Blue Sun

Days 33 - 35 - July 19 - 21

Monday - Wednesday.

Bangkok.

"Time flies - doesn't seem a minute" Head Murray's one-hit wonder "One Night in Bangkok" perfectly summed up my feelings as the end of my trip approached.

I had three days to kill in the city that so many travelers find to be the antithesis of what they like about Southeast Asia. Whereas my travels had me visiting some serene, less developed or historic and endearing locations, Bangkok is anything but. No pretty beaches. Overly trafficked roads. Urban chaos. At least to the outsiders.

But like an onion, if you peel back some of the layers, Bangkok has many charms. One such are the countless Buddhist Temples (Wats) -- easily some of the most memorable I came across in my travels. There's the Reclining Buddha, a 46 meter long buddha laying on its side. And there's also the Golden Buddha, a 15 meter, 5 ton statue made of pure gold. No doubt, my favorite story about a Buddha. Some years ago, fearing an invasion, the owners of the Golden Buddha covered the statue in cement so that the invaders would have no interest in it. Then in the 1950s, the statue was accidentally dropped and a chunk of cement fell off, revealing the statue's true golden nature. Everyone was stunned and overjoyed. And it was great, until people decided to smash all of the concrete Buddhas in hopes of finding more golden statues. Unfortunately, this Golden Buddha had no siblings... and in its unlucky wake were the remains of countless concrete Buddhas.

Bangkok, as the capital of Thailand (nee Siam) for 200+ years, is home to the royal family, which of course means, that there are palaces. And with Thailand's relative wealth, there were ample funds for damn nice palaces, of which the city's Grand Palace is the most, well, grand. A sprawling campus of royal, government and religious structures, the Grand Palace is impressive in its architecture and layout. Definitely worth the 1.5 hours to take the tour and walk around.

Bangkok is also home

Days 27 - 32 - July 13 - July 18

Tuesday through Sunday.

The other side of paradise.

I left PP on Tuesday to ferry and fly to Ko Samui, another Thai island, this time off the east coast. Ko Samui is a larger tourist destination than PP - more developed, as in cars are actually allowed on the island. It's also a lot bigger with many villages, often a 25 - 40 minute drive between them. I was headed to Samui for 2 reasons: 1) to get my advanced open water scuba diver certification and 2) to meet up with yet more Wharton classmates. And, well, you can add a little fun in the sun to that too.

All told, there must have been 15 Whartonites who floated through. Three of them had rented a house for the week and invited everyone to stay, but logistically that didn't work... clearly the house wouldn't quite make it Real World-able. So we all stayed in bungalos on the beach in Chaweng, the main tourist area. I know, I know, I've had a very tough life recently.

What was great about the Wharton/Samui rendez-vous was the mixture of those who were at the end of their journeys with those just starting. Fantastic way to share information, enjoy travel war stories and feel the excitement of those just beginning. At the same time, the days in Samui were a wonderful way to catch up with close friends -- Mitzi, Rose, Nancy, Turner -- as well as form stronger relationships with people that I wish I'd spent more time with or got to know better while at school (the list is too long to name, but Allison, Kate, Craig & Derek, Neel Bhatia and Kobi (again, from my Hong Kong days) would definitely be on there). We had some phenomenal dinners, most notably at Eat Sense, right along the beach and so much fun at night.

As true Wharton students -- read: always competitive -- we went bowling the first night, where I unequivocally disgraced the Wallis family name for generations to come with my worst game of bowling since I was probably 6 years old. Clearly, there must be something different about the lanes on this side of the world, cause it could neither have been my fault nor the influence of several drinks and shots of vodka I had consumed. Mini-golf the following night was a different story. I was much better; I think it was the affect of feeling the start of the British Open or the bond with the success at the Masters of the other notable lefty, Phil Mickelson. Well, at least I had a hole-in-1. I'm still reliving that moment of glory in my head... since they really don't come around all that often.

