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When you're sliding into first and you're...
Entry 19 of 52 | show all | print this entry |
something burst... - come on - you all know the lyrics! I think that this is becoming my new theme song for this trip. My bad for guzzling down mango shakes on an island just starting to realize it's tourism potential...but really - who else can claim that they've gotten sick in every country in SE Asia?
But let me step back a couple of days...
I had a great few days in Saigon and was truly sad to part ways with Sarah, but such is traveling. The day after she left, I took a trip out to Cu Chi Tunnels...Cu Chi is an amazing network of tunnels outside of Saigon, originally started before the American War, then expanded to run about 220kilometers underground complete with underground homes, kitchens and wells used by the VC in South Vietnam. Before going into the tunnels, you're made to sit down and watch about15 minutes of a black & white film anout the "Courageous and Patriotic people of Cu Chi". The only way that I can think to describe the film (and I realize this is probably not pc) is to compare it to old Nazi propaganda films I've seen on the History Channel. The film talks all about the greatness of the Vietnamese people and show one of their local heros - a woman who "killed 16 American Devils"...then goes on and on and on and on about their superiority over their American invanders. It was interesting to note that there was no mention of the fact that the Vietnamese were really fighting eachother during this time...but I guess history is always written by the victor's point of view. Regardless, the tunnels really were ingenious, aside from the ultra cheesy mechanical manequinns of VC fighters which gave it a sort of morbid-Disneyland feel. I admit that I was somewhat surprised by the number of returning American GI's there and couldn't help but to cringe whenever the overused "American Devil" came up in the film.
Thefollowing day I caught an hour flight down to Phu Quoc Island which is in the Gulf of Thailand on the coast of Vietnam and Cambodia. It's interesting to note that Phu Quoc is claimed by both Vietnam and Cambodia, however seeing as Vietnam has built a substantial military base there, I'd say they've won.
The island is really beautiful with small mountains, palm lined beaches and a bustling little port town (which reeks of fish!) Their main industry here is....fishing (of course) and they're known for their ultra yummy fish sauce (a definite oxymoron) as well as their pepper.
My latest travel companion is Andrea, a 38 year old neurologist from Germany who is on thelast week of her one month holiday. We met at the airport on arrival and decided to do the hotel search together and are now sharing a joint bungalow on Long Beach. The bungalows we're staying at (CoCo Beach) are quite nice and are only about 20 meters from the water. Unfortuntaely, I haven't seen much of the island as I got sick just two days after arriving...but I have become very closely acquainted with my toilet. To make me feel better, Andrea got sick the day after I did, so we've gotten to take turns running to the market for 7-Up and crackers.
I was due to leave on the 8am boat to Rach Gia (mainland Vietnam) this morning, butdecded to dive my stomach a couple more daysto recouperate, so now I head out on Friday afternoon, at which point I'll need to find a bus to Chau Doc where I'll take a riverboat up the Mekong into Cambodia and arrive in Phnom Penh.
I'm looking forward to the trip to Cambodia and curiousto see what it feels like to go back to a place that I'm somewhat familiar with. Up until now, my entire trip (with the exception of my arrival in Bangkok) has been entirely new territory. I don't think I'll spend more than a few days there, as it's bound to be baking hot and I'm ready for some more beach time...but who knows?
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