Dec 2008

THE FIRST THINGS THAT I NOTICED AFTER ARRIVING AT NOI BAI AIRPORT IN HANOI AND BEING DRIVEN TO CAT’S APARTMENT are that there are way more motorbikes on the road than anything else. (150cc or under are the only legal motorbikes) There are also many old bicycles still on the roads and less cars. The most noticeable thing though, is the continuous noise of vehicle horns tooting constantly for the whole of our journey as well.(especially our taxi driver!)

There are different levels of honking noise. Bicycles can’t honk, but everyone honks at them. Motorbikes honk their horns. Motorcars honk louder and are more insistent. Trucks and buses are more aggressive and you move for them.

The drivers on the roads have no choice but to toot their horns because there don’t appear to be many road rules. It’s everyman for himself if you drive on the roads around Hanoi.

ROAD RULES - THERE’S PROBABLY ONLY ONE.
GO AND DON’T HIT ANYONE ELSE.

The object of driving on the road in Hanoi is to reach your destination through an obstacle course of other drivers without hitting anyone else. This is achieved by vehicles weaving in and out of each other (without indicating), driving on the wrong side of the road, passing each other with barely room to spare, stopping for the occasional red light if you must and turning with no warning in front of another vehicle.

Traffic is slow, only around 30 -40 kph but that’s fast enough in this situation.
You see drivers talking on their mobile while driving their motorbike with one hand through a busy intersection of motorbikes approaching from all directions.
You see whole families on their motorbikes with the children squeezed between their parents or sitting in front of dad hanging on to the handlebars.
You see motorbikes and bicycles loaded up with huge cartons or animals strung together on the back.

My first impression of the traffic was of disorganised chaos but now I realise it is more like organised chaos. After spending time riding around on the back of Cat’s motorbike, I’ve discovered in its own weird way, the system of driving on the roads works somehow, but it is definitely not relaxing. It’s noisy and the air is always smoggy. Most women ride with masks over their mouths. (The men are tough and don’t bother!)
I thought Melbourne was smoggy but I’m not used to this, and since I’ve been here I’ve had a continual sore throat and cough, which I reckon is due to the polluted air.

The first couple of times I was nervous riding on the back of the Cat‘s motorbike, but now I’m used to the traffic. Cat’s a really good driver and she knows her way around really well. I think she’d be good at Trail bike riding too after driving on some of the roads here. Some of the roads are full of holes and unsealed with loose stones. At night time, it’s freezing on the motorbike, so we have to rug up. It’s Winter here and temperatures are ranging from 14 deg min to 23 max. (Very similar to Melbourne weather at the moment)

It will be interesting to see how long it will be as vehicle numbers increase before road rules will have to be enforced. You know, rules such as stopping at stop signs, (instead of treating them as a suggestion that you might like to think about stopping) giving way to pedestrians at pedestrian crossings, wearing helmets with the straps done up, limiting motorbikes to one driver and one passenger instead of a family of 6, banning transport of household furniture, pigs, cartons, beds etc on the back of a motorbike.

Today, Cat told me that the government may introduce a strategy to ban people under 40kg from motorbikes that are over 50cc. This fantastic radical new plan will mean that if a policeman sees a suspiciously lightweight person on a motor bike over 50cc, he can stop the driver, whip out the bathroom scales and weigh that person. Unfortunately, for the tiny Vietnamese women, this means that some may have to go on a carbo-loaded junk food western diet to put on weight, so they can legally ride their motorbikes.

I’ve been here for over a week now and am still amazed at the sights on the roads. I haven’t worked out how tiny toddlers clinging to their mother don’t fall off the motorbike .I don’t like seeing live animals caged up and tied onto the back of the bikes. A lot of people talk on their mobiles and write text messages while driving. (well, that’s just like Melbourne except that we’re in cars. It’s interesting to see young Vietnamese women wearing their fashionable clothes and high heels on their motorbike. The women are so small, they can easily fit 3 to a bike.

Driving through Hanoi traffic is an experience to remember, that’s for sure!

