we continued north to siem riep, following the well-trodden backpacker path through cambodia.
it felt like the two cities (siem riep and phnom penh) were cambodia's royal couple:
phnom penh was the gentleman, wizened by experience.
he was contemplative and deliberate.
he determined the laws of his land, protected his people and managed the finances.
phnom penh was proud and well-groomed.
he naturally commanded your respect when in his presence.
his partner, siem riep was a graceful beauty. she too had seen the hardships, but had taken on a more supportive role.
she was the maternal pillar, the womb of cambodia's angkorian civilisation.
despite her age she was gorgeous, her streets aglow with a youthful, positive, progressive energy.
she nurtured her people and inspired the nation to look forward.
i respected phnom penh, but i loved siem riep.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
the story of a genocide
you can't escape the past - especially in a place like cambodia where everything about it has been directly shaped and informed but its troubled and violent past. so, that said - herewith, a brief post-angkorian, modern history lesson:
cambodia has a monarch, called king norodom sihanouk. you'll see on the map i posted a while ago, that the coastal strip is named "sihanoukville", after him.
indochina was given independence from the french, and when this happened, cambodia lost it's hold over the mekong delta, which was given to the vietnamese.
as the vietnam war flourished, king sihanouk declared his position as fence-sitter (although he was considered a communist sympathizer). anyway, he's in beijing on a visit, and a military coup (with the backup of the USA) hop onto his throne and over-throw his rule.
the king appeals to his followers to assist in overthrowing the overthrowers - and this ignited the first sparks of civil war. shortly thereafter, a rebel group called the khmer rouge began to use the king and his cause to gain the support of the people.
unfortunately, the khmer rouge were a bunch of racist, power-hungry madmen - which gave the US a fantastic excuse to get involved, as they do, and bomb the shit out of the country, as they do, in order to flush out the anti-american communists, as they put it.
cambodia was now to suffer relentless bombings and invasions from the vietnamese and US forces, from 1969 - '73. around 2million cambodians became refugees as they fled their home, phnom penh. the attacks created a rebellion / unintentional recruitment drive for the khmer rouge. so ironically, the very movement that the US were so aggressively trying to quash was infact spurned in momentum and supporters, by the US.
when the war came to an end, in 1975, the country was in famine. 75% of it's livestock had been destroyed and any agricultural repair and renewal was left to be done by a nation too malnourished and physically disable to labour.
in a US aid report:
as they attempted to rebuild the agriculture, they based in on the model and practices of the 11th century - discarding any modern knowledge or technologies that had been tried and perfected since then. they refused western medicine and aid - and any other artifact that resembled the west.. they torched every collection of literature, historical records and archives. they pulled the temples to the ground.
of the 8 million cambodians that were left after the war, around 2million were killed during this rule of the khmer rouge - through disease, malnutrition, torture, punishments, executions and exhaustion from forced labour.
during this genocide, the killing fields were named - a cite that we visited during out stay in phnom penh - several mass graves which were filled to the brim with broken bodies - of men, of the elderly, of women and of children. no one could escape the brutality of this ruthless regime. a source of this slaughter was the tuol sleng prison (now a museum, which we also visited). the prison is notorious for its mass executions and one of the most disturbing parts of the museum's exhibition was the millions and millions of mug-shot photographs on display. these were the faces of the victims - a sadistically pedantic system the khmer rouge used to document those they put to death.
further examples of the craziness can be seen in the types of people they were targeting. firstly all minority groups - vietnamese, chinese, muslims.
then all of those really useless public servants - you know, like all the doctors, lawyers, teachers, trained professionals and anyone with a tertiary education.
i found this quote, made by a man called robert d. kaplan and thought it very fitting:
"eyeglasses were as deadly as the yellow star, as they were seen as a sign of intellectualism."
anyway, in '78 cambodia was invaded by the vietnamese and this pushed the khmer rouge to establish their own state of pro-soviet crazies, called the people's republic of kampuchea.
after three years of invasion, cambodia was further split into three divisions: the khmer rouge, the group still led by king sihanouk, and the khmer people's national liberation front.
in the years that followed, the US controlled certain areas, as did the UK. there were major economic sanctions, which crippled the country's recovery even further. the result: a badly wounded, exhausted, diseased nation, crippled and weak, defenseless and senseless, poor, impoverished and uneducated.
by 1989 the world assisted in peace efforts, which took two years. finally a settlement was reached in '91 and the crazies were disarmed by the UN.
old king sihanouk had his throne returned, and has been ruling cambodia since '93. there've been a few hiccups since then, but ultimately this country has made incredible stride to full recovery.
