Motorcyles, Searching for Kurtz and Attack of the Pickpocket Ladyboys

I arrived in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) on Thursday. Finishing my contract in Korea, I found departure to be surprisingly non-cathartic. Perhaps because I was so perpared to leave, or that mentally I was already gone, as I boarded my Vietnam Airlines flight in Incheon with little to no sentiment. It is, I suppose, time to leave Korea. I have made some fantastic friends and had amazing experiences there, but as of August 24th, 2006, it is time for us to part.

Which brings us, of course, to the interesting part. Saigon, for the most part, is architecturally uninspiring. Block after block, the buildings and cityscape remain the same. What is remarkable is the drone of the ~3 million motorcyles that weaves through the city's streets. To cross the street you do not dash to avoid them, they avoid you. Its pretty much like that game "Frogger", where you had to hop a little frog across a street before it got pancaked by a semi.

I met up with Jerimiah, Trisha and Min Min in Saigon that night. The following day Jerimiah and I set out on a private over night bike trip through the Mekong Delta, south of Saigon. The Delta is fantastic. We cycled along narrow dirt trails, crossing precarious concrete bridges with no gaurd rails and were constantly faced with the on coming, of course, motorcycles. Biking along these trails we passed small town along the river. Children shout 'hello' and the smells of Mekong cuisine float out from small houses along the trail. Pretty bloody fantastic, if you ask me. We also spend some time on a boat along the river and the small canals that branch off into the Delta. Very Apocolypse Now. The food was great (fresh river fish cooked on a boat, can't beat that!), the landscape was subtly spectacular and the people we encountered along the way were warm and friendly. We also saw a cockfight at a chopstick factory.

Back to HCM for a night and then a quick flight to the beach town of Nha Trang. Its quite developed, but the water is that perfect blue and the sand on the beaches sparkle. Also, guys ride around on, (guess, come on, no? Ok, motorcycles!) selling everything from pot to books to pots of books.

We celebrated, early, my birthday last night with a nice Italian meal served by a guy on a motorcycle. Good food, good company, good mojitos.

At this point, those who worry too much about the safety of others while traveling should just skip to the photos

We had heard from other travelers that there had been incidents of (drunk) male travelers being mugged on their way home from the clubs. As we were, decidedly, 'too cool' we would have no problems, especially because there were four of us. And that Jerimiah had been, er, groped, by these 'ladies' in his way home, we figured lightning couldn't strike twice. Well, it did. I assume that they were really men, or at least a good Thai-switcheroo, but nevertheless they were f**king ugly. They descended upon us from no where like, like...something that descends from nowhere. They work in a swarm, surrounding one male (not me) and while soliciting their 'goods' they also try to work their hands into pockets. We, as did Jerimiah, escaped with our dong unsullied, but others were reportedly not so lucky.


So now, as my friends are on their way back to Korea (suckers...), I am all on my lonesome in Nha Trang. So, I booked myself a nice hotel and am continuing my early birthday celebration and freedom from screaming, insolant children. Life is good. Check out my pictures. They're pretty good.

Peace, love and Pho,

m

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