Next Stop on the East Asia Beer Tour…
This is not a drinking blog. I have neither the steel to hang through a long night nor the prose to turn it into something lucid when I wake up the next afternoon. But I’m not going to pretend I’m not like every other backpacker I’ve ever met, drinking on the road because, to some extent, what happens here probably won’t follow me home.
And I like discovering each new country’s particular national alcoholism: Baijiu and cheap beer in China, soju and bad beer in Korea.
There is something vile about Korean booze. I was in no way drunk last night, and I am in every way hung over this morning.
Soju has a nasty reputation for giving more in headaches than happy haze, and something in the Hite beer or unnamed red wine I was drinking last night carried the same effect. I never thought I’d miss Tsingtao, Harbin and Yalu Jiang.
I need to decide on my next destination. The East Asia Beer Tour pushes onward, with six weeks left before I have to teach another class in Dalian. I think it’s time for someplace warmer.
I need some advice here from the blogosphere: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos? Some combination or all four? How much time ought to be dedicated to each? Anything I should avoid?
I’m heading back to Dalian in two weeks to tie up some loose ends. From there, I’d like to head out soon. If anybody will be in Southeast Asia and wants to meet up, I’m all for that, too, just drop me a line.
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