And then there was the party scene -- also very good. Definitely some fun clubs to go drinking and dancing in. I ended up out late several nights including a few with Neel & Kobi, and then with Rose/Mitzi/Kate/Allison. But the highlight had to be when around 15 of us went out together and just danced everywhere. Good times... or as my dive instructor would say, Happy Days.

And diving. Yes, this was my crowning glory, my icing on the cake of the trip -- my 5 dive course for my Advanced Open Water Dive certification. The Advanced course requires 2 days and 5 dives, 2 of which are compulsory (Deep dive, Navigation). In addition to those two, I did a multi-level dive, peak-performance buoyancy dive and underwater naturalist dive. Diving from Samui actually involves 2 long boat rides. The first day we headed to Ko Tao (Thai for Turtle Island, but unfortunately no turtles were to be seen), an island about 3+ hours away that's known for its diving. In fact, that's the island's sole reason for existence, or at least tourism (which I'm starting to believe is Thailand's sole reason for, or means of, existence).

The diving was nice -- better than what I experienced in PP, but that just may have been the temporary conditions. The marine life very similar to what I'd seen before. I had 3 dives at Ko Tao's Shark Island site -- my 1) multi-level which involved planning and spending significant time at three different levels underwater (23 meters, 18 meters, 10 meters), 2) navigation which required dropping a weight on the sea floor and then using a compass and counting fin cycles to find the weight again, and 3) peak performance buoyancy which was comprised of several tasks underwater to make sure I can control my body, such as limbo-ing under a stick, touching my nose to a stick as well as the ground without any other part of my body touching the ground (think: body inverted), and doing a series of flips underwater.

The second day of diving we headed to Sail Rock, the aptly named structure about 2 hours north of Ko Samui that is a rock and resembles a sail emerging from underwater. Fascinating where they come up with naming these places. Sail Rock is considered one of the deeper dive locations and that's where I had to go some 30 meters deep for my Deep Dive requirement. After 25 meters, nitrogen narcosis may set in; nitrogen narcosis may have sever affects including, cause people to go delirious, acting like they are tripping or just slowing down the ability to comprehend information. I didn't experience any of those, much to the disappointment of my dive instructor Ben, who was hoping for some high-quality comedy. But diving to 30 meters was incredibly cool because of the different aquatic life at those levels -- visibility is lower, water colder, more places to hide out for animals. I had a great time on the deep dive. As for my last dive, all I had to do was identify 3 types of coral and 3 fish that we saw once I got back on the boat afterwards. Not that difficult, but fun nonetheless. As for Sail Rock, it's a great dive site. Mostly wall diving with coral, there are several bends and turns that create different habitats for various fish. It also has several cool structures in it, namely the Chimney, which divers can enter the Rock at 18 meters and shoot up to 12 while still inside and then pop-out again. It's like a cave with a couple of openings. Simply fun stuff.

From Samui, I am headed to Bangkok for 3 days to finish up the Asian portion of my trip.

And as dive-instructor Ben would always say, these are Happy Days. They are indeed.

Days 26 - 33 - July 5 - July 12

Monday to Monday. Yes a full week.

Ko Phi Phi ('Ph' in Thai is pronounced with a hard 'P', so it's sounds like Ko Pee Pee)

I planned on staying in Ko Phi Phi for 3 days and ended up there for 8. With Angkor Wat, it's been the highlight of my trip. So what's so great about Ko Phi Phi?

A brief description -- Ko Phi Phi is a set of 2 islands off the western coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. One of the islands, Ko Phi Phi Do is inhabited, except no cars are allowed on it. Most of the places to stay and restaurants are located along a few walking streets, with a few resorts only accessible by boat. Everywhere is a 5 minute walk to the beach, max. And while there's development going on, it's still much less than other Thai island destinations such as Ko Samui or Phuket. The second island, Ko Phi Phi Ley, is uninhabited, but frequented by day-trips for snorkeling and scuba diving.

