All quiet on the western front

It's so quiet here in the west, the streets are full of people but they are just there to get from a to b or add some extra pounds to their credit card bills. In Asia the streets are full of people as well, but there they eat, talk to their neighbour, sell fruit, you have fortune tellers and cyclo drivers. Scooters are parked everywhere (OK that drove me mad since you end up walking in the gutter, at least in Hanoi), there is a community there. There used to be a community here as well, but it is sadly long gone.

Year Zero

So I'm back in London. Christ how will I survive this boredom? I have to look at it as Year Zero when my life will take a new direction. I really wish I was back in Indochina, it was such an incredible experience. I even miss the traffic in Hanoi, well you know it's easy to look at things that way when you have left. But it's also easy to look at London and think it's a bit of a dump. Nothing has changed, everyone has had a pretty boring summer, everyone seems to dislike their work, the economy is still at a standstill, there are so many teenage louts everywhere, at least everyone was civilised over there and what a difference to your daily life that makes. I have to start planning my next trip which will maybe be to Jordan. Would love to go to the Middle East and I guess that's the only safe place left but I would also really like to see Petra so it's a perfect destination. I will write more about our South East Asia trip though, from Vietnam especially since I didn't write much there. At least the sun is shining here as well and there are pubs and Hampstead Heath to take my mind of things.

The Five O'Clock Follies

A few words on Saigon...The Caravelle Hotel where all the correspondents hung out writing stories to be sent back to The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde etc., The Rex where the Five O'Clock Follies took place, seedy Tu Do street with all the go-go bars and where long term press corps players took up residence, the American consulate and operation Frequent Wind, all of this is long gone. The Rex is now a five star hotel, the rooftop bar at the Caravelle is still there with great views but they have to be taken in sipping $7 small beers (well or lychee mojitos like I did) . Tu Do street is now Don Khoi street and lined with chic boutiques and restaurants. Old colonial buildings are being torn down to give way for modern skyscrapers. Saigon will be like Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong in 10-15 years. I would have loved to see this city in the 60's. Now despite what could be read as cynicism I really really liked Saigon, there is a great sense of history and parts are very beautiful in a very French way. I will go back, the noise pollution is something to get used to though.

Highway One

Thought I would write more when I came to Vietnam but I am always very tired now. Travelling is taking its toll on me. Yesterday I went on the worst journey of my life. We took the overnighter from Nha Trang to Hoi An and we had by far the worst seats/beds on the bus. The lower beds at the back so we where literally sleeping 5 people in a coffin. Up Highway One which is NOT in a good state. It was bumpy, hot and there was no air in our coffin. It was a nightmare!! Arrived in Hoi An at 7 in the morning feeling like a zombie, couldn't check in to our hotel so went and had breakfast at Mr Kim's after walking through the morning market. We could finally check in at 11, had some sleep but felt really sick the rest of the day. It's a beautiful little place this town, old Chinese merchants houses and assembly halls from the good old days some 600 years ago. It was also untouched from American bombs. It feels a bit like a museum with souvenir shops and so on but there's a live community here still which is nice. Will be here one more day and we really want to try and go to My Lai, but it doesn't seem possible. Up Highway One to Hue after this.

It's ok

Went up to Bokor Hill, was expecting a three hour trek through the jungle up the mountains but luckily we where at the last minute able to go by car ( Bokor Hill closes to the public now and again). We had booked a tour and of course the tour vehicle turned out to be a beaten up old Honda with a guy up front who was driving like he was chased by the Khmer Rouge and our guide an old soldier. Sadly Bokor Hill which is a Natural park has been sold to the Chinese. Only in Cambodia! ...and anyway they are going to build a massive hotel complex up there that will cater to the Chinese and anyone who will join them and their gambling urge. They are also fixing the road up there and this is the road we went up past bomb blast and deep holes, through water and past Khmer construction workers. We finally reached the top of the mountain and was greeted by surreal, eerie, haunting, breathtaking views of the surrounding country side and old colonial ruins, a hotel, church, post office and casino that where almost completely cloud hidden. It was even better than I had expected. We had lunch later on in an old ranger station and the old soldier was telling us how his family where killed by the Khmer Rouge and he was left in the jungle alone for a year and a half. He later joined the Vietnamese army and after 12 years left to work for the UN to clear mines all over Cambodia. His wife got ill with diabetes so he had to leave his job with the UN because he was travelling so much and then became a tour guide for Bokor Hill (only soldiers or soldier friendly men where allowed up there as guides). He said money is no good now, I earn very little but it's ok...It's ok. Harrowing Stories.

