At the moment I'm sitting in a little internet cafe in Ho Chi Minh city, formerly Saigon trying to find the words to describe the adventures which took place since my last entry.
After writing from Van Tieng I boarded an overnight 12 hour bus to the 4000 islands. The bus ride and the bus itself was something out of this world. First of all, the bus was a sleeper bus. I have never seen anything quite like it. The whole bus was transformed into double bunk beds spanning the length of the bus. Really awesome for those long overnight rides you would say, which is exactly what I thought when I boarded the bus. The only catch was this. The beds are designed for the local people, who are a foot shorter then your average traveler and each bed is "supposed" to fit two people in it. I had the pleasure of spooning with my new friend David from Berlin. Lets just say it took us a minute to figure out the right way to be comfortable :) 12 or 15 hours later we arrived to the 4000 islands. I can't remember the town in which we were dropped off but we walked to a little pier almost immediately, boarded a small boat, and took off for the island of Dondet. The stay was something that I can not describe in words and even pictures (no way of putting them up right now) would not do justice to the place. Just imagine this, you have a bungalow on the Mekong, a hammock stretched on the balcony, being the rainy season its still hot but the sun is not always out, you sway in the hammock all day long reading your book occasionally switching your attention to a loud boat struggling against the strong current going up the river or to look at the amazing cloud formation that you notice out of the corner of your eye. Once or twice a day it pours buckets of rain on you, but you don't mind it one bit. Everything cools down a tad and the rain never lasts more then 20 minutes. Watching the drops pound the gray waters of the Mekong is both hypnotic and relaxing, then you avert your eyes to your book and the only reminder of the rain its the rhythmic pounding on the roof of bungalow. When I tired of the book or laying in the hammock all day long I would take a stroll down the island or go for a walk to the local village or sit and observe the rice farmers work in the fields. Initially I was planning on staying on the island for two nights, but only managed to drag myself out of there after a week of doing what I described above. The stay would not be the same without the people whom I met there, the most amazing collection of the most interesting and fun guys and girls that I had the pleasure to meet.
After leaving Dondet I headed to the Laos and Cambodia border with the intention of heading to Siam Rieb and visiting the Anchor temples while there. The border was somewhat of a joke. A small wooden house with serious looking officials asking for money and gluing a visa into your passport the second they received their dollars. Nothing was inspected, no questions were asked.
I've met three French girls from Paris who have just got their MD's and were traveling for a few weeks after completing an internship in a hospital in Van Tieng. We arrived in Siam Rieb in the evening and were immediately accosted by a group of tuk tuk drivers all vying for our business. We got into one of the tuk tuks, the driver of which was the most pushy and let him drive us to a guest house which he fervently advertised to us. I have to admit that I have never been pushed this hard to accept something and I say this after spending almost 8 years in Israel. The reason I mentioned the French doctors, besides them being cool as hell, is that I have a fun story associated with them. I think of the third night of us staying in Siam Rieb we are sitting at the local market having dinner. The markets have cheap food which is much more fun and tasty than the westerner oriented restaurants that are scattered all over the touristy center. We just finished eating and are sitting trying to decide what we want to do next when we hear a hair raising shriek and a bang which sounded as if someone clapped their hands really hard next to your ear. Suddenly we see everyone run in the direction of the intersection where evidently an accident just occurred. Me being me, I don't even move, I know there is nothing I can do but get in the way so why be another nosy tourist. The girls on the other hand jump up from their seats and sprint in the direction of the noise. It took me a second to realize that they are doctors and than they have a duty to help in situations like this. So I joined them and ran trying my best not to loose anyone in the crowd and at the same time help them get to the injured person(s). When we get thee I see a tuk tuk lying on its side and people pulling out a bloodied woman out of the cabin. The girls immediately rush to her pushing people aside, they help her sit down and start examining her making sure that she didn't break anything. Long story short everything turned out to be fine and the woman just had some minor bruises and cuts. The whole ordeal was something out of the movies though. I can't describe the feeling that I had while standing in the middle of the crowd watching the girls do their job. Afterwords, when we all were having a few drinks the girls were saying what a crazy adrenaline rush situations like this are. On the one hand you know that you have to do your best to help, you hope to all the gods that you can think at that moment that you will remember what you learned in school and at the same time you are painfully aware that there is very little you can do on the scene without any equipment on your hands. Wow, never have I thought it to be like that.
After parting from the girls in Siam Rieb I took a 6 hour bus to Phenom Pen, the capital of Cambodia. I visited the Cambodian genocide museum and the killing fields. Don't want to write about it here but I would love to share my thoughts over a drink when I come home if anyone is interested.
On one of the days I ran into a few people from Dondet and we all went out to the local market. A few beers and an interesting conversation about different foods I managed to work up the courage to eat the following local delicacies: A snake, a grasshopper, a larva bug, and a tarantula. To my surprise they all tasted more or less the same but the grasshopper and the snake were my favorite :)
As I mentioned earlier I am currently in Saigon. I think I'll spend a few more days here exploring the city and then head up and make my way to Hanoi stopping at different cities along the way. If anyone remembers the scene from dumb and dummer where Harry and Loyd get their yellow and orange suits. I'm seriously considering getting myself one in Hoi an. Hehe. Can't pass on an opportunity like that.
This is a very short version of what went on for the last couple of weeks. Hope everything is great back home, I miss everyone and I'll see you all in October.
