The time has come

I read an interesting story recently. It involved a Western man heading into a far off tribal village in the amazon region of a Latin American country. He intended to immerse himself into the culture for 12 months for research. He had joined the men on a trip through the jungle when things started to get a bit desperate. The group hasn't eaten sufficiently for a few days and they were still a few days from their destination. Then, as luck would have it, some local wildlife presented itself in range of the tribesmans spears. Shortly after, dinner was served. After devouring every last morcel of the meat, the westerner had a scary though - "what if we don't find any more food for a few more days". So he asked the tribe leader - "why did we eat it all? what about later?" to which the leader replied......"what's later".

You see the tribe had no concept of later, or time for that matter. They ate when they ate, slept when they slept and went about their lives moment by moment. How blissful it must be to live in a world with no time contraints.....no clocks, no alarms, no schedules....Unfortunately for me though, I live in the westerners world and I do have time constraints. So after 7 months, 11 countries, lots of cycling and the occasional rum and cigar, my walkabout is coming to a close. Far from sad though, I am extremely ready and excited to finish up what has been a wonderfully challenging, rewarding and fun period of my life. It's time to get onto the next stage of life and have another go at "reality", whatever that is......

So, after a great few weeks in Laos, I have made my way over to Vietnam for my final 10 days. The first 5 were spent visiting friends from home as they ventured around the central coast of Vietnam. Scooter rides, beaches, tailor made green velvet jackets and far too many 25 cent home brew beers were the theme of this mini reunion with Jim and Alex. Hoi An is a quaint city full of nice cafes, hand made suits and a few too many whiteys. A great time was had though and with a handshake and a hug, it was time, once again to bid farewell to more friends until we pass through each others lives once more.

Apparently the waves were strong enough to require jocks to be pulled right up.....

Speed goggles, although looking cool, don't actually help too much

Hoi An dogs trying to have fun before they get thrown on a BBQ...

Apparently scooters don't handle the sand too well....

Jim being original...

Alex and Jim - disgustingly in love!



Alex cruising a ruins site


Next and final stop, Hanoi. With my bike "safely" stored at the airport I made the bus journey into what is truly a crazy and bustling city. It's not everyday you tilt your head up from your slumber on a bus to see what the hold up is, only to realise the guy in front is riding an old scooter while towing a wooden trailer with a cow in it! Welcome to Hanoi! The most interesting part of an otherwise forgetful and tiring travel day was yet to come however.

Within 10 mnutes of arriving to my hostel, I was being dragged (against my will) out to some bar in the far flung outskirts of the city to go to a "snake village". Apparently we were going to kill, eat and drink the blood of some poor old snakes. Quite unsure how that sat with my vegetarianism, I thought I may as well at least head out there. Besides, some lovely old lady had already poisoned me with a "vegetarian" spring roll earlier in the day, which, after half of one I realised was full of pork.

So off we went, me and a dozen or so backpackers, some of which were uncomfortably keen on the killing part. Now, I am not sure if it was the snakes blood, the bile, the crushed up bones topped onto snake meat spring rolls, the fried snake skin or the 12 shots of home brew rice wine, but something went wrong! I thought I would be safe as I wasn't one of the guys who had actually eaten the snakes heart from its body! Now, I am pretty sure all the vomit landed in the toilet bowl, but given I had no idea where I was, I can't exactly be sure. I don't think the English lesson I was trying to give some young girl in the kitchen of a noodle hut was as successful as her confused Grandmother would have liked. Alas, a ride on the back of some random guys motorbike later and I was safe in my bed, preparing for a monster headache the next day, which duly arrived right on cue!

Fortunately, the proceding few days have been blisfully absent of such adventures as I have spent my time relaxing, eating noodles, exercising and preparing for reality, ie trying to get a job. All this coupled with cruising around a pretty interesting, albeit absolutely manic city. Seriously, lay off the horns guys, you aren't getting anywhere any faster by tooting them incessantly. I thought Central America was bad....

Hanoi by night

Scooter anyone?

So there we have it - in 2 days, on my birthday for that matter, I will embark on a beautiful 3 flight, 30 hour journey back to Vancouver. I guess I better go and buy a decent book for that one! Can you imagine if we actually added up the hours we spent getting to airports, waiting, flying, waiting etc, how much of our lives we have dedicated to this? While waiting for my flight last week I made a quick tally of the amount of flights I have been on in the past 6 years and the total was over 105. That's a lot of time that could have been spent doing constructive things I guess, but for me, it's all worth it.

So, thanks for reading and I hope you have enjoyed following my journeys. I will leave you all with something to ponder.......

A piece on travels...

So the question lingers....why do we travel? Where is the need, the drive, the obsession? Some like to fly around and take photos out of tour buses, other's like to volunteer and stay put in one location and others like to deprive themselves of decent food, hot water and sleep as they sweat up mountains on bicycles. What is it that we are trying to achieve? Who is doing it more "intimately" or who is getting more "in touch with the culture"? I can't answer any of this outside of my own opinions, which seem to change daily. All I know is that it is not always romantic and wonderful. As I wrote this, I sat alone out the front of a wooden shack with a squat toilet, no hot water and a rock hard bed to sleep on. I can certainly envisage better places to be. But for me, it's the little experiences and the people you meet that make an experience. I have enjoyed this journey so much based purely on the company I kept and the people I met in the process. These interactions, while fleeting, are what will stay in my memory more than the nice scenery or the pretty temples.

Sure, I can be by myself and sometimes that's fun, but it's the sharing of the experiences that truly makes me smile. Seeing another culture in as raw a form as possible is something that I treasure also. Watching kids play and smile and be as happy as you could imagine kids to be without all the toys, conveniences and crap of our lives helps keep me balanced and keep my priorities in check. While I certainly don't detract from those who prefer to spend their rest time laying on beaches in resorts, I have enjoyed my mode of travel over the past 7 months. Am I "engaging in the culture" anymore, or immersing myself anymore than the tour bus groups? Who knows really.

A wise man once told me that to be truly engrossed in a culture, to truly understand how people live and operate, surely a few days or weeks will never suffice, regardless of how you do it. That takes years, sometimes decades to achieve that type of connection and intimacy. This is something that is hard for me to dispute, as living in Canada has certainly not made me Canadian. I would like to think that I understand the way of life a little bit, but I still feel like as much as a tourist as I did when I first arrived years ago (except now I say cell phone instead of mobile phone). That being said, the little snapshots we get as we travel around, whether at home or abroad, shape our opinions and thoughts on matters that are transferrable to our daily lives and happiness. And for me, the more I can expose myself to, as intimatly as possible, the better. Although, I am looking forward to decent food, a hot shower and comfortable bed....