by bria4123 on November 26, 2012
It didn’t go well at first. A taxi driver cheated me out of about $50 as soon as I set foot in Ho Chi Minh City. The only reason why it happened was my guard was completely down. The previous 4 months in China and SE Asia had been so great. Nobody tried to rip me off in the streets, and many people stopped and offered me rides for free. But Vietnam was a different bowl of fish.
The people who checked me in at my hotel told me that Ho Chi Minh City is full of taxi rip off schemes and that I need to be on guard at all times against them and pickpockets. My intro to Vietnam was exactly what Nomadic Matt said in his website–he found Vietnam full of people trying to fleece tourists, and he had no desire to go back.
But other people I met in Vietnam gave me such great experiences that I think he should change his name to Shallow Matt. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on November 25, 2012
I told a bookstore owner in Hoi An that I’m looking for books on Vietnamese culture, and she took me to a section with nothing but titles on the American War. I told her that I’m more interested in traditional Vietnam than the war. She said, “But people only care about the war.” Too bad for them.
Vietnam has one of the most fascinating pasts in Asia. We’ll explore its ancient roots here. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on November 23, 2012
I’ve been to SE Asia 6 times, but I always put off going to Vietnam. It’s its own world, and it requires a lot of nuance to explore well.
Most other SE Asian cultures were heavily influenced by India about 2,000 years ago, and they imported their Hindu and Buddhist religions, myths and alphabets. But China invaded Vietnam then and ruled it for about 1,000 years. Vietnam’s cultural patterns are thus unique.
I wanted to see China before going to Vietnam so I could distinguish what’s uniquely Vietnamese from its foreign influences. But I fell in love with China and spent more time traveling there than I expected. But Vietnam was worth the wait. It’s a very special land, and it’s full of uniquely Vietnamese cultural treasures that most people don’t know about yet. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on November 22, 2012
I was walking through a working-class neighborhood in the historic Chinese city Datong after a long day of exploring temples. I passed an apartment’s doorway and heard a spirited, “What’s your name?”
I turned my head, but couldn’t see inside because the entrance and windows were covered with beads hanging on strings. I kept walking and then heard, “How are you?” I couldn’t resist venturing inside. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on November 22, 2012
The people I met during my last trip through China and Southeast Asia gave me thousands of memories to be thankful for. Some of my most vivid are from Cambodia.
I was exploring the stately old northwestern town of Battambang and discovered a group of local artists called Sammaki. They showed me their work, and I met this painter, Theanly Chou. He offered to drive me to his home on his motorbike to show me his canvases. He gave me a view of Cambodia’s current cultural riches which most people don’t know about. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on November 21, 2012
Cambodia has so many ancient Khmer temples and so much natural beauty that they’ll always give you new things to see. But it also has other great sights to explore.
On this trip I visited as many modern temples as I could, and I found that Cambodians are doing creative things with old Khmer art forms. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on November 20, 2012
Is Cambodia cursed, as the title of Joel Brinkley’s recent book suggests?
He paints a grim portrait of politicians keeping most Cambodians in grinding poverty while they build mansions and up-scale malls in Phnom Penh. No argument from me about the corruption. But Brinkley said that Cambodians are dour people. That’s crap. His book is very important–it shows that many people aren’t much better off than they were under the Khmer Rouge. But he only shows you half of Cambodia’s landscape. I saw as much of the good as the ghastly, and the former will help heal the country’s wounds if it’s encouraged to grow. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on November 18, 2012
On this trip I wanted to be more than a history hound, so I explored as many modern temples as I could.
They gave me many revelations about the richness of Khmer culture in the modern world, which most visitors to Cambodia miss. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on November 17, 2012
I was in Preah Khan’s Hall of the Dancers, hoping that one of the female celestial dancers carved on the pillars and lintels would materialize and join me.
Alas, they remained in their heavenly realm. But I got a deeper appreciation of this key room in one of the Khmer Empire’s greatest buildings. Step inside and discover what no book has detailed yet. [click to continue…]
by bria4123 on November 16, 2012
The place was buzzing as soon as I got out of my tuk tuk.
The rainy season was in full majesty. It was late afternoon. People were finishing their work for the day and meeting up for dinner, and they brought the stones in the old Khmer monuments to life. [click to continue…]