I arrived in PP (you can't expect me to write Ko Phi Phi Do all the time, can you?) late afternoon on July 5 after a few flights and a ferry ride from Chiang Mai, and did what comes natural -- get marginally acquainted with the town before speaking with several dive shops about what they had to offer. I decided to go diving early the next morning choosing Visa Divers for 2 dives - one off Bida Noi, the other Phi Phi Ley - with an experienced group. I was told that there was a very good chance of seeing either Leopard sharks or turtles, and potentially a whale shark (that's usually 20 feet long), which had me very excited. Unfortunately, I didn't see any of those. The Bida Noi (an island just south of PP Ley) site had tough conditions, with the worst current I've ever experienced. Remember that old Maxell tape commercial with the guy wearing sunglasses, sitting in his chair, facing sound being blasting from a stereo and his hair blowing backward... yeah, that was me in the current. I simply couldn't move forward at Bida Noi. PP Ley resembled many of the reefs that I've dove on before, so unfortunately, these weren't great dives. And unluckily, 2 of the people in my group struggled (they misrepresented their actual level of experience), so the 2 dives were very frustrating. But there was nothing I could do about it and I did enjoy being back underwater. Ironically, less than a week later, at the same spots, some of my friends diving saw the leopard sharks, turtles and most impressively, a 20 foot whale shark. That's an animal with the height of three Shaq's stacked head to toe. My lord.

And for the next few days, all I did was go to the beautiful beach (a 1 minute walk from my guesthouse), cruise around town, and get Thai massages ($5/hour). Just relaxed. And partied. This was really the first time on my trip I went out late on several consecutive nights. PP has three fun bars... so there's always a good chance that I would see familiar faces, which made going out by myself easy. And you gotta love a place that had seemingly more women backpackers than men.

PP has several restaurants that show movies (helps when it costs just $2 for a DVD) so over the week I watched Shrek 2, Starsky & Hutch, Love Actually and Farenheit 9/11. Amazing how you can get that here before it's debuted in parts of the States... and with that, I'll be taking orders from my readers out there for anything they want picked up in Bangkok.

So besides your run of the mill sitting in paradise sorts of pleasures, part of what made PP great was that I ran into many familiar faces. The first were 2 people from my trek in Chiang Mai, and it was nice to meet up for them for a drink. Also hung out with Tom, an American who teaches English in Korea, who I met in Nha Trang, Vietnam. And then there was the Wharton contingent, which ended up numbering 7 (for those who care about this stuff, they were Laura (from Angkor Wat trip), Chandra (Hanoi dinner), Julie, Madge & Ryan, Alvaro, PJ (boyfriend of Whartonite whom I had dinner with in Saigon))... I spent 3 evenings with them (3 Ds -- dinner, drinks and dancing). We also rented a speed boat for 3 hours to cruise around the islands - specifically to go see some of the amazing beaches on on PP Ley, including the location of the appropriately-named movie, The Beach, was filmed. And then we cruised into a quiet lagoon and had our lunch on a beach that must have been 20 feet long and 5 feet deep in total seclusion. Heaven.

After 8 glorious days of just relaxing good times, I packed up my bags, waved goodbye to paradise, and headed over to the east coast island of Ko Samui, where I'd be taking my advanced diving certification course.

Days 23 - 25 - July 2 - 4

Friday through Sunday.

Have I got a deal for you! You give me $40 and I'll make sure that you hike up steep hills for 3 days, sweat, get poured on, sweat some more, be bit by mosquitos, sweat even more, walk through caves with thousands of bats and spiders, get shit on by bats, sleep on dirty mats, fall into the mud, be accosted by tribal villagers, and did I mention sweat? Sounds enticing, huh? Well, that's exactly what tourists do when they are in Chiang Mai and sign up for one of the hill tribe treks. And amazingly, we all find a way to love the experience. I had a great time because of the 9 other people on my trek -- 7 Americans, an Aussie and a Norwegian. We ranged from ages 19 to 32 and we comprised of students, teachers, web designers and the joyfully unemployed.

