嘆きのアンコール・ワット

1月31日(木)快晴

鳥肌のハノイから無料サウナのシエムリアップへ。シエムリアップとは「タイには征服されない」という意味だそうです。アンコール・ワットはピラミッドやホーチミン廟よりはるかに巨大な政治宗教建築。本来はヒンズー寺院でしたが仏教が征服すると神体・リンガは破壊され、またヒンズーが席巻すると仏像を破壊。愚かな人間の記念碑。20年前の内戦では白兵戦が展開され外壁に銃痕が残っています。今また妙な王国がよみがえり、変な感じで修復され王国経済を支える観光収入源。世界遺産やオリンピックって奇天烈なものですね。

ヘッドロック・お陀仏

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pitiable Angkor Wat
Thu. January 31 : fine

I have moved from goose skinned Hanoi to the free sauna Siem Reap. Siem Reap means “Never be conquered by Thailand”. Angkor Wat is a much bigger political and religious facility than Pyramid or Ho Chi Ming Shrine. It is originally a Hinduism temple but when Buddhism conquered the symbol, lingam was destroyed, and when Hinduism conquered Buddha statues were destroyed. It is the memorial of stupid human history. There are a lot of bullet marks on the wall that were given by the hand to hand fight of the Civil War 20 years ago. Nowadays the curious kingdom is revived, the temple was repaired peculiarly, and the tourism income sustains the economy of the kingdom. The World Heritage and Olympic Game are unusual.

head-locked Duddha

ナデシコ・クラブ

1月30日（水）曇

混雑を避けて閉店間際にホテルのレストランに行くと他の客はいません。結構いい感じのウエイターたちが僕のテーブルを囲んでにわか日本語教室。閉店後彼らは日本人女性とデートするのだそうです。夜の街を案内し、食事の後はバーで飲み、翌日は客室から出勤です。日本人女性もぼったくりのガイドやシクロやバイタクより安心で安上がり。パースに住むワーホリの友人もOZと同棲しています。「生活費も半分で済むし、英語の勉強になるし、日本の彼にはばれっこないし」そんなことでいいのカニ？

ロータリー・クラブ

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Pink Club
Wed. January 30 : cloudy

When I went to the hotel restaurant just before closing to avoid crowd there were no other customers there. Several good-looking waiters surrounded my table and started unexpected Japanese lesson. They said they would go on date with Japanese ladies after closing the restaurant. They would escort the ladies in the night town, drink together after dinner, and come to the restaurant from the guest room next morning. It is securer and cheaper than an unfair guide or driver of cyclo or bike-taxi for Japanese ladies. One of my friends in Perth, a working holiday maker is living with a OZ. “The alimony is half, it’s useful for learning English conversation, and my Japanese boyfriend would never find it out.” Is that really OK?

Rotary Club

ハロン湾クルーズ

1月29日（火）曇

ハロン湾はハノイから150km。松島を巨大化させ、桂林を沈没させたような青松奇岩の名勝地。1泊2日のクルーズは6000円。木造ジャンク船に冷暖房完備、バスつきのキャビンが10室。4回の食事は地場産海鮮コース料理でびっくりの美味しさ。途中で鍾乳洞を探検したり、島の山頂の寺院目指して登山をしたり、漁師の筏で生魚を買って厨房で調理してもらったり。1年に2－3度は通い詰めてもおかしくない超弩級クルーズ。

花より団子

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Harong Bay cruise
Tue. January 29 : cloudy
Harong Bay locates 150km away from Hanoi. It is a place of scenic beauty with blue pines and curious rocks that are like huge Matsushima or sunk Keirin. A 1 night 2 day cruise costs $60. There are 10 cabins with the private air conditioner and the bathroom in the wooden junk. 4 times of meal during the cruise is sea food course made by local ingredients and it tastes amazingly good. On the way of the cruise we explored caves, climbed on the temple on the top of the mountain, and bought live fish to cook in the boat kitchen. It was a super excellent cruise that is worth to go on 2 or 3 times a year.

flour is more valuable than flower

ホーチミン廟

1月28日（月）曇

ホーチミンは偉大な人物ですが、神格化されると人格を落とします。ハノイの中心地にあるホーチミン廟を見学する人々は武装兵に守られた門からかなりの距離を2列に並んで行進しないといけません。寒いのでポケットに手を突っ込んでいたり、隊列を乱したり、姿勢が悪かったりすると兵隊から怖い顔で注意をされます。入り口でカメラや携帯を預けなかった人は兵隊詰め所に連行されて油を絞られます。ホーおじさんは若作りの生態標本で展示されていました。可哀相なホーチミン。94歳の名将ボー・グエン・ザップは隣接する大きな家に住んでいます。

