BROADCASTS.com

\n\nYet again, it has\nbeen a while since we have posted a blog, a podcast or any photos, and for good\nreason. We\u2019ve left Cambodia and have been \u201coccupying\u201d ourselves in Vietnam, but\nmore about that later.\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTo listen to the\npodcast click here!\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFeb 26th\n\n\n\nUnfortunately, the\nappeal of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, was purely due to the remnants of\nthe Khmer Rouge regime and the reminder of Cambodian genocide a minute forty\nyears before. The emotion of this day definitely outweighs any other on our\ntrip thus far. The anxiety we both felt as we walked towards the Tuol Sleng\nGenocide museum, which in the height of Khmer Rouge reign was known as Security\nprison 21 (S-21), was extremely burdening to say the least. S-21, was originally\nTuol Svay Prey high school, a fact that is still more then evident at the\nmuseum. As we apprehensively visited each room of the three story buildings of\nthe four that formed the complex, we caught glimpses of the horrific brutalities\nthat occurred in each, contributing to a systematic regime of torture,\ninterrogation and inhumane slaughter. The S-21 staff were meticulous with the\ninformation collected on each prisoner, this fact will haunt us both as we\npassed the photos of scared and confused men, women and children whom had\nsuccumbed to the mindless hate of their own people. After leaving S-21 in shock\nas we contemplated what man was truly capable, we still had one destination,\nthe Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. After much deliberation on whether we could\nemotionally handle another gruesome reminder of Khmer Rouge reign, we decided\nwe should see this iconic resting place of nearly 17,000 innocent Cambodians.\n\n
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\n\n\n\nAs horrible as the\nKilling Fields really were, it was presently very tactfully and was a place of\nmemory and tribute to the potential three million people killed during the\nthree year and eight month Khmer Rouge reign. We were guided around the site by\nan audiotape stopping at gravesites, which had been adorned with mourners\u2019\nwristbands. The voice of the man that guided us on this journey will be a hard\none to forget as was his wise words about genocide having occurred before and,\nhauntingly, the inevitability of it happening again in the future unknown, a\nchilling thought after witnessing the travesties that are so deeply engrained\ninto the culture of each and every Cambodian. We then had a very solemn tuk tuk\nride back to our hotel, lost in reflection trying to digest the emotional day\npiece by piece.\n\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFeb 27th \n\n\n\nDeciding to stay an\nextra day in Phnom Penh, determined to finish our time in Cambodia on a high,\nwe decided to walk to Psar Tuol Tom Pong or the \u201cRussian Market\u201d to conduct a\nbit of retail therapy and acquire me some new thongs as their predecessors were\nheld together by a can ring pull found on the bridge at Angkor Wat. This proved\nto be quite an enjoyable endeavor as we left with items we had no intention of\nbuying prior to our Russian Market experience. We had a nice dinner where Casey\nambitiously ordered frog from the menu, which was actually quite nice, and\nprepared to leave Cambodia the next day. Our time in Cambodia has been a life\nexperience that will never be forgotten by either of us, yet we were ready to leave\nand progress into the next leg of our trip, Vietnam.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFeb 28th \n\n\n\nWe boarded the bus in\nPhnom Penh, said our goodbyes to Cambodia, and excitedly watched the evolution\nof the bus\u2019 external surroundings as we crossed from Cambodia into Vietnam,\nwhere our visa had been valid from the previous day. I must note, that whilst\non the bus, the choco pie incident was rectified by the parties involved.\nIntending to stay just under a month in Vietnam before we moved on, we were\necstatic to be starting what appeared in our minds to be a new adventure within\nitself. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, shocked by the lack of tuk tuks and\ndecided to walk to our hotel positioned in the tourist district. Vietnam is a\ncommunist country, the first I believe I have ventured into, my expectations\nwere pleasantly surpassed as we were had entered an obviously prosperous\ncountry with a strong history and culture. Our one issue lay with the lack of\nFacebook access, which, unbeknown to us, was restricted in Vietnam. After\nquickly rectifying this issue, finding a relatively easy solution, we were able\nto calmly plan our next step. We enjoyed dinner and inspected the nightlife of\nHo Chi Minh City, finding the shear number of near-to-empty bars full of\nVietnamese women quite peculiar\u2026 \n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMar 1st\n\n\n\nSorry about the\nearlier ambiguity about our activities in Vietnam, however to reduce the worry\nand stress of our family and friends we refrained from earlier sharing the\ndetails of our adventure South of Ho Chi Minh City. This is primarily due to\nthe fact that we hired a motorbike