Woodys World:Turns Left... Into South East Asia

Though the threat of nuclear war hung over their heads, the fighting was not real in its literal sense.

Which side the average European fell on depended on where they lived, determined for them by the Big Three at conference tables in Yalta and Potsdam. The struggle for Indochina predated the Cold War. Real armed battles were fought between colonial and nationalist and communist and anti-communist forces almost from the very beginning. The battle in Southeast Asia was not between governments behind clearly drawn borders on either side of a clear line of demarcation between democracy and communism.

Borders mattered little in the Southeast Asian Cold War. There was no Oder-Neisse Line in Indochina. There had always been interchange between these regions-cum-states, each with significant diaspora in the others. Governments in distant Saigon, Phnom Penh or Vientiane could do little to control their frontiers. The sides hurled propaganda. Governments had far less power in Southeast Asia than their counterparts in Europe. Throughout most of the Cold War, Southeast Asian states had two or more governments which claimed rule.

Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia experienced periods in which territory in each was controlled by opposing governments, dividing the country, each claiming to hold legitimate power over the whole.

Government heads did not stay in power long and there were constant overthrow attempts by both communist and anti-communist forces. In Southeast Asia, Western governments were unwilling to commit fully to total war and unwilling or unable to take, occupy and hold territory they had won. The US, having just fought an unpopular war in Korea, was unwilling to commit to another war in Asia. In previous modern wars such as WWI and WWII, large-scale troop deployments and naval, air, armor and artillery support were central features and the war was prosecuted largely by one army defeating the enemy militarily and advancing to occupy ever more territory until the state leadership was destroyed or it capitulated.

Capitols, major population centers and industrial areas were particular targets of bombing campaigns.

It was total war. Woody Island is the largest of the Paracel chain recaptured by the Chinese during a military clash with Vietnam in Vietnam and Taiwan retain claims to the chain, one of several territorial disputes China has ongoing in the South China Sea. In addition to establishing Sansha as the administrative hub for the Paracels, the disputed Spratly Islands and Macclesfield Bank, an undersea atoll, Beijing set up a division-level People's Liberation Army garrison on the island, about kilometres from Hainan.

The moves have raised concern among other countries with claims to islands in the resource-rich region, including Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. The United States has also stressed the need to keep vital shipping routes through the sea open. It's necessary to build a new airport for overseas tourists and a deep-water port that is able to handle cruise liners," Li said.

Skip to main content. Major development plan for Woody Island unveiled. Sunday, 04 November, , Sunday, 04 November, , 4: You are signed up. We think you'd also like. Here are some other things to do and see in Ho Chi Minh, which I discovered during my walks through the city. Definitely worth to have a look in and around the tunnels, if you have an extra day in Ho Chi Minh!

The next morning after waking up at 5 am, I caught a cyclo from my hotel to Ho Chi Minh train station as it was time for my next adventure… Travelling Vietnam by Train. The scenery is absolutely stunning another advantage of travelling by day train from Ho Chi Minh to Nha Trang but the train itself… boy oh boy.

You can choose a recliner chair, or a cabin with 4 or 6 beds, where you have to sit on your bed when travelling during the day. If you are in a top bed, you have to sit there all day Or find a seat in the restaurant carrier. So if you can, book a bottom bed, they also have much more space. There is a restaurant on the train where you can buy snacks and drinks and there are toilets, which are disgusting.

After 7 hours of staring out the window enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way, I arrived in Nha Trang. A low budget 2-star hotel , but with my own room and bathroom. The Big Buddha in Nha Trang would be interesting to visit, and I could do a boat trip which I saw at a local tourist office. So off I went the next day with the Funky Monkey tour. Well, the name says it all… Funky it sure was! A great vibe on board, nice food, good music and nice people who were also travelling solo.

I met a few people from all over the world and we decided to meet up for dinner and drinks after the boat trip. Yes, you read that right.

This was a popular Backpackers Bar in Nha Trang. Needless to say that we all felt a bit hungover the next day when we all met up for breakfast. We decided to chill out at the beach for a bit, then we got ourselves together and went looking for the Big Buddha.

After walking the steps up to reach the top, the surroundings and views are amazing. Definitely, a must do when you are in Nha Trang. Halfway on the track, you will find a 14 meter long sleeping Buddha, entrance points to the Long Son Pagoda and beautiful wildflowers. After our Big Buddha adventure, it was time to get ready for dinner, which we had all together and later we had a quiet drink at the Sailor Club, a modern and cool beach club. After 2 drinks, we decided it was time to say goodbye as everyone headed off in different directions early the next morning.

Amazing tours at Viator Get inspired. But those cyclones caused floodings in Northern Vietnam… The direction I was travelling. How was I going to travel to Hanoi?! I kinda had to, as the rest of my trip which included a flight from Hanoi to Bangkok was already planned.

Getting around in Ho Chi Minh

After several calls with the local agent, he told me he could get a refund on my train ticket and they found a cheap flight for the next day at Great… lets book that in! At that point I was lucky I had some things already arranged via my work at the travel company, so the local agent took care of everything.

Then he had to figure out how I would get my plane ticket still one of those paper ones back in the days with the white, yellow and pink slip and the agent needed my original train ticket in order to get a refund. If you want to travel overland through Vietnam, you can also travel by bus. There are special backpackers busses to the main destinations, but not so sure how safe and clean those busses are tho…. I had an emergency exit seat, which meant extra space but no view what so ever from my seat. After arriving in Hanoi I got a taxi, where an emergency exit was also necessary because this guy was driving as an idiot.

It was like sitting in a real-life Mario Kart or 4wheel Madness game. Then he also decided that I might like the Vietnamese version of Whitney Houston, so he turned up the beat so hard that when he received a phone call yes also during his madman driving skills he had to scream in order to make himself clear.

I thought I was going mental! Luckily, not much later, we arrived at the Hostel in Hanoi I was staying for 3 nights. I shared a room with 5 other girls.