Help, should I take Uni to Vietnam??????

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Question: Should I take UNI to Vietnam


- Take uni and go nuts
- Take uni and avoid unnecessary attention
- Leave uni at home and 'dream ride'
- Flip a coin
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I'm leaving for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam tomorrow and was planning on
taking my trials uni. It fits perfect in a small suitcase.

Just noticed that someone was 'caught' unicycling in Tiananmen Square
and made to stop. Has anyone had trouble from other communist
countries?

Is there any good logic to keeping a lower profile?

It would suck to be without my uni for 2 weeks, but safety is a
consideration.

Any advice would be helpful. Thanks


--
cowan
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Take it. Tiananmen Square is a different problem, it's an area that the
chinese are supposed to show respect so there is no 'clowning around'.
also Chairman Mao's mausoleum in on the square. Anywhere else in China
you would be mobbed by inquisitive locals.
In Ho Chi Minh City not far from the port area and travellers hang out
streets there is a school for underprivalaged children, a 'circus
school' as such. They have a number of gifted Uni riders there. I don't
know the name but we went to a performance there. I doubt they have
ever seen atrials uni before!The locals will know where it is if your
in the area.


--
canmore-uni
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Tiannanmen Square was the site of a giant political protest that got
worldwide coverage in 1989. As that location is representative of
China, and is a major tourist attraction, the policy in 1993 seemed to
be that doing unusual stuff there was frowned upon. When Jack Halpern
and I started riding our unicycles for a picture, cops came running
immediately. But they said we were fine to ride anywhere we wanted
outside the square.

Fast-forward to 2000: Unicon X. 400+ unicyclists converged on
Tiannanmen Square for a "demonstration" and performances we did there.
This was of course pre-arranged by the convention organizers, and our
performance area was barricaded off from tourists and others. But there
was no problem for hundreds of us to ride from the subway, across the
square, to our performance area.

You can dig around in here to see the pictures from that day:
http://tinyurl.com/a6xgh

So bring your unicycle and go nuts!


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johnfoss

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generally people like Americans, they think we are very "unique"... Add
a uni to that and you'll make many friends! Just remember to be
respectful of culture and people.


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briguymaine

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briguymaine wrote:
generally people like Americans



Was that meant to be ironic? Remeber the last time a whole load of you
guys went to Vietnam? My personal experience of meeting people abroard
is that after they've noticed you speak English they're relieved to
find you're not American. This isn't a personal reflection on anyone
here, it's just a note from my experiences of life. Particularly round
both places I live there is a strong anti-American sentiment, and we're
a supposedly friendly countries.

But seriously, take it and have fun.


--
kington99

Dave

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cowan wrote:
Has anyone had trouble from other communist countries?


Sure you're not being just a little paranoid there? Do you really
think that communism has anything to do with whoever that person was
getting told to stop unicycling?

Actually, you could be right (I know very little about politics in
general) but it would really surprise me.

Andrew


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andrew_carter

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Absolutely- I took my Coker around Ho Chi Minh City at it was a blast!
You'd be crazy not to bring one along.

It's more fun cycling outside of the main cities- especially Cokering
through the villages/main highway.
Check out my Vietnam to Cambodia Cycle Challenge photos and story
he
http://www.adventureunicyclist.com/new_page_2.htm

I actually enjoyed riding through Cambodia more than I did Vietnam, but
boy was it hot.

Have fun!

Ken


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GizmoDuck

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kington99 wrote:
Was that meant to be ironic? Remeber the last time a whole load of you
guys went to Vietnam? My personal experience of meeting people abroard
is that after they've noticed you speak English they're relieved to
find you're not American.



I don't mean to flame you, we've probably just been to different
places. I've found that people can see a person for who they are. I
haven't been to Europe, I get the feeling that Americans aren't beloved
there! I dig Asia, South America, and Russia.


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briguymaine

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The UNI is packed and ready to go ! Included is a kite, frisbee, pump
and my toolkit. Guess I was wrong to hesitate in bringing the uni.
Thanks All...

FYI - We're going over to work with disabled kids and 650 wheelchairs
.

[image: http://www.esilab.com/uni/unipacked.jpg]


--
cowan
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