Where's Si gone?!

Day 212 - Monday 11 August 2008

It's surprising that a rainy Monday morning in Asia is making me smile like a maniac as I sit in an ageing internet cafe in equally ageing backpacker-ville in Ho Chi Minh City ...











Because to everyone but the bureaucrats of the world, this is Saigon, and a city that spawned 2 years of a tiresome gag that amused everyone living in either 8 Lush or Meads in Eastbourne (University of Brighton 1990-1993)

For quite why my best friend Simon was in such demand whenever he left our shared room to spend time with his stunning girlfriend (and now still stunning wife and Mum to 2 equally gorgeous girls) is one of life's mysteries - 'where's Si gone?' was always the question asked by Robbie, Sharpy, Tommo (sniff), Reggie, Pete or Fothers (well he practically lived with us) - to which I always replied 'I think it's in north Vietnam' - unwittingly knowing my gag (at which they all laughed :-) for the record) was factually inaccurate - it's in south Vietnam - and it's not half as cool as the north's Hanoi

For Saigon is big, sprawling, scruffy (round the back) and then surprisingly shiny (a Louis Vuitton store shows how fast this country is moving towards the west) - it's got a big old Notre Dame Cathedral and a massive number of Christian worshippers who were falling out of the sides of it during Sunday mass last night (I love how Asian people live half their lives out on the streets - outdoor space is living space - space to socialise - space to make a living - and it makes this continent beguiling)

Saigon is also home to the infamous War Remnants Museum - and a kick in the pants reminder just what this nation faced only half a generation ago - we went to the Museum yesterday afternoon having paid a fast visit to the Reunification Palace that was the stronghold of the USA backed Southern Vietnamese - until The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (nicknamed the Viet Cong) pushed south enough to drive their tanks through the massive iron gate and re-unify the country
















The Museum was calm, quiet, sorrowful and packed - plenty of captured USA weaponry (tanks, planes, etc) and walls and walls of amazing photographs - forget the subject matter and admire the ability and bravery of the photographers (many of whom died during the fierce fighting) - there were certainly plenty of shocking images - USA GIs proudly displaying beheaded victims in a macabre display of how working in the Army really isn't good for the head - and the shocking use of Agent Orange (a defoliant that decimated Vietnam's dense jungle vegetation so the USA and Southern Vietnamese could see who they were shooting at) - Agent Orange contained dioxin - one of the world's deadliest chemicals - a tablespoon can kill 8 million people - so what kind of leadership allowed it to be dropped liberally over a country? - I'm sure there were reasons though it will always shock me that as the human race we can't make resolutions without spending billions killing each other - but it must be remembered that I'm sat in Vietnam and they're proudly showing off their 'victorious' side of the situation - I expect The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam were no angels either ...











I'm glad we went to the Museum and it's taught me that, simply, communism won the day - if everyone had just sat tight for another 40 or 50 years communism would start to embrace western-esque capitalism - and surely it's only a matter of time before democracy follows? - maybe not today - maybe not tomorrow - but my experience of approaching 5 weeks in communist countries sees that it's on the way - I think

Before we arrived here in Ho Chi Minh City we took a couple of days off the tourist track and headed to Da Lat in Vietnam's Southern Highlands

Da Lat was a breath of fresh air - literally - we went from 'sweating up in the paddock' to reaching for the Gore-Tex in a day ofd travelling on a bus (almost 24 hours having used Tokyo's Capsule Inn on wheels - the overnight sleeper bus from Hoi An to Nha Trang and onto Da Lat)

Da Lat was wet, cold and host to the best value hotel anywhere in the world (in my experience) - 6 quid each a night in Dreams Hotel got you a big room with a balcony, top quality fittings and lurking on the open roof terrace - a jacuzzi, sauna and steam room - not to mention the amiable Vietnamese lady sorting out all your ongoing transport needs - I love Vietnam!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Lat

In Da Lat we hooked up with the great company of Olivier and Sonia from Lyon in France - if you read this you two - thanks for sharing the joys of Da Lat with us - and speaking wonderful English all the time - not to mention Olivier's photography skills ... (his shot of me will appear here when I hit a better computer - sorted!)











We hired a driver (how posh!) for the day and he kindly took us to 9 different locations in 7 hours - by the end of it I felt very adventured up - and our driver was the most patient and smiley man in the world - what a star!

Da Lat is located 1500m above sea level and is home to many famous (in Vietnam) waterfalls - we saw Datanla Falls (where there's a lame rollercoaster ride that's not as fast as walking!), Elephant Falls (where you can scramble down below them on a route that would never be allowed in litigenous Europe and USA) and Tiger Falls (where there was an awesome, closed!, Indy rope bridge and cave that once was home to a local tiger!) - for the area around Da Lat used to be full of Asia's best wildlife - proper tiger country - pine forests and long, blade grass on the forest floor would have hidden tigers sneaking up to take down rhinos - sadly, the same terrain couldn't help them escape French colonist's guns
















And before Da Lat we spent a few days in Hoi An

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoi_An

Hoi An was an important trading centre in the 16th and 17th Centuries where traders from China, India, Indonesia, Holland and Vietnam would congregate on the edge of the South China Sea - they'd trade their wares, no doubt indulge in skullduggery, make a few Dong (Vietnamese currency) and head off to stock up again - consequently, the town's architecture was influenced by all these different people - and the place is now a living, breathing, decaying, blast from the past - UNESCO have declared the WHOLE town a World Heritage Site - genius!

