I just finished my last proctoring session, so no more of that for two months. I tend to use this site to vent, so in all fairness to the Thai teachers, most of them are very nice, and highly educated. I guess there are assholes wherever you go (the particular asshole from the other day happens to be the head of the Thai computer science program).

One nice guy spent six years in America getting a PhD from Illinois Institute of Chicago in computer science. He turned down a $75,000 a year job at Motorolla because he had to come back and work for the university, since they paid for his education. They require four years for every year of study, so he’ll be here for 24 years, earning $6,000 a year.

That may be an unbelievable amount of time akin to indentured servitude, but, this is about as good of a teaching job you can get in Thailand. Because it’s a private university, the pay is higher than at the more prestigious government universities.

Still, I’m glad I don’t have to stay here for 24 years. Heck, I’ll be lucky to finish my two.

Tonight I pack, and tomorrow I fly to Vietnam. It amazes me that by taking an 80 minute flight, I will end up in a totally different place that will be nothing like Thailand. There is so much diversity packed into a small area in Southeast Asia.

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Friendly policeman

Hanoi is wild and crazy, and has a ton of ambiance. I like it a lot so far. But there is the constant chance of death to worry about.

The moment you leave the airport, you're in a lush pastoral setting of green rice paddies being worked by peasants wearing Vietnam's famous conical hats. But a very busy and crowed pastoral setting. The highway is shared by water buffaloes, pony carts, bicycles, pedestrians, and massive amounts of motor bikes, some going down the wrong side of the rode. Because of the large number of vehicles, people, and animals, none of whom are paying attention to where they are going, all vehicles honk their horns constantly.

And Hanoi is absolutely insane. Narrow one way streets, jam-packed with mobs of people, motor bikes, and a few hapless cars and busses, all honking. I had countless near misses on the motorbike to my hotel, especially when the driver went the wrong way down a one way street!

Walking around is no piece of cake either, since there are no sidewalks, you have to walk among the sea of vehicles. I'm slowly getting used to crossing the street Vietnamese style: just dive in and start walking slowly, and the river of motor bikes will swarm around you. Busses and cars do have to be dodged, though.

At the concert

It really is a motor bike society. There's a concert at the park tonight, and everyone is listening to the singers while sitting on their bikes!

The other threat of death was starvation. I could not find a restaurant. I remembered a friend telling me that I should try banh mi, a French bread sandwich. Eventually, I came upon a stand selling it. Thanks to the French, Vietnamese is written with the Roman alphabet, so you can actually read signs. Of course, pronunciation is another matter. The only ingredient I recognized was pate, so I tried that.

But the city has a ton of character. It really is the Paris of the East, with its French colonial buildings. I'm looking forward to exploring it by day tomorrow.

I'm really in no hurry to leave, and I want to spend some time getting my bearings. I'm not sure how long I'll stay, or where I'll go from here. Whatever the case, "doing" Vietnam isn't a priority. I'd rather relax and enjoy myself.

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Doll street

Today was a busy day of sightseeing. After a mediocre breakfast at a traveler's cafe (I'm having trouble finding anything else), I walked around the Old Quarter for a few hours, getting lost in the maze of narrow streets and alleys. In a way it's similar to the French Quarter in New Orleans, only more chaotic. Luckily it was less crazy than last night. I think because yesterday was Saturday, the whole city was out cruising around on their motorbikes.

I like the way each street has a specialty, and the proprietors sit outside their shops, with their wares on display on their walls. There's the plastic toy street, the baby supply street, the welding street, the Happy Buddha street, the Chinese lamp street, and on and on.

Then I checked out a couple temples. It was nice to get a break from Buddhas, and look at statues of Confucius instead. I was amazed to watch people offering money by burning it, until I saw the pile of fake white $100 bills.

Then I went to the Hoa Lo Prison, a.k.a. the "Hanoi Hilton." There wasn't much to see. The few exhibits focused on French colonialist mistreatment of Vietnamese patriots, and there were a few implements of torture on display, as well as murals of khaki clad Frenchmen beating Vietnamese, while crowds of prisoners looked on, shouting and raising their hands in defiance.

Two small rooms were filled with pictures of smiling American P.O.W.s. An inscription reads:

From August 5, 1964 to January 24, 1973, US government carried out two destruction wars by air and navy against Northern Vietnam. The Northern Army and people brought down thousands of aircrafts and captured hundreds of American pilots. Part of these pilots were detained in Hoa Lo Prison by our Ministry of Interior. Though having committed untold crimes on our people, but American pilots suffered no revenge once they were captured and detained. Instead they were well treated with adequate food, clothing and shelter. According to the provisions of Paris Agreement, our government had in March 1973 returned all captured pilots to the US government.

