Follow The River

(PICTURE: Nicky and Long in front of the river we followed for the next 6 hours.)

Our advice was to "follow the river." We headed out of Mai Chau around 9AM looking for a "dirt path" about 20 kilometers down the road. Eventually we found the path which quickly led to a pretty rickety bridge.


(PICTURE: Nicky crossing the bridge.)

After crossing the bridge we followed a dirt road along the river for a couple of hours. The road was about the width of a car, full of potholes and often flooded. As we rode we occasionally passed small huts and minority villagers. Everyone we saw looked surprised to see us and quickly practiced the one English word they knew: "HELLLLLLLLOOOOOO!!!!"

Eventually we came around a mountain bend and saw a large circle of people sitting in a soccer field. We decided to stop for a few minutes to make new friends. A few minutes ended up turning into a few hours. The people were White Thai and were without a doubt some of the friendliest people I have ever met...it also helped that they were drinking heavily. Some of the alcohol was in rice form:
Some of the alcohol was poured out of what appeared to be old gasoline containers:

And some of the alcohol was soaked in bees:

The drinks put everyone in a great mood and we all sang songs together and enjoyed some snacks. There was some mysterious meat jerky that was sitting in front of the circle and was fed to us by one of the local girls. Every time we ate some all of the other people erupted with laughter and applause. Yeah, I'm still wondering what I hate.

After playing around with the "kids" (they were all 19-26) we were brought to the local club -- a hut with a stereo. At the club the town elders came out to meet us. We ended up having some tea (and another drink or two) with a few men including the town doctor, a one-eyed army vet who fought in Laos and Cambodia, and a really nice old man who is officially my new best friend in Vietnam:

(PICTURE: This man literally couldn't stop hugging me...or maybe it was the other way around.)

The couple hours that we spent in the White Thai village were without a doubt some of my favorite moments of the last year. The villagers asked us to stay the night but we told them we had to keep going. This was a mistake...and led to my scariest experience in Vietnam...

The Road Trip Crew

After Mai's house, everyone went back to Hanoi except three of us. The three of us were about to head on what would turn out to be the most scenic, adventurous trip I've taken in the last year. Let me properly introduce you to my two travel mates:

(PICTURE: Long holding the photocopied map we used)

This is Long. Long is a "Viet Kieu" which means he's a Vietnamese person who has moved to another country. Long's family were boat people after the war in Vietnam. They escaped Vietnam, along with three hundred other people, on a boat. Technically Long was born in Singapore on the way to Australia where his family emmigrated to. Because Long can speak conversational Vietnamese he became the default guide on our trip. Unfortunately for Long, this would bite him in the butt about 24 hours after this picture was taken. That post will be in two days and titled "My scariest experience in Vietnam." Stay tuned.


(PICTURE: Nicky.)

This is Nicky. Nicky is always smiling. Nicky is also always late. Sometimes he's three hours late. Sometimes he's five minutes late. Regardless, he's just always late. Nicky and I used to teach together at Language Link. However, a few months ago he switched to the British Council, considered the best/most expensive school in Hanoi. For the record, Nicky's British.

(PICTURE: Me.)

And then there was me...who will look fat in all the pictures from this trip because I was wearing many many layers...and may have put on a few pounds recently.

If you were writing jokes about what happened to us on this trip you would start by saying, "An American, an Australian and a British guy went on a motorbike trip using a photocopied map that was over ten years old..."

The three of us headed to the only destination we knew we were going to -- Mai Chau. I was in Mai Chau a few months ago with my cousin Justin but didn't mind going back because it was so beautiful. Here's some pictures I took in Mai Chau:

(A cow on the mountain near Mai Chau)

(PICTURE: The stilt house we stayed in was to the left of the one in the background. You ahoyhanoi gurus may recognize this one as the one Justin and I stayed in a few moths ago.)

(PICTURE: Nicky and I on a rice paddy.)

(PICTURE: More rice paddies.)
At night while we were walking around Mai Chau we met a really nice Vietnamese guy who spoke perfect English and coincidentally worked with Nicky's girlfriend.

(PICTURE: I took this picture because the man said, "You have no proof you met me if you die on your motobike trip because you took my advice." I said, "I"ll take a picture so we have proof.")

