The details of the early part of the day we crossed into Cambodia seem irrelevant now. After 25 long days, I was in a hurry to leave Vietnam and explore the less-travelled byways of a country long-ravaged by civil strife and political upheaval. The only thing that made any impression on my mind before our arrival in Phnom Penh (at 7pm) was an arrogant and idiotic French man who was travelling with us. Somehow, despite the fact that everyone else had one (including his girlfriend / wife!), he had managed to present himself without a visa. An hour-and-a-half wasted in the baking sun on the side of the river did nothing to improve my opinion of the French. The other, slightly more pleasing outcome to the situation was a big row with his spouse…resulting in her flirting outrageously with every other man on board for the rest of the journey ;-).
From the river, we took a coach through the countryside towards Phnom Penh. It was a chance to glimpse the obvious differences between these two neighbouring countries. For a start the Cambodians are much darker and finer-featured than the Vietnamese. The women are darkly pretty with thick, often wavy tresses – in sharp contrast to the flatter features, paler skin and fine straight hair I’d grown used to. Probably as a result of the contrast with their darker complexions, wide toothy grins seemed brighter and more welcoming too.
Architecturally, the biggest difference is in the temples: high, flame-shaped adornments opposing the heavy, dragon-centric detailing I’d seen on so many religious buildings in Vietnam. Cambodia also feels like a truly Buddhist culture – wats (temples) are everywhere and you don’t have to travel far to catch the flash of an orange monk’s robe and tonsured scalp.
Finally – and as I have since confirmed on several tortuous journeys – the roads felt and looked in much poorer condition. There is the same chaotic melee of traffic (although driving the wrong way down the wrong side of the street is the rule, rather than the exception here!) but with the added frisson of swerving to avoid Grand Canyon-sized potholes…or taking them at speed and suddenly being teleported to the other side of the road in time to earn some heavy horn action from an onrushing truck. Call me insane, but every kilometre widened the grin on my weary face.
Once, belatedly, in the nation’s capital, Jonah and I were too weary to strike out for a cheaper or better-located hotel and ended up checking into the guesthouse whose minibus had so conveniently picked us up from the river. After a wash and brush up, we ventured into the local neighbourhood (miles from the town centre) and found a decent-looking eatery (the beer girls were certainly decent-looking!) where we ordered one of the local specialities: Beef Volcano. Essentially like a Korean barbeque at the table with local ingredients. This was gratefully washed down with a bottle or two of the world-famous, national brew: Angkor Beer.
After dinner, I joined Jonah on a mission to say hello to a girl his cousin had ‘gotten to know’ when he was in Phnom Penh. We ended up playing pool with two startlingly attractive girls at an American-owned bar…certainly a pleasant way to end my first day in Cambodia.
December 03, 2004
December 02, 2004
Good Evening, Vietnam
We were up again at the crack of dawn with another full itinerary beckoning for the day ahead. I snuck out a little earlier than most to find breakfast at a street stall – my previous experience of package tour food earlier in Vietnam had led me to be wary, especially when I was going to be paying for it. For a little less than 15p I found some noodle soup with an unidentifiable piece of meat on the bone. Whatever it was, the noodles and soup tasted delicious and I’m sure the pet dog would have enjoyed the remains.
Back at the hotel, we were herded down to the river in an untidy crocodile formation to pick up new boats which were to ferry us through the floating market.
As we cruised downstream, river life was already in full-swing around us. I fear, if we’d been hunting a bargain on melons or cauliflowers, we’d already have missed the boat (excuse the pun!). It was past 7am and the market would have been going since first light (around 5.30ish). By now, fully-laden boats were heading back home – the days purchases already accounted for. Fortunately, we were there for the view…and maybe a sampling of the outrageous array of fruits on offer. When good food is on offer at bargain-basement prices, it’s unlike me to turn my nose up at it. Each of the market boats had an example of its wares on the top of a long pole protruding from the prow. We moored up to a pineapple boat where we were relieved of 20p for a deftly trimmed whole pineapple – its stalk acting like a lollipop stick for the short time it took me to wolf down its sweet, succulent flesh. Two of my companions – a German couple named Tanya and Alex – were so impressed at my obvious enjoyment that they too decided to tuck in…and they weren’t disappointed either. The street markets in Asia are a bright, colourful and somewhat smelly experience…multiply the bright and colourful, add the strident shouts of vendors advertising their wares and subtract the smell (whipped away by a refreshing breeze) and you get some sense of the floating markets. You don’t so much find your purchases as they find you. Everywhere floating bottle shops and noodle stalls ply their trade between the boats. Bowls and glasses are taken, filled, returned and consumed – the dishes are then taken and washed before being stacked and returned: an at-home catering service on the water. The air is filled with the sounds of bartering and raucous laughter; jolly skippers jostle for position and curse good-naturedly at their competitors; everywhere the mechanical putt-putting of hard-worked boat engines and the lapping of water against wooden hulls.
After the floating market we headed upstream to a noodle factory. Copious quantities of rice are ground and mixed with water to produce a thick, gloopy, batter-like substance. This is then steamed on a griddle to produce 2ft-wide pancakes, which are left to dry to a tacky consistency in the sun on large bamboo racks. After eight hours, they are ready to be shredded into vermicelli or cut into noodles. Not the most exciting tourist attraction and not the kind of job you’d write to Jim’ll Fix It for a chance to try – but nevertheless an important industry when you consider the dietary preferences of Asia.
Next stop was the handbag farm. Now I know there are girls reading this who think that handbags grow on trees. However, your average Gucci or Prada patent leather handbag (believe it or not!) actually spent much of its former life holding together the insides of a large grazing animal that moos. For that little extra prestige in Asia, it has to be crocodile or nothing, sweetie. The first thing you notice at a croc farm is the unprecedented olfactory assault you are subjected to by the close proximity of several hundred aggressive reptilians. The second thing you notice is that you must have interrupted them during a game of musical statues…perhaps when the sound system’s blown a fuse. These critters could make a living modelling in shop windows for Lacoste. They seem to do nothing all day long, but stand stock still catching rays. If it hadn’t been for the fearless (and frankly, either drunk or insane) croc-keeper I could have believed I’d been walking through the new reptile section at Madame Tussaud’s. As we wondered round the enclosures, he happily went into the cages (containing maybe 50 4ft crocs…with lots of very sharp teeth) and playfully(!) pulled their tales, splashed water on them and clicked his fingers under their toothy snouts.
