Changes

‘… flames to dust, lovers to friends, why do all good things come to an end?’

We’ve been on Koh Tao now for more than two months and we’re leaving in about ten days. We met loads of people, went to numerous parties and, most importantly, did a lot of diving! Last week we finished our Divemaster program by doing our snorkeltest (which doesn’t really have anything to do with diving – all new Divemasters, 14 in this case, sit on a stool in the bar, wearing their mask and snorkel. Their mentor then pours a bucket full of alcohol, that’s, let’s say 1,5 liters, into a bottle that is attached to the snorkel. The contents of the bucket depend on your relationship with your mentor, but a lot of people drank a mixture of vodka, orange, eggs and tabasco. Yummie. After you’ve drunk all this, you need to spin around your stool ten times, then run into the sea to submerge yourself completely and come back.
In Loes and my case it went as follows. Since our mentor had four protégées, he had to pour four buckets into four snorkels at the same time. Which is impossible, so he created a special device. Loes, me and two German guys were drinking and drinking and I thought to myself, when is this ever coming to an end? – and I spit the snorkel out. I was spinning around the stool, not counting how many times when our mentor shouted ‘Get into the sea!’. We ran, completely disorientated by the spinning and – possibly – the alcohol and came back. My stomach wasn’t too happy with what I’d done, but now it was over.
It was not. Everyone who had spilled alcohol now had to drink a big bottle of Chang beer through the snorkel. A Chang is dangerous. It may contain 4 per cent of alcohol but it may also contain 15 per cent. I can’t I can’t I can’t! I told my mentor and then he poured most of the beer into the other three protégées’ snorkels. I remember parts and bits of the rest of the evening but I think we had a lot of fun.)

I still have to get used to the idea but now we are Divemasters. We can take people out fun diving, we can assist on courses and conduct Scuba reviews, for people who haven’t been diving for a while. Some of our friends already left, they went home or continued travelling. Some are staying and doing the instructor course. And as I said before, we are leaving in ten days. I will miss this small but beautiful island. I will miss the people, I will miss diving. Right now monsoon is kicking in: heavy rainfall, strong winds. So it’s time for a change and a new adventure.

The best plan is to have no plan

'The best plan is to have no plan', a backpacker once told me. And he was right: just go with the flow and see what happens is the best way to travel. Two months ago we were in the south of Thailand to do some island hopping, when we ended up diving in Koh Tao. After a four day course we decided to an advanced course as well - and when that one ended we were really sad not to be diving for a long time. So we started thinking about doing our dive master, which means you can assist an instructor when he's doing a course, or you can take certified people out for diving.
We continued our trip to the north of Thailand, then Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. Diving was still on our minds and after some talks and calculations we made a decision.
And here we are: on a tropical island, surrounded by sun, sea, beach and divers, spending half our budget on diving. And we're loving it!

Cambodja

Sometimes reality hits hard. A few days ago Loes and me were discussing whether or not we were going to take the Dive master course in Thailand, as it turned out to be more expensive than we first thought. We worried about the money because after the diving we’d have to go to Australia right away to find a job and earn some money. But after a few days we realized our ‘problems’ are those of a luxury kind.
First we ran into two guys in our guesthouse. They were asylum seekers who fled their countries and won’t be able to return. One guy’s brother was killed and the other one’s father was assaulted not too long ago. Also one of the refugees was held in prison for a year for sending an e-mail to an American radio station, explaining his situation. He was beaten everyday, the guy said, and because of that his memory didn’t always work the way it should.
After that we went to Choeung Ek – or Killing Field – just outside of Phnom Penh. I knew a little about Cambodian history from reading but actually seeing the spots where it al happened made it more real. Between 1975 and 1979 the communist Khmer Rouge – led by Pol Pot – ruled in Cambodia. During their regime almost 2 million people died – from killing, torture, disease and starvation. Choeung Ek was one of the places where people were brought to dead. Most of them stayed in a prison called S-21. During the Khmer Rouge period only few people knew about the existence of this prison – a former school. It was later discovered by two Vietnamese photographers. About 15,000 people were held in the prison. Most of them were tortured until they confessed crimes – which they obviously hadn’t committed – against the Khmer Rouge. We went there and saw pictures of prisoners taken during those four years. I was moved very much by one particular photo. It was an old man with a sad expression on his face. It was as if he knew his fate and was ashamed by it. He didn’t look into the camera.
Still people here are so friendly. Everytime I see a Cambodian I wonder how many people he or she has lost because of the Khmer Rouge regime.
We also visited a slum and took some pictures. The little kids followed us everywhere, smiling and posing. Their lives must not be easy, so who are we to complain about ours?

