Catch-up

I had started and stopped a couple of stories/ updates in the past weeks that either weren’t coming together like I wanted or that kept getting pushed down the priority ladder by real work. This is a quick catch-up.

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I have a website that I started when I left for Korea. As is the case with most of my projects, the webpage has been in a constant state of heavy construction with no foreseeable completion in sight. I’ve been planning a major clean up/ update/ streamline/ restyle/ overhaul of my site since I’ve been back in the US, but my computer died and I don’t have access to any of the pictures or webpage files I was working with. So… until I (hopefully!!) get a new computer this summer my webpage will have to stay in the planning phase.

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I confess I have some guilty listening pleasures and indeed some horrific musical skeletons in my closet, but I typically shy away from all things MTV and Top-40 or New Rock Radio. I will watch the first few episodes of American Idol to catch all the really bad singers have their hopes, dreams, and egos decimated on national television by the judges, but I never stick around for too long after that. This season, however, I was compelled to follow the season for the pool of talented North Carolinians making their way into the latter rounds of the competition, and of course, for Taylor Hicks. Twenty-nine, gray-haired, goofy-as-hell, and with this gritty, soulful voice he’s hardly Idol material, so every week that he stayed in the competition I was more and more excited about the show. He’s definitely talented and could very well put out an Idol-backed CD that I would buy, so I was elated when he actually won. He’s a breath of fresh air after Clay Aiken et al.

I must admit that Taylor’s first single, the one debuted on The Idol, is bad. Really bad. Typical IdolPop. I think his first CD will be more of the same, I’m sorry to say, but I think we’ll get some good stuff out of him before too long. It’ll take them a while to calibrate the HitMaker3000 song writing machine that cranks out the radio-worthy Pop singles. Or who knows? Maybe they’ll actually let him write some of his own songs.

Heed the Cookie

My fortune cookie just told me, "Love is the only medicine for a broken heart." It failed to consider Scotch.

Lucky Numbers 6, 8, 11, 14, 16, 43

What a Cool Name!

"...The former colonial ruler of East Timor - Prime Minister Jose Socrates..."

What an awesome name. I mean, seriously.

City Sidewalk Scenes

On the sidewalk in front of where I’m standing, waiting, two women speak a language I can’t place and pass two men of a different unrecognized tongue. The women are young and attractive. Their clothes skirt a fine line between provocative and professional. Both wear large designer sunglasses and bounce on purposeful, staccato steps. The men are an older, suspect pair. They slink untucked and disheveled along the sidewalk. One pushes a cart full of kitty litter bags and the other’s laugh reveals missing teeth behind his three-day stubble.

As the pairs pass the men suspend both conversation and stride, turning in sync to regard the bouncing female forms walking away. After a quick but thorough study, the men turn slowly back around, pause briefly to exchange knowing looks, and return to slinking untucked and disheveled along the sidewalk.

What's the Good Word?

I just realized how much I like writing the word 'diaphragm'. The consonant combinations effuse a strangely captivating visual aesthetic.

Retraction

Hey, so remember how I said the weather up here is great? Yeah… Well perhaps I was a little too premature in making that assessment. After five mornings of waking up to gray skies and fits of rain, I can safely say that the weather here is, in fact, not great.

I am not a morning person. Waking up is hard for me even under the best of conditions, but I can usually peel myself out of bed without too much trauma if I have something to do or a schedule to keep (and want to keep). This morning I sat on the edge of my bed for 15 minutes staring through the window at a charcoal sky, listening to a steady rain fall on the awnings, and trying to psyche myself up for a run. I eventually relented and left for an abbreviated and miserable jog, but only because the same internal debate the day before ended in a quick retreat under the covers.

Patches of sunshine redeemed what could have been a very depressing weekend, and with nothing but rain in the forecast, I’m very protective and appreciative of any blues skies I might find overhead.

Inconvenient

New York is the supposed city that never sleeps. Brooklyn, then, is the borough with a lot of accounting to do for its whereabouts between the hours of 6PM and 8AM. The dry-cleaners, grocery stores, and laundromats are all closed by the time I get home from work. Brooklyn is also the borough that doesn't take credit or debit cards. I'm going to have to run errands in Manhattan and lug everything back on the subway. Pain.