knowing this history puts an incredible perspective on a visit to cambodia. and understanding the kind of torment and genocide it has seen, only makes the progress, the growth and the people's temperament all the more awe-inspiring.
what an incredible country.
cambodia has a monarch, called king norodom sihanouk. you'll see on the map i posted a while ago, that the coastal strip is named "sihanoukville", after him.
indochina was given independence from the french, and when this happened, cambodia lost it's hold over the mekong delta, which was given to the vietnamese.
as the vietnam war flourished, king sihanouk declared his position as fence-sitter (although he was considered a communist sympathizer). anyway, he's in beijing on a visit, and a military coup (with the backup of the USA) hop onto his throne and over-throw his rule.
the king appeals to his followers to assist in overthrowing the overthrowers - and this ignited the first sparks of civil war. shortly thereafter, a rebel group called the khmer rouge began to use the king and his cause to gain the support of the people.
unfortunately, the khmer rouge were a bunch of racist, power-hungry madmen - which gave the US a fantastic excuse to get involved, as they do, and bomb the shit out of the country, as they do, in order to flush out the anti-american communists, as they put it.
cambodia was now to suffer relentless bombings and invasions from the vietnamese and US forces, from 1969 - '73. around 2million cambodians became refugees as they fled their home, phnom penh. the attacks created a rebellion / unintentional recruitment drive for the khmer rouge. so ironically, the very movement that the US were so aggressively trying to quash was infact spurned in momentum and supporters, by the US.
when the war came to an end, in 1975, the country was in famine. 75% of it's livestock had been destroyed and any agricultural repair and renewal was left to be done by a nation too malnourished and physically disable to labour.
in a US aid report:
"without large-scale external food and equipment assistance there will be widespread starvation between now and next february ... slave labour and starvation rations for half the nation's people (probably heaviest among those who supported the republic) will be a cruel necessity for this year, and general deprivation and suffering will stretch over the next two or three years before cambodia can get back to rice self-sufficiency".the capital at its weakest, the khmer rouge pounced on phnom penh and took full power. they changed the country's name to "democratic kampuchea" and invaded all major cities, driving every last person out to the rural areas for forced labour. this is when the crazies really started to come out:
as they attempted to rebuild the agriculture, they based in on the model and practices of the 11th century - discarding any modern knowledge or technologies that had been tried and perfected since then. they refused western medicine and aid - and any other artifact that resembled the west.. they torched every collection of literature, historical records and archives. they pulled the temples to the ground.
of the 8 million cambodians that were left after the war, around 2million were killed during this rule of the khmer rouge - through disease, malnutrition, torture, punishments, executions and exhaustion from forced labour.
during this genocide, the killing fields were named - a cite that we visited during out stay in phnom penh - several mass graves which were filled to the brim with broken bodies - of men, of the elderly, of women and of children. no one could escape the brutality of this ruthless regime. a source of this slaughter was the tuol sleng prison (now a museum, which we also visited). the prison is notorious for its mass executions and one of the most disturbing parts of the museum's exhibition was the millions and millions of mug-shot photographs on display. these were the faces of the victims - a sadistically pedantic system the khmer rouge used to document those they put to death.
further examples of the craziness can be seen in the types of people they were targeting. firstly all minority groups - vietnamese, chinese, muslims.
then all of those really useless public servants - you know, like all the doctors, lawyers, teachers, trained professionals and anyone with a tertiary education.
i found this quote, made by a man called robert d. kaplan and thought it very fitting:
"eyeglasses were as deadly as the yellow star, as they were seen as a sign of intellectualism."
anyway, in '78 cambodia was invaded by the vietnamese and this pushed the khmer rouge to establish their own state of pro-soviet crazies, called the people's republic of kampuchea.
after three years of invasion, cambodia was further split into three divisions: the khmer rouge, the group still led by king sihanouk, and the khmer people's national liberation front.
in the years that followed, the US controlled certain areas, as did the UK. there were major economic sanctions, which crippled the country's recovery even further. the result: a badly wounded, exhausted, diseased nation, crippled and weak, defenseless and senseless, poor, impoverished and uneducated.
by 1989 the world assisted in peace efforts, which took two years. finally a settlement was reached in '91 and the crazies were disarmed by the UN.
old king sihanouk had his throne returned, and has been ruling cambodia since '93. there've been a few hiccups since then, but ultimately this country has made incredible stride to full recovery.
