Update

For all those interested, I finally got around to putting pictures on here for my last three posts, so take a gander. The last posts pictures are a little graffic but thats just the case with those places.

History 101

"The Buddhist Memorial At Choeung Ek Killing Field"

Once I got to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) I decided to leave the late nights and beaches behind me and change to early mornings and history. Ya you heard right, not quite like me I know, but I did enjoy....scratch that, enjoy is a bad way of putting it.. found it rather interesting.

Everyone has surely heard of the War in Vietnam when the United States and Southern Vietnam were fighting against the Communists of Central Vietnam. But what people don't know, well at least I didn't, is that one of the main areas where this took place is almost entirely underground. I don't mean they actually fought underground but this area was controlled but the Communists. In order to be able to stand a chance against the guns, planes, and helicopters of the opposing side they, over many many years, managed to dig a very complex set of tunnels so they could hide, surprise the enemy, and escape basically into thin air. These tunnels are called the Cuchi Tunnels.

I departed from Saigon for a day trip to see for my own eyes and to try to get a better understanding of the war and Vietnam's history. When we first arrived at the tunnels we paid our fees and were sat in a video room to watch a small film before going to explore first hand. Once the movie was over we were taking around the area with a guide to explain many of the different areas and it was also interesting to learn, that our particular guide, was fighting against the Communists at the time of the war.

The Cuchi Tunnels are said to be an architectural marvel. There are hundreds of kilometers of tunnels, sometimes three levels thick, with everything from hospitals and sleeping quarters, to weapon factories and dining areas. Also these tunnels were all dug by hand then all the extra dirt hand to be carried away to be sure piles of dirt would not give there positions away. These tunnels were also made very hard to breach by the USA army because the one advantage the Communists had over the states were they were much smaller. This being the case the majority of the tunnels were not large enough for most of the states army to fit in so most that tried to enter usually ended up being killed from getting stuck or from the waiting opposing army. The only tunnels that were generally big enough were mostly false ones that didn't connect to the main system. These usually just led to a deep end, and in most cases, landmines.

Through the day were were able to climb down into some of these tunnels and explore the underground city a little but since we were confined to only the larger tunnels, we barely even scratched the surface. We also were able to see big bomb craters where the B52's drop bombs on the area and the impact it still has today. Its amazing how much closer to home it makes you feel when you are standing in a place like this, its quite a strange feeling.

After spending only one day in Saigon I was off on another bus but this time heading out of Vietnam and into Cambodia. My first stop in Cambodia was Phenom Penh, which is where I still am, and after arriving around 3 pm I decided not to waste the day, since I am quite limited to the number of these now, so I hired a moto to bring me out to Killing Fields , for the remainder of the daylight.

The Killing Fields were a number of sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Communist regime Khmer Khmer Rouge, which had ruled the country since 1975. The massacres ended in 1979, when Communist Vietnam invaded the country and toppled the Khmer Rouge regime. Estimates of the number of dead range from 1.7 to 3 million but with newer investigation they suspect its closer to 3 million. Just imagine that, almost 3 million people out of a country that's population is around 7 million, and this all happened while some of you reading this were alive.
The Khmer Rouge judicial process, for minor or political crimes, began with a warning from the Angkar, which was the government of Cambodia under the regime. People receiving more than two warnings were sent for "re-education", which meant near-certain death. People were often encouraged to confess to Angkar their "pre-revolutionary lifestyles and crimes" which could be anything from having an education, to wearing glasses (this was a sign of education), to speaking to a foreigner, and even believing in religion being told that Angkar would forgive them and "wipe the slate clean". This meant being taken to a Killing Field and being tortured and executed.
The executed were buried in mass graves. In order to save ammunition, executions were often carried out using hammers, axe handles, spades or sharpened bamboo sticks. Some victims were required to dig their own graves; their weakness often meant that they were unable to dig very deep. The soldiers who carried out the executions were mostly young men or women from peasant families.
The Khmer Rouge regime arrested and eventually executed almost everyone suspected of connections with the former government or with foreign governments, as well as professionals and intellectuals. Ethnic Vietnamese, ethnic Chams (Muslim Cambodians), Cambodian Christians, and the Buddhist monk hood were the demographic targets of persecution.