Summer in the City

May in New York is the best. I just recently moved back to the city to engineer for the summer while my grad school applications are pending. I've been spending my free time falling in love with the city again.

Restaurants along Hudson Street have their sidewalk tables set up and full of people. The fashionable are out walking their accessorydogs. One dog looked like a boot-size Ewok. I named him Wicket. The West Village is very trendy, eccentric, and a great place for people watching. Why is there an engineering firm here? Summer is also cleavage and back tattoo season, which are two of my favorite seasons.

My apartment is a quick ride on the L train into Brooklyn. It's noisy and I love it. East Williamsburg on the Avenue of Puerto Rico. There's a lot of Spanish around, so I should have some good chances to practice. My roommate and I went to get Mexican food last night. She ordered in Spanglish and Pointing and her order was repeated back to her in Spanglish and Pointing by a girl whom I suspect speaks English pretty well.

I can't sleep for the noise outside. My second-floor window hears everything. Snippets of walk-by conversations and arguments. Motorcycles racing at night. Busses, garbage trucks, and sirens, all with their own insomniating sounds that set off car alarms as they pass. The bright side is that I've been getting to work really early and have been going for morning jogs to explore the neighborhood. The more in-shape I get, the deeper into trendy, Hipster Williamsburg I'll be able to venture. Came across a great park today, but was tired and started back towards home. The gentrification has already started around my apartment, but is still a few good years away.

Gorgeous woman on the L train. Stood next to me as I sat. Looked like Angelina but trendier, with bigger eyes, and without kids and Brad. We have the same iPod. I'd love to know what she was listening to. I bet nobody has ever heard of those bands, but that for once they really are the greatest bands ever. Mesmerized by her thumb ring as it tapped on the metal handrail to an inaudible beat. Copper, gold, and silver. There was a horseshoe but I couldn't make out the rest. I checked my watch to see what she would do. Her bag brushed my leg.

**The spellchecker suggested “inseminating” as an alternative to “insomniating”. Sometimes fake words work better than real ones.

Home and Adjusting

Putting a fancy dress on Procrastination, calling her Inspiration, and sending her out into the world to do some PR work for the night might seem like a gross misrepresentation, but I assure you she’s a quick study and does the job well.

Everyone, I'd like you to meet Inspiration. Inspiration, Everyone.

Now that we’re all acquainted I wanted to try purging the two-month backlog of writing I’ve neglected since being back in the States. The good news is I haven’t really been doing a whole lot that might be worth a story. The bad news is that means I’ve been treading water for two months and have been a very boring person (more so than usual, if you can believe that…).

The majority of my time has been spent productively, though, I must say. I’m in the middle of applying to grad schools which involves the tests and applications for both law and business schools. One test down with satisfactory results, but I still have a lot of work to do. Next week, for example, I have an interview, law school applications due (I should be writing the essays now), and the LSAT to take. I have a lot on my plate right now, which is why I’m procrastinating…. I mean….which is why I’m inspired to write.

I wanted to talk, though, about treading water and getting caught up in a place where going forward isn’t really an option, because that’s the place I find myself these days and it’s starting to get me down a little bit. I thought maybe I’ve been trying to focus too much on long term big picture goals at the expense of the short term instant gratification kind and have been forced to play the waiting game while applications are pending and long term scenarios are a long way from happening.

For example, it’s great (I think) to work towards getting into a JD-MBA program. And it’s even greater to work towards getting accepted into a JD-MBA program so you could just decline their acceptance and blow off academia knowing you COULD make it IF you wanted to, thus leaving the road free and clear to explore a promising career as a rodeo clown or motorcycle racer. You know; long term goals. And initially I thought I had been focusing too much on being a too-cool-for-law-school motorcycle racer and not really focusing on anything short term from which I could garner any immediate satisfaction. But the more I thought about this, the more I realized that I DO have short term goals, both in the form of important milestones on the road to getting accepted into grad school (LSAT, GMAT, buy a motorcycle) and as stand-alone short term goals (bartending school and job). These short term goals and milestones have required a lot of work and have yielded a significant amount of satisfaction, so why then the discontentment?

