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Tuesday September 29 2015 9 By CRAIG GILBERT Lessons from Vietnam spiders are deli- cious dog tastes like bear and if you are tall for a Grade 8 student you might could get a shot of Jack Daniels brought to your table. LastyearTyMartenofFortSmithturned12in Zimbabwe.ThispastAugusthebecameateen- ager in Saigon or as his mom and travel part- ner Marlene Evans calls it Ho Chi Minh City. This year it was her turn to pick the desti- nation for their new tradition a month-long excursion around Tys birthday so after ve airports one ocean and about 22 hours they stepped into the 30-plus degree humidity in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. I love the culture Evans said. I wanted to get to the Temple of Angkor Wat in Cam- bodia a UNESCO World Heritage Site and part of the wider 400 square-kilometre his- torical city of Angkor one of southeast Asias most important archaeological resources. I got goosebumps when I saw it. But rst spicy deep-fried spider. Ty spit out the solitary leg Evans convinced him to bite into but she loved all eight and the thorax calling the local delicacy won- derful spicy and crunchy. I got food poisoning from that the six- footer said sitting at the kitchen table under his familys hunting trophies a blond black bear caribou wolf and giant bison among them. I was sick for days He was also ill on the day Evans visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum the powerful buthorrifyingmemorialtoCambodiasKilling Fieldswherecollectivelyasmanyasthreemil- lion people were tortured and killed. She g- ures it was probably for the best as at just 