Yeah it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do?
9:03 am Saturday, 22 March, 2008
And about 10 minutes later I found a Mars bar and indeed a pack of M&M’s when I stopped for a bottle of water. It’s been a quiet day. I haven’t really done very much. I had a long lunch with net access, wandered around for a while and then just really faffed around for a few hours. All of a sudden it was going nine o’clock and I felt like I hadn’t done anything. So I figured that I’d stick my headphones on, take my pocket camera and go for a walk to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and see if it was lit up at night. I had what I thought was a decent idea of the way to get there and set out. Around 20 minutes later I realised that I was totally lost and you know what, it was awesome. I spent the next couple of hours just walking around the city listening to some music. It’s always been something I like to do. Headphones on and just wander. It works for me almost anywhere. It lets me think and in new places to get a feel for ‘em.
Now along the streets, certainly the more touristy streets are tourist info kiosks. They are basically touch screen jobs with the usual local attractions and stuff like that but each one of them opens up with a very handy “you are here” map. So that was good…I managed to find the Hanoi Hilton by randomly walking past it. I somehow ended up on the opposite side of the city to where I set out to get to but then again I had given up caring about direction and was just walking! I now know how to get back there tomorrow. I sat down by the lake for a while and then lapped it a couple of times before heading back to the hotel.
Now one thing in Bangkok I haven’t gotten around to mentioning yet. When I was sitting in the park reading for the afternoon, I saw Godzilla. I’m not sure exactly what it was other than a lizard of somesort but it was huge! It was at least 3 foot long and as thick as my arm. It was just freely wandering around near to the lake. I noticed it when it was a good distance away from me but it kept coming closer. So I grabbed my camera (and made sure there was enough space to run if it proved hostile!). Scarily it managed to disappear completely when I looked away distracted by something else (okay okay a pretty girl!) and so I didn’t get a shot of it.
Tonight’s nature spectacular was bats. Tons and tons of bats. Like I say, I was sat down by the lake listening and thinking. All of a sudden the air is alive around me with a good dozen bats. I noticed them the whole way around the lake.
Nothing unusual there really but just another small sign of the differences between places.
Oh in finest V tradition, one of the conversations with the Swede last night was Batman always wins. He was wearing a Batman logo’d t-shirt but was claiming that Superman and Silver Surfer were better. Shocking!
Ohh that was another thing about last night. I’ve come across it before but it’s really really odd. Americans, ye are strange strange people to have drinks with! So three Americans come in and they sit down. As I found out later one, the fella, is a local and the two girls are on tour. So he orders three drinks for ‘em, all the local beer. The drinks arrive and he gets the bill. So he pulls out his wallet and pays the girl for one beer and the other two do the same. Now I’m well aware that not everyone has money and not everyone can be buying rounds but it’s not that with the Americans. They just don’t do it. There’s no question of buying a beer for your mates. Short of an organised round system, it’s just not done. It comes as something of a surprise to them if when you walk into a bar you buy ‘em a drink. It’s really odd, they just expect each of you to order a single beer in turns. Madness.
A very quiet Friday night here as you might be able to tell, I have a few tangents to go on to here. Another Bangkok story for you. It’s going to loose a lot in translation but here goes. Please imagine this in an Aussie accent, it might help. So I’m wandering along a street and looking around. There are a couple of lads wandering the same way talking fairly loudly. Both Aussie, as you probably guessed, and in their late teens or early twenties. The conversation seemed to consist of one of them trying to talk the other into heading to one of Bangkok’s more shady night spots for a pussy show. He wasn’t really having much luck, the guy just didn’t seem interested telling him pretty much just that! This carries on for a moment or two until something changes and he says “Oh alright mate fine, lets just go and do it” and then in total seriousness follows that with “…and then after we’ll go get that wank massage yeah mate?” I nearly broke down laughing in the middle of the road.
Now to really go off on a tangent, there was something that I thought of about the trip while I was circling the lake which lead me to this but I cannot for the life of me think what it was. I’ve been meaning to write about this for a good while now but I just haven’t really figured it all out. I still haven’t but here goes.
As many of you know when I was in DC there were some massive changes in the company that I worked for. There were in particular massive changes in the team and extended group that I was a part of. Lets suffice it to say that they were not good times for all involved. And that includes me, by the way. It was tough going through all of that while being away from everyone else going through it. When I came back, it was a very different place. No real surprise there but what was very different were some of the people. Both Iain and Trev had noticed it and mentioned it to me while I was still in DC and more so when I got back. There was always a core group of people who go in within the team. There always is but this group had pretty much gone through the mangler a couple of times in a very short period of time and become much closer as a result. When I think about it, I just go with the word clique. It was very much an insiders club. Not by any deliberate actions or anything like that but it was very strange to have gone away and when I got back to find myself very much on the outside. I understand it, it does make some sense but it doesn’t mean I have to like it!
