Deutsch
Vietnam/Diện Biên Phủ Round the world trip 2008
3/20
Our boat never acquired the eight person quota, but with a bit of bargaining four of us travelers ventured north on the boat to Muang Khoua. One gentleman paid $180,000k, another paid $150,000k and of course, Art and I, the least persistent bargainers, paid $200,000k each including Bici. With the value of the dollar plunging from just around $10US to $10,000k when we entered Laos just 2.5 months ago, our $10,000k was now only worth $8US. So our ride cost us $50US which is rather expensive for this country. Cost aside, we had a very enjoyable ride up the Nam Ou observing river life, once again. The mountains were mostly slashed and barren, as barren as a jungle hillside where bamboo flourishes can be. But the trees were gone in all but the steepest cliff areas.
We saw one village where the boys and many of the fishermen were using bamboo fashioned into rafts to ply the river. We observed dozens of generators created with small engines with propeller set in sluice ways devised with rocks and debris. Single electric wires held a loft by bamboo poles were strung to the lucky villager home with a light bulb.
The boat operator stopped to pick up and drop off villagers with their produce and other tradable items. The river is lined with villages. One man and his family ran down the embankment only to be thrown off the boat after boarding for not having enough money for the journey. By 3:30pm only 5.5 hours after departing we arrived in our next town, Muang Khoua, all four of us falangs tromping together to find a guesthouse. Of course, we headed for one all three of our guide books stated was the best. One look and I knew Art and I would not want to horse the bike and gear down all the narrow steps, so I went back into the town to scope another option. We actually found a great place, same price, better accommodation and easy access to indoor, safe parking for Bici.
We met Tom, the architect from the boat for lunch and added Chris, a New York lawyer soon to be clerking for a Federal Judge. The conversations were interesting, comparing notes on the places we had all visited and hearing of exciting new opportunities. Tom had come from Dubai where he interviewed for several jobs building towers. Dubai is a most compelling experiment in development as Dubai attempts to create a money maker for when their oil supply is predicted to run out in10 years. Tom said that Abu Dhabi is beginning to compete with Dubai and the sultans of Abu Dhabi are doing it with their personal fortunes, not borrowed or leveraged, to make their city a world class resort destination. Ten years ago one rarely heard of Abu Dhabi or Dubai and today they are on everyone’s lips: boat races, X games, tennis and golf championships, movie festivals and more. Amazing. Tom recommended we wait 3 to 5 years for the construction to settle and the mass transit system to be completed. These places will make Las Vegas look small and tinny. I don’t know though, if Abu Dhabi or Dubai have gambling. Monte Carlo may still maintain a place for the cultured to holiday.
The next day we were joined by Chris at 6:30 am to catch the ferry across the river. It didn’t appear to be going anywhere, and certainly wasn’t going to move for us, so we hired a small boat for $5,000k and over the river to the bus we went. At the bus we stored our luggage under the seats and Bici was strapped to the top. We were heading east to the Vietnam border, seventy kilometers on a terrible, winding, often steep, dirt road. They charged us $75,000k each instead of the $40,000k that was posted at the bus station, ostensibly to pay for the additional 35kilometer distance to Diem Bien Phu. After the driver extracted this exorbitant sum, two girls joined us who had twice before ridden this same route for $40,000k. They were incensed to have to pay almost double but relented since the bus travels each way only three times a week and takes the seventh day off! Extortion, yes, but glad to be off on the next leg of our journey. Riding the bike was so questionable: accommodation, food, reports of road conditions, particularly after the several days of hard rains, helped us make the choice of riding the bus.
After 35-40ks we came upon a larger village with two guest houses; 35 more kilometers and we were at the border and from there it was 36kms almost all downhill and paved on the Vietnamese side. The ride would have been doable in two, possibly three days, but Art promised me we would have plenty more riding ahead!
The almost six hour bus ride ended in front of a guest house. After many local hill tribe people were picked up and dropped off at various locations, all that were left were the five of us falangs and we wearily clomped into the hotel and appropriated rooms. Over a very necessary lunch, we five discussed the hair raising bus ride. Trucks plunged over the side, avalanches, road wash outs, creek/river crossings without bridges, trucks passing on a road designed for only one at a time, horn blasting at every blind corner which seemed continuous. And if the ride wasn’t frightening enough, the hunters with their home-made rifles wandering the back country and their sling shots added to the entertainment.
Diem Bien Phu, Vietnam is the site of the final battle waged by the Vietnamese for independence from France. Little did they know that after their celebrations, the Geneva Convention in 1954 would divide their country in half and shortly thereafter, the Americans would back the leader in South Vietnam against Ho Chi Min and the North Vietnamese. Outside intervention prevented a democratic vote decreed by the Geneva Convention to be held in 1956 because America determined Ho Chi Min would win. The fear of the domino theory, that being: if Vietnam would fall to the communists then all of Indochina would be lost to the free world. Involvement by American, French, Japanese, Chinese, and others is complex and we learned a little more about that history today (3/20) as we visited the Diem Bien Phu Museum, cemetery and battle bunkers. It has been fascinating to try to understand and see history through the eyes of the many countries we have traveled. “America has a lot to answer for” a British lady suggested to me today – and I agree!