不思議な骨

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Ho Chi Ming Shrine
Mon. January 28 : cloudy

Ho Chi Ming was an outstanding person but once he is deified he loses his character. People who visit Ho Chi Ming Shrine that locates in the center of Hanoi have to make two rows and parade a long way from the gate protected by the armed soldiers. If you put your hands in the pockets, step aside the row, or have bad posture, the soldiers would give you an attention showing scary expression. If you didn’t leave your camera or mobile phone at the entrance, soldiers would bring you to the guardroom and scold you persistently. Uncle Ho’s body specimen was displayed as a youth. Poor Ho Chi Ming. 94-year old Bo Gueng Zap, the great commander is living in the big house next to the shrine.

mysterious bones

ハノイ

1月27日（日）曇

今年のハノイの冬は記録的な寒さ。夜間は10度以下に気温が下がります。ホーチミンは雑然として不潔な街ですが、ハノイは黄色の洋風建築の多い綺麗な町です。公共建造物も個人の家も装飾の多いテラスが目立ちます。厚化粧の厭らしさを感じます。「黄色は力の象徴です」36歳のガイドのミン君は陽気な好青年なのに博物館や革命記念碑の前では高圧的で説教調になります。「ベトナム国旗の赤い地と星の黄色は何を意味しているのか分かりますか？」とまるで子供への説明。「赤は血で黄色はアジア人の肌です」どうでもいいことを。どちらが子供なのか。

緑の書

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Hanoi
Sun. January 27 : cloudy

The coldness in Hanoi this winter is record breaking. The temperature becomes below 10 degrees at night. Although Ho Chi Minh is messy and dirty Hanoi is a neat city with lots of yellow Western style buildings. The terraces of most public buildings and private houses are decorated nicely. It’s a little slimy since they are over-decorated. “Yellow is a symbol of power” said Mr. Ming, 36 year old guide. He is a cheerful young guy but he becomes oppressive when he comes to the museums or revolution monuments. He explains me as I am a child “Do you know what the red background and yellow star mean?” “The red means blood and yellow, the skin color of Asians” It makes no difference to me. Which person is more childish?

Green Book

潮汲み

1月26日（土）曇

ベトナムは急速に発展中の国なので社会構造と人間行動の歪みが目立ちます。インフラ整備の追いつかない都市は不潔で渋滞だらけ。田舎も乱開発で自然破壊と公害だらけ。ビーチに行ったら砂浜はビニール袋とタバコの吸殻が潮風に舞い、野犬が残飯を漁っています。海も濁ってゴミが浮いています。海水浴客に混じって潮汲みの姿。地元の新鮮な魚介類を食べさせる海鮮レストランの従業員が1日中水槽の海水を汲み替えています。夕方ハノイに飛びます。

日本より少し増しなビーチ

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Scooping up salt water
Sat. January 26 : cloudy

As Vietnam is a rapidly developing county the distortion of the social structure and the human behavior has stood out. Cities are dirty and full of traffic jams since building the infrastructure is still insufficient. The countyside is full of nature destruction and the pollution caused by disordered development. When you go to the beach there are countless numbers of plastic bags and cigarette butts being drifted by the sea wind and stray dogs are foraging scrap. Garbage is also being drifted on the surface of muddy sea water. I saw some people who scooping up salt water among the group of tourists swimming. They are staff from the seafood restaurant that offers fresh local fish and shells to the tourists and they keep changing sea water of the tanks whole day. I will fly to Hanoi this evening.

a little better beach than Japan

戦争を知らない子供たち

1月25日（金）晴

ホーチミンに知人はいませんが、僕が解放戦線の支援者だったことを知る人はまだ残っているようです。メコン川クルーズに案内されて大勢の住民が殺された村を訪問。人口の10倍くらいのお墓がある村です。子供たちが天然の蜂蜜レモンを作ってくれました。この村では龍眼（ローガン）という果物の産地で、ローガンの蜂蜜はベトナムでは最良品とされています。

解放戦線

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Children who don’t know war
Fri. January 25 : fine

There are no acquaintances in Ho Chi Minh but some people still know that I was a supporter of Vietnam Liberation League. I was guided to Mekong River cruise and visited the village where a lot of villagers were killed. There are about 10 times as many tombs as the population. Children made some natural honey and lemon juice for me. This village is famous for producing longans, a kind fruit, and honey from longan has the best quality in Vietnam.

