shift.at Im Osten nichts neues

Saigon – Can Tho – Mekong Delta

I will be straight forward with the following. I didnt like Saigon at all. You can barely walk 20m without beeing offered sunglasses, eating in their restaurant, marihuana (highly illegal here), blowjobs, motorcycle or rikscha rides. It is annoying as hell! I looked for an hour to find a regular hairdresser. One where the stylists dont wear tight miniskirts and look like prostitutes. I only went to the war remnant museum and what I found there was a masterpiece in propaganda. They managed to create a whole museum just pointing out the alleged war crimes of the US during the Vietnam War. I saw Captain Obvious flying by.

I am glad that I am out of Saigon. Today I started to head south to the Mekong Delta. I got a tip to visit Can Tho and the route to get there was quite cool.

Pretty much everything is transported on a motorcycle. Squeeze in your wife...no problem!

Somehow banana is not that spectacular but I share the picture anyway ^^.

I have never seen anyone actually eating a durian fruit.

Chicken of course!

Don't forget the goat! There are actually two goats on the bike. A smaller goat was on the other side.

[Zeige als Diashow]

Buon Ma Thuot – Gia Nghia

Today I cant provide you many new pictures. I went through mountain hills with coffee. Coffee and Coffee! Did I already mentioned that I saw coffee? There is tons of coffee here and it tastes fantastic!

I had a short route of only 140km today. Since I didnt pass any spectacular scenery I would like to leave my two cents about driving here in Vietnam. The first thing you have to now if you wanna survive vietnamese traffic is to always keep your eyes open. Buses, trucks and motorcycles appear randomly and unexpectely from behind, side and front. If you are lucky they warn you with a honk. Driving in the city on the other hand is actually not that bad. The speed of all participants is slow and you just have to follow the flow.

Watching the nice scenery while driving....BIG mistake! Dont do that! Only if you have assured yourself that the road is empty. Especially behind you! For some unknown reasons vietnamese people do not care what is behind that. They just get on the street without checking what is coming from the left. This was propably the mistake of the one motorcyclist that got crushed today by a bus. A few kilometers before a small town a big bus overtook me with an insane speed considering the road conditions. A few minutes later I met the bus again in the next town. Left and right there was a big crowd. In front of the bus there was a motorcycle and I could only see a fairly big puddle of blood there too. No sign of the victim. I continued my driving. Half an hour later I got overtook by the very same bus again! He didnt learn his lesson since he was way (!) to fast! Just between that I bumped into the following scene. A truck lost his steel.

To summarize driving in Vietnam! Dont do it if you are not self confident about your driving skills. Vietnamese drivers are reckless, ruthless and sometimes suicidal. Overtaking a truck with an even older truck uphill with a right corner coming up. Thats what you are seeing here!

Vietnams roads are dusty and dirty. Have a look on my legs. To show you how dirty you get after just 3h of driving compare my two legs. One of them was washed before taking the picture!

Buon Ma Thuot – Great Coffee!

To give my butt a break from the battering he took the day earlier I decided to stay in Buon Ma Thuot and explore the surounding area. This area is most famous for it world class coffee. On the way to my first destination i stopped in a random cafe to put it to the test. Indeed the coffee is awesome. Thick as motor oil, strong and the condensed milk provides the sweetness. I love it! Price: 3o Cent

 My plan was to go to the Dray Sap waterfalls in the South West of the city. It was a bit tricky to get there since I had to drive for several kilometers on a dusty road and I was so not sure if I am still right or not.

But it payed of! I was right and I found this wonderfull spot. I think this is the first time I see a real waterfall. With the entry ticket you will get a free cup of coffee at the restaurant. I had lunch there and one of the guys there started to talk to me. His english was quite good which is really rare around here and we had a decent chat. He thought me some usefull vietnamese.

The whole area provided the chance for some nice pictures. Look at that!

I also went to another place which looks great too. Check out the gallery for that!

[Zeige als Diashow]

KonTum – Buon Ma Thuot

Yeah I am still smilling. Another day on the motorcycle is ahead of me and was quite a big one. More than 230km on those roads asked for a tribute. My butt is soar and I will stop in this city for a day or two. Thats how I looked before I started:

On the way I stopped at some wooden houses to take a picture. I was promptly invited to a glass of cold water and a chat. Well the chat was limited to what I could find in my Vietnamese dictionary but it was heartwarming. The whole neighbourhood showed up.

Halve way I took a short break in one of the many places right next to the road. I had some 'red bull' and a drink made out of fresh sugar cane. Thats how you take a break.

Of course I had to try this one. Have no idea what it is called but it is served in a small plastic bag from where you bite of one edge. The fruit itself is swimming in a liquid which tastes a bit like coconut milk. Nice refreshment.

Enjoy the rest of the gallery!

[Zeige als Diashow]

Kham Duc – KonTum

Today I was heading down the AH-17. One of the major routes to the south. Surprisingly there was little to no traffic. If the roads would have allowed it the 180km ride would have taken only 3 hours. Instead I was on the bike for almost 6 hours. I crossed a good part of the central highlands today and the scenery was just fantastic.

I havent seen any foreigners for two days now. No backpackers on motorcycle. No tourist buses! I have no idea why and I dont really know if I should be concerned about it or happy. The biggest risk are propably the mosquitos and not the traffic or the people. Wherever I drove by or stopped people welcomed me with a big smile and a 'hello'. Kids went nuts and started jumping and yelling 'hello...hello'.