The fields, in particular, that I visited is called Choeung Ek and is located about 17 kms south of Phenom Penh. This is the most famous field in Cambodia and its is believed that over 17000 people were executed here and buried in mass graves. In the early 1980 the government dug up some of these graves and found nearly 6000 human remains. Some of the area is untouched and although they know there is many more graves here it is left alone, for now anyway.

At this site they have built a Buddhist Stupa as a memorial and all of the skulls found in the areas that were dug up are on display in glass cabinets that make up all four walls, bottom to top, as a reminder. Its quite a hard thing to explain exactly how one feels as you walk around this area. It is something I have never felt before, no matter where you look there are either bones scattered around, clothes that the rain has brought to the surface, and many deadly reminders of the violent history.

After departing from the Killing Fields my moto driver ask me if I would like to go to a shooting range and try shooting some guns, quite fitting hey? Seeing as I did want to do this for quite some time, after some thought about it I managed to say ok, and he quickly drove me away from the sad history and into a military base. At the base I was quickly seated and handed a menu, ya strange hey, of all the different kinds of guns one could shoot. I chose the AK 47 (The Communists gun in Vietnam), M16 (The American Gun), and to top it all off a few rounds from a Colt 45 Handgun. This is probably the fastest way a person can spend money in Cambodia. Each round is worth about a dollar and with two of the guns being automatic, my money went fast. The guard informed me that all the money raised went to poor children but with such a corrupt military, I have a very hard time believing this.

Having had a very long day I went to sleep early so I could have another day of dark history at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum better known as S21.

S21 was originally a high school but after the Khmer Rouge came to rule in Cambodia it was quickly turned into a prison for people on there way to the killing fields. For all of the documented history they were able to uncover from S21 they figure that out of 17000 people who were locked up here, less than a dozen ever lived to tell about it. (Notice the similarities between the killing fields and that number?)

The main people that occupied S21 were politicians and ex military because the Khmer Rouge were afraid that these people were most likely to rebel against them. Most people were tortured, starved, and then right before they would die from natural causes (well not natural but), they were brought to the killing fields to be executed. There were also very many women and children that occupied this prison, mostly because they were the family of the "traitors".

The prison has now been turned into a museum with all of the facilities open to public. While there I seen the cells, detention area, gallows, and the courtyard where many were executed as a warning to other prisoners.

The last few days have definitely not ranked up there is my most happy days of my trip but definitely the most educational. It confuses me, that of all the things a person learns is school that happened hundreds of years ago, stuff like this that is so resent is often left out.

Tomorrow I am leaving Phnom Penh in the past and will be arriving in Siam Reap for dinner.

"Me And An American Tank Destroyed In The Late 1970s"

"Entrance To One Of The Many Underground Cuchi Tunnels"

"Good Thing I Am Somewhat Wee!"

"Four Of The Many Mass Graves At The Killing Fields"

Notice The Clothes Unearthed By The Rain

"Some Of The 8000 Skulls On Display At Choeung Ek"

"Right Hand - AK47 Left Hand - M16"

"Barbed Wire Enclosed Balconies At S21"

So No One Could Commit Suicide

"The Temporary Cells In The Classrooms"

"S21 Torturing Instruments"

Go Fly A Kite!

"Kiteboarding School"

Mui Ne ended up taking up four days of my very very precious time left on my trip but it was all in good reason and well worth cutting my time short for my travels back to Bangkok. There were four things, that when added up together, made Mui Ne one of my favorite destinations in Vietnam. One thing you learn while travelling is that the actual place itself, although its important, does not exactly make it special, its the little things that make it a love or hate memory for the most part. The four things in this case were; an absolutely amazing guesthouse, beautiful beaches, better than perfect weather, and last but definitely not least, three unforgettable days of kite boarding.