Vietnam Liberation League

ベトナム戦争博物館

1月24日（木）曇

シンガポールとホーチミンは空路1時間半。36年振りの訪問です。当時はサイゴンと呼ばれ時には銃弾が飛び交う街でした。戦争博物館は3階建てですが未完成なのか1階しか使用されていません。展示物は当時の写真と米軍が逃げる時に残していった戦車や飛行機など。写真の一部は僕が収集と展示に協力したものです。米国人の観光客は大勢見かけましたが、日本人はいなかった。

韓国の戦争博物館

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Vietnam War Museum
Thu. January 24 : cloudy

It takes 1and a half hour by airplane to go to Ho Chi Minh from Singapore. 36 years has passed since my last visit. In those days this city was called Saigon where bullets sometimes flied. War Museum is a three-storeyed building but only the ground floor is used as it doesn’t seem to be completed yet. The display is the pictures from that time and tanks and combat planes that American army abandoned when they retreated. I cooperated in gathering and displaying some of the pictures. I saw a lot of American tourists but no Japanese.

war museum in Korea

ニュートン・サーカス

1月23日（水）曇

シンガポールで1番有名な屋台村はニュートン・サーカス。10年前には大勢の市民で賑わい、300円くらいで満腹になったものですがすっかり様変わり。清潔で観光客向けの海鮮料理屋だらけになっています。カニ、エビ、イカ、中国野菜とタイガー・ビールを注文して8000円。味は悪くはないけど執拗な客引きがうっとうしい。

シンガポールの屋台村

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Newton Circus
Wed. January 23 : cloudy

The most famous hawker in Singapore is Newton Circus. It used to be busy with a lot of citizens and $3 was enough to make you feel full but it has been utterly changed now. It has become cleaner and most restaurants have changed into seafood restaurants for the tourists. I ordered some crab, prawns, squids, Chinese vegetable, and Tiger Beer. It was $80 in total. It was not so bad but insistent solicitation was annoying.

hawkers in Singapore

初釜

1月22日（火）曇

ピースボートが正午にシンガポール入港。看護師のユッキーと外国船ターミナルに隣接するモールの屋台村（ホーカーズ）で刀削麺と小龍包を食べた後中国茶房でジャスミン・ティーを飲みました。中国正月は2週間後です。師走のシンガポールは時々小雨がぱらつき、涼しくて過ごしやすい気候です。

3年前の初釜

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The first tea ceremony of the New Year
Tue. January 22 : fine

Peace Boat reached Singapore at noon. I met the nurse, Yukkie and we had toshomen noodle and shorongpoh at the hawker in the mall next to the overseas terminal. We had jasmine tea at the Chinese tea room after that. Chinese New Year’s Day is coming in 2 weeks. It is cool and comfortable as there are sometimes showers in Singapore during Chinese December.

The first tea ceremony of the New Year 3 years ago

マッスル・バー

1月21日（月）快晴

フリーマントル名物のマッスル・バー。ここは筋肉マンが青汁を飲みにくる場所ではありません。シドニーにオイスター・バーがあるように当地ではムラサキイガイ（ムール貝）の専門レストランがあるのです。ヨット・ハーバーに面したガラス張りのレストランで、直径30cmのボウルに山盛りのマッスルは＄30。僕の故郷の下北では牡蠣やマッスルはいくらでも採れたし、そんな物は救荒食品として普段食べるものではなかった代物。貝類は好きだけど、未だにどちらも美味しいとは思いません。子供の頃食べさせられた鯨肉も不味かった。中国正月で賑わうシンガポールに移動。

オイスター・バー

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Mussel bar
Mon. January 21 : fine

The Mussel bar famous in Freemantle is not the place where muscle men come for drinking vegetable juice. There are restaurants specialized in mussels here as the oyster bars in Sydney. A 30cm diameter bowlful of mussels is $30 in the glass-wall restaurant on the yacht harbor. In my hometown, Shimokita we could catch oysters and mussels illimitably and we never ate them regularly since they were considered as famine food. I like shells but both mussels and oysters don’t interest me still. Whale meat I was forced to eat when I was a child was not good, either. I’ve moved to Singapore being lively to celebrate Chinese New Year.

