Trip to Vietnam

Welcome to my travelblog! As you'll notice with the links to the right, I've inexpertly tried to document my various international vacations. Most of the time, I'll toss pictures up here with a short caption. Sometimes I will include insights into what I come across, or descriptions of things that I wasn't able to photograph. As ever, my primary goal will be to entertain or enlighten the reader who, having arrived at this blog through chance or idle curiosity, seeks to make the visit worth his or her time.

The last trip I took was to England (during which I didn't take many pictures) in May of 2009. I can't help but feel that too much time has past since last I travelled. The reasons for the delay were many, but the foremost is that summer flights are often much more expensive than flights in the spring and fall. Unfortunately, travelling in those times is barred to me, as school is a harsh mistress that demands I forgo most enjoyments in life.

Recognizing this drought, I had pledged to take some sort of international vacation this summer. For much of the past year Zane, the friend I had visited in Korea, had been extolling the virtues of his new home in Vietnam. Zane is one of my oldest friends. I've known him for almost twenty years now. He knew just the right buttons to press to lure me: he regaled me tales of climbing mountains, exploring jungle ruins, experiencing quaint local festivals, and riding Ostriches (which, unfortunately, won't be available where we are going). He finally won me over when he extended an invitation to join him and several of his friends on a 10-day vacation to the inner part of the country (the vicinity of Hue / Da Nang).


A terrible picture of Zane and I from 10 years ago. Also, go Pens!

To be honest, aside from arriving in Saigon, taking a second plane to Hue and flying back from Da Nang 10 days later, I'm not sure what we will be doing. Zane has dropped some destinations and activities, a disjointed skeleton of an itiniterary. Apparently we will visit relatives of one of our travelling companions to cook traditional recipes. He promised me a lantern festival in city in which all other lights are extinguished. There will be a beach where I can swim carefully wade. It sounds fun, and as it saves me the effort of planning, I'm okay with this uncertainty.

Zane, as I mentioned previously in this blog, is a compulsive gourmand. The man is absolutely fearless when it comes to seeking out and trying new dishes. From what I understand, he arrived in Vietnam with a list of 100 dishes to try. While there remain several uneaten dishes on the list, he has been adding to it for some time. The dishes he has eaten are many, but I tend to remember the most outrageous (to my midwestern sensibilities, of course): pig birth canal (the consumption of which by a westerner impressed several locals), chicken anus, spiders, and (still living) bee larva. I, who cannot tolerate the lightest dusting of spice, who subsisted through my formative years on a diet that consisted (with little variation) of plain hamburgers, fish or chicken, starchy vegetables and cheezeits, and whose favorite international fare so far is a hearty english meat pie (with sides of peas and mashed potatoes), am nowhere near as brave or as curious. Still, we tend to adopt, to as large a degree as we are comfortable with, the habits of those with whom we associate. My Korean vacation ended up being, in some respects, a foodie tour, solely because of Zane's influence and experience. Such will probably be the case again. I have prepared myself by watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations Vietnam (available on Netflix), and, dare I say, am cautiously excited.

Following our return from Da Nang, I will be taking a five hour bus ride to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. I'll spend one night there before taking a bus north to Siem Reap. The plan is to explore the buildings of the Angkor Wat temple complex for the next three days, before flying back to Saigon and home. Unfortunately, Zane has already been to Angkor, so I'll be hoofing it alone this trip. Still, he's given me a couple of recommendations, including a temple in which he had his "Indiana Jones experience." I don't know what this is, but I think I want it, so long as it doesn't involve Nazis, melting faces, or someone trying to pull my still beating heart from my chest. If it involved monkeys, that would, as ever, be ideal.

I shall update this blog as I can find internet cafes or available computers - I won't be taking my netbook with me this trip. It had the rather unenviable experience of being the meat in a "Charlie / Asphalt" sandwich on an icy road during Snowmageddon 2010. So, alas, updates may not be as frequent or with as many pictures as I would like, but I'll try my best to keep them coming. At the very least, I shall share my pictures and stories upon my return.