February 27, 2006
Since I last wrote I was off to a water puppet show that the Aussies had recommended. It is very popular and there was a big line up throughout the day since their are 5 shows everyday. I bought a first class seat for $40,000 dong. Water puppet shows have a 900 year old history going back to the rice farmers of the 11th century who invented water puppet shows when their fields flooded and the art continues to this day. There are no visible strings attached to the puppets that extend upward but having a front row seat and looking into the green water all I could see was a hollow bamboo stick probably with strings inside attached to the puppets and a musical group off to the side to add sound effects and music throughout the performance. It was just amazing to see the show and how they pulled it off without hardly any noticeable strings.
Afterwards I went back to my favourite watering hole where the 2 backpackers I was originally with before the puppet show were still there. One was a jewish gal from NY, USA (Jacqoline) and the other from Montreal, Quebec (Oliver). Later 2 french medical students joined us (Francoise and Marco). They were on their 5th year in med school in France and taking one month to volunteer at the Hanoi hospital. I was very impressed at how mature and intelligent these guys were for 23 and 24 years old and their perspective on the world.
The keg owner was always drunk and smiling and the only thing in english he could say was "One more beer?". He was so drunk he tacked on an extra 6 more beer to my bill. I let it go because I realized karma was balancing off some of the beer me and the Aussies scammed off of him in his absence the day before. One thing that all travelers agree on is how traveling lets you see how the rest of the world runs and how lucky we are in North America and Europe. Instead of thinking how someone else has more than you, you realize how lucky you are just to live where we do and what we take for granted since most of the world is living below poverty and fighting for a dollar each day and yet these people are happier than us in general. Oliver from Montreal has been living off $600 US a month and is on his 9th month of travel. I have spent too much money in my first month and am going to have to tighten my belt if I want this to last for at least a year (hopefully longer). I am on my 5th week and normally I am more than ready to come home but I honestly feel that I am just getting started on my travels (because I am) and feel more at home here than I do in Canada.
I am always impressed with Europeans because they seem so cultured and most can speak a second language (except the British). I think if I ever had kids I would make it mandatory to travel the world at 18 years of age before continuing with school or a career. It basically changes you and you begin to think about the big picture of things outside our normal everyday life. As I walked down the streets of Hanoi and looking into the kitchens of the street vendors I see big fat rats scurrying across the floor. Even the rats are well fed here!
I went to the Temple of Literature which is the oldest temple and school in Vietnam dating back to the 11th century. The school was based on the teachings of Confucius. He basically had a system on how things should run, how people should behave and how government should run things etc... Afterwards I went to the Hanoi Hilton which is the most famous prison in Vietnam. During the Vietnam war many US pilots were captured and taken here including senator John McCain. They showed a young picture of John McCain and other pilots who lived there for 6 years until 1973. The prison is over 100 years old and was nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton by US prisoners. Afterwards I ate at HWY 4 that was recommended by the Canadian couple Rob and Mag who said you can eat anything there (Similar to Pounders in Victoria). My first dish was sauteed Crocodile ($7US) which was brown in colour and then I had crispy fried eel ($2US) which was delicious. Then I had "Dashhound a la King"which was the special of the day (OK just kidding about the last one here).
I was pissed off at the airport as I had to pay an additional $55US for my bag weighing 14kg over the 18kg limit. Then I had to pay $14US for airport tax and then once I was through the X-ray and scanning area I found out there was no where to exchange my remaining $500,000 dong ($30US) for Thai Baht. And then once I got to the Bangkok airport I found out I couldn't exchange dong anywhere including at the banks in Bangkok. Northern Vietnam is very cold compared to south Vietnam and it was nice getting off the plane in Bangkok and feeling the heatwave sweep into the plane as I got off. Kind of like that feeling of going from Canada to Hawaii.