Kampot pepper

Left beautiful, slow Laos a few days ago to come to mad, bad and dangerous Cambodia. Well Phnom Penh is at least all three of the above. We spent a few days in Siem Reap to have a look at the awe inspiring and amazingly impressive Angkor temples. There's not many tourists in Cambodia now so we got a lot of the temples to ourselves, well us and all the little kids trying to sell you things. The girls and boys and their big eyes are a bit hard to resist so my bag is full of little things now, but they are so poor so hopefully a few of my dollars have gone a long way for them. I know people say you shouldn't encourage begging or child labour, (not sure if what they do would be regarded as such but nevertheless they are working albeit for their own families) by giving them money but what are those kids and their families to do until things change in this world and they are not left to do humiliating tasks to feed themselves. Both Lao and Cambodia are so poor and it's heartbreaking to see, but also an incredible eye opener.

Took another mad bus trip from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, we had three near crashes with other vehicles and almost killed three people trying to cross the road. Even the bus driver was freaked out and had to stop at one point, after almost hitting two girl, to go out for a break. Vietnam is supposedly worse, might use the trains there.

Anyway, Phnom Penh is a cool place with a lot of character, but it also has a very dark side with prostitution, child prostitution, street kids, corruption and well just pure poverty and desperation.
But despite that I liked it a lot, it's got great restaurants and quaint little shops, big boulevards and a lot of tuk tuk drivers and mad people on scooters. We will go back there in a couple of days for our Vietnam visa.

We are in Kampot now and will be here for a couple of days, it's a charming old crumbling resort town where there's not a single thing to do. A few good restaurants though so at least we wont go hungry. We are going up to Bokor Hill on Sunday which will be the highlight of Cambodia (well I hope anyway), it's an old french hill resort that is now just a ghost town, it's up in the mountains and it's apparently very very spooky! Can't wait!

Under the sweltering sky

Still in Luang Prabang. This place is absolutely wonderful, so so beautiful. Full of old colonial houses, Chinese shop houses, temples, lovely side streets, cafe's and handicraft shops. Then of course the Mekong on one side and the Nam Khan river on the other side. I could stay here for a year. It's is almost unbearably hot though. I am walking around with an umbrella to protect me from the ultra scorching sun. Have ended up with a cold as well, damn! Can't imagine anything worse in this heat.

Sunday June 14

Can feel the beginnings of a cold coming on. Went up really early for a boat trip on the Mekong to some Buddha caves. One of the caves was amazing with hundreds and hundreds of Buddha statues in all shapes and sizes left there by worshipers. Went to a village after along the river where they produce whisky. The village was a tourist trap if there ever was one, just people trying to sell things to you. There was a temple there though which had amazing images of Buddhist hell. Very cartoon like with sexy naked women being tortured, wonder what the young monks are thinking walking in to the temple every morning.

Oh what a hot hot day, at least on the boat it was a bit nice and cool.

Saturday June 13

Hired bicycles today and went across the old communist bridge to sleepy little villages along the Mekong. All the children were waving and saying hello/sabai dee to us, not many westerners venture out here. It was a lovely day. Came home later in the day realising I was burnt like mad by the scorching sun.

Friday June 12

Can't remember what I did that day. Probably just wandering the streets of this beautiful small town and drinking pastis in the afternoon. Pastis is my preferred choice of drink here in Laos and probably will be in the rest of Indochina, how befitting this beautiful part of the world. Trevor is completely sold on Beer Lao, he has a very inventive description of the taste but I fear it's unrepeatable.

Bandit country

Yesterday we went by bus from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang. Another edgy experience. Air con VIP bus - of course air con here means that you can open the windows - like from Vientiane. This drive was even scarier than the previous one. The driver I'm sure was one of the construction workers we heard the other night and maybe was on a suicide mission after what he had gotten up to. The bus was a rickety leftover from China and he was driving about 60 miles/100 km an hour on winding roads through mountains in literal bandit country on roads that probably were paved during the first Indochina war. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking and I thought that even if this will be my last journey at least I will die surrounded by amazingly beautiful views all around me...maybe I've been a good person after all. I survived though so let's hope the bus drivers third job is not as a pilot for Lao Airlines that will take us from Lao to Cambodia.

I will try and post some pictures soon but Lao's high speed internet is not speedy.

Sabai dee

A few days ago Trevor wanted to go back to London. In the middle of the night we woke upp and heard strange unexplained noises. It sounded like either.....
1. Cockerels clucking hysterically and pecking metal with their beaks.
2. Lao construction workers stoned on Lao Lao moonshine banging metal with hammers while screaming like cockerels.
3. Stoned Lao construction workers taking part in witch craft rituals while having sex with hens.
Very very odd and scary indeed.
Thankfully we woke up alive the next day...
It was a beautiful day so we rented bicycles and cycled to a cave that had been used by the Pathet Lao guerillas - had a swim there in a natural pool Lao-style fully clothed. While we where sitting drying off on the grass a great gathering of monks and locals came for a swim. Two girls came up and asked if I would pose for a picture with them...another strange occurrence. Somehow I doubt it was because I was Nordic looking but more because I just looked plain odd. I was sitting lotus style on the grass with a hat on - not properly on but just put on top of my head to protect me from the sun - a big wet shirt, shorts and sunglasses while smoking a cigarette. I took off the hat and sunglasses...maybe they were disappointed I did but never the less they looked happy.