Fuck, I have no idea what it was that lead me to that thought this evening. Speaking of clique though. BBC World is fairly shit but at least there is news headlines on a very regular basis. So Tibet is one of the big stories at the moment, if not the only big story. And of course China refer to the “Dalai clique”. Now I’ve been watching these reports and Pelosi has just made this big speech. Actually I’m going to stop there for a moment. Let me be very clear here before I go on, I am in no way at all condoning the actions of China in any of their dealings with Tibet. I don’t know enough about the history or the situation so I’m saying dealings rather than occupation. But both the news coverage and the international reaction just smacks of so much hypocrisy. There are all these comments about human rights and how China is cracking down on protesters and sending in the military and pictures of this and pictures of that. Then the Beeb goes and shows some more footage newly received out of Tibet. It shows a group of Tibeten’s beating the shit out of an, the phrase used is, ethnic Chinese. One Tibeten literally takes a run at the guy and fly kicks him. When he’s on the ground they kick him, pelt him with stones and beat him with a stick.
Now where in any of this coverage has there been *any* condemnation for the actions of these protesters? I have not seen a single comment from the US or any other government condemning the actions of the rioters. There is a massive difference between a protest and indeed a riot against government forces and the beating/burning/looting against a group of people. I believe the terms for something like that range between sectarian violence and ethnic cleansing! I have to say that I find it very very hard to condemn China for putting troops on the street when people are being attacked like that. I note that Greece had a fairly serious set of riots earlier today too. Police used tear gas on protesters when they turned violent. I wonder when there’ll be universal condemnation of the government there?
Hmm, again let me point out that I’m not condoning any of the actions taken but I really am finding the news coverage to be hugely one sided here. I’d quite like the BBC or CNN or anyone else sneaking cameramen around to find one of these ethnic Chinese who have been attacked and hear from them about their treatment from the protesters and to ask them if they are okay with their government sending the army to protect them?
Now having said all that, I’m absolutely sure that Chinese troops have fired on protesters and I”m absolutely sure they have killed a greater number of them than they admit to. I’m absolutely sure that the Tibeten’s have a legitimate grievance and I’m absolutely sure I’ve been watching too much BBC World but it just annoys me how obviously slanted the coverage is. I also find it amusing, again, that the US feel it can lecture anyone on human rights and the moral highground. I mean it’s not like the US make people disappear, spy on their own people, remove right after right after right, breech the Geneva Convention and hold people without trial and charge is it?
Alright, time to get off that box of mine. I had something else but I’m blanking. Oh yes, prostitutes! Some of you may recall my amazement and amusement at the hooker I met late night in Vegas who used IM to keep in touch with clients. Well not quite as amusing as that (that still makes me smile) but while on my walk this evening a couple of girls pulled up on a single motorbike and offered their services. Upon declining, I was then offered their card and was told that they’d be there very quick on their motorbike when I called. In hindsight I should have taken the card, it’d go well into my scrapbook!
Ohh hangovers are odd here. They are more than the usual hangover. It’s slightly disturbing but aside from the usual headache and sometimes off stomach hangovers here include bouts of light-headedness and the feeling of ears being blocked (like flying or a fast lift). It passes quickly and it’s only happened after a night out so I am fairly sure it’s not anything else but tis odd.
For such a quiet day, I’m really tired. I guess it’s getting pretty late now and I should get some sleep. Tomorrow I meet my tour group which should be interesting. There are at least 10 people on it, I had a short look at the list earlier today. Seems I’m the only early arrival. I do have to change room in the morning which is slightly annoying as it means I have to be here to do it at 10. I was planning on doing some more wandering but I guess I have Sunday to do that on too.
I’m still listening to that MGMT album. There are at least two awesome tracks (#1 Time To Pretend and #5 Kids). The rest of the album is less memorable. I wish to check out TIng Tings (I think?) based on some of the V music thread. Hopefully I’ll get internet somewhere soon that’ll let me do that. Be nice to get a couple of episodes of things saved to the harddrive too though I’m not sure that’s gonna happen.
Best sleep now.
00:35 Hanoi - Vietnam Saturday March 22
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