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anonymoustalks · 4 years

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idk if lenins polcy of bruning churches was good but you have to have soem kind of athiest government

(6-20-20) You both like politics.

You: hi

Stranger: hi

Stranger: ideology?

You: moderate left

You: you?

Stranger: far left

Stranger: uk

You: ahh kay

You: why do you like omegle?

Stranger: er dunno just fun to chat without consequences i guess

You: mhm that's fair

You: I like to hear about what other ppl think

Stranger: yh and argueing

You: haha I don't really argue that much

Stranger: some people arnt worth ur time

You: mhm maybe

You: where are you from?

Stranger: uk^^

You: I'm from the us

Stranger: noice

You: and I'm totally ignorant of british politics lol

Stranger: i know a little bit about america

You: how does your government work?

Stranger: cos its the centre of the world

You: sorry if this is a really dull question

Stranger: its fine ill asnwer w my limited understanding

You: I just ran into someone who was praising the monarchy

Stranger: pfft

Stranger: haha

Stranger: so basically above everyone we have a queen who approves certain stuff and has the ability to interjec tin products but msotly doesn then you have the unlected house of lords which is aristocrats recommended by other rich ppl and below that the ppl elected

Stranger: we have a prime minister so he doesnt have the same powers as president

Stranger: but hes more powerful than other pm's

You: mhm

You: the house of lords...

Stranger: yep

You: is the aristocracy still a big thing in the uk?

Stranger: its just like the senate in the usa except not elected and idk probaably

You: how does someone get recommended to the house of lords?

Stranger: be rich adn good at something or know someone whos rich

You: ahh I think it's weird that it's so closely tied to wealth

Stranger: not really the uk ruling class make it prtty obvious to us peasnts that its a ruling class fake democracy

Stranger: unlike the usa where everybody is supposed classless

You: right

You: I guess that's a fair statement

Stranger: but yeah fuck the queen

Stranger: how was the guy defedning monarchy?

You: oh he sounded kind of weird

You: like how god and the monarchy is essential for uk's stability and being

Stranger: pfft

You: he didn't really explain much

Stranger: both are irelevant nowadays

You: just pointed out that france and us are chaotic, according to him because there is no monarchy

Stranger: oh yeah thats totally

Stranger: why

You: yeah lol

Stranger: if only they had a monarchy then there owuld be no class and racial conflict

You: so how far left are you?

Stranger: very far

You: anarchist?

Stranger: nope left communist

Stranger: basically anti stalinist communist

You: what does your ideal government look like?

Stranger: well until you have a relatively stateless socialism you have a dictatorship of the proleterait

Stranger: and that has an armed population as the army and has direct democracy and a representive democracy who are payed wages simualr to that of a workmans

Stranger: in brief

You: mhm and membership has a criteria that you must be working class?

Stranger: membership of the democratic process yep

Stranger: a worker

You: mhm

Stranger: not necearily poor

You: what is the exact definition of working class btw?

Stranger: sombody who doesnt own and live off capitlist property

Stranger: or is a cpatilsit in other respects

Stranger: like an investor

Stranger: businessmen landlords and bankers

You: hmm I feel like it's hard for me to draw parallels

You: I know a pharmacist friend

You: who rents his place

You: for extra cash

Stranger: well when we have the revolution i doubt he'll be locked up or anything but youknow

Stranger: hes just a small landlord i guess

Stranger: supplemetning work income

You: so would people just discouraged from doing that kind of stuff?

Stranger: well hosuing will be nationalised as an early step

Stranger: so you wont have to

You: mhm

Stranger: making rent equal to bills

You: my parents also have investments

You: for like retirement

You: and just in general

Stranger: sure

You: was curious what would happen to those

Stranger: well i mean by investor sombody who is rich and does it for a job

You: ah kay

Stranger: the socialsit pension ting will be good anyhow

You: mhm

You: do you think that's it necessary for the world to follow this model? Or do you think that it can still work with just a communist state on it's own?

