Ho Chi Minh

Trip Start Jul 30, 2008
1
44
Trip End Ongoing


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Where I stayed
hung thinh
(Ho Chi Minh City hotels)

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Saturday, December 13, 2008

Its time for our last blog entry as Vagabonds (well, at least together anyway). I'm going to start it off and hopefully conjol Evren and Russell to contribute too with some closing thoughts about the trip. Anyway, Ho Chi Minh City was our last stop with all three of us together and starting point for each of our new (but seperate) adventures in life. Ho Chi Minh had its fair share of ups and downs. One of the lows for me was seeing the War Reminants Museum. It took us forever to find (thank you creepy British guy), but it packed a wallup of solemness (errr, that was supposed to sound smart). The American War of Aggression (or Vietnam War) is one not to be forgotten (duh) by the Vietnamese. Nor were our transgressions against them. The museum was divided into some 8 odd sections among them: war crimes commited by Americans against Vietnamese, the effects of Agent Orange deployed by Americans, and Tortur and Prison treatment of Vietamese. Lets just say we don't come off favorably in their minds. I guess that happens when your nation kills over 200,000 people and bombs the crap out of SE Asia to the point that some of these nations (read Laos) are still trying to build up their infrastructure Motorbikes!
Motorbikes!
 . I'll let Evren and Russell highlight the people we met here and get right to our last days.


On December 14, 2008, Evren "I Gotta Get My Clothes" Ona*, left the 3 Vagabonds to return to America. And so, Russell "McDonald's" Kof# and Jon "I'm paying for this!" Geri$, set off for a few days along in the big city. Russell was in search of a motorbike he would use to drive around the Mekong Delta and then all the way back to Hanoi. Jon was in search of milk and tuna to take with him to the remote province of Ratanakiri in Cambodia. Both men accomplished their tasks. Russell almost bought a overpriced fake Chinese Honda from a small handed fiend called "Can't Remember His Name Rightnow" dude while Jon got ripped off by $20 buying a Cambodian Business Visa (I was and still am paying for that, dangit!).

Well, enough of the dramatics. After we finished out our last days, Russell and I bid a hearty for well, knowing we might never see each other again. I was headed to Ratanakiri to volunteer for an anticipated couple of months teaching English/computer to indeginour youth while Russell was off on his own adventure back up Vietnam. As for the future of this blog, I will try to keep it going with my own adventures in Cambodia and Russell has promised to do the same. The map locations will be off most of the time, but no worries. We for sure somewhere in Asia. Thanks for everybody who has read and commented on our blog over the past 4+ months. It has been a great trip for me and I think we all really grew from it. Personally, I have an even greater appreciation for America and a greater respect for the many other cultures of this world. Perhaps my greatest memory will be of our meals together with the Italian family after a hard days work on the goat farm. Cheers and until next time...
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