Vietnam Part I

A communist run country, a land ravaged by the Vietnam War, images of conical "paddy hats" these were really the only hints of what would await me on my trip to Vietnam. Sure, I probably should have known more about this small country; or at least about Uncle Ho's connection to the VietMien and how the "dragon shaped" land houses the world's 13th largest population. But I must have been asleep in those history classes. However, the normal internal upset of uncertain things was no where to be found as my AirAsia flight bustled onward toward the old capital of southern Vietnam. The only feeling inside was sheer joy and anticipation as thousands of streetlights illuminated the vast cityscape of Ho Chi Mien City that lay outside my plane window...

What did I find you may ask? Well, let's start with the first item on the agenda (after sneaking through security to snag cash and slide back into the "transit zone" to pay my visa toll), which was to make it to the meeting point. One cab ride, a few hundred moto zooming by and a screaching alley cat later I met up with the daring and adventurous Toddy. Quickly we made our way to Phu Quoc, a small island off the coasts of Vietnam and Cambodia.

In Phu Quoc there were scooter adventures, beach burns, scrumptious food, tropical rains and the sweetest condensed milk coffee. Daily walks lead to abandoned hotels, statues of mermaids in the sea and dozens of mosquito bites; and beach watching saw only clear blue seas dotted with fishing boats. Touring around on dirt roads, over rickety boarded bridges and past the sandy garbage strewn shores made me fall in love with Southeast Asia all over again. The people...skin darkened from toil under the blazing sun; the food... made to fill for the day to come; the coffee... to sweeten your outlook on life; the dirt... that reminds me I am but a simple human who came from the dust.

End Part I.