No more Tequila!

So after a very long afternoon nap yeasterday, Carla and I were once again ready to face the world. We had our hearts set on roller-skating, but of course we set to drinking instead as tequila was on special at the bar. 10,000kip a shot, about 1$USD. So we met Paul and Andrew at the Pub. Paul being our very own first place syncronized swimming champion, and owner of an advertising and events agency in Melbourne who kept us laughing for days. And Andrew a un-corrupted country boy, also from Australia who is thinking of ditching his job for a life in Vientiane. And for some unkown reasons came all the way to Laos for a month vacation to a hotel with a pool, without a bathing suit. I personally think its just an excuse to swim in his briefs which are color co-ordinated to the days of the week. This is actually something we've found since being overseas, men swimming in their boxers and breifs and thinking they are getting a way with it undetected. Not a chance guys!

We managed to get to the bowling alley for some good old fashion competition, and were sweated out of the sport after an hour, as the aircon was on the fritz, and headed to the disco next door. Of course all this was not enough of an evening for us, and we scaled the gate into our guesthouse (they lock everything up here as all is open-air and therefore not too secure) to retrieve the cheap vodka (like 2 dollars cheap) we have on reserve to enjoy yet another poolside drink.

So off PG go home and adventuring north respectively, as Carla and I continue to exist in limbo, in lovely Vientiane refusing to get on another bus, for another 16 hours. Our Aussie friends Dave and Lisa are flying in tomorrow, and so we will see what kind of trouble we can kick up with them...we'll let you know.

-R

Adventures in Vientiane

Vientiane is turning out to be quite the fun place. As soon as I got used to the idea of dripping wet everywhere I went, Carla and I joined in the party. We ventured down to the river where all the locals bathed in their clothes, along with a few brave tourists, and there were food stall set up on the bank. The last day of partying died down around 6pm, and we ventured back to our guesthouse to have a much needed shower and change of clothes, only to be soaked one last time by the staff as we ran up the driveway. We got there only to find there was no water. All the water throwing had drained our tank and we had to wait a couple of hours before going out to our lovely Easter dinner. We found a very popular restaurant and had the closest thing to turkey dinner we could: mashed potatoes, chicken with gravy and vegetables....Delicious.

We had a great night, after ordering a jug of Lao's version of Sangria, Lao Gria which tasted kind of like cough syrup, and met a couple Aussie's, Paul and Andrew on vacation at the bar. We ended up closing the place down and went to bed exited to maximize the offer of a swimming pool from Paul the next day. So nice, the weather here has just started to get hot again after three days of rain, and with perfect timing. Such a great day we had lounging and drinking by the pool, in good company, and having a dip to ward off the heat.

After our first 6 hours of drinking we were still feeling pretty good on our feet, and ventured out to dinner. We ended up closing the bar again, and venturing via tuk tuk to a well hidden, and very popular afterhours bar. Everything closes down at 11:30 here, which is obviously too early for Carla and I, but there is always an afterhours lurking if you look for it. The night before we just happened upon the life of the party at a small pub around the corner from our hotel, and hoped on the back of the bikes of a self described lady-boy, Helen and her two gay-boy friends. So fun, we ended up at a grand hotel afterhours, where everyone was dressed to the nine's and it felt like a unpopular barmitzvah with so few people dancing in the dry ice in such a large room.

Anyhow, this afterhours was quite small and after trying to yell our conversations to each other for a while, we decided to buy the necessary bottle of JD, pepsi, ice, glasses and all, and return to the pool. I felt like such a delinquent sneaking in, but turns out, they actually let adults stay up all night and drink in the pool, no hopping fences for this one. We finally just crawled home after redefining the word prune, and Carla is very intelligently sleeping off her hang over as I try to get on with my day (its about 11am). I should really join her.

So off to the roller rink / bowling alley we go tonight to do it old school style. we are so excited.

later all, R

Hanoi to Vientienne

Sorry its been so long since I've posted, things have been busy.

