- I am very attractive…to Cambodian geckos. Three times they’ve snuck into my room, climbed to the ceiling directly above me laying on the bed and dropped onto me to cuddle! (I can only presume)

- You can go up to any person anywhere and say “Hey where ya from?” and it’s an instant conversation starter! Trying to perform a mind meld (http://www.physorg.com/news199424641.html) before introducing yourself as previously suggested should not be attempted unless you’re actually a Vulcan.

- When a hostel is $3 per night, do not expect the luxuries of a $4 per night hostel.

- Fear of malaria back home is highly overrated. For most cities on the tourist track it’s not an issue!

- Going on a trip soon? Need malaria pills? Don’t have health benifits? I sell to you, cheap cheap! (I’m serious…i have a crapload I will need to get rid of!)

- If your a teenage boy in Saigon at the local rollerskating rink, you’re only cool if you’re skating in sync with at least two other teenage boys…all holding hands…always going backward…at full speed. Facing forward skating is only for silly Canadian tourists that don’t know how to skate properly.

- People in Cambodia wear full face helmets while on mopeds (with brand names like “Lucky”), however their passengers do not get helmets. People in Vietnam always make sure all passengers have a helmet (except children under the age of 6). However it is a very thin (and sometimes hot pink!) piece of plastic that covers only the top of your head. I’m pretty sure it would do more harm than good in an impact as it shatters and creates more fragmentation lol

- The Temples of Angkor do not have wifi

- The Temples of Angkor are absolutely amazing otherwise

- In Phenom Penh the ratio of tuk-tuk and moto drivers to tourists is at least 2:1. The path to true will power and patience is by playing the fun game of always smiling and saying, “No thank-you!” every time you’re asked if want a ride (and it’s always for a special price of course). You are asked every 10 feet traveled by foot and every 50 feet while on one of the tuk-tuks or motos!

- As we consciously control our bodies and thus all the atoms and sub-atomic particles that we’re made of, then that makes us their god! Yes my minions of carbon atoms…I demand more sacrifices of virgin quarks…or face my wrath of eating McDonalds!!

- For some actually interesting quantum mechanics trivia: When the LHC achieves full operation, the energy of the protons will be about 360 mega-joules, equivalent to the energy of an aircraft carrier moving through the ocean at a speed of 20 knots. And all that energy is concentrated in a beam that’s thinner than a frail bit of thread.

- 1lb of frozen yogurt (6 different flavours, loaded with 8 different toppings and for only $3.50!) is never a good idea. It’s a GREAT one hahah

- After kicking out geckos falling into one’s bed (for refusing to be little spoon), they will climb to a corner of the wall and proceed to make screaching noises randomly throughout the night. Oh to know the hurt heart of a rejected reptiles misplaced love!

…the things we learn while traveling!

As my time here in this interesting country comes to an end, I start to think back and try to realize what Vietnam was to me. To be honest, it was not a country that captured my heart. It didn’t astonish and wow me with it’s natural splendor or friendly people as places like New Zealand and Bolivia did. Yet even still, it was a unique experience and a country that contains an interesting culture.

As with most southeast asian countries, it’s packed full of mopeds. Hardly anyone has cars and that’s a good thing because if they turned all the moped into cars there would be gridlocked traffic everywhere at every time!

It’s sidewalks are usually crowded with these parked 100-125cc bikes, so often you walk on the road. Traffic rules don’t really exist, and I’ve ridden on xe oms (motorbike taxis) where more time is spent in the oncoming traffic lane than in the right one (makes for quite a ride!).  It’s all part of the thrill of taking these taxis. That and with 18 deaths/day in Saigon from accidents, well…you just sort of hope you have a good driver hahaha

There are no giant stores like we have back home. Strip malls with Foot Lockers and Future Shops don’t exist.  Instead, small 4x10m stores and restaurants line the sidewalks of  it’s city streets, it’s proprietors usually living in the floors above it.  Each store has a specialty and the specialties are usually grouped together along certain roads. Looking for lighting fixture? Head to the lighting fixture street! Want to add some decals to your moto? Head over there to the moto decal alley! It’s fascinating and such a stark contrast to our cities back home.

Its natural wonders aren’t as majestic as other parts of the world, but still have their own charm. Ha Long Bay with its thousands of limestone karsts and isles provides a beautiful backdrop of relaxation after exploring the MASSIVE Thien Cun cave, while Hoi An’s giant beach is a great place to relax (although prepare for old ladies to constantly try and sell you stuff and if you’re lucky have your chest stroked by an old toothless man if you’re hairy!) while waiting for A Dong Silk to finish your custom suits.

Making any sort of real money here is only possible if you are an owner of a business. If you are an employee, your wage is about $100-120/month (working 10hrs/day, 6days/week).  A shared single room in a larger house in Saigon takes over half of that, and the rest is spent on moto petrol and food. It’s interesting in the larger cities knowing people have the bare essentials and then you see a Bentley or Audi R8 drive by, the juxtaposition of affluence and poverty creating a most interesting scene. I can’t think of a single working employee Vietnamese I met that had actually been outside of Vietnam, as there’s just no way to actually save the money to do so.

Because of this, buying anything in the stores, or taking a moto taxi anywhere requires you to always start the haggling by dividing the listed price by 3 and never going over half the asking.  Even then, when it’s still certainly favourable to the local, they will make you feel like you’re ripping them off for not paying their massive markup as you’re a foreigner with (relatively) lots of money. You can’t really fault them for this hahah…but it is still annoying to constantly have to haggle for everything every time.

City nights in Vietnam are my favourite time. When evening comes the locals flock to the sidewalk and parks, setting up their small plastic chairs and tables, drinking their iced teas and coffees while eating from one of the many women frying up an assortment of meat and strange vegetables on their small coal fired bbq’s. It’s a nice scene to watch as the older Vietnamese are chatting and catching up with each other, while young couples in love hug and kiss atop their mopeds beside the park.

So although Vietnam hasn’t been my favourite country I’ve been to so far, it has certainly been fun. It’s provided me with an interesting perspective of a country that was war-torn for so many years and struggles to reboot it’s economy and global presence under its conservative communist regime.

Here’s a Vietnamese proverb I’ve seen that sums up this country’s philosophy quite well:

Duc toc bat dot

Go slowly and steadily and you will eventually achieve what you desire.

I dare say I’ve been having a great time here in Saigon.  The volunteering thing has worked out great and the friends I’ve made here have been awesome.  Lots of going out at night and playing with kids during the day, what else could I want? hahah

Here are some pictures from the volunteering and a few other random ones around Saigon.

Enjoy!

Vietnam Click me for the facebook link Click me for the non-facebook link

Hey guys, I’m going to be posting some password protected entries from time to time for different reasons. Sometimes it will be because it’s personal stuff, other times because I don’t want the things I say searchable on the net for whatever reasons.

If you want access just shoot me an e-mail and if I think it’s appropriate then I’ll fire you the password back.  Please do not take it personally if I don’t reply though.

It’ll be a rarity anyways but thought I’d give the heads up!

Well my travels with Scott have come to an end, so I’m back on my own for the next little while! I’m going to be staying in Saigon for a few weeks and doing some volunteer work with a couple different organizations helping underprivileged kids.

Saigon is actually a really cool city, very diverse with a pretty wide spectrum of poor to very wealthy.  I’m looking forward to spending the time to get to know the city!

I’ll have some thoughts on Vietnam so far at some point this coming week but until then here are the pictures from Hanoi to Saigon and everything in between!

Enjoy =D

Vietnam Click me for the facebook link Click me for the non-facebook link