knowing this history puts an incredible perspective on a visit to cambodia. and understanding the kind of torment and genocide it has seen, only makes the progress, the growth and the people's temperament all the more awe-inspiring.
what an incredible country.
all factual information sourced via www.wikipedia.com
more happiness in PP
we decided the next morning that it was time for some culture, which led us to the royal palace in the middle of this cool city.
phnom penh is a colourful fabric made from the grandeur of an ancient kingdom, interwoven with the modernity of a world city. it's not your sky-scraper landscape either, but rather has an olden-day charm much like cape town's.
the wats (buddhist temples) and palaces have been immaculately preserved, the grounds manicured and kept pristinely clean. it was such a pleasure to view such ancient monuments that had been cared for with such respect and appreciation.
the entrance fees were a little steep and after viewing the royal palace (including the silver pagoda which we so unimpressive that i had no idea we had already been inside it, by the time we left) we decided to give the wallets and culture dose a rest for the day.
back in town, we stopped at the pink elephant for some happy pizza and watched cambodia go about its day. the street that followed the river bank was bustling with happy herb street cafes, hawkers and food vendors kept the sales soundtrack on repeat and then out of nowhere, a mahout and his elephant strolled down in the slow lane.
it's not that cambodia wasn't as poor as people had said, or that the country's scars from the khmer rouge genocide were not still very fresh. they were all there.
but then so were the breathtaking sights and the cheap beer and great food and the amazingly friendly people, and the electric energy and the exoticism of it all with its wats and highway hephalumps.
and of course, there was happy.
everywhere.
and all this together meant that instead of the depression and anxiety we had been told to expect, we felt nothing but utterly happy, really.
phnom penh is a colourful fabric made from the grandeur of an ancient kingdom, interwoven with the modernity of a world city. it's not your sky-scraper landscape either, but rather has an olden-day charm much like cape town's.
the wats (buddhist temples) and palaces have been immaculately preserved, the grounds manicured and kept pristinely clean. it was such a pleasure to view such ancient monuments that had been cared for with such respect and appreciation.
the entrance fees were a little steep and after viewing the royal palace (including the silver pagoda which we so unimpressive that i had no idea we had already been inside it, by the time we left) we decided to give the wallets and culture dose a rest for the day.
back in town, we stopped at the pink elephant for some happy pizza and watched cambodia go about its day. the street that followed the river bank was bustling with happy herb street cafes, hawkers and food vendors kept the sales soundtrack on repeat and then out of nowhere, a mahout and his elephant strolled down in the slow lane.
it's not that cambodia wasn't as poor as people had said, or that the country's scars from the khmer rouge genocide were not still very fresh. they were all there.
but then so were the breathtaking sights and the cheap beer and great food and the amazingly friendly people, and the electric energy and the exoticism of it all with its wats and highway hephalumps.
and of course, there was happy.
everywhere.
and all this together meant that instead of the depression and anxiety we had been told to expect, we felt nothing but utterly happy, really.
happy in phnom penh
after an hour and a half on the floating customs house of the cambodian border, we finally docked in the river port of phnom penh.
a short tuk-tuk drive later and we were in the heart of the city's backpacking district.
it was here that one of our traveling traditions would be born, one that remains in practice even today:
one person from each couple would stay with the bags, while the remaining two would split up and go forth in search of our new home. this began with dan and i winning the rock-paper-scissors competition, meaning we got to sit back in the fat elephant pub and enjoy an ice cold klang beer, while Fathead and brodes were sent out into the night.
a pretty splendid setup, we both agreed.
(from this point forth, dan and i engineered it so that we were continuously useless at our investigations, and eventually had this authority revoked from our hands, which again, we both agreed, was a pretty splendid setup).
(back in phnom penh): a few beers later and dan and i had bonded over our similarities and become charmed with out differences.
i learnt that they were newly weds and had been together for over 5 years.
he learnt that we were not-yet-weds and had been together for over 6.
they too had done vietnam, and were planning the same route through cambodia and laos as we were.
they liked temples as little as we did, liked beer as much as we did, liked sheesha more than any sane people probably should, and were as daft and batty as we were.
it was a match made in heaven.
i discovered that dan is a fireman (that's right kids, we're that cool: we made friends with someone from the london fire brigade!) and brodie the driving force behind one of london's most successful pubs, Fathead got to know brodes in much the same way.
a few beers down and the room-scouts returned with triumphant news of their accomodation find. just across the road, down a small alley was a backpackers with a large wooden deck afloat on the river. a pool table and internet station occupied the one corner, while the rest was filled with lounge pockets, a big screen tv, hammocks, more hammocks and one long, cheap bar.
