Good evening Vietnam.

Cambodia & Vietnam, to borrow a quote i recently read - 

"..give you space to challenge all of your ideas & assumptions you inherited growing up in the west - not necessarily to reject but explore them, to see whether they are actually valid, or just one alternative way of understanding the world". 

Our final step, on the immense Mekong Delta was intoxicating as we meandered down this tropical river, & it's sunset is best summised by the conclusion above.....assisted by the repugnant snake whisky (see pic.) & on-deck poker rounds..

And so our time in Asia has drawn to a close, & we are a little downcast to leave such an uplifting, sometimes exhausting, often moving, but always inspiring culture behind. It was not on our 'to do' list at the beginning of the year to embark on such an odyssey, but by the end of March we will have travelled the circumference of the globe, & feel clearer, more aware, and richer as a result, as well as forging many friendships. We have Ella-Jayne alone to thank for this, she has been with us every step of the way.

On to LA tomorrow where the blog input will slide like the dollar, as it will be more of a mundane workbased jaunt...keep checking though.

Finally Sarah & i would like to thank all of you for your support, without which this blog would not have happened, huge thanks to Chris Hill at Handsupholidays for creating a masterpiece of an itinerary in 10 days (visit his webite in 'labels' below), & to let you know of a couple of interesting upcoming auctions to continue the fundraising...

I've no doubt that some of you will have heard of photographer Mark R Williamson, whose star is rapidly rising - well he has kindly donated some of his photos from his much publicised tour of South East Asia a few years ago -(to view - copy & paste www.markrwilliamson.com/Personal/EllaJayneAuctionpreview/tabid/71/Default.aspx),which you can buy/bid for framed & signed copies of shortly. Some fantastic photos that Sarah has taken will also be up for auction with them - keep dropping in on the blog page for details to follow.

Sarah & Amanda Holden will also be rounding up telly folk across the board & demanding they donate costumes & trendy clothes for auction too - again, keep an eye on this blog page for details.

Go easy xx

SSSaigon

This is the famous 'reunification' palace, formerly the presidential palace that the VC tank ran through the gates of in 1975, to end the Vietnam/US war for good, sending the American troops packing - sharpish. We then went on to the official war musuem, where we witnessed the most horrific photos/facts of the war, at the same time our guide expertly crammed  a hunded years of Vietnamse history into an hour. Fascinating, but a little comprehensive for the blog - in summary though it culminated in a very avoidable 8 year shambles, & unnecessary death of 4 million Vietnamese (more than half were civilians) & 60,000 UN troops (mostly US), that started with Lyndon Johnson (& argueably JFK before him), then Nixon sending troops in to a country/culture they had little idea about in order to surpress the threat & former day 'terrorism' (which at the time was Soviet Union communism), & create a 'western' style democracy that the people neither understood or particularly wanted. It costs billions, & the Americans eventually had to withdraw from a war that the voting public never wanted in the first place.....ring any bells? Lets hope that history does not repeat itself in the same bungled way in Iraq.

Saigon is largely 'new money', a city mostly demolished & rebuilt in the 80's, it is very concrete, clean & corporate, a symbol of this countries new 'free market', & growing economy that is still under communist rule - this political paradox of ideals does work...for the time being.

  It is fun to enjoy the buzz here for a couple of nights - we're heading 100 kilometers south tomorrow for a night & day on a 'junk' on the meandering Mekong Delta, which will be our last escapade in SE Asia, before we head to Los Angeles on Sunday. Shall report back on Saturday night...

Southbound..

To Saigon, or Ho Chin Minh city (depending on your leanings) - tomorrow am - its meant to be ten times more frantic than Hanoi....happy to only be there for the day - then onto the rivers of the Mekong Delta...more to follow.

Hoi An was very bewitching, & we are sad to be leaving, but contrary to that profound t-shirt ditty of the 1980's -  life is not a beach.

Hoi An

...this is how we've rolled since arriving in this picturesque fishing-cum-tourist town on the coast of central Vietnam. We settled into the resort, very nice, but like most 'classy' resorts - once within the perimeter - the country's idendity gets diluted, & you could be anywhere in the world with a nice beach, pool, & selection of restaurants; not a complaint - but it encourages us to venture out whenever possible, & so we have. Firstly surfing at China beach, where the GI's had their downtime during the war, & Robert Duvall enjoyed his am sniff of napalm. This has unfortunately resulted in some patchwork of heavy sunburn on us both, which is somewhat restrictive to activities - so morning tai chi, reading, watching knock off dvd's, buying vietnamese tat is what we're currently reduced to..& great fun it is too! Hoi an is renowned for its beauty, & its food..there are worse places to be in February..  

