The lonesome travels of Black Sesy

This story might confuse the one or other loyal reader of our documentations of our quest to Mordor, because our party consists out of two Hobbits, with the occasional human joining in. But much like Merry and Pippin had to split up to pursue their own destiny, only to be reunited at a later point, the two of us followed different paths into different lands. Here I will tell my story of that time. A story of blue seas and the burning sun. A story of many meetings and places where tales of past adventures were swapped. To hear the other side of the story, the adventures Artey had, the difficulties and hardships she had to overcome before the two of us were reunited once more, go and ask her yourself. I’m not George R.R. Marin and capable of writing a multi-perspective novel.

Artey left me in the small boarder town of Chau Doc. While her path took her north and then onwards to the place, where her past achievements collided with the possibilities of the future, my road led south, towards the sea. After only a few hours on a small bus I was standing in Ha Tien. The air smelled of salt and was filled with the cries of birds. The sun was already low on the horizon, so the heat was not unbearable but rather pleasant. Therefore, I left the cousins of the central Asian seagulls behind and set out on foot. On my way I pursued a side quest to the harbor with the hope to acquire a seat on a ship setting sail the following day. That quest failed. If I wanted to take the boat tomorrow, then I can come back and buy the ticket tomorrow. Apparently, my desire to have a secured place 18 h before departure was 17.5 h too early. The last mile to my accommodation lead me over a broad bridge, where the river flowed into the sea, which I crossed just as the sun began to set, painting the sky in beautiful shades of purple and lilac. The rest of the evening I spent strolling alongside the river and eating noodle soup.

The next day my quest lead me away from the safety of the main land and to the small Island of Phu Quoc. After a relaxed morning of exploration, Ha Tien is nice enough, but not that spectacular, I left my homestay behind and boarded the ship. This floating bus was designed to transport many people and their belongings over the treacherous waters of the gulf of Thailand. The number of fellow travelers have not been many, but what was lacking in human numbers was replaced in pigs. There was me, about 20 other people and a truck transporting pigs. The sun was shining brightly and the water was shockingly blue. Overall the journey was quite pleasant.

Arriving on the tropical island of phu quoc I took a motorbike taxi to my hostel. Sad to say the guy who was driving did not know the way. He very confidently set out, then stopped asked a couple of friends for directions, still ended up in the wrong alleyway and in the end I pulled put my phone and directed him with the help of google maps. That wouldn't have been a bad experience, if I wouldn't have carried Meeko on my back, resulting in me nearly falling of everytime he accelerated too much. In the end Meeko, Härki and me arrived unscathed at the hostel. It seemed like a friendly place. But I wanted to go and explore the area. So I spent the evening strolling along the beach and watching a breathtaking sunset over the ocean.

My peaceful slumber was unapologetically interrupted by my alarm. Waking me up, before I missed my chance to eat breakfast. That would have been unacceptable. So, I got up and broke my fast with fellow travelers. They all were very nice and eager to pursue this days adventure together. The best way to explore this Island shrouded in lush, green Jungles was by road jetski. Much like their water relatives, they have the capability to speed over the streets, leaving your hair flowing behind you. The guy renting these out was a very trusty soul and really focused on keeping your private data safe. You gave him money. He gave you his bike. About the private data, he just didn't get any. He never saw my passport, nor knew my name or my phone number. I could have driven off with that thing and he had no way of knowing who I was. Well, I did give that bike back, but before that I crossed the Island with it. I set out with three Germans and a Canadian. Our first stop: Venice. A truly astonishing site. In-between Jungle covered hills lay a small town, with canals and large colorful houses, supposedly resembling Venice. It felt more like a movie set then a real place. But it also has a Teddy museum. For lunch we left that place, ate good fried noodles and spent the afternoon at the beach. The water was crystal clear, the sand white and you could see tiny fish while swimming. So an acceptable place to spent the afternoon. The evening was filled with socializing. Quite a hart task for a bookish Ravenclaw. But the evening was overall nice, I am still dreadful at beer pong.

The following morning everybody was a big sleepy, but nothing the endless supply of coffee at breakfast can't fix. The morning exploration set me and a group of people into the depth of the Jungle in the search of a waterfall. Over clambering bridges and hopping over treacherous gaps in the rocks. At the end of the paths the waterfall turned out to have suffered from the heat and the relentless beating of the sun the last couple of days. Therefore the waterfall was probably very impressive from the perspective of a Chizpurfle. Nevertheless the way there was impressive and would have been even more so with fewer ants. We ate lunch at a spot near the beach, where we could lounge on comfortable benches and watch the sea rolling on the shore. The rest of the day passed relatively uneventful and I went to bed early.

My last day on the island broke clear and sunny. I gathered my supplies, broke my fast and then Meeko and I left for the harbor. This time my driver was a lot kinder, not trying to throw us from the bike. But he did bring us right to the ship. Sounds great, only downside was I didn't have a ticket yet, while the other people were as prepared as Hermione before exams. With all the natural charm I could muster, while covered in sweat and carrying all my belongings, I just approached the guy working there. In no time, he booked a ticket for me and I could board the scarlet speedboat. With the speed of a kelpie it jumped over the waves and carried us to the safe harbor of Rach Gia. The 3 h journey was very nice, but when we arrived I was very close to starvation. As I was dropped off directly in front of the boat I didn't have the chance to buy lunch. So at 3 pm I haven't eaten anything but breakfast and a few crackers. A normal Hobbit would be eating meal 5 at this point! So, I ran to my homestay, dropped of my stuff and immediately set out to find food. Only after that did I fully settle in at my accommodation for the night. An honorable mention are the fish pillows they had there. The afternoon I explored the town, secured my seat on a bus to Ho Chi Minh City the following day and watched the sunset over the ocean.

The next morning I took the bus to Ho Chi Minh City, where I waited for the arrival of Artey.