Welcome To The Jungle, We Got Guns And Grenades

Although we were hesitant to leave Thailand, Chase and I headed back to the Bangkok International Airport to catch our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. By the time we arrived, it was extremely late and raining so we retired to the Diep Anh Guesthouse, our humble abode for the next few days.

We awoke the next morning to severe rain. Cats and dogs if you will.  The terrible weather threw a kink in the day, so, instead of checking out the Bien Thanh Market and War Museum, we hung around the hostel to plan the rest of our stay in  Vietnam. After organizing two, full day trips, we tried some of the local cuisine, Pho Bo, and headed back to the guesthouse.  We remained in our room for the rest of the day in order to catch up on the blog and finalize other travel arrangements for upcoming stops. Our first trip was scheduled to leave early the next morning so we grabbed so more Vietnamese food, this time broth with three types of meat, and tucked ourselves in early.

The next morning, a bus picked us up on the main street near our guesthouse and headed north for the Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels. After driving over two hours, we arrived in Tay Ninh, home of the temple.  As we stepped off the bus, we could not believe how beautiful the different colors and designs were. Cao Dai, meanng “High Tower”, is a religion of nearly 2 million people and combines the likes of Taoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Christianity. Cao Dai's pantheon of saints includes such diverse figures as the Buddha, Confucius, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Pericles, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo, and the Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen. Luckily, we arrived around noon, just in time to catch the 45 minute service. It was very impressive.

The temple service was great to see, but Chase and I were more excited to see the Cu Chi tunnels. After driving an hour towards Ho Chi Minh (or Saigon or HCMC), we pulled off the road and headed into the jungle.  It was intimidating.  Narrow pathways lead our group to numerous huts, each hut filled with interesting artifacts and displays from the Vietnam War. The first hut, an probably the most gruesome one, was filled with different booby traps that the Cu Chi guerillas used against the American and South Vietnamese soldiers. Remember: Although the Cu Chi were from the South, they fought for the north and used their tunnels as a backbone for the VC’s attack on Saigon. Anyway, anything from a swinging door trap to a simple hole filled with bamboo sticks was in this hut. Our tour guide, Slim Jim, was nice enough to show us how they worked so we didn’t have to get too close. Displays in the other huts included: three armed guerillas in fighting attire; one destroyed US tank; and a work site where guerillas made bombs, traps and clothes.

Our next stop was the fring range. No history involved, just some serious shooting with heavy ammo. Our weapon of choice was the M-30.After touring the huts and shooting, it was our turn to walk through the tunnels. It was extremely tough to get a lot of good pictures in the tunnels because of how narrow and dark each section was but we did our best. FYI: the labyrinth of intricate tunnels we walked through was twice the size of the actual ones used during the war and only meant for tourists. The actual tunnels are off limits and filled with snakes and darkness. However, after seeing the pictures below, it is not difficult to imagine how small the actual tunnels are.

After crawling through a small section of the tunnels, we re-surfaced a couple hundred meters away from the starting point to meet Slim Jim. It was nice to see his face. I do not recommend the tunnels to anyone who has asthma or claustrophobia. For the last portion of the tour, Slim Jim sat us down in the last hut for a educational film on the Cu Chi Guerillas. The film was extremely biased but great to see. Our favorite part was the scene where a lady guerilla and a sniper are awarded  “American Killer Hero” awards. (That is seriously what it was called) It was also nice to see clips taken during the actual war to get a real sense of what it would have been like fighting. Real guerillas shooting at us plus the severe rain we experienced in HCMC the day before was too much to fathom.  We spent the entire bus ride home thinking about how lucky we are to have never been thrown into a fierce and unforgiving battle-ground like that.

What's The Capital of Thailand?

If your rusty on capitals and/or American Pie 2 quotes, the answer is Bangkok. We traced back to the major landmass of Thailand following a taxi, ferry, and another long bus ride north to Bangkok. We finally arrived in the early evening and immediately snagged a taxi to take us to KhoaSan Road. Unfortunately, we were already pretty much there as our driver looped around the block and took us to the opposite side of the main street. Blaring tunes accompanied by teenage break-dancers and neon lights dominated the tightly packed street carrying a scent of delicious Pad Thai and exotic fruit. We made it to the D & D Inn hotel and were lucky to book a room for our one and only night in Bangkok. The receptionist joyfully gave Garrett and I a chuckle, as we identified our first lady boy of many. We were now vigilant.

 Friends from Dartmouth that had been working in the area, Thea (also with the great last name, Sutton) and Tara, were so kind to meet up with us and show us around the streets for some Friday night fun. It was pleasant having these two smiling faces guide us around. We sat down on a patio that overlooked the street scene, chatted for a bit, and polished off a Singha beer tower before taking back to the streets. The girls introduced us to some delicious exotic fruit that tasted like jolly ranchers prior to picking up a round of inexpensive chicken kebabs. After, we were directed to the Brick House, a popular live music bar where local college students gathered for some singing and dancing. Along the way, I witnessed a tall and large footed transgender attempt to grab Garrett’s arm. Garrett quickly shrugged him off and left the man falling backwards to the curb where he belonged. We had made it to the bar and were introduced to the Thai Sea.

