As far as I can tell, Hong Kong is NYC on steroids with a ton of Chinese people in it. The luxury and wealth evident throughout the city is exceptional. The hostel I stayed in was between a Guess and a Marc Jacobs, Gucci was across the street. Mix in a few electronics stores, 7-11s, and random little restaurants and you have Hong Kong. A great city, but a big city none the less. I'm afraid I didn't have a whole lot of time to explore and get to know the city, but its beautiful with one of the largest, grandest skylines I've yet to see. The top of Victoria Peak (a big hill that goes up the side of the city) allows you to overlook the entire city. I went to the top of the peak at night when all the buildings were lit up. I also had my first opportunity to drink good beer since I've been in Spain (excepting of course Castle Milk Stout in Ghana). Hong Kong has an excellent bar scene, and I found a bar well stocked with various imports from across the world. It wasn't quite the selection of the Leafe, but I managed to try quite a variety of different drinks. The next morning I caught a cab to one of the largest airports I've ever been in. It had some 500+ gates... A very nice airport, but simply massive.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
A Foreign Perspective of Americans
I'm sure you've heard that statistic that 70% (or some such figure) of the US population couldn't point to Iraq on a map. Now the veracity of that statistic is debatable, I'm sure this applies to segments of our population, but I doubt that we are collectively that bad. Unfortunately, foreign perception holds the statistic to be true as I would witness. I was sitting in a bar in Ho Chi Minh the first night speaking with British ESL teachers (English as a Second Language). We began discussing politics and I made the statement I probably would not be living in the United States in ten years. They asked why, and I responded that I disagree with many of the policies and practices of the United States, both internationally and domestically. Invariably this led to the war in Iraq. At this point they asked me if I knew where Iraq was. I was taken aback, of course I knew where Iraq is. None the less, they were serious. I didn't have a map available, but I pointed to the table and said if this area is Europe, and beneath is Africa. The Mediterranean sea is below, then we have Israel, Jordon, Saudi etc and Iraq is basically right here. At this point one of the men genuinely turned to me and thanked me for opening his eyes. He was of the assumption that as a general rule most Americans did not know where Iraq was on a map. He was shocked.
Over the course of my travels this is my first experience like this one. I am still surprised and hope it was an isolated incident. None the less, to some degree that perception of America exists. As most of you know I'm not the biggest supporter of America as a whole, but I hope we are better than that; I believe we are better than that.
Over the course of my travels this is my first experience like this one. I am still surprised and hope it was an isolated incident. None the less, to some degree that perception of America exists. As most of you know I'm not the biggest supporter of America as a whole, but I hope we are better than that; I believe we are better than that.
Ha Long Bay
Of my five days in Vietnam, I spent most of them in Ha Long Bay an area in northern Vietnam on a Junk. Getting there was an ordeal, a two hour flight to Ha Noi followed by a three hour drive to the bay. We stayed out all night before going to the bay, needless to say it was neither my most pleasant flight nor my most pleasant drive. Once we arrived, it was truly blissful.
The Junk we stayed on was a beautiful wooden boat with accommodations for 14 plus crew. On the ship were six SaS students (my group), a family from Australia, and two couples from the US. The ship was plenty large for all of us, and no one seemed upset at being stuck on a ship with six college students.
The first order of business was lunch. We ate like kings. A multi-course seafood bonanza was brought to the table. Fish, shrimp, crab! Alden, you would have loved this the first course was six steamed crabs. Two people in our group didn't eat seafood, and they made accommodations for them. The service was truly amazing. All the meals we were served were similarly fantastic.
After lunch we traveled out into the bay. Neither pictures nor words and adequately describe this place. Imagine thousands of small stone spire like islands springing up everywhere. Each island is about ½ a kilometer in diameter and an entire 360 degrees of your vision is taken up by them. Some larger some smaller of course. We stopped a a larger island with a cave formation in it first. Growing up in Colorado, I've seen some of the most incredible cave systems in the world, these caves were a rival of any of the ones I've seen. Afterwards we went to a beach to swim until dinner time.