Back once again in the comparative sanity of Can Tho, I dragged Jonah, Tanya and Alex off to my breakfast venue for a spot of something different for lunch. After an unsatisfactory breakfast experience it seemed most of our party had decided to take an unofficial option for lunch…when we returned to the ‘official’ restaurant to pick up our bags, we were confronted by disgruntled staff and an empty dining room. I didn’t feel any particular sense of guilt – I’d grown fed-up of being ripped off for sub-standard fare…and our lunch had been a tenth of the price and perfectly tasty.
Back on the boat, we settled into a 5 hour cruise towards our evening’s destination of Chau Doc. For the first couple of hours I hid myself away from the baleful glare of the sun under the awning and worked on the computer. Eventually, with the battery running low, I joined Alex and Tanya with a few cans of 333 to chat about home and witness the natural kaleidoscope of the setting sun. Long after the final dying rays had sunk beneath the horizon we pulled up to the bank and disembarked. Transport to the hotel was in the Cambodian moto-remorque – a trailer hitched to the back of a motorbike which, like a bumble bee, doesn’t look like it has sufficient power to move. However, the throaty little four stroke dragged four people and baggage, albeit slowly, to our out-of-town hotel. I had made the mistake of assuming that, as on the previous day, we’d all be staying at the same place…which wasn’t the case. I didn’t get an opportunity to say goodbye to Tanya, Alex, Kulli or Joti, which was a little upsetting. I had at least given Kulli my e-mail address, written inside the cover of Catch 22 so, with any luck I’ll be able to catch up with him and Joti in Ealing.
The saving grace of the situation was sharing my room with Jonah and his inimitable New York humour. After ditching our bags, we took a wander into town in search of somewhere to eat. After my budget triumphs earlier in the day, it was Jonah’s turn to come up trumps. After twenty minutes of aimless strolling through the back-end of town (our bloody hotel was so far out of town, we couldn’t even find ourselves on the Lonely Planet map!), we were about ready to settle for any old grub. Down the street, Jonah’s sharp eyes spied a restaurant with oodles of fresh seafood swimming or clambering around tanks outside. Inside it had the look of any number of the spit-and-sawdust places that had served me so well on my road-trip with Russ. We chose our meals by pointing at squid (Jonah) and crab (me) and sat back to wait for the results. Admittedly, we were both ravenous, but the food really was superb. I have no idea what they cooked our food in – garlic and chilli were the only elements we could positively identify – but the flavours were truly mouth-watering. I had a hard time getting into my crab at first (literally!), but Jonah came up with the (totally erroneous!) suggestion that it was soft-shell crab, which he had seen in Japan and was possible to consume shell and all. Another crack in my ailing molars was testament to the fact that this was not the case…but, without the worry of separating meat from shell, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. I was that impressed with the crab that, having tried a little of Jonah’s, I ordered a second course of squid. All told, three beers included, all this fine fresh fare set me back less than ten dollars and we rolled home fully satiated. Jonah lost his rag with the hotel staff when we returned to discover that the water in our bathroom still wasn’t running – a problem he’d highlighted before we’d set out in search of dinner. Having lived in Japan for 3 years, where problems don’t occur or are sorted out with the utmost celerity, I can understand why his frustrations boiled over somewhat. After 3 ½ weeks of Vietnam’s laissez-faire attitude, I was a little more sanguine about the situation but, to give him his due, he did eventually get the situation rectified and we were able to clean up before hitting the hay for a well-deserved kip. It was the end of my last full day in Vietnam and, as I waited for the Sandman to pay me a visit, I reflected on the sights I’d seen and the people I’d met during my time immersed in its rich culture and contrasting modernity. I know I will return – but not with the same desire as for the Philippines or Korea. The endless merry-go-round designed to extract the maximum tourist dollar gets a bit much after a while. There are some amazing sights, some of which I’ll never forget – Halong Bay, Hue’s citadel and the majestic rain-clad peaks of the Central Highlands to name a few. Some sights, though less aesthetically appealing, will also remain with me for a long time: Vinh Moc, Khe Sanh and the War Remnants museum were all testament to the futility of war and the amazing resilience of the Vietnamese people. Most of all, my fondest memories are of the people who I met and was able to spend time with. I’m not going to list them all here – anybody mentioned in the last 19,000 words or appearing in one of the many photos has made an impression on me – suffice to say, as with virtually anything in life, it was the people that made Vietnam for me...and I look forward to catching up with all of them in the future – wherever they are in the world.
Back at the hotel, we were herded down to the river in an untidy crocodile formation to pick up new boats which were to ferry us through the floating market.
As we cruised downstream, river life was already in full-swing around us. I fear, if we’d been hunting a bargain on melons or cauliflowers, we’d already have missed the boat (excuse the pun!). It was past 7am and the market would have been going since first light (around 5.30ish). By now, fully-laden boats were heading back home – the days purchases already accounted for. Fortunately, we were there for the view…and maybe a sampling of the outrageous array of fruits on offer. When good food is on offer at bargain-basement prices, it’s unlike me to turn my nose up at it. Each of the market boats had an example of its wares on the top of a long pole protruding from the prow. We moored up to a pineapple boat where we were relieved of 20p for a deftly trimmed whole pineapple – its stalk acting like a lollipop stick for the short time it took me to wolf down its sweet, succulent flesh. Two of my companions – a German couple named Tanya and Alex – were so impressed at my obvious enjoyment that they too decided to tuck in…and they weren’t disappointed either. The street markets in Asia are a bright, colourful and somewhat smelly experience…multiply the bright and colourful, add the strident shouts of vendors advertising their wares and subtract the smell (whipped away by a refreshing breeze) and you get some sense of the floating markets. You don’t so much find your purchases as they find you. Everywhere floating bottle shops and noodle stalls ply their trade between the boats. Bowls and glasses are taken, filled, returned and consumed – the dishes are then taken and washed before being stacked and returned: an at-home catering service on the water. The air is filled with the sounds of bartering and raucous laughter; jolly skippers jostle for position and curse good-naturedly at their competitors; everywhere the mechanical putt-putting of hard-worked boat engines and the lapping of water against wooden hulls.