When we first arrived in Mui Ne we were dropped off at a beach side resort that wanted much more than I was willing to part with for a nights stay (as I explained in my previous post) so I threw my bag on my back, and went to see what I could find. About 2 minutes after leaving the gates to the resort I had people all around me with flyer's and pretty much dragging me to their guesthouse, when I spotted a little hotel across the road where the man was just sitting and smiling. Right away I thought, "that is where I want to stay" and I was not disappointed.

Anyone reading this may not completely understand this if you have never been to a country like Vietnam or Asia, but the people constantly hustling you, and trying to get you to do things or stay places, sometimes gets to be too much and you realize how a smile and not being pushy can be the best advertising of all. I ended up staying in this hotel for the duration of my stay and enjoyed every minute of it. It felt like I got to know Vietnam and the history more from chatting over a beer in the lobby with the owner than I have in the previous few weeks. He taught me how the government works, the cost of his business and taxes, what a normal wage is, and even how much I was getting ripped off every minute of everyday in his country. Unfortunately I didn't have much to offer him but we became friends, chatted almost every night, and I even got to further his understanding of reading English a very small amount. (But learning English from me....he was probably better of without it.)

My first day in Mui Ne I spent doing all of the main tourist things that everybody that goes through does. Five other people, I met on my journeys, and I rented a jeep and went out to see the various sight from sand boarding down the white sand dunes, to watching the sunset over the red sand dunes. (Ya there was pretty much only sand dunes but they were quite a site to see)

The next day I decided it was time to scratch off the final entry on my "things to do list" and enroll in a kite boarding lesson.

For all of you who are not familiar with this sport, it is basically wake boarding using a giant kite, instead of a boat, and the wind instead of petrol. Sounds easy enough hey?

My first day in school proved to be very frustrating. I have always been some what naturally alright at anything I try, especially when it come to water, but this proved to be a little different. Although the instructor kept assuring me I was doing very good, considering I had never flown one of these kites, it did not feel like it to me. After learning the basics of just how to keep the kite in the air (a monkey could do this) the next step is to go in the water, without a board, and use the wind to body drag down the beach and back to shore. This in itself would probably be quite easy, in most situations, but at Mui Ne the surf is quite big so the second I entered the water I was thrown into the washing machine and before I could regain my vision, from the salt water, my kite would slam into the water and force me to pull the emergency release, gather my very tangled kite, and do the walk of shame back to my instructor. Of course, he could slowly watch me getting frustrated and I am sure he just loved only uttering the words, "OK, try it again" as he watched me walk past him shaking my head. I only managed to do it once without dropping the kite and feeling that for sure this was the last time, I happily walked up to him, smiling, only to hear those dreaded words, "OK try it again."

That was my first lesson and I can assure you, it was not the most enjoyable day, but at the end of the lesson my spirits were lifted slightly, when he told me, that almost no one actually get into the water in their first lesson, so I was well ahead of the average.

The second day is when I really started to see and understand why people start doing it and cant seem to stop. Again we went through the same drills and I didn't even get to have a board on the whole second day either, but something changed and everything seemed to make sense. I learned how to use the power of the wind and kite to my advantage, and through the whole lesson of different skills, I only dropped the kite once!!!!

One of the skills I learned on the second day was how to water relaunch the kite once you drop it in the open water. Why they didn't teach me this the first day, I have no idea. I think he just enjoyed seeing what I was made of. By the third day I was ready to throw the board into the mix.

When I first arrived at the beach on the third day my instructor told me that the winds were to strong so we would have to wait to out for a while and see if it calmed down a bit. After 3 hours of waiting and watching all the good boarders flying through the air with the strong winds, I started to get restless. Finally my instructor decided that with my kite skills, that progressed very much the day before, he would let me try it but he warned me, normally, he wouldn't let a student go out so I'd have to be careful.

Sometimes I really enjoy being ahead of the normal but, more often than not, I find it puts you into situations that your not really ready for. This was situation was no different.