When we got back to the Junk, I needed a nap before dinner and crawled into bed to take one. Our tour guide had explained earlier in the day that if we wanted to bring beer or alcohol onto the ship it would cost 10,000 dong per beer and 100,000 dong per bottle of liqueur or wine. Everyone assumed that we would be going to a village or something to purchase the alcohol, yet how wrong we were. When I woke from my nap I opened my cabin door. Lo and behold a woman in a row boat had pulled up next to the ship and was calling “cold beer”, “good price, cheap”, and “you buy, you buy” with her accent it sounds much more like “coal bia”, “goo pice” and “ou bi, ou bi”. I can't really describe it without saying it. I was taken aback to say the least. Anyway, dinner was equally delicious that night, and we made a fairly early bed considering our collective sleep deprivation from our all nighter beforehand.
The next morning we boated to a floating fishing village. The entire village was literally made of boats and rafts tied together. The community probably consisted of a few hundred people at most. We stopped at a school for the children of the village sponsored by Norway (yes the country), where we briefly played with the kids. Our guide informed us that most of the children could swim before they could walk; I'm not surprised – I was on skis at two after all.
Later that afternoon we went swimming and kayaking in the bay. We jumped off the top of the Junk into the water, which was a grand time. Afterwards I went on the most serene and peaceful kayaking experience of my life. Completely isolated from everyone except for our small group, we kayaked through several small islands and into a bay. The water was serene and peaceful, it was amazingly quiet, and perfectly gorgeous. My partner did manage to drop her paddle into the water (it didn't float), but that was the only disturbance of the trip (rather amusing and enjoyable, we dived the 10 meters down to the bottom to search for it entirely unsuccessfully). Back at the ship that night we relaxed, enjoyed the sunset (better than Michigan believe it or not, yes Dad it actually was), and relaxed for the remainder of the night.
The next day we had to get up early and get back to Ho Chi Minh city to be back on the boat at 9 pm.
The Junk we stayed on was a beautiful wooden boat with accommodations for 14 plus crew. On the ship were six SaS students (my group), a family from Australia, and two couples from the US. The ship was plenty large for all of us, and no one seemed upset at being stuck on a ship with six college students.
The first order of business was lunch. We ate like kings. A multi-course seafood bonanza was brought to the table. Fish, shrimp, crab! Alden, you would have loved this the first course was six steamed crabs. Two people in our group didn't eat seafood, and they made accommodations for them. The service was truly amazing. All the meals we were served were similarly fantastic.
After lunch we traveled out into the bay. Neither pictures nor words and adequately describe this place. Imagine thousands of small stone spire like islands springing up everywhere. Each island is about ½ a kilometer in diameter and an entire 360 degrees of your vision is taken up by them. Some larger some smaller of course. We stopped a a larger island with a cave formation in it first. Growing up in Colorado, I've seen some of the most incredible cave systems in the world, these caves were a rival of any of the ones I've seen. Afterwards we went to a beach to swim until dinner time.
When we got back to the Junk, I needed a nap before dinner and crawled into bed to take one. Our tour guide had explained earlier in the day that if we wanted to bring beer or alcohol onto the ship it would cost 10,000 dong per beer and 100,000 dong per bottle of liqueur or wine. Everyone assumed that we would be going to a village or something to purchase the alcohol, yet how wrong we were. When I woke from my nap I opened my cabin door. Lo and behold a woman in a row boat had pulled up next to the ship and was calling “cold beer”, “good price, cheap”, and “you buy, you buy” with her accent it sounds much more like “coal bia”, “goo pice” and “ou bi, ou bi”. I can't really describe it without saying it. I was taken aback to say the least. Anyway, dinner was equally delicious that night, and we made a fairly early bed considering our collective sleep deprivation from our all nighter beforehand.
The next morning we boated to a floating fishing village. The entire village was literally made of boats and rafts tied together. The community probably consisted of a few hundred people at most. We stopped at a school for the children of the village sponsored by Norway (yes the country), where we briefly played with the kids. Our guide informed us that most of the children could swim before they could walk; I'm not surprised – I was on skis at two after all.
