Hanoi to Saigon along the coast - VIETNAM

Hanoi with its wide boulevards is a fairly pleasant city to walk around though the presence of the communist stink is evident, especially around the HCM Mausoleum and other fine properties occupied by the top ranking officials. Halong Bay - the coast dotted by massive limestone rocks (see photo) is a fine place for leisure boating. Down the coast I didn't particularly enjoy Hue and Hoi An - not for a lack of impressive sites and cultural vibe, but for the flood of tourists over the Christmas season and a stream of entrepreneurial local salespeople interested in their money.

The last time I visited Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon, was almost 9 years ago. I really enjoyed HCMC at that time - the people watching was amazing as they lived a typical developing world / third world life. Oh how fast our world is changing! HCMC now is awashed with upscale European stores, endless streams of motorbikes (gone are the cyclos), huge shopping malls - its just not the old Saigon I enjoyed just 9 years ago.

Maybe I am spoiled by the friendliness of the people of Myanmar, Laos, Burma, Thailand, and even Nepal, but I found the Vietnamese very unfriendly, and often rude. Of all countries I have visited, Vietnam is the scam capital of the world. You need to be very alert and street-wise or you'll be scammed and cheated around every corner.

Got the point? I didn't really enjoy this trip to Vietnam. If ever I go again, I would not get close to any of the big cities and I'll get as far away from the tourist trail as possible. Maybe tourism have wasted the charm of Vietnam. I'm sure there's still something good to be found around the off-the-beaten tracks.

On the Way to Vietnam

I'm on the way to Hanoi to travel by train along the coast down to Saigon.

Overnight boat ride from the far south to Dhaka, BANGLADESH

Spent yesterday on a small boat navigating around small rivers and visited the small village of Sripur (about 2 hours from Barisal). My guide asked the people if they have ever seen White people in their village and the answer was NO. So me - and my new Aussie friend who joined me for the past two days - were the first White people to ever visit the village and that sure was obvious. Once we set foot on the banks of the river, a small crowd started to follow us and within minutes it seems like the entire village was walking with us. A senior villager invited us into his home for snacks...and gave us fried egg with sugar. That apparently is not their normal way of eating eggs but our guide suspects he wanted to make the egg special for us. Ever tried fried egg with sugar? The entire day was packed with excitement as we took so many great pictures and met such colourful people.

At 8am our boat left Barisal for the 10 hour trip up north to Dhaka. We arrived at 6am and the harbour area was teaming with early morning life. I'm having a relaxing day in Dhaka - now going for a sumptuous buffet at an upscale Bangladeshi restaurant.

I arrived in Bangladesh 2 weeks ago and so far have seen only 4 other tourists. Two Finnish women, one Dutch guy, and my Aussie friend.

Tonight after midnight I am taking Dragon Air back to Hong Kong. The past two weeks here in Bangladesh has been an unforgettable experience!

Sundarbans, Mongla, and Barisal - Southern BANGLADESH

The Rocket Steamer took me on an amazing 24-hour trip down the mesh of rivers from Dhaka to the small village of Mongla - gateway to the Sundarbans National Park...the world largest swamps and mangrove forest in the world. As our 3-night 4-day trip was canceled due to the political turmoil, my guide and I rented our own boat but was not allowed to stay over in the park. In fact, at the park entrance we were refused entry due to "extreme terrorist activity". Fortunately my guide doesn't take "no" as an answer, and after a long and heavy argument in Bengali, we were allowed in with an armed guard. Didn't see a lot, as I expected - a heavy duty croc, a few bird species, monkeys, deer, and all but the elusive Royal Bengal Tiger. Saw several fairly fresh tiger tracks in the soft clay covered forest, and did a few walks inside the jungle - with the the guard complaining about the risk we're taking and keeping a safe distance behind me. Anyhow, got home safely.

I am now in the town of Barisal, a 12 hour boat trip north of Mongla, to visit the small village (Bamrail) of my guide's family. It was an amazing experience today (like in many other places I visited in Bangladesh), where people are totally amazed with seeing a White person. At times I think the entire village followed us. When we walked into a market, the market came to a standstill. Visited the local Mosque to take close-ups of praying men and afterwards everybody posed for pictures and offered us a great meal right next to the mosque...on the floor (eating out of banana leafs). Had several meals with local families who made a huge effort to offer us the best and most eloborate meals they could come up with. The hospitality and friendliness of people are like nowhere else. I am totally amazed with Bangladesh!!!

Tomorrow will spent the day on a boat along the canals and waterways to vist a few small villages and tomorrow night the 12-hour trip back to Dhaka.

Dhaka, BANGLADESH

Dhaka is one of the world's fastest growing urban centers with more than 10 million people. Crowded into 360 square kilometers it also has one of the highest urban densities in the world. Cycle rickshaws are the main form of vehicular transport, and with more than 500,000 in town, a taxi ride is never far away. A 45 minute ride by Rickshaw costs about US$1

An amazing city indeed! I'd bet it holds several world records: Probably the world's most polluted city - air, noise, water, garbage - all pollution here is at the extreme!

Poverty. Words can't express the poverty I have seen so far. It is truly very disturbing.

Today rented a boat and traveled up and down the Buriganga river which flows through Dhaka, just south of the old part of the city. Amazing sights along the river banks as people are dong their daily chores, washing, swimming - in the most dirty river water I have ever seen! A flotilla of small boats carry passengers across the 500m wide river while huge boats work up and down the slow flowing river. My boatman insisted we visit the area on the other side of the river so with my guide, the boatman escorted us into the maze of this old area. What an amazing experience! We visited several homes where I had to take family pictures. I tell you, people here beg to get their pictures taken. An entourage of kids followed us as we walked around the area. An experience I probably never will forget!