Ramble on..

After an interesting night's sleep in a shared cabin on the sleeper - we arrived 1600m high in the hills of Sapa & walked down into the bowels of its enormous valley to a small village - Ban Ho, & our bamboo hut 'homestay',& its hospitable family from one of the 5 hill tribes we visited. To freshen up, our guide, whose name sounded to me a bit like 'Mafanwy', & so that's what she became known as (she didn't seem to mind), then led us to the edge of the jungle & a stunning natural waterfall which engulfed us. A night in the hut - & then a 20k romp up, down, & around humungous peaks, being introduced to the various tribes, then an hours drive out of the mountains to Lao Cai - to embark on the insomniac express back to Hanoi.....we are stiffer than oak today, but feel very proud to have undertaken the trek to raise money for friends of PICU - & spend some time a million miles away from our life/lifestyles to further contemplate & cherish the memories of our little angel.

Short flight to Da Nang in central 'nam, & down to Hoi an - a small fishing village & the victoria beach resort for a bit of a flashpacker's rest....shall keep you posted on what is on offer.. 

edit ; buffalows on the beautifully sculpted rice field terraces, that make the most of the steep slopes

Northbound..

on the overnight sleeper to the Sapa mountains on the Chinese border to begin the 2 day trek. We are relieved to be leaving the sweatbox of Hanoi, it's one & only gear - 'overdrive' - starts to become exhausting. After all that gardening at the friendship village - it will be a nice change to grow blisters on our feet instead of our hands for a bit....no pity needed.

If you, or anyone you know is interested in sponsoring this 18k trek - please follow link www.justgiving.com/jimandsarahtrek (or 'friends of PICU'),  it is not too late! Photos posted upon return..

edit: Good to see the infamous 'Duch' - head of the killing fields prison - S21 - as the first khymer rouge member up for war crimes in international front page news today.

Valentine's

saw Hanoi brimming with young lovers & their mopeds, so much so - that we had to forget about crossing the road & make do with our side of the street; it is easy to understand the commercial value of this western ceremony, when over half of Vietnam's population are under the age of 25.

More gardening & blisters for the children at the Friendship village today - we are told that we can help in English classes tomorrow which will be a blessing of a change.

Two days to go to trek - if there are any sponsors left out there..

Agent Orange

In the late 60's, U.S planes dropped a huge amount of a lethal chemical on millions of acres of Vietnamese jungle. The formula was designed to kill all living vegetation, in order to better expose the enemy on the ground. Twenty years later, after countless reports of marked increases in cancer, malformation of children, & general gene mutation - a woman from New Zealand investigated, & discovered that one compound of the chemical weapon, contained excessive amounts of Dioxin - a chemical that causes everything from premature cancer, neurosis, to downes syndrome, severe mental &/or physical retardation in at least 4 t0 5 generations that follow. It was named 'agent orange'. The Americans claimed they had no idea. 4 yrs ago, Bush pledged millions to help fund care for the victims......money got lost in the post.

Present day, & the fallout is thousands of very sick civilians/war vets, & even more deformed children. We have spent the last couple of days (& tomorrow til tuesday) working in 'The friendship village' - a school in Hanoi set up for these kids, by two war vets. - one U.S., the other VC (Vietcong). It was challenging to say the least to interact with these kids, but very quickly - the barriers of language & disability dissipate, & they become just like any other loveable, attention seeking kid.

 We have spent most of our time there, doing back-breaking 33 degrees c prison work in the communal vegetable garden,  & are beginning to learn an iota of Vietnamese. The most useful to me being ' No coriander please '...

Halong Bay

..can only be described as the opposite of the north sea. It is hard to imagine that the same celestial architect who designed that cold, brown featureless vista, was also responsible for this breathtaking bay, with its countless limestone peaks & still,warm emerald waters that stretch out for what seems an eternity. We stayed on 'The Emeraud' - a replicated french steam passenger - more teak & brass than the italian riviera. Anchored off 'dragon' island for the night - its guests enjoyed the classic film "L'Indochine" - epic story of the french occupation of Vietnam 60 yrs ago...very civilised it was indeed.

