I couldn't even talk to the official bc there was some middle man from the boat who was doing it all for us. So irritating, as I'm sure he got his part of the action as well. Anyway, I eventually paid it, after trying every angle. Apparently, my other option was to go back to Saigon (at this point, I'm in the middle of the Mekong river, hours and hours from Saigon) wait 5 days for an extension and pay the fee of 2million dong (about 100 dollars). I tried arguing it, but the guy just kept saying, the law the law. Yeah, I'll bet we're really adhering to the law here. Anyway, it is just money, but now I've got 60 less.
And, we had one scare where the boat screeched to a halt. All of these Australian people start screaming, what happened, what happend? The boat driver runs to the back of the boat, and so does 2/3 of the passengers. I'm like, would everyone just relax and balance the boat. What a shock, the staff of the boat tell them to move to the other side, we're stuck in some reeds. The boat crew tear off their clothes and hop in the water to free the boat. They were under there for quite some time but eventually got us free. It was a bit freaky, but even more so for Sioban who can't swim. We just talked about my vampire book and kept her mind off it and all was fine.

Next, I spent a day in Phnom Penh. That city is a bizarre mix of really poor people begging on the street and really rich people driving around in giant suvs with the name of the make plastered on the side just in case you missed that it was a lexus. The streets are really big enough for suvs, cars, motos and tuk tuks, so it is a bit of mess. It is quite a bit quieter than Vietnamese cities and the people are a bit more chill. However, it kind of smells like gabage and it is really dirty. I actually stayed a little away from the touristy area, which was odd bc i was in the midst of car dealerships and printing places, but it was nice to see that there's a middle class which you don't see in the tourist section. I spent one night and decided to head to Sihanoukville, the beach and come back during the week to apply for my India visa. I'd like to spend as little time there as possible.

Finally, Sihanoukville, has been a strange time as well. Met three Finnish guys and hung out with them last night. Today I tried to sit on the beach, but the kids with bracelets, and ladies offering pedicure, manicure, massage and threading (a form of waxing) was a bit too much. I got a moto to take me to another beach but there were still people hawking things there. Plus it rained, but at this point, that's not news. It is too bad, bc this town could be really lovely. I started to lose my patience by the end of today and might have even been downright rude when I told a woman she was interrupting--I'm trying to read my book. But there's only so much one can take. Tomorrow I'm off to another town called Kampot. I'm not totally clear on what's there but I think I can get to a national park and do a bit of trekking before I head back to Phnom Penh.
Alright, I've been here forever, I must go rejoin the world. You can look at some photos on picasa if you wish.

xoxo
dina

Mui Ne-muy bueno

Hello followers,

I am nearing the end of my time in Vietnam. I'm currently in Saigon, leaving for a biking trip of the Mekong Delta tomorrow morning and then into Cambodia from there. Vietnam is an interesting mix of extreme development (especially when you consider this country was at war about 40 years ago) together with strong spirit that clearly has fought through challenges. I had a pretty hard time in the North and now I'm realizing that's because they don't really like foreigners that much in the north. After having spent a few weeks in the south, I now see that the whole country isn't that pushy. Saigon is actually a more chill city than Hanoi. Everyone warned me it would be crazier, but I don't think anything will compare with the oppressive heat and humidity coupled with the claustrophobia of Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh is like the more organized and fun younger brother of Hanoi. Anyway, I'm not sure if it is because I've had four glorious days in a beach to recharge, but I'm loving Saigon. They have baricades in the middle of the street so motobikes can't go the wrong way. There are stop lights. The stores can fit more than two peole in them. No one is really hawking much on the street. And best of all, there is amazing street food so cheap! I'm in heaven, I see why so many ex-pats choose this city--I've met quite a few.

Working backwards, I've managed to see many of the sights that I wanted to while in Saigon. I didn't get it together last night to sign up for a Cu Chi tunnels tour so I ended up taking a moto out there. It was an hour and a half away, boy was my patuti (sp?) sore. But, I had a great time. I've finally learned to relax and stop looking at the traffic that it seems like we're going to hit. Instead I look around and you are really out there experiencing more. So that was fun. Sadly, the tour guide that they give you out there is extremely bored with his job, so although I saw the tunnels, that's about all I can say about them. Basically, around 2000 vietnamese lived in these tunnels for years during the war, hiding from americans. In fact, in some places the tunnels were right under where the americans had bases set up and they never knew. They have doubled the size of them for tourists, and boy were they small today, so I can only imagine what they were like back then. The tunnels were complete with hidden doors, booby traps, etc. They were pretty ingenious though, their kitchens were smoke-free, sending the smoke out about 10 feet away in small bits and they only used the stove in the morning so it would look like fog. The whole thing was kind of a testament to the human spirit and perils of war.

Then, I hit up the war remnants museum. Also pretty intense and doesn't make you too proud to be an american. Tons of photos of disfigured children from either landmines or Agent orange. Clearly, the museum curators are still pretty angry with americans and the writing shows that. I learned a good amount about how the ward began and ended and really how terrible the American soldiers were to civilians of vietnam. Anyway, after about an hour I'd had enough and made my way back to my tourist enclave over here.

Prior to Saigon, I spent four days in Mui Ne, a small beach town that is quickly changing with the onslaught of large resorts. However, Mui Ne is still quite charming and the tour that we did there was one of my favorite of my whole trip. It began at 7 am with a trip to the fishing village (to get a real sense of it check out my photos at picasa). I'm pretty sure this morning routine has not changed for centuries. Hundreds of people--bringing in fish from the boats, loading up motos and bicycles, buying, selling, sorting, deshelling--basically if there is anything to do with getting fish from the ocean to the rest of the town/city/country, it is happening. Not surprisingly, this town makes a ton of fish sauce, so there is kind of that smell throughout the non-touristy areas. For awhile I was trying to place the scent and then when a local (well, local ex-pat) told me about it, the whole thing made sense (no pun intended). I couldn't figure out what they were doing with so many little fish.

From the fishing village it was on to the white sand dunes. No, this isn't the Sahara desert, but it was pretty beautiful. A local kid comes up to the dunes with you and rents you a "sandboard"--think cheap sled, somewhere around the quality of sliding down Foss hill on a Mocon cafeteria tray. But the kid packs it with sand for you and you can slide down as many times in as many ways as you want. The best was on my stomach. None were quite that fast, but it was still fun. It is a bit of trek to get back up the dune, I felt like I was getting a real workout. Don't laugh, that passes for exercise these days. Sadly, Ryan has those photos and claimed he gave them to me, but I don't have them on my card. I'll have to work on getting a link for those.

Next up we went to see the red sand dunes, smaller dunes that we chose not to slide down bc well, it wasn't that incredible on the white ones and these were even smaller. But we hiked up and you can get a view of the South China Sea, which was pretty nice.

Finally, we went to the Fairy Stream--a river that is only abourt 2 in deep because the sand from the walls slides into it. There's white sand at the bottom and red sand on top. I don't really know the geological history of it, but it was really amazing to see. You take off your shoes and just walk along this as far as you want. A natural wonder, really.

So that was our tour day. The rest of the time I mostly hung out on the beach. The crazy thing about the beach was that the sea was completely different every day. When we first got there the waves were crazy from the Typhoon--it didn't hit there but at another part of the sea. The next few days were nice sized waves. One day it was filled with garbage and plastic bags. My last day it was pristine and extremely calm. So I spent my days squating on the chairs from a resort under the shade structure reading The Alchemist. I had one random day where this Caribbean ex-pat brought me into the big town on his moto and showed me around. That was pretty fun.

My nights were mostly spent at this new bar called Sankara-a $2.5million establishment complete with a swimming pool, two beautful bars and of course, it is right on the ocean. We met the chef, bar manager, and a few others. Since it is low season, most of the people hanging out at the bar are ex-pats--this is a big kite surfing spot in high season, so think surfer type with a more extreme twist. Anyway, the nights were a bit debaucherous and it was just across the street from our guest house so that was convenient.

I can't quite convey why I had such a good time in Mui Ne. It was really chill, I had lots of time to read, I always had people to hang out with and well, I guess I just needed a break from the budget traveler scene.

I had one totally silly night. I come back to my room from a bizarre day of exploring Phan Thiet and playing guitar hero with some Americans. Something catches my eye in the corner of my room. It is the biggest spider I've ever seen in my life. The legs are huge and fat. I don't know what to do. After ten minutes of trying to catch it in a plastic bag, I finally run out to get one of the girls who work there to help me. This drunk French/swiss guy says, I will help you. So he runs back to my room with me (it is raining cats and dogs mind you) and with one wack kills it with a plastic bag. Howẻver, no damsel in distress gets away that easily. He decides he's now found a freind and begins to tell me that I should not be scared of spiders in Vietnam. Yes, in Arizon they are much bigger, but Vietnam now. He punctuates every sentence by puckering his lips, mnaking a bizaree frowny face with his eyebrows and pointing a finger into the air. So, I thank him for his help and hope he'll go away. He continues to talk for a while, repeating his same sentences. Finally, he gets the message and goes back to the bar/restaurant area of the hotel. Well, at this point I don't know where any of my crew is, so I just decidẻ to eat at the guest house. Boy was that a mistake. Mister spider saver guy decides he needs to sit with me, even though I'm clearly trying to read my book. He will not leave me alone, keeps invading my personal space by poking me in the arm. Asks me dumb questions like, do you like salty or sweet better? What is your favorite country? Blah blah. On and on. I was losing my mind. Finally I remember that I have Ryan's cell phone number and ask one of the hotel girls if I can use her phone. I manage to contact them through text message, find out where they are and phewsh, I'm outta there. I race through knee high water that has flooded the street to meet up with them.

The strangeness continues as we try to go to Karaoke with some other travelers. There are four women and Ryan, the same guy from the last post. We ask the taxi to take us to karaoke, and pantomime singing. He says yes, I know. Takes us to this place down the road. We look over, it is a long dark alley with no sign. We send Ryan as a scout. Apparently, it is a dodgy looking spot with about 4 beds and two burnt looking guys. The driver came out and followed Ryan and he's like, no no no. We're looking for karaoke, where you sing...Karaoke can have a number of meanings in Asia. But what did the driver think with four foreigner women in the car. We wanted to be the prostitutes? I guess there was possibly another spot in the next town over, phan tiet, but considering no one spoke vietnamese in the car, we decided to call it a night with the karaoke and just go to a regular bar. Ended up back at Sankara where the owner went nutty and started spraying everyone with alcohol and smashing the bottles into the sink. She's a bit ofa crazy, I think. The gay waiter started dancing on the bar and the insanity just continued from there. I just watched most of it, but I did have to endure alcohol in my eye which stings like crazy. Here's a photo of the bathroom, if it wasn't a five it was pretty darn close!

Well, this post is extremely long, so I think I need to sign off. I'm sure I'll have lots more after my 3-day bike trip in the delta with two 65 year old Dutch women. I'm hoping it is a good time.

Amazingly, I'm over half-way through my trip already. It is really flying by.

xoxo

Dina