happy hostel thus became our new home away from home, and as the name suggested, we were soon to discover just how happy cambodia would make us.
that night we settled down to a few dozen games of cards, shared happy pizza's and mint sheesha, laughed harder than i can ever remember doing and eventually fell into bed with pure contentment: we had met the most fun and entertaining couple, had shared a really good evening with them, had done the kind of laughing that left us gasping in pain and all-in-all were about as happy as we'd ever been. yup, this was the sign of things to come ... cambodia was a truly happy experience for us, in deed.
a short tuk-tuk drive later and we were in the heart of the city's backpacking district.
it was here that one of our traveling traditions would be born, one that remains in practice even today:
one person from each couple would stay with the bags, while the remaining two would split up and go forth in search of our new home. this began with dan and i winning the rock-paper-scissors competition, meaning we got to sit back in the fat elephant pub and enjoy an ice cold klang beer, while Fathead and brodes were sent out into the night.
a pretty splendid setup, we both agreed.
(from this point forth, dan and i engineered it so that we were continuously useless at our investigations, and eventually had this authority revoked from our hands, which again, we both agreed, was a pretty splendid setup).
(back in phnom penh): a few beers later and dan and i had bonded over our similarities and become charmed with out differences.
i learnt that they were newly weds and had been together for over 5 years.
he learnt that we were not-yet-weds and had been together for over 6.
they too had done vietnam, and were planning the same route through cambodia and laos as we were.
they liked temples as little as we did, liked beer as much as we did, liked sheesha more than any sane people probably should, and were as daft and batty as we were.
it was a match made in heaven.
i discovered that dan is a fireman (that's right kids, we're that cool: we made friends with someone from the london fire brigade!) and brodie the driving force behind one of london's most successful pubs, Fathead got to know brodes in much the same way.
a few beers down and the room-scouts returned with triumphant news of their accomodation find. just across the road, down a small alley was a backpackers with a large wooden deck afloat on the river. a pool table and internet station occupied the one corner, while the rest was filled with lounge pockets, a big screen tv, hammocks, more hammocks and one long, cheap bar.
happy hostel thus became our new home away from home, and as the name suggested, we were soon to discover just how happy cambodia would make us.
that night we settled down to a few dozen games of cards, shared happy pizza's and mint sheesha, laughed harder than i can ever remember doing and eventually fell into bed with pure contentment: we had met the most fun and entertaining couple, had shared a really good evening with them, had done the kind of laughing that left us gasping in pain and all-in-all were about as happy as we'd ever been. yup, this was the sign of things to come ... cambodia was a truly happy experience for us, in deed.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
DUE TO SLOW INTERWEBS, PICS ARE PROVING SLIGHTLY PROBLEMATIC AT THE MOMENT
VIEW THE FULL CORRESPONDING ALBUMS ON MY FACEBOOK
blogposts will be updated with pics as soon as possible
cambodels, baby!
we followed the delta up into the greater mekong river, which took us across the border of cambodia, into the capital city, phenom penh. this would be our starting point for the journey up this wonderful place.
more on that in a mo - but herewith a map to orientate yourselves with our path.
more on that in a mo - but herewith a map to orientate yourselves with our path.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
mekong meanders
so i know that technically speaking the mekong delta is still in vietnam - but i like to separate the two (mainly because it justifies the jewelry i bought in "both" places as reminders of "both" separate places).
anyway, we left saigon on a bus, which took us to a boat, which took us to another boat which took us up the mekong river, starting in the delta at the south of vietnam, travelling through fishing villages and floating markets for two days.
there was an overnight stop-over in the border town of chau doc, which was so boring and drab and souless that i will neither admit it is part of my beloved vietnam, nor bore you with any more details.
you can't really escape the mekong river. it's enormous and it is the "rice bowl" of south east asia. its banks touch vietnam, cambodia, thailand, laos and china - so if you're in south east asia, you will at some stage be near it, see it, get on it, get in it or go over it to get into another country.
the nations of south east asia have a long history of battles and alliances - but it's thought that the next major conflict will be fought over the mekong. china (as only china can) don't really care about what happens down stream - and are furiously damming up their section of the enormous waterbody. they are also blasting rapids, which is where the mekong catfish is thought to breed. as a result, the numbers of this unique river monster (300kg's of man-eating terror, but also a local delicacy) have drastically dropped in recent years, and now the countries in the south are breeding them in farms and introducing them back into the system.
the effects of china's dams are extensive and far-reaching. they are impacting thousands of communities further down-stream - and although no one out here is too concerned with environmental issues and animal rights, there are obviously huge implications from an ecological point of view too.