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Woman in hat

Two of the bad things people have told me about Vietnam are proving to be true. The first is that it's impossible to go anywhere on your own. Nobody's stopping you from getting on a public bus, it's just that the buses don't go to the sites of interest to tourists.

Thus, the Old City is full of travel agents selling package tours to the same places. I wanted to avoid this by taking a motorbike into the remote Northwest. Unfortunately, befriending an English-speaking moto driver is not an option here like it is in Phnom Penh, so you have to hire a guide and bike from a travel agent at about $50 a day, and the trip takes five days. It's too much money and time for me.

I figured I can't fight the system, so I booked a series of tours to the standard placed everybody goes to, which got me to thinking about why I consider this a problem. I did the exact same thing in Australia and New Zealand, and had fun. But in those countries, practically everyone else is white, so you blend in. I guess in Asia, where you stick out like a sore thumb, some of us want to have the experience of going where no Westerner has gone before, so get mad whenever we see another white person and ignore them.

Happy Buddha street

The other negative thing I was told about Vietnam is that the people all want your money. No tourist is able to make that statement, because we only have contact with service providers: vendors, motorcycle/cyclo drivers, and travel agents, all people trying to sell stuff, and the worst of the worst anywhere you go. But so far the Vietnamese service providers are the worst I've met. I've only been here a couple of days, and have been ripped of numerous times.

They will let you get into ambiguous situations where they claim you owe them more money than you expect, then won't take no for an answer. A favorite tactic of motorcycle drivers is to agree on a number in dong like 5,000, a fair price, then when it's time to pay, demand $5, a fifteen-fold increase. I've had to resort to carrying a pen and paper so I can write out numbers.

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The Perfume Pagoda

First up on my itinerary of tours was the Perfume Pagoda. I figured I would at least be on a bus full of intrepid backpackers, but it actually consisted of Swedish families, complete with kids. Luckily, I met Ha from Danang in Central Vietnam, who was traveling alone.

The only way to get to the pagoda is via a one-hour boat ride, in boats paddled by local women. No one can accuse Vietnamese women of being lazy – they are often doing heavy labor.

We looked at the temple, which was one of Vietnam's eclectic Buddhist/Taoist/Confusionist hybrids. It wasn't just a tourist attraction for Ha, but also a pilgrimage, so while our guide talked, she made offerings.

Then we walked up a rocky path for an hour to a sacred cave. The whole way was was lined with vendors selling refreshments, snacks, and souvenirs. The place is full of Vietnamese pilgrims during Tet, but now it was only tourists, so most of the vendors were gone. Those who remained were just as loathsome as in Hanoi. I gave one guy a 10,000 dong note for a small water, then had to argue to get my 5,000 dong in change (the real price is 3,000 dong). At least he gave me some change, unlike the woman who refused to give me back 5,000 dong this morning.

The Temple of Literature

The climate of North Vietnam is pleasant, since it's not tropical, but the climb was still sweaty work. It was nice to get to the cool cave, where Ha burned incense.

When we returned to Hanoi, Ha drove me around on her motorbike. We had dinner at a noodle shop on the sidewalk, and sat on tiny plastic chairs. No only was the pho cheaper than in a restaurant (30 cents versus 3 dollars), it was much more delicious.

Then we went to an ice cream shop I would have never found on my own, then cruised around looking at the beautiful lights and listening to the various musical acts on the three stages around the lake. Hanoi is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its liberation, and it is simply gorgeous at night. Overall it's the most pleasant city I've visited in Asia, and I was sad to say goodbye to Hanoi and Ha when I got on the train at 11 pm.

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Hmong woman

Sapa's a former French hill station, and now, after years of being deserted due to war, is the premier tourist attraction of Northwest Vietnam. It's at an elevation of 1600 m, and is cold! I'm freezing, because the only warm clothes I have is the fleece I threw in my pack as an afterthought, and none of the buildings are heated. I feel like I'm back in Nepal.

I've been told it's very beautiful here, but it is so foggy, the valley is obscured. It is also drizzling nonstop. Not surprisingly, I've picked up a sore throat and runny nose.

The thing to do here is trek to hill tribe villages, an activity that's never appealed to me because of the human zoo atmosphere. But, since I'm not fighting the system, I booked a short trek today, and a six-hour one for tomorrow.

Today's trek was short indeed; I could have just walked there myself. But my guide did take me into one of the Hmong houses, a shocking experience. The poverty they live in is some of the worst I've seen. There's no way to stay warm in their small, dirty shack. My visit was an opportunity for them to hock their wares, and I felt obligated to buy something.