On the way some natural rubber trees.

I did some research on KonTum yesterday already. After all I arrived at around 2pm here since I started at 7AM this morning so the idea was to do some sightseeing . Well there are two big things here and one of the can hardly considered a tourist attraction. There are villages of 'hill tribes' around KonTum. The tourist information offered me a tour with a guide for about 20USD. Maybe I will stay here for a day and go tomorrow.

The other thing here in Kontum are the orphanages. There are 6 or even more of them. Most kids there are from different hill tribes and where abandondend by their parents for different reasons. Some of them were rescued because the local practice of the tribes allows the kid to die of the mother died after giving birth.

So I went to the near supermarket and bought a pile of drawing blocks, colour pens and plasteline and went to the orphanage that I saw earlier. It is right behind the wooden church (on of the few real 'attractions' here). About 220 kids from baby to 16-18 years old are living there. The smallest share a room with 30 other kids. Up to 3 of them in a bed. The nurse who runs the orphanage showed me around. Their youngest kid had only 1kg when he got there!

Feel free to help! Vinh Son I / Contact: Sister Imelda / conhivinhson1kt@yahoo.com.vn

[Zeige als Diashow]

Hoi An – Kham Duc

This morning I had to say goodbye to my travel compagnion Yanny to head out to the touristically undeveloped Vietnam. My plan is to go along Ho Chi Minh Trail in the west of Vietnam all the way down to Saigon. So to get to the Ho Chi Minh Trail I have to cross the country first and the route that I choose contained a highl level of gambling. Even though I travel with GPS it is tricky to navigate. Mainly because there are no proper Maps available.

There was almost no traffic along this route. It is a very remote area and I wouldnt have been surprised if the street suddenly ended. On my GPS it actually did ^^. What I saw there was a vast landscape with tiny wooden houses along the street. I saw many kids who happily waved their hands and said ‘hello’. The fact that they were not in school made me think quite a lot. In such a remote area the infrastructure is next to nothing and considering how much time it takes to get to the next ‘city’ you better dont run into any problems here.

It was quite a nice ride today. My bum might have quite a different opinion about that. After 3-4 hours on the bike you desperatly look for a position that doesnt hurt. If you stop and get back on it is even worse.

My motorcycle is doing a good job so far. There was only one thing I didnt consider and I am almost ashame to even mention it. To refill the gas tank you have to open the seat of the bike. To do so you have to remove the backpack which is tightend with straps to the bike. I have to admit that I didnt consider that at all. So far it doesnt bother me and I use the time at the gas station for a short break.

Hoi An – The day before adventure

Just a couple of impressions before I start my real adventure.

Find Johannes!

I expected a coconut to taste more yummy. First and last one ^^.

Must be a Certina ^^

Hoi An – Great place for a hindu temple!

This is the second day in Hoi An. There is a good reason why to stay here...it is just awesome here. This city understands how to deal with foreigners. Motorcycle and all other 'Hello, where are you from?'- people'dont bother you too much. The prices for food and accomodation are reasonable and this place just seems a bit different.

Today we went to 'My Son' which is a cluster of old Hindu temples. It is roughly 45km outside of Hue and requires some good navigational skills or a GPS to find it. Of course there are also loads of tours going there. Since we went there all alone we only saw the busses coming back...in other words we had the whole area only for us. Fantastic!

We took a walk around the area and found a nice river. Since it was very hot we coulndt resist to take a seat in the water to cool down a bit. We were quite surprised that a legion of cleaner fishes started to go for our feet. South east asian service station! Cool down from the heat and get your feet overhauled!

I was able to to take a picture of one of them. Felt like tiny electric shocks.

In the late afternoon we went back to the beach were we have spent the last evening already. A vietnamese man approached us on the beach. He drew in the sand that he was deaf. What followed was one of the most interesting conversations I had in a long time. He explained us vietnamese history of the last 60 years. How he filmed the attack on the beach we were standing on as a young boy. He even got invited to Korea when the film that he shot was shown in Seoul. It is pretty impressive how much information you can exchange with some compact sand under your feat as a huge black board.

[Zeige als Diashow]

Hoi An – Born to be wild

The biggest nightmare for those females who feel attached to me has become true. I bought a motorbike. From Hoi An on I will attempt to travel through Vietnam and Cambodia (if they let me pass the border with it) with my Yamaha Nuovo. Wish me luck!

Hoi an has a very specific charm. It is a bit touristy but the people are friendly in a different way. You can have a nice chat with them. It's a paradise for custom made clothes and it has the best beach I have ever been on. Look for yourself how big my smile is.

[Zeige als Diashow]

Hue

City Hue - North of the perfume river we visited the 'citadel'. It used to be the seat of the emperor Nguyen. Thats about the only thing in this city. This and the first real supermarket. We bumped into a public concert of a second class guitar and bongo life performance. Nothing special here.

I present the most touristy picture ever taken!

Terrible isnt it. A sweaty foreigner in front of a poor elefant ready to take passengers. After seeing this picture in my cam I decided I will not mutilate any picture in the future by my presence...i promise.

Look at this nice sculpture instead. Golden Dragon! Awesome!

[Zeige als Diashow]