This man told us that if we wanted to experience the "real Vietnam" and not the tourist side like Mai Chau, we should go along a dirt path along the nearby river. He told us that the path was dangerous but that we'd see tons of ethnic tribes. He gave us directions and we all agreed to get up early the next morning and venture along the path...which wasn't on our map...and would lead us to my scariest experience in Vietnam!

The Oldest Village In Vietnam

(PICTURE: The fourth oldest house in the oldest village in Vietnam.)

The second stop on our tour of Son Tay was to the oldest village in Vietnam. We strolled around the village while getting an excellent guided tour by Mai. After asking some locals, we headed towards the fourth oldest house in the village.

The owner of the house invited us inside and told us about the history of the house and his family. He is the 10th generation of his family to live in the house. His children are the 11th generation to live in the house.

(PICTURE: The home owner smoking from a traditional Vietnamese tobacco bong.)

The owner is actually a journalist and lives in Hanoi during the week and comes back to his village home on the weekend. His wife, the art teacher at the school in the village, and his children stay in the village year round. Here's a picture the wife drew of her husband:


As I was walking around the village a strange man wearing a leopard print winter hat gestured for me to come into his house.


I followed him inside and he led me to a little gallery where there were tons of picture of Ho Chi Minh and other famous Vietnamese officials. It turned out that this man was the grandson of the former Vice Prime Minister of Vietnam.

The other strange thing that I saw in THE OLDEST VILLAGE IN VIETNAM WAS this:


(PICTURE: Engraved above the entrance to one of the houses in the oldest village in Vietnam).

Road Trip: Son Tay/ Vietnam Vegas

(PICTURE: Nicky, Long and Me -- the road trip crew.)

The first stop on our five day Tet Motorbike Trip was Son Tay. Our friend Mai -- the head of the Hanoi Ultimate Frisbee club -- invited a bunch of us to her for the second day of Tet. All of us who were going agreed to meet at a shopping center at 9:30 to caravan to Mai's house.

The night before I slept about an hour and a half due to my stomach bug which first started to reer its head at Huyen's house. At 4AM I decided to start a cycle of Cipro and vowed that I would only go to Mai's if her family had a western toilet. At 8AM, approximately after my dozen-th trip to the toilet, I went looking for an open pharmacy. One problem with this quest is that NOTHING is open during Tet. Well, barely anything. As I drove around the city I saw a woman walking into a darkened pharmacy. The pharmacy was definitely closed but I happen to catch the pharmacist coming back to her house/business. I asked her for Smecta (it's like Immodium AD but 100 times better...and that's coming form a lifelong lover of Immodium) and got ten packets. I downed the first dose and decided that it was time to face my fear of a squat toilet.

All of us arrived at the predetermined location at 9:30. Well, all of us except for Nicky. We called Nickey at 9:45 and woke him up. We told him to meet us in Son Tay.

When we got to Mai's house the first thing I asked her is, "What kind of toilet do you have?" She said, "A western toilet." Well, my face must have lit up because she started to laugh. She said she's had never seen anyone so happy about anything in her life. A week later she was still laughing at my expression and told me, "I'll never forget how happy you were about my toilet."

Mai was a great host and took us around Son Tay to a few famous spots. Our first stop was at a pagoda which was holding a Tet Celebration. It turns out that the celebration was the Vietnamese version of Vegas...where the dealers and gamblers were slightly younger than at the Bellagio. There were all these little games for money. Check out this dice game:



I won 10,000 Dong playing this game...which made up for the 40,000 Dong I lost in other -- slight more rigged -- games.

The Best Job In The World

(PHOTO: Help me blog from here!!!)

Over the last couple of weeks I've received about a dozen emails from people telling me to apply for "The Best Job In The World." For those of you who haven't heard, Tourism Queensland is having a contest to become the caretaker for the islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

As many of you know, my time here in Vietnam is coming to an end. I've been contemplating my future and have a few ideas in mind as to where I'll end up later this year after my stint with my family back in New Jersey. However, if I can get the great barrier reef job, that would clearly trump all my other plans.

Having worked in casting for a few years, I know the likelihood of getting this job is slim to none. Tens of thousands of people are applying -- including those of you who are first hearing about this competition on my blog and now are going to apply yourself -- and only one will win. However, as all of my math teachers from Grade 5-12 can attest: I suck at math. I'm not gonna let simple odds stop me from trying!!!