The hill tribe people make some beautiful stuff, such as colorful hemp fiber handbags. But the old women and little girls who prowl the streets selling them hound you relentlessly, and will not take “no” for an answer. Never before have I encountered such persistence.

Sapa is beautiful at night. The Vietnamese take pride in their buildings, and construct them in a sort of neo-French Colonial style, and paint them in pastel colors. It's all lit up at night. Strolling down the street would be pleasant, if it weren't for the roving gangs of hill tribe women, and the crazy old man shouting at everyone.

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In the hills

I was surprised that my guide today was a 16 year old Hmong girl. The girls start peddling stuff at about five years old, and some of them have an amazing ability to pick up English. Apparently those who do can become guides.

The fog was gone and the weather was warm today, so it was a pleasant walk through the beautiful valley lined with terraces. We walked through a couple hill tribe villages, and women and girls hounded us the whole way. I've never seen anything like it. If you need salespeople, this is where to come.

It was a six hour trek, including lots of breaks so our guide could talk to her friend, and a long lunch so she could watch Chinese soap operas.

When I got back I took a hot bath, then a nap. There's nothing to do here at night, so after I eat, I'll read.

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When you're traveling independently, you sometimes get stuck in uninteresting towns waiting for transport. While boring, it's not a problem for intrepid backpackers on one-year trips around the world. But when you only have two weeks, every day is important.

I should have only stayed one night in Sapa, because the bus back to the train station leaves at 4 pm, so I could have left after my trek yesterday. But instead, I had a whole day to kill. I thought I could sleep in, but since there is nothing to do at night, I went to bed early, and was up at 8.

I ate expensive tourist food and read my Ho Chi Minh biography for awhile. Then I figured I would climb the “tourist” mountain, which cost $1, since I had nothing better to do. It was rather surreal, with well manicured gardens, blasting Chinese music, ostriches, and crazy Vietnamese tourists laughing and shouting at me. The very top, which I had to myself, had good views of the town.

The bus arrived in Lao Cai, on the Chinese border, where the train leaves from. Lao Cai is notable for having been destroyed by the Chinese in a failed invasion a few decades ago. Maybe it was interesting then, but it is pretty unremarkable today.

Unfortunately, I had four hours to kill there. Copious amounts of Lao Cai lager made the wait less painful.

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Sunset on the bay

Long day today. I was roused from a deep slumber at 5:30 am as the train pulled into Hanoi. My tour was going to leave at 7:45, but before that I had to buy an onward train ticket to Hue, after the ticket office opened at 7:30.

I had nowhere to go in the meantime, so I sat down and had some tea. The motorcycle guys kept hounding me, and I eventually lost my temper. You should never raise your voice to an Asian, and this only encouraged them. When I lost my temper a second time, they all laughed; they were egging me on. The best policy is to smile and joke with them, and tell them where you are going even if you don't need them. Once I did this, they showed me how to walk to the other station, where I could buy my ticket.

One thing that's getting annoying is the food vendors constantly ripping me off. In other countries, you usually don't have to hagle for food. Even if someone does give a higher price, as long as you know the real price, you can pay it. But in Vietnam, even the tea ladies will rip you off. Knowing that a cup of tea should cost 1,000 dong didn't stop the lady fom demanding 10,000 dong.

Boat to boat delivery

Other than the rip-off factor, Vietnam is incredibly easy to travle in, because of the massive tourist infrastructure. There are tours to anywhere you would want to go, and they always have an English-speaking guide. I've never seen anything like it. So if you want to visit Asia and are nervous about traveling, Vietnam is perfect. But if you're an intrepid backpacker, it's too confining.

Today's tour took me to Hailong Bay, the premier tourist attraction in the Northeast, where I cruised around in a junk, looking at all the impressive rock formations. It's beautiful, but a day trip would have been fine. But I'm staying the night on the boat, which is like a floating hotel. Tomorrow more baywatching, them I'm off to Central Vietnam.

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At the celebration

The second day of Hailong Bay was indeed pointless. We went to Cat Ba island, where a large contigent of Isrelei backpackers embarked, then immediately headed back, stopping for 30 minutes to swim en route. I'm not happy, because the travel agent said we would kayak, but all we did was sit on the boat. It was very boring

We got back to Hailong City at noon, had a mediocre lunch, then bused back to Hanoi, arriving at 5.

I stupidly bought my ticket for the 11 pm train, so I had a ton of time to kill. So I drank beer. Just as it was time to leave, things started getting crazy. Today is the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Hanoi from the French, so the entire city was out and about. The streets were packed with people watching a big fireworks display, making it difficult for my motorcycle driver.

