I really thought I'd be better about sending e-mails...

It's now day 25 of my 36 days of traveling. After 3 nights in Saigon, we went south to the Mekong Delta (Apocalypse Now) for a few days to see the floating markets (people trading produce from their boats), rice fields, and massive communities that live along the river, farming, fishing... We hired a boat and toured the river and canals for a full day. We ate lunch in a dirt-road village where the people acted like they hadn't ever seen white people (I was traveling with Lawrence the Australian). School kids swarmed around us to see the pictures of them on our camera display. While eating our lunch, one of the girls that worked at the cafe started clubbing fish so close to us that we could feel the spray. We all had a good laugh and she moved a little further away.

I went back to Saigon, partied more, then took the train to Na Trang, a beach resort town with beautiful islands off the coast. Met up with some Finnish boys, Mikko and and Alexi, and we took an overnight bus to Hoi An, my favorite town.

Hoi An is on a river, with islands where people live, fish, farm... It is very French, and has a cozy, quaint feel. There are 600 buildings of historical significance. There are lots of tailors, and I had clothes made (3 coats, fisherman pants, shoes). I spent a week here, mostly just being leisurely in cafes, bars, partying every night, watching people, strolling through the market (saw the fishermen coming in to the market with their catch at 4AM), watching a mother-calf water buffalo graze, went to the beach... I also met up with an Australian woman who is providing social services to families in need through a non-profit she started - mostly getting tutoring for the kids that dropped out of school. I went around with her and met some families, including a family of 7 (and a dog) that live on a tiny boat. Another family made a great brunch for us. The father was missing his right foot - a victim of a mine from the American war. He had worked for the Americans. He sat next to me and put his arm over my shoulder, grateful that I'd come to eat. Through his son's interpretation, he told me about his tragedy over 30 years ago.

The VN people have been so gracious. I am constantly asked where I am from, and the response of "America" seem to be always warm. Several older men (motorbike drivers mostly) have gone on to tell me that they fought with the Americans in the South VN Army. The reminder of the war is constant. There are museums, battle sites, stories in the paper of affects of Agent Orange... But no personal ill-will that I have come across. My friend Thinh thinks the VN keep all hostility toward China, and America is in the past.

Next I flew further north to the capital Hanoi. I explored Hanoi and it's lakes, and it was here where they sold the $.10 beers. From here I did a 2 night, 3 day boat trip to Ha Long Bay (all meals and lodging, $50 for a single room ($40 for a double)). This is an area of remarkable islands that jut straight up from the sea. The scenery was magnificent! The boat looked like it was ready to fall apart - but we didn't mind, and stayed on the top deck drinking and watching the scenery.

Upon returning to Hanoi, a cold front had moved in making all of N VN chilly, and I made a spontaneous decision to fly to Bangkok. I checked out Bangkok for a night, then took a bus/ferry south to Cho Chang, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. I'm renting a hut on the beach for $5 a night, renting a motorbike for $5 a day, and partied too hard the last 2 nights. The island is beautiful, lush, and very laid back, the water is warm and clear, and the weather has been perfect. Today I fed elephants - it was the coolest thing ever. Having that trunk taking the bananas from my hand was wild.

Tomorrow I may head to Cambodia and spend a few days en route to Saigon where I catch my flight to Singapore. Cambodia s/b interesting.

I'm in an Internet cafe and just watched a gecko eat an insect.

I hope you all are well!

Drew

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