Narcissus...

I'm not one to indulge in a little narcissism especially when it comes to pictures of myself; I fear waking up the dead...low self-esteem I guess! But here is one of myself at the flight museum in Vietnam/Saigon. The other half kept hounding me to smile....I was soaking in sweat and all he could say was stop trying to be a grump and smile. I acquiesced - sorry! It does look horrid - I like the background better.

Vietnam and Laos is not Thailand, Burma or Cambodia. There is a distinct contradiction between Communism and Capitalism and it feels like moving a piece of metal from one magnetic pole to another - there is an awkward sensation as you move across the land.




Hanoi (North) and Saigon (South) are also such opposites - to say that there is a lack of organisation is a generalisation but you feel as if there is a little resistance to the simplest of rules especially on the roads. Being organised is purely tourism-centric while everything else is everyone for himself. People are confused most of the time - red/amber/green, road rules huh? Central Saigon is bad and I thought India was bad but Saigon is just so congested + the amount of one-way streets where Life is often cheap. In fact, you can say that the French have alot to answer for.

In terms of their physical appearance, I consider them to be more South East Asian Chinese and not your usual Mainland Chinese; a mix bag. Asians tend to see other Asians in layers and they seem to be caught between two hemispheres.

One great thing about the whole trip is that I was able to read all the blogs and did manage to rip a couple of movies to keep me occupied on the plane. The SQ flight out of Adelaide had the old planes i.e. no on- demand entertainment system but the ones heading to Vietnam was fantastic. All in all, the Touch did a remarkable job for its size throughout the trip.