Say, fellow traveler, that is an awfully colourful bag but it seems a bit rugged, where did you get it?
I got this from a blind Buddhist monk with no opposable thumbs in the jungle, where I walked barefoot.
Barefoot you say, that must have been uncomfortable.
Shoes oppress my footfreedom. I want to suffer like these people have because of YOU.
Ah yes, of course they have suffered, unlike almost every other civilized country in the past fifty-sixty years.
Dont oppress my cultural enlightenment, my spirituality.
I will try. May I inquire as to how you got here?
I took the train man.
And would it be wrong to assume you traveled fifth class?
Of course I did, I travel like the people, unlike you, capitalist!
How well you know me. But could the over crowded over air conditioned bench line car not have been avoided by an extra four dollar splurge for a bed in an equally over air conditioned but less crowded car?
Four dollars is like a days wages here man!
Obviously you know that. Well I have to love and leave you to your spoon bending, yogurt drinking and whale saving, I am a tad disgusted by the stench in here. Could that be you by any chance?
I dont waste water, don't you know it's scarce in this region man!
I see. Bon voyage and my best regards to the Dalai Lama.
One is told not to judge a book by it's cover but if I am to be judged for choosing a copy of Les Liaisons Dangereuses leather bound in black over a biodegradable cardboard copy, so be it.
After this small rant I think I should proceed to something more relevant, like Vietnam where I am writing from.
Because I have been here before I notice less the major attractions and more the minor details one sees when not staring at a pagoda. Of course Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand can be over analysed for their beauty, culture and splendor but that has been written before by scores of travelers and so I will talk of other things. After all there is a valid reason why Angkor Wat in northern Cambodia is a world wonder. Because it truly is. I could go back time and time again and still be as surprised. What I believe needs to be avoided when traveling these countries like any other is the preconception people bring prior to visiting the country. If one is looking for Bangkoks whore-hordes and madness you will find it. If you expect poverty stricken peoples in Cambodia with a limb or two missing from the civil war you will find it. The fact remains that whores and horror can be found in every country, perhaps to different degrees but found nonetheless. Phnom Penh is wild, slightly worn and a remarkable city. What I noticed is how it has noticeably progressed in the three years since I was there last. As has Hanoi. I think Vietnam is the worlds second fastest growing economy but don't quote me on that. If someone wishes to prove me wrong feel free to google it. There are visibly more tall, new buildings and renovation in the old city around the lake or even further is equally visible. Perhaps mostly noticeable is the quality of vespas, scooters and motorcycles that dominate these streets at 50-1. Five years ago the family sat at a fish restaurant by the docks and quenched their curiosity by asking someone why there were this many motorcycles on the streets and the answer was simply money. They are cheaper and given the size of the Vietnamese an entire family could easily fit on one. Now however their bikes are more recent, more fashionable, surely more expensive. A cute Vietnamese girl wearing a yellow dress and a yellow helmet races down a street on a shiny new yellow Italian Vespa. I won't lie, after the months spent in the middle east and India I am especially sensitive to girls, dresses, shoulders and legs. Unfortunately I have become one of those gawking travelers best kept inside, only spared the embarrassment because of dark sunglasses. Like any true manchild I am supposed to despise the other sex but that damned Y chromosome cannot be kept in an all mans world for long, or at all. Simple beings, simple pleasures. Like being able to see a girl in a dress on a Vespa.
I seem to have lost track. As I was saying, the Vespa factor could indicate that this country's economy is rapidly growing. Although I am happy for this I am also glad to have seen it five and three years ago only because some cities could potentially lose some of their naked tue self or charm when they prosper so. We will just have to wait and find out five or ten years from now.
Lastly, to all my fellow members of The Sneaky Beverage Appreciation Club (fancy for all seemingly functional alcoholics) I must talk of the beers these countries have to offer. Chang, Lao, Singha, Tiger, Anchor, Angkor, Saigon, 333, Ha Noi, Laos to name a few. I am not entirely sure why they are so desirable in comparison to other regions in the world. Perhaps because of this tropical climate or because of how light they are, or seem. But a cold S. E. Asian beer in the afternoon is to die for as some old timers would put it. This could again be because of where I have recently come from, where only the suicidal venture into the lands of Syrian or local Indian beer but regardless, here at five o'clock it is Time for a Tiger.
