Today

[metatherian]

I finally made it to the Mekong Delta...
Swung in a hammock listening to Mekong Delta Blues* and Deadly TangoI'm being courageous

Comments

[fireghost]

Sorry, I've never been to Laos or Viet Nam, nor do I know anything about the people there... just wanted to say hi! and tell you how I always enjoy seeing your sun stabbed icon on my friends page.

I remember Peter once saying he wrote the lyrics to "Mekong Delta Blues" as a response to hearing said location mentioned on the news every day at the time. And yet it always sounds fresh :)

Keep up the courage!

[metatherian]

thank you. i have had problems with timidity...well, that's a word that covers a lot, not quite the right word I guess.

That song is truly scary when the helicopters arriving bit comes in... at least I assume that's what it's meant to be like.

Also I think I associate the Terminals even further just because they have that '60s rock sound. I guess I formed my idea of "Vietnam War music" from those Tour of Duty soundtracks. Do you remember those? They were so popular! I heard some good stuff that way though!

[metatherian]

Only tangentially related, but I remember hearing a name of a fighting group (a cultural group? I'm not sure) in an African conflict over and over when I was young, and incorporating the name into play without understanding it. I wish I could remember what it was.

matariki, do you know what i mean??

[matariki]

The nice people at the chippie down the road from us in Kilbirnie were Khmer.

[metatherian]

Did I go there?

How come you're not emailing me?

[matariki]

Yup. How come you're not emailing me?

[metatherian]

oh, was that the hideous place near the good video store?

well, I don't want to just give you big rambling travelogues. I dunno!

I will email you now!

I think it may actually have been a European or Middle Eastern guerilla group that i am trying to think of from during the '80s.

[bendovacasanova]

You don't know me (I found your journal through a friend of a friend a few years ago) but I've been to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Amazing countries, each different from one another, esp Vietnam which had more of a Chinese influence whereas the other two had more of a Thai/Indian feel. The Khmers will break your heart with their very sad, violent recent history, but at the same time, their ancient civilization will fill you with wonder, esp when you see the massively impressive temples they built at Angkor.

[metatherian]

Thank-you. I saw your list with many books about the area that I'd love to track down. I'm reading a recent novel set in the war here (Tree of Smoke by Dennis Johnson).

I remember having my mind blown when I first learned about Angor Wat (in a university history class) but I don't know if I'll even get to go - Cambodia wasn;t on my agenda at all until about an hour ago when I figured the best way for me to return to Saigon for my flight back to Japan is actually a bus through Cambodia! I am limited by time. Three weeks total and I'm almost through the first week already.

Can you tell me anything about Hue? I can't decide whether to stay one or two nights. Not much either way, I know, but I'm really feeling the pull of Laos. It does sound like I may like Hue - I like massages and vegetarian food, and temples.

[bendovacasanova]

Hue is pretty (and laid back compared to Hoi An). The main attraction is the palace but there's not much left: the most impressive part is the entrance. The food was very good, esp the vege restaurants run by the deaf mute families. If you're pressed for time, I'd just stay a night.

I spent two months in Laos. So quiet, peaceful, and cheap! One of the world's least population dense countries. Really impressive in the north in and around Luang Prabang and at this massive cave in the central region.