monkey don't

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First, of all, I forgot to mention that some of the conference presentations were not allowed by the Vietnemese government. Which I thought was kind of important to mention. There's very little evidence of communist regime here, but I guess there's that. And supposedly if you try to take a photo of an army guy you're in BIG trouble. And, my bartender just told me that in Hanoi, they are really strict about closing bars and clubs at midnight. And that no matter who you vote for, the communist party wins. So there you go... Sounds a little familiar...

But anyway, more importantly, here I am in Halong Bay. And was not able to go to monkey island -- NOT because of the government but b/c they no longer let tourists go there to protect the monkeys which seemed like a very good reason to me. So got on a minibus early this a.m., leaving half my stuff at my decrepit but very nice and seemingly trustworthy hotel and drove about 3 hours east to the coast, thru lush countryside, rice paddies, cauliflower fields, palm groves with women in the straw hats hoeing, irrigating. Every once in awhile, an ancient looking, elaborate shintu (I have no evidence for this -- Im using it as a descriptive term only b/c I decided they were shintu, kind of like the Ang Lee reference) graveyard or a shrine would pop up. Then, the fields gave way to a very shallow bay, from which these huge boulders shot straight up into the air -- very heart of darkness, then that (which I assume is a precursor to whatever we see on the boat tomorrow) gave way to rice paddies again.

spent the afternoon wandering around this incredibly dead (we're way, way, way off season here) port town where mainly people come to go on boats to see the spectacular islands and grottos. But it's so QUIET here, and seedy in that empty beach town kind of way. A tattered amusement park called "the Royal Amusement Park", which is pretty oddly named in a communist country, is completely unused with eerie ferris wheels and kiddie rides, all chipping paint and scary teeth showing. They've also brought in some artificial sand to make about a 1/4 mile stretch of beach with palm trees and deck chairs. On the other side of a pier, old women collected clams on the shell strewn beach. I went for a little run back and forth and back and forth, and back, and forth... Then enjoyed my luxury hotel where I had a very long, hot shower. Also found this great bar/cafe with free, fast internet. And bartenders very eager to talk to me about 9/11. Also how Vietnamese feel about the war (past, not present) which was pretty interesting. They're taught in school that America is evil, and older generation feels that way but the younger generation doesn't believe the schooling, or the old folks. So says this young fan of Eminem and Black Eyed Peas. And New York.

Feeling a little funky and have realized that the trick is to go to sleep by 9, if I'm getting up at 5:30 every morning. Oh, and, I think I need to cool it on the street food. Have been eating, well, let's just say, hygiene has not been a priority, despite the fact that I had no shots before coming here. Yesterday, a woman cut my rice cake (which was deep fried, so I thought it okay) with this rusty pair of scissors in order to pour the fish sauce on it.... Perhaps the vietnamese vodka the bartender just insisted I try will kill whatever I picked up...

I MISS CHOCOLATE. Have tried to take up smoking in its stead, but I keep forgetting.

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Comments

[Julie R]

shintu
I love the boulders and amusement parks and eminem kids. So great to hear about this. Terribly exotic--I've never been anywhere exotic. Christ, that's pathetic. Good luck on the smoking. Keep on keepin' on, that kind of thing. Cigarettes+vodka=something like chocolate, right?