Searching for colonel Kurtz in The Mekong Delta. I felt that I needed to see a bit more of Vietnam, something other then the massive city of Saigon, and the beaches of the coast. The logical approach was a tour of the famous Mekong Delta. I booked a 2 day tour of the Delta, and woke early the next morning with my new sandals, and my day (and night) pack. The trip started out on bus, then quickly to a boat that cruised for three hours down the Mekong River, the Mississippi of SE Asia. The boat ride gave a “nice” [View Full Entry]

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Commie Kitsch and Wounded in Action. It was nice to be back in Saigon, with my health restored, and a bit of a tan (I was puke green color the first time). I went back to the same guesthouse that took care of me during the sick period. They were happy to have me back, especially with the smile and tan. The next day I hired a motorbike driver to see the few sights that Saigon had to offer. The first and most important on the list was the War Museum. Before the embargo was lifted it was called the US [View Full Entry]

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“No Problem” is 3rd World for Problem The days of Nha Trang slide by. With its size and hustle n' bustle I wouldn’t usually have spent 7 days there, especially given the limited amount I have left, but with my lottery ticket winnings, I kind of became "comfortable." I continued to hang out with Ho, and his family. Dinner, drinks, whatever it may be, I was always treated as a guest of theirs. I was lucky at times to convince Ho that I could at least pay the tip, but in typical Ho fashion these occurrences were rare. Tipping here, as [View Full Entry]

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Winning the airport lottery. As some of you may know, I’m NOT a fan of airports. I loath them. I have many reasons behind this, having traveled through some of the biggest smallest in the world. Big or small hate them all. What’s to like? Overpriced food, uncomfortable seating, people that hate their job who take it out on you, I could go on and on, but I will refrain. My usual procedure with airport is to maximize the ipod time, maybe throw in a Saduko puzzle or two, but usually it’s strictly business, and the last thing I want is [View Full Entry]

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Attack of the Animatronic Viet Cong. With my health making a recovery yesterday, I hit the road early for a little Cu Chi tunnel action. The Tunnels as it turned out were touristy, and bit of a novelty, but still informative. The true highlight of the day was Mr.Binh (Mr... Bean, as he liked to be called). Putting this guy into words won't due justice to his eccentric nature. A quick run down on Mr. Binh. His name is Billy Michael Binh, born and raised in Vietnam to a Pilipino father and Vietnamese mother. His father divorced and went to NYC [View Full Entry]

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P.O.T - Prisoner of Toilet What can I say about Vietnam so far - The toilets work, I know that's for sure. So I arrived in Saigon a few days ago, checked into the room, which is nothing fancy at $12 a night, but it has AC, Toilet, and a TV. After that I took a quick stroll to check the scene. Wandered for a bit, nothing too exciting, and decided that I'd have a bite to eat. One thing I was really looking forward to in Nam was checking out the Cu Chi Tunnels (used by the Viet Cong). I [View Full Entry]

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Last Days of PP. After getting confirmation that my Visa for Vietnam was good to go, I was able to book my plane ticket to Saigon. It’s the only country that I’ve been to that I had to get it AHEAD of time, which as I found out was kind of a pain in the ass. The more I think about it though, had I arranged the Visa prior to going to seim Reip, and flown from there to Saigon, that would’ve put Ron on the bus that had the accident. So it all happens for a reason, I guess. My [View Full Entry]

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Angkor WHAT! So The Ron and I hit the road a few days ago for Seim Reip, which is home to Angkor watt, the largest religious ruins in the world. We woke up early, or early enough to pack the bags that we should've done the night prior; Partly, due to the alcohol from the previous night's festivities. The bus ride was scenic, but its 7 hours weren’t a huge highlight of the day. It’s nice to see the country side, the rice fields, the little towns, and the people living outside of PP. We had few stops along the way, [View Full Entry]

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Skulls. Yesterday I visited the Killing Fields and the S21 Prison, as stated in the previous blog. I will try to stay away from a history lesson (if you are interested a good book is "first they killed my father"). Basically the Pot Pot regime overthrew the government in 1975, and evacuated the ENTIRE city of PP to the country side. Pol Pot's plan was return Cambodia to the time of farming, and working in the fields. People that were "city" people, i.e. if you had a government job, educated, wore glasses, or even lacked the rough hands of a field [View Full Entry]

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The Ron, Ak-47s, and Beer. The Ron Arrived today, as planned. The Ron (who is actually “named” Alec) is a friend from work, a fellow member of the swash buckling Pirates crew. The Ron is a seasoned and well-traveled indavidual. He has done many months in Europe, and also spent some time in Peru after Pirates. During work I’d tell him stories amount SE Asia and how much he’d love it, as a traveler. After going back and forth he finally came to the conclusion that Thailand was going to happen - I too, as we know, had plans in SE [View Full Entry]

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