The trek was 3-days, 2-nights, mostly spent hiking the hills of northern Thailand near its border with Burma/Myanmar. The hikes are on hills that feel like they have 45 degree inclines and declines, so you are always wishing that you were walking downhill when you are marching up, and vice versa. Usually you would hike for about 2 hours at a time, and then stop for another activity. For instance, on our 2nd day we hiked and then went down a river on 2 bamboo rafts gondola-style (of course my team won, and that had nothing to do with the fact that we had a 6'4" well-built former basketball player leading our efforts). We also rode elephants which was fun though surprisingly uneventful with the exception of watching one go to the bathroom... I was waiting for one of them to do something drastic and see one of my co-trekkers plummet off the animal.

The villages themselves were poor, but not as poor as I expected... mainly because trekkers come through every day and the villagers hawk all of their hand made goods. The goods are cheap, both in price and quality as one neckless I bought broke the next morning (after we'd left the village -- talk about good timing!). These villages have running water, but still use and outhouse, which was downright scary, especially when I had to pee in the middle of the night. The entire time I was in the outhouse I kept thinking of the final scene of the Blair Witch Project; which on the positive side is slightly more comforting than The Shining.

The most bizarre part of the the trip had to be the 2nd village we stayed in (I think it was the Lahu tribe). The entire experience there could have been 2 episodes of the Jerry Springer show combined with an episode of Cops. Apparently we came around when 2 brothers were fighting over some girl. And the brothers would do anything to get at one another. They were stopped by the numerous tribes women who came between them... only to pull one of those "I'm walking away this second but in another 10 I'm going to charge the other guy" routines, a la Dr. Evil in Austin Powers. And apparently, chivalry never made it to this part of Thailand as one of the guys flat-out slapped one of the women in the face who was trying to stop him from fighting. Then there was screaming cursing across the village at each other... though I'm sure if there were subtitles I would have gotten a lot more out what they were saying. Add to the adventure that our Thai tour guide was getting drunk on some form to Thai moonshine. Combined, this all created a scene of bizarre, highly unintentional comedy. The icing on the cake was our tour guide's rousing rendition on the guitar of a song he wrote entitled "I'm Drunk" which appropriately is comprised exclusively of those two words. Unforgettable night.

My highlights on the trek were:
1) Breaking a bamboo stalk while crossing a small stream and gracefully falling on my ass in the water (as bamboo is what they use to make scaffolding in this part of the world, maybe I should stop eating?)

2) Alf -- a 22 year old Asian-American recent college graduate who chose to call himself the name of a puppet alien instead of something else short for Alfred -- walking headfirst into a piece of hanging stone in a cave and falling straight to the floor, seemingly out cold, and then popping up 10 seconds later proclaiming "I'm fine, let's keep going." Alf would play our Herbie (from the book The Goal -- the only thing I got out of our 3 Operations core classes at Wharton; Herbie is the slow, fat kid on a hike who is so slow that people have to keep waiting for him, screwing up the organization of the walk), slowing us down with his personal tragicomedy... like losing his camera while falling in the mud, only to discover it 15 minutes later as the heavens decided to give us a shower -- so he and the guide had to hike back up a hill and mud in the driving rain.

3) Our guide Noi absolutely hammered singing "I'm drunk" and then trying to hit on the two college girls who were sisters... when one said no and decided to go to sleep, Noi literally slid a foot over on a bench and started working on the other sister

4) Brad, one of the Americans on the trip, impersonating the lady-boy at our hostel who signed us all up for the trip. The lady-boy, Rooney, overtly hit on the men, with very lewd sexual innuendos. At first they were funny, but one can only take so much "you leave room key with me and I give you 50 baht discount" types of jokes. Brad had Rooney's distinctive voice and speech pattern down to a T.

5) Our discovery that one of the few things to disguise the overwhelming scent of 10 sweaty, unwashed hikers who haven't been near a shower for 3 days is a cave of bat shit. Bat shit sitting in a cave fermenting can overcome just about anything. It's that potent. The US should have bottled that stuff up and used it in Vietnam instead of Agent Orange and Napalm to get the otherside to come out of their holes. From my hike, I'm completely surprised Alfred the Butler was able to go into the Bat Cave at all. Simply brutal.

My hike was the last part of the active portion of my trip. Early July 5, I headed down to the Thai islands of Ko Phi Phi and Ko Samui for diving and some beach time.

