Back to the Beach
Trip Start
Nov 14, 2005
1
24
34
Trip End
Mar 18, 2006
Na Trang, Vietnam
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
But, the resolution is small on the clips and they are just fun short clips taken from the back of motos as we zoom around the countryside and such. Oh, I finally found my tiny Vietnamese clinic where there were three non English-speaking doctors with whom I was able to describe my ongoing dilema. I hold high hopes that soon I will be crapping like a normal man again. Love those small foreign clinics. Never treated my wrong in the past. It is the big hospitals with the French and English doctors that one needs to look out for. Quacks. Waste of money. Okay, enough of that rant. Ummmmm.....
our breakfast was the standard beef noodle soup with baguette. Very nice. Usually about $.75 for a large bowl of soup. Very good. No chicken down here though because of bird flu. Or eggs. Lame. Interesting being in southern Vietnam though now. I have noticed the difference in speaking to some extent. North and south speak a bit different. The country actually seems quite divided in many ways. Na Trang seems pretty cool in the sense that there is a great beach with lots of shops and relaxing areas. Tons of islands close by to boat out to. Do some snorkeling. The weather is still a bit iffy though. I'll swim later, but not sure now much effort I will put into a snorkel mission. There seems to be a lot of waterfalls in the area too, so possibly a trip out to some of those for fun. Not sure. It is great to not have a plan. Our visas run out in like 6 days but other than that, we have no real need to get moving onward.
Probably get fined some ridiculous amount of money for overstaying our visas though so will try to get to Cambodia before they expire. I look forward to showing Ne cambodia. It is certainly a different world, and one that I truly love. This will be my fourth or fifth trip into the country, but I intend to explore some regions that tend to not get tourists too often to gain a further insight into the ways of the country. I have decided that without speaking the language one cannot truly get a 'real' feel for any place. I mean it took me over four months in Japan to kind of understand the country and culture and that was with a decent grasp of the language, history, literature, geography, etc. of the country. I guess that is why I feel that Thailand is the only country in this region that I really feel that I have a remote understanding of. Sure I have an overview of all the others I have been to many times, but not the knowledge that I desire. I hope to someday have the language and knowledge to return to these parts to truly understand the people and the region. Ok, big ramble. Sorry, boring for all. oooppps.
Ok, so what else can I say about our trip to Na Trang. Standard midnight stop in a dirty hole serving noodle soup and having piss stalls next to pig pits. Annoying drunk English and Irish 'lads' going on and off about the prices of beer in such and such and how they were so 'knackered' here and there. Mingers. Already wrote my good English buddy to bitch about his country-men. Of course, don't get me started on the Americans either.
It has been so sad to see the destruction that our government has caused in this country. Even yesterday's trip to the Cham ruins showed the bomb craters and destroyed temples because of American bombing. Napalming and chemical warfare have left a lasting effect on the society and it is common to see children with birth defects from the chemicals as well as people without arms and legs from unexploded bombs that they stumbled on. All for what? Perhaps when I visit Iraq in 15 years I can see the same bullshit. Actually, I can pretty much go to any region in the world and see the destruction of the world's most horrific terroristic government. My great homeland the USA. I find myself often considering telling people I am Canadian out of embarrassment of our current administration's foreign policy and 'war on terror.' Remember the 'war on drugs'during the Reagan years. That one really worked didn't it? Well, the drugs are more of a problem and so far the terrorism is too. Especially on the part of the United States which has traditionally been the biggest terrorist state in the world. I'm sorry to go on about this in my blog, but hopefully somebody will read this and it will piss them off and they will question what goes on in the world and what our government's role is in it. Then my mission is complete.
Ok, blog off. On a happier note, life is grand, the world is our oyster. I am totally loving this wonderful girl by my side and am thankful that I have been given the chance to thoroughly explore this region of the world.
Check out the new pics for Ha Long Bay and Hoi An and such!
Tam Bien.