Stranger: nah for a lot of reasons you cant have it in one or a few states surrounded by cpaitlsit ones

Stranger: for one a DOTP surrounded by cpatilist states is forced to act like one to compete

Stranger: and therefore exploit other countries and its own labourers to the max

You: right, I was curious about that actually

Stranger: that was trotsky's argument

You: mhm

Stranger: he said u cant have 'socialsism in one country' because you have to first have international DOTP

You: dotp stands for?

Stranger: or you just become a state cpaitlist state like stalin

You: dictatorship of the prol.?

Stranger: dictatorship of the proletariat

Stranger: yep

You: mhm, that makes a lot of sense

Stranger: yep

Stranger: DOTP being when workers hold the state but not the economy

Stranger: the economy is still in private hands

You: right

You: I think I mix up all the varieties of socialism and communism

Stranger: yh DOTP isnt so much a variety but a transition

Stranger: from cpaitlism to socialism/com

You: mhm

You: I feel like I think about human nature cynically

Stranger: oh go on

You: as in, I'm skeptical of being satisfied with equality

You: *ppl being

Stranger: well tehy certainly arnt satified by inequality so how bad can it really get?

You: mhm true

Stranger: we dont mean absolute equality

Stranger: just equality of opporutunity to realise ur best self

You: idk if this is school bias or anything, but when we learn about communism, it's often framed that the party just ends up with all the wealth

You: or power

Stranger: theres a reason that idea of so called communism is taught rlly

Stranger: mainly cos of porpaganda but theres some truth

Stranger: under lenin the state was definitely a semi deictatorship of a few workers parties

Stranger: but with a democratic mechanism and worker councils to elect them

You: hm

You: *mhm

Stranger: with the intention of educating a largely illitarate peasant russia into a democratic socialsit society

Stranger: but after the vicotry of stalin after lenins death, whatever redistribution of power was dropped and centrlasing power in the party and in stalin was the priority

You: right

Stranger: so there is a history to it

You: I feel like I was thought that there was a component of ideological purity -- like, if you expressed greater loyalty to the party, you could get more stuff

You: like better food tickets or cars or stuff

You: *taught

Stranger: sure teh soviet union during and after stalin was definitely a class society

You: mhm, how do you avoid class from rearising?

Stranger: you dont centralise power in bureacracy

Stranger: and make it mroe acoutnable

Stranger: you arm the popualtion

Stranger: make durable directly democratic mechanisms

Stranger: accountability at all level

You: so you're saying like enshrining freedom of speech / freedom of arms in the system?

Stranger: im not a freedom of speech absolutist but sure

Stranger: its very important

You: wasn't China kinda of freedom of speech until tianmensquare, were they?

Stranger: ha no

Stranger: you got tortured if you spoke out

You: ah kay

Stranger: same as soviet union really

Stranger: mao wasnt masively different

You: I'm just thinking of the blm protests in the US

Stranger: yh

You: when ppl feel like change isn't happening

You: then they can get violent

Stranger: yep

You: was just curious how your government would handle that

Stranger: well the governmetn and the people are intrinsically merged

Stranger: but it depends like waht the situation would be

You: mhm I mean technically there's universal suffrage in the US but not everyone votes

Stranger: yep

Stranger: electoral college too

You: and I think minority parties can sometimes be the loudest and most opinionated

Stranger: yh

You: so even with a proletariat government I think there might still be disagreement

Stranger: yh

Stranger: for sure

Stranger: and debate

Stranger: whats ur point

You: mhm idk

Stranger: aight sitl idk the answers

You: yeah it's interesting

Stranger: what are u taught abotu socialism in schools

You: mhm, I guess just the things I said?

