Lost in Paradise ....

I'm on Railey Beach .... superb ....

It was a bit of a trek leaving Vietnam .... an overnight in a hotel in Singapore .... then up to Krabi for a couple of days and now .... finally .... Railay.

I'll be here till the 1st May .... spend a day in Krabi, and then fly to Bangkok on the 3rd, and then home on the 5th.

But in the meantime ahhhhh Railay.

I'm too lazy to get my pictures tranferred and put up ... be here's a link to a webshots album taken very recently .. will give you a feel for the place ...

http://community.webshots.com/album/280681049thwmTf

I've rented a little Cabana up on the hillside ... thatched... set in a jungle paradise, towering cliffs at the side of me ... shaded by banana trees and the walkway lined with pineapples ... birds singing .... monkeys hanging out .... everything you need ....

I feel it's time to cool out for a while and relax before heading home ... while it's been a pretty comfortable and relaxed trip so far ... I find I'm always dealing with logistics and staying alert when I'm on the move ... it's nice to just settle into a place for a little while.

Time for a massage I think ....

Bye for now

Mui Ne Pics ...

Toute sa change

Everything changes .... after writing the last post I went to my room ... cute as heck ... clean, cool, quiet ... had a shower ... and headed out for dinner.

Chose a little place around the corner .... pleasant vietnamese waitress .. started with a Ricard and water ... Vietnamese pancake ... delishe ... thin pancake stuffed with bean sprouts, peanut chunks, shrimps, tender bbq pork strips, fresh lettuce, parsley and mint ... then a nice glass of Dalat wine along with a fresh straw mushroom, onion and snow pea dish ... with rice ... followed by creme caramel (superb!) and a local banana liquer with Vietnamese coffee ...

The kitchen where all this was prepared was across the alley .. open ... and amazing ... 4 people, two woks .. a couple of burners, a rice cooker and a charcoal grill ...

The pleasant conversation with the two Canadian teachers teaching in Bangkiok and taking two weeks holiday in Vietnam was a bonus ...

And the bill ... $7.00 .... drinks and all! Best $7.00 meal I've ever had ...

So it's off to bed and the dentist tomorrow ...

Night!

Allow me a rant ....

Asia can be VERY frustrating at times .... it does't happen often, but it just happened again ... so I thought the best thing to do was to slip out of the street chaos and into an internet cafe and type it out of my system! It may have somethng to do witht he fact that I have to get a wisdom tooth pulled tomorrow ... but I doubt it ...

There are so many people here. Many more people than there is work ... particularly for young men it seems. (Many of the women, who seem to do most of the work, often are quite busy .. cooking, cleaning looking after the kids ....) Underemployment is one of the biggest challenges Asia faces. Living standards are rising .... there's enough food .... but not enough for people to do .. and expectations that always exceed income. There are far more services .. and products that there is people with money to buy them. As a westerner you are the prime target ... a walking ATM machine ...

It's most critical for young men I think ... they often lurk about trying to do anything to get your attention to sell you something or provide a service. You can buy ANYTHING ... transportation, ciggarettes, sunglasses, postcards, their sister ..... Everywhere you are being watched. Let your eyes glance at something and they pounce.

The motorcycle taxi drivers and the cyclo drivers here in Saigon are the worst. The will do anything to attract your attention ... like waving ... shouting ... putting their hand up as if to stop you ... standing in front of you and asking where you are going ... or putting thier arms around and asking how you are ... in the more agressive they will grab your arm and pull you toward their bike or cyclo or whatever they are selling

... and it doesn't end with no ... they keep at it ... getting mad is the worst thing you can do ... but some days it challenges my equanimity ... today anyways ...

It's got so I don't wear my leather sneakers when I go out ... so I don't get hassled so much by the shoe shine guys ...

Damn!! It happened again

.... I can't even type this rant without getting interupted ... this time by the gal trying to wheel her motorcycle past me ... and all the other customers IN this internet cafe ...

Motorcycles are everywhere!!! Millions of them ... first it was the Honda Dream I'm told ... strong relaible, and affordable. Then they made the "Wave" and then everyone else started making them ... a Chinese knockoff goes for $600 new .. so everyone has got one .. they are everywhere ... you cant use any of the sidewalks ... they are motorcycle parking lots ... they fill hotel lobbies ... access to restaurants ... you can't move for bikes ...

Crossing the road is a trip .... the way u do it is to just walk out into the stream of bikes ... and they go around you ... you hope. Most unerving ... but the only way to do it ..

Oh the noise!!!! Everyone beeps their horn ... it's like they are bats navigating by sound. The busses and trucks ... which you get out of the way of ... pronto ... have air horns and can scare the bejesus out of you!!

So anyways ... I can't wait to get out of Saigon ... don't get me wrong .. it's an amazing vibrant city ... but a bit of shock after my nine idyllic days in my beach bungalow at Mui Ne, listening to the surf.

I head off to Krabi Thailand via Singapore on the 22nd ..... a few more days of beach I hope .. then it's up to Bangkok and home to Canada on May 5. At this point I'm having problems getting flights from Vancouver to S'toon but I'll figure something out ...

I've got some pictures of Mui Ne I'll try and put up ... and a couple I love of a Vienamese version of the car seat ... who says safety isn't important!!!