It's another night on the train. Luckily, the soft sleeper class is very comfortable, and I sleep very well on it.

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I arrived in Hue at 11 am. It's a pretty small town, and there's not a lot to do. I walked over to the citadel, the walled off portion of the old city. It was big and confusing, and a cyclo driver was hounding me, so I agreed to let him drive me around. It ended up being a 3 and a half hour tour, taking in the inner citadel itself and the old town. Unfortunatly, most of the citadel was wrecked during the Tet offensive, when Viet Cong occupied the city for a month, before being driven off by the Americans (Hue is in the Northern part of what was South Vietnam).

My cyclo guy also drove me to a famous pagoda outside of town that was the site of anti-communist demonstrations many years ago. Unfortunatly, it was completely covered in scafolding, so was not photgenic.

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Since I have limited time, I had to choose between seeing Hue's ancient tombs, or the former DMZ. I had a suspicion there wouldn't be much to see in what was once the area dividing North and South Vietnam near the 17th parallel. Neverhtless, I chose the latter, and my suspicions proved correct.

The distances were great, and the roads were not great. Out of the 12 hours of the tour, about 8 were spent sitting on the bus. Sitting on a bus makes me sleepy and lethargic, diminishing the enjoyability of the day.

After three hours, we finally got to the first and best site, the Vinh Moc Tunnels. During the American War, as it's called here, the US Army's heavy shelling of the village of Vinh Moc forced the villagers underground. According to Lonely Planet, the tunnels are less touristy than Saigon's Cu Chi Tunnels, and are taller and less claustrophobic. I still had to stay bent over the whole time, though, and it certainly felf claustrophobic. I can't immagine how people actually lived in the small, dark, damp tunnels. Seventeen babies were even born here. I was glad to get out after 20 minutes. Interestingly, some of the exits opened onto the beach.

Then we got back on the bus, and sat for hours. Our guide pointed out former US bases as we drove by, but the only things there now are houses. We traveled on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, but now it's the Ho Chi Minh Highway. We stopped at the Rockpile, a former Marine lookout to take pictures, but the name proved accurate, and it was just a pile of rocks in the middle of nowhere.

Ruined tank

I was looking forward to the last site, the Khe San Combat Base, because it is so famous. President Johnson thought it could become another Dien Bien Phu, the battle in 1954 that convinced the French to leave, so he comitted large number of troops, guns, and planes there. The Vietnamese layed siege to it for 75 days, but that was actually a diversion to draw US soldiers away from places where they could have been useful: the cities that were attacked during the Tet Offensive.

This made sense upon arriving. Khe San Combat Base truly is in the middle of nowhere. The lines on President Johnson's maps may have made it look important, but there is absolutely nothing there worth fighting for.

Today, there is nothing there worth seeing. A small museum with pictures of American soldiers fleeing in terror, a few US helicopters, and a rusty US tank. It's located on a hill in a lush green valley, and it's impossible to imagine what it was like here 35 years ago.

The statistics of the seige are shocking: 10,000 North Vietnamese died, and 500 Americans. At least the Vietnamese died for something they believed was important. But what did the Americans die for?

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Hoi An by boat

Perhaps the easiest way of traveling in Vietnam is by “open tour,” on a tour bus you can get on and off as you please like the Kiwi Experience in New Zealand. That may be a good way to get around in New Zealand, but it's not what I like to do in Asia, so I've avoided it.

But today's three hour bus ride from Hue to Hoi An was on the open tour bus, and I'm glad I've avoided it. A crazy Kiwi guy can pull off the wacky tour guide act, but when a Vietnamese guy tries it, he is just annoying. Our “guide,” which I did not want or need, lectured us for a half an hour on where we were going, where we could go from there (using the company's transportation), where we could stay (at the company's hotel), and the weather. He even sang. When they dropped us at their hotel, they wouldn't get my bag out, so I had to retrieve it myself. I promptly fled, and found my own hotle, no problem, as usual.

Hoi An really is a charming little town. It's old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and consits of pretty, old Chinese shops, all well preserved. Unlike Hanoi's old town, there is no new development. Walking around and looking at the sites is fun, and the shops sell some nice stuff, such as beautiful artwork, pottery, Chinese lanterns, and wood carvings. I've already stocked up, and plan to buy more tomorrow. The food is also excellent, and the restaurants have pleasant ambiance.

As charming and pleasant as Hoi An is, it is sort of boring by yourself. I'll check out the beach tomorrow.

