My tour of 'nam
In August 2005 after quitting from my job of four years I went Back to Vietnam.
Not that I'd ever been there in the first place but I'd like to be known for Finishing What I Started and Confronting My Inner Demons.
8 million people live here in Hanoi, 80 million in Vietnam.
Most girls cover their faces and wear elbow-length latex gloves to hide from the sun and
be whitey.
Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum.
I guess some people don't know about
HCM... the short is that he was a respected leader and general
during the French and American occupations.
He was loved by the people and died during the Vietnam War (or as they obviously call it, the American War).
These days he's been watered down by the government into a symbol.
As the locals say the country is "socialist only on paper"
... it's a capitalist base, with a corruption filling, covered in communist icing.
The locals don't use my clever 'cake' analogy though.
There aren't many birds or dogs or cats -- they've all been eaten.
Wildlife is scarce (aside from fish) and seeing these geese was notable.
Remember that burning monk? And teenage angst?
Well the car in the background is just rusting away in some monastery garage...
His name was DBA 599.
Hoi An was my favourite place. Nice people, not too many tourists and a bit of nightlife.
These next five photos are from there.
Me, very white, after helping the locals clean up a seaweed tide.
Things I missed when I was in Vietnam.
- Coffee. The belief is that foreigners want instant coffee, Nescafe, because it's international and they think you're slumming it when you want beans. The first thing I bought when I got back was a 4-shot cappuccino from Fuel on Holland St.
- Girls with breasts
The Vietnamese don't look at you like walking money and so it's easy to relax with them. Hanoi, Halong Bay, and Hoi An were beautiful places... as was most of the north and middle of Vietnam. I didn't like Saigon or Nha Trang so much. The far south around the Mekong Delta was fun. It was a beautiful trip, and if you see me around Wellington ask and I'll tell you all about it.
ps. in case you were wondering, Charlie: 0, Matthew: 17
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