DIARY - Wednesday 20th February 2008 Leaving Kon Tum on Highway 14 and then turning off onto road 24 gives me one of the best motorcycling days I can ever remember. The scenery is once again, spectacular. Mountain passes first the Lo Xo, then the Mang Den and the Vio Lac, the clouds, though low and wet are actually warm it is a strange sensation to say the least, enveloped in a Turkish steam room the jungle canopy closing overhead. The road could almost be a German black forest highroad when the jungle gives way to pine forests and then, in the middle of nowhere the most amazing building complex I have ever seen.
Enormous private houses, hotels, motels and cafes; a landscaped lake complete with Japanese style footbridges. Luckily for me, the chief surveyor speaks excellent English and over a coffee he tells me the story. It would appear that sometime ago, local hill tribes became aware of a strange phenomenon, a lady dressed in white, floating around the trees, who said her name was Mary, she was the wife of Joseph and mother of you know who. One of the tribesmen attacked the ghost but his machete went straight through her. He himself died later that night. Miracles started to happen and before long people were visiting the area, especially young couples who wanted to conceive. They came from as far away as Saigon. It soon became apparent that there was nowhere for all these visiting miracle hunting people to stay and so one business man decided to help them.
Now are you being as cynical as me? What we have now is a massive complex in the middle of a forest surrounded by villages whose people live in the most appalling conditions. They drink, wash, defecate, clean motorcycles and water their animals in the only supply available, which is now being diverted to fill the landscaped lake. They have absolutely no chance of ever being able to even afford a drink at one of these upmarket watering holes. Somebody somewhere is either very clever or very stupid and I rather think it will be the former. Create a legend then service it.