In the end we decided to take the diving course.

Ho Chi Minh pics

The Sheraton Hotel it is...

Journalists @ work

Cu Chi Tunnels

War Remnants Museum

Our Vietnamese night out was great. We thought the mother was going to cook us a nice meal but instead we were taken to a fancy restaurant. It didn't really match our backpackers budget and we were joking about having to go back home after that night - when mother Hoa insisted she'd pay. After a delicious dinner she directed us back to our hotel. 'You change clothes!'. The guys had to wear long trousers, she explained, and I couldn't wear my flipflops. Where the hell are we going, we wondered.
An hour or so later we found ourselves drinking cocktails in the Sheraton Hotel, listening to a live band and dancing the night away. Oh how wonderful is the backpackers' life...

Same same but different

Same same but different is what they say all over Southeast Asia. And I’m in such a situation right now. I was travelling with my friend Loes when my sister Loes joined us. We picked her up from the airport in Bangkok, travelled to the north of Thailand, into Laos and finally Vietnam. We did trekkings, went out, talked, laughed and finally cried when saying goodbye in Ho Chi Minh City. It may be a cliche but it’s definitely true: time flies when you’re having fun. I’m pretty sure she got infected with the travelling virus! After shedding a few tears it was time for some Vietnamese culture and history. We visited Cu Chi, an underground tunnel network of about 240 kilometres that was used during the Vietnam War. People actually lived there and I don’t envy them: the tunnels are so small that you have to crawl through them. We tried it ourselves, and it wasn’t much fun.

…American soldiers used the term "Black echo" to describe the conditions within the tunnels. For the Viet Cong, life in the tunnels was difficult. Air, food and water were scarce and the tunnels were infested with ants, poisonous centipedes, spiders and mosquitoes. Most of the time, guerrillas would spend the day in the tunnels working or resting and come out only at night to scavenge for supplies, tend their crops or engage the enemy in battle. Sometimes, during periods of heavy bombing or American troop movement, they would be forced to remain underground for many days at a time. Sickness was rampant among the people living in the tunnels; especially malaria, which accounted for the second largest cause of death next to battle wounds…

(source: Wikipedia)

Today we visited the War Remnants Museum. We were quite moved by the stories we read and the pictures we saw, especially the ones in which people affected by Agent Orange were shown.

Agent Orange is a herbicide used by the American government during the Vietnam War. 4,8 Million Vietnamese were exposed to it, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities.

We got one more day left before we move on to Phu Quoc, an island close to Cambodia. Tonight we’re invited for dinner with a Vietnamese family. Loes has a Vietnamese friend back in Holland and he told us to visit his family here in Ho Chi Minh City. And so we went there yesterday. They barely spoke any English but were so friendly and asked us to come tonight to eat at their place and then go party. So who would we be to reject such an invitation?

Lariam

It took us a week to recover from the malaria pills. A long, full week with nightmares and weird thoughts going through our minds. We barely did anything and left our guesthouse only to eat. No going out, no drinking any alcohol. We tried to rest as much as possible – doctor's advice – and read books or played cards to distract our minds. But even those things could be hard, as it was hard to concentrate. Not knowing whose turn it is, not knowing which card to throw, not knowing who played to cards on the table – it was all part of the game. Also a simple thing like the sound of music, or people talking could be too disturbing. So no, this last week wasn’t much fun at all. But we’re sane again and happy that it’s all over. Things can be much worse when you actually have malaria. A friend of ours was that unlucky and told us he had to take four Lariam pills a day for four weeks in a row. That really must be hell.
Anyway, we’re in Vietnam right now and we’re reunited with our friends Bob and Bram whom we met in Bangkok. They waited a whole week for us in Nha Trang (who wouldn't - for such lovely girls) and will travel with us for about a month!