You: I think we studied east germany and the ussr

Stranger: ah k

Stranger: yep

You: what life was like

You: to live there

Stranger: sure and if you trying and feed everyone this is waht happens type shite

Stranger: you cant be nice with the economy

You: mhm I don't think my teachers tried to make extremely biased conclusions or anything

You: but the curriculum itself could be biased I think

Stranger: k yeah same

Stranger: yeah fr

Stranger: we dont learn at all about the british empire

You: yup

Stranger: like not once

Stranger: or really any british history beyond knights and castles

You: actually in world history class my teacher commented that I was beginning to sound "anti-american" lol

Stranger: haha good

Stranger: anti american what a word

Stranger: being anti imperialist and anti racist is being anti british too

You: lol

Stranger: tells u what they think about britishness

Stranger: its not culture but power

Stranger: which is a load of bs

You: mhm

Stranger: what did you say to teacher

You: idk I'm not very nationalist

You: I didn't say anything, I'm not really the kind of person to argue

Stranger: neither but i like uk just not enough to block refugees to preserve it

Stranger: like some wacko patriots are

You: mhm

Stranger: they act like the uks not been 15% non white since like 1940

You: mhm

You: what do you think of their opinion that a country should have a right to control their own culture/ethnicities?

Stranger: erm

Stranger: well thats tough

Stranger: i think the ideal of direct dmeocracy and a reactioanry population is contradictory

Stranger: and therefore maybe u need more centralised leadership there

You: I think I heard a scenario of belgium or something wanting to block the construction of mosques in like a historical district or something

You: to preserve their national culture/history

Stranger: yep idk

You: yeah idk either

Stranger: but like how would direct democrayc work in somalia

Stranger: or saudi arabia

Stranger: thats a tough question

Stranger: would men use it to repress women

You: mhm yup

You: or well, there are several states that have a democracy

Stranger: its like india was basically a dicatroship for its first 20 years

You: and they voted to impose state religion

You: state religious laws

You: that kind of thing

Stranger: basically cos it would be a bloodbath

Stranger: of relgion and caste

Stranger: so the governmetn had to go against the people to do whats the long term good

You: I think it's sometimes hard to have foresight about what the "long term good" is though

You: like everybody things they are doing things for long term good

You: *thinks

Stranger: well in indias caste removing caste racism and relgious bigotry was a big thing

Stranger: and many people died due to it

You: mhm

You: I think it's really hard for me to know what is "right"

Stranger: and i think general equality is a good thing impose against a population

Stranger: if they dont want it

Stranger: thats the only way change has ever come

You: mhm although I think indoctrination is always possible

Stranger: eh

You: I mean, this is kind of a hot take, but Western values are indoctrinated

Stranger: yeahthey are

You: similarly speaking you could indoctrinate capitalistic values or communist values

Stranger: some are right some are wrong

Stranger: not succesfully

You: and I think the ppl who grow up with whatever they are indoctrinated with are generally happy

You: and support the views they grow up with

Stranger: yeah true

You: although I think it's sad for whoever gets left out of the system

Stranger: like anti deisicimination laws are passed despite a population

Stranger: for a long term good

You: mhm

You: yeah idk governments are hard haha

Stranger: haha yes

Stranger: thats why were still talking about it

You: mhm

You: I don't really know what to think about ppl who support religious states

You: like indonesia has that problem

Stranger: theyre idiots

You: like they want their state to become religious

Stranger: ik snd prolly will

You: but if I imagine myself in their shoes

You: I think they just want to be closer to their religion

You: which is like a personal value

You: like I'm secular, so things like freedom and equality mean a lot to me

Stranger: truw

You: but I can also imagine a different world were idk god and faith matter a lot to me

You: we have pretty significant freedom of religion battles in the us

Stranger: same]

Stranger: if i didnt grow up in suhc an athiest school and get bullied for it id be hardcore jesus

You: oh your family is religious?

