Chau Doc

Alright, we made it out of Saigon just two days ago and currently we're in Chau Doc. The town sits on the border of Cambodia and Vietnam about five hours from Saigon. We chartered with a company that provides gawking tourists a ride around the Mekong Delta but it was a pretty fair deal. For fourteen dollars we got a two-hour bus ride South to Cai Be where we transfered to long boats for a ride through the Delta and along the floating markets. We got off the boat in some remote villages to check out the locals making things like coconut candy, puff rice, something like caramel corn, and other things that they then had the opportunity to sell us. It was nice. Some things we probably couldn't have seen without the connections of the tour company and they also make it possible for the villagers to make a couple extra bucks. Good stuff.

After a couple of hours trucking along narrow river passages we made it to Vinh Long which was our intended destination. The idea being that we would split off from the tour and find another boat to take us up to Chau Doc. After talking to someone about our plan it didn't seem like that was going to be a very easy ride to score. Luckily another group was leaving from Vinh Long to Chau Doc later that day so we just hooked up with them. We thought that it was cool because it also included a room on a floating hotel. Romantic right? Yeah, it was definitely more of a floating motel and they made us pay extra for a/c. So it goes.

Now we're stuck inside our room trying to beat the heat which is alright since the day started at five-thirty. We've already made accomodations for an early morning ride to Rach Gia where we catch a fast boat ride across the ocean to the island of Phu Quoc where we're hoping to just settle in for a few days and relax.

Ho Chi Minh City

So we're here in Ho Chi Minh City. Have been for just over a day now. It took roughly twenty hours to travel from our house in Olympia to the hotel in HCMC. The time diference is fourteen hours ahead so it's two in the afternoon in the states and four in the morning here. My sleep schedule is also on vacation at this point.

We're giving ourselves two days in HCMC to get adjusted (oriented?) before we head down to the Mekong Delta. But so far so good. All flights on time and the hotel is nice. Right in the heart of Pham Ngu Lao which is the cheaper back-packer area. But still very nice. For as many people that reside here there is really very little trash. The air quality is a whole other story. Believe me when I say you can feel more in the air than the heat.

So nothing much has happened yet for me to write about. Just a few meals, some conversation, and to-die-for napping. But Heather is also running her own blog and she'll be uploading alot of the photos we'll be taking. You can link to it on the left side of this page along with two blogs from my friend Sunday whom any day now should be landing in New Zealand. GalacticMu is dedicated to the world of sci-fi and Anger Burger concerns itself with food. Both of which should be checked out by anyone who has an appreciation for good writing.

VIETNAM

Who's still reading this thing?

So this is for anyone out there who actually reads this thing. I'm home. Back in the states. Back in Olympia.

I had some money issues. My debit card and credit card both became unusable and because of this I chose to end my trip early. I could have made it come together, borrowed money, had new cards sent to me but I took it as a sign that my time was up. It had been four months since I left Olympia and although I can't understand the feeling now, I was actually homesick. I think that India shocked and scarred me and I needed a break. I also wanted some good food and a bed that wasn't made from softened plywood.

Now that I'm back I'm trying to hold on to the momentum that I felt while there. My mind, to escape the harshness of my surroundings would veer towards the future and productivity. At the time I was almost bi-polar with with my desires. One moment I was thinking about my credit, school, and buying a house then I would be completely immersed in the world that I was living in at that time and in that space.

Although I knew that there was so much to gain from continuing on through India I was also ready for some stability and familiarity. And some red meat. I felt sure of my decision all of the way through my Valium induced coma flight home. And during my lay-over in Newark I had to fight the urge not to cry because I felt so wrong and wanted nothing more than to take my decision back and return to India.

But I'm here now and it's only a matter of time before I'm gone again. School starts in three weeks, job prospects are looking good, snowboarding season is just around the corner, and my friends are enough to help me fool myself into thinking that I have made the right decision.

If anyone has been reading this that doesn't have my e-mail and would like to correspond or just say hello, then here it is.

thascavenga@yahoo.com

Peace

So these are two Zoo pics and one from McLeod. I'msure you can figure which ones are which.

Just fillin'space

Just some pictures I had lying around. I almost lost them today. I stuck my card reader in the USB Port,got caught up in doing something else and left it in the port. A few hours later FREAK OUT hit. I ran back and it wasn't in the computer. Near FREAK OUT #2 except that the computer guy gave me a smile like he knew what I was looking for.

So thankful for the nice people in this world.