What I’ve come to realize is that sometimes it’s simply a matter of being caught in a current where swimming as hard as you can is just enough to keep you in the same place relative to the shore, and that it’s important to distinguish swimming against the current from treading water. When the stream you want to take and the stream you’re forced to take don’t flow in the same direction, the choices are either to tread or swim. If you swim, the current can push some of your upstream goals towards you and eventually you might find yourself able to make some progress as time passes and the current starts to change. Simply tread water and wait it out, though, and who knows where you might end up.

Thoughts anyone?

Day 27 - San Fran - The Icing on the Cake

I really like San Francisco. I had spent a week here in August with my family, and now after this stopover I’ve added San Fran to the short (very short) list of places I would like to live. Too bad it’s New York expensive and I’m unemployed…

Today was a perfect way for me to end my trip: leisurely paced, relaxed, and with good company. Having seen and felt so many things over the past year, I’m always looking for outlets for sharing and trying to express what’s jumbled up in my head. I’m also looking for different sounding boards to try and help me make sense of the jumble as it comes out. Some friends are great at helping you focus your gaze and reinforcing what you believe. Others are great at challenging you and offering perspectives you might have never considered.

I met up with my friend V for lunch and catching up on everything that’s happened to both of us in the past year. To say nothing of simply enjoying her company, talking with V is always such a rewarding experience for me. She has a way of turning thoughts to words that I would give anything to possess, and I find myself using parts of my brain I’m not accustomed to using trying to follow her questions and progressions of thought. Sometimes all I can do is sit and stare as my mind races to catch up.

After lunch V took me on a little walking tour of her city. I don’t remember so much about the places we went that afternoon, but I remember feeling completely at peace with the city and the moment, happy to be back in something of a comfort zone, and excited to meet whatever challenges I’m about to meet.

Day 26 - Seoul to San Fran

I awoke from a very uncomfortable sleep to break fast on a few bites of the worst omelet ever and to find that my foot had swollen to the point it wouldn’t fit in my shoe. After limping through immigration and customs in Seoul I got on a bus for Itaewon to meet up with Michelle, Mike, and my laptop (hello, old friends!). I arrived about an hour or so before I was supposed to meet them, so I went to Starbucks, listened to my iPod, drank my designer coffee, and wrote in my journal. Looks like I found my Americana a little earlier than planned. Eventually I limped over to Gecko’s (more Americana) and met up with Michelle and Mike. It was so great catching up on everything that’s happened in the last month. I didn’t realize how much I missed them until we were back together again.

Back at the airport I waited out a delay for an aircraft change and marveled at how much Koreans (and Indians, too, it seems) love to queue up and stand around for no apparent reason. Finally, at about 7:30 I boarded the plane, said my last goodbyes to Asia, and headed to San Francisco.

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Being in San Fran and back in the States is quite a surreal feeling. I’m not used to being able to understand conversations I hear on the subway or being able to communicate without hand gestures. This is going to take some getting used to. It was also, technically, six hours prior to the time that I actually left Korea. Crossing the date line meant that November 20 for me would last for close to 40 hours.

After checking into my hotel I decided that two whole hours in America was way too long to have been without a mobile phone, so I went to take in the sights and atmosphere of San Fran and to find myself a leash.

Terrence and Lesa picked me up at my hotel and we went out for dinner (Burmese fusion cuisine, whatever that means) and drinks. It was great meeting up with friends from this part of the world and being able to pick up like nothing had really changed. The gaps from the past year were easy to fill in and it was great falling back into just sitting around and talking about everything and nothing. After tonight I feel really good about being able to pick my friendships back up.

Back to the hotel for a nice, hot shower and sleeping in a real bed. Ahhhhh!!!!

Day 25 - Bangkok

I think I'd had my fill of Bangkok and being a tourist in general. The minutes were moving so slowly as I was walking around the city this morning, and I just wanted to get to the airport.

