follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail...

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the trip to Hue was totally uneventful, unfortunately, but the city has been pretty nice.

the first day I got here I decided to go to the beach, which is 15 km away, I managed to barter for a decent price and off we went. when we got there I found the beach deserted (yay!) but covered in garbage and it was basically a construction site for what looks to be beach accomodation (boo!). so I laid out and started reading/napping but then these little boys came over and started bugging me so I pretended that I only spoke French but they still took their sweet time getting going. Then my driver came to tell me it was time to go (even though he previously said to take my time) and I said "yes, okay" thinking he would walk away so I could put my trousers on (was in my bathing suit) and find a place to pee. Instead he came all the way over and crouched down to tell me, in case I didn't understand and all of my saying "okay, yes, yeah" and nodding and smiling meant incomprehension. finally he noted that I got it and left. Vietnamese men are perverts, I've decided.

anyways, the next day I went for a tour to the DMZ (demil
-holy crap someone just farted so smelly in here, it's very distracting-
itarised Zone and the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It had the potential for being pretty lame and boring but there was a US veteran on our bus and hearing his personal stories, along with the guide's made it totally worthwhile. There were also 3 other chicks travelling alone and we bonded over that and went for dinner and drinks later. Their stories were great cuz they were things that have happened to me too, it's so great to meet other girls travelling alone and loving it because so many people don't understand. I find that especially in Vietnam I get asked where my friends/boyfriend are constantly. It's hard to convey that I want to travel alone and that it's okay, I'm not lonely (or a prostitute, one of the girls told me she was mistaken as one and when she corrected it, the person said "then why girl alone?").

also met the most horrid person I've ever been around on the trip, as a person she was decently nice but some of the things that came out of her mouth were shocking. she made me glad that I'm travelling at this age so I don't end up like her in 15 years. here's a sampling of the worst stuff: she referred to people with mixed ethnicity as "half-caste" and said she felt sorry for them because they don't belong anywhere. UGH. then, when talking about racial profiling of brown and black people, she said "it makes you realise how lucky you are to be born with blonde hair and blue eyes." You know who else felt that way? Hitler, and we all know how that turned out. Double Ugh. I swear this is stuff she actually said, it's too terrible to fabricate. Because I was eavesdropping it woulda been difficult to jump in, but I was so tempted, also I woulda been so incredulous I prolly wouldn't have formulated an intelligent argument, instead prolly woulda just told her what a collossal, grade A, moron she was. That hardly ever gets you anywhere. Kydd, she woulda got along so well with that guy who said that cultures and religions could be measured against each other in terms of the best to worst (paraphrasing here, I'm sure you'll correct me if that's not exactly what he said, but I'm close eh?). There was more about her, but looking at what I've written I think I've proved my point.

today I rode around on a bicycle and almost died twice so I think this will be the last time I do it, it's too freakin scary here, espcially without a helmet I feel very vulnerable. and people drive without brains here. it's a fact.

Jane, loved the A-hole Channel story, it's funny how one person can sour you towards an entire network.
Jane and Anna and Shawna-the bus driver had 'Final Countdown' as his ring tone on his phone and he'd let it ring without answering and I'd sit there expecting a magic sh-I mean Illusion-to go on, fun times

alright, I think that's all for now-wait, one more thing, I was sitting in a cafe writing in my journal and this middle aged guy says "and this gal must be Canadian." I looked, up, startled, and asked him how he knew, he said it was the way I wore my hair. Meanwhile his wife is rolling her eyes at me behind his back. They were from Winnipeg, I guess that explains why he called me a 'gal.' We don't have those on the west coast, only in the praries do they have gals.

much love
Alexis

PS and a very happy birthday to my mommy, I love you.

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Comments

[Jane]

Pavlov's dogs, hey? Hear the music, expect the mag-illusion. SO funny.

[Gal from Butt Scratch, SK]

no brain drivers
The drivers have no brains there 'cause they used to ride bikes and then got hit while not wearing a helmet while cycling. They took the insurance money and bought a car 'cause that is way safer to be hitter, not the hittee. So I guess they aren't that stupid after all, 'cause they figured that out even after their accident.