Stranger: yep

You: mhm I was reading about the us lgbt anti-discrimination ruling earlier

Stranger: yeah

You: the religious schools here are worried about being affected

You: like they don't want to hire gay teachers

Stranger: good

You: bc they're a religious school

Stranger: get w the program schools

Stranger: idk if lenins polcy of bruning churches was good but you have to have soem kind of athiest government

You: mhm I think anti-discrimination is good, but I feel like I can understand their resistance of feeling like they can't teach their religion the way they want

Stranger: sure yeah

You: idk most things I don't know what to think lol

Stranger: but think about if they dont get agy teachers

Stranger: anti discimination laws dont work

You: hm?

Stranger: cos u can jsut say u didnt disciminate and taht it

You: ohh no it still matters

You: like imagine you are a religious school

You: and a pastor applies and says they are a gay priest

You: and you don't want to hire them

You: they can sue bc discrimination

Stranger: maybe but its a relgious school why u even applying

You: mhm some ppl kind of want to change christianity I think

You: like there are pastors who are much more sympathetic to lgbt

Stranger: eh still

Stranger: lictus and that

Stranger: levictus

You: yeah idk

You: most of the churches in my area are pro-lgbt

Stranger: pretty sure my preist is closeted

You: aww

Stranger: hes very camp

You: camp ?

Stranger: and went to cambridge

Stranger: femenine

You: ahh

Stranger: yep

You: yeah religion is an odd place in politics for me

You: like it's often at the root of weird stuff

Stranger: oh yeah

Stranger: are u relgious

You: that runs counter to like modern science common sense

You: no

You: well, I'm like 20% spiritual I guess

You: but I'm not religious

Stranger: yep

Stranger: never got the difference

You: between spiritual and religious?

Stranger: yep

You: oh, for me, religious is like adhering to a religion, or denomination, or religious practice

You: spiritual is like vaguely believe in something

You: *belieiving

You: without doing anything about it

You have disconnected.

#omegle #politics #communism #uk #dictatorship of the proletariat #class warfare #education #indoctrination #religion #reigious freedom

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pridge · 6 years

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To Hanoi and beyond - the end of the tour and finishing up in Vietnam

Once again I’ve lost track of when I last wrote….and am also not online thanks to Starbucks only allowing 30 mins connection and me now being checked out of my hotel! So we will see where this goes and there may be some repetition!!

I fly back home to the UK tonight. Whatever possessed me to book an 11pm flight I don’t know….as bit hard even lugging one small bag around Hong Kong. But I have spent several hours by the pool, in the shade, enjoying the last of the heat and devouring the 4th book in a series I only started a couple of weeks back. Thank god for Kindle!! As much as I hate the slow erosion of the traditional book industry, as I love books and the smell of new books, I also love the convenience and the access it gives authors to get published.

So, the two week tour is over. We finished off in Hanoi, after some more great visits and fun times. The diverse group, and Ha our tour guide, really did make it good fun. Hanoi, as the capital and with a different history to Saigon, really is very different. Although I have to admit to only really seeing the old city. Having forgone the final train to fly up to Hanoi alongside two of my fellow travellers, I awoke in my air-con hotel room for a quick jaunt to the hotel we were staying at as a group. They looked better than I would if I’d had another night “sleep” on a train where the beds seem to be designed to be 2 inches too short for me – and thus very uncomfortable. Thus my decision to fly! Plus flight was £40 and door to door took 5 hours or so….rather than 12 hours on the train.

Having regrouped, we were led off for a walk through Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum. Having not yet in my life visited an in-use mausoleum, I’ve seen a few empty ancient ruined ones, I really didn’t know what to expect. So how to describe it. Well, Ho Chi Minh is clearly, and understandably, a national hero in Vietnam. He was the leader against the French colonialist power, and then against the Americans and what was seen (probably justifiably) as the puppet government in the south. So he is held on a very high pedestal. He was a fascinating man – having travelled the world in his younger years including Paris where he grew many of his communist ideas, as well as New York and London. He also it seems spent time in Russia, but sadly didn’t get to meet Lenin (who had recently passed away to be replaced by that template of all dictators – Stalin). Anyway, Ho Chi Minh it seems lived a simple life whilst leading the country (although maybe not as celibate at the Vietnamese creationg “myth” would like you to believe). And as such he is central to the modern Vietnam political and national culture.