Day 22 - July 1

Thursday.

I woke up in Chiang Mai without any additional clothes, but at least I had my toiletries. I learned long ago never to check those essentials. Airlines screw up waaaay to often to risk smelling like the men in Hong Kong did. Thursday morning, I was surely thankful for having learned that lesson.

My big activity Thursday was taking a 1-day Thai cooking course at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School (www.thaicookeryschool.com). The school was founded by a Thai chef (Sonpon) and his British wife (Elizabeth) 11 years ago, and has been a hit with tourists ever since because of the personality of the staff and the fun environment they create. Sompon, could easily represent Thailand if there were an international version of the Iron Chefs.

The course started with a trip to the local market where we were walked through various thai spices, fruits, vegetables, herbs, noodles and rices. Very educational, though I think I retained only 1 or 2 things, which is a lot for me. After hearing some of the questions a few of the other tourists were asking, I quickly knew my place in this group would be a familiar one... at the back of the class.

Over the course of the day, we learned to and prepared six meals -- 2 appetizers, 3 main courses and 1 dessert. After watching Sompon prepare the meal, we would go to our own cooking stations and repeat what he had shown us. And of course, we literally had to eat our own cooking once we were done.

So what did I learn to make (and eat):
Appetizers
Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup
Papaya Salad and Sticky Rice
Entrees
Red Curry with Fish
Fried Mixed Mushrooms with Baby Corn
Fried Big Noodles with Thick Sauce
Dessert
Steamed Banana Cake

The course was truly a great experience -- I had a lot of fun with several other travelers, though most were a good 10 years older than me... which I guess means that I'm over the hill and ready for a domesticated life. I highly recommend the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School if you ever just happen to be lost and ending up in northern Thailand. Several friends have gone and our opinions are a consensus.

For the remaninder of the day, I just relaxed and had a quiet night, as early the next morning I'd start my 3-day, 2-night hill tribe trek.

Days 20 & 21 - June 29 & 30

In the interest of time, I've decided to lump some of my experiences into 1 entry

Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Temples of Angkor.

Laura and I awoke early to meet the guide we hired at 7am, Naam. Naam had been a guide for about 10 years, initially hosting journalists and specific tours, but now was available for anyone since the Cambodian government opened up Angkor Temples to the public in the mid to late 1990s. He had also served in the Cambodian army and had all of his brothers and sisters killed by the Khmer Rouge.

The temples were built from the 9th - 13th centuries by a series of Khmer kings, honoring the buddhist and hindu religions (more the latter than the former). Typically the took from 50 - 80 years to construct. The temples were "lost" to the jungle for centuries as invading armies neglected any upkeep, to the point where the French rediscovered them at some point in the 1940s. Over the last few decades, restoration of the temples has been led by the French (the French!!!) in what appears to be a self-less act. They don't get the steep entrance fees to the park. Maybe they are doing it out of guilt for having colonized modern-day Cambodia and screwing up a large portion of Southeast Asia with their imperialism, as they did in Vietnam.

Anyway, the temples.

Our first stop was Angkor Thom, a 10 kilometer city built by Jayavarman VII (I couldn't pronounce his name either, so we'll call him J7 -- he was the most prolific builder, so he was important) in the 12th century. Angkor Thom had a large moat, long walkway to the city and 5 gates to enter. During the morning, Laura and I saw several of the temples, including The Bayon, The Baphuon, the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King -- the last devoted to a king who had leprosy. Attractive! Angkor Thom was impressive as a testament to what 1 king could build. The structures were enormous and intricately designed. Back in its hey-day, Angkor Thom was home to tens of thousands of inhabitants, a testament to J7's planning.

For me, easily the highlight of the morning was the Buddhist temple, Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm has been losing a battle against nature for centuries; trees have grown from inside the structure, decimating the walls and ceilings. What remains are bits and pieces of the foundation, walls and towers, all at the mercy of enormous tree roots... massive roots growing out of and shifting bricks, while enveloping everything in sight. To conceptualize their size, these roots support trees that range from 20 - 40 feet high of trunk. If I had to guess, I think I snapped more pictures on my digital camera than an Asian tour bus at the Eiffel Tower.