Once I had my harness on and all the gear ready I was informed that, not only was I going to be flying in higher winds than I should be, but they were putting me on a different kite than I was use to which was 8 meters instead of 5 meters. (more wind, bigger kite, this should be fun.) Once we had rigged the kite and I was all hooked up it, was time to try to launch it. The initial take off was smooth but as soon as the kite was a couple meters off the ground I got a very important lesson in how much force the wind can have. Immediately it started to drag me across the beach until my instructor managed to grab ahold of the back of my harness, and with the weight of two of us, were able to stabilize and stop me from skidding into the water.

It was at this moment that I started to think that maybe this was a little too much power but he got me to give it a whirl in the water and see what happens.

To truly get across how strong of a force this was is kinda hard to explain. When the kite was in front of me at the lowest power zone, it dragged me, and when I lifted it up to the position straight above me (the zenith or neutral) it was lifting me a few feet off the ground!

Figuring that the instructor knew what was best, I slowly walked into the ocean, body dragged out to give the board its
maiden voyage.

My first couple attempt were not successful because of how timid I was being with the kite. In my defense I was just dragged down a beach and lifted from the ground without actually trying to use the power need to get up. So, after failing I decided to go for it.

going through the instructions I got before I left land I brought the kite to the 1 o'clock position, stabilized it, now.....dive from 1 o'clock, through the power zone to 10 o'clock and stand up. This isn't exactly how it went down.

All was well until the kite hit full power and pulled me completely out of my board, up about 15 feet in the air, then crashed into the water, slamming me back down to earth with, probably, 5 times the force of gravity. Fortunately I was just a little shaken, but was no worse for the wear, and released my emergency and swam back to shore, with a very tangled kite, to a smiling instructor.

Between trying not to laugh and trying to look serious he managed to get out the words, "I think you need a smaller kite."

Once I switched to a smaller kite my life instantly got easier. With a few miss hap's I managed to ride for a bit and figured out the art of getting up. I wish I could have continued for the rest of the day but at $45 dollars an hour, it was becoming an expensive past time.

By the end of my three days I accomplished all I set out to do. I learned how to set up the gear, safely fly the kite, and the basics of riding. This gave me an IKO 2 international certification for Kite Boarding so I can now rent gear, without an instructor, worldwide.

With these lessons behind me I feel I could really get into this new and exciting sport. There is something about being able to jump and float up to 20 meters off the ocean and still have a soft landing that is enticing to me. Not to mention a kite is a whole lot cheaper that a boat, and wind is free where as petrol is far from it!

Now my beach days of my trip are behind me and I am off to Saigon in the morning.

"The White Sand Dune"

"Just Messing About"

"Sunset At The Red Sand Dune"

"Getting Ready For Takeoff"

"Some Of The Many Kite Boarders On Mui Ne"

Tailor Made Holiday

"Inside Of My Tailoring Home"