each and ventured onto the perilous roads\nthat form Vietnam\u2019s traffic system. We decided to venture south of Ho Chi Minh\nCity to My Th\xf3, a city on the Mekong. Our tenacious initiation to the roads of\nHo Chi Minh City were both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. As we\ngot use to riding on the right-hand side of the road and the laws of the\nVietnamese roads (a reconstruction is listed below) our confidence began to\nskyrocket as we both had to reign in the adrenaline junky within. As we arrived\nin My Th\xf3, we ran into difficulty, as each hotel wanted two passports, yet\nCasey\u2019s passport was being held as collateral for the motorbikes. After\npainstakingly finding an Internet caf\xe9 and printing of a copy of Casey\u2019s\npassport, we were able to find a hotel that would house us for the night. We\nwere also desperate to find accommodation due to our stupidity of wearing\nsinglets and short shorts, we were inevitably burnt on our faces, arms,\nshoulders, thighs, hands, ears and feet. We enjoyed a cold shower and a nap\nbefore feeling like we had to explore the town. It was that night that we\ndetermined that it\u2019s not a Vietnamese dish unless it has three types of meat in\nit, as we enjoyed an omelet/pancake hybrid with chicken, prawns and pork.\n\n
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\n\n\n\n\n\nMar 2nd\n\n\n\nFrom My Th\xf3 we ventured about 110km south to Can Th\xf3, which the\nLonely Planet labels \u201cthe epicentre of the Mekong Delta\u201d. Other then the\npersistence of locals trying to secure our business on \u201cboat trips\u201d the\nfollowing day, Can Th\xf3 didn\u2019t seem to be as vibrant as we hoped and it was\ndefinitely a short lived stay. The multitude of tourists here was also another\nreason that we disliked this town. We enjoyed some of the local Vietnamese\nbeer, Saigon Green, the VB of Vietnam, and called it a night planning to travel\nto a city on the east coast of Vietnam the following day, hoping we could visit\na beach.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMar 3rd\n\n\n\nThe town that was in proximity to the beach was B\u1ea1c Li\xeau. Now, this town was more like what we had in mind when we wanted a\ntown that was untouched by tourists. We stayed at a establishment that on one\nside was a hotel and on the other was a karaoke bar \u201cKaraoke 168\u201d. We utilised\nthe Lonely Planet to determine the Vietnamese word for hotel and found this\nrelatively new business in an area that seemed to be densely populated by other\nkaraoke businesses. We walked to a local karaoke bar, after a misunderstanding\nwith the karaoke staff in our hotel thinking we wanted to \u201corder\u201d two girls to\nsing karaoke with us, and watched people sing memorised songs. Interestingly,\neveryone stopped to look at us and found our attempts to thank them in Vietnamese\nan opportunity to playfully mock us. It was obvious that they didn\u2019t have much\nexperience with tourists, especially western tourists. We continued to walk\naround the town, intrigued by the number of lights that draped the city. We came across a\nnumber of men that were sitting in front of a convenience store drinking beers\nand ushered us over to them. We then enjoyed a very animated conversation with\nthese very generous and friendly people that offered us food and drinks, whilst\ntaking photos of us with each member of the group. It was great to be included\nand really did feel like we were at the heart of Vietnam and were fortunate\nenough to have enjoyed this opportunity with some very gracious people. We\ndecided we liked B\u1ea1c Li\xeau and decided to stay an extra night affording\nourselves the opportunity to go to the beach the following day and try to\nrecover from our reoccuring sunburn. \n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMar 4th\n\n\n\nEnthused by the\nopportunity to visit the beach, we rose and headed in the direction of the\nbeach. We were sorely disappointed. What we had imagined to be a pristine,\nuntouched beach, turned out to be a polluted wasteland that was used as a\nfishing port. We returned to our hotel feeling very disillusioned and after a\nvisit to a \u201cMart\u201d that sold clothes and had a supermarket upstairs, we\nretreated to the hotel with a box of choco pies in hand. We then enjoyed a day\nof recuperation and dinner in a night market, where, like most establishments,\npeople argued over who would have the difficulty of serving people that\ncouldn\u2019t speak Vietnamese. This marked the point where we decided we would\nstart making our way back to Ho Chi Minh City.\n\n