The afternoon was devoted to Angkor Wat -- the crown jewel of the Angkor complex. To quote the Lonely Guide, "Angkor Wat, with its soaring towers and extraordinary bas reliefs, is considered by many to be one of the most inspired and spectacular monuments ever conceived by the human mind." Ditto.

My words will never be able to do it justice, so I really won't try. It's enormous. Long walkway to get to the front of what looks like half-temple, half fort. Inside, there are several Hindu temples that rise to 3 stories high. Additionally, there is a remarkably ornate carving in sandstone of mythological Hindu battles of gods, angels and demons along the hallway walls of 2 sides of the building. It tooks us several hours to go through it... especially in the 105 degree heat, but it was well worth it. The highlight was a climb up a series of steep steps 3 stories high top level of the central temple that provided a view of the vast surrounding jungle that resembled serene landscapes created by Hollywood's of grazing lands in African safaris.

Wednesday morning Laura and I arose at 4:30am to meet Naam to see sunrise at Angkor Wat. Sunrise at Angkor Wat trumps even Ta Prohm for photo ops. I should have bought at 256 MB memory card solely for it. Just breathtaking to see how the sky glows behind the vast temple. Once again, words won't do it justice. It's one of those things you have to see for yourself. After that, we went to a few more temples -- Pruah Khan, Neak Poan, Preah Rup -- before spending our afternoon taking a ferry to see the floating villages of Lake Tonle Sap. Very cool stuff.

My thoughts on the Temples of Angkor. Two words -- simply amazing. It will be regarded as one of those must-see places, like Pyramids, as more tourists are able to get into Cambodia. In fact, I think it is more impressive than the Pyramids because of the effect nature has had on the monuments and that only part of the restoration process has been completed. What really fascinated me was the struggle between beauty by the hand of man and beauty by nature. A thousand years ago, man created a true work of art. In the following years, nature surpassed man's efforts. The jungle totally enveloped the temples of Angkor to the point that these massive structures had to be "discovered." And now, what makes the temples of Angkor -- particularly Ta Prohm -- unique is the constant battle between nature's attempt to destroy the structures and man's attempt to conserve them. It's not something that man can do easily since tree roots are at the core of the bricks of many of these buildings... and have reduced several to ruins. If you ever have a chance to get near Siem Reap, Cambodia, go to the temples -- all you need is two days, and for your efforts, you're rewarded with a lifetime of images and memories.

Wednesday night I flew to Bangkok to hop on a flight to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Fortunately, I made it; unfortunately, my backpack didn't.

Hotel: Mom's Guesthouse (I recommend it); $20 room/night for 2 people, good-sized beds, A/C, good bathroom; found Mom's through Lonely Planet
We got our guide through the hotel -- only way to do it

Day 19 - June 28

Monday.

My last day in Vietnam.

I mostly spent the day running errands, picking up a few tidbits around my hostel. And eating. It was my last chance to go Pho Boa, the soup that's really the official meal of Vietnam. Much like a good set of pancakes, you can have Pho Boa anytime of day -- it's equally good for breakfast as it is for dinner.

While in Vietnam, I had decided to change my itinerary. Instead of heading to Thailand directly afterwards, I decided to visit Cambodia -- specifically the Temples of Angkor near the town of Siem Reap. So Monday night I hopped on a plane to meet my friend Laura from Wharton, who would also be there. She was flying in from Thailand after having spent a some time in Myanmar (or, Burma if you don't want to acknowledge the tyrannical government's name change). Fortunately we were able to meet up at the airport Monday night without a hitch. That was my first time my plans went well in my recent 3 trips.

Some thoughts on Vietnam:
The country is a complex, yet appealing mix, between a 3rd world nation and one that is focused on moderizing or developing. It's still very communist as there is strong government influence over everything. Decisions are really made centrally. People -- particularly in the north -- refuse to question or talk negatively about it. At the same time, the government is committed to building an infrastructure for trade and tourism. And in the South, entrepreneurship is everywhere.