Logging off at 17:18 local time, like I said...
Barefoot you say, that must have been uncomfortable.
Shoes oppress my footfreedom. I want to suffer like these people have because of YOU.
Ah yes, of course they have suffered, unlike almost every other civilized country in the past fifty-sixty years.
Dont oppress my cultural enlightenment, my spirituality.
I will try. May I inquire as to how you got here?
I took the train man.
And would it be wrong to assume you traveled fifth class?
Of course I did, I travel like the people, unlike you, capitalist!
How well you know me. But could the over crowded over air conditioned bench line car not have been avoided by an extra four dollar splurge for a bed in an equally over air conditioned but less crowded car?
Four dollars is like a days wages here man!
Obviously you know that. Well I have to love and leave you to your spoon bending, yogurt drinking and whale saving, I am a tad disgusted by the stench in here. Could that be you by any chance?
I dont waste water, don't you know it's scarce in this region man!
I see. Bon voyage and my best regards to the Dalai Lama.
One is told not to judge a book by it's cover but if I am to be judged for choosing a copy of Les Liaisons Dangereuses leather bound in black over a biodegradable cardboard copy, so be it.
After this small rant I think I should proceed to something more relevant, like Vietnam where I am writing from.
Because I have been here before I notice less the major attractions and more the minor details one sees when not staring at a pagoda. Of course Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand can be over analysed for their beauty, culture and splendor but that has been written before by scores of travelers and so I will talk of other things. After all there is a valid reason why Angkor Wat in northern Cambodia is a world wonder. Because it truly is. I could go back time and time again and still be as surprised. What I believe needs to be avoided when traveling these countries like any other is the preconception people bring prior to visiting the country. If one is looking for Bangkoks whore-hordes and madness you will find it. If you expect poverty stricken peoples in Cambodia with a limb or two missing from the civil war you will find it. The fact remains that whores and horror can be found in every country, perhaps to different degrees but found nonetheless. Phnom Penh is wild, slightly worn and a remarkable city. What I noticed is how it has noticeably progressed in the three years since I was there last. As has Hanoi. I think Vietnam is the worlds second fastest growing economy but don't quote me on that. If someone wishes to prove me wrong feel free to google it. There are visibly more tall, new buildings and renovation in the old city around the lake or even further is equally visible. Perhaps mostly noticeable is the quality of vespas, scooters and motorcycles that dominate these streets at 50-1. Five years ago the family sat at a fish restaurant by the docks and quenched their curiosity by asking someone why there were this many motorcycles on the streets and the answer was simply money. They are cheaper and given the size of the Vietnamese an entire family could easily fit on one. Now however their bikes are more recent, more fashionable, surely more expensive. A cute Vietnamese girl wearing a yellow dress and a yellow helmet races down a street on a shiny new yellow Italian Vespa. I won't lie, after the months spent in the middle east and India I am especially sensitive to girls, dresses, shoulders and legs. Unfortunately I have become one of those gawking travelers best kept inside, only spared the embarrassment because of dark sunglasses. Like any true manchild I am supposed to despise the other sex but that damned Y chromosome cannot be kept in an all mans world for long, or at all. Simple beings, simple pleasures. Like being able to see a girl in a dress on a Vespa.
I seem to have lost track. As I was saying, the Vespa factor could indicate that this country's economy is rapidly growing. Although I am happy for this I am also glad to have seen it five and three years ago only because some cities could potentially lose some of their naked tue self or charm when they prosper so. We will just have to wait and find out five or ten years from now.
Lastly, to all my fellow members of The Sneaky Beverage Appreciation Club (fancy for all seemingly functional alcoholics) I must talk of the beers these countries have to offer. Chang, Lao, Singha, Tiger, Anchor, Angkor, Saigon, 333, Ha Noi, Laos to name a few. I am not entirely sure why they are so desirable in comparison to other regions in the world. Perhaps because of this tropical climate or because of how light they are, or seem. But a cold S. E. Asian beer in the afternoon is to die for as some old timers would put it. This could again be because of where I have recently come from, where only the suicidal venture into the lands of Syrian or local Indian beer but regardless, here at five o'clock it is Time for a Tiger.
Logging off at 17:18 local time, like I said...
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