After the floating market we headed upstream to a noodle factory. Copious quantities of rice are ground and mixed with water to produce a thick, gloopy, batter-like substance. This is then steamed on a griddle to produce 2ft-wide pancakes, which are left to dry to a tacky consistency in the sun on large bamboo racks. After eight hours, they are ready to be shredded into vermicelli or cut into noodles. Not the most exciting tourist attraction and not the kind of job you’d write to Jim’ll Fix It for a chance to try – but nevertheless an important industry when you consider the dietary preferences of Asia.
Next stop was the handbag farm. Now I know there are girls reading this who think that handbags grow on trees. However, your average Gucci or Prada patent leather handbag (believe it or not!) actually spent much of its former life holding together the insides of a large grazing animal that moos. For that little extra prestige in Asia, it has to be crocodile or nothing, sweetie. The first thing you notice at a croc farm is the unprecedented olfactory assault you are subjected to by the close proximity of several hundred aggressive reptilians. The second thing you notice is that you must have interrupted them during a game of musical statues…perhaps when the sound system’s blown a fuse. These critters could make a living modelling in shop windows for Lacoste. They seem to do nothing all day long, but stand stock still catching rays. If it hadn’t been for the fearless (and frankly, either drunk or insane) croc-keeper I could have believed I’d been walking through the new reptile section at Madame Tussaud’s. As we wondered round the enclosures, he happily went into the cages (containing maybe 50 4ft crocs…with lots of very sharp teeth) and playfully(!) pulled their tales, splashed water on them and clicked his fingers under their toothy snouts.
Back once again in the comparative sanity of Can Tho, I dragged Jonah, Tanya and Alex off to my breakfast venue for a spot of something different for lunch. After an unsatisfactory breakfast experience it seemed most of our party had decided to take an unofficial option for lunch…when we returned to the ‘official’ restaurant to pick up our bags, we were confronted by disgruntled staff and an empty dining room. I didn’t feel any particular sense of guilt – I’d grown fed-up of being ripped off for sub-standard fare…and our lunch had been a tenth of the price and perfectly tasty.
Back on the boat, we settled into a 5 hour cruise towards our evening’s destination of Chau Doc. For the first couple of hours I hid myself away from the baleful glare of the sun under the awning and worked on the computer. Eventually, with the battery running low, I joined Alex and Tanya with a few cans of 333 to chat about home and witness the natural kaleidoscope of the setting sun. Long after the final dying rays had sunk beneath the horizon we pulled up to the bank and disembarked. Transport to the hotel was in the Cambodian moto-remorque – a trailer hitched to the back of a motorbike which, like a bumble bee, doesn’t look like it has sufficient power to move. However, the throaty little four stroke dragged four people and baggage, albeit slowly, to our out-of-town hotel. I had made the mistake of assuming that, as on the previous day, we’d all be staying at the same place…which wasn’t the case. I didn’t get an opportunity to say goodbye to Tanya, Alex, Kulli or Joti, which was a little upsetting. I had at least given Kulli my e-mail address, written inside the cover of Catch 22 so, with any luck I’ll be able to catch up with him and Joti in Ealing.
The saving grace of the situation was sharing my room with Jonah and his inimitable New York humour. After ditching our bags, we took a wander into town in search of somewhere to eat. After my budget triumphs earlier in the day, it was Jonah’s turn to come up trumps. After twenty minutes of aimless strolling through the back-end of town (our bloody hotel was so far out of town, we couldn’t even find ourselves on the Lonely Planet map!), we were about ready to settle for any old grub. Down the street, Jonah’s sharp eyes spied a restaurant with oodles of fresh seafood swimming or clambering around tanks outside. Inside it had the look of any number of the spit-and-sawdust places that had served me so well on my road-trip with Russ. We chose our meals by pointing at squid (Jonah) and crab (me) and sat back to wait for the results. Admittedly, we were both ravenous, but the food really was superb. I have no idea what they cooked our food in – garlic and chilli were the only elements we could positively identify – but the flavours were truly mouth-watering. I had a hard time getting into my crab at first (literally!), but Jonah came up with the (totally erroneous!) suggestion that it was soft-shell crab, which he had seen in Japan and was possible to consume shell and all. Another crack in my ailing molars was testament to the fact that this was not the case…but, without the worry of separating meat from shell, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. I was that impressed with the crab that, having tried a little of Jonah’s, I ordered a second course of squid. All told, three beers included, all this fine fresh fare set me back less than ten dollars and we rolled home fully satiated. Jonah lost his rag with the hotel staff when we returned to discover that the water in our bathroom still wasn’t running – a problem he’d highlighted before we’d set out in search of dinner. Having lived in Japan for 3 years, where problems don’t occur or are sorted out with the utmost celerity, I can understand why his frustrations boiled over somewhat. After 3 ½ weeks of Vietnam’s laissez-faire attitude, I was a little more sanguine about the situation but, to give him his due, he did eventually get the situation rectified and we were able to clean up before hitting the hay for a well-deserved kip. It was the end of my last full day in Vietnam and, as I waited for the Sandman to pay me a visit, I reflected on the sights I’d seen and the people I’d met during my time immersed in its rich culture and contrasting modernity. I know I will return – but not with the same desire as for the Philippines or Korea. The endless merry-go-round designed to extract the maximum tourist dollar gets a bit much after a while. There are some amazing sights, some of which I’ll never forget – Halong Bay, Hue’s citadel and the majestic rain-clad peaks of the Central Highlands to name a few. Some sights, though less aesthetically appealing, will also remain with me for a long time: Vinh Moc, Khe Sanh and the War Remnants museum were all testament to the futility of war and the amazing resilience of the Vietnamese people. Most of all, my fondest memories are of the people who I met and was able to spend time with. I’m not going to list them all here – anybody mentioned in the last 19,000 words or appearing in one of the many photos has made an impression on me – suffice to say, as with virtually anything in life, it was the people that made Vietnam for me...and I look forward to catching up with all of them in the future – wherever they are in the world.
December 01, 2004
The Mighty Mekong
The previous night’s nightmare turned out to be far worse in reality. How I managed to haul myself out of bed is beyond me…let alone squeeze everything into my bulging bag and stagger down the road to the travel agency in good time. There were a few people milling around waiting to be picked up by bus for transportation to the river dock…I couldn’t have told you a thing about them if they hadn’t been on the boat with me for the next three days…what with the sunlight and traffic noise, my ailing brain was too overloaded to assimilate any new data. I pulled on my shades and hat and retreated into a cocoon of trance and Catch 22 for the best part of the morning.
