Indonesia is an amazing place!  I could spent a life time there….so much to see! 

  Next equator crossing.  Kenya, Africa. 

This boat ride was one of my more memorable experiences in Asia.  The only foreigners on the boat with over 250 Muslims.  We had taken a ferry from Singapore which dumped us in Indonesia somewhere.  From there we were on our way to Sumatra, Indonesia.  As we departed the pier the guide that put on on this particular boat kept screaming “be careful” from the dock? WTH?  Why didn’t he say this before?   This was the only picture taken after that.  Since we had just walked onto this boat without reserving we got the last single berth.  We could barely sit in it let alone sleep once we had our packs in there.  Each berth is suitable for 2 very small people. 

We all crammed in our little berth and as many locals that could possibly crowd around us did!  Winni and I covered every part of our skin and hair and all valuables were put away.  Unfortunately, my camera never came out again.  We offered cigarettes to everyone as it seems everyone in the entire country of Indonesia smokes.  I’ve even seen kids that look like they are 4 or 5 years old smoking! (although, there is always a fag in my hand also!) 

The primary question from all of the locals was ‘what religion are you?’  There were many problems with Catholics and Muslims in the entire country so we told them we were Rastafarian’s.   Gary and Winni were from Ireland and immediately spun their St. Christopher pendents to the back of their necks and then the questions came in waves…. The Rastafarian thing really threw them for a loop as they had never heard of such a religion. 

I swear 1 million questions in 14 hrs….what does your god look like, how do you pray, how many times a day do you pray etc. etc. etc.   With smiles and some humour it was all good but edgy.  The Roof of the boat became the prayer room every 4 hrs.  for 25 people at a time so it was all night long prayers.  Loud, enthusiastic, fanatical prayers! 

It seemed the route this boat took was along the coast line but in fact we were actually travelling though 100’s of little islands.  It was remarkable even in the middle of the night.  There were so many oil drills in the ocean and they looked like monsters in the night as we approached, lights glaring at us.  Huge platforms big enough to house 50+ men.  It was surreal!  Indonesia is very wealthy with natural resources.  It’s sad that there is so much corruption that the locals don’t benefit from any of it.  Just contribute to destroying it, through no fault of their own.

We had to take turns lying down in the berth so trying to fall asleep sitting up outside on the roof top of this boat with just a sarong to keep warm and prayers in the background was exhausting!  You know when you’re 1/2 asleep and you sense something or someone….you have the wonkies and your head is bobbing up and down like a bobble toy.  well….wake up to a dozen men sitting all around you just staring…..lets just say, I was awake pretty fucking quick!

Morning couldn’t come quick enough but when it did we were actually served breakfast!  Ichiban noodles in a plastic bowl.  I have to admit, I stared at that soup for sometime…. wondering where the water came from and if it had actually been boiled for more than 1 minute or even at all…..hmmmm.  Watching Gary, Winni and Glenn chow down I decided all was good and ate it anyways and again, I lived to tell the story.

Just as someone was collecting the bowls….Yeah!!!!  Were docking!  Mohammad, who seemed to be the leader was truly confident that we really were Rastafarian’s and when we finally arrived at our destination at 7:00 am it was hugs and kisses all around.  Whew!   Time to find a room and sleep this shit off!  Wait….we still have a 4 hour bus ride to our destination, Bukit Lawang   Wonkies all the way! 

 Bukit Lawang

We anchored in a small little cove in Halong Bay for the night and slept soundly on the boat.  We woke up to a another spread of crustaceans for breakfast.  Alright, enough is enough…I just can’t eat this shit!.   I can afford to skip a few meals so I did just that!  We then took a small boat into a village which was beautiful.  This village has existed for 100’s of years and they have everything from a floating store to a floating Pho Soup restaurant.  The dogs seemed kinda malaise with no place to run.

This is the floating corner store.

Nicole looking a fresh as can be 1st thing in the morning!  A beautiful lady inside and out!

Wow!  One of the most spectacular sites in the world!  Halong Bay is truly one place in all of S.E. Asia that takes your breath away!  There are several other breathless moments in Asia but this is right up there.  If you happen to catch it on a perfect weather day you’re privileged. 

Cruising on a Junk through Halong Bay is very cool and we spent 1 night on this boat with 8 others + staff.   I won’t bullshit, cruising on a Junk is expensive!  Vietnam has the tourist path very well mapped out and equipped and the options are limited.  Vietnam is actually one of the most expensive places in all of Asia to visit but after all it’s communist so the government has a very tight fist in the tourism industry.

Ok….they made art out of our food….then we had to guess what it was made of….the smile on my face is because I didn’t want to eat this shit!  I don’t really like clams, oysters or cat fish but that wasn’t the real problem.  Now give me lobster, scallops or shrimp and I’m thrilled.  My problem was that I couldn’t grasp the fact that this seafood came from the very sea which we were cruising in and it was soooooo polluted.  Let me tell you!  Unbelieveably polluted, trust me!   I think my stomach turned a couple of times but once again I ate it and lived to tell the story.  This was just the main dish which was made from a pumpkin, beautiful.  I honesty can’t remember what seafood came along with it but it looks like little crabs.  Eating shell fish for two days was not easy for me.  I swear I saw our staff scrapping the clams off the walls of the stones as we anchored at low tide ….yum!

I was in Vancouver, BC last week and came across this alley in skid row that caught my eye.  Incredible art!

