I'm meeting a hell of a lot of pissed English, Canadian and Irish travelers - what happened to all the non-English speaking people out there?!
Met a French-American girl who lives in Germany. She's on a soul-searching mission, trying to determine who she is / where her roots are / does she have any / etc. Had quite a flashback! And am so glad that phase in my life is over. Shared my thoughts, but it was really weird. Like I was talking to myself (does "Back to the Future" ring a bell?). Told her that 1. home is where your heart is and 2. you are responsible for growing your own roots, just pick the culture you're most comfortable in... lecture over.
Sat next to this American guy, Patrick, on the long bus ride back from Ha Long Bay and had a super interesting, if surreal, conversation. He's a Jazz musician and into the theory of simplicity. Was taught how to appreciate death metal and why some day we will insert our brains into robots and live forever. Hmm. Was quite bummed when he left for China. At least he was someone fun to talk to. Have already learned that people like that are unfortunately far and few in between. The only other person I really loved talking to was a girl in Bangkok who had lived in Cambodia for 1.5 years. She was going back to England and planning to set up her own business. Was a hilarious evening.
A few days ago I had this weird experience with a very weird (totally gaga) guy: he kept coming over and touching my leg. First he went for two other girls legs (was out in a group - water puppet show) before he settled for my leg. At first it was quite funny with him kneeling down and sticking his finger out to touch the leg, but it got old pretty fast. Luckily we were moving and he fell behind. Despite it being creepy I felt a bit sorry for the fool.
Went to this Australian festival, "The Big Day Out". Was not really that fantastic, an Australian girl and I left early to go and wander around a Vietnamese supermarket. Found that they were offering plates and glasses as promotional items when you bought L'Oreal shampoo and the like. Doubt that it would go down well in Switzerland!
I'm off to Hoi An tomorrow - a 14 hour bus ride. Am not looking forward to the long trip.
Forgot to say that I cried out of the snake experience last night. Something had turned my stomach so I had a quiet night in. Was quite disappointed but couldn't face the thought of food, let alone snake.