When traveling anywhere in Asia, and most countries I suspect, travel companies get a commission from other companies such as restaurants, convenience shops, and hotels that they bring people to. Normally, the hotels anyway, are way overpriced and in a bad location but since people are exhausted, especially after night buses, they choose the first bed they can see. This has taught me to never take the first hotel and explore the town before checking into a room. On some occasions though, like with Hoi An, even when the first place is an incredible deal, the traveler in you refuses to realize this and refuses to stay.
When I was first dropped off in Hoi An I check out some rooms in a hotel which the bus dropped us off, but after only being able to barder them down to 5 USD a night, I decided this was too much and, with the little energy I had, threw my backpack on and went for a look around town. Hoi An was one of the very few exceptions to the rule I stated earlier, and after exhausting myself in the mid day sun, I ended up back to the first hotel I looked at and happily paid them the 5 dollars just to be able to throw down my bags, shower, and relax.
Its amazing how far your money goes in Vietnam for accommodation. Sure you can find a room in Thailand, or anywhere else in Southeast Asia for that matter, for the same price but nowhere does your dollar goes so far in quality. In Thailand, for example, 5 dollars will get you a bed but thats about it, but in Vietnam, 5 dollars (using my room in Hoi An for example) gets you a big clean room that had luxuries like, elevators, your own bathroom with hot shower, comfy chairs and a love seat, a desk, an ottoman, and even a phone in your room for room service that was almost as cheap as the cheapest restaurant I found in town.
After having a little nap and ordering room service (that sure felt strange to say the least) it was time to explore the town.
Hoi An main tourist attraction is tailoring clothes. No matter where you walk or what corner you take it is impossible not to trip over these shops every couple steps. Whether you want to get suits, jackets, or just copy an old shirt you love, this is the place for you. When first arriving in town I was unsure if I was going to get anything made just because money and the fact that it was more to carry, but within the first night I had already ordered my first 24 hours there, I had already ordered my first jacket and had plans for a suit . . . or maybe two? Its hard to explain but with everyone around you either carrying freshly made clothes or in one of the hundreds of shops getting measured up, it very hard to resist.
The jacket I got made impressed me immensely because all they had to go one was a small, and not very good to say the least, sketch I drew of a double breasted jacket but with a few minor changes from what traditionally is made. After a meeting with the tailor and one of the girls from the shop to interpret between him and I, we changed the small things that worked on paper but in reality wouldnt really work out. After that I got measure from every different angle you can imagine and made an appointment for my first fitting in 18 hours from then.
When the time came I showed up at the shop to my completed custom wool double breasted jacket. I then tried it on and wasnt completely happy with the fit so the owner of the shop jumped on her motor bike and within the hour it met my standards of a true tailored fit. All of that, start to finsh, in 19 hours!!!
My problem with the quality, and how little time it took, was that once I seen it for myself I kinda had a hard time stopping. By the end of my 3 day stay in Hoi An I had two suites, two ties, a dress shirt, and my amazing jacket. For every article of clothing I made the people working at the shop never ceased to amaze me. No matter how many times, three was my most, that you were not completely satisfied with the fit, they would pin it and within a few hours it would be ready for another fitting session. I was so amazed at how much detail went into everything a person wanted to have made. Even with ties, for example, you had to go through heaps of different designs and patterns (who knew a tie was so complicated) and get measure so it would be best for you.
With my time in Hoi An that wasnt spent in tailoring shops I didnt do a whole lot to tell you the truth. I pretty much just walked around and took in a few sights, ate at some amazing restaurants, and spend one long overdue day at the beach. This in itself was a nice change considering I had been in Asia for over a month and had yet to work on my tan, which is quickly fading, and spend some good wholesome time in the sun.
After my time had come to an end I left with a very heavy backpack, and a light wallet, on an overnight buses, yet again, to Na Trang.
Na Trang only consumed one of my nights and as with Hue, basically just served to break up the journey to Mui Ne which was my next major stop.
Na Trang really the first truly beach city as you head south in Vietnam. Its roads are lined with palm trees and big fancy resorts that I could even wish to be able to stay in. Basically, even though I have never been there, it was like I was in Florida or California. The one memorable thing that happened there was after getting completely lost exploring the city, I stumbled across a big "Lighting of the Christmas tree celebration." This was definitely a sight to see with its dancing Asia elves and Santas'. Although it was completely out of place it was fun to see because I think this was the first time I realized how close it was to Christmas and truly start to get excited to be home for the holiday season. The event was a little off our normal celebrations but once again I think some things just get lost in translation from country to country.
I am now in Mui Ne which will serve as my home for the next few days. I am going to try to get sometime on the beach in, seeing as this will probably be my last place before I arrive to the bitter winter. If I am lucky I am going to attend a couple of kite boarding lessons and really make the most of my last few days of sun and sand before I have to say goodbye to it for another five months or so.
I've spent the last 18 months or so without a bitter winter and I am sure not looking forward to how my body is going to react come December 17th.

" A Lazy Day At Hoi An's Beach"

"The Faded Yellow Concrete That Makes Up Hoi An"

"Locals Hauling Cement"

"Hoi An's Local Market"

"Na Trang's Christmas Celebration"