EXTREME SPORT IN HANOI
WALKING ACROSS THE ROAD

This is something that has taken me a while to master, but I am proud to say that I can now cross a road by myself.

When you decide to have that first adrenalin pumping experience of crossing the road, wait for a small gap in the traffic nearby and step off the kerb, aiming for the other side. (There are no pedestrian crossings that anyone takes notice of, so forget that as a means of getting across the road) Now, walk casually with no sudden movements and look straight ahead or very gently turn your head to the side. Beware, stepping into the path of a bus, car or truck as it is downright stupid, so don’t do it.

There are traffic lights in very busy areas, so it’s easier to cross the road, but beware the odd motorbike who isn’t too concerned about road rules.

Note - If you come from Australia, NZ or England where we drive on the other side of the road, you will need to remember to look left first. Don’t forget this important rule!

Hanoian drivers, although impatient to get to their destination will drive around you rather than aim at you and will let you through. (well, so far they have!)

You could practice your crossing skills around the Old Quarter where the streets are narrow and there’s less cars. However, it will probably be a while before you are a true seasoned local, who can walk across a major intersection in peak hour with traffic coming from all directions. (yes, I have seen it!)

Anne.

From Cat:

Here are some photos from Mum's time in Hanoi.

The traffic (not the peak hours but still busy)

Here's Mum and I carrying our bags and my birthday flowers back to my apartment - Vietnamese style!

At the local bar.....

On the lake..,

And visiting Hoa Lo prison....

It was great having you here Mum!

The Khmer Empire used to rule most of Thailand, Laos and what is now Cambodia during the Angkor Period. It was a large Empire, mighty and prosperous.

In 1975, the group known as the Khmer Rouge imprisoned, tortured and executed up to 2 million Cambodians, injured millions of others, and put the clocks back to the year zero. Cambodians saw 30 years of war, bloodshed, political instability and severe poverty. When they were driven out of Phnom Penh by the Vietnamese in 1979, they had left 2 landmines for every single Cambodian.

Today Cambodia is one othe poorest countries in its region, but opening up more and more every day to tourists. Tourism brings in dollars for the economy, creates more jobs, and I guess creates a sense of pride for the Cambodian people who some (still alive) have known only hardship. But there's always the ugly side - child exploitation, foreigners creating a sex tourism industry, the creation of a casino culture, and a reliance on tourists for income.

The encouraging thing is that Cambodia is still (slowly but surely) recovering. With such a young history of genocide along with other regions as Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, it's easy to understand how it remains poorer than El Salvador and Mongolia, and ranking lowly on the corruption ranking.

I visited Siem Reap at the beginning of December for 5 days, and what an experience it was.

The original purpose of the trip was to go over for a couple of days for the Angkor Wat International Half Marathon, but it ended up being a little bit of a holiday.

I liked Siem Reap because it is small. I'm sure Phnom Penh is rather different. But because it's so small there are tourists basically everywhere.

Upon first arrival I did what every tourist does - compare to their home country/city. But I didn't compare to Melbourne, I compared to Hanoi. It is in many ways similar to Hanoi:

- the quality of the roads are similar, except most of Hanoi's roads are well sealed and maintained.
- lots of rubbish on the streets and no footpaths.
- many many hotels and guesthouses everywhere, lots of tourists around.
- people stare!
- offerings to buy things such as postcards etc. and offerings for services such as taxi's and motorbikes.
- big divide between local shops (street food for example) and tourist shops and restaurants.
- traffic chaos

But upon closer observation, I found many differences between the two countries:

- many many children. Not with families, but many children alone, barefeet, scavenging for food. I guess you can relate this to the many killings during the Khmer Rouge only 30 years ago, many of the older generations were literally "wiped out".
- bigger divide between rich (foreigners) and poor (locals). An example of this would be while tourists eat an "expensive" $4 lunch, a boy of no older than ten in a wheelchair with no legs approaches and offers to sell a postcard. This is no exaggeration.
- the locals tended to be friendlier in that they liked to talk and have a chat. Also, most of them smiled at you first.
- the amount of English in Siem Reap absolutely astounded me! Both children and adults spoke English very well, not just in the tourist centre but a litle bit further out and there was still English signs and English speaking staff. This is great for the Cambodian people in terms of development.
- it's not illegal to not wear a helmet while on a motorbike.