So what is a mausoleum you ask….well look it up. But they generally contain the bodies of the dead so people can still visit them. To give you an idea of what this means….current main mausoleums around the world are for Chairman Mao in China, Lenin in Russia (Stalin was removed in the early 1990’s), and I think the first great leader of North Korea. Essentially the bodies are preserved, although no-one seems clear how, so that visitors can pay their respects. The preservation seems to be a closely guarded secret of Russia, who kicked off the modern trend – which kind of makes sense having abolished religion they replaced it with leader worship….what is it with us humans! There is also some speculation as to whether we are actually seeing the bodies or some spectacular fakes. Anyway, it was fascinating.

After a long long queue – I thought Harry Potter Ride at Disney was a long queue – but very well organised by the ceremonial soldiers in their crisp white uniforms – we did get inside. Oh, I should also say there are two queues. One for the public….and another for little schoolkids – of which there were hundreds of 5-7 year olds queuing up with their teachers to visit! I cannot imagine why a one party state would want to do that….oh well besides the obvious early indoctrination.

We then entered the mausoleum, and were ordered to stay silent and respectful, and had to enter two by two, a little like boarding the arc. And there he was – laying there looking very peaceful and chilled (literally as his body is in a sealed temperature controlled box). The site of the mausoleum itself is fascinating – as it is on the site of where Ho Chi Minh lived whilst leader and then elder statesman of Vietnam. It had his simple dwellings where he lived – which the thousands of tourists all got to visit. The mausoleum is also opposite the national assembly building – which is the heart of the Vietnamese parliament and government. I do need to check out how a parliament works in a one party communist state. But the symbolism is very evident.

On that note….I think I have mentioned this before. But a communist country where health care and school has to be paid for. And there is a very free market economy. Just odd. Again, I need to understand more before really commenting.

Anyway having been to Ho Chi Land, sorry I mean the venerated late leaders mausoleum (I probably won’t ever be allowed back into Vietnam once I post this!!), the group all went and did our own thing. The rest of this will be somewhat out of order as I try and capture key moments.

The Hanoi Hilton – the old French colonial prison, converted first to a POW camp for American pilots, and now into a “museum”. And I say museum in the loosest sense. It is more a memorial to the many deaths caused by the fight against colonial rule and interference whilst gaining independence. There is probably no doubt the French were harsh with their dissidents at the time. What I struggled with was the portrayal of it as some form of great place to keep American prisoners. When the facts of the situation were many were tortured, left disabled and without proper medical treatment and scared for life. Not actually the basketball, table tennis and relaxed environment it was painted out to be. Maybe this is part of the whole reconciliation with the past and with the USA, not to dwell on this side of it. I just found it rather disingenuous after the relatively well put together other museums I’d seen in Vietnam.

The Women’s Museum on the other hand was great. A very well put together celebration and insight into the important role of women in Vietnamese history and culture. Whether their roles in the family and society, or in the independence struggle, or contribution to art and politics. This was a respectful and enjoyable museum that also gave further insight into the various other ethnic cultures that make up Vietnam as a whole.

It was in Hanoi as well that I had my first egg coffee. And I have to say it surpassed what I expected. I am now torn between that and coconut coffee as my current favourite coffee. I am not clear how it is made, but something to do with either the egg whites….or the egg yolks? Coffee, obviously. Sugar maybe….anyway it was amazing. I have a book being delivered by Amazon for when I get home on coffee and how to brew it, make it etc – and have also ordered Vietnamese coffee makers. So I will be experimenting.

