looking glass

upon arrival in myanmar i was greeted by a friendly group from a hostel. they offered a free ride downtown if i took a peek at their rooms. usually i take the free ride and move on since the rooms are a bit more expensive. this time, however, i chose the room not based solely on appearance and price, but on how friendly the staff was. this was a wonderful introduction to myanmar, a country stricken with poverty but with excesses of happiness.

without a doubt the ultimate highlight of myanmar is the colorful group of ethnicities that make up the burmese population. roaming the streets of yangon gave me a sense of the bengali and indian influence in the former british colony. after travelling to the shan state bordering thailand i realized this vastly undeveloped land was full of diversity.

my travel itinerary in myanmar was fairly standard, as i only spent two weeks there. my first experience with myanmar transit was an overnight bus up to mandalay, an unfortunately hideous town. the 600km trip took roughly 16 hours, including stops in the middle of the road so the bus driver could chat with other buses coming down to yangon. i came to realize that these journeys included some of the best stories during my stay.

after a few days gazing at gold temples and walking across the longest teak bridge in the world (or so the bible says) i made my way to bagan via boat. the local boat cruised down the ayeyarwady river with only 4 foreigners on board. i was able to sample some of the local treats with generous burmese who opened their plentiful lunch sacks. the peanuts with mystery veggies and rice kept me full for the day-long cruise.

the temples of bagan were a stunning sight, and hopefully the pictures do them justice. situated on a flat field, the temples seem neverending and wonderfully unique. the nightlife there was also abundant for myanmar-two bars open after 10pm!!!!a few days at inle lake rounded out the trip for me. the sights were fairly modest there, but the dip in the center of the lake cleansed me of some of the dirt i picked up riding on top of a pick-up for a few hours.

back in bangkok, i have a few hours to contemplate my next move to delhi.

after extending my vietnamese visa for a trip to see the hill tribes of the northwest, i was positive i would escape the never-ending annoyances of hanoi. to my dismay, my premonitions were proven incorrect within a few minutes of trekking between rice-terraced fields and water buffalo. the scenery was absolutely sublime, perhaps the most stunning natural setting these eyes have ever seen, but the annoyances were abundant.

upon departing my hotel for the overnight in a tribal village, i knew we would encounter many hmong (tribe name) women selling goods. i did not, however, expect a band of them to follow us the entire day and ask us if we "buy from me" or "maybe later" (a deadly, deadly commitment to make). the group i walked with had reserves of patience, but after our lunch break we were just plain tired of the hassle. we were at the base of soaring mountains that nearly touched the clouds. the intricate network of streams that ran through the rice paddies were a natural marvel, but, alas, the aggressive hanoi disposition was unfortunately exported up to the mountains.

if there were a defining last trip to make to vietnam, the northwest was it. offering stunning beauty, unbelievable motorbiking and great food, it surpassed every place i had previously visited. i couldn't have asked for a better setting to enjoy my last few nights in vietnam. the constant assault of moto-drivers, hill tribe women and food vendors dampened my spirits a bit, but more than anything, that was the vietnam i remember most from saigon, dalat, nha trang etc. everywhere i went the people were trying to take as much money from your wallet as they possibly could. disguised under the mask of communism, these self-made capitalists weren't thinking of tomorrow- no no no-they were thinking of today. after lengthy discussions with several foreigners it seems this attitude, which is all to prevalent, keeps many backpackers out of vietnam, or prevents them from a return visit. i haven't made up my mind yet, but if i return, it will be with a good set of earplugs and a shirt that just reads "NO, THANKS!!"

on a pictural note here are some pictures of the beautiful scenery near SAPA, Vietnam.

what a tour it has been! im currently entering my last week of travel in vietnam and the sights, sounds and smells still arouse the senses.

the old quarter in hanoi is a labyrinth of narrow streets that are filled with colorful characters selling everything from gravestones to silk suits. i arrived here at 5:30am on my birthday and found the nicest "budget" hotel, which included a bathtub and hot water, two amenities i haven't had thus far on the trip. the last few days i've been roaming the quarter and indulging in some tasty treats, especially the french pastries that cost a whopping $.40!!!

about 4 hrs from hanoi on the gulf of tonkin is halong bay, home to a natural wonder out at sea. literally thousands of limestone islands rise up from the waters to create a surreal setting. i cruised on a boat through the fog and spent a night onboard with some new friends. the light wasn't ideal for photography, but the clouds and fog made for an eerie night in the middle of the bay. the 2nd day i went for a "trek", which was a 4km walk up a mountain. our tour "guide" was chain-smoking and walking in flip-flops (thongs). as you can imagine it wasn't quite the warm-up for nepal that i was hoping for. the kayak trip through the islands was a wonderful way to end the trip, and also to earn a few beer hanoi's in the evening.

as for the trip between the major cities, hoi an and the DMZ have been the highlights. i was fortunate enough to stay in hoi an for tet, the vietnamese new year. for one week, the people of this beautiful country spend time with their family and celebrate the nation getting one year older. hoi an, an old trading post that was utilized by portuguese, japanese and chinese (to name a few), is supposedly the cultural heart of vietnam. the fading yellow facades of old houses and brick streets certainly add an aesthetic feel that is unique in vietnam, but the sheer number of tourists make modern vietnamese culture invisible.

