The last few weeks in my life

So for some reason Blogger, Blogspot, Nam Overboard and everybody else's blogs that I like to read have been failing to cooperate for a couple of weeks now, so I've had tonnes of content for the blog but haven't been able to update. So here is the last few weeks of my life in pictorial and audio-visual bite size snippets. Enjoy!

Mark, an AYAD based up near the Laos border, came to town for a visit and "to work" so I showed him a cute little, very down-home seafood restaurant and Bamboo bar (of course)!

I found excellent Bun Cha Ca (Noodle soup with fish) near my office (around 8000vnd a bowl, 70 cents AUD) and it looks out onto a pagoda. Ian (my boss) had some friends over from Australia so we went for a delicious seafood meal.

Then Ian, Tra My and I had a couple of official functions to attend. One was held by the Labour Ministry and the other was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

And it was at the Labour Ministry function that this wonderful piece of video was captured. A lot of high powered CEOs and businessmen were in the audience being awarded by the Ministry for their economic performance in the past 12 months. The guy in the video below, received 2 giant plaques and 2 gold stars to hang on his jacket and he addressed the crowd. Then as we all got up to grab some food and the band came on, the same guy got up on stage and serenaded the crowd with "By The Rivers of Babylon" and some excellent dancing. Enjoy...

Then as our Hanoi based work colleagues would be leaving early to return North for Tet (Lunar New Year) we had a lunch to celebrate.

Up next: I'm going to Hanoi for Tet, to spend sometime with the AYADS up there (leave Sunday 25th of January and back on the 2nd of February) so I will have a proper update of our hi-jinks when I get back (sight-seeing, JJJ Hottest 100 party, fireworks and Tet madness). Chuc Mung Nam Moi (Happy New Year).

HCMC and the Tunnels of Cu Chi

Friday mid-morning I flew from Phu Quoc Island to Ho Chi Minh City. After the other AYADS on the the flight before mine, had to leave some of their luggage for a later flight as the plane was "too heavy", my flight was only delayed 20 minutes. The airport had great iced coffee and free internet so I wasn't too fussed.

























Once in HCMC, I checked into the hotel, that Jamie and Samitha (two previous intake AYADS that I had met on Phu Quoc Island) had booked for the three of us and then hit up Ben Thanh Markets for some food and a bit of shopping for belated X-mas presents. As always, it was a little claustrophobic inside and the traffic was out of control as well. Just when I felt like I was getting the hang of crossing the street, HCMC traffic always puts things in perspective!












I continued to wander around into the evening and took some photos of some attractive monuments, the city hall and one of the other government buildings. The Vietnamese love of fairy lights was out again in force.
























On Saturday morning Jamie, Samitha and I headed out to meet our bus tour to take us to Cu Chi to look at the tunnels used by the VietCong during what we know as the Vietnam war but what the Vietnamese refer to as the American War.























After that we got to look at some of the self-made weapons and traps that the Vietnamese devised. Insanely painful, but quite ingenious at the same time. We also got to see traditional uniforms as well.


























After this, we finally got to walk (I should say crawl!) around in the tunnels. We travelled about 50m underground. It was claustrophobic and pitch black. They were even so narrow I was scared that my hips were going to get stuck and I've lost weight since being over here. And I would have taken a photo except I was using my camera and phone to light the way because the tunnels were pitch black. Here are a couple that I managed to take.













After we returned to HCMC, I went to the War Remnants Museum which was a very distressing but important experience. I likened it to going to Auschwitz-Burkenau concetration camp when I was in Poland. It's not exactly an enjoyable experience but it's something you need to do to understand the people and the country and their history a little better. The war remnant's museum had very graphic example of the effect of Agent Orange. What suprised me was the extent of this effect. A study was done in Australia that found that one quarter of all wives of men that served in Vietnam and who were exposed to Agent Orange had suffered a miscarriage.

Children in rural areas of Vietnam are still being born with serious defects as late as 1998. There were photos of some families who had three of four severely deformed children as a result of Agent Orange.

One of the nicest parts of the museum (and the only place I really felt comfortable taking photos) was the last room which had drawings from the children of Vietnam about the war and their hopes for peace and for the future.





















Then it was just time to grab my luggage and a quick bite to eat whilst perusing the crazy traffic, before it was time to grab a cab for the airport. You need to allow 1+ hours to get to the airport due to the traffic.













Up next: A recap of the last few weeks. Includes: Award ceremonies with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a Vietnamese businessman singing "By the Rivers of Babylon" and pre Tet (Lunar New Year) madness.

Phu Quoc Island Part 3

So we headed down the beach about 7pm on NYE to Eden, a bar and restaurant on the sand which was hosting a NYE party. For 200,000 VND (a bit less than $20 AUD) we got a BBQ-ed seafood dinner, 2 free drinks and a bonfire and tunes.

At around 10 or 11pm at night the bonfire was lit and people starting lighting lanterns and letting them float into the sky. The AYAD intake 23 (mine) set one off and they were quite magical floating up into the sky and out over the ocean. They were a total fire hazard though, with quite a few people crowding around to take a look and having no control over the direction the lantern, with fire blazing inside, would take.

Then after a 3am swim in the ocean (which was unbelievably warm, like a bath) and a handstand competition (Don't ask) we headed home to bed at about 4:30am in the morning. The next day had been reserved long in advance for finally laying on the beach, getting massages, drinking beer and eating fruit and nothing else. There was some swim-frisbee played in the water and the more athletic people partook in a game of volleyball and some coconut tree climbing (again don't ask).

Up next: HCMC and Cu Chi Tunnels