Dear friends,
I have not learned to say hello in Vietnamese. This is because everything about Vietnam frustrates me save for the delicious pho that I eat at least once every day.
After a successful tour of Halong Bay - we managed to make it through before an enormous typhoon ripped through the northern part of the country, killing 41 people and forcing the port to close, we grabbed a sleeper bus from Hanoi to Hoi An. Halong was incredible - other than the fact that we were charged a ridiculous corking fee for bringing our own booze on the boat, a policy which we tried very hard to contradict. The scenery was breathtaking; we kayaked through jellyfish-ridden lagoons and spent one night and one day on a beautiful deserted island, sunbathing and drinking our contraband alcohol until we reached the skinny-dipping state of mind.
Junks in Halong Bay
We were told the overnight bus would take 15 hours only, but were gravely mistaken. Duncan, Emma, Heather and I managed to score the five bed across compartment at the back of the bus, only to be woken up in the middle of the night by a small Asian woman who squeezed her way in and insisted on cuddling up between Duncan and I and Heather and Emma and talking on her cell phone all night. Susanne, Steph, Tyler and Becs slept in weird little pods with foot coffins. We were unloaded in Hue, and reloaded onto a stinky unairconditioned bus for another few hours until we reached our final destination of Hoi An, upon which we bought copious amounts of custom made clothing and partook in embarassing amounts of karaoke. We parted ways with Susanne and Emma and from there flew to Ho Chi Minh City, otherwise known as Saigon, by everyone who lives here.
The southern part of Vietnam is noticeably more relaxed and friendly than the north, although we still find ourselves ripped off at every corner. We are relieved not to be hearing, "You buy, you buy, come in my shop!" anymore, but the streets still smell like fish and the travel agents still don't speak English very well. Yesterday we rocked the waterpark, interacting with the Vietnamese, mostly of the pint-sized variety, in a positive way for the first time. Today we visited the Cu Chi tunnels, a famed site for the Vietcong during the war. We watched a dcoumentary that promoted the beauty of the small area of Cu Chi, "...a place of beauty, a place for children, a place for memories, UNTIL..."and the narration goes on to describe the "crazy devil americans" and discuss the great "american killer heroes" of the war. It was pretty interesting, and we were allowed to shoot guns if we wanted to.
Soup delivery in Saigon
It appears as if I might come home sooner than I would prefer, because I am nearly out of funds and am also absent of thoughts about where I might live when I come back to the Great White North, or where I might work. Nevermind that. Tomorrow I am off to Phu Quoc island, to revel in the glory of remote beaches, military bases, and fish sauce factories, and by next weekend I will be on my way to Cambodia.
Love,
Jo