As it turned out, my chosen unsociability went un-noticed by my companions – our boat was extremely noisy and the sun was mercilessly hot. The former meant that conversation was frustrating, the latter that most people were too torpid and lethargic to make the effort in the first place. After the worst of my hangover had passed, I eventually struck up conversation with a New Yorker and a Dutchman. Jonah Leff (the American) had spent three years teaching English in Japan and was now heading slowly back home, Erich was on a 4 week holiday through Vietnam.
Everywhere along the river’s steep banks shanty towns encroached – some shacks constructed sturdily with corrugated iron, others flimsily leaning out over the river with their bamboo frames and palm frond walls. Even from these humble abodes, sprang the ubiquitous television aerial. Young children seemed to have nothing better to do than wait for tourists to drift by, before performing acrobatic dives or dropping their pants to salute…the more retiring ones merely shouted and waved. Older children cycled by, school uniforms flowing elegantly behind them as they crossed creeks and canals on the way from school. All around, as we cruised south away from the city towards Mytho, you could see the importance of the river in their daily lives. To these people the Mekong serves as bathtub, washing machine, larder, sink and (rather grimly) toilet. Its tumultuous floods bring destruction and chaos during the wet season, but also the rich alluvium that fertilises the rice bowl of Vietnam. If the country were reduced to living on rice and fish alone, the Delta’s fecund lands could support the entire populace.
For all the life that teems on its many banks, there is just as much activity on the river itself. For longer trips or freight, it isn’t possible to use the mainly narrow riverside tracks. Everywhere there are small boats, passenger ferries, fishing boats, cargo boats and the leviathan dredge barges with their tugs. Every boat has a pair of eyes painted lividly on the prow, signalling the Mekong as home waters and scaring off potential predators – both mythical and real. The dredge barges are the most unsettling sight on the river: seemingly impossibly laden with the riverbed’s fine alluvium, they nose up the middle of the current under the power of an attendant tug. All other traffic cedes right of way to these lumbering hulks – not least, because a collision with such an unstoppable force would only produce one outcome. As they chug by, waves break over their seriously low bows and you wonder how many have been sunk due to that crucial extra half-ton dumped on top by a reckless dredger operator. Immediately after their passing, of course, its all hands on deck in the smaller boats to prevent them being swamped by the wash.
After a poor lunch of instant noodles and vegetables we disembarked at Mytho for a tour round some of the local islands. We visited tropical fruit farms (one of the main suppliers to the celebrated floating markets – more of which, later), honey farms and witnessed the production of coconut candy…which was a useful supplement to lunch. Highlight of a hot, sticky, hungover afternoon was the appearance of a python who I immediately made friends with and found much to my surprise (despite numerous people telling me that this was the case) that his skin was extremely smooth and almost supernaturally dry.
We took small boats down myriad side canals, hemmed in by dense foliage and swarming with mosquitoes and the calls of tropical animals. This murky-watered maze of waterways was reminiscent of scenes from Apocalypse now…a little mist and the distant chatter of machine gun fire would have completed the illusion.
Later, by a combination of boat and (blessed) air-con coach, we arrived at our evening’s destination in Can Tho.
As a group, we went for dinner and I got talking to Aussie-English Pete and Kulli and Joti from, of all places, Ealing. A brief discussion ensued about the various merits of Thai and Vietnamese restaurants in their neighbourhood, before promises to try them out together next time I was there. After my earlier befriending of an innocent snake, I turned Judas by having one of his cousins for dinner in an onion and garlic sauce. Very tasty, if a little chewy.
As it turned out, my chosen unsociability went un-noticed by my companions – our boat was extremely noisy and the sun was mercilessly hot. The former meant that conversation was frustrating, the latter that most people were too torpid and lethargic to make the effort in the first place. After the worst of my hangover had passed, I eventually struck up conversation with a New Yorker and a Dutchman. Jonah Leff (the American) had spent three years teaching English in Japan and was now heading slowly back home, Erich was on a 4 week holiday through Vietnam.
Everywhere along the river’s steep banks shanty towns encroached – some shacks constructed sturdily with corrugated iron, others flimsily leaning out over the river with their bamboo frames and palm frond walls. Even from these humble abodes, sprang the ubiquitous television aerial. Young children seemed to have nothing better to do than wait for tourists to drift by, before performing acrobatic dives or dropping their pants to salute…the more retiring ones merely shouted and waved. Older children cycled by, school uniforms flowing elegantly behind them as they crossed creeks and canals on the way from school. All around, as we cruised south away from the city towards Mytho, you could see the importance of the river in their daily lives. To these people the Mekong serves as bathtub, washing machine, larder, sink and (rather grimly) toilet. Its tumultuous floods bring destruction and chaos during the wet season, but also the rich alluvium that fertilises the rice bowl of Vietnam. If the country were reduced to living on rice and fish alone, the Delta’s fecund lands could support the entire populace.
For all the life that teems on its many banks, there is just as much activity on the river itself. For longer trips or freight, it isn’t possible to use the mainly narrow riverside tracks. Everywhere there are small boats, passenger ferries, fishing boats, cargo boats and the leviathan dredge barges with their tugs. Every boat has a pair of eyes painted lividly on the prow, signalling the Mekong as home waters and scaring off potential predators – both mythical and real. The dredge barges are the most unsettling sight on the river: seemingly impossibly laden with the riverbed’s fine alluvium, they nose up the middle of the current under the power of an attendant tug. All other traffic cedes right of way to these lumbering hulks – not least, because a collision with such an unstoppable force would only produce one outcome. As they chug by, waves break over their seriously low bows and you wonder how many have been sunk due to that crucial extra half-ton dumped on top by a reckless dredger operator. Immediately after their passing, of course, its all hands on deck in the smaller boats to prevent them being swamped by the wash.
After a poor lunch of instant noodles and vegetables we disembarked at Mytho for a tour round some of the local islands. We visited tropical fruit farms (one of the main suppliers to the celebrated floating markets – more of which, later), honey farms and witnessed the production of coconut candy…which was a useful supplement to lunch. Highlight of a hot, sticky, hungover afternoon was the appearance of a python who I immediately made friends with and found much to my surprise (despite numerous people telling me that this was the case) that his skin was extremely smooth and almost supernaturally dry.
