Ah, another day in a small town I have never heard of before. I could not ask for more.

I am about halfway down the length of this country in a town that was once a major port town hundreds of years back. If you happened to find yourself on a ancient boat coming to or from China or Japan on your way to or from India or Africa, this is one of the ports of call you'd stop to pick up some food, trade some spice for silk and do whatnot.

There are many different influences in this town, most of which comes from the neighbors to the north, China and Japan. This place is lucky to have missed out on the American war, so us tourists can now walk around and gawk at what ancient Vietnam may have looked like back in the day. While it is no Colonial Williamsburg, there is enough for you to get an image in your mind.

This is a big juxtaposition from my Thanksgiving day, where I toured the sites in the DMZ. The highlight of which was walking 700 meters in tunnels that were part of the Ho Chi Min trail. The tunnels are narrow, very claustrophobic and are long enough for you to be happy that they put some lights in there. Not a place I would like to be if the American army is trying to kill you, but then again, not many places are that inviting if Uncle Sam is after you. Of the Thanksgivings I have had in my life, I think that this year comes out as the most bizarre I have had.

Well, I have to get to bed early. There are some ancient ruins of an ancient civilization I have never heard of that I am off to see tomorrow.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let me think as to where I was since we were last rudely interrupted. Ah yes, I was describing the three days we spent in Halong bay. Well, let me see, what else can I say other than it is a beautiful place. We stayed on a boat for three days, driving around and taking in the sights. We stopped on a monkey filled island, played on beaches and toured remote villages. We kayaked. I took many photos along the way, but I am sorry to say that it doesn't look like I am going to get them online today. I'll have to figure out a way to sort that out. All said, Halong Bay was a resounding success.

The last two days were spent in Ha Noi. It is a fun, crowded and busy city. There is some amazing food to be found for amazingly cheap prices. I mainly spent my time walking through the old quarter, which is the heart of the city, built when France was in control of the place. Accordingly, this part of the city is a meld between Europe and Asia. Something like Paris, but smaller, with thousands and thousands of mopeds and much more street traffic. Of course, there are quite a few more woks, but however, you can get a baguette in both cities.

I am now in Hue. This town is just below the 17th parallel, and is the first major city in what was Southern Vietnam. This is the only city that the communists managed to capture during the American war, as it is called down here. Sure, it was only for a few weeks before Hue was taken back, but that isn't really the point now is it? After a few more years the northern flag was back on the flagpole. In fact, I just saw it today. Hmm, I wonder what lessons one could take from this? Insurgents take note.

To celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, Christy and I are headed up to the DMZ. I didn't really plan to celebrate this good ol' America day in the tunnels of the Viet Cong, but something about that seems quite funny to me.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have been busy the last few days, away from the digital world. This has been very nice for me, if not for you the reader. Let me catch you up on what has been happening in the last few days.

Last I posted, I was packing at home, which when I think back about it, is not very interesting. But I have blogged about less before, so that is not too surprising. Anyhow, Christy and I got on the plane with no hassle, and we were off to Hong Kong.

As we were only in Hong Kong for a few hours, all I have to report is that it really does look much like it does in google maps. There are many tall buildings and mountains, both of which I would recommend not seeing in the middle of the night as you rush to find your hotel to get a few hours of shuteye.

Next destination was to Ha Noi, via Ho Chi Man City, another day in the netherworld of airplanes and airports. One cool thing about Vietnam Airlines is that they let you see the takeoff and landing of the plane, in real-time, in the in-flight movie screens. This is possibly the most fascinating and terrifying thing I have ever watched on a plane. You get to watch the stripes on the runway pass by faster and faster on the screen, while you can see the reflection of those same lines shine in from the windows. It is like one of those flight simulation games, except that it is real, you don't have the controls, and if you crash--which coincidently, is most likely to happen in takeoff and landing--you get to see the real life ground rush towards you before GAME OVER.

The flight did not crash, and we arrived in town, hours before the President. Of all the weekends to visit, how dare Mr. Bush mess with my vacation? It is bad enough that he regularly takes over Manhattan, but Ha Noi? I saw little of him as we decided to get away from the city and see Halong Bay for a three day boat tour.

What can I say to describe Halong bay? It is one of those beautiful places that you just have to see yourself. Think of the quintessential Asian hill, one that goes straight up, over for a little bit then drops right back down. Then put these towering limestone edifices in beautiful blue-green water which has no waves and is the perfect temperature for a swim.

I am getting kicked off this computer now.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Current Location: My Home, Sydney

Hints. I am packing for warm weather. I am packing for cold weather. To be concise, the weather on the trip should be as follows: perfect, muggy, hot and muggy, cold and shitty, cold and less shitty, hot and dry, really fucking cold and finally warm with a chance of rain. Then I am back here, where it will be right in the middle of a humid and hot summer. Hmm. What else? There are mosquitos along the way that could kill me. Fortunately, I have taken preventive measures to make sure that doesn't happen.

That is all the hints I can think of for now. I'm in the air tomorrow, so the mystery will begin to unravel around 4 p.m. Sydney time.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am taking you on a trip next week, my fellow readers. Come next wednesday, this blog is shifting focus to be more of a travelogue. Christy and I are headed back to the States for the holidays, and we figured that we would take the long way. When you are on the flip side of the world, I suppose that there is no real short way to get home, but let me just say that we are making a few stops along the way.

Now I bet that you want to know where we are going. Well, that is not how it is going to work. Why? This is not really what you want. What you really want is to feel like you are on the road with me. I am going to do my best to abide to this wish by giving you updates from the various seedy internet cafes I come upon along the way.

There are some cool spots on this trip, and yes, I am pretty excited about this whole thing. Oddly, I think the most exciting aspect of the trip is reporting back to you as I go along. (There goes my inner journalist again.) I'm off now to buy travel supplies from backpacker alley. Tons of things to be done before we get airborne!

Posted by Colin J Allen at 8:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I usually refrain from political discourse in this blog, but as it is the elections in America, I feel that it is appropriate to say a few words on the matter from my perch down here in sunny Sydney. While the politically inclined of you folk will stay up in to the wee hours to see the results, I should know what happens probably a little after lunch.

This is one of the most exciting elections that I have watched. Here it is, on election night (in the States), and people still don't really know who is going to win congress. I wonder if Vegas takes odds on these things, because I bet they would be having a field day. After all this election campaigning, after all the negative ads, after all this constant news, the only thing that matters is turnout.

This bothers me. Turnout is what this election boils down to?

Last time I checked, congress's approval was somewhere around 17 percent. The idealist in me screams, if you hate congress, today is the day to vote the bastards out. The realist in me knows better, and is to blame for why I treat this whole thing like a horse race. A Kentucky Derby where the winner gets, instead of a wreath of flowers, legislative power over every aspect of American life.

I must get back to the latest poll. May the best candidates win.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 6:47 PM | Permalink

No puritans, no halloween.

Got me another dud of a holiday this week. This week's victim, unlike my fever-induced cancelation of my birthday a few weeks back, is a victim of national culture. Funny, but if you swap out religious fanatics with criminals as your country's ancestors, October 31 becomes nothing to speak of. Just another wonderful spring day. Hardly a touch of supernatural about.

I figured that I could find something holiday-esque in Kings Cross, where revelers would be if they'd be anywhere. But no. Christy and I went down there, and found nothing more than the usual sketchy/scary assortment of drunk jocks, backpacking world travelers, and of course, the showgirls. I took my camera with me, if you care to look at the trip. Sadly, I ran out of batteries in the Czech-Slovac Bohemian bar, Doma, so there is no record of the flaming sugar cube over absinth drink. I figured that would be a certifiably halloween-y thing to do, but it actually felt more french than anything else. Anyhow, without further ado, here is the video.

I love Halloween, and it does make me sad that there were no parties for me to go to and nobody to dress up for. Given that I am no expert on this here holiday, but here I am, in this country that was settled by Britain around the same time America was, and yet there is no fuss about the 'Ween. Here is my oversimplified theory: the States got the religious fanatics, the Scots and the Irish. Meanwhile, Australia got the prisoners, the Scots and the Irish. Hence, take out the puritans, and you have no Halloween. While it may have started as a pagan tradition, it wouldn't have turned into the massive pop holiday it is today without the help of Christianity hating it.

The lesson from this? The best way to kill an evil pagan holiday is to ignore it. And we all know that just isn't the American way.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)