It was from Hanoi that two of the highlights of the tour, if not my whole trip came. Firstly the homestay in the hills (mountains in the UK) about 4-5 hours drive outside Hanoi. After heavy rain the night before we were all a bit unsure how this would play out – especially after a number of eventful elements. Our little bus, which on the roads out here counted over 20,000 steps in the journey – it was that bumpy – coped well with the rain. I think we were all having a few doubts though – our first toilet stop allowed us to watch some torrential rain from under cover – before the whole thing early fell apart when our route was blocked because, well the bridge or road had kind of washed away and was now essentially a fast flowing waterfall. Our driver and Ha found a way round this, and we proceeded higher in the mountains.

Many really enjoyed this bit – with the sheer drops and the beautiful scenery. I just sweated as I hid on the other side of the bus. My fear of heights is something I really wish I didn’t have. It stops me doing a lot of stuff part of me would like to do – but I know I just don’t have the courage to push myself to do. I love a good adrenalin rush – but getting to these things seems to involve journeys that just make me terrified and sick. So I am not sure of the upside of it. Anyway, as we got into the mountains we then got stuck due to a recent rock slide. It had been largely cleared….phew….but then the bus got stuck on a number of large rocks. I literally couldn’t breathe as the bus first of all bounced over these boulders on this single track by a sheer drop….then got bloody stuck.

So we got out and started walking to the village, which luckily wasn’t far, whilst the driver remained to try and unstick it. Which he eventually did. We then got the village in the hills, and had another great local meal. There was some debate then as to whether to do our trek to the homestay. I had mixed feelings – it was hot and the weather a bit changeable. Also, I have to be honest and I was a bit worried about what heights I may have to contend with during it.

In the end we set-off on a 5km hike, which in reality I think was more like 7-8km. Which itself was very enjoyable. It was humid as anything – which meant everyone was drenched in sweat from the first steps, but it was overcast and we were thankful – as doing that in the 35 degrees and sun we had seen up to that point would have been terrible. Instead we had about 30 degrees and overcast – and this made for some amazing views of the valleys and the low clouds. It wasn’t a terribly tough walk in terms of terrain, there were some ups and downs, but nothing that felt death defying. In the end it was more than worth it for the serenity, the scenery and the exercise.

As we emerged from a gorge onto a pebbly beach by a large lake (in fact a reservoir) our boat was waiting for us to take us to the homestay. The journey to the homestay was pretty special as we chugged along on our boat. When I say boat, it was more like a large sardine tin with some of the can still there as a roof and a motor at the back. But it was delightful as we all realised we’d survived an exhausting trek, and needed food and beer. The homestay had that, and was so much more.

As we rounded out of another gorgeous valley formed by the reservoir we say where we were staying ahead of us. At the riverfront of a small village of a few hundred people they’d built a nice, but not luxurious, stilt house. We had hot showers. We had cold beer. We had great local food. Then we had some traditional dancing – which was both authentic (as in felt real, partly because it felt like the locals weren’t entirely practiced, but also friendly) and fun. We were asked if we could perform something from our culture – but our mix of Aussies, Brits, Canadian and Poles struggled to come up with anything that connected us, let alone that we could perform. Our ideas ranged from national anthems, to Saturday Night by Wigfield. We managed to get out of it by essentially making clear we were both lacking in talent and culture. It was interesting as in a village of 300 we probably had all the local girls dancing for us. This reminded me of my earlier concerns about tourist imperialism and ruination of local cultures. This real performance though, for tourists, was perhaps in this instance, a way of keeping their traditions and culture alive in the face of the westernisation going on across so much of Asia. I hope it never just turns into “another tourist attraction” for them though.

After a decent night sleep, maybe helped by rice wine, in the communal hut, we left with slightly heavy hearts after such beautiful surroundings and friendly people. We even met the village elder, who at 85 had moved to the village as a small child and never left. Weird thinking about how little had changed in her world beyond electricity and communication, whilst so much of the wider world went through so much in that period.

