23.06.2004

Ho Chi Minh City

Ah, well here we are - theatre of forgettable political theories when the Domino Theory was all the rage. If one poor, asian country fell to communism they all would. A five hundred metre tall bust of Stalin would now be in place of the Statue of Liberty.

Of course, some thirty years later we are now being told about the Reverse Domino Theory over in the Middle East. It is just as clever. If the Iraq Democracy Domino is made to fall up, all the other dominos will fall up too. Brilliant! These Washington political theorists clearly eschewed the hash-pipe in their university days only to pick it up during their tenure as geopolitical experts.

However, if they are correct and the June 30 handover runs smoothly clearly Danielle and myself can add Iraq to our to-do list as the newest sovereign state. Right?

We're getting ahead of ourselves here though. Cambodia was an amazing experience - we spent last weekend in Siem Reap - a day cycling around, and a day at Angkor Wat. It is truly astounding. Our poor little digital camera and amateur eyes knew we couldn't do it justice. The sheer amount of carved stones, and number and size and height of all the temples are comprehensible - but in an almost incomprehensible way. Once we locate a USB-charged pc we'll upload some pics for others to comprehend too.

Phnom Penh also deserves much more of a write-up. It is a city starting to come alive, and the wide tree-lined streets and old run-down colonial buildings really make it a memorable place to visit.

Although if you listen to some of the street vendors talk politics you find out the city is not big enough for the King and the President, and much trouble is brewing in the streets. King Norodom Sihanouk now hides out in Pyongyang, and President Hun Sen holds court in Phnom Penh. Our gracious street-stall owner said he was very happy he was a simple restauranteur, because "Hun Sen, Pol Pot - same. Hun Sen crazy". Apparently the educated classes may still face a troubled future.

Well we've only just arrived in Ho Chi Minh city and will spend a day or so before heading slowly north towards Hanoi. Danielle managed to try some of the cooked bugs in Cambodia (though not the spiders) so I will have to try some dog or snake here pronto lest I seem like a weak-stomach westerner.