We took small boats down myriad side canals, hemmed in by dense foliage and swarming with mosquitoes and the calls of tropical animals. This murky-watered maze of waterways was reminiscent of scenes from Apocalypse now…a little mist and the distant chatter of machine gun fire would have completed the illusion.
Later, by a combination of boat and (blessed) air-con coach, we arrived at our evening’s destination in Can Tho.
As a group, we went for dinner and I got talking to Aussie-English Pete and Kulli and Joti from, of all places, Ealing. A brief discussion ensued about the various merits of Thai and Vietnamese restaurants in their neighbourhood, before promises to try them out together next time I was there. After my earlier befriending of an innocent snake, I turned Judas by having one of his cousins for dinner in an onion and garlic sauce. Very tasty, if a little chewy.
November 30, 2004
War…what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!
After a restless night with the humidity, I made an early start. First stop was the architecturally imposing post office – a former administrative edifice of the French colonial government, it’s high, vaulted ceilings and miles of gilt detailing are a testament to the rich cultural legacy left by the French. Far more disconcerting is the 30ft high portrait of Ho Chi Minh surveying all the comings and goings from a position high on the wall opposite the entrance. Almost an hour later, after signing innumerable forms and paying untold amounts of Dong for god-knows-what, I escaped having despatched a parcel of presents and coffee back to Blighty. Fortunately, my cyclo driver was still waiting to wheel me sedately to the museum. On arrival at the museum, I found myself falling foul of another cultural legacy of the French: the immutable, Vietnamese lunch-break. For a country that has evolved the most comprehensive system of relieving travellers of every available cent, it is a surprising truth that the only place you can spend money between 11.30 and 1pm is in a bar or restaurant. Anyone hiring a Vietnamese tour-guide for the day who doesn’t allow them time for lunch is viewed with the same suspicion as a backstreet, sweatshop owner in Bradford…only the worst kind of slave driver lacks the civility to take lunch it would seem. I settled for returning to the museum after lunch and a spot of internet action. I certainly didn’t want to rush through what I expected to be grim reminder of the brutality of war.
When the time came, I wasn’t really prepared for what was a harrowing experience. I care not a jot for the whys and wherefores of the Vietnam War (referred to by the Vietnamese as the American War). I’m not interested in who was to blame, who had the moral high ground or who committed the worst atrocities. The museum simply and succinctly gives out one clear message…war can only cause pain and horror – both for its participants and for the innocent bystanders so often involved against their will. I am not the President of a great nation or a general planning an assault on a fortified position. I will never have to make decisions that will affect the lives of hundreds or thousands of people. I don’t know how I could decide that carpet-bombing villages, defoliating forests or destroying crops could be the best option available to me. For that I am very grateful. In war, as the museum so clearly demonstrates, people die – often in gruesome circumstances. Some survive, only to produce deformed offspring due to chemical agents used by their enemies. Others survive, only to return to a country that despises their uniform and the cause they fought in it for. The number of American veterans from this war who later committed suicide is almost double that of those who died in action. Ultimately, the war achieved nothing except to brutalise an already war-weary nation and two generations of young Americans. Out of respect, I chose not to take any photographs…I think anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the situation should see the exhibits in the museum with their own eyes…and the thought of capturing these images of death and torture was a little too macabre.
Perhaps the small ray of hope left over from this war, is the apparent lack of animosity towards Americans displayed by the local people. There has been harsh retribution towards and continuing repression of former members of the South Vietnamese armed forces (many of the city’s cyclo drivers are former soldiers who are punished by lack of residency permits – forcing former teachers or businessmen to scratch a living from and live on the streets), but the general attitude towards Americans is astonishingly friendly. If it is possible for the Vietnamese people to forgive (if not forget), then there is hope for the rest of the world.
Back at the street café where I had so fortuitously bumped into Robyn the previous day, I was pleasantly surprised to run into the two Swiss ladies who were also with us in Halong Bay. While Robyn had been on her way to Cambodia and the breath-taking sights of Angkor Wat, sadly these two were preparing to take their flight back to Zurich the next day. As they wandered off to pack their bags, I sat there musing that it would be poetic if I were to bump into Mark and Mel in the same spot. Not fifteen minutes later, they strolled by laden with rucksacks and bags and looking like they’d been on the end of a long bus ride. We agreed to meet up for some food and drink after they’d found a hotel.
At this point I realised that I’d left a floppy disk in a computer on the other side of town and, after picking up the offending article, I took the opportunity to stroll in a leisurely fashion back to our rendez-vous point. The vibrant street-life and bright lights nearly made me change my plans for leaving the following morning. I spent an amusing half-hour watching Braveheart (on an enormous widescreen TV in the window of a department store) with a team of uniformed street-cleaners. The two-cheek salute given by the Scots in the ‘Battle of Sterling’ drew great guffaws from my companions and we all cheered when the armoured horse were brought down by ‘spears as long as a man’.
We found a local eatery where the food and booze were both cheap and tasty and set-to catching up on Mark and Mel’s experiences with Tin and Tong. They had enjoyed the open-road as much as Russ and I did and had also had the luxury of seeing only one other tourist during their wanderings through the National Park at Cat Tien. Disappointingly, they hadn’t seen anything of the rare Rhinoceros that lives there in the jungle, but had an amusing evening night-spotting with one of the park rangers and lots of cunningly hidden tree-stumps and other natural booby-traps.
We ended up in the bar that had witnessed my mercurial pool talents the previous evening. Once again, I played one sublime game to depose the local shark (the girls are bloody good in Vietnam!) and then ignominiously descended into ridiculous farce against my next opponent. I would like to claim the effects of alcohol were ruining my natural ability – of course anyone who’s seen me play pool sober, will testify that the booze was probably helping me in that first game and that my usual monumental ineptitude was merely making a comeback.
We were all too pissed to be surprised when Fleur turned up at some point during proceedings. She had acquired a couple of new travelling buddies on her bus journey from Dalat and introduced us to Kirsty and Jo from Yorkshire and Portsmouth. The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur…drinking games made an appearance (bloody Aussies!), Oasis was sung, beer was drunk…I eventually made my excuses and crawled off to bed at about 2.30am. As I set the alarm for 6am, I noted with some anguish that the contents of my bags were strewn chaotically on the bed and floor…bumping into Mark and Mel had thrown my packing plans somewhat and I drifted off with the unpleasant thought of trying to pack with a hangover the following morning.