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Chinese door in Hoi An

I needed a vacation from my vacation, so I just rented a bike and rode to the beach. It's a nice beach, and there was hardly anyone there, besides the Beach Ladies, who wouldn't leave me alone. Practically all the Asian countries I've been to have Beach Ladies: women covered from head to toe in hats, flannel shirts, and jeans, selling fruit, jewelry, and massages. But these Beach Ladies were unique in that they spoke English, which they used to befriend tourists in the hope of getting business.

I need to get out of here, because I keep buying stuff. It's hard to pass up ties when they are only $1 apiece.

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Friends in Danang

I hired a guy to drive me out to the ruins of My Son this morning. The ruins were nice, but the site was small. The bad thing about seeing Bagan in Burma is that nothing else can compare to it.

I stopped in Danang to visit Ha. She works 12 hours a day, 6 days a week (8 as a translator, 4 as an English teacher), so she arranged me to meet two of her students, Linh and Han. We had Vienamese coffee (too strong, I have to dillute it with water), then met Ha for the local specialty: dry noodles with salad and pork. Once again, it was cheap and good, and I would have never found it without help. Then we all cruised around town on motorbikes, and finished off the night drinking more dilluted Vietnamese coffee, and eating dried watermellon seeds.

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Snake juice, anyone?

An early start with Linh and Han, who took me to a noodle soup breakfast, then more coffee. It was interesting to see people coming into the restaurant trying to sell crap like gum to Vietnamese people, and not going away, even when their potential customers said they didn't want any. They don't just bug tourists.

Since few foreigners come to Danang, Linh and Han were eager to practice their English. But they are already fluent. They are both studying foreign trade, and have big aspirations about having their own export businesses. Han even wants to get a Masters degree in the USA.

Then we looked at Danang's only shopping mall, which had Danang's only escalator, which Linh was afraid to use. We had a delicious lunch of the Vietnamese equivalent of do it yourself fajitas. More delicious food I would have never experienced by myself.

When Linh and Han had to go to class, annother of Ha's students took me to the Museum of Cham Architecture.

Between work and class, Ha came and said “hello,” took me to the airport, and said “goodbye.”

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Now that I'm back to my normal life, it's a good time to summarize my feelings about Vietnam. The problem with daily journals is that, while they do give you a feel for traveling, they tend to focus on the negative, since you always have to deal with so many difficulties, no matter where you are. Vietnam has its fair share of difficulties, but the pros outweigh the cons, and it's definitely worth visiting.

Vietnam has some beautiful sights. Sapa is a charming French hill station, with beautiful mountains, and a cool, pleasant climate. And Hailong Bay is amazing with its towering islands of rock (but make sure you will kayak if you go).

The cities are nice too, with their interesting pastel French-colonial style houses. Hanoi is a charming, romantic capital city, with a small town feel. Hue has some interesting ancient monuments. And Hoi An is a beautiful, historic town, with great shopping.

But what made it special to me were the people. Once you get past the aggressive vendors, taxi drivers, and Hill Tribe women, and meet real Vietnamese people who aren't interested in your money, you learn that they are some of the nicest, most down-to-earth, hardworking people anywhere. I wish my lazy Thai students were half as astute as the Vietnamese students I met.

Vietnam photo gallery

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Last Wednesday night, I went to my favorite place, Coffee Society on Silom Road, to use their free internet. I walked in feeling fine, and three hours later walked out feeling dead sick: sore throught, headache, fatigue, and muscle pain. It felt like the flu. I stayed home on Wednesday. I felt better on Thursday, so went to work, but by the evening, my voice was starting to go. It was totally gone on Friday, so I stayed home again.

Since I missed a meeting, I'm anticipating that my boss will make a big deal out of it, and refuse to approve my sick leave, like he usually does. So even though I was feeling better by the afternoon, I went to Baumrumgrad Hospital, where the doctor said I had acute bronchitis, and prescribed a ton of different pills. The antibiotics were fine, but I should have just refused the cough medicine (I wasn't coughing much), the decongestant (my nose was fine), and the steroids (my voice was coming back).

It ended up costing $50, and I don't know if the University will reimburse me, since, now that I have a work permit, I am supposed to go to a crappy Thai hospital and use social security. But nobody gave me a social security card, or asked me to pick my hospital, so I'll submit my receipts, and see what happens. I made sure to have the doctor write my boss a note. Ridiculous; I feel like I'm in grade school again. But, terrorizing and harassing employees is the Thai way of managing.

At least my convalescence has given me lots of time for video gaming. I used to be on the forefront of gaming, with the latest hardware, but now I'm just finally getting around to playing Final Fantasy X, three years after it's been released. Only the Japanese can totally pull off having characters spend large amounts of time underwater without having to worry about breathing.

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