Darn again!!! This computer is set to Korean ... it's a conspiracy I know ... I can handle putting this blog up in Korean coz I know where to click even if I don't understand what's written on the buttons ... but the software to resize my pictures so I can put them on my blog is in German .. and I don't know it .. so I'm pooched! The problem in these internet places where international riff raff hang out ..

Ahh well later for the pics ...

The adventure continues ...

Well Nha Trang was a blast .... Vietnam's Brighton ... but much nicer and cheaper.

I started out with an afternoon at the mud baths just north of Nha Trang ... such fun! You get to soak in a big tub of warm mud (fresh mud for each person), dry off, get sprayed by high pressure mineral water, then soak in the hot mineral baths ... there's also a hot waterfall and a lovley swimming pool ... I finished it off with an hours massage ... divine!! All for less that $10.00

I didn't take pictures ... kind of hard when you're covered in mud! .. so here's a link if you want to see what it's all about. http://www.thapbahotspring.com/

Another delight in Nha Trang was the diving .. I had been warned not to expect too much from another diver I talked to in Hoi An, but signed up for a two dive package ... the dive site was about an hours boat ride away and was amazing ... lot's of different corals, and an incredible diversity of life ... and good visibility to boot! I signed up to do the advanced open water course ... five dives one of which was a "deep dive" (see photo of the dive computer recording 29.5 metres). Another of the dives was an underwater photography course. I rented the underwater digital camera and was I was able to get some amazing shots .. what a world under there!

The picture of the guy trying to get airborne with the parasail is me ... I've lost some weight .. but not that much evidently ... I did get airborne eventually!!

This morning I got the bus down to Mui Ne ... a lovley strentch of beach known for it's kite surfing ... it looks thrilling .. but I think I will give it a miss and just watch ... got myself some good books to read!

After here I'm off to Saigon .. or Ho Chi Minh City if you are being politically correct ... I'm going to get some dental work done at a Dental Clinic there that is Canadian owned ... sounds good .. wish me luck! http://www.maplehealthcare.net/english/index.php

I tried to change my ticket so I could return to Canada directly from Saigon, but Cathay Pacific won't allow it. Flights to Bangkok from Saigon are really expensive for some reason ... so I think I will fly lo cost Tiger Airways to Singapore and then Krabi, in Southern Thailand for one last frolic in the Andaman Sea ... expecting to then head up to Bangkok and home about May 3.

Nha Trang Pictures

Hey Andrew! Over here!!!!

I had been in Nha Trang for less than an hour, checked into my hotel .. and decided to check out my new surrounding when I heard my self paged from the Bia Hoi across the street.

It turned out to be Loughland and his sister Bridgit and freind Kelly, with whom I'd spent an enjoyable day touring the Tombs of the Emporers in Hue almost week ago ... and an even more enjoyable couple of evenings in Madame Thu's Travellers Bar, Cafe on Thu Wheels ....

I suppose I should explain what a Bia Hoi is ... a keg of beer on the sidewalk .. or a little hole in the wall, a plastic tube to serve it into two litre plastic jugs (like javex bottles) a few glasses and tiny plastic stools .. instant bar. Sit down and have a beer and mix with the locals .... fun, fun, fun. Cost? 6000 dong a litre .... (.40cents canadian)

I spent the last four days in Hoi An, a charming old french town on the river, 4 kms from a great beach. Their speciality is tailoring ... so I got myself a who new wardrobe .. to go with my svelte (ok not quite so fat) new figure., along with a couple of pairs of shoes .. all for way less than I'd pay for cheap stuff at Giant Tiger!

Vietnam is soooo differenct from Laos and Thailand. The energy of these folks ... some of the most entraprenaurial, hardworking totally indefatigable people I've ever met. The hassle factor is high ... everyone wants to sell something .... and it seems everyine has something to sell .. and they can be very persistant. I thought I'd avoid all the sweet young girls trying to get me to their mothers tailor shop inb Hoi An by renting a bicycle ... no way ... cant' go anywhere and theres a motorcycle alongside ... with that sweet young girl telling you to come visit her mothers tailor shop ... really good prices .. just come and look ....

That being said, the service here is superb! A feeling that folks really want you to be happy ... really care. Despite the hustle, the hospitality I've seen has been real, warm and genuine ... people want you to be here .. (spend money) .. and to come back. Everyone it seems wants to talk to you.

The Hotel in Hoi An for example ... for $18.00 US a night I got a lovley room, a/c, balcony, pool, bathtub, sattelite tv, fruit basket in the room refilled each day, free internet, breakfast, drinks arond the pool 6:30 to 7:30 ... and a silk latern when I checked out .... but the best was the staff ... they remebered you by name, and were so freindly and courteous. ... That's competition for you ...

Vietnam is on the move. This country has suffered so much .. the bomb craters are everwhere ... people my age with no arms or legs ... people with birth defects caused by agent orange ... many historic sites obliterated ... many areas still no go because of UXO ... but it's recovering ... boy is it recovering ... unstoppable methinks. Incredible engineeering .... I passed thru a tunnel on the way to Hoi An over 6km long, new bridges, buildings ... lot's of change.

Gosh what a stupid war that was .. for the Americans to ever think they could win!

I was speaking to an Australian guy in his sixties at the next table in a restaurant .... he was so full of emotion as he was describing how they used to refer to the Vietnamese as Gooks .... and how much he now admires their spirit, and incredible hospitality to us westerners.

I'm getting spoiled here .. will be hard to come home in some ways.