GOODBYYYYYYYEEEE Vietnam

I got woken up by the Communists this morning for the last time. The speakers that are throughout Hanoi begin at 7am and today ran for an hour and half. They first play what seems to be a triumphant war song, then a man talks his communist bullshit for the next hour. The people seem to let the noise melt in with their surrounding, and not take much notice. But from what a tour guide told me, after 30 years of hearing the same voice everyday, you would drown it out too.

Anywho, this country did have some better aspects to it that are worth mentioning. The snake liqour was interesting (a yellow bile-like liquid in a jar with a cobra snake with a scorpion in his mouth), the women here are beautiful, and Halong Bay was a natural wonder. Shopping here was another adventure. I got 2 tailor made suits, 2 tailor made jackets, some sweet ties, shirts and sandals, all for under $200US. I sent them off for home today, sea mail, and they should arrive sometime in Brampton in 2010.

Tonight I fly out of Hanoi and into Bangkok, sleep at the airport overnight because I am too cheap to go into the city and pay for a $3 room, then leave for Taiwan tomorrow to see Lindsay, my sister. I haven't seen any family for over 15 months, so this meeting is long overdue.

Talk to you soon

Public Service Announcement

One thing that is fairly common with travellers, besides getting shitfaced in wierd places and and befriending even wierder people, is a habit that quickly turns into love: Reading

This PSA has been brought on by a fairly constant stream of great books that have been passed on, picked-up, bought, and traded between myself and others. I encourage all to do the same.

I just finished one in particular, the autobiography of Howard Marks, called 'Mr. Nice'. I never heard of him either, until I picked up his book. I couldn't put it down.

He is real life Peter Pan, whose well travelled stories are so absurd that they have to be true. At the hieght of his career he had 43 aliases, 89 phone lines, and owned twenty-five companies trading throughout the world. He was in contact with the IRA, Mafia, CIA, and MI6. He was eccentric, but the characters he introduces you to were even more so. Mixed with extreme luck, personality, charisma and charm (shit I sound like an actual reviewer) he has outrageuos and amazing stories to tell. I guess I should mention he was an international dope smuggler.

I strongly suggest you to pick up this book and read it at leasure. As for dope, yeah, you can do that too.

This is Vietnam

The last 2 weeks can be described as such:
Food poisening/Saigon is crazy/massive head cold and fever/Cyclone Durian and heaps of rain/more food poisening/bus breakdowns in the middle of Vietcong country/and today - cruising the islands off of Nha Trang under the sun with some great people.

Finally our fortune turns around. We're baaaaaaaack.