Paradise

The last days of Nam went quite smoothly. We spent the second day at the beach. A long white sand beach stretches along the ocean about five kilometers from Hoi An. We rented bicycles for the journey. The bicycles were not the greatest. One gear and one speed: excruciatingly slow. As we progressed further south in Vietnam, cars became rarer and bicycles more common. It was our first beach day of the trip and we enjoyed sitting under the umbrellas and then stretching out on the sand to work on our sunburns. It was great.

Except for the vendors. Women in jackets and hats to prevent sun exposure prowl the beach looking for customers. Pedicures, massages, fruit, postcards, frisbees and cigarettes are all available from their baskets. They each know enough English to sell their goods. Some have picked up some memorable lines along the way. "Don't worry. Be happy." "Open your heart and your wallet." "Don't be lazy - be crazy." They sometimes come with sob stories of how no one has bought anything from them today and make you feel guilty. Others just won't leave, but will sit down and look at you as they go through a list of what they have available.

We weren't safe from the vendors even as we ate dinner at a restaurant. A little boy claiming to be five came up to our table with packages of postcards and a handful of necklaces. He said it was happy hour and he'd give us good deals. We repeatedly said no, but then Gregg asked how much the necklaces were. The boy dug one out and started bargaining. Gregg said no, and the boy started to mutter under his breath. "You ask how much and you not buy?" he cried as if we had entered into some kind of contract. He dropped his price by two thirds. Gregg bought it. There was a man on a motorcycle waiting for the boy. We were afraid if we didn't buy, the boy might get whupped. I've never seen such a salesman.

Our third day in Hoi An, we took a tour of the My (pronounced mee) Son ruins and were reunited with our slow boat friend, Sarah. These ruins were built by the Cham people and are unique in Vietnam because they are Hindu. Some date back to the fifth century, but most are only a thousand years old. Red bricks are piled into towers and temples. They didn't use traditional mortar and it's still a mystery what they used to stick the bricks together. We saw a fake Cham song and dance show and then wandered around the ruins. It really was fascinating. We took a boat back to Hoi An - another boat ride with Sarah. It seemed fitting.

When we returned to town, Gregg slept and enjoyed our air conditioned room while I toured around town. Hoi An is famous for its old buildings and I saw what I could without paying for a ticket. One of the interesting sites is an old Japanese covered bridge. It's quite ornate and pink in color.

Another day at the beach and this time, it rained so we sat under our umbrellas gazing at the ominous black clouds overhead.

Tuesday, we flew from Danang to Bangkok. Danang airport was quite an experience. It's small. I think there's only one international flight a day. The immigration people had never heard of Na Meo, the border we crossed at. Since we wanted to pay the departure tax in Vietnamese currency instead of USD, they gave us a horrible exchange rate. Fighter jets were landing and taking off of the runway with colorful parachutes to slow them down. Our plane was small - like 60 passengers. To board, we took a bus across the tarmac and then climbed up some stairs. Soon, we were out of Vietnam.

And back in the land of Smiles. Bangkok didn't seem quite so hot as it did a month ago. For once, our bags were first off the carousel. To be different and cheaper, we walked to the train station and took a train into town . . . for the astronomical sum of 5 baht each. It was Gregg's first real train ride. It was hot and the wooden seats not too comfortable.

We booked tickets to Chumpon at the main train station and killed time by writing postcards and eating at Dairy Queen and KFC. It felt so good to be in a country with 7-Eleven again and familiar Western fastfood (as gross as it may be).

We slept on two upper bunks on the train. Two straps were secured to the ceiling to prevent us from rolling off. It was the most comfortable transportation that we had taken. Despite locals getting drunk and laughing, we fell asleep and I woke up at 3:30 to make sure we didn't miss our stop. The train was late so we didn't arrive until 4:30. As soon as we set foot in the station, we were directed to a table to wait for a ride from the boat people. We hopped into the back of a truck and were left at a restaurant where I slept with my head on a table for a few hours. Another bus picked us up took us to the boat to Koh Tao. I slept on the boat too.

Koh Tao is a mountainous island, only 21 km squared in area. The water is breathtakingly blue and clear. Even at the pier in the midst of the boat, you can see the bottom of the ocean and the fish that live there. Palm trees form forests on the hills. We were surprised to find it so developed with tons of restaurants and bars and convenience stores. This is the diving island where people flock to get their scuba certification, which is a very tempting idea, but in all likelihood, when could I use it again? To help Dad fix the pump on the dugout? When you're enrolled in a course, you kept cheap or free accomodation. We were shown to some bungalows by the ocean, but the trashy grounds and poor beachfront deterred us. We walked a long time and ended up renting a different trashy bungalow in a better location. The beach is just across the path and cold drinks are next door. We just chilled on the beach, which is too shallow to swim, but perfect for snorkelling with the abundant coral. The water is so warm. Sitting in the ocean is like taking a bath. So relaxing. No one tried to sell us a thing. We spent the evening wandering around. During supper, we tried to watch Ray, but the copy was messed up. There were background sounds and the soundtrack, but no dialogue. It doesn't work to read and eat. They bought another disk, but the same thing happened. We ended up watching Shark Tale. To pick a movie, they didn't bring out a catalogue, but instead a stack of little posters for us to sift through.

Today, we went snorkelling. But I'm tired of writing and I'll tell you about that later. But it was beautiful and awesome and you should all be jealous that you're not here with us.