Ok, so you're probably wondering why I'm drawing comparisons between 'nam and Cambodia. Well, my reason is simple - before I went to Cambodia I thought that it would be basically the same as Vietnam, just with different history. It's a fairly ignorant mindset, but it's what I thought. Some of you may not have been to either countries, but I think it's interesting to read other people's observations about their travels.

The two countries have had a very important relationship throughout history; back to the First Indochina War when they both allied against the French, up until the final Vietnamese Invasion of Phnom Penh before the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

I'll make reference to Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge:

"Although it was indigenous, Pol Pot's revolution would not have won power without U.S. economic and military destabilization of Cambodia, which began in 1966 after the American escalation in next-door Vietnam and peak in 1969-1973 with the carpet bombing of Cambodia's countryside by American B-52s. This was probably the most important single factor to Pol Pot's rise." (Ben Kiernan, "The Pol Pot Regime", 2002).

Enter the U.S.A. (Where would we be without them?).

The U.S.A. used Cambodian territory to fight the Vietnamese communists. The Khmer Rouge vowed never to be likethe Viet Cong and aimed to develop a different type of communism modelled moreso the policies of the People's Republic of China. The Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese forces fought for a long time over territory, and the Khmer Rouge killed hundreds of Vietnamese civilians in Cambodia. The Vietnamese, without Soviet support, could not hold troops in Cambodia after the end of the Cold War.

Like so many countries with shocking histories such as Cambodia, the affects of war are still seen today. I've only visited one city there for only 5 days, but you can still see the brutality created. Seeing adults with no legs, children with no clothing, food, sores and deformities on their face forces you to confront the harsh reality that the people once had to face.

So, after the 5 days I was armed with five books on the history of Cambodia. I've only read half of one, but I'm only 21, I have more than enough time.

My "holiday" took me to many places. I paid my motorbike driver an extremely high price, plus paid for all his meals, and he took me wherever I wanted to go or needed. On day 1, I got to meet his family (nieces and nephews).......

The Siem Reap version of the killing fields was not as dramatic I'm sure as the one near Phnom Penh, but an area full of skulls and bones is still rather "freaky". It was the war museum that really got my attention. It wasn't a museum like in a building with pictures and artefacts, but outdoors, splayed with old weapons, trucks and objects used during Cambodia's wars. The majority, if not all, old Russian weaponry.

This was the most interesting day - my tour guide was very friendly and knew a lot about everything really, and you could tell that he's said these things many times to tourists. The good thing was that I was the only one there. So he showed me around the place, looking at different landmines, guns, tanks etc. But the most interesting part was his story:

His family were all executed by the Khmer Rouge including his brothers and sisters. He was ten at the time. I asked him how he survived, and he said his job was to look after the cows, "so they kept me". I guess that was a bit of luck, or God was on his side. He was forced into the army at age fourteen, since then has suffered five landmine injuries, been shot three times. This then resulted inthe removal in one of his organs (sorry can't remember) and complete loss of vision in his right eye and only 60% left in his left. He has a piece of shrapnel in his right knee and three nails in his right leg - all of which I could see with the naked eye. He said he was saving up for an eye operation costing $115 and that he runs the risk of tetanus all the time due to heavy metal in his body. Plus, if he ever did afford to leave the country, he couldn't get out because of the metal detectors at the airport.

So I will let you develop your own thoughts about this, because you don't need me to preach to you about how unfortunate him and so many other people around the world, are.

