The deeper I get into this country and this culture the more I am amazed at what wonderful people I meet and how beautiful this place is. I went very deep into the countryside this time and was not around white people or english speaking people at all. Yes this was not easy and there was miscommunication sometimes but some amazing things happened and I saw incredible places. I went to 2 weddings and I didn't realize in Vietnam they are a contact sport. I ate all kinds of different foods that I have never heard of before. And I got to see Mt. Fuji on my home which has always been on my to do list.
This all started when I flew into HCM at 10:30 at night and was met by my gal with her sister and girl friends. What a welcome after a tough 24 hour workout to get there. After spending 3 days with Tu in HCM 5 of us left the hotel at 11:00 at night and took a 45 minute taxi ride to the bus station. At 1:00 in the morning the bus left for a 7 hour bus ride across the Mekong Delta. The sheer size of this delta is incredible, I have been across the Mississippi and this is much bigger. The road to Rach Gia is the worst road I have ever been on and there was times I was praying for a Mexican dirt road, I am sure I left a kidney and a couple vertabre on this ride. At Rach Gia we boarded the SuperDong which is the ferry ride thru the An Thoi island chain in the Gulf of Thailand to Phu Quoc island. This ride is the most beautiful boat ride I have ever taken. This area looks like the island Tom Hanks was on in the movie Castaway. After a 2 hour boat ride we arrived on the island and got a van to take us on a 20 minute ride to the main town of Duong Dong where I had rented a cottage on the beach for $40 a night. The ocean is very calm and crystel clear with the temp close to 90 degrees, air temp close to 100 degrees and humidity at 100 %, it was dripping sticky wet air. The infrastructure on this island is old and beat up and it is hard to get around as you have to do scooters in the rain on dirt pot holed roads, so I didn't get to see most of the places I wanted to. The best beaches on the island are on the east side and that just wasn't going to happen with the rain. Still it was a great trip and I will return sometime in the future to explore this special place. Then it was time to go back to HCM and attend a wedding of Tu's cousin and a wedding of a guy I work with who married a Viet gal. These were alot of fun and they make a frat kegger look like a ice cream social. These people know how to party. And all too soon it was time to fly home and I spent a day in Japan where everything is expensive and nobody speaks english. It is beautiful but I know now that there are other places I would rather see.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
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