Jungle Beach

There is a place on the Central Coast of Vietnam generically named, Jungle Beach. The experience is nothing like the name. There may be places like it but I have neither heard of nor been to them. Jungle Beach is a 3.5 acre parcel of beachfront property owned, built, maitntained and run by a Canadian ex-pat. The 'resort' offers a variety of hand-built, beyond spartan accomodations that allow the land and atmosphere to dictate the experience. There were no windows and we could hear the ocean 20 feet away as we drifted to sleep. The huts were almost entirely coonstructed from bamboo and even the furniture was hand-crafted by the exceedingly creative owner.

Meals were included and prepared on-site and served family-style at tables that fostered conversation and new friendships. A perfect beach reached our front door and the warm water and steady breeze easily replaced the need for air conditioning.

We spent three nights at Jungle Beach. Our time was fairly evenly spent swimming, drinking and just sitting. I finally had the perfect opportunity to break out the guitar in a setting I imagined while packing it. We could have stayed much longer if our schedules had not been set for our return to Saigon.

The place has entered our travel lexicon. 'Well, it's no Jungle Beach.' is likely its most common use. Perhaps the best thing about Jungle Beach was its honesty. There was no pretense, it was not trying to be anything, it just was. Even the owner who was washed with 2,000 travelers a year and had earned the right to be jaded over his 13 years was highly personal and sometimes too honest. We took away many things from Jungle Beach but above all the knowledge that we will be back.

Third World (Wide Web)

There is no doubt that the internet has changed travel.  Wireless networks and internet cafes can be found everywhere we've been so far and if they are not free, the cost is unsubstantial.  We have booked many rooms and all of our flights online.  We have been able to stay in touch with the goings-on of home and relay our experiences.  We can research a city and read reviews on places to go and things to do. 

There's no overstating the convenience of having a hostel to direct the taxi driver to when arriving at a bus station, checking in early to a flight, or looking up transit schedules to avoid long waits at a terminal.  It's priceless to have the opinions of thousands of fellow travelers at virtually any time and on just about every topic from places to stay and countries and cities to visit. 

I have been traveling fairly seriously for over 10 years and have seen this revolution that has changed so much of our daily lives-from working to shopping-alter the experience of the road forever.  In 2001, when I spent two months wandering Greece, the internet was a way to check email.  In 2002, from Spain, I was able to follow a Giants game through the slow pitch by pitch diagram.  In 2006, Jason and I would  occasionally pop into a hotel parking lot to access their wireless networks to book a room while passing through about 40 states.  In 2008, Uwey booked a room in New Orleans on her phone while we traveled Highway 10 from Baton Rouge.  Right now I am typing this blog on our netbook at a cafe in Phnom Penh with free WIFI. 

But as I expound upon the benefits that this global revolution has conferred on my generation-X life, I think about what I have lost as well.  There is no doubt that I want to know what time our bus leaves tomorrow but can't say that I don't look back fondly on the time I played guitar for 6 hours while waiting for my train to Corinth to Athens.  When Adam and I searched for hours for a hostel in Barcelona in 90 degree heat it was miserable but I smile when I think of it.  Jason and I drove past exhaustion in New Mexico in 2000 only to pass out in a hotel parking lot where we experienced an act of kindness that changed us both.  With smart phones, we would have likely been in one of that hotel's bed. 

I have made countless wrong turns on the road, an act that is possibly preventable now, and have gained from many, if not most of them.  It is true that Uwey and I could sell our netbooks on the streets, we could drop letters in the mail and feel our way by foot.  I'm sure many still travel this way but it is no longer for us.  I said that the internet has changed travel but we have to acknowledge that we were changed before we hit foreign shores, it is a foolish notion to move backwards.  There is a balance, as with all things, and we will find it.  Already we have seen hostels, not available online, better than ours.  The internet is a powerful tool but so is our instincts and our judgement. G-chat anyone?