as far as rivers go, it's impressive. enormous, deep, slow and powerful. it's like an elephant. you just automatically respect it.
the highlights of this tour up the mekong were:
seeing how the local villagers raise fish in floating farms,
feeding the 100 000 fish as they thrashed about violently trying to eat,
watching them make coconut-candy, rice paper, rice crackers and silk weaves.
number one thing about the mekong river though, was meeting an english couple (brodie and dan). we met them as we crosssed the vietnam/cambodia border and played a game of shithead (cardgame ... get your mind out of the gutter!)
they seemed fun and friendly at the time, and were a welcome distraction from the fact that we'd not been on land for what felt like days. little did we know then, that we were about to make two very special friends - with whom we would spend every waking hour for the rest of our cambodia and laos journeys.
anyway, we left saigon on a bus, which took us to a boat, which took us to another boat which took us up the mekong river, starting in the delta at the south of vietnam, travelling through fishing villages and floating markets for two days.
there was an overnight stop-over in the border town of chau doc, which was so boring and drab and souless that i will neither admit it is part of my beloved vietnam, nor bore you with any more details.
you can't really escape the mekong river. it's enormous and it is the "rice bowl" of south east asia. its banks touch vietnam, cambodia, thailand, laos and china - so if you're in south east asia, you will at some stage be near it, see it, get on it, get in it or go over it to get into another country.
the nations of south east asia have a long history of battles and alliances - but it's thought that the next major conflict will be fought over the mekong. china (as only china can) don't really care about what happens down stream - and are furiously damming up their section of the enormous waterbody. they are also blasting rapids, which is where the mekong catfish is thought to breed. as a result, the numbers of this unique river monster (300kg's of man-eating terror, but also a local delicacy) have drastically dropped in recent years, and now the countries in the south are breeding them in farms and introducing them back into the system.
the effects of china's dams are extensive and far-reaching. they are impacting thousands of communities further down-stream - and although no one out here is too concerned with environmental issues and animal rights, there are obviously huge implications from an ecological point of view too.
as far as rivers go, it's impressive. enormous, deep, slow and powerful. it's like an elephant. you just automatically respect it.
the highlights of this tour up the mekong were:
seeing how the local villagers raise fish in floating farms,
feeding the 100 000 fish as they thrashed about violently trying to eat,
watching them make coconut-candy, rice paper, rice crackers and silk weaves.
number one thing about the mekong river though, was meeting an english couple (brodie and dan). we met them as we crosssed the vietnam/cambodia border and played a game of shithead (cardgame ... get your mind out of the gutter!)
they seemed fun and friendly at the time, and were a welcome distraction from the fact that we'd not been on land for what felt like days. little did we know then, that we were about to make two very special friends - with whom we would spend every waking hour for the rest of our cambodia and laos journeys.
remembering 'nam
vietnam had an intoxicating effect on us. in short, we loved it.
amazing.
incredible.
you have to go, and you have to stay for at least a month.
it's a country of the senses - and for each there are specific things that you will only hear, smell, feel, taste and see in vietnam.
when i remember 'nam, i will recall the never-ending soundtrack of buzzing engines, "hello - you want a cyclo?", "hello - you want to buy something?", the polite beep-beep i'm coming so get the fak out of the way.
if i close my eyes and imagine i'm there, it's about 50 degrees and i'm covered from head to toe in sweat.
i've got a bowl of pho (noodle soup) in front of me, and an ice cold bia hoi in my hand.
there's a woman somewhere under a conical hat across the street and she's carrying a basket of that strange fruit that looks like wallpaper glue and smells like dribbly bum.
as she calmly strolls into the swarming streets, a thousand motorbikes glide around her. she stops to chat to a friend who is asleep next to his baguette stand.
the streets are lit with a kaleidescope of paper lanterns, and i feel like i'm in a giant christmas tree.
i've spent the day surrounded by rice paddies and tomorrow i'll take a dip in the warmth of the ocean.
i'm fascinated with the markets and the people and the pure genius that i can see all around me. out of pure necessity, they have devised the most creative solutions and it inspires me.
i'm hot, and i'm safe, and i'm excited, and i'm relaxed ... and most of all, i'm just utterly happy.
amazing.
incredible.
you have to go, and you have to stay for at least a month.
it's a country of the senses - and for each there are specific things that you will only hear, smell, feel, taste and see in vietnam.
