Good Morning Vietnam
Waking to the continual electrical drone of my room fan (that hardly provides any relief from the intense Cambodian heat and humidity), I decided it was time for some exercise after days of lethargy. I hired a girly looking bicycle and headed off (without map) to explore PP. It was a great afternoon, I saw men having a haircut and ear-clean using a mirror hung against a steet wall. The traffic was a right laugh, swarms of motos driving on the wrong side of the road. This takes a little getting used to, as does trying to cross the road as a pedestrian. I now laugh when I see newbies standing at the kerb (well, dusty road edge) contemplating how to cross this surge of motos. At first people tend to run but the trick is to inch across the road very slowly thus giving the crazy Khmer drivers a chance to swerve around you. This is a little scary but it’s the best way once you get used to it. Remember, there are no road rules here.
I drank a bit in our local called the Drunken Frog (or Inebriated Amphibian, as the smart arses called it) ran by Alex and Martin, two canny lads from Brum and Barnsley respectively. One day we decided alcohol is no longer the adrenalin rush it once was, so we decided to go Go-Kart racing at Gambol village just outside PP. Now, this is what I love about Asia – no Health and Safety to spoil your fun. There was a bar to slake your thirst while waiting for your turn. The karts were terrifically fast and I came off many times, but the blood thumping around my body made it well worth it. We ended up doing 10 * 1km laps, which took about 15mins. All of this for about 5gbp – not bad at all – truly exhilarating.
My last night in PP was spent in a swimming pool in a 5 star hotel. Talk about luxurious man. I then said my goodbyes to Canadian Dave who I had hung with a lot since Fen left. I went for an early night but an amorous German couple in the next-door room interrupted this. The room walls here are literally paper-thin and I might as well as been in there with them as I could here every little thing. You all know how difficult it is to sleep when this is going on! Anyway, I woke groggily at 0600 ready for my bus journey to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). I had my morning baguette and coffee with my old Khmer mate and then proceeded to wait at the pre-ordained location for my 0730 free-transfer to the bus that left at 0800. The tuktuk arrived at 0810. I got to the bus at 0825. I was the only passenger on a massive posh air-con bus (which was odd) and we finally left at 0900. I love Asian punctuality man; they have obviously never done any military service here.
We slowly crawled out of PP and crossed a bridge over the Bassic River. The unsealed roads were dreadful. Typically Cambodian for the first 2 hours (or 70km). Here we reached the small, busy town of Neak Leung and boarded a transport ferry to cross the awesome Mekong River. From here on in the roads were excellent and we made good time with the crazy Vietnamese bus driver. Honestly, it really is white-knuckle stuff. We arrived at Bavet and carried out the border formalities. On the Vietnamese side (Moc Bai town) I had to hand over 2000 Dong (about 6p) to be awarded a health certificate. How they could judge my health solely from my appearance is still a mystery to me, but I supposed I should be happy that I have a Vietnamese ‘administrative’ clean bill of health.
From the border we passed Cu Chi town where the famous VC (VietCong) tunnels are located. The VC used these during the American War (as it is called here) to the frustration of the Yanks. These tunnels, along with the Ho Chi Minh trail through Laos and Cambodia, were instrumental in the North winning the war against the Yank-supported South. The land is still scarred from US bombing in their failed attempts to defeat these vital tunnels.
The bus stopped many times for reasons unknown to me. One stop was for the driver to negotiate the purchase of a bunch of small ALIVE birds, hung together upside down by their feet, and bleeding…….mmmmmm disturbing to the Western mind or what?
I saw two motorbike crashes in Vietnam on my first day. One involved a bloke who had a massive live pig, inside a big oval basket, strapped to the back of his bike. We didn’t hang around much to see that melee get fixed. The woman in my guest house in HCMC has a massive chunk missing from her knee because of a recent crash. I asked if she’d been wearing a helmet, “Of course not”, she sneered. It makes you laugh eh?
I had a great haircut/shave/massage today for a ludicrous 20000dong (65p). The old guy massaged me with an electric vibrating thing after he was finished the hair removal - and it was mint. I have never seen one of these devices before but it felt great. Also today, I fended off the millions of offers from Cyclo drivers (they all have written testaments by tourists from all over the globe to entice you to do a tour with them – I have yet to see a bad word, hehe). I wanted to walk around the main sites slow time and avoid all their scams etc. I went to the War Remnants Museum, which happened to be shut for lunch. I saw the Reunification Palace (tanks et al) and Notre Dame Cathedral. I chilled for a while on the banks of the Saigon River near the statue of Tran Hung Dao (I don’t know who he is either). Here, many posh hotels manifest themselves. I wanted to walk along the small Ben Nghe channel that flows into the Saigon River but it is currently been filled with loads of construction going on.
I stopped for a glass of ice tea (tra in local) for 1000dong (3p) and watched a fire ensue on one of the dodgy looking electrical junction boxes atop of a street pole. Eventually, a fire engine somehow battled through the immense traffic and uniformed soldiers dealt with it in true Asian style (i.e. no protective clothing or anything). The fire was blinding, a bit like a welding torch. It was enjoyable to watch and I am pleased nobody was hurt.
Tomorrow I head for Mui Ne. It is touted as a beautiful beach area with fishing villages and sand dunes. It is a four-hour bus journey from HCMC. After that I want to go to Dalat, which is in the South Central Mountains where the climate is supposedly a little cooler. It is really hard to describe how hot it is here. I am used to it now but it is boiling man. You have a constant sheen of sweat enveloping you at all times. Anyway, all is well here in paradise.
Cam On (Vietnamese for thanks)
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