When the time came, I wasn’t really prepared for what was a harrowing experience. I care not a jot for the whys and wherefores of the Vietnam War (referred to by the Vietnamese as the American War). I’m not interested in who was to blame, who had the moral high ground or who committed the worst atrocities. The museum simply and succinctly gives out one clear message…war can only cause pain and horror – both for its participants and for the innocent bystanders so often involved against their will. I am not the President of a great nation or a general planning an assault on a fortified position. I will never have to make decisions that will affect the lives of hundreds or thousands of people. I don’t know how I could decide that carpet-bombing villages, defoliating forests or destroying crops could be the best option available to me. For that I am very grateful. In war, as the museum so clearly demonstrates, people die – often in gruesome circumstances. Some survive, only to produce deformed offspring due to chemical agents used by their enemies. Others survive, only to return to a country that despises their uniform and the cause they fought in it for. The number of American veterans from this war who later committed suicide is almost double that of those who died in action. Ultimately, the war achieved nothing except to brutalise an already war-weary nation and two generations of young Americans. Out of respect, I chose not to take any photographs…I think anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the situation should see the exhibits in the museum with their own eyes…and the thought of capturing these images of death and torture was a little too macabre.
Perhaps the small ray of hope left over from this war, is the apparent lack of animosity towards Americans displayed by the local people. There has been harsh retribution towards and continuing repression of former members of the South Vietnamese armed forces (many of the city’s cyclo drivers are former soldiers who are punished by lack of residency permits – forcing former teachers or businessmen to scratch a living from and live on the streets), but the general attitude towards Americans is astonishingly friendly. If it is possible for the Vietnamese people to forgive (if not forget), then there is hope for the rest of the world.
Back at the street café where I had so fortuitously bumped into Robyn the previous day, I was pleasantly surprised to run into the two Swiss ladies who were also with us in Halong Bay. While Robyn had been on her way to Cambodia and the breath-taking sights of Angkor Wat, sadly these two were preparing to take their flight back to Zurich the next day. As they wandered off to pack their bags, I sat there musing that it would be poetic if I were to bump into Mark and Mel in the same spot. Not fifteen minutes later, they strolled by laden with rucksacks and bags and looking like they’d been on the end of a long bus ride. We agreed to meet up for some food and drink after they’d found a hotel.
At this point I realised that I’d left a floppy disk in a computer on the other side of town and, after picking up the offending article, I took the opportunity to stroll in a leisurely fashion back to our rendez-vous point. The vibrant street-life and bright lights nearly made me change my plans for leaving the following morning. I spent an amusing half-hour watching Braveheart (on an enormous widescreen TV in the window of a department store) with a team of uniformed street-cleaners. The two-cheek salute given by the Scots in the ‘Battle of Sterling’ drew great guffaws from my companions and we all cheered when the armoured horse were brought down by ‘spears as long as a man’.
We found a local eatery where the food and booze were both cheap and tasty and set-to catching up on Mark and Mel’s experiences with Tin and Tong. They had enjoyed the open-road as much as Russ and I did and had also had the luxury of seeing only one other tourist during their wanderings through the National Park at Cat Tien. Disappointingly, they hadn’t seen anything of the rare Rhinoceros that lives there in the jungle, but had an amusing evening night-spotting with one of the park rangers and lots of cunningly hidden tree-stumps and other natural booby-traps.
We ended up in the bar that had witnessed my mercurial pool talents the previous evening. Once again, I played one sublime game to depose the local shark (the girls are bloody good in Vietnam!) and then ignominiously descended into ridiculous farce against my next opponent. I would like to claim the effects of alcohol were ruining my natural ability – of course anyone who’s seen me play pool sober, will testify that the booze was probably helping me in that first game and that my usual monumental ineptitude was merely making a comeback.
We were all too pissed to be surprised when Fleur turned up at some point during proceedings. She had acquired a couple of new travelling buddies on her bus journey from Dalat and introduced us to Kirsty and Jo from Yorkshire and Portsmouth. The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur…drinking games made an appearance (bloody Aussies!), Oasis was sung, beer was drunk…I eventually made my excuses and crawled off to bed at about 2.30am. As I set the alarm for 6am, I noted with some anguish that the contents of my bags were strewn chaotically on the bed and floor…bumping into Mark and Mel had thrown my packing plans somewhat and I drifted off with the unpleasant thought of trying to pack with a hangover the following morning.
November 29, 2004
Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City if you want to be fussy!)
After all the reports I’d heard from fellow travellers passing in the opposite direction, Saigon was not a place I was planning on exploring for long. You’ve already read my diatribes on city life and, by all accounts, the traffic, noise and pollution in HCMC were supposed to be three, ten and fifty times worse than Hanoi (depending who you spoke to). I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find it far more to my liking than Hanoi. I have a theory on this…it stands to reason that, wherever you’ve come from prior to Vietnam, your first city experience is going to be pretty full-on. Whether you’ve come overland from Cambodia, China or Laos, Hanoi and HCMC are going to seem like pure bedlam compared to the rural experience. Similarly, if you’ve flown straight in from the normality of your home country or after peaceful weeks in the Philippines (a la moi!), Vietnam’s major cities have a frenetic, chaotic rhythm that can’t fail to grate on the nerves for the first day or two. Of course, by the time you’ve travelled through Vietnam (north or south, depending on your point of inception), the constant clamour and hustle has become part and parcel of your daily life and your final city destination seems comparatively more bearable than the first. Suffice to say, I felt a lot more in tune with HCMC than Hanoi. There was also a feeling that I’d been there before – not so much a déjà vu, but a familiarity brought about by the congruence of reality and fiction. From the snapshot images of films, books and musicals my subconscious expectations of Saigon were suffused with a peach-tinted light. Much to my surprise, as our ridiculously slow coach headed due west into the city, the clouded sunset was producing a shade of peach that could have been used by Dulux as an industry standard. The whole sky above the sprawling, neon-punctuated conurbation had a surreal luminosity…almost as if someone had taken a sheet of tinted gel and fastened it over the housing of the sun’s spotlight. In the city itself, there were fine colonial boulevards and avenues, lined by stately trees and imposing European architecture. Fleeting glances down side-alleys and behind construction fences gave away the continuing developing nature of the city…while towering blocks and shiny department stores gave the impression that development had already been and gone. I found myself disappointed by the fact that the traffic appeared to be so much more regulated than in Hanoi – cars, bikes and cyclos all waiting patiently at red lights; one side of the road being used for one direction of travel. When moving, traffic was gaining hazardous speed…and drivers seemed less inclined to keep their eyes peeled for stray pedestrians. While side-alleys teemed with activity and tightly-packed construction, the main streets were airier and gave the appearance of having been recently cleaned. In Hanoi, every street corner had been an opportunity to kick over a bag of rubbish or pick your way through a minefield of precariously parked motorbikes. Here in HCMC, I felt less hemmed-in…better able to breathe…which is ironic, as the alien colour of the evening sky owes itself primarily to pollution! ;-)
As luck would have it, the bus dropped us off slap-bang in the middle of backpacker land…and right outside the travel agency I had decided on for my Mekong trip. Delta Adventure tours was highly recommended by the LP and, when I looked at their brochures, I was pleased to find a trip that incorporated everything I wanted to see in the Delta and dropped me off in Phnom Penh two days later. Without further ado, I handed over my passport and some dollars to allow them to obtain my visa for me…paying $2 extra certainly beats standing around in the embassy for several hours when there’s sight-seeing to be done. I had no further plans for the evening other than checking out the quality of internet access and getting a bite to eat. My visa would be ready for collection the following evening and my boat departed the following morning. The only place I really wanted to see was the War Remnants Museum (formerly the American Warcrimes Museum)…not that HCMC doesn’t have plenty else to see, but having seen and done so much of the tourist route in Vietnam, I was itching to move on to Cambodia.
