Cambodian Keggers

So, I found out yesterday that Cambodian keg parties are remarkably similar to American ones: you spend a long time trying to get everyone together; even longer trying to find the place; then you get there and find that the beer's gone, and everyone is drunk and asleep; then you go find a bar.

I ran into my friend Ming on the street by chance last night. He is a Cambodian student that lived in the dorm next to mine. I had thought he graduated last year, but it turns out he just did this year. It was great to see him. He speaks English extremely well, and even faster than I do, which is saying a lot coming from a northeasterner. He invited me to a graduation party some of his other Cambodian friends were holding at the Agricultural University. I soon found out that the Agricultural University was at least 10km outside of Hanoi, which is pretty far on a 100cc motorbike carrying a fat American on the back. It was my first experience on the highway on a motorbike, but it wasn't nearly as harrowing as I expected. You have to share the road with all the huge trucks bound for Hai Phong, picking up shipments from Hong Kong, but the far right lane is pretty safe for slow motorbikes.

The ride was beautiful, and well worth the time spent and the aching ass, even if the party was a bust. We crossed over the Red River on Chuong Duong bridge, a notorious make-out point for Vietnamese couples, and the whole right side of the bridge was full of stopped bikes with couples holding hands. Alas, Ming didn't seem to want to stop. Once we got past the chain of "Karaoke Bars" and "Rest Houses" (read: brothels) immediately outside the city, it was just open land and rice paddies. The university was a maze of fields, rice paddies, irrigation streams, and slightly colonial-looking yellow buildings. It's amazing how much you can appreciate the fresh, country air outside the city.

After we realized the party was over, we headed back to Hanoi and had some bia hois with a group of Ming's friends. I met a guy who studied on my program the semester before I did, and it was amazing that we had both concocted the same twisted conspiracy theories about the guy running the program. (Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy, and extremely capable, but he is weird.)

Off to Saigon in a couple hours to meet Nathalie, and we will come back north by train and plane, stopping in Hoi An along the way.