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\n\n\n\nMar 5th \u2013\nA month down\n\n\n\nDetermined to travel\nto a town on the other side of Vietnam, R\u1ea1ch Gi\xe1, without retracing any of our previous steps\nwe travelled south. We travelled down some of the quaintest roads that were\nbarely big enough for a single vehicle, this didn\u2019t stop trucks from playing\nTetris with our lives! They were truly beautiful riverside roads though, that\ndeserve mention. We continued on until we reached the town that we knew would\nlead us north to R\u1ea1ch Gi\xe1. Due to a lack of signage, or highly ambiguous\nsignage, we had no real idea if we were going in the correct direction. Poorly\ncalmed by the insistence of locals that we were in fact heading to R\u1ea1ch Gi\xe1, we\ncontinued onwards. That said, we were very confused when we arrived at a point\nthat required we board a ferry. Having no idea where the ferry was heading and\nseeing no mention of R\u1ea1ch Gi\xe1, we adventurously decided to board. We competed\nto get to the ticket booth to buy our ferry pass and then waited in a caged\nsection that was used to limit the number of motorbikes on each ferry. We were\nreleased from the cage and progressed onto a ferry to the delight of the other\nferry passengers, whom found it very interesting to see Westerners using this\nmode of transport. After getting off the ferry we continued onwards until we\nfinally saw a sign indicating a town that we knew was right next to R\u1ea1ch Gi\xe1.\nWe continued on and by some miracle, we stumbled into our desired town. We\nshook hands and marveled at our day\u2019s accomplishment.\n\n
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\n\n\n\nNot only was this a\npretty interesting day worthy of report, but this day also marked our first\nmonth milestone. We enjoyed a beer to celebrate the day and to celebrate the month.\nWith some reflection, it is amazing how much we have seen and experienced in\nsuch a small space of time. It makes me wonder about what is install for the\nEarthbound Astronauts in the coming months\u2026 However, I digress.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMar 6th\n\n\n\nWe continued on our\npilgrimage back to Ho Chi Minh City, and intended to stay in the town we stayed\nin on the first night, My Th\xf3. This day was inevitably one of the largest\nriding days we had, at roughly 240km, which on Vietnamese roads can take a\nwhile. We were traveling as planned and hadn\u2019t run into any directional issues\nas of yet. We\u2019d been riding for a while, and we were both starting to feel it\nand were ready to call it a day, yet we hadn\u2019t seen any signs for My Th\xf3 for\nsome time. We progressed towards signs indicating towards Ho Chi Minh City,\nknowing that My Th\xf3 was just outside the city. Casey, spotting a \u201csign\u201d\nsuggested we turn right. We continued down a small road that eventually lead to\nanother ferry. Casey then confessed that the sign was an \u201cunofficial sign\u201d. We\nbacktrack to a hotel on the road right next to the main highway. We neglected\nthe plan to make it to My Th\xf3, willingly as we had already visited the town,\nand call it a night. Yet, not before enjoying chicken with soup containing\nchunks of liver.\n\n
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\n\n\n\nMar 7th\n\n\n\nFinally the day had\ncome when we got to return to Ho Chi Minh City and return the motorbikes. We\nhad an amazing time with them, yet our bodies were starting to feel the strain\nof travelling every day. The roads were extremely busy today, it was mayhem! After\na few near misses we were definitely ready to get back and return the bikes\nfrom whence they came. Casey was spotted by a policeman travelling in the heavy\nvehicles lane, and ushered to the side of the road. He was asked for his\nmotorbike papers and license, which of course, he could not procure. The\nofficer then told us that he would have to take the bike, which we could\ncollect and pay a fine. He then went on to say that we could also pay the fine\nnow and drive away. It seemed very much like a bribe, which was definitely\nconfirmed when he offered Casey \u201c50% off\u201d. We paid him one million dong ($50),\nbut gained an experience, our first bribe! We continued into the city, where\nthe Laws of Vietnamese roads (Constructed in a list below) truly came into\nplay. Our experience driving in the city can really be summed up by one\nstatement \u201cthese people have no desire to live!\u201d.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWe said goodbye to\nthe motorbikes, celebrating that they didn\u2019t claim our lives and reacquainted\nourselves with a bakery that had been at the pinnacle of Vietnamese bakeries so\nfar. And that brings us to know. Our bodies are incredibly sore and are in need\nof numerous days of recovery, but we have gained an amazing experience that\nmoney truly can\u2019t pay for. Unless you\u2019re Casey in the heavy vehicle lane...\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nLAWS OF A VIETNAMESE\nROAD*\n\n\n\n1. Small gives way to\nbig (Most of the time)\n\n\n\n2. If you want to do\nsomething illegal, beep. The more you beep the higher the illegality of your\nactions eg. Going in the opposite direction to traffic requires constant horn\nwork.\n\n\n\n3. Stay to the right,\nunless of course, you don\u2019t want to!\n\n\n\n4. Wear a helmet,\nanything on your head will do\u2026\n\n\n\n5. You need to\nsurpass the speed limit if you want to survive.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n*Note: Any of these\nrules are subject to change without notice and may indeed be false.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Vietnamese roads\nare not for the faint-hearted or those that value their lives.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNext we are going\nnorth.\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nKeep posted.\n\n