Sunday, May 31, 2009

What To Write In A Sympathy Card

Vietnam,

leave the island of Phu Quoc on board a ferry that has the air of having been designed by the son of Captain Nemo.
A ship almost futuristic design for the place where I am, low, long, narrow, with panoramic terrace in the rear.
water slide like a supposed buttered and even the air conditioning!
I would say that for 210,000 Dong (approximately € 8.50) is not a bad return on the mainland. After about 3
hour crossing you will arrive in Ha Tien, gay and charming border town and waiting for the dock, as always, a horde of ravenous "mottobaik-mottobaik who did not even expect it has dropped to board the ferry with their petulant and rintontirmi required.
Within 3 nano seconds are surrounded.
unknown hands start to grab and yank it from all sides, the air is saturated with "where you go?, Where you go?" And "mottobaik, mottobaik" incessant demands that claim a single "yes" and ignore everything else .
Shit, I'm like the plague of locusts in Egypt and I am!
I try to keep calm, after making only their I work in me.
Account:
1,
2, 3 ...

The problem is that I'm not exactly like Gandhi or Buddha!
In that exact moment I thought only one thing, NAPALM!
Warm, thick reddish liquid ...
Explode.
begin to make my way in that sea of \u200b\u200bhuman genetic material deviations from power and trying to ignore them, point a direction and go.
I leave the dock, I left the harbor, take the first road that I find and walked with a steady pace towards the first hotel.
nonstop give a fleeting glance to see the situation that I left behind.
are all still there, on the pier, the assault of the other tourists ... more ... almost all a handful has been reunited with their mechanical counterparts, (as the Vietnamese without "mottobaik" is only a "half-Vietnamese"), and left to my pursuit.
As a pack of wolves that sniff the prey are held at a safe distance and all my indecision about which way to start the assault, support and requesting, smiling as if for the first time: "mottobaik?", "Where you go ?.
say that you take is a little exasperation, get a move on and finally found a hotel with value for money more than satisfactory (Dong Tam Hotel € 8 per night), ok is a little out of my standard but is only for the last days of Vietnam.
Ha Tien as any border town is a constant bustle of people, almost all the shops are small supermarket with genres ranging from food to cleaning the wheels for cars and motorcycles, space heaters, fruits and vegetables ... Paradoxically it is easier to find a toothpaste or washing floors Mastrolindo "a loaf of bread but other than this trifle is enough to lose a bit of time looking and you can find almost everything.

simple, rudimentary but effective.

is the technique of drying Vietnamese shrimp!

Lungo uno dei tanti canali nel delta del Mekong.

Tipica conformazione di una casa vietnamita: 
piano superiore abitazione, piano inferiore negozio.

Tutto normale, siamo al confine...

A torto si potrebbe pensare che essendo al confine con la Cambogia, Ha Tien non abbia nessuna attrattiva e sia solo una città di transito, invece è considerata dai vietnamiti una perfetta località dove trascorrere un fine settimana al mare, con complessi balneari lungo la costa ed un monte sacro proprio a qualche chilometro prima del confine da which, after a short climb, you can have a look on the immense plains of Cambodia.
Closer to town, or rather exactly on the other side of the river that divides Ha Tien a sacred hill rises from the top where a Buddhist complex overlooking the entire harbor area and the market. Unfortunately
reach the temple is a very complicated and labyrinthine affair if you add the fact that access is possible only by the monks would soon quit, but still worth trying to reach the foot of a small temple from where you can enjoy a great sunset over the city.

Entry into the mountain Sacred ...

... a look at the landscape cambodian.

The Rimini / Riccione Vietnam.

inaccessible
The Buddhist temple.

Buddha under glass.

Sunset on the River.

Typical border crossings with Cambodia on the guides are usually reported to Can Tho and Chau Doc, Ha Tien is often not mentioned or not recommended because until November 2008, the customs did not allow the transit of turisti, ma come ho avuto modo di provare personalmente, adesso le cose sono cambiate e quindi si possono risparmiare tempo e soldi di un ipotetico bus e pernottamento in una delle altre due città attraversando direttamente da qui, basta noleggiare uno dei tanti "mottobaik" per arrivare al confine e poi, una volta in Cambogia prendere un altro "mottobaik" o un ben più avventuroso e confortevole Tuk Tuk.
Ah, un ultima cosa, il servizio di moto-taxi da Ha Tien a Kep non vale più di 120.000 Dong (poco meno di €5), quindi contrattare è d'obbligo.