Carla and I when we first arrived in Hanoi after a disapointing tour of the DMZ and an overnight bus to the city, we thought to ourselves, let's get out of here! But alas, after some strange birthday celebrations, and a gorgeous trip to Halong Bay, we ended up postponig our bus to Laos multiple times and loving the capital city after all.

So, as for my bday, the day started out well. Carla went out to get me bfast in bed. the hotel bought me roses, and our brit friends Amy and Adam managed to find an english bday card, impressive.

The first part of my present from Carla, she arranged thru the hotel staff for me to get a massage. We ended up at a shaddy looking hotel, with no sign above the door. Lets just say I was a bit nervous. They tried to triple the price (vs. what the sign said), but we weren't having that. Ripping off tourists is the name of the game in this town. Anyhow, after sussing out the place, it looked clean and the massesuse was a sweet looking girl. Small enough that I could roll her if things got rough. Although when I sugested I put on my shorts, as there was a window in the door of the room, she tried to get me in the shower, with her I think. Since that wasn't happening, I just put on the shorts and showed myself to the massage table.

Turned out to be very nice and relaxing. Strong hands on that pint-sized girl. Just what I needed after a stressful week, month and year. So Carla was suposed to meet me back at the massage place. She had to grab a taxi to the Hospital to get her seccond of 6 rabies shots. Oh did I metion she was bit by a monkey a few days ago. In her defense he was really cute. We couldn't help playing with him, and buying him some bananas. Well turns out the greedy f****r was a bit insecure and thought she was stealing his meal when she turned her head. And was left with a mini bite to the shoulder. So far she has shown no signs of foaming at the mouth or lucidity, so i think she'll make it.

Ok, so back to my story: It took her a half hour and about 10$ in cabs (that's alot!) to get to a proper hospital and not a nail salon. There's a bit of a language barrier here as you may be picking up on. So she was gonna be late to meet me. When I tried to leave the salon after sitting there for a half hour waiting, they insisted I stay, following me to the door and outside repeatedly. very strange. when I finally insisted and brushed them off, the lovely receptionist took it upon herself to do her job and let me know that my friend said she'd meet me at the hotel. what a sweetie.

So all this put us a bit behind schedule, still went to the hair salon and had pedicures and got our hair washed and blow dried straight. so fabulous. They took an hour, literally to soap up and rinse and condition and massage repeatedly. Even washed my face and massaged it. And cleaned our ears. love it. Haven't felt this clean in months. Sure beats washing a two in one out of my tangles in a bucket shower. It took two of them to brush out my knots and straighten my hair. Pretty amusing, but the end result was perfect.

So all this pampering put us a bit more behind schedule, we met Adam &Amy at the Funky Monkey with a crowd for yummy cocktails and drinking games. Carla and I ditched the crowd and tried to go meet Owen Glossip at Baracudas. He's living here with his girlfriend. And we ran into him on the steet a couple days a go. Well turns out the moto driver didn't feel like taking us there and it turned into a huge ridiculous mission. ridiculous! We ended up at a new club called Solace which is a big boat on the river with a couple cute brothers from Montreal (or Sherbrooke rather) that we recruited along the way. It took us a while to figure out if they were just drunk or just on the slow side. I think slow was the verdict. After yawning off the bordom I took to the dancefloor and shook that ass with a Vietnames entourage of Usher wannabees. so fun.

We then proceeded to Halong Bay on a two day one night adventure sleeping on a gorgeous boat. It was perfect we ended up just the four of us, with another four young guys and an even younger crew. We got drunk on rice wine and tequilla, and sang kareokee. Halong Bay is gorgeous, and although we were not so eager to explore it through our hang-overs on day two, the first day was perfect.