when i remember 'nam, i will recall the never-ending soundtrack of buzzing engines, "hello - you want a cyclo?", "hello - you want to buy something?", the polite beep-beep i'm coming so get the fak out of the way.
if i close my eyes and imagine i'm there, it's about 50 degrees and i'm covered from head to toe in sweat.
i've got a bowl of pho (noodle soup) in front of me, and an ice cold bia hoi in my hand.
there's a woman somewhere under a conical hat across the street and she's carrying a basket of that strange fruit that looks like wallpaper glue and smells like dribbly bum.
as she calmly strolls into the swarming streets, a thousand motorbikes glide around her. she stops to chat to a friend who is asleep next to his baguette stand.
the streets are lit with a kaleidescope of paper lanterns, and i feel like i'm in a giant christmas tree.
i've spent the day surrounded by rice paddies and tomorrow i'll take a dip in the warmth of the ocean.
i'm fascinated with the markets and the people and the pure genius that i can see all around me. out of pure necessity, they have devised the most creative solutions and it inspires me.
i'm hot, and i'm safe, and i'm excited, and i'm relaxed ... and most of all, i'm just utterly happy.
good morning saigon
travelers will tell you that if you start in the north of vietnam you'll love hanoi and hate saigon, and if you start in the south - vice versa. i think that because we'd mentally prepared outselves to be disappointed, we were not. it turns out that ho chi minh city (saigon's formal name, according to nobody other than the vietnamese government) is more modern, clean, pretty and open than we had expected.
it's very similar to hanoi, but in the kind of way that your older, cooler, smarter, stronger brother is "very similar" to you. the throngs of motorbikes and cyclos are there. as are the book vendors with their shamelessly photocopied replica's. the conical hats have diminished in their numbers, as have the narrowed streets and tightly packed buildings.
in saigon, there were enormous intersections and wide, green, peaceful parks. here the buildings were not as charming as they were in little bro hanoi - but they were more modern and it felt like we'd suddenly stepped back into the real world, where they have the interwebs, and petrol stations and BBC world news.
and holy moly, do they have the most jaw dropping electrical wiring system in the world. you have never (and i do mean, never) in your life seen so many millions and trillions of black wire nests tangled atop every lamp post.
because saigon's a little more 1st world, it's also a little more pricey. nothing earth-shattering, but it did mean we had to spend more time than usual looking for good rates and cheap eats. one of these spots was in a small alley off the main backpackers district - a characterless hole in the wall called "punjabi" and rrrun by a rrreal hindian, eh! hey men, i tell you wat - it was a hellova ting 'n all (if you're not reading this in an indian accent, go back and read it again). by far the best indian we've ever had - and i remind you all here that Fathead and i both worked in a spice-shop for several years.
one of the days we spent in the war remnants museum (previously named "the museum of american war crimes"). it's not what you'd call objectively representative of both sides - but it is a harrowing, distrubing, eye-opening exhibition of what the war did to this beautiful country. of the many museums i've found myself standing in, no other has effected me with it's exhibitions quite like this one did. it should be compulsory for every visitor to vietnam to spend a day in this place.
the parks are enormous and in the afternoons the locals gather for champion-style tournaments of hakkie sack. well, i say "hakkie sack" only because i have no idea what the real name for it is. but it's basically a few plastic disks which are loosely connnected like a ring of keys, with a few colourful feathers poking out the middle. you then kick the disks to one another, in exactly the same way you would play with a hakkie sack. anyway, these guys are incredible and we spent several hours watching in amazement as they pelted these things for miles across the park.
the people in the south are a lot more ready and eager to join the rest of the world. they wear brandname clothes. they get around on 4 wheels. they have read the latest dan brown novel and are desperate to improve their english so that they can get out there and explore the world. this means that they are also a lot more friendly and willing to talk to you, and we found ourselves on several occasions with a group of students who'd corner us in the park and wanted to chat for as long as we'd let them. it was a really cool way to meet the locals and get a better feel for the flavour of the vietnamese.
admittedly, most of the conversations were spent convincing them that we were definately from south africa, yes we sure were born there, no we are not from america, definately africa, yes the place with the world cup, yes we watched the soccer, yes we know that they only saw black people on the tv, but there were white people in our country - and we were two of them.
we were several days in this vibrant city, and then suddenly we had all but completed our journey through vietnam. what a shame to have to leave this incredible country, but saigon was an appropriately warm, fuzzy and energetic send-off.
it's very similar to hanoi, but in the kind of way that your older, cooler, smarter, stronger brother is "very similar" to you. the throngs of motorbikes and cyclos are there. as are the book vendors with their shamelessly photocopied replica's. the conical hats have diminished in their numbers, as have the narrowed streets and tightly packed buildings.