What saved the day, though, and maybe my trip was a Thai Boxing class. Two hours of kicking and punching things definitely made me feel better. Realizing how incredibly out of shape - both strength and endurance shape and fighting shape (sorry, Bob and Jan) - was a little depressing. I've really got to get on the ball when I get back home, especially since I'm not going to have a pesky "job" to distract me. After the class I hobbled back to my hotel to nurse my bruised and swelling ankle and quarter-sized patch of skin I ripped from my toe. I’m in such pain now… After packing, dinner, and some last minute shopping I limped my three backpacks for what seemed ten miles to catch the bus.

Thank God I could check those bags. I’ve never been so relieved to be unencumbered. Of course, with my luck, the gate was at the farthest end of the farthest terminal in the entire airport, so it’s a good thing I was a little early. By the time I dragged my club foot across the airport I only had about fifteen minutes before boarding.

Day 24 - Bangkok

This is the first place I’ve missed traveling with someone else. Usually I don’t have any problems meeting people, and maybe it’s just that I’m road weary and can’t be bothered to make the effort of being social, but there seems to be a different feeling here within the solo-traveler community. For one thing, there are a lot more of us, so I don’t feel that special connection like I did in smaller places when there were only a couple of lone rangers. Bangkok also seems like a dubious place to be traveling alone if you’re a guy. Anyone over the age of 30 is automatically suspect of being here for the sex trade. I’m sure my intentions are questioned as well. In fact, any taxi, tuk-tuk, or motorbike I’ve taken in Bangkok has offered to find me a girlfriend for the night.

So setting out this morning I didn’t really have my bearings, so after a few minutes of wandering I found myself standing on a street corner looking perplexed as I glanced back and forth between my map and some road signs. I hate finding myself in this position as it’s a great way to attract profiteers. And so, in due course, I was approached and scammed.

Now I didn’t get scammed out of any money, but I did end up losing out on a big chunk of time. Actually, since I’m always looking for a good way to kill a few hours, it wasn’t so bad. The scam involved telling me that the sights I wanted to see were keeping strange hours today (of course) because it was the last day of some holiday, and that I could see some other sights that aren’t usually open to foreigners. He told me I could get a tuk-tuk to take me around for 3 hours for 50 cents because the government was paying his petrol for the day. So he drove me around to a few Buddha temples (one of which was interesting), the Golden Tower which had an impressive view of the city, and to a tailor that had been recommended by my hotel. It was called the James Tailor, so I had to go in and check it out. I had seen on the news that Korea was freezing cold and I didn’t have any kind of jacket with me, so I was going to have one made. After the prices in Vietnam, though, James Tailor was way too expensive.

So the reason this ends up being a scam is that to get his “gas money”, the driver has to take a foreigner to a souvenir or jewelry store and get a stamp from the shopkeeper. He asked if I minded being taken to a few shops on the way back to Khaosan Road so he could get his stamps. Since he was nice and had been driving me around for a couple hours, I reluctantly agreed. After another tailor and two “jewelry” stores I must have looked so pissed that he just took me back to my hotel. I figure I wasted about two hours but saved two dollars. It could have been a lot worse.

After getting my bearings again I set off for the Grand Palace, which can be summed up with the word ‘sparkly’. It’s a huge complex with government, residential, and religious buildings and all of the religious ones are decorated top to bottom, inside and out with small tiles and shiny glass. It’s all just one big-ass mosaic, and it’s quite incredible to see. Inside the grounds was the sacred Emerald Buddha, which is actually carved from jade and looks a lot bigger in pictures.

At Wat Pho, just south of the palace complex, is the Relaxin’ Buddha, or the Reclining Buddha if you’re more of a purist. And it’s exactly what the name implies: A huge statue of Buddha lying on his side and propping his head up with his hand. It was very big and very reclined, and that’s all I really have to say about it.

The highlight of my day was a Thai massage at the national training center. Ten dollars for an hour or being kneaded, rubbed down with hot stones and herbs, and contorted into positions I didn’t know I could make. It was awesome.

Back on Khaosan Road feeling much better and probably two inches taller, I spent the rest of my evening doing what I do best: shopping, eating, drinking, and people watching.

Day 23 - Siem Reap to Bangkok

I woke up early this morning and went to a travel agent to secure a plane ticket to Bangkok leaving later in the day. I'd heard such horror stories about the bus ride (you know how I feel about busses) from Siem Reap to Thailand that I happily paid 5 times as much to fly. Time is also an issue at this point, as my trip is hurdling to its end.