Later that afternoon we went swimming and kayaking in the bay. We jumped off the top of the Junk into the water, which was a grand time. Afterwards I went on the most serene and peaceful kayaking experience of my life. Completely isolated from everyone except for our small group, we kayaked through several small islands and into a bay. The water was serene and peaceful, it was amazingly quiet, and perfectly gorgeous. My partner did manage to drop her paddle into the water (it didn't float), but that was the only disturbance of the trip (rather amusing and enjoyable, we dived the 10 meters down to the bottom to search for it entirely unsuccessfully). Back at the ship that night we relaxed, enjoyed the sunset (better than Michigan believe it or not, yes Dad it actually was), and relaxed for the remainder of the night.
The next day we had to get up early and get back to Ho Chi Minh city to be back on the boat at 9 pm.
Cu Chi Tunnels + Ho Chi Minh (Part 2)
The Cu Chi tunnels are the tunnels that run throughout southern Vietnam that were controlled by the Vietcong during the war. The tunnels are ~124 miles long, and cover the greater area near Saigon. The Vietcong used the tunnels to transport information and troops throughout the area. Today you can visit the tunnels and learn about the war.
The second day a group of us went to the tunnels. The tourist destination is roughly and hour and a half away from Ho Chi Minh and we hired a bus to take us there. The first stop on the tour is a tiny little whole in the ground that the Vietcong used to get in and out of the tunnels. When I say tiny, the whole is barely smaller than my hips and much smaller than my shoulders. It was a struggle for me to fit into the tunnel. Everyone had a chance to climb in and out of the whole, I am about the maximum size to fit inside, that is after I severely contort my body.
The next stop on the tour was a pit trap setup by the vietcong. US soldiers would walk over the trap where they would fall into a whole filled with fecal covered spikes. Generally speaking, the trap wouldn't kill the soldier, rather it would severely wound them. The wounds would quickly become infected because of the spikes. Not a pleasant way to go. We also saw an old abandoned US tank and Vietcong dummies in repose.
The next major stop was a demonstration of various different traps the Vietcong setup for the US soldiers. None of them were very pleasant; most of them were some variation of the original pit trap. There was also the “door” trap, which had a board covered in spikes hung from above a door frame. When someone walked through the door they would trigger the trap which would swing down and impale them.
Next we saw how the Vietcong created all these traps. They used the parts from failed bomb and mortar shells. Unexploded US bombs would be melted down and forged into the spikes used against the US soldiers. Gunpowder and other explosives would be used to create land mines.
Our next stop was an actual opportunity to go through the tunnels. Our guide led us through a roughly 100 meter section of the tunnels. The tunnels are incredibly small and tight. I literally squatted for the majority of the time I was in the tunnels. At some points I had to get on hand and knee and crawl. Apparently, the tunnels have been widened to allow the tourists more mobility. Understand, as an American at 6' 4” I'm about twice the size of the average Vietnamese person, but the point remains that the tunnels were small.
Next came one of the most exciting points of the Cu Chi tunnels, the firing range. I have never fired nor held a fully automatic weapon, despite having one parent from S. Texas and another from Indiana. My range includes deer rifles of various sorts, shotguns, a few handguns, and many .22s and pellet guns. They have a full range of weapons used by the US and Vietcong/N. Vietnamese armies available for use by the tourists. You are required to purchase your own bullets, but otherwise are free to fire any weapon you choose.
I split ten rounds on an AK-47 and ten rounds on a M-16 with another person on our tour. The firing range had ear protection in the form of old headphones for our use. The only other safety precaution was the guns being loosely mounted on a platform. A guide loaded the guns for us, and then let us shoot at will. They had targets setup at the end of the range, but most people were interested in shooting the guns rather than hitting anything. For many people in our group it was their first time firing a weapon, interesting no? Very much an exciting thrill for everyone. This essentially concluded our tour. Ultimately, it was highly education and entertaining, anyone traveling to Saigon should make the Cu Chi tunnels a stop on their trip.
The second day a group of us went to the tunnels. The tourist destination is roughly and hour and a half away from Ho Chi Minh and we hired a bus to take us there. The first stop on the tour is a tiny little whole in the ground that the Vietcong used to get in and out of the tunnels. When I say tiny, the whole is barely smaller than my hips and much smaller than my shoulders. It was a struggle for me to fit into the tunnel. Everyone had a chance to climb in and out of the whole, I am about the maximum size to fit inside, that is after I severely contort my body.
The next stop on the tour was a pit trap setup by the vietcong. US soldiers would walk over the trap where they would fall into a whole filled with fecal covered spikes. Generally speaking, the trap wouldn't kill the soldier, rather it would severely wound them. The wounds would quickly become infected because of the spikes. Not a pleasant way to go. We also saw an old abandoned US tank and Vietcong dummies in repose.
The next major stop was a demonstration of various different traps the Vietcong setup for the US soldiers. None of them were very pleasant; most of them were some variation of the original pit trap. There was also the “door” trap, which had a board covered in spikes hung from above a door frame. When someone walked through the door they would trigger the trap which would swing down and impale them.
Next we saw how the Vietcong created all these traps. They used the parts from failed bomb and mortar shells. Unexploded US bombs would be melted down and forged into the spikes used against the US soldiers. Gunpowder and other explosives would be used to create land mines.
Our next stop was an actual opportunity to go through the tunnels. Our guide led us through a roughly 100 meter section of the tunnels. The tunnels are incredibly small and tight. I literally squatted for the majority of the time I was in the tunnels. At some points I had to get on hand and knee and crawl. Apparently, the tunnels have been widened to allow the tourists more mobility. Understand, as an American at 6' 4” I'm about twice the size of the average Vietnamese person, but the point remains that the tunnels were small.
Next came one of the most exciting points of the Cu Chi tunnels, the firing range. I have never fired nor held a fully automatic weapon, despite having one parent from S. Texas and another from Indiana. My range includes deer rifles of various sorts, shotguns, a few handguns, and many .22s and pellet guns. They have a full range of weapons used by the US and Vietcong/N. Vietnamese armies available for use by the tourists. You are required to purchase your own bullets, but otherwise are free to fire any weapon you choose.
I split ten rounds on an AK-47 and ten rounds on a M-16 with another person on our tour. The firing range had ear protection in the form of old headphones for our use. The only other safety precaution was the guns being loosely mounted on a platform. A guide loaded the guns for us, and then let us shoot at will. They had targets setup at the end of the range, but most people were interested in shooting the guns rather than hitting anything. For many people in our group it was their first time firing a weapon, interesting no? Very much an exciting thrill for everyone. This essentially concluded our tour. Ultimately, it was highly education and entertaining, anyone traveling to Saigon should make the Cu Chi tunnels a stop on their trip.
Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)
When I told you India was unquestionably the cheapest country I have ever been too, I was wrong. Vietnam is so cheap its expensive. By that I mean, “this is only a dollar how could I not buy it?” multiplied by about 1000x. To give you a slightly better example, it cost me ~4 USD to call home for 40 mins. That's less expensive than any other country I've been to by about ½.
Anyway, the first day I was in Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon) I spent the morning buying the country, which I did for ~50 USD. Yes, I now own Vietnam. And the rest of the day going on adventures with the Hauk drivers (Probably spelled horribly wrong, its pronounced like huck). A Hauk driver is someone who owns a motor bike and drives you around the city on the back of it. It costs approximately one dollar to go anywhere. It should cost less, but its easiest to just pay a dollar and not worry about it.
I wanted to go to the War Remnants museum, formerly titled the War Atrocities museum after shopping. I tried to walk it, which was a horrible idea, because depending on who I spoke with they gave me different directions. I eventually broke down and hired a Hauk, who drove me all over creation only to arrive there and find it was closed for the day. At that point I called it a day and decided to go back to the ship to get ready for the night.
This is where my really exciting adventure begins. A group of four of us were attempting to go to Le Pub (a local bar) because they had one dollar vodka mixers for the night. Not a bad price (even for Vietnam). We were debating about hiring a taxi, or getting four Hauks to take us. We decided to take Hauks. All four of them assured us they knew where it was and we set off. We drove, then we drove some more, then some more, before finally arriving at a “bar”. This bar was 1, definitely not Le Pub, and 2 most likely a house ill repute. Several extremely scantily clad Vietnamese women walked out of the bar upon our arrive and told us to come in where we would have “a good time”. We left in a hurry.
It was evident we weren't going to be able to find Le Pub, and decided we would settle on cheap beer. So, we told our Hauk drivers to take us to cheap beer. We all started going. 1st three of us turn and one of us doesn't. Not a big deal, he probably took a wrong turn but they all knew where they were going so we figured he'd be ok. We continue driving and gradually get into deeper and darker Ho Chi Minh. Understand, I'm not entirely sure we're still in Ho Chi Minh at this point, it could be Ha Noi for all I know. It keeps getting less and less well lit, and then all of a sudden its down to two of us. We lost someone else along the way. At this point, I'm thinking in my head how many of these tiny little Vietnamese guys could I take if they tried to jump me? Maybe two or three at best... They are all about 5' 2” after all, but I'm not liking my odds if I end up at the end of a dark alley by myself somewhere.
Things are rapidly going down hill, when lo and behold the two of us pull up at an outdoor restaurant in the middle of Ho Chi Minh somewhere. And lo, a third one, and the fourth of us all show up. Somehow, we had arrived at the same place unscathed. And true to their word, cheap beer abounded. As I said we were in the middle of Ho Chi Minh somewhere, not a white person in sight. The beer was 7000 VND a beer (the exchange rate is 18000 to 1) so a little under fifty sense a beer. Not bad right?
The rest of the night brought many and more adventures, but nothing of quite as grand proportions.
Anyway, the first day I was in Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon) I spent the morning buying the country, which I did for ~50 USD. Yes, I now own Vietnam. And the rest of the day going on adventures with the Hauk drivers (Probably spelled horribly wrong, its pronounced like huck). A Hauk driver is someone who owns a motor bike and drives you around the city on the back of it. It costs approximately one dollar to go anywhere. It should cost less, but its easiest to just pay a dollar and not worry about it.
I wanted to go to the War Remnants museum, formerly titled the War Atrocities museum after shopping. I tried to walk it, which was a horrible idea, because depending on who I spoke with they gave me different directions. I eventually broke down and hired a Hauk, who drove me all over creation only to arrive there and find it was closed for the day. At that point I called it a day and decided to go back to the ship to get ready for the night.
This is where my really exciting adventure begins. A group of four of us were attempting to go to Le Pub (a local bar) because they had one dollar vodka mixers for the night. Not a bad price (even for Vietnam). We were debating about hiring a taxi, or getting four Hauks to take us. We decided to take Hauks. All four of them assured us they knew where it was and we set off. We drove, then we drove some more, then some more, before finally arriving at a “bar”. This bar was 1, definitely not Le Pub, and 2 most likely a house ill repute. Several extremely scantily clad Vietnamese women walked out of the bar upon our arrive and told us to come in where we would have “a good time”. We left in a hurry.
It was evident we weren't going to be able to find Le Pub, and decided we would settle on cheap beer. So, we told our Hauk drivers to take us to cheap beer. We all started going. 1st three of us turn and one of us doesn't. Not a big deal, he probably took a wrong turn but they all knew where they were going so we figured he'd be ok. We continue driving and gradually get into deeper and darker Ho Chi Minh. Understand, I'm not entirely sure we're still in Ho Chi Minh at this point, it could be Ha Noi for all I know. It keeps getting less and less well lit, and then all of a sudden its down to two of us. We lost someone else along the way. At this point, I'm thinking in my head how many of these tiny little Vietnamese guys could I take if they tried to jump me? Maybe two or three at best... They are all about 5' 2” after all, but I'm not liking my odds if I end up at the end of a dark alley by myself somewhere.
Things are rapidly going down hill, when lo and behold the two of us pull up at an outdoor restaurant in the middle of Ho Chi Minh somewhere. And lo, a third one, and the fourth of us all show up. Somehow, we had arrived at the same place unscathed. And true to their word, cheap beer abounded. As I said we were in the middle of Ho Chi Minh somewhere, not a white person in sight. The beer was 7000 VND a beer (the exchange rate is 18000 to 1) so a little under fifty sense a beer. Not bad right?
The rest of the night brought many and more adventures, but nothing of quite as grand proportions.
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