Christy Takes a Break: Goodbye Vietnam!

I tried to post this last night but the hotel didn’t have wireless (or rats or roaches I don’t think). It did have bugs though and when you used the hotel’s computer you were covered with them…

We finished late tonight about 7 km’s from the border of Cambodia. It was a boat/bike/bus travel day from 8 AM until nearly 9 PM. The day started out very pleasantly at some floating markets. Despite the fact that the market sellers lived on small, dirty boats and used the same filthy river as both a bathtub and toilet, pretty much everyone had a smile on their face. Then everything was put into perspective at the very end of the day when we drove through over an hour of dismal slums – the worst I’ve seen so far here, or anywhere for that matter – and then the grande finale was a visit to the Killing Fields which I believe was Vietnam’s way of saying “Christy, I’m afraid it’s not going to work out between us. It’s not you, it’s me. Have you considered my friend Cambodia?”

It was shocking to see the dismal living conditions in the slums even after spending the two previous days in very, very poor villages in the Mekong Delta. It was sheer squalor. And what really didn’t add up as we drove through the night on a torn up single track road through the slums was that at least ½ of the homes (if you can call them that) were lit up by flickering television sets.

There’s a part of me that can understand why these families would choose to invest in a TV over, say, refrigeration. It may be the only easy escape when living in a slum. But it’s not just having a TV. Most of the small villages had what could only be described as ball gown shops where brightly colored strapless dresses covered in sequins were sold. I really can’t think of any occasion outside of prom where I would have the opportunity to wear such a dress, so the purpose and use of these dresses in a flooded, disgusting slum is a complete mystery to me. The other common shops were hair dressers and motor cycle shops – I kept looking for a couple on a hot rod with freshly blown out hair decked out in a tux and ball gown to go flying past our mini bus, but I never saw anything close. Anyway, none of it added up and just made me feel worse about their living situations. Don’t misunderstand me – pretty much everything else I had seen in the previous days was poor but certainly not depressing. For the most part, everyone seemed very happy with their families and led simple lives. But these slums were just wrong.

Then we got to the Killing Fields. And I guess our guides wanted to give us the VIP treatment because we got a private late night viewing. Let me tell you, there’s nothing quite like seeing Killing Fields in pitch black darkness on a moonless night! Especially when the monument is a collection of thousands of skulls and skeletons of the people massacred by Pol Pot. I did not like it there.

On to happier things!

Two exciting things happened today. Operation Triscuit is complete! It’s a bit shameful really – I ended up loaning some cash to the WI tough guys and suggested they pay me back in Triscuits. Unfortunately, attempts to kill them with kindness and charm their socks off were not successful. Sometimes you do have to buy love. I will say that I’m changing my tune on my fellow statesmen and made too quick a judgment on their character. They came to breakfast bearing a powerbar as a gift to replace the ones eaten by the rats which was really nice.

The other exciting thing is that Jane tried to eat a magnet today because she thought it was a piece of candy. The magnet was in the shape of mini bananas and so you can understand how she got confused. It wasn’t as good as peeing in a stranger’s shower, but it gave me a good chuckle.

Tomorrow we leave at 6:30AM to get on the boat to Cambodia. Goodbye Vietnam!