Tomorrow the fun & games begin at the orpahanage..

sensory overload

Hanoi antagonises all the senses simultaneously. It is a cacaphony of sounds, smells, tastes, & images that relentlessly leave you bewildered. Stepping into the street requires courage, as you are immediately swarmed by mopeds/cars (100:1 ratio) with no traffic laws to guide them, the buzz of their horns stinging your ears from dusk til dawn. The smell of jasmine is laced with all manner of food - fried live on the pavement, backed up with a whiff of mechanic's oil from the next door unit. Tired French colonnial buidings spill out the latest flat screen TV's for sale, it is difficult to decide where to look, so we took refuge in The water puppet theatre (a charming show), & then to Ho Chin Minh's mausoleum (he was as inanimate as the puppets).

Hefty culture shock from neighbouring Cambodia, tomorrow - Halong Bay - to seek some shelter!

Ve vill be back..

and so, onwards to neighbouring Vietnam,& Hanoi city. We will miss the FLOW orphanage here in Phnom Penh, & i would imagine that the friendship village orphange in Hanoi (we start on friday), will be a lot more demanding, it looks after victims of 'agent orange' - a chemical weapon that attacks the nervous system dropped by good ol' uncle Sam during their mess 30 yrs ago. Nowadays the victims are the civilians' children, & other mentally/physically handicapped kids - ergo it could be tough...we shall see.

Our experience in Cambodia has been richer than we could have hoped, mostly due to the magnanimity of its kind & humble race. Like all thinly veiled dicatorships (this one hiding behind tourism, with a moral veneer propped up by charitable NGO's - NON-government organisations), there is a disproportionate imbalance of poor to rich. 95% on the bread line, the rest make their huge gains largely through corruption (last wk's papers reported finding $3000 million in the prime minister's DAUGHTER's bank acc.!).After speaking to some of the more educated folk - it is worrying to learn that unless more of the 12 million population become educated (which thankfully is currently the case), then once the ego of the ex-khymer rouge, 30 bullying  yrs in power (& counting!)  prime-minister yields, there could be huge internal conflict for the race to leadership - a problem that has plagued Cambodia all it's long life.

 Not that i would know - but it does however, feel like things are moving in the right direction towards a more transparent Democracy in this safe,developing tropical country - i would strongly recommend a visit by anyone so inclined!

Dance

..& they did, for us, as a thankyou. It took the dancers (all students at the orphanage), 5 hrs to get made up/prepare for a 30 minute dance, designed to wish us well as we sat on thrones at the front of the stage, like royalty. It was very moving that such work had been put in over the last week, & the results did not disappoint. Times like this inevitably provoke sad thoughts about EJ, but are equally life-affirming - many little friends made here.

P.S. I'm sure the snow will melt soon...

Back to school

I'd imagine the main difference between teaching in the West, & here, is that the children in Cambodia (orphans or otherwise) really want to learn & be educated for fear of not getting a job, & no welfare state to speak of, whereas kids from 'developed' countries which have social welfare to fall back on, would rather be anywhere else than the class room!

Another day of being reminded how important it is to the rest of the world to be able to speak English, & another day being surrounded by very sweet & happy children. 

TEACHING

...is difficult.

The orphanage is run with great efficiency, & the kids are hungry to learn, & happy as happy things as a result. They know more about computers than us, & are more passionate about the english language than most Brits. Long days these will be.

A snack of deep fried tarantula & partially developed duck egg on way home - drew the line at fried baby starling...

Pol Pot's terrible lot

..a very evocative day in Phnom Penh, at S21 & the infamous 'Killing fields'.How could this have  been allowed to happen, i'll never understand. The mass graves are exactly still that - we were walking on paths encrusted with 30yr old human bones, & shreds of clothes of the countless victims sticking out of the ground like saplings, this photo is one of the more sobering ones. Our guide, who comes here twice a week still cries each time... And yet, the same city houses huge buddhas made entirely of emerald, or pure gold (housed in the royal temple above)...another example of how at odds with itself Cambodia has been.The capital is as welcoming & charming as Siem Reap - & after all they've endured - how the people smile so much is another inspiring mystery.

Work starts tomorrow..

..some time spent today with the poorest communities of Cambodia, still they remain very positive & happy in the face of shanti-style living. 

Beaten royally & fairly by Mr. Kim, our man on the ground, at snooker this evening, although he assures me he is the best player in Siem Reap....kind of him.

a change from temple oggling..

visited a croc. farm, local market, followed by a trip down the river to a floating village on Cambodia's largest lake. Extraordinary polite & generous people, then more 'Vishnu' in the pm.Vishnu, Vishnu & more Vishnu...