What I liked:
1. It's cheap. Food, clothes, travel -- all great values for the money.
2. Saigon is a very cool city; there's a good vibe there. It's relatively easy to navigate. It's history as the South Vietnamese capital has people wanting a free-er life, which I think will come in the next decade.
3. Hoi An, Nha Trang, Halong Bay -- all were enjoyable places to visit. Hoi An was charming. Nha Trang had good diving. Halong Bay incredibly relaxing. I could definitely see myself spending more time in the first two places.
4. In general, the Vietnamese people are very friendly.
5. Good places to stay. The minihostels had A/C, private bathrooms, satellite TV for $10 - $15/night, which sometimes included breakfast.
6. Vietnam still retains its agrarian heritage which is great to see while touring the countryside.

What I didn't like:
1. Roads -- psycho drivers and motos are down-right scary. Crossing the street is just like the video game Frogger. I'm surprised Fox hasn't made a reality show out of this whole experience.
2. Begging/hawking. There are people hawking services and products everywhere. And it's often very hard to avoid. After a very short while, it gets bothersome, to the point where many tourists (myself included) become rude. It's one thing to ask someone if they want to buy a bracelet, book or ride on a moto; it's another to follow them or ask them repeatedly while they are dining. I think it would greatly help tourism and the government's goals if there was some crackdown on the continual hawking.
3. Public transportation has a long way to go to improve. I either heard or experienced horror stories with trains and buses. I'd highly recommend flying from between town since tickets are rather cheap.

My only regret was that I didn't have more time to check out a more of the Vietnam War history. I would like to have gone to the DMZ, Khe Sahn and China Beach as well as historical towns of Hue and Dalat. Maybe next time.

So Goodnight Saigon (sorry couldn't pass that up)... hello Angkor Wat!

Hotel: MC Guesthouse; $13/night, cash only; A/C, TV; nice rooms, though a little small; very helpful staff; good location

Day 18 - June 27th

Sunday.

Continuing my Vietnam War experience, I headed out with a tour group for a day on the Mekong Delta. I was looking forward to the trip and the day didn't disappoint. The Mekong is an extraordinary river, starting in China and flowing through Laos and Cambodia on it's way to Vietnam, eventually emptying into the South China Sea. It's also about 1.5 hours from Saigon and home to much of Vietnam's rice production. I believe Vietnam is the 2nd largest rice exporter globally, after Thailand, so it's a sizable operation.

Our trip started with a ride to the Delta's major markets, where locals buy/sell fruit, fish, rice, and everything else a house or $1 junk salesmen on the new york city trains could ever want. From the hour wondering around the markets, we hopped on a few ferries to cruise up the river for about another hour before stopping for lunch. The first thing that jumps out is the width of the river; it easily rivals that of the Mississippi, with the banks stretching 2 kilometers apart at many points. The second thing is that it is very brown. That's not from pollution (though it might contribute), but the silt in the water from the annual flooding that churns the floor of the river. But the river's color doesn't stop locals from bathing or cleaning dishes in it.

After lunch we visited a coconut candy factory (soooo good!) and a honey farm. I hate insects, particularly those that sting, so I was not happy about this stop. To get out of having to touch the honeycomb with the bees still on it, I conveniently went to the bathroom so as to maintain the perception of my manhood. The bee farm also had a python that we could "wear" around our neck/shoulders and take a picture with; since I'd already exhausted my get out of jail free card, I had to go for the photo-op. I don't like snakes, but it was infinitely better than the alternative. Infinitely. Once the bee farm finished, we took a long ferry back to our bus to head into Saigon.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Mekong. Maybe it was because every Vietnam movie I've seen has soldiers on a boat chilling out, and it seems like the only time they were happy to be in Vietnam, so there's a sense of peace there. It was also great to see the way Vietnamese not in a major city or tourist trap live; the Vietnamese rice farmer gets very little benefit from the scores of tourists who roll through. And it was definitley refreshing to get out of the city; a wonderful way to finish off my activities in Vietnam.

