7-31-09: Why Come Back to the States?

“Beauty walks by, like an angel in the sky, loved and cherished, its a walk to remember when beauty comes by…”

The happiness caused by this trip is oozing out of me like jelly from a donut filled with it. The title is self-explanatory. But before I get to why the title so fittingly describes my experience today, I would like to describe the moments leading up to the climax of the day. After getting over the what I like to call the “travelers delusion,” or in short; when someone travels to an underdeveloped nation, sees how little the inhabitants have and how much the traveler has, reaches a clichéd plain of realization of being grateful for ones life, and then tries to do their best to compensate their life’s over-indulgences for the little the people of the example country has. I find it very funny, because it happens to me every time. I’ve had a spoiled life, like many of you, but you really cannot beat yourself up for what you were born into. All you can do is be grateful, and do what you can to help as many people as you can. This, in my opinion, is what can make the world more perfect. Don’t over-indulge, don’t hurt people, and always smile when you can…adhere to those “rules” and your life will be better.

Now back to the story. We started the day waking up to another humid Vietnamese day. The bus was late; (arrival time was supposed to be 8am, but 8:30am was the true time of departure) which seems to be the norm in Vietnamese culture. I say this not saying that the Vietnamese people are not punctual, but I’m saying that the Vietnamese people are very relaxed and laid-back. The places of destination today would be Ha Noi (the largest harbor city), Da Nang (major war time port, and My Son (the old spiritual capital during the Champa Dynasty). By the way, Ha Noi and My Son are UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The bus ride to My Son, although as bumpy as a saddle less horse ride, came with some of the best sites I have seen in my life. We encountered herds of buffalo, children that raised the buffalo, rice fields, shrimp fields, mountains covered in dense vegetation, exotic trees and plants, and a ride through a newly Japanese-built tunnel that was the longest in Vietnam (about 6km long). The Vietnamese government had to deny access of motorbikes (the Vietnamese #1 means of transportation) through the tunnel because people were drowning in fumes due to lack of ventilation. It turns out that the Japanese, with their mighty technological savvy engineers, forgot to install proper ventilation in the tunnel which caused people to die due to affixation. We arrived to My Son first, which is about 60km from Hoi An (our place of residence for the weekend). UNESCO came to My Son in 1994 to declare it a world heritage site because of the ruins left behind from the Champas people. I swear to you, the ruins were some of the most amazing monuments I have ever seen in my life. Covered with plants and decaying colors, the buildings that have survived for many years were breath-taking. Only comparable to Mayan ruins I have seen from the Yucatan. Words cannot explain the beauty that came from the ambiance that was delivered from the mixture of dense forests, elegant ruins, and exotic animals. With all of this around me, I could not help but keep thinking about the soldiers from the Vietnam War. How could these fighters (Vietnamese and American) drag themselves through these forests with 30 pounds of gear, arms, all the while worrying about death at every turn of the trail? These are the thoughts I had wile traversing through the My Son ruins. Beautiful, eccentric, primitive…

Next we arrived to Hoi An, in which our hotel was located. Hungry, tired, and drained our group of students were eyeing places to dine. With all of the commotion going on around us in this new bay-side city, not a single person focused their attention on the newly discovered city…we were all like tigers waiting to eat.

We decided, as adventurous students, to go along the road less traveled as opposed to eating at the tourist restaurants. The road lead us down a long, winding, road along the river side. 50 meters in I could tell my the looks on some my companions faces that some of us couldn’t help but think about stories of travelers going way above their means, getting their kidneys stolen, and being left for dead. As soon as this thought came across this mind, we found ourselves at a place called “The Sleep Gecko.” We looked at the menu and chatted amongst ourselves deciding whether to stay or go. As thoughts of food raced through our mind, a man interrupted and said, “Come in! Free beer and free food!” Not expecting such an offer, from an English accent nonetheless, I jumped back in surprise. In turns out this guy named Randy came to Vietnam 1 year ago on a journey to travel the world before he died. Doctors from Newport Beach, CA diagnosed him with a terminal heart disease and gave him no longer than 5 years to live. He came to Vietnam with a sense of longing for closure to his life. He went to Vietnamese doctors and they told him that Western medicine was incorrect. He actually had a stomach problem, was given medicine, and was cured. He decided to stay in Hoi An, Vietnam and live out his life owning an English bookstore on the bay.

Western medicine is the best in the world? Health care in the United States is worth the money? Millions of people in the States are being prescribed expensive medicine for what? To feed the monster that is the Health Care conglomerate we have created in the States. Makes you think…

Anyways, some of us decided to go in and enjoy a night of hopeful libation while the others were reluctanct due to their fears from pre-conceived notions of foreign countries peoples. Some even admitted to being fearful of the aforementioned fear of getting their kidneys ripped from their bodies. Their loss. We were welcomed by Randy and his Australian friends to free beers and free BBQ as promised. Some of the Australians were retired surfers chasing the net big wave, settling in Ha Noi, while others were students just like ourselves, travelling the world and falling in love with Ha Noi and deciding to stay for the rest of their lives. We shared stories, drank, ate, and enjoyed the beauty of the Vietnamese bay. I kept having to pinch myself, reminding myself that I did not die on the way to Vietnam in a fiery plane accident. This was the life that was given to me for the night, and I enjoyed every part of it. The ambiance within the walls of this place was amazing. With some soulful Motown R&B playing in the background, Aretha Franklin and the Roxettes blasting their lungs to songs of lost love, perfect lighting, and the smell of BBQ squid and shrimp were the little things that made this place perfect. This was what I envisioned as my future. A retired attorney, travelling the world, surfing the greatest swells, eating the worlds food, meeting travelers and sharing their stories, drinking, appreciating mother earth and just being happy. These men were living the life I envisioned. I sometimes thought thatthis life was impossible to have, I now know different. After about 4 hours of great food and drinking, we left. Randy and his Australian friends bid us a safe journey, and I bid farewell to a life I hope to live in a few years. Life has its ups and downs; this experience reminded me that the ups are caused by the downs you experience. In short, the bad things you experience in life allow you to become stronger so you can be ready to enjoy the better things you work hard to achieve.

My hope is that my writing allowed you to come to the conclusion of why I named this blog, “Why come back to the States?” After all, that is the essence of a great writer, to let the writing share the experience and answer the questions, not the writer telling you the information. Why come back to the United States? For me, the answer is simple. I have to work hard to achieve this life I long to live. There are things I must accomplish now in order to be able to live a life full of libation, reading great books, traveling, and surfing. I hope this also opens the eyes of you, to know that your dream lives are within your finger tips, just work hard to be able to fully be ready for that life you long for. Go through the pains in order to experience the pleasures…

-Live from Vietnam, Sonny