oyster bar

フリーマントルの大道芸人

1月20日（日）快晴

スワン・リバーを船で下り河口の港町のフリーマントルへ。ここはハウステンボスの10倍くらい美しい街です。100年前の街並みがそのまま残っています。日曜日には市場が開かれ、市民や観光客で賑わいます。市場の横の歩行者天国で大道芸人が「捕鯨反対」と漢字で書かれたTシャツを着てパーフォーマンス。アホウドリ、トキ、テン、カワウソ、サンショウウオ・・・何でも採り尽くし、殺し尽くし、売り尽す日本の三光作戦は未だ健在のようですね。

三光作戦

フリーマントル

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Busker in Freemantle
Sun. January 20 : fine

I went down the Swan River on the boat to Freemantle, the town stands at the mouth of the river. This town is 10 times more beautiful than Huistenbosch as the rows of houses along the streets have been preserved completely as they were100 years ago. Market is open on Sundays and it is crowded with the citizens and the tourists. A busker was performing wearing a T shirt that says “Don’t kill whales” on the pedestrian precinct next to the market. Japanese sales strategy, catch, kill, and sell everything completely seems to be still adamant. The victims are albatrosses, ibises, martens, otters, salamanders, and other animals.

three bright star strategy

Freemantle

黒鳥川リバー・クルーズ

1月19日（土）快晴

パースの市内を流れるスワン・リバーの観光船に乗りました。船長は僕が海技免許を持っていると知り、船を操縦させてくれました。川沿いに豪邸が建ち並んでいます。豪州一の80億円の豪邸もあります。毎週土曜日に発行されるケアンズの不動産新聞には5億円程度の物件は載っていますが、10億円を越すものは見たことがありません。ハリウッドの丘の頂上にあるトム・クルーズ邸は100億円以上するらしいけど、庭で釣りや水泳ができて、ボートでもアクセスできるこちらの家がもっと上質かな？

トム・クルーズ

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Swan River cruise
Sat. January 19 : fine

I rode on the sightseeing boat on the Swan River that flows throughout Perth. The captain allowed me to navigate his boat as he found out I had a pilot license. There are luxurious mansions along the river. One of them is the most expensive one in Australia, $80 million. I sometimes find $5million-mansions in the local papers in Cairns published every Saturday but I have never found one that is more than $10 million. People say that the mansion Tom Cruise owns on the top of the Hollywood Hill is more than $100million but this house here looks more luxurious than that because you can enjoy fishing and swimming in the garden.

Tom Cruise

パース

1月18日（金）快晴

いくつかの用件を片付けるために今夜旅に出ます。まずは深夜の飛行機でパースへ飛びます。太平洋岸のケアンズとインド洋岸のパースは直線距離3500km、5時間。これはイスタンブールからロンドンまでの距離よりはるかに長いのです。パースは金鉱の街から30年間で急発展し、人口は150万人。「世界で最も孤立した街」、「世界で最も清潔な街」と言われています。

パースは6年振りです

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Perth
Fri. January 18 : fine

I’m going on a travel tonight for several businesses. At first I’m flying to Perth on a midnight flight. The distance between Cairns on the Pacific Ocean coast and Perth on the Indian Ocean coast is 3,500km as the crow flies, and it takes 5 hours. This is much far longer than the distance from Istanbul to London. Perth had started as gold mine town and has developed quickly in the last 30 years to the city of population, 1.5million. It is called “the most isolated city in the world” or “the cleanest city in the world”.

I went to Perth after an interval of 6 years.

キュランダ鉄道

1月17日（木）快晴

昨日は高原の町キュランダへ1日旅行。「豪州で1番美しい鉄道」と言われるキュランダ高原鉄道は1日2便ケアンズ・キュランダ間40ｋｍを1時間45分で走ります。1892年に鉱山への食料輸送を目的に建設されました。熱帯雨林を抜け、途中のバロン大滝で10分間停車します。今年は雨季でも晴れる日が多く、滝の水量も迫力不足。豪州では歴史的鉄路が各地で保存され、観光に活躍しています。

ケーブルカーでも行けます

キュランダ

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Kuranda Railway
Thu. January 17 : fine

We went on a day tour to Kuranda, the highland town yesterday. Kuranda Highland Railway that is called “the most beautiful railway in Australia” runs twice a day in 40km distance between Cairns and Kuranda in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It was built in 1892 in order to convoy food to the mine. It runs through tropical rain forest and stops in front of the Baron Fall for 10 minutes. There were a lot of fine days during the rainy season this year, so the water volume of the fall is not big and it lacks the powerfulness. Historical railways in many different areas have been preserved in Australia and they are flourished in tourism.

You can go there by cable car, too.

Kuranda