The boat trip then took 2 hours across this vast reservoir. It gave you a real feel for some of the local life though. They were clearly farming the forests, as shown by burnt out areas, and evidence of logging, but not in the chaotic way you might imagine. For every burnt out area, there was an area showing new or young growth. They clearly realise instinctively the need to sustain their resources, whilst they control them at least. All the while remaining so poor by western, and even Vietnamese city standards.

After returning to Hanoi and the chaos of the city streets that continued to bemuse and mystify some of my fellow travellers, our next major trip was to Ha Long Bay. Before that though, I must say something about the streets of Hanoi. It is a strange place in the old city. Each street seems to be its own shopping speciality – we were staying on what can best be described as hardware street – selling locks, chains, metal wheels, screws. If you walked round the corner you might find yourself in home lighting street, or zipper and tassle street, or home fabric street, or shoe street – or pretty much any street. It is charming – but also just so strange. How does having dozens of shops selling the same thing for a whole street make any sense? If you need a new padlock, you have to travel across the city to this one street to buy it – and all the shops are literally the same! So charming yes. Makes supply chain easy I suppose as wholesalers just have to deliver to one street. But makes no sense to me. Maybe I am searching for sense in things I shouldn’t be, and should just accept the difference of it all.

So Ha Long Bay. This was a real challenging experience. One of Vietnams main tourist attractions are the 140million year old islands that still out to create this bay, there are more than 1,000 of them. All largely uninhabited in this UNESCO world heritage site. As such there is a teaming port and hotel land being created to service it. Luckily the authorities have limited construction of new boats, which means at least it shouldn’t be getting any worse. As there are a LOT of boats and a LOT of tourists. Leaving the bay on our private boat felt a bit like leaving as part of some form of armada. Just one full of people with cameras!! This all felt somehow wrong to me. As we stormed out of the bay we headed for our first site – the largest caves in the islands.

Whilst sceptical, these caves were wonderful and also fun. By this point our merry little band of travellers had bonded somewhat and there was lots of laughter and childish behaviour as we went through the caves. Not helped by halfway through there being one rock formation that a local guide described to his elderly Japanese group as the “rifle rock”….now let me tell you - it did not look much like a rifle. Frankly, it was an erect penis. Sticking out at 45 degrees and of a red hue of rock. Our group could barely contain our giggles after this. As we looked for more and more weird and wonderful sites in these beautiful caves, whilst Ha attempted to keep some semblance of order, and we frankly behaved like 6 year olds on a school trip without supervision.

The rest then climbed a massive hill, whilst I avoided getting stuck halfway up the steep and narrow walk and thus embarrassing myself, by relaxing on the sundeck of the boat all by myself. That evening we had yet more good local food – and then cracked on with karaoke. Not the widest selection of tunes, and everyone clearly agreed I really cannot sing (which I had told people before, but not everyone was at the last karaoke), but what I completely lack in talent I try and make up for in eagerness. Another enjoyable night before retiring to our frankly very nice little cabins.

And with that, and out of order, this last part of the tour was one, and we were finished with Hanoi. My journey isn’t quite over as I still have a couple of final days in Hong Kong to reflect on as well as the trip overall. But we had a very nice time as a group – and there were no arguments or fallings out. We had such a great mix of people from those who needed to know the plans to those who would just wander off. From those who had an avid interest in any market available, to a couple of us who essentially avoided markets like the plague (I’d seen enough of them by then). Everyone was kind, funny, intelligent and often sarcastic. The last night meal I actually found sadder than I expected, having been possibly the one who spent the most time going off on their own and doing their own thing (often just drinking coffee with a book). Would I do another tour – maybe. But certainly more likely than before. I did find the whole thing hard at times, as I’ve explained in previous blogs, and brought back memories that were both sweet and bit bitter at the same time. And wasn’t easy not having anyone I knew well enough to talk to about it – and not wanting to drag anyone else into my occasional melancholy either!! Maybe something I’ll touch on again in my final reflections when I write them!

And then just like that I am on a flight back to Hong Kong as I start to make my way home!

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