3-9-07

My last day in Vietnam was great, definitely the best one I'd had that week. It started with a visit Ho Chi Minh's maoseleum which is sobering at best and downright depressing at worst. First of all there are no cameras and I mean NO cameras. You have to check them in at the front and even then soldiers will randomly go through peoples bags. Being the smart-ass that I am I offered my bag to every one, knowing that they would be less likely to search a bag some foreigner is pushing in their face. So no one checked my bag and I felt smarter for beating the system. Of course I'd already given them my camera in the beginning so it was kind of futile thing to do.
When you get inside the crypt it's very cold and everything is marble and ominous. Everyone walks in single file and then turn a corner into a large room with a the body of Ho Chi Minh in the middle except he's on this island and there's a dry moat surrounding him. In the room there are no less than 9 armed guards, to keep you from taking pictures or defiling the body of their great leaders. These people take ancestor worship to the next level, let me tell you. So that was kind of fun.

As I walking away, a funny man with horrible teeth started talking to me in English, asking where I was going, etc. Only this time he had a list of places he would take me for a cheap price. So I went to the Ethnology Museum in Vietnam where there are numerous exhibits on the indigeonous people of Vietnam and the surrounding areas. About half the things were in Vietnamese with a little English thrown in on the side. It was similar to the museum in Thailand in that some of the houses were similar as the clothing of the hill tribe people. This highlight is when you go outside around the back of the museum where they have all these local style houses. Some are raised meters off the ground and held together only with what looked like pandanas leaves, just like in Vanuatu. There was also a wedding about to take place so the bride was getting ready in one of the adobe houses.




After the museum we went to the silk "village" where I got to see the silk making process, buy some cheap silk scarves and drink rice wine infused with silk worms. Something about infusing rice wine always makes it better, whether it's the silk worm, snake, or various body parts of animals. Asians just love to put strange stuff in their rice wine, which brings us to where we went after the silk village.



As we were leaving I asked if there was a place I could eat dog, because it seemed like a crime to leave Vietnam and not tried (what I imagine) was the national dish. Ok, the national dish is Pho, but it should be dog! Anyway, we cruised around until we got to the dog restaurant, evident because there was roasted dog in the front. We sat down and Duong ordered for us. I'll spare the details but dog is really good, this being the second time I'd tried it. It's like very tender dark chicken, mixed with a little bit of pork. We ordered some different infused rice wine, but this infusion will have to remain a mystery for now, you'll figure it out from the video. The highlight of the meal was when we started eating what looked like a very large crispy rice cake and after I tried some, asked what it was made out of. He said "sticky rice" and then fumbled for the correct words. He took a napkin and wrote "Lard of Dog" on it. I couldn't stop laughing and still have the napkin in my journal, I think it's hilarious.



After Vietnam I landed in Korea and spent an absolutely freezing night is Seoul. It was cold! Cold cold cold! I got a bus to the "backpacker district" and planned on getting out and finding a hostel, essentially what I had done for all of my trip. What I didn't count on was that it would be snowing and there were no hostels in sight and I was wondering around in all my "cold weather" clothes. I ended up staying in a "Youth Hostel" that had freaking conference rooms! Hostels aren't supposed to have conference rooms! Luckily I was able to buy some warmer clothes at the local market in Seoul which is a great place to just hang out in, they love to sell ginseng in huge glass jars. I've been wearing no less than 3 layers every day and wearing a Vietnamese scarf I bought, something I've never done before.


I was also able to meet up with Christina, a friend since High School and she's been great, showing me around and making sure I have things to do during the day. I got to see the Catholic school she works at and meet a couple of the nuns who work there. They are some of the nicest people I've ever met, especially since I have this "Blues Brothers Movie" picture of nuns in my head, running around and indiscriminately hitting people with rulers. But there was no ruler hitting, in fact the first nun I met shook my hand and the first words out of her mouth (to Christina in Korean) were "Christina, he's handsome!" After laughing I pondered the irony of getting hit on by a nun. Before we left the same num gave me a couple sewn charms to keep. Well, I get to keep one of them but the nun said I have to give the other one to my girlfriend. The Blues Brothers can also be seen in Seoul, hanging outside a convenience store.




Thus far staying in Daejeong has been fun, it's kind of like the silicon valley of Korea so there are lots of museums to go to and a big zoo which I unfortunately didn't have the chance to see. Somehow I don't imagine African animals are very active in 32 degree F weather. But I did get to see some other museums which were nice, considering South Korea takes its science very seriously. And I got to go to a bath house for the first time, but that's a very long story that will have to wait.

*Update

My last night in Seoul was awesome. We all went out for drinks and dancing at a club in the city of Daegon which is a short train ride out of Daejeon. When we got to the club we were just about the only white people which was great. I hadn't really gone out dancing since Thailand and I was more than ready to stay as long as I could. People in our group started leaving around 2, 2:30 am but myself and a dedicated others closed out the club at 5 am. Operating on 4 hours of sleep I managed to get a bus to Pusan where I spent the night in a very dodgy hotel before catching the international ferry to Tsushima, a small island in Nagasaki Prefecture of Japan.