On my trip I had the opportunity to visit Savong's School, a school providing free education and assistance to over 400 students in the local area. It's not in the city but 40 minutes motorbike out of Siem Reap. The youngest children are around seven, and the oldest 21 or 22 who never finished high school. Savong also now looks after seven orphans, who were "referred" to him by other people. They have never been to school, the oldest is I think eighteen. I will put more information about Savong's School in my next post, as I would like to give more information about it and also opportunities about sponshorship of the orphan boys. As like many other schools like this in many countries, they need lots of help with funding.

I taught a couple of classes to a bunch of enthusiastic teenagers. I visited their class at 4pm with no prior knowledge of having to teach that day, and one of the student's announced "Ok, you teach verbs". Ok, simple, I taught verbs (!!!!). And it was actually rather successful and lots of fun. They had MANY questions. The girls giggled embarrasingly at the questions about boyfriends, and the boys were "macho" about it.

The sunset's that I saw daily in Siem Reap were magnificent. This one I witnessed sitting on the top of Savong's school.......

The main reason for my trip was to participate in the Angkor Wat Half Marathon Event, supporting Village Focus International. I raised around $1000 US for VFI, so thank you so much to all sponsors and donators! The day was beautiful, lots of fantastic sights to see (I had already visited four temples the previous day), and many many people. Mostly expats from Cambodia and surrounding countries like myself, some travellers, and also Khmer people. I did the 10km run, and did a good job (well so I thought) until I saw locals with one arm or two artificial legs run ten times faster and with ten times more determination. I was motivated to do well, but I think a lot of the local people were running for a reason a lot closer to their heart, to their family.

I did a couple of fun things, like quad biking through the countryside and seeing more sunsets.....

I arrived back in Hanoi after a short two hour flight. However I didn't get the same views that I got when touching down in Siem Reap..........

Back to work the next morning! It didn't really feel like a holiday persay, as I was by myself, and it was short, but now I'm a lot more clued in on Cambodia's incredibly history, and so fortunate to have visited such a beautiful country and such a horrific history.

But just think - if you had been in Cambodia during the years of genocide, this horrific history would be your story.

Love.
Cat.

Oh and the food! Thai food is my favourite, and the food in Cambodia I found very similar. Loved the curry I had the first night, and the next, and the next, and the next.......

So the original idea was just to hold some sort of fundraiser to raise money for Village Focus International. After a coversation with a friend (a singer) in Melbourne, the idea became more developed and we figured that a concert could be rather successful. Hanoi's expat community is rather small, and the idea was that something a bit creative and a little different might actually work.

After a month or so of thinking about it and general procrastination, came probably a good month of proper planning. My wonderful friend in Melbourne booked his flight to Hanoi and then all of a sudden it was a reality I was doing it.

Green Mango Restaurant and Bar in Hanoi was the venue, right in the centre of Hanoi - a funky place with a good vibe, and a fantastic reputation. It's owner offered a great service in hosting the concert, and has now become a good friend.

On the night, we had a mass of varied entertainment - performances of belly dancing,

kung fu,

tango,

live music,

and Kehinde, an awesome singer!.......

There were auctions,

raffles,

and extra prizes here and there.

I have raised over $1000 US in concert funds, donations and sponsors, a really really great effort I would say!

I had support from Green Mango, the performers, and my friends in Hanoi. The performers did a fantastic job, and provided some really creative entertainment in a city that can't always provide that.

Thankyou to all those who assisted me in the planning and on the night, to Green Mango for hosting, and to all the donators and sponsors!

The beneficiaries for the night were Village Focus International in Cambodia (www.villagefocus.org) and Blue Dragon Children's Foundation in Vietnam (www.bdcf.org).

Both organisations do vital work within their communities assisting disadvantaged children.

Read my following entry about my trip and experiences in Cambodia. Similar to Vietnam, yet different in so many (good and bad) ways.

Please also read about my 10km run at the Angkor Wat International Half Marathon 2008 in Siem Reap.

Peace out.

Love.
Cat.

P.S. Apologies to the "oldies" who don't/cannot use Facebook and therefore were oblivious to my movements over the last month. It has been a while since I have written due to being incredibly busy with (life) so I hope you enjoyed the update!