I was sat, poring through my Cambodian Lonely Planet (the gift from Melanie and Jamie in Sapa) over a plate of spring rolls in a street-side café, when who should walk by, but Robyn – the Canadian girl from our boat-trip in Halong Bay. She stopped for a chat and we agreed to meet with her new travel buddies for a drink later on. I’ve ceased to be amazed by the small size of the travelling world in Asia…how many times had we bumped into Ziggi through Vietnam, or met people who had spent a week with someone else the week before we did? At the bar that evening, Robyn showed up with a Midlander called Dan and the crazy Irish guys we’d met in the DMZ bar in Hue. Not really in the mood for a comprehensive lashing, I nevertheless spent a pleasant couple of hours shooting pool and comparing notes on Vietnam.
As luck would have it, the bus dropped us off slap-bang in the middle of backpacker land…and right outside the travel agency I had decided on for my Mekong trip. Delta Adventure tours was highly recommended by the LP and, when I looked at their brochures, I was pleased to find a trip that incorporated everything I wanted to see in the Delta and dropped me off in Phnom Penh two days later. Without further ado, I handed over my passport and some dollars to allow them to obtain my visa for me…paying $2 extra certainly beats standing around in the embassy for several hours when there’s sight-seeing to be done. I had no further plans for the evening other than checking out the quality of internet access and getting a bite to eat. My visa would be ready for collection the following evening and my boat departed the following morning. The only place I really wanted to see was the War Remnants Museum (formerly the American Warcrimes Museum)…not that HCMC doesn’t have plenty else to see, but having seen and done so much of the tourist route in Vietnam, I was itching to move on to Cambodia.
I was sat, poring through my Cambodian Lonely Planet (the gift from Melanie and Jamie in Sapa) over a plate of spring rolls in a street-side café, when who should walk by, but Robyn – the Canadian girl from our boat-trip in Halong Bay. She stopped for a chat and we agreed to meet with her new travel buddies for a drink later on. I’ve ceased to be amazed by the small size of the travelling world in Asia…how many times had we bumped into Ziggi through Vietnam, or met people who had spent a week with someone else the week before we did? At the bar that evening, Robyn showed up with a Midlander called Dan and the crazy Irish guys we’d met in the DMZ bar in Hue. Not really in the mood for a comprehensive lashing, I nevertheless spent a pleasant couple of hours shooting pool and comparing notes on Vietnam.
November 27, 2004
The Home Stretch
The following morning, bright and early, we headed back down to the Ede village for a different kind of riding all together. After a noodle breakfast, we awaited the slow, laborious crossing of the lake by a mighty leviathan. The eye-watering smell oozing from every pore of her leathery hide wasn’t about to win her any friends…but those warm, intelligent eyes and that searching, curious proboscis beckoned us forward and insisted we climb aboard from our raised platform. I’ve got a few tips for prospective elephant riders: if you’re in a hurry, don’t do it; if you don’t like strong smells, don’t do it; if you’re scared of heights, don’t do it. But if none of the above apply and, in this case, if you don’t mind spending 2 hours sat on a hard wooden bench, prone to jerking from side to side and occasional submersion…then elephant riding is a fascinating experience, you’ll never forget. I’ve no doubt our mighty steed could have lumbered around at terrifying speed under duress, but three unaccustomed days on the back of a motorbike had left Russ and I with seriously sore seats – and the gentle rolling gait with which she set off was more than enough to remind us that we were sat on an upturned, unsanded, uncovered wooden box. Once in the water, it was amazing to see the graceful power with which she propelled herself, almost effortlessly, along. On the far side of the lake we took a slowly, swaying tour of the local village. While assuredly used to the sight of the elephant (raised mounting platforms every few hundred yards gave this away), the locals were obviously not all that used to big, white men riding astride her. Several times we were followed by youngsters on bikes, cycling perilously close to the oblivious power of hind legs the size of chimney stacks. Fortunately, the only things to suffer from Nelly’s might were the occasional trees she stopped to snack on: at the scent of something juicy and delicious, she would deviate from her course (despite the proddings and protestations of her mahout) and wrap her delicate, sensitive trunk around a leafy branch. Suddenly, the trunk would be replaced by a thick, menacing python – flexing and twisting to inevitably snap arm-thick branches and strip them of all their succulent verdure. The python would relax once more into a precision instrument as the fruit of its labours was stuffed delicately and lovingly into the smiling mouth of its owner.