before i embarked on the hellish overnight to hanoi, i enjoyed a day touring the DMZ. the 17th parallel was the Demilitarized Zone from 1954 until Saigon fell on April 30th, 1975. throughout vietnam, underground tunnels were built by the viet cong to avoid intense bombing campaigns undertaken by the US. i went 15m beneath the earth's surface and saw firsthand where hundreds of people lived and 17 children were born!!!! tiny areas of rock were beds and muddy hallways led the vietnamese from the shores of the pacific into the jungle. it was truly an elaborate and well-thought out plan. afterwards the bus pulled up to khe san, and several former US helicopters were in the foreground. a few vietnamese men were selling US and Vietnamese dog tags, and the thoughts of the war surfaced in a gut-wrenchging way.

i have met countless vietnamese men, women and children on this journey. nearly everyone who can speak english asks where i come from. the answer america has rarely had a negative response, and more often than not they smile and say they want to visit my home country. the past has not been forgotten, but the people i have met here are looking to the future, to improve their country and become a desirable place to live. my experience in vietnam has been as much about the beautiful sights as it has been about meeting the people and sharing some great memories. the bia hoi always makes for a great night out!

all my vietnam pics are under the link to the right, but here are a few that i have time to include. (gotta catch a night train to the mountains....)

MEKONG DELTA


SAIGON (HO CHI MINH)

DALAT





NHA TRANG




HOI AN




DMZ


HANOI

Greetings from Viet Nam!

The French city design seems neverending in SE Asia. I guess the colonizers put the locals straight to work when they got here.

After cruising around Saigon I've come to the conclusion that traffic circles only add to the dangerous nature of urban motorbiking. Crossing the road between oncoming Hondas, driven by women covered from head-to-toe in a combination of silk and cotton, has become the norm here. I can't say my method is very complex. I look to the right or left, and just hope they don't hit me. Usually the men slow down to offer me a ride with the ubiquitous question "Where you go?". After a negative reply the driver cordially asks if I'd care for a prostitute or drugs. Apparently all white men are interested in only two things in life-getting laid and getting high. Ponder that thought and let me know its' validity.

Absolute chaos exists on all corners around my room, which is the 2nd floor of a silk shop. I can't go to bed until 3am, when the motorbikes and prostitutes dull down, and there are vendors hollering from 6 or 7 in the morning. Luckily I have Coltrane on the Ipod to put me back to sleep.

Yesterday I scoped out the city's attractions, which include a plethora of Ho Chin Minh statues and American War Museums. The pictures inside the main War Museum were absolutely striking-deformed babies, soldiers with limbs ripped off, forests destroyed by Agent Orange and of course, smiling portraits of the "culprits"-a succession of US Presidents, Robert McNamara and Henry Kissinger.

A propaganda stunt precedes the goods of the museum, in which the "Prelude to War" is summarized to make the reader believe that the imperialist Americans were the first to take the Vietnamese land. The imperialist French and Japanese were almost completely overlooked, but I guess the main emphasis of the museum was the American War. A French guillotine was situated inside a fake torture room, which paled in comparison to the real detention center that the Khmer Rouge used in Phnom Penh. Without the work of countless photojournalists, including one skillful Japanese man (jozu desu ne!), this museum would be severely lacking. The American war vessels outside provide some real-life flair, but I believe Howard Zinn's chapter on Vietnam was more insightful than any message provided at the War Museum.

Upon entering Nam I decided to rent a motorbike for a few days and venture into the Mekong Delta. The rice bowl of Vietnam was full of picturesque landscapes-floating morning markets, women in conical hats next to shades of green vegetable crops and rice baking on the pavement. Green Mekong water was never far from the dirt roads I bumped over, and the smells always enticed my appetite. The rice-paper wraps with fresh veggies, meats and peanut sauce are just divine. The friendly nature of the Southern Vietnamese was a wonderful way to start my trip, especially considering the Saigon hawks are setting prices 10 times what they should be. Bargaining has lost much of its' entertainment value here, but I'm still up for a good-natured argument over a quarter. It's all about the 4000 dong.

Tomorrow I'm off to Dalat, an old French outpost situated in the mountains. Hopefully the cool air will provide some respite from the sweaty nights I've spent underneath countless fans. Life never gets boring on the road. There's always a new town to go to.

here's what ive done so far

after enjoying the fun ride through thailand and laos, i came to see some of the worst of se asia's history outside of phnom penh. about 10km from the cambodian capital are the S-21 killing fields, used by pol pot's regime to kill "subversives". these people were academics, women, children and anyone deemed to be against the maoist revolution that swept the country in 1975. in less than four years the powerful khmer rouge killed 2 million people, nearly one quarter of the population!!!!

when i walked around the craters in the ground, the images of innocent cambodians being beaten and killed was overwhelming. a temple with bones was erected in the center of the grounds, and it was a moving experience.

afterwards i visited the S-21 facility, used to detain and torture civilians. the cells were barely big enough to lay down in, and the weapons used were on display. the combination of the killing fields and detention center in a single day was a tough thing to grasp after cruising down the mekong and relaxing on the beach. im sure this will be one of the most meaningful experiences on my trip.

as i see the faces of the people in the street, i think about their family members that may have been killed by the khmer rouge. one day i hope the cambodians can achieve reconciliation. there have never been war trials and many khmer rouge leaders are still silent about the acts they committed. considering pol pot's regime lost power in 1979 and he died in 1998, justice will most likely never come. this country is certainly moving forward anyway, and they have no problem showing you their true hearts. i can understand why many ex-pats volunteer to help the children here. it's hard not to feel sympathetic towards the khmer people, but finding the correct way to help them is very difficult. many people beg for money, and children are used by men to sell their products, such as guidebooks and flowers. buying a child a plate of fried rice has felt good, and writing this down soothes some of the pain as well.

here is a picture of the fields. all of the depressions are where the bones were buried in mass graves. in some spots, old clothing was still visible underneath the grass and dirt.