I spent the rest of the morning shopping around the market and trying out a few cafes for either coffee or beer (it's happy hour somewhere, right?). I caught a motorbike out to the middle of nowhere, feeling like I was about to be waylaid the entire time, to the landmine museum. It's a very rudimentary couple of shacks and gardens set up to display a lot of information and a lot of old land mines, but is mostly impressive for being set up by a man who, as a child, was forced to plant mines for the Khmer Rouge and who now wants to raise awareness about how the mines are still a huge problem. The museum grounds also double as a school for children affected in some way by mines. I happily donated some money to support their cause, bought some museum t-shirts, and even bought some bracelets made by students at the school. Cute kids.

The last stop of the day in Siem Reap was the Butterfly Garden Bar, where you can order expensive and/or bad food and drinks while hundreds of butterflies fly around your head. The bar itself is really neat, but my food wasn't very good and my "house special" drink was remniscent of gasoline and lilac.

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Landing in Bangkok was first shocking because I hadn't seen any big planes at an airport in quite a while. I'd been in some big cities, but now I was in a BIG city and a major tourist destination. Bangkok isn't just on the beaten path, it's the place where all beaten and unbeaten paths lead.

On the bus to Khaosan Road, THE spot for backpackers in SE Asia, there were obvious first-timers in Asia (that deer in the headlights look), seasoned veterans (flip flops and asian beer shirts), and the occasional middle-aged man here for the sex scene. In Thailand, it seems, there's something for everyone. Khaosan Road is the sum of every tourist strip I've seen so far. Neon, bars, shops, restaurants, hotels, and of course banks $$$ at such an astounding density. I settled into my hotel and then found a seat at one of the bars to have a beer and to people watch for a while. There's a lot to take in here.

Day 22 - Angkor

With my airport motorbike (motorbike sounds a lot better than scooter, don't you think?) guy as my driver for the temples, I set off for the temples of Angkor. What an amazing place! The price tag is a little outragious at $20/day, but well worth it for a day of sightseeing. I might have had trouble paying for two or more days, but one day was great.

Since I was doing an abbreviated tour I only had time to hit the highlights. The first stop was the impressive Angkor Wat, the place I most wanted to see here. It's an absolutely beautiful site and it's on such a massive scale with intricate carvings and stonework. I especially liked the carved figures of skinny, well-endowed women adorning most surfaces. It seems the ancient Khmer people and I have a lot in common when it comes to appreciating the female form. The focal point of the temple is a huge central spire surrounded by four smaller spires are the four corners of an outer building. They're meant to represent five holy mountains, and the steps are so steep that getting to the top feels a lot like climbing a mountain. A few times I was able to find a secluded, meditative spot to relax, but the meditation sessions were often short lived and interrupted by locals wanting to practice their English. All things considered, though, I left Angkor Wat with a wonderful impression. It's beautiful, awe-inspring, and wonderfully rebuilt/maintained.

The next stop in the whirlwind d'Angkor was the Bayon, just North of Angkor Wat, which I found to be just as impressive as the Wat and more mysterious despite its limited scale and more ruinous state of repair. Whereas the temple structure of the Wat is tall and spread out, the Bayon is jammed into a small area that's filled with little nooks and crannies, hidden rooms and corridors, and intricate stone carvings on every surface. In fact, the Bayon is probably most remarkable for the bazillion or so faces carved into the stone towers. It's a little bit creepy, to be honest, having all those faces staring at you from every angle. I found myself walking around jaw-unhinged as much as at Angkor Wat, but it's a completely different kind of overwhelming.

The next stop was Ta Prohm, heretofore referred to as the Angelina Jolie temple since one of her Tomb Raider movies was filmed here. When a French team rediscovered the temples at Angkor some years ago, they had been completely engulfed by the surrounding jungle and were in varying states of ruin - the temples, that is, and not the French. A massive clearing, rebuilding, and preservation project was started to restore the temples to something of their former glory. They decided, however, that the temples quietly coexisting with and slowly being torn apart by the jungle was a different kind of beautiful, so they decided to keep some temples as they found them, which is to say that they are meticulously maintained to make sure they look as is they're being overrun with jungle but are tourist-friendly and relatively safe from further damage.