Clipped this out of a Delhi, India newspaper during my visit in 2001.  I would really like to go but it’s a very LARGE pilgramige and in 2001 it was the largest recorded religious gathering in history.  70 million!!  A little intimidating considering it’s 99% men and how the hell would a blond woman fit in?  The next one is 2013 and I would consider going now that I am a bit more….ahem….mature.   The whole experience would be amazing!  Hindus from all over the world come for this alignment of the planets and to bathe in the sacred Ganges River every 12 years.  I love to photograph Sadhus, only with their permission of course.  They are some of the most fascinating people in the world to me!   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbh_Mela

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadhu

One of my more wordy posts for sure but I guess I have lots to say…..Ho Chi Minh city in 1999 was an amazing place!  It was still not a battered tourist path.  Communism was rule and just after 1999 they closed the borders to tourists for a short time and had all the computers gathered up and burned in the city square of HCMC.   So much for Internet cafes!  Along the outskirts of the city they had the grim reaper billboards everywhere!  Warning us all of the dangers of drugs, sex, gambling, liquor etc.  Picking up hitch hikers was illegal at the time and trains were off limits to tourists.  

The war memorabilia was everywhere and I suppose if there were a war in my country where approximately 1 million people died it would be entrenched in my mind and history as well.  I did see many sites right up to the DMZ (demilitarized zone) but looking at the photos they seem sensitive to post.  Just my opinion of course.

Vietnam has a very poignant history.  When I was in HCMC I even thought that’s enough about the war!  It’s history is everywhere and in your face….. I have very few photos here in Mexico with me but here is a couple of my favorites.

The best cyclo in all of HCMC!  All chrome, he was the envy of the neighborhood and he was my ride.  He was such a nice man and a pleasure to spend time with!  Every morning bright and early he was there waiting.  He was from S. Vietnam and was a pilot along side the USA military.  He was reluctant to talk about this as he worried someone would overhear which was totally understandable.  Not sure what the consequences would be for him.  Back to the camp possibly?

After Vietnam fell to the Viet Cong he was captured and sent to a re-education camp for 20 years (prison) and then let out to do what?  They can’t own a business or land in Vietnam which makes life difficult.  At least in 1999 they couldn’t.  Maybe things have changed for them today?  I sure hope so! 

Lets not even discuss the Amerasians (con lai) left behind believed to be 45,000 in 1975!  Granted many Amerasians were brought to the USA but plenty left behind as well.  Amerasians are the children of US soldiers still in Vietnam called “dust of life”.  A common saying in Vietnam “I would rather have the child of a dog than the enemy”.  Birth certificates burned….Amerasian children were sent to rural areas and forced to do farming and manual labor.  The government called it re-settlement.   

Anyways……My cyclo driver did manage to tell some stories and they are forever etched in my memory!    He had some very fond memories of the US soldiers he worked and flew with and of course the hopes that Vietnam would be free from communism at the time.  Not sure why but I have covered his face with my face and deleted the license plate on the cyclo.   

The picture below has been taken by the Viet Cong.  The S. Vietnamese soldiers who were fighting along side the USA against communism were of course left behind.  The fear of being killed or captured by the Viet Cong lead them to strip naked and flee into the jungles in an attempt to hide.  Most were eventually captured including my cyclo driver and sent to the re-education camp.

Living in a cyclo………

The Cuchi tunnels in HCMC.  This is a network of tunnels that extends 200+ kms.  I will refrain from posting pictures of myself climbing in there but yes….I did it!  It’s creepy and kinda scary in these tunnels! I don’t really think it’s a perfect tourist attraction unless you are into war history because these tunnels were all about the WAR! 

Inside these tunnels were hospitals, sleeping quarters, kitchens and war rooms.  The tunnels have been recorded at 15 – 20 meters deep and were built long before the Americans arrived.  The tunnel are so disguised they made ventilation holes look like termite piles.

TheViet Cong knew them like the back of their hands and they knew where to enter to eat, sleep or get medical attention.  More than 16,000 perished in the Cuchi tunnels.  If they didn’t die from the opponent then it was from snakes, bugs and disease.  It took the Americans sometime to figure out that the Viet Cong were waging war beneath them.  

The American military signed up and trained experts to tether themselves and go down into the tunnels when they found one.  These guys called themselves tunnel rats.  They were thin enough to fit in the tunnels and resistant to claustrophobia and were only called upon to do this job specifically.  I have read several books about the rats and they were an elite bunch to say the least.  

The Cuchi tunnels are located about 30 kms from HCMC and nothing to this day grows in the earth besides eucalyptus trees.  A true testament to the B52 bombers attempt to destroy the tunnels which was all in vain!   Agent orange was used in great quantities in this area which is the reason nothing will grow.      

Yeah…Girls gotta have some fun…..Shooting off  AK47’s and M16’s  A buck a bullet!

http://www.postsecret.com/

An amazing city but communist none the less.  Hard to get a smile from people and the pollution was memorable but nothing like other places I have visited….. Hanoi has changed immensely since I last visited so I will post old and new pictures…..A familiar place but yet unknown.  I think you could travel in Vietnam many, many times and still not truly be familiar with it!

An economical way to cut the grass?

Bye, bye Bali….Good morning Vietnam.  I have to admit it felt really great to be back in Vietnam and the first thing I wanted to do was have a bowl of pho’.  This is the best soup in the entire world!   Alright, I’ll admit that I also needed a side of Vietnamese spring rolls pronto!

We decided to treat ourselves so we checked into the most fantastic hotel in all of Hanoi, the Sofitel Legend Metropole. Built in 1901 it’s a legendary place for the luxurious world class traveler.  Of course the French architecture, food and history all come along with it.  It truly was one of the biggest treats in all my travel days but I have to admit it was a bit up tight for me.  I honestly would have rather stayed in a 1/2 assed place and had more fun with the other guests and staff.   The Sofitel is situated in one of the best locations for discovering all Hanoi has to offer within walking distance.  What a beautiful city!