Eventually, we returned saddle-sore and nasally decongested to continue on the final leg of our journey to Dalat. We passed through a series of beautiful mountain passes, bathing, still, in glorious sunshine. As we headed south, nearing our final destination, I couldn’t decide between relief at the impending end of saddle-soreness or disappointment to be at the end of our little adventure. At points along the way we had met two lads called Paul and Stijn. Paul, from Aberdeen, and Stijn, from Amsterdam, had bought their own bikes in Danang and were undertaking a similar journey to ours, but under their own steam. I would have appreciated the ability to hop off and on as I pleased and there is no doubt as to whose journey was the more adventurous. However, the major reason not to take a bike myself was my limited, previous biking experience (and that on the deserted roads of the Philippine provinces)…and it wasn’t all plain sailing for our daring duo: they had come unstuck for three days, when targeted by police and lacking the services of a local guide to sort it out – their bikes had been impounded while the police had gone to Danang to check they hadn’t been stolen. With no means of leaving, they had been stuck in the same arse-end-of-nowhere mountain town until their bikes were returned. Of course, this in itself sounds like as good a way as any to get to know the local people.
We pulled into Dalat’s cosmopolitan bustle in the late afternoon. The sun had temporarily disappeared behind some clouds and the cool mountain air, blowing in our faces ensured we were wide awake and ready to party the night away. After our excellent adventure, it seemed only right that Russ and I took the boys out for dinner to say thank you. We caught up with Mark and Mel, who’d spent an enjoyable couple of days on the coast at Nha Trang. Overflowing with excitement after our ‘epic’ 900km bike journey, Russ and I spent most of the evening telling them how great a time we’d had. It must have had some effect because, before the evening was out, Mark and Mel had signed the boys up to take them to Cat Tien National Park.
We ate goat and rabbit from another dodgy-looking-but-exquisite-tasting back-street café – more than anything else, the boys had shown Russ and I the excellent culinary underbelly of the Highlands. Copious quantities of beer and rice wine were drunk in celebration and, after Mel and Mark retired to prepare for an early start, the lads took us to a street bar, where we were served cold beer and a steaming plate of tasty cockles and dipping sauce.
We were all up early in the morning to see Russ onto his bus for Ho Chi Minh City. I’d enjoyed the last two weeks in his company – and particularly his company on our road trip. Regardless of his age, Russ was as much man of the world as I’ve met. I was sorry to see him go and look forward to a re-union in Blighty or Brisbane. After his departure, I also said farewell to our trusty guides, Tin and Tong. Their irrepressible senses of humour, unerring culinary taste and detailed knowledge of the terrain and its inhabitants had given us a priceless gift – seeing the undeveloped side of this beautiful country and thus escaping the wearing grind of the Highway 1 tourist trail…something I would recommend to anyone.
I spent an unexciting day in Dalat trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to find a decent internet connection and waiting for my laundry to be returned. I’ve come to realise the importance of rest days – time to regroup, clean, repack and catch up on correspondence. I bumped into Paul and Stijn during the day and we met again for a bite to eat in the evening. They were due to continue on to Ho Chi Minh to renew Paul’s visa, before spending a fortnight to-wheeling through the Mekong delta. I was envious in some respects, but already feeling a need to explore a new country. I booked the morning bus to Ho Chi Minh, planning to spend 2 days there and then take the mighty Mekong up into Cambodia.
Eventually, we returned saddle-sore and nasally decongested to continue on the final leg of our journey to Dalat. We passed through a series of beautiful mountain passes, bathing, still, in glorious sunshine. As we headed south, nearing our final destination, I couldn’t decide between relief at the impending end of saddle-soreness or disappointment to be at the end of our little adventure. At points along the way we had met two lads called Paul and Stijn. Paul, from Aberdeen, and Stijn, from Amsterdam, had bought their own bikes in Danang and were undertaking a similar journey to ours, but under their own steam. I would have appreciated the ability to hop off and on as I pleased and there is no doubt as to whose journey was the more adventurous. However, the major reason not to take a bike myself was my limited, previous biking experience (and that on the deserted roads of the Philippine provinces)…and it wasn’t all plain sailing for our daring duo: they had come unstuck for three days, when targeted by police and lacking the services of a local guide to sort it out – their bikes had been impounded while the police had gone to Danang to check they hadn’t been stolen. With no means of leaving, they had been stuck in the same arse-end-of-nowhere mountain town until their bikes were returned. Of course, this in itself sounds like as good a way as any to get to know the local people.
We pulled into Dalat’s cosmopolitan bustle in the late afternoon. The sun had temporarily disappeared behind some clouds and the cool mountain air, blowing in our faces ensured we were wide awake and ready to party the night away. After our excellent adventure, it seemed only right that Russ and I took the boys out for dinner to say thank you. We caught up with Mark and Mel, who’d spent an enjoyable couple of days on the coast at Nha Trang. Overflowing with excitement after our ‘epic’ 900km bike journey, Russ and I spent most of the evening telling them how great a time we’d had. It must have had some effect because, before the evening was out, Mark and Mel had signed the boys up to take them to Cat Tien National Park.
We ate goat and rabbit from another dodgy-looking-but-exquisite-tasting back-street café – more than anything else, the boys had shown Russ and I the excellent culinary underbelly of the Highlands. Copious quantities of beer and rice wine were drunk in celebration and, after Mel and Mark retired to prepare for an early start, the lads took us to a street bar, where we were served cold beer and a steaming plate of tasty cockles and dipping sauce.
We were all up early in the morning to see Russ onto his bus for Ho Chi Minh City. I’d enjoyed the last two weeks in his company – and particularly his company on our road trip. Regardless of his age, Russ was as much man of the world as I’ve met. I was sorry to see him go and look forward to a re-union in Blighty or Brisbane. After his departure, I also said farewell to our trusty guides, Tin and Tong. Their irrepressible senses of humour, unerring culinary taste and detailed knowledge of the terrain and its inhabitants had given us a priceless gift – seeing the undeveloped side of this beautiful country and thus escaping the wearing grind of the Highway 1 tourist trail…something I would recommend to anyone.
I spent an unexciting day in Dalat trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to find a decent internet connection and waiting for my laundry to be returned. I’ve come to realise the importance of rest days – time to regroup, clean, repack and catch up on correspondence. I bumped into Paul and Stijn during the day and we met again for a bite to eat in the evening. They were due to continue on to Ho Chi Minh to renew Paul’s visa, before spending a fortnight to-wheeling through the Mekong delta. I was envious in some respects, but already feeling a need to explore a new country. I booked the morning bus to Ho Chi Minh, planning to spend 2 days there and then take the mighty Mekong up into Cambodia.
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