What are the odds?

Last time I left you with a small cliff hanger as to whether I would be able to continue my travel. Writing you most of this message from a junglestay in Thailand, the answer is yes! The morning on which Adrianna and I left Cebu to visit my brother on another island, my throat ache was suddenly gone! Hence we were able to spend new year’s with Bart, Sylvester, Chiel and a bunch of other really great people. It was so nice to see Bart, and leaving him was quite tough. Spending lovely nights playing guitar, talking and drinking made me remember those awesome moments back home. But we had to move on because we were going to our next destination, the one I looked forward to mostly: Vietnam.

After a terrible night at the airport (seriously, do never ever spend your night trying to sleep at an airport), Adrianna and I met up with the others again to fly to Ho Chi Minh city. One of the reasons I wanted to go to Vietnam is because of the history. What I hadn’t expected is that it was also the most touristic city we had seen so far. In Korea, there were barely any backpackers, The Philippines is so scattered that you have no clue how many foreigners there are, but Ho Chi Minh is super popular by Europeans. I really had to get used to seeing so many white people around me and hearing Dutch all the time.

We spend a few days exploring the city and booked two tours: one to see the tunnels used by the Vietcong. And one tour to see the Mekong Delta and the floating markets in the south of Vietnam. Nowadays, the only affordable way to see these things is via a tour operator. But it also means you will have to go through many touristic sites where they only want your money. Highlight in this was a factory where victims of Agent Orange worked. They were making all sorts of artforms, which we then had to buy, “Because America has never offered the victims any money!” Yeah right, judging by their working standards, these poor people still didn’t receive any money for their work, but were being exploited right there and then. The next day we booked with a different company, but we got the same tour guide. This time, instead of seeing much of the Mekong Delta, we had to visit a coconut candy factory, a bee farm, and see how rice noodles are made. When we finally got into a small boat to travel into the Mekong, passing boats would scream at us that we had to pay at the end. Hallelujah for tourism.

Adrianna and Erlijn left us the next day to travel upwards into Vietnam, while Dominic, Julien and I remained in the city. I immediately missed the girls, but it is also nice to be with just the three of us again. We visited the war museum (propaganda and lots of really scary pictures, but nevertheless good to have seen) and just wandered through the city for a few days. And then we left for our final destination before home: Thailand.

Did I say Vietnam was popular? The amount of Backpackers in Bangkok is simply scary. Half of the people here speak either Dutch or German! I understand why, the city has a lot of culture and everything is super cheap, but still, I wanted to save getting used to Europeans until I was back home. Anyway, we spend two days in the city center and saw some great temples and markets. Walking towards the democracy monument, the roads were suddenly blocked. Everyone was getting ready for Bangkok shutdown which would start in two days. Since all roads to the city center will be blocked, we decided to get out of Bangkok and go on a jungle tour for three days.

The first day we already saw a bat cave, and the days thereafter Dominic and Julien have spotted Elephants. But not me, believe it or not, I am ill again. I think God hates me. (sorry for the self-pity, but someone once said you have to pity yourself because nobody else is going to do it for you). After two days of high fever, I am now back in Bangkok and I feel somewhat better. Only two more nights and I am flying home. Can’t wait!