Sunday night I met up with a Wharton classmate, Jen Hsieh and her boyfriend PJ who was a year behind me at Duke, for dinner. I had run into them at the War Remnants museum and we agreed to have dinner, Saturday and Sunday nights. They were the first familiar faces I'd seen in 10 days. We had good conversation and passed along a few travel tidbits to each on the places we were respectively headed.

Day 17 - June 26

Saturday.

Big sightseeing day -- it was devoted to the Vietnam/American war.

I started off in the morning with a half day tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels, the vast 250 kilometer network near Saigon that the South Vietnamese resistance (against the french initially and then the government supported by the US) used extensively. The tunnels themselves are incredible -- tiny so that western bodies have incredible difficulties getting through, they are comprised of 3 levels to avoid major impact from US bombs. The network connected villages and towns around Saigon including an opening within a US base for the Viet Cong to pick-off US soldiers through sniping. There were secret entrances and booby traps; they used simple but innovative means to throw off American dogs (for example, VC would use American made soap, or put the uniforms of dead GIs near an entrance so that dogs thought there were US soldiers in the holes). The network had kitchens, store rooms and even bathrooms -- so that living in the labrynth for months at a time was possible. In fact, the US employed Agent Orange to burn away the plantlife above the tunnels in the hopes of catching VCs coming out... and yet had little success penetrating the tunnels. It was absolutely an amazing engineering marvel.

After the tunnels, I went to the Reunification Palace, where the administers and presidents of South Vietnam had their headquarters. The Palace is most famously captured in pictures on April 30, 1975 as North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the property's gates on the day that the South surrendered to the North. The Palace itself was rebuilt in the 1960s, and in that style, more resemebles a terminal at JFK than a building I would have associated with government leadership. And true to the words of Jim Rogers that 3rd world leaders always have a Mercedes, on display is the former President's 1964 model.

My last stop was the War Remnants Museum, probably the most fascinating tourist attraction in Saigon. The museum originally documented the "attrocities of the American and Chinese aggressors," but since Vietnam's liberalization in wooing western tourists, the museum has softened its tone. It is still critical of the US, but goes into great depth on the escalation of the war and battles that ensued. There are segments on Khe Sahn and the Tet offensive. There are also details on the My Lai massacre. But the museum doesn't confine itself to the war's toll on the Vietnamese population. For instance, there is a detailed section of many of the photo and print journalists killed in action, including several over a 10 day stretch in April 1970 in Cambodia. Yet, not surprisingly, the most striking photos are those of the effect of the war on the larger Vietnamese population. Highlighted are the affects of the US' use of Agent Orange and Napalm. Well after the war, many were still ravaged by the toxins that created birth defects or early development of different cancers. It was a lot to take in for one day, but well worth it.

My take-away from the Cu Chi Tunnels and War Remnants museum are somewhat mixed. If anything, I walked away thinking about the remarkable difficulties average US troops faced. The Cu Chi Tunnels and parts of the War Remnants Museum proudly exhibit the contributions that women and children made to the cause -- including wearing uniforms and fighting with automatic weapons. And both tourist sites comment on the ways the VC was able to deceive the South Vietnamese government and the foreign armies that assisted it, particularly through espionage. There were many villagers who supported the South Vietnamese Army (SVA) during the day, and then the VC at night.

Unlike prior wars where soldiers knew the enemy because it was wearing a different colored uniform, Vietnam was a fight against people who didn't clearly identify themselves. And with women and children actively -- whether overtly or covertly -- involved in fighting, it is easy to understand how an event like the My Lai massacre could occur. I'm not saying it was justified and definitely am not supporting it, because it was gruesome and disgusting; but what I am is that I don't think it was a simple black & white issue. US soldiers were fighting in a very gray area -- and as a result, I came away from my day confident that it is unfair and wrong unequivocally criticize their actions. With bullets, landmines and bombs potentially taking a soldier's life at any moment, quick actions were necessary; and unfortunately, they were sometimes the wrong ones.