Asia Trip - South Vietnam

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Hello!

And yes, the sun came back! We went for a boat trip between the Islands of Nha Trang: Vietnamese pop concert on the boat, drinking wine while swimming in the bay.

The next day, Loc and I rent two motorbikes and drove 50km to a beautiful beach, played football with kids, relaxed. Then we had to drive back in the crazy vietnamese traffic: Imagine an hour on a motorbike, by night, trying not to crash with a walking old lady, with a whole family on a motorbike, or with a little girl on a bike... and they often come without light from the opposite direction ("a contresens" in french)! But we made it back to our Guest House... pfuii. Motorbike riding is cool though!

Then we took a night train to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), and we arrived at Loc's uncle and his family. Again, very very friendly and very good cooks! Many thanks to them!
Ho Chi Minh gave his name to probably one of the most booming city in the world. In the cool season, I was burning, in the calm areas I got tired because of the noise and pollution... it's more than dynamism it's explosion. A funny game there is to try to cross a street without crashing with a motorbike or a car! The less you play, the longer you stay alive!

The history of Vietnam war is so fascinating and unbelievable that we went to the Cu Chi tunnels. It is an area in the Jungle, where south vietnamese communist guerillas were clandestinely based. Their task was to weaken the US soldiers and initiatives from the inside: from the Jungle of the regions controlled by the USA. The vietnamese built a huge secret network of tunnels that were just too tight for the GIs. The so called american "Rat soldiers" who tried to enter them were mostly killed or trapped. Crazy... Many museums show the horror of this war. Everyday, I see people and children impacted, directly or after one generation, by US chemical weapons. On the other side, the museums are extremely pro-Vietnam, which is not good for a neutral curious tourist like me.

Another wonderful trip was 3 days in the Mekong Delta. At the Cambodian boarder, the Mekong divides into hundreds of rivers before getting into the Ocean. 20 million people live there, often in floating villages and everyone's life has somehow a tight relation to water. Check out the pictures, they speak more than words.

I will show you some nice and funny videos of everything when I will be back.

Now I'm staying in Hanoi where I live and work in an non profit organization... with children... I'll tell more next time.

Hope you're all right.

Bye!

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Photos

German friends in Nha Trang! Just like on the Cote d'Azur!
Es ist nur ein Spass, Leute! :)

Tunnels of Vietnamese jungle guerillas during the last war: unbelievable
200km network 50cm wide, 1meter high to fight US Army.

... why working?
My friends who work! I was thinking of you :)

Children's education is working on water.
We had an easier life, hadn't we?

Comments

[Martina]

Lucky you!
Ben, again beautiful pictures! ... I am getting jealous! Lovely greetings from rainy Berlin. Martina

[Mourad]

Man!!!!!!!!!!
Beni du altes Haus!! Ich beneide dich total!!Ich will auch ma weg!Ich glaube ich drehe demnächst durch!! Hau rein und schreib fleissig weiter!!! Schönes Grüsse aus dem hohen Norden!! -Mourad

[kurt]

Hey Ben - great! Nice that you finally did it and enjoy your live. Take care man!

[gaoutte]

Tu fais trop plais'
Hello Benji. Je ne sais si tu as reçu mon dernier commentaire via "Visage-Livre" (in english) en tout cas, c'est simplement magnifique ton voyage. Je meurs d'envie d'être avec toi. Nul doute que tu reviendras avec des souvenirs inoubliaux (one pétale - two pétaux, fuck off ) à partager. Tu demanderas à tes amis allemands de la plage ou madame a acheté son sublime ensemble 2 pièces de baignade qui lui remonte au nombril. Histoire que j'évite de fréquenter les mêmes magasins. Je pense fort à toi mec ! bonne route !