I found a hotel 3 blocks away from the main Khao San rd area where all the backpackers hang out and there is usually more to do in this area as it caters to tourists. I found a good little pub that sells pitchers of draught beer ($3 Cdn) for half the price as Khao San rd and is only a block away and also plays movies so you know where I will be after 6pm every night. Also the street vendors sell barbequed meat for 15 cents for a shishkabob so I load up and buy 90 cents worth for supper. Also I am happy to be back in Thailand because Vietnam doesn't sell milk because they have no cows in Vietnam. They only have Vitamilk which is not refridgerated. Seven Elevens are on every block in Bangkok and is the only successful franchise here since there are not many fast food places (because they can't compete with the street vendors. 7/11 sells milk). Over course the Tuk Tuk drivers think I am new to Bangkok when I arrive and calmly try to rip me off asking $150 baht to drive me to my hotel and I know it is just down the road and offer only $30 baht and without feeling like negotiating I agree to $40 baht. I am going to go to the train station and find out how much storage lockers are since I will be dropping half my stuff into it because I have the heaviest luggage at 32KG. I just got a big canadian flag that Tim gave me sewed onto my backpack before I venture into other countries (Don't want to be wrongly identified as an American in these other countries).
I will stay in Bangkok for a week or so and call a few of the people I met the last time I was here and then I will be heading south to Ko Tao island and then Ko Pha gan island and then Ko Samui (Ko means island). Then I will go to the other side to Phuket and Crabi and then to the beautiful island of Ko Phi Phi which was devastated during the Tsunami. Then before my 30 day visa exemption runs out around the end of March I will go into Malaysia to Kuala Lumpur and fly to Indonesia (Jakarta) and check out Java and then take a boat to Bali which everyone I have talked to has said is beautiful and the Balinese people are the friendliest. I have to look into how long I can stay there since it will be probably for 1-2 months. Bali has had 3 terrorists attacks in the last few years which has hurt tourism. Then I will fly out of Bali back to Malaysia (KL) and check out Singapore. Flights are cheap on Air Asia for $30 US each way. After that I am back to southern Thailand for another month and then off to China for the end of May or June where I will go through Tibet, Nepal, and India. And if all is well in the world I will quietly sneak through Pakistan and Iran undetected and check out those countries before getting to Turkey and the Mediterranean sea area. Of course my travel plans can change at a moments notice since I wasn't planning on going south to Phnom Penh in Cambodia or even into Vietnam but these things happen.
Over and Out
Kevin
Since I last wrote I was off to a water puppet show that the Aussies had recommended. It is very popular and there was a big line up throughout the day since their are 5 shows everyday. I bought a first class seat for $40,000 dong. Water puppet shows have a 900 year old history going back to the rice farmers of the 11th century who invented water puppet shows when their fields flooded and the art continues to this day. There are no visible strings attached to the puppets that extend upward but having a front row seat and looking into the green water all I could see was a hollow bamboo stick probably with strings inside attached to the puppets and a musical group off to the side to add sound effects and music throughout the performance. It was just amazing to see the show and how they pulled it off without hardly any noticeable strings.
Afterwards I went back to my favourite watering hole where the 2 backpackers I was originally with before the puppet show were still there. One was a jewish gal from NY, USA (Jacqoline) and the other from Montreal, Quebec (Oliver). Later 2 french medical students joined us (Francoise and Marco). They were on their 5th year in med school in France and taking one month to volunteer at the Hanoi hospital. I was very impressed at how mature and intelligent these guys were for 23 and 24 years old and their perspective on the world.
The keg owner was always drunk and smiling and the only thing in english he could say was "One more beer?". He was so drunk he tacked on an extra 6 more beer to my bill. I let it go because I realized karma was balancing off some of the beer me and the Aussies scammed off of him in his absence the day before. One thing that all travelers agree on is how traveling lets you see how the rest of the world runs and how lucky we are in North America and Europe. Instead of thinking how someone else has more than you, you realize how lucky you are just to live where we do and what we take for granted since most of the world is living below poverty and fighting for a dollar each day and yet these people are happier than us in general. Oliver from Montreal has been living off $600 US a month and is on his 9th month of travel. I have spent too much money in my first month and am going to have to tighten my belt if I want this to last for at least a year (hopefully longer). I am on my 5th week and normally I am more than ready to come home but I honestly feel that I am just getting started on my travels (because I am) and feel more at home here than I do in Canada.
