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Published: July 18th 2008
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I am now sick with a bad cold or the flu or some such nonsense. But earlier this week I was having a much much better time.
Monday, Mr. Vinh and I took the car on the road around the park to take promotional photos and to check distance and difficulty for each section of the proposed biking route. We also re-visited the Tam Co or "8 Volunteer" or "8 Girl" cave where 8 youth volunteers were killed during the war when the cave where they were taking shelter in collapsed during an American bombing raid. There is a temple built to all youth volunteers killed in the war and the cave entrance contains a shrine. We also visited a Botanical Garden and hiked the trail that winds through the forest.
I stayed overnight in Phong Nha and then went kayaking early the next morning with Victor (big boss from Hanoi) and Mr. Vinh. Mr. Vinh rented an open two-seater kayak for Victor and me, and Mr. Vinh and a local woman followed us in a wooden boat with the items we wanted kept dry as well as our packed lunch of sticky rice and chicken. We eventually rotated
Tam Co Cave Temple
Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park positions in the kayak and wooden boat as Victor and I also took turns at the front oar of the wooden boat. The Vietnamese stand while rowing, but the paddle was attached in such a way that it required uncomfortable stooping for us Western giants, so Victor and I both adopted the rowboat method and sat facing backwards. As a Filipino, Victor looks like he could be Vietnamese, but I, on the other hand, attracted a lot of attention from the people on the tour boats going to Phong Nha Cave. Pictures of a strange blonde girl rowing a wooden boat all wrong will appear in several Vietnamese photo albums this year.
The trip started out nice but became grueling toward the end. We had to paddle about 10 km (about 6.2 miles) extra because we rented the kayak in Phong Nha Town rather than where the tours we will offer originate (Chay Lap Village). So after checking out two kayaking routes and getting to and from where the kayak was rented, we paddled 22 km (13.6 miles) in one go, half of which was against current. Neither Victor nor I are in top shape so we were exhausted
Tam Co Cave Shrine
Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park and in pain by the time we got back to Phong Nha. But it was still an exhilarating day kayaking along the river, paddling into a cave, swimming, hanging out with the giggling children of Chay Lap, and rowing along with an ancient boatwoman who probably came to the conclusion that Westerners are all nuts and cannot row worth sh*t.
All in all, not a bad day's work.
Sidenote: I realized recently that I'm more comfortable in Vietnam than anywhere else outside my home culture. Life here has actually taken on a certain amount of normalcy. I'm making small but significant attempts at the language and I'm even going through some of the rituals without even thinking about it anymore (such as wiping off the bowls and chopsticks before eating and shouting "em oi!" to get someone's attention). I was in both Tanzania and Alaska longer than I've been in Vietnam, but I've never been so entirely immersed in another society. The culture shock hit hard, but it passed pretty quickly. It's a good feeling to have come this far. Doing all of this alone was intimidating but I always seem to adjust best when I am forced
to rely on myself. Of course I found support and friendship once I got here but there was a time when I was halfway round the world from home without knowing a soul. I had to start everything from scratch including building that support network and those friendships. Nothing pre-assembled. Of course now that I have this feeling of accomplishment, I am more convinced than ever that I prefer traveling with someone that I know. Because in the end, I'm just lazy.
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#1 mom
non-member comment
Hope you feel better
I do appreciate the pictures of you in them. Thank you. Tell everyone there I appreciate them being a friend to you and making your work there a little more enjoyable. I have noticed that you talk more about Viet Nam than your other trips--maybe because you are contributing something to help the people there which is your passion. Anyway, hope you are feeling better. Take care of yourself. We love you!!