PAST ADVENTURES
Dalat - Crazy House
Sooo Gaudi, sooo Hip!
Scheduled for completion in the year 2010
The Architect - Hang Viet Nga
Angkor What? Angkor Wat
I have a tremendous amount of photos from my visit to Angkor Wat. I am sorry that I do not have the time or server space to post all. I will make an effort to switch out fotos after a time. Also, there is plenty of information on the internet about A.W. I will only say this... it was breath taking and it's no wonder that it is one of the "wonders of the world"
Cambodian people on the way to worship at A.W.
Gate to A.W.
$20 for a 1 day pass
$40 for a 3 day pass
I love doorway and window shots so you will see plenty of those on my site. Something about lines does it for me.
Nice Nun... no money required for photo
Not so nice Nun... wanted money and growled cuz she got none =)
Students and scientists from the University of Tokyo were on hand running tests for the preservation of A.W.
Hey look! another corridor shot
Not sure what this was... but it's really old
Yah, I was really there
Below, off the beaten track
Photos from my walk outside the temple grounds, later I would find out that that was not the most brilliant idea I have had... there are still plenty of land mines around A.W.
What the hell are you doing here... go back to the temple
crazy foreigner
Hawkers I just could not say no to. I ended up with a bag full of stuff that I never knew I needed.
Killing Fields, Cambodia
There were a lot of fotos of victims... this one stuck out the most to me. Look at the eyes... think he knows what's about to happen to him?
Holding area for the prisoners of the K.R.
Here's an interesting article and afterthought
Khmer Rouge Soldiers Rue Revolution
Vinh Moc Tunnels, Vietnam, North of the DMZ
(DMZ - demilitarised zone)
Ben and I had hitched as far as we could. We were dropped off at the opening of a dirt road. We thought we might walk it... glad we didn't, as it would turn out... the tunnels were about 10 miles down that dirt road.
Background: During the American War, as they refer to it in Vietnam, America targeted Vinh Moc due to its strategic importance to the NVC. Most of the villagers were forced to flee. However, some of the villagers stayed to assist the Vietcong. Vinh Moc made for an excellent staging area to ship supplies to a small island called Con Co off Vin Moc. From Con Co they could easily ship military supplies to the South. A total of 11,500 tons of military supplies reached Con Co and 300 tones were shipped to the South to assist in the NVC war effort. Despite the heavy bombing and loss of life above ground, the NVC still found it very useful to have a base here. The villagers, fighting for the return of their peaceful lives, volunteered to dig the Vinh Moc-tunnels by hand. Tunnels were as deep underground as 26 meters, well below the damage of the bombing. There was only one real threat to the tunnels, the "Drilling Bomb". Only one such bomb actually penetrated the tunnels but did not detonate. The bomb was removed and the hole was used as a ventilation shaft. The construction of the tunnels started in 1965. The underground complex consisted of some 2.8km of tunnels, complete with meeting rooms, ”theatre", medical facility, under ground water supply, ventilation shafts, kitchen, and even private showers for the women. That is the thing that impressed me most... aside from the fact that they were fighting for survival... they took a seemingly hopeless situation and created a higher quality or standard of living. They managed to keep their dignity even while living under ground in the middle of an all out war. 17 babies were delivered in the tunnels, 16 of which are still living. Life for the people and the soldiers of Vinh Moc would resume for two years underground.
As I walked through the tunnels I had to hunch over which I found painful. Later that night I discovered that I even had a few open scrapes from squeezing through the tunnels. The floors were slippery and there was an occasional hole to step in where you could easily break an ankle. It was damp and very hot. I can only imagine how difficult it was to live under these conditions. That is the spirit of the Vietnamese.
Front of museum & our English speaking tour guide
There are still quite a few reminders that the village had heavily bombed by the America, as you walk away from the museum down a paved pathway you can see several large bomb craters. The craters are now filled with growth or used as burning pits.
Below the surface
A typical day above ground in Vinh Moc
(above pictures) From inside the museum
Delivery room
The children that were born underground
View of the South China Sea from one of the exits
Life in the Villages
I have been to several villages throughout Vietnam, Lao and Thailand, life is pretty much the same in all of them, anything but typical to what I know of back home. The treks that I have been on have been very valuable in exposing me to the average life of a villager. It’s a simple life. Most families are farmers and any land that can grow food, is. It was explained to me that the people only work to meet their daily needs for the most part. Any additional money that is saved up is used to relax with family and enjoy life... maybe even to travel a bit to neighboring villages.