It was extremely different being in a bar where we were the only white people in the crowd. Thai friends gathered with us for pictures as we enjoyed the longhaired blonde drummer rock his face off with his band of brothers. Our crew of four purchased drinks at the lower bar and walked upstairs in hopes of a better view of the performance. College students held down the upstairs with little room to move so we ended up getting a table to really relish the moment. People watching had never been so fun. It was early in the morning and the lights flickered, signaling it was time to leave. One college student in particular did not have as much fun as the rest of the bar. She lay swaying and incoherent face down on the bench as her friends attempted to help her down the stairs. She continued by striking at her helping friends and instigating a madhouse. Luckily, we were able to swiftly slip by the scene and head downstairs out of the commotion. We proceeded back on the streets, noticing that little had changed since we first went in the bar. With people persisting to dance and shadow the street, we agreed to stop at the Lava Club for a different view of Bangkok nightlife. Once again, great music and friendly people made the club a fun place to cap the night. The morning pushed further and we said our goodbyes to the pair of T’s as we made it back to the D & D Inn for a comfortable night of sleep before leaving for Vietnam the next day.

Party Paradise: Koh Phangan

Our original plan for Thailand was to stay in Bangkok all four nights. However, the moment our flight attendant notified the plane that we were getting in a half hour early, we had to call an audible. With an early arrival, we could catch the last night bus to Surat Thani and get on the early morning ferry to Koh Phangan. Koh Phangan is one several islands off the eastern coast of Thailand and more importantly, home of the famous Full Moon Party. The Full Moon Party had already happened but a few fellow travelers told us that the island was worth checking out because there is a party every night. We knew they were right.

After almost 9 hours on the road, we exited the bus and rested at a café in Surat Thani. It was now morning so we munched on some breakfast snacks while waiting for another bus to take us to the ferry. After another hour of waiting, we made it to the ferry and secured our sports on the bow of the boat. Koh Samui was the first stop on the boat ride. It took nearly an hour to get to and seemed to be a destination for couples and honeymooners. Chase and I hadn’t moved much further beyond our relationship status of friends since the beginning trip so we stuck with the boat for another two hours.  By mid day we were on the island and en route to our bungalow. Several backpackers on the bus recommended staying at the Coral Bungalow so we went directly there on a limb. We knew they were right though.

 

Coral Bungalow’s was one of the finer establishments on the island and conveniently located on the beach; the same beach where the full moon party is held. Our room was the definition of luxury after our accommodations in India.  We have never been happier seeing toilet paper and a usable toilet in our room.  After walking along the beach and grabbing lunch, we took a much-needed siesta and prepared for the evening festivities.  Next on our plate was dinner and it couldn’t have looked any better.  Chase and I ordered two plates of pork Pad Thai and polished them off before the server could get us our silverware. So good. With dinner past us, we ordered a few more rounds of Chang beer and waited in the main dining area for things develop. It didn’t take much time to pick up and before we knew it the room was packed. We joined a table of twin brothers from Holland and fellow Dutchmen for some card games and good laughs. People from Holland are awesome.

Our table grew and grew with people as the night went on. Unfortunately, our fun times at the resort had to end, as our entire table had to catch a party bus to the Ban Tai Jungle for the “Jungle Experience”. Covered in fluorescent paint and ready for a great night, we made it to the jungle safely. There was one problem though. The party had been moved to the beach directly next to our bungalow where the full moon party is located.  It ended up working out and we made it to the beach fashionably late for some drinking and dancing.

We went to bed pretty late so our day started at noon once again. We were actually pretty impressed with ourselves. Scooters are the most popular form of transportation on the island so Chase and I decided to rent two; just to fit in with the locals. The next 5 hours whizzed by as we drove around the entire southern coast of the island. The views were amazing and we got to see what the island was like outside of the resorts and hotels. There wasn’t much but we did stumble upon a Thai track meet. They were pretty slow.

Before we turned in the scooters, we met up with the Dutch twins at the beach and relaxed for an hour or so before retiring to our bungalow. After cleaning up, we joined them again for dinner and drinks. We would remain there for the rest of the night. The Coral Bungalow was hosting its “World Famous Pool Party”, attracting Westerners and Foreigners from all over the island. Again, convenient.  It actually had a sign that said no locals allowed. This meant no cute, Thai lady-boys L. More body painting and more partying occurred in the pool and by the bar until early in the morning. Luckily we were up early enough to catch our bus back to Bangkok.