People in Bangladesh, including Dhaka, are truly friendly and warm hearted and even in the poorest slums, people show very happy faces. Amazing....and you have to see this to believe it.

Tomorrow evening at 6pm, guide by my side, we will depart on a 24 hour river journey aboard the Rocket - an ancient looking paddle-steamer boat - to the town of Mongla, gateway to the Sunderbans. The Sundarbans is a Natural World Heritage site and also the world’s largest mangrove forest. By boat, and potentially by foot, we will spend two days looking for the fearless Royal Bengal Tiger along the mangrove waterways. Don't worry (too much) about my safety as again we will have the compulsory armed guards by my side. Wish me luck. I'll report back in Dhaka in seven days!

Chittagong and the Hills Tracts, BANGALDESH

The political situation cooled down a bit but travel agencies told me "all foreign visitors" cancelled their trip to Bangladesh. I have been traveling around the country now for one week and have not seen a single White person - absolutely no Western tourists from what I have seen. This makes Bangladesh such special place....as their tourist campaign reads Visit Bangladesh before the masses of tourists arrive. Well...not sure if the masses will arrive anytime soon, but it sure is interesting to travel in a country with no other tourists around. People, particularly in the remote villages, seem to never have seen White people and I am treated like a movie star. As I walk through the streets (including Dhaka and particularly in the slums), people stare at me, hordes follow me, and really look at me in disbelief! Quite an amazing (often annoying) experience.

Visited the city of Chittagong on the west coast (2nd largest city) and with some tough diplomatic talk by my guide, we managed to get permission to visit the Ship Breaking Yards. This is the worlds biggest ship graveyard where old and tired ships come to die. Along a three km long shallow beach about 30-40 huge ships (in different states of dismantling) are "stranded". Here, hundreds of men aged from as young as 10 to as old as 70 or 80, spend gruelling long hours in the hot sun manually dismantling the ships. While I was not allowed to photograph any of the labourers, especially those under-aged (18), I talked with some of these kids who told me they get paid Tk70 (US$1) per day and work from 8am to 5pm. Most of the sites (all different owners) did not allow me to take pictures of any workers as this may show the poor working conditions. Absolutely no gloves, eye protection or safety helmets are to be found on the site. People break down huge ships with blow torches, saws and hammers.

With my special permission documents in hand my guide and I left for the Chittagong Hill Tracts (lakes and hill tribes). Our local chicken bus passed several police checkpoints where I (only foreigner on board...and probably in a 100 km radius) had to report and fill out their log book. Surprisingly all checkpoints knew I was coming (informed by their Dhaka office). To go on a boat trip around the huge man-made lake Kaptai to visit several local hill tribes, I had no choice but to accept five heavily armed policemen as my guardians. So with the five policemen by my side, plus my guide, and the local village guide, and my boatman, we were an entourage of nine people going from village to village. You can't image the amount of (totally unwanted) attention we attracted. Visited several family homes, ate locals snacks. My planned visit to the Chakma King did not go too well as the King was on a Dhaka visit. The Chakma is the biggest tribe in the area.

It was so sweet to come home at night to the resort where we stayed on the banks of the Kaptai Lake...and as the sun drifted lower, we ordered more ...7Up (no beer, we're in a Muslim country!)

Back to the city of Chittagong where I experienced the worse air pollution ever, anywhere!

On the Way to Dhaka, BANGLADESH

Last night I read a few reports online of the worsening political situation in Bangladesh and tourists are warned to be very careful all over Bangladesh and particularly in Chittagong Hill Tracts (where I am supposed to be tomorrow). Warnings about armed robberies etc. Well I need to go see for myself as reports are often overstated.

Latest news from Bangladesh this morning is that the political situation is very edgy and the country will have a general strike from tomorrow which means I may not be able to get to Chittagong...or really anywhere in Bangladesh or even anywhere in Dhaka. Things don't look promising at all. If the situation becomes critical I will have to leave on the first flight out. Hoping for the best!

Kathmandu and the Central Valley, NEPAL

I now have been all over the Central Valley and visited several towns and villages, saw human bodies being cremated (see picture) on stacks of burning wood next to river (when down to ashes, it's swept with a grass broom into the holy river and human scavengers then sift through the murky waters looking for jewelry). I saw animals being sacrificed in Hindu Temples, I saw a living Hindu god (little girl kept for about 10 years inside the temple and never allowed to touch ground), I ran away from Indian Rhinos in the Chitwan National Park, I had close encounters with the Himalayas...and I saw lots and lots of desperately poor people. I'm now almost one month here in Nepal and frankly, my heart is tired of going out for these poor people. It will be a relief to leave Nepal tomorrow, though the next two weeks won't bring much comfort as I will be traveling through Bangladesh -- probably the poorest country in the region.

What I'll remember the longest about Nepal, is not the many quaint villages, friendly people, good food, ancient temples and stupas, but the mountains. The two trekking trips I did (Everest Base Camp and Annapurna range) in the mighty Himalayas are experiences I could never forget. That 14 day hiking to Mount Everest Base Camp via Gokyo - climbing the dreaded Chula Pass in the snow, and being chased by a Yak in Gorak Shep - the daily sights of these majestically towering peaks of the Himalayas - an everlasting memory!

Namaste Nepal! Here I come Bangladesh (note that I won't have much access to the Internet in Bangladesh. First I'll do the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Hill Tribes near the India/Myanmar border) and then the Sundarbans (world biggest swamps). Then Barisal villages in the south. Will update my blog when possible.