in saigon, there were enormous intersections and wide, green, peaceful parks. here the buildings were not as charming as they were in little bro hanoi - but they were more modern and it felt like we'd suddenly stepped back into the real world, where they have the interwebs, and petrol stations and BBC world news.
and holy moly, do they have the most jaw dropping electrical wiring system in the world. you have never (and i do mean, never) in your life seen so many millions and trillions of black wire nests tangled atop every lamp post.
because saigon's a little more 1st world, it's also a little more pricey. nothing earth-shattering, but it did mean we had to spend more time than usual looking for good rates and cheap eats. one of these spots was in a small alley off the main backpackers district - a characterless hole in the wall called "punjabi" and rrrun by a rrreal hindian, eh! hey men, i tell you wat - it was a hellova ting 'n all (if you're not reading this in an indian accent, go back and read it again). by far the best indian we've ever had - and i remind you all here that Fathead and i both worked in a spice-shop for several years.
one of the days we spent in the war remnants museum (previously named "the museum of american war crimes"). it's not what you'd call objectively representative of both sides - but it is a harrowing, distrubing, eye-opening exhibition of what the war did to this beautiful country. of the many museums i've found myself standing in, no other has effected me with it's exhibitions quite like this one did. it should be compulsory for every visitor to vietnam to spend a day in this place.
the parks are enormous and in the afternoons the locals gather for champion-style tournaments of hakkie sack. well, i say "hakkie sack" only because i have no idea what the real name for it is. but it's basically a few plastic disks which are loosely connnected like a ring of keys, with a few colourful feathers poking out the middle. you then kick the disks to one another, in exactly the same way you would play with a hakkie sack. anyway, these guys are incredible and we spent several hours watching in amazement as they pelted these things for miles across the park.
the people in the south are a lot more ready and eager to join the rest of the world. they wear brandname clothes. they get around on 4 wheels. they have read the latest dan brown novel and are desperate to improve their english so that they can get out there and explore the world. this means that they are also a lot more friendly and willing to talk to you, and we found ourselves on several occasions with a group of students who'd corner us in the park and wanted to chat for as long as we'd let them. it was a really cool way to meet the locals and get a better feel for the flavour of the vietnamese.
admittedly, most of the conversations were spent convincing them that we were definately from south africa, yes we sure were born there, no we are not from america, definately africa, yes the place with the world cup, yes we watched the soccer, yes we know that they only saw black people on the tv, but there were white people in our country - and we were two of them.
we were several days in this vibrant city, and then suddenly we had all but completed our journey through vietnam. what a shame to have to leave this incredible country, but saigon was an appropriately warm, fuzzy and energetic send-off.
the pink panther
our next destination was a town called da lat. for some unknown reason the name got stuck on "repeat" in my brain, and conjured up the tune to the pink panther - so that whenever i said or read "da lat" i was then left singing "da lat-da lat, da lat ... da lat, da lat, da lat, da lat, da-laaaat duh duh duh duh dum".
and now, i suspect, so will you. a moo-ha ha.
but i digress: da lat. right. not much happening in this place. our first day there was also the first day of rain that we've experienced in this so-called "monsoon season" - so happily, i spent most of it on the interwebs uploading photos to facebook.
the town was pretty small, pretty busy, pretty average and rather unpretty. baffled as to why we had chosen to trek all the way there, we adjourned to our guidebooks for some insight and discovered that just beyond the centre of the town, there were indeed several rad things to see. given the distanced between everything, we also realised that short of hiring a taxi for the day (something our budget simply would not allow) we had no other choice but to rent a motorbike to get to all the places we wanted to.
my dad always made me swear that i would never take drugs or get onto a motorbike - but fortunately he doesn't read this blog ... so if you don't tell him, he won't kill me. also, maybe don't mention this to my mom either ... she likes to worry. a lot.
anyway, turns out that Fathead is very good behind the handlebars of a bike, and after a few hair-raising intersections we had left the chaos of town behind us, and were heading for "the crazy house".
if tim burton was asked to build the house of his dreams, this would be it: a weird, fantasy-inspired maze of twisted staircases and twirling towers. bridges swell and narrow as they cross an enchanting garden, and lead into several different sections of what is now a functioning guesthouse: you can stay in goldylocks and 3 beers room, or in the mush-room.
it felt like we were walking through a salvador dali landscape - only i half expected to find myself following a fluffy white tail down a hole.