My video application has just been posted:

http://www.islandreefjob.com/applicants/watch/jCnxC5G6s-w

The video had to be one minute or less. Mine is exactly one minute. If you've got the time go watch my video...and hopefully give me a five star rating.

I mean how freaking cool would it be if I can blog for six months from THE GREAT BARRIER REEF!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the help!

Meet The Parents

(PICTURE: Huyen's Dad showing me the house where he was born.)

I've met Huyen's parents before, but Tet weekend was the first time I spent serious time with them. Here's the top ten questions I was asked -- through translation -- by Huyen's Dad.

1. Do you like me? (He asked me this seven times. I said, "I like you very very very much.")

2. Are you comfortable? (He asked me this no less than 200 times)

3. When do you want to get married? (I said, "maybe two years or so.")

4. Who do you want to get married to? (I wanted to say, "Who knows, who cares!" but I thought I should probably say, "Huyen.")

5. What do you think of Huyen? (I said, "I think she's amazing." This was followed up by Huyen's sister saying, "How does she make you feel?" I said, "Really happy." She then said, "I mean do you think she's beautiful?" I said, "Yes, but I'm more handsome.")

6. Do you want beer or wine? (This was at breakfast. I went with wine. It was homemade with mullberries.)

7. Will you please move in to my house and help sell the goods? (I said, "Of course." Her dad then said, "How will you sell them if you can't speak Vietnamese?" Fair point.)

8. Can you support a family? (I think he was talking about if Huyen and I get married and have kids).

9. THIS IS NOT A QUESTION BUT A STATEMENT: Your hands are cold. You are weak. (This was said after asking to hold my hand and being shocked that it was freezing. In my defense, it was freezing out. But yeah, I am kind of weak).

10. Can you kill the chicken? (I said, "Yes, I can. No, I don't want to.")

Question #2 though really shows the type of man Huyen's Dad is. He tried so hard to make me comfortable and was such a great host. He constantly told me that he was happy I was spending time with their family and asked if I could stay longer. One of the other things he said to me was, "Even though we can't talk to each other, you make me feel very good." Well, he made me feel very good too...and not just because I was buzzed on wine and beer half the time.

Remembering The Deceased

On the first day of Tet Vietnamese people visit the graves of their deceased family members. Huyen's parents invited me to go along with them. We got on our motorbikes and rode out to the rice paddies where the graves are located.

The first stop was at a cemetery with about thirty graves. Huyen's parents burned incense and said a prayer for Huyen's great grandmother.














The second stop was in the middle of a rice paddy. This is where Huyen's father's parents are buried. They were the only graves in site.

(PICTURE: Walking through the rice paddy to visit Huyen's grandparents graves.)

The final stop was at an Army cemetery. My first thought upon seeing the cemetary was shock at the number of graves -- I counted about sixty. You have to keep in mind that we were just on the outskirts of a small village. If you want to relate it to America, her village is roughly the same distance from Hanoi that Livingston (my hometown) is from New York. The difference is that Livingston has around 30,000 people. Her village has probably 1,000 max. For such a small place, they've had a large amout of people sacrifice for their country and cause.

We went to this cemetery, because as some of you may recall from when my parents visited, Huyen's Uncle died in the war between America and Vietnam. While visiting the grave, I found out that Huyen's Uncle died in Cambodia during the war but his body has never been found. He has a grave at this cemetery but his body is missing. Huyen told me that there is an organization looking for her uncle's body as well as many other Vietnamese soldiers.

(PICTURE: The Army cemetery.)












One flag that has always meant something to me is the P.O.W. * MIA flag:

Every time I've ever seen one I always feel a strange sensation come over me. I've always thought how hard it must be for families who can't get closure because the body of their loved one is missing. One of my strongest memories as a child is when my family went to The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washingston, D.C. and thinking that there's really nothing more tragic in war than not knowing what happened to someone you love.

I must admit that whenever I've had those thoughts I've had American soldiers in mind. All too often when we think about war we only think about "our side." Being told about Huyen's Uncle just reconfirmed how terrible war is for everyone, no matter the outcome. As my father said a couple of months ago, "There are no winners in war."