We then hoped a bus to Vientiene, the capital of Laos and arrived yesterday. We paid extra to be on the 16 hour aircon bus, well, as usual, we got scammed. After being shuffled around for a couple of hours: SUV, moto, and minibus, they finally arrived at a shaddy bus station and crammed us on the back of a full local bus. It took 24 hours, with two spent at the most unorganised border. Carla's seat broke right off as we were trying to re-arrange the boxes piled in the seat next to us so they would not tople over in the night. Luckily I happened to be very tired and slept for about 20 out of the 24 hours, except when I had to hop the bag that filled the aisle (ours got trampled, and muddy), to go for a pee in the middle of the night at a dark gas station. I have to say am not yet used to the "pee room" concept, which consists of a concrete room filled with puddles, where women pee comunally and you try to avoid splashing your own and an inumerable number of other womens urine all over your feet. yuck! Atleast give me a door and some privacy!

Anyhow, so we arrived in Vientiene in the highest of spirits, and in need of somewhere to sleep and shower. Well, turns out we arrived just in time for the first of three days celebrating the New Year, where the streets are filled with people hurling buckets of water on innocent passers-by. So we wandered around soaking wet to find many guest houses and restaurants closed.

Anyhow, after a good nights sleep, and a good meal, we are waiting till the rain stops and we can venture north to Vang Vienne. Sounds like a gorgeous town.

Until next time, R

Ho Chi Min Trail

So, I figured Carla write a bit about our cross country adventure, and figured that I would lend some background info on the HCM Trail, and its significance here in Vietnam.

The trail was conceptualized by General Giap to build a safe route for northern troops to provide aide to Communist troops fighting in the south.

It initially took 6 months to walk the jungle path down the west side of the country, from North to South, carrying rations for the North Vietnamese army. By 1975 the trail was 15,000 km long and was wide enough for trucks and tanks as opposed to the foot path. By the end of its construction it was well protected and had food stores, ammunition dumps and hospitals along the way. Along with an oil pipeline whose whereabouts remain a secret from the people now inhabiting the land around the trail.

All this work required thousands of men, along with a crew of 50,000 youth volunteers used to repair bridges and fill bomb craters by night. People on the route had to contend with almost constant napalm and conventional bombing. Everyday in 1965, the year of the Tet Offensive, US Air Force troops flew an estimated three hundred bombing raids over the trail, and in 8 years dropped over 2 million tones of bombs in an effort to cut the flow of supplies. The trail ran through Cambodia and Laos in parts of the south, and along riverbeds, mountainous terrain, and areas plagued by the daily threats of leeches, snakes, malaria and dysentery. The trail was never completely severed and supplies continued to travel throughout the war.

The trail, now rebuilt as a paved two lane highway, and alternative to highway 1 running from Hanoi to Ho Chi Min City, has its significance preserved through numerous statues and dedications along the way. And is now remembered as a symbol of their victory and their sacrifice. Although critics argue that the completion of the trail due in 2010 will threaten numerous wildlife reserves.

As we traveled down this highway for two days by moto, it may be so that wildlife is being threatened as the jungle bore no evidence of wildlife, hardly a bird in sight. Although the numbers of wild buffalos and cows being herded up the highway to graze were abundant. So many nomadic and minority people live off the highway, and travel by foot to gather food from sunrise to sunset along the fields that border the road. The government also placed laws against using the trees to build their houses as they have traditionally done, as clear cutting of the jungle is becoming a huge problem. Also, as the families are too poor to buy cow dung to re-fertilize their Fields two years in a row, there is constant burning of patches of the forest, to create new farming land and fertile earth. It is so sad to see such a gorgeous jungle being slowly burned away.

The poverty of this area is immense, although does not pertain to everyone in the area. There are some successful farmers and families getting enough to eat. Then again, some of the people we passed by had their clothing literally disintegrating off their backs. And all the while the smiles on everyone's faces as we drove by and waved were priceless. The land is incredibly mountainous, and it is so impressive the angles upon which the people can farm. It was amazing to drive through and see the bear mountain tops from bombing, houses closed due to Agent Orange spraying and infertile land, and many children have downs syndrome and birth defects from the spaying as well. Even bullet holes in house walls, and bomb craters patched up along an American air strip.

We walked on patches of the old trail, and could see it emblazened through the jungle. It is a gorgeous drive, and we are lucky to have experienced the area, mostly untouched by tourists.