originally, hang nga guesthouse (but more aptly named, "the crazy house") was conceptualised by the excentric madam dang viet nga. today it remains in a constant state of construction - an ever-evolving orb of weirdness. it's also earned a very deserved place on the list of the top 10 most bizarre buildings in the world.
from the weirdest place i've ever been, we took a beautiful ride around their central lake and then followed a 5km stretch out to the datanla waterfall. though it was quite small - we still loved it. let's face it: a waterfall is rad no matter it's scale. the mist, the sound, the endless volume ... just really leaves you silenced in awe.
the best part of this particular trek into the country had to have been the self-controlled rollercoaster that we rode through the jungle down to the waterfall. Fathead "drove" (or rather, Fathead did not brake)- and i shattered the tranquility of our jungled surrounds with shrieks of terror.
we spent the rest of the day just enjoying the bike - a new and i must admit, rather thrilling experience. we popped into the emperor bo dai's summer palace which was by far the most drab buliding i've ever seen. well - that's not true. the home affairs office in paarl is probably the drabbest. but the "palace" of brown 70's yukness is a very close second.
nonetheless, da lat (strike up the band) turned out to be a rather enjoyable experience. we had the most divine meals at a restaurant called Tu Ahn's, run by a wonderfully charming (read "off her rocker") woman who would cook you absoutely anything you wanted. we checked out the thoroughly entertaining night market. we even managed to be coaxed into a spot of clubbing in the world's loudest club.
so all in all, "the city of eternal spring" was rather festive - and definately worth checking out as a stop over, before you hit the very south of 'nam running.
and now, i suspect, so will you. a moo-ha ha.
but i digress: da lat. right. not much happening in this place. our first day there was also the first day of rain that we've experienced in this so-called "monsoon season" - so happily, i spent most of it on the interwebs uploading photos to facebook.
the town was pretty small, pretty busy, pretty average and rather unpretty. baffled as to why we had chosen to trek all the way there, we adjourned to our guidebooks for some insight and discovered that just beyond the centre of the town, there were indeed several rad things to see. given the distanced between everything, we also realised that short of hiring a taxi for the day (something our budget simply would not allow) we had no other choice but to rent a motorbike to get to all the places we wanted to.
my dad always made me swear that i would never take drugs or get onto a motorbike - but fortunately he doesn't read this blog ... so if you don't tell him, he won't kill me. also, maybe don't mention this to my mom either ... she likes to worry. a lot.
anyway, turns out that Fathead is very good behind the handlebars of a bike, and after a few hair-raising intersections we had left the chaos of town behind us, and were heading for "the crazy house".
if tim burton was asked to build the house of his dreams, this would be it: a weird, fantasy-inspired maze of twisted staircases and twirling towers. bridges swell and narrow as they cross an enchanting garden, and lead into several different sections of what is now a functioning guesthouse: you can stay in goldylocks and 3 beers room, or in the mush-room.
it felt like we were walking through a salvador dali landscape - only i half expected to find myself following a fluffy white tail down a hole.
originally, hang nga guesthouse (but more aptly named, "the crazy house") was conceptualised by the excentric madam dang viet nga. today it remains in a constant state of construction - an ever-evolving orb of weirdness. it's also earned a very deserved place on the list of the top 10 most bizarre buildings in the world.
from the weirdest place i've ever been, we took a beautiful ride around their central lake and then followed a 5km stretch out to the datanla waterfall. though it was quite small - we still loved it. let's face it: a waterfall is rad no matter it's scale. the mist, the sound, the endless volume ... just really leaves you silenced in awe.
the best part of this particular trek into the country had to have been the self-controlled rollercoaster that we rode through the jungle down to the waterfall. Fathead "drove" (or rather, Fathead did not brake)- and i shattered the tranquility of our jungled surrounds with shrieks of terror.
we spent the rest of the day just enjoying the bike - a new and i must admit, rather thrilling experience. we popped into the emperor bo dai's summer palace which was by far the most drab buliding i've ever seen. well - that's not true. the home affairs office in paarl is probably the drabbest. but the "palace" of brown 70's yukness is a very close second.
nonetheless, da lat (strike up the band) turned out to be a rather enjoyable experience. we had the most divine meals at a restaurant called Tu Ahn's, run by a wonderfully charming (read "off her rocker") woman who would cook you absoutely anything you wanted. we checked out the thoroughly entertaining night market. we even managed to be coaxed into a spot of clubbing in the world's loudest club.
so all in all, "the city of eternal spring" was rather festive - and definately worth checking out as a stop over, before you hit the very south of 'nam running.
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