We easily lost a day just kicking around the town - loads of buildings (Assembly Halls, temples, trading houses and the famous Japanese Bridge) and photographs - the hustle and bustle of a great local market alongside the tourists would have made my Dad and his camera(s!!!) very happy
















But not only would Dad have been happy - so would Mum - for she wouldn't have had to wait for him - she could have been off either learning new tricks or teaching old tricks to the millions of clothes shops in town - Hoi An is Vietnam's hub for tailor made clothes - many people head to Hoi An with an empty suitcase just to get well made, perfectly fitting suits, dresses or sports kit - remember - half of the Nike and Gap clothes are made in this country - in fact - you can even get shoes tailor made - and when I saw Nike's latest Rejuven8 trainers available for $20 I almost gave in - but then I resisted - see how I've changed on this trip!

But when in Hoi An ... so I did get stuck in just for the experience and I'm now a published (or whatever the word is!) designer - I went into the brilliant My Trang Fashion (fronted by the very funny girls Tuyet and De), got a pen and paper and drew my design for a pair of loose, flarey, pants/trousers and hippy, v necked, long sleeved top - my tailor came out and we talked through my design in broken English and Vietnamese (him and me respectively) and just 18 hours later I had a set of perfectly fitting new yoga togs - for the first time in my life the leg length is perfect and the sleeves aren't too short - I may well be back - it was ace!














And so after almost 3 weeks tracking down Vietnam my time here is up - me and Lucy have booked our passage into Cambodia starting tommorrow - and it's an adventurous journey by boat up the Mekong Delta from here in Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh via floating villages, snaking tributaries and river-based border crossings - now that's what I'm talking about - the Mekong Delta area has long been disputed territory and sea sawed between Vietnam and Cambodia - it's now Vietnamese but for the purposes of IIJCDI I'll use it as the start of the next leg of my journey and tell you now why I love Vietnam so much - for it's people are just incredible and this is what I'll miss ...

River, Spring and Brave running The Ritz Hotel in Hanoi

The scampsters trying to tricksy you into parting with that extra dollar!

The battle worn and charred ruins of the 19th Century all covered in yellow paint from the French colonial era

The plethora of UNESCO World Heritage Sites all viewable in a week if you were in a rush (is anywhere else in the world so blessed with this density?!)

(I forgot to mention about our trip to My Sun from Hoi An - a set of Champa temples and Hindu (my first sight of real Hindu archaeology) - all red brick, neatly stacked and knackered in the American War - that makes me so angry!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%E1%BB%B9_S%C6%A1n











Easy sight-seeing and travelling from the massively competitive tourist industry (don't overdo it or you'll be toured out!)

The millions of Irish travellers who've come out to play (and the lack of English - that economy's hitting hard)

My first sight of knocked off (photocopied) Lonely Planets (I'll hold my hands up to getting a Cambodian one for the Angor Wat section - sorry Tony and Maureen Wheeler - but I'm spending a fortune on your originals this year!)

The best value accommodation anywhere in the world (that I've seen yet anyway)

Sweeping, wide, majestic rivers with water buffalo lazing hot days away in them!

Billions of geckos George (hey there again one of my god kids - and hey Toby to even it up!)

The best exchange in the world - a used plastic water bottle for a photo with a local (always smiling) lady making a living by recycling them - everyone's a winner!

Tasty local beers - Hanoi (work out where it's from yourselves) , Huda (Hue), Larue (Hoi An) and Saigon (HCMC)

A trillion different brands of bottled drinking water

The simplest properties in the world - mostly one storey - all open on the front - always a concrete floor - all the family in there - and all smiling again (when you say 'hello' in Vietnamese!)

Billiards and badminton (they're also mad about football but I'm not)

Conical, straw hats remaining an essential item of clothing for many

Vietnamese drip coffee in a small, metal percolator that sits atop your glass and drips fresh, strong, tasty, locally farmed coffee for your delectation (we saw miles of coffee bean farms and many pickers around Da Lat)

Copycat art galleries from very talented local artisans - a replica Mona Lisa for your front room can be yours - ignore the fact that it's twice as big as the original - squint a bit - and you might just kid yourself you've got a Da Vinci!

BMX style plastic spokes in mopeds - oh - and millions of mopeds!

A simple equation - 'I beep the horn = I'm coming past' - needless to say - it happens constantly!

The intertwined cafe/hotel/sightseeing/tourist industry - but it can also get you in a tight spot - so I love it - when I'm vigilant to it!

But what I'll miss the most is these incredible people - maybe it's travelling in tandem with someone who's great at the interactions - maybe it's me - maybe it's the Vietnamese - it's probably all 3 - and I've loved the exchanges here - they're always fun and what some people call 'being hassled' is just part of the games of travel - my advice is never be scared of saying hello - and if someone offers you something - by all means turn them down (you'll rarely need what they have) - but never ignore them - that's rude - be polite - speak some of their language - and watch their faces light up - yours will shortly follow
















Vietnam - see it now ...