I am always impressed with Europeans because they seem so cultured and most can speak a second language (except the British). I think if I ever had kids I would make it mandatory to travel the world at 18 years of age before continuing with school or a career. It basically changes you and you begin to think about the big picture of things outside our normal everyday life. As I walked down the streets of Hanoi and looking into the kitchens of the street vendors I see big fat rats scurrying across the floor. Even the rats are well fed here!
I went to the Temple of Literature which is the oldest temple and school in Vietnam dating back to the 11th century. The school was based on the teachings of Confucius. He basically had a system on how things should run, how people should behave and how government should run things etc... Afterwards I went to the Hanoi Hilton which is the most famous prison in Vietnam. During the Vietnam war many US pilots were captured and taken here including senator John McCain. They showed a young picture of John McCain and other pilots who lived there for 6 years until 1973. The prison is over 100 years old and was nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton by US prisoners. Afterwards I ate at HWY 4 that was recommended by the Canadian couple Rob and Mag who said you can eat anything there (Similar to Pounders in Victoria). My first dish was sauteed Crocodile ($7US) which was brown in colour and then I had crispy fried eel ($2US) which was delicious. Then I had "Dashhound a la King"which was the special of the day (OK just kidding about the last one here).
I was pissed off at the airport as I had to pay an additional $55US for my bag weighing 14kg over the 18kg limit. Then I had to pay $14US for airport tax and then once I was through the X-ray and scanning area I found out there was no where to exchange my remaining $500,000 dong ($30US) for Thai Baht. And then once I got to the Bangkok airport I found out I couldn't exchange dong anywhere including at the banks in Bangkok. Northern Vietnam is very cold compared to south Vietnam and it was nice getting off the plane in Bangkok and feeling the heatwave sweep into the plane as I got off. Kind of like that feeling of going from Canada to Hawaii.
I found a hotel 3 blocks away from the main Khao San rd area where all the backpackers hang out and there is usually more to do in this area as it caters to tourists. I found a good little pub that sells pitchers of draught beer ($3 Cdn) for half the price as Khao San rd and is only a block away and also plays movies so you know where I will be after 6pm every night. Also the street vendors sell barbequed meat for 15 cents for a shishkabob so I load up and buy 90 cents worth for supper. Also I am happy to be back in Thailand because Vietnam doesn't sell milk because they have no cows in Vietnam. They only have Vitamilk which is not refridgerated. Seven Elevens are on every block in Bangkok and is the only successful franchise here since there are not many fast food places (because they can't compete with the street vendors. 7/11 sells milk). Over course the Tuk Tuk drivers think I am new to Bangkok when I arrive and calmly try to rip me off asking $150 baht to drive me to my hotel and I know it is just down the road and offer only $30 baht and without feeling like negotiating I agree to $40 baht. I am going to go to the train station and find out how much storage lockers are since I will be dropping half my stuff into it because I have the heaviest luggage at 32KG. I just got a big canadian flag that Tim gave me sewed onto my backpack before I venture into other countries (Don't want to be wrongly identified as an American in these other countries).
I will stay in Bangkok for a week or so and call a few of the people I met the last time I was here and then I will be heading south to Ko Tao island and then Ko Pha gan island and then Ko Samui (Ko means island). Then I will go to the other side to Phuket and Crabi and then to the beautiful island of Ko Phi Phi which was devastated during the Tsunami. Then before my 30 day visa exemption runs out around the end of March I will go into Malaysia to Kuala Lumpur and fly to Indonesia (Jakarta) and check out Java and then take a boat to Bali which everyone I have talked to has said is beautiful and the Balinese people are the friendliest. I have to look into how long I can stay there since it will be probably for 1-2 months. Bali has had 3 terrorists attacks in the last few years which has hurt tourism. Then I will fly out of Bali back to Malaysia (KL) and check out Singapore. Flights are cheap on Air Asia for $30 US each way. After that I am back to southern Thailand for another month and then off to China for the end of May or June where I will go through Tibet, Nepal, and India. And if all is well in the world I will quietly sneak through Pakistan and Iran undetected and check out those countries before getting to Turkey and the Mediterranean sea area. Of course my travel plans can change at a moments notice since I wasn't planning on going south to Phnom Penh in Cambodia or even into Vietnam but these things happen.
Over and Out
Kevin
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