It was like looking in the mirror when old friends arrived to spend Christmas & New years eve with Amit. This would be his 5th away from England. Life had taken Amit in a new direction and for the first time in his life, he was flush with cash ‘ghetto snobbing’ as he puts it and was keen to show off to his friends and show he had conquered his biggest fear much to their surprise.
Amit had stopped seeing himself as a backpacker, he was well adversed into the local culture, doing as the locals do, seeing life from their perspective and not as a foreign traveler. He could spot scammers & they could see him. However a day of exploring a famous sight posed more questions & answers. Maybe the conspiracy theories were more fact than fiction.
It was what Amit liked to call stupid O’clock in the morning adventures, he didn’t want to but was glad to have, floating down the serenity of the mighty Mekong River to watch a sunrise then onto the hustle and bustle of the Cai Rang floating markets with a local and not in an organised tour – What could possibly go wrong?
Amit had fallen in love, with this new raw and rugged non touristy country, the people, the pace of life and just how Jurassic it felt. Even more so, this country had a forefield against life messing with him. It was a day that epitomised his time here, learning, discovering, and full of revelations. It was just as his traveling hero had said it would be.
Stress & frustrations were nearly visible as they left Amit, this is what he had expected when arriving in this country a month ago. The tropical Island washed through a serenity he hadn’t felt in a while but just as he let his guard down of course life had a surprise for him. This time in the form of a primate cousin.