March 21 Vietnam Weltreise 2008 >
Our boat never acquired the eight person quota, but with a bit of bargaining four of us travelers ventured north on the boat to Muang Khoua. One gentleman paid $180,000k, another paid $150,000k and of course, Art and I, the least persistent bargainers, paid $200,000k each including Bici. With the value of the dollar plunging from just around $10US to $10,000k when we entered Laos just 2.5 months ago, our $10,000k was now only worth $8US. So our ride cost us $50US which is rather expensive for this country. Cost aside, we had a very enjoyable ride up the Nam Ou observing river life, once again. The mountains were mostly slashed and barren, as barren as a jungle hillside where bamboo flourishes can be. But the trees were gone in all but the steepest cliff areas.
We saw one village where the boys and many of the fishermen were using bamboo fashioned into rafts to ply the river. We observed dozens of generators created with small engines with propeller set in sluice ways devised with rocks and debris. Single electric wires held a loft by bamboo poles were strung to the lucky villager home with a light bulb.
The boat operator stopped to pick up and drop off villagers with their produce and other tradable items. The river is lined with villages. One man and his family ran down the embankment only to be thrown off the boat after boarding for not having enough money for the journey. By 3:30pm only 5.5 hours after departing we arrived in our next town, Muang Khoua, all four of us falangs tromping together to find a guesthouse. Of course, we headed for one all three of our guide books stated was the best. One look and I knew Art and I would not want to horse the bike and gear down all the narrow steps, so I went back into the town to scope another option. We actually found a great place, same price, better accommodation and easy access to indoor, safe parking for Bici.
We met Tom, the architect from the boat for lunch and added Chris, a New York lawyer soon to be clerking for a Federal Judge. The conversations were interesting, comparing notes on the places we had all visited and hearing of exciting new opportunities. Tom had come from Dubai where he interviewed for several jobs building towers. Dubai is a most compelling experiment in development as Dubai attempts to create a money maker for when their oil supply is predicted to run out in10 years. Tom said that Abu Dhabi is beginning to compete with Dubai and the sultans of Abu Dhabi are doing it with their personal fortunes, not borrowed or leveraged, to make their city a world class resort destination. Ten years ago one rarely heard of Abu Dhabi or Dubai and today they are on everyone’s lips: boat races, X games, tennis and golf championships, movie festivals and more. Amazing. Tom recommended we wait 3 to 5 years for the construction to settle and the mass transit system to be completed. These places will make Las Vegas look small and tinny. I don’t know though, if Abu Dhabi or Dubai have gambling. Monte Carlo may still maintain a place for the cultured to holiday.
The next day we were joined by Chris at 6:30 am to catch the ferry across the river. It didn’t appear to be going anywhere, and certainly wasn’t going to move for us, so we hired a small boat for $5,000k and over the river to the bus we went. At the bus we stored our luggage under the seats and Bici was strapped to the top. We were heading east to the Vietnam border, seventy kilometers on a terrible, winding, often steep, dirt road. They charged us $75,000k each instead of the $40,000k that was posted at the bus station, ostensibly to pay for the additional 35kilometer distance to Diem Bien Phu. After the driver extracted this exorbitant sum, two girls joined us who had twice before ridden this same route for $40,000k. They were incensed to have to pay almost double but relented since the bus travels each way only three times a week and takes the seventh day off! Extortion, yes, but glad to be off on the next leg of our journey. Riding the bike was so questionable: accommodation, food, reports of road conditions, particularly after the several days of hard rains, helped us make the choice of riding the bus.
After 35-40ks we came upon a larger village with two guest houses; 35 more kilometers and we were at the border and from there it was 36kms almost all downhill and paved on the Vietnamese side. The ride would have been doable in two, possibly three days, but Art promised me we would have plenty more riding ahead!
The almost six hour bus ride ended in front of a guest house. After many local hill tribe people were picked up and dropped off at various locations, all that were left were the five of us falangs and we wearily clomped into the hotel and appropriated rooms. Over a very necessary lunch, we five discussed the hair raising bus ride. Trucks plunged over the side, avalanches, road wash outs, creek/river crossings without bridges, trucks passing on a road designed for only one at a time, horn blasting at every blind corner which seemed continuous. And if the ride wasn’t frightening enough, the hunters with their home-made rifles wandering the back country and their sling shots added to the entertainment.
Diem Bien Phu, Vietnam is the site of the final battle waged by the Vietnamese for independence from France. Little did they know that after their celebrations, the Geneva Convention in 1954 would divide their country in half and shortly thereafter, the Americans would back the leader in South Vietnam against Ho Chi Min and the North Vietnamese. Outside intervention prevented a democratic vote decreed by the Geneva Convention to be held in 1956 because America determined Ho Chi Min would win. The fear of the domino theory, that being: if Vietnam would fall to the communists then all of Indochina would be lost to the free world. Involvement by American, French, Japanese, Chinese, and others is complex and we learned a little more about that history today (3/20) as we visited the Diem Bien Phu Museum, cemetery and battle bunkers. It has been fascinating to try to understand and see history through the eyes of the many countries we have traveled. “America has a lot to answer for” a British lady suggested to me today – and I agree!
