Vagabond Rick Travels The World

21st Century Sista

vagabondrick — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:56:22 +0000

I typed this one out three weeks ago and just as I was saving on the website, all crashed and I lost it. That caused me to lose interest in blogging when I was focused on having fun with Pamela. Besides, this whole story could not be told three weeks ago since Pamela’s run-in with the 21^st Century had just begun. Maybe it could have been told then, but surely I really had not thought things all the way through at that time. Some of this may be repeat – I am not sure what I wrote in early July and I’m too lazy to go read it (I rarely read a post – quite sure I will be embarrassed about something… maybe everything!). I’ll go with the idea that the crash and lack of saves were for a good reason and this is the upside result…

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Back in Africa

vagabondrick — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:11:11 +0000

Well the lack of stories of late is only an indicaton of how much fun we were having in Thailand. I have lots to say, but no time right now. Arrived back to Nairobi safely this week. A little culture shock and shock in general going from the most modern place I have visited (Bangkok) to Nairobi, but all is well. Indonesia is my next adventure ending with kayak trip in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Should get started in late September or so. USA visa process for Pamela now started. First adventure was the online form which led to a first interview date not until September 15th. Yikes! Especially since it takes forty days to process. Disappointing, but I knew this dealing with Big Bro would be a test of patience.. something I lack.

Burma Bound

vagabondrick — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:02:28 +0000

We just spent three days in the Kanchanaburi area of Thailand - west of Bangkok. It was nice to get out and see some 0f the Thai countryside, but it was hard to leave Bangkok which I now consider the best city of my life and one that would be difficult to beat on just every level. Kanchanaburi is most famous for being the place where an infamous bridge spanning the River Kwai was destroyed. The story that it has now built a tourism trade is one where the Japanese military constructed a railroad from Burma to Bangkok in order to move supplies to its most far-flung reaches during WWII. Kanchanaburi is much more than a military story, though.

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Dog Days

vagabondrick — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:07:41 +0000

When we were in southern Vietnam I made a comment that I was glad to see so many dogs thinking this means the residents must not eat them. As far as the stories that I knew, people reported not seeing any dogs in places where they are eaten. Rod said that is not true because some have to be the breeders. I definitely tried to ignore the issue and we saw no evidence of any dog for food culture. I lulled myself into believing that Vietnam is not like China and Korea as far as Fido roasts go. Apparently, northern Vietnam is where the action is at and it did not take us long to stumble over plenty of evidence of what I believe is quite a barbaric and disgusting practice.

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Monkey Balmed

vagabondrick — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:37:25 +0000

Rod and I flew north from Hue to Hanoi. Hanoi is quite different from Saigon as is north Vietnam compared to the south. Hanoi is a smaller city with very few tall buildings and it has an older feel about it due to the architecture and lack of modernity. Oddly, we are finding that north Vietnam has many hip coffee cafes, but there is no such creativity for the food establishments. Of course, it similarly has the million plus motorbikes racing everywhere and basically everything spoken and written is in Vietnamese. There is a central lake and it appears the same motorbikes go around it non-stop - Vietnam’s Le Mans! As with Saigon, there is basically no street parking in Hanoi so that every inch of the roads can be used for traffic. “Sidewalks” is a joke because the sidewalks are used as parking lots for the motorbikes and many businesses flow out of their buildings and onto the sidewalks for display, seating and cooking areas. The next morning we took a car and a hydrofoil to Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay to try and find one of the rarest primates in the world - the Cat Ba Langur.

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Yakety-Yack There’s a Macaque

vagabondrick — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:08:32 +0000

On Thursday, we left Saigon and flew to Hue. Hue looks like a great place beauty and culture-wise, but we were headed for monkeys and we’re not looking for them in cages. After we struck out in numerous ways for the first inning, Rod and I had our hopes up for a better experience and Phuong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. This is a park with ten different primate species living in a limestone karst landscape that is full of jagged forest covered peaks, extensive caves and springs. One thing I always read about Vietnam is that it is a beautiful country and this beauty is truly exceptional at Phong Nha.

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Disappearing Wildlife

vagabondrick — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:57:55 +0000

I guess I should first explain why I am in Vietnam. This isn’t my normal visit to see the people and the sights/sites. I am here with my friend, Rod, from South Africa who has a bird and primate safari business. This is different than the other trips with Rod, though, because we are on what Rod calls a “recky” which means we are in Vietnam to do some reconnaissance for possible future business for Rod involving primate safaris. I came along because Rod offered to have me along and I like traveling with Rod and the idea of finding the unknown in Vietnam was appealing. The deal is that I pay my costs and understand that we may not find anything other than adventure.

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It’s Just a Name

vagabondrick — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:30:31 +0000

I am currently in Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam - a city of only 300,000 people and no real purpose for tourists. Except for a couple of guys looking for some interesting monkeys come tomorrow at 4:30 AM. I really do not like the name Ho Chi Minh City. Reminds me of Leningrad or maybe Havana will be called Castroville in the future. But that is the official name of the old Saigon. Or is it? I started to notice the locals calling it Saigon and I asked about it. They tell me that the north renamed it HCM, but they are in the north and the locals never changed it as far as they are concerned. Did the people of St Petersburg still use that name? I would not be surprised if that is true. So forget anything I said about HCM, I have never heard of such a place. I crossed the Mekong Delta by air and landed at Saigon. Unfortunately, the taint of communism cannot be wiped clean so quickly. Here I am in a bustling country of 90 million free-marketeers, but there are plenty signs of red such as hammer and sickles, old Soviet tanks in the middle of roundabouts and people’s party headquarters. That red shit just doen’t fade fast enough. Some memories of Cuba today, but they pass quickly as I watch really busy and smiling people selling anything they can and buzzing around on their motorbikes. Supposedly 9 million people in Saigon and 2 million motorbikes - WOW!

We’re a Point-to-Point Airline

vagabondrick — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:35:25 +0000

Asia has some cheap airlines. Cheap airlines in Asia and I am thinking about all the crashes in Indonesia. But I could not resist the unbelievably cheap tickets using Air Asia. Of course, once I got to the payment screen when booking my first flight I saw the price advertized triple due to taxes and “fees”. Plus you pay for your luggage to take the trip. And if it is over 15 kilos then you pay another $10. They even charge for water onboard as well as any snack you may want. But in the end, Air Asia is still a cheap flight (and the flight attendants are hot!). As with everything cheap in this world, cheap may get you in the end.

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Going to Vietnam, Remembering Greg Wilkes

vagabondrick — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:20:59 +0000

In couple of hours I head to Kota Kinabalu’s airport and I fly through Kuala Lumpur to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. At the beginning of my trip I would have told you this was one of my top destinations and it still is so I am quite excited. I’m nervous, too. Luckily, we have twenty years of Americans visiting and I know I will be very well received in Vietnam. Tell me, how can that be so? I just read that over 3.5 million Vietnamese were killed during the wars with France and mostly USA. If the tables were turned, I don’t really think Americans would be receiving Vietnamese warmly. The people of Thailand and Malaysia have been exceptionally friendly, warm and gracious - exactly for what Vietnam is so famous. I think we can all learn a lot from these Asians and I know I am very grateful that they have become such an integral part of America during the past decades of immigration. They like ALL of the waves of immigrants only make America stronger (and more friendly!).

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