It's hard to tell how big of a temple this was from inside since any towers have been toppled and replaced with huge trees growing out of the stones. All-in-all it's a very alluring and mysterious place and I had a great time losing myself among the ruins and hoping to run into Angelina.

On the motorbike ride to the next temle, the bottom fell out of the clouds that had been threatening all afternoon. Bikes are great except when they leave you exposed to the unpleasant elements, so the 5-minute ride through the needles of rain was a painfully exhilirating and thoroughly soaking experience. We found a big tent on the side of the road that had been set up to serve food and souveniers to the tourist hordes, but was now being used as a refuge by anyone traveling on two wheels. I waited out the storm by napping in a hammock thrown up in the tent. That might have been the most enjoyable part of my day.

When the rain ended, the sunset was closing in. The last stop for the day was a temple on a nearby hilltop that offers fantastic views of the surrounding countryside and is a popular place to catch the sunset over the jungle. When I say it's popluar, I mean that everyone and all their friends were there. After walking up a huge hill trying to get around groups of geriatric Japanese tourists, there was a line of people waiting to climb the ladder-like stairs to the top. I reached the top amidst a sea of cheering and was doubly disappointed to find that not only did nobody care that I had arrived, but that they were cheering the sun having passed beyond the horizon. I hurried to get my camera only to realize that my batteries were dead. of course. i was hoping to get some pictures of the sunset and of the mass of people taking pictures of the sunset. By the time I got my other camera out, the crowd has disappeared and the sky wasn't so impressive. The good news is that I was like last in line to get back down off the mountain.

After 5 miles of traffic jam, fumes, and honking on the back of a motorbike, I arrived at the guesthouse which had no power. I then had to try explaining to my English-challenged driver that I didn't know what time my flight was leaving, so I couldn't tell him what time he should pick me up to take me to the airport. I've never been so close to strangling such a nice guy. I finally left the guesthouse and headed into Siem Reap town for a much needed beer.

Day 21 - Bye-bye, Vietnam!

This morning was a clinic on how to go leisurely about a day and to enjoy a city. Now, I'm sitting in the Ho Chi Minh airport and after issues with my customs form (I had lost it) and not being able to remember the name of any of my hotels as required by the new customs form, I'm watching a screen full of delayed flights and wondering if I'll ever get to Cambodia. I'm a little doubtful, to be honest.

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After a two-hour delay, I hopped a quick flight to Siem Reap. I payed $20 for my Cambodian visa, then emptied my wallet of money by paying $1 for a ride into town on the back of a scooter. I was dropped at a guesthouse the driver knew (friends with the staff) since I hadn't booked any accomodation for the night. The Coconut Villa Guesthouse will not make my list of recommended places to stay. hot water-less, gritty sheets, and overpriced doesn't really fit the bill. I wanted to wander and see some of the sights in Siem Reap, but only having about 25 cents in usable currency (Siem Reap has no ATMs), I was forced to watch fuzzy TV until I fell asleep.

A Few Thoughts on Traveling in Asia

This story doesn't really fit into the one-day-one-story format I've been using for the rest of this trip, but is rather a balloon of thoughts and feelings that has finally burst.

Traveling here has made me wary of anyone trying to strike up a conversation, and I'm sure to those few well intentioned people who really do just want to say Hi and practice their English, I come across as a royal ass. I've accepted that to 99% of the poeple here I'm a walking dollar sign, and I don't feel like I'm being unfair in that assessment. I've been made to feel this way by a never ending barrage of sales pitches and propositions, so my reaction, accordingly, has become the cold shoulder. My standard answers are "NO", or if I'm feeling nice, "NO, thank you." regardless of the question.

"Hello. Motorbike*?" (*insert 'postcards', 'hotel', 'buy something', 'eat something', or anything else that might be for sale.)
"No."
"Oh! Where are you from?"
"No."
"Where are you going?"
"No."

I've made several exceptions to my policy of ignoring (policy of ignorance?) and have spoken with quite a few people along the way. Some of these have been incredibly rewarding experiences and have offered a wonderful insight into life in these countries. Many, unfortunately, have been long winded attempts to lighten my wallet.

One thing I must say is that a majority of the people who have approached me, and especially in Vietnam, have offered goods or services in exchange for my money, be it for souveniers, motorbike rides, tour guide services, or something else for which I might agreeably pay. Begging for money is relatively rare, and I admire the determination of these people to go out and earn a living in some fashion instead of accepting handouts. It's the endless stream of people touting their services that's hard to swallow and eventually takes its toll. With so much poverty, though, and so much competition for the tourists' dollars, it's to be expected.

So the lesson hidden in the lines of my rant is this: when traveling in Asia, discard all blatant propositions for money with a firm (often friendly) "NO" or two. Occasionally, however, if you have the time and patience, sit and chat with some of the locals. They could be the most enlightening and enjoyable moments of your trip.

Day 20 - Saigon

I arrived in Saigon at about 5am. On land, train is the only way to travel, man. Busses are for suckers - or massochists - or both. After finding a hotel that was open, putting my bags down, and freshening up, I killed some time at an internet cafe and then found some much-needed breakfast - I had had Oreos for dinner on the train. The next order of business was to find a haircut. I was starting to feel a little shaggy in addition to always feeling dirty (curse of the backpacker) so i figured a haircut would make me feel a lot better. Sometime during breakfast the torrential rain started and the power on our street went out, which I only mention because it nearly got me in a lot of trouble.

The first salon I went in was the wrong kind of salon. Since the power was off I couldn't really see inside except to see some mirrors on the wall and a bored-looking girl sitting in a barber chair. When I walked in I noticed about 20 bored-looking girls putting on makeup and adjusting their too-mini skirts. Their bored-looking pimp thankfully told me they were closed since the power was out. I made sure the next place I entered was legit, and not only did I end up with a good haircut (short, flippy, and pointy), but I ended up with the best scalp, face, and shoulder massage EVER. There are now two known paths to my heart: my stomach (we all already knew that), and a head/face massage. *sigh*

Walked around Saigon for the afternoon with an added spring in my step, and then met up with some friends from Hoi An (they arrived in Saigon by bus - suckers!) for a lot of food and drinks before calling it a too-early night. Bon voyage, guys!

Day 19 - Bye-bye, Hoi An. Bye-bye, Budget

Well so much for bargain shopping. Two tailors, 20kg and $700 worth of clothes, plus $200 in shipping costs means that my budget for the rest of this trip is completely gone. For the Christmas and birthday presents I haven't bought yet, I might have to resort to airplane blankets and in-flight magazines. Sorry, guys...

I got on a train for Saigon today (no more busses!). An 18-hour trip with room to stretch out and walk around is infinitely more appealing to me than 24 hours packed into a hot, crowded bus. It's well worth the $50 price tag.

Days 17 and 18 - Hoi An

Hoi An is a really neat place. It's one of a very few places that wasn't damaged during the wars, so it has a lot of its old buildings and architecture intact. The city has even been designated a world heritage site. Hoi An is also remarkable for its huge array of tailors.

This stop was a big change of pace for me. Usually I spend my time sightseeing, stopping for drinks or food, writing emails, and cooling off at the hotel. Mostly, though, I'm pounding pavement and seeing a lot of sights. In Hoi An, however, I did little or no sightseeing and I didn't really wander too far from the city center with the hotel, restaurants, and tailors. The days in Hoi An typically consisted of arranging to meet up with some or all of the group, usually for meals, then walking around, shopping and getting fitted for clothes, and taking nap and email breaks.

My two days in Hoi An are something of a blur since I don't have many reference points in time to build memories around. The morning trip to the tailor one day is virtually the same memory as a trip to a different tailor another night. Lunches and dinners were all from different restaurants with the exact same menu. The highlights I have are the big deviations from that normal routine. On Saturday, Matt and I rented scooters and braved 4km of Vietnamese roads on the way to a great beach. The parade of ladies and children selling fruit, jewelry, frisbees, cigarettes, and massages detracted from the overall peaceful setting, but not enough to ruin my mood.

Oh, and I learned that the Swedish word for 'mullet' is hockeyfrilla.