Uncle Ho, KFC, Etc. Etc.

So we are back in Bangkok for the time being. We apologize for not being able to post on the blog for the last couple weeks. It wasn't for lack of trying. Unfortunately it seems the Vietnamese government doesn't approve of free speech or freedom of the press. While in Vietnam we couldn't post on the blog or read blogs or do anything with our blog. It also seemed that there was a sort of choking off of the news. No CNN, no BBC etc. We were still able to read our email and check Yahoo, so it isn't quite as oppressive as other places in the world.

So I am going to try and just run through the highlights of our time in Vietnam. Overall we found it a very beautiful country full of amazing hill, mountains, and jungles. The country is obviously struggling to find a balance between their Communist philosophies and the necessity of allowing free market capitalism to exist. It seems the leaders of Vietnam have seen the dollars associated with the world market, tourism, etc. and have slowly allowed it to creep back into Vietnamese society. You still see the obvious signs of a strict Communist ideology. Some towns have loudspeakers that start up at 5:30 in the morning blaring propaganda all day. The most obvious sign though is the thousands of posters and billboards with the picture of Ho Chi Minh, the patriarch of Communist Vietnam. He looks a little like a Vietnamese version of Colonel Sanders, with his prominent white beard. And just like KFC he has great marketing. Instead of pushing fried chicken legs and biscuits with gravy its hardcore communism that uncle Ho has for sale. Just like KFC, uncle Ho's face is on everything. Even all the currency. My favorite are the propaganda posters. I don't speak any Vietnamese but from what I can tell the posters tell of Uncle Ho single handedly defeating the Americans during the Vietnam war, building orphanages, curing the blind, and even helping to stop the spread of AIDS. I should of course mention that Ho Chi Mihn died in 1969 prior to the end of the war or the existance of AIDS.

So after leaving Ho Chi Minh City or as most of the southerners still call it "Saigon" we headed up north to the small beach town of Mui Nea. It is a getaway spot for the well to do of Saigon. We stayed in a brand new guest house that had the distinction of also being the local distributor for all the beer of the area. So needless to the say the beer was plentiful and very very cheap. We decided live it up and we paid the huge sum of $12 per night for the penthouse suite with a beautiful ocean view. Of course the place was only 2 stories tall, but it was still the best room in the place.

Mui Nea is known for its huge sand dunes. Heather was feeling under the weather so I rented a motorcycle from our hotel and drove out to the red sand dunes. It was maybe 15 Km from town and less then impressive. The sand dunes had quite a few local kids trying to sell postcards, gum and other crap. I ended up striking up a conversation with a 12 year old girl who spoke English very well. She really didn't have the same sort of pushy sales tactic as the other kids and she was really sweet. After a while she offered to show me how to get to some sand dunes that were supposedly way better then the red sand dunes. We discussed a price and we were off, with her hanging on the back of the motorcycle helmet less. Being 12 years old she didn't have the best grasp of distances and told me it was like 10KM away. After driving maybe 30KM I began to get nervous. Not too far she told me. Eventually we made it and it was a very impressive place. Huge sand dunes with the wind whipping over top and blowing sand and creating wind lips like in the snow.

We hung out in Mui Nea for a couple days before heading up the coast to Nha Trang. Another beach side town but larger then Mui Nea. Nothing exciting happened here except hanging out on the beach and meeting a local Dutch man who collected vintage vespas and had them sitting out in from of his shop. We talked scooters for a while and admired his collection.

Well enough for now. I will post more about our time in Vietnam within the next few days. We are going to the movies today, so I have to go.