March 31, 2005
I'm in the town of Phan Thiet, which had a USAF airbase during the Vietnam war, but now it's in ruins. I haven't seen a single Caucasian in the last 4 days, and having walked through the town a few times, I'm convinced that I'm the only non-Asian here. It's impossible for me to walk more than a few meters without someone yelling "Helluuu", which is the only English word they know.
Down at the fishing port near the former airbase, I became the local tourist attraction. One teenaged local boy took me up the hill to show me the former airbase, while about 15 children followed, all yelling and touching me as I walked. They didn't speak English, but we sure had a lot of laughs.
The next day I walked into the same port and the children all began calling my name and passing the message down the street. As the message spread, more and more children gathered behind me to follow me into town, and their parents came out of their clap-board houses to watch the "parade", led by the long-nosed, white-skinned stranger. For the first time in my life I really felt like a reporter for National Geographic Magazine!
The local primary school consisted of a building with crumbling steps, and about four classrooms. Each classroom had only a chalkboard and rows of desks. There was no electricity, running water, nor any glass on the windows. There were no toys, gymnasium, audio-video equipment, or any of the other luxuries I had 30 years ago when I was in primary school. When I walked into the classroom, the children in their smart uniforms with red bowties all began to laugh and scream. For them, I was the field trip that had come right into their classroom!
Nobody has telephones at the port village, and the electrical grid, if I may call it that, consists of lamp-cord run from house to house on small wooden sticks. Judging by the gauge of the wiring running into the port, I don't think each house can afford to draw more than a few hundred Watts of power. Compare this to 20,000 Watts, which is the capacity of the electrical service running into a standard Canadian house!
I visited the family I had befriended a total of three times. On the last visit I bought them gifts of imported shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and soap. I know that they are poor and such items are of more use than a knick-knack that would end up on a shelf. In return, they asked me to stay for dinner, and we spent the rest of the evening communicating using a dictionary and sign language. I will remember this experience more than any tourist attraction I have ever visited.
I've documented my experiences described above on both camera and video. In a few weeks when I get back to Thailand, I'll publish the photos on this website.
Now the time has come and in a few hours I'll be moving on to by train. I won't have time to mingle this much with the locals anymore. For the rest of the trip through Vietnam I'll have to concentrate more on seeing the tourist attractions. But in the true spirit of traveling, I will still make my own way, and use local transportation. I'm sure glad I have that GPS receiver!!!!
March 22, 2005
It took me almost one week to get to Saigon in Vietnam because I made a few days' stopover at both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in Cambodia. In a few days I'll be heading a thousand or so kilometers up to Hanoi, making a few more stops along the way.
A few days ago I made my own way to the area of Cu Chi. This is the area north of Saigon where the Viet Cong lived in small underground tunnels and fought the war using home-made weapons and traps. During the Vietnam war, the US Air Force bombed the area to oblivion, and the infantry pounded it some more. I made a trip out there own my own, using local buses. The people, although they spoke no English, were very helpful in showing me the way, and eventually I was the centre of attention on the bus. After I had toured the underground tunnels, I could afford to stray off the beaten path since I was not bound to a tour group.
They sent me off to Vietnam, to go kill the Yellow man.
- Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA-
I met a few locals amongst the bomb craters who were very curious about me and very friendly. They were just out for walks, and were genuinely friendly, not because they wanted to sell me something. Unfortunately, the language barrier made it impossible to engage in any conversation.
Two children in a boat picking some kind of water plants were intrigued by seeing me on the riverbank. They put on quite a show jumping and doing back-flips off their tiny wooden boat into the water. Their smiles were so warm and innocent, that I almost began to cry as I imagined how their land and their ancestors had been killed in the same area just a few decades ago, yet they could still smile at the white man. I managed to snap a picture that I guarantee will touch your heart. I'll upload it in the next few weeks...
March 3, 2005
I'm heading off to Vietnam starting March 4th. Just me and my backpack, I'll be traveling through Cambodia to Saigon overland, taking local transport. Yes, the locals still call is Saigon, not Ho Chi Min City. The tour should last about 2 weeks and take me from Saigon, which is in the south of the country, up to the north, along the eastern coastline. I'll keep you all posted as to my progress.