Rather than kicked back on a recliner, most times at night you can see families huddled around a fire laughing and seeming to truly spend quality time together. It is typical to get invited in to sit with them. Tea is the common bond... tea is almost always offered. I am not a tea drinker at home, but that is not the case here. Tea seems to be an offering of hospitality and one would get the impression to say “no thanks” would mean to deny a new friendship. The teas are very unique to a specific region and even to a specific village. At this point it is still safe to say that I am a coffee drinker, however, the teas are interesting and most of them are very delicious. Who knows, I could be turned?
The children are the highlight, as seen under the Travel Journal section of this site. All children are embraced by the entire village. They are free to wander as they please and you get the feeling that it's everyone’s job to see that they are cared for and shown affection. After the normal routine of one thousand times of asking “you buy from me, you buy from me” they become charming little kids that want to practice English and know where I am from. Standard questions are: What is your name? Where are you from? How old are you? Are you married? Is that your wife? Amazingly enough the kids speak terrific English... all learned from their encounters with tourists. School here is not a luxury that they can afford. They have a full work day selling whatever trinket it is that their village produces. It is quite easy for one to imagine taking all these kids home and putting them into a school to see how these brilliant minds might develop.
Marriage: although not entirely typical, I did meet a twelve year old Black H’mong girl from Yen Bai that had been married since the age of 10. I was told that they do not have sex at that age but merely do the other functions of a house wife in that culture. Babying starts around sixteen years of age. At the time, this particular girl was busy washing her husbands clothes and had no time to pay attention to our curiosities.
Cooking is done on an open fire in the home which also provides an excellent indoor heating source and a nice reason to gather. Every house has a set of heavy duty cooking pans and the food that is produced from this primitive kitchen is out of this world. One can be absolutely certain that all of the ingredients are fresh. To date, it is still some of the best food I have had while in Asia.
Most villages have some sort of electrical production. The wiring is pretty basic and runs pretty much bare and just hangs in the open anywhere it is needed... no building code standards here in effect that I can see. Some villages make use of hydro electric power... usually water runs down from the hills and is directed to a makeshift generator using bamboo. As you walk through the dirt roads from one house to another you can hear a radio playing in the background or maybe... just maybe, even a television. Television is pretty uncommon, and forget getting a station in English.
The houses that I have stayed in are amazing. The style is referred to as a “Stilt House” They are usually a few stories high with maybe one to two rooms per floor. The materials used are wood for the framing and bamboo slats for the flooring. The bamboo flooring is a little unnerving at first... it is very thin and doesn’t seem very strong. As you walk on it, it makes a very loud crunch and seems like it would be quite easy to put a foot though it. I have not seen or experienced putting a foot through it yet... (fingers crossed). Forget about using the bathroom at night... the bathrooms are located outside, there is no light on, the staircases are steep, and the sound from stepping on the bamboo is loud enough to wake the neighborhood. Voila, a brilliant form of intrusion alert.
The bathrooms are as basic as you can get with out running to the green field for relief. They are basically a bamboo shack housing a hole in the ground with water flowing from the mountains. The waste is directed to the river. There is always a waste basket near the hole that I eventually discovered is meant to discard the used toilet paper in... if you can find TP.
Alcohol is part of every meal... if you aren’t being offered beer, then it’s “holy water” also known as rice wine. Personally, I don’t drink and at first, with the language barrier, it was a challenge to explain why I didn’t indulge in the fruits of sin. I think my manhood had even been questioned a few times. Problem? Solution... I am not sure where the idea came from, but one day when I was offered wine I put my hands together as though I was praying and said the words “my Buddha says no” and like magic! The wine was removed from my face and tea was offered. From that day forward... I just repeat those words and I have no more problems. It works with drugs and women for hire too.
Tobacco smoking is used by the men only. Asian cigarettes are available in even the most remote of regions. There are also two other forms of tobacco that is smoked, one is smoked from a water bong looking device. It’s a one hit wonder, they load up a bowl and suck it down in a single shot. The amount of smoke that is produced is huge... I have not been brave enough to put my mouth on one of these communal contraptions yet. The other type is a home grown tobacco and is wrapped in a leaf... not too bad tasting, but I am still leery about what it is they are smoking.
Throughout the night you get a sense that life is still going on... if it’s not the dogs barking, it’s the pigs and roosters that remind you of where you are. By the time I wake, the villagers have been up for hours, slaughtering or gathering, washing and bathing, trading or selling to incoming travelers.
There you have it... life here is basic. The things that stand out are a sense of community, industry geared towards the daily needs, love, and happiness. My intention in the next few months is to stay a length of time in one specific village in Sapa, after the rainy season has ended.
I hope to post more pics on this subject very soon!
Below are some photos from my journey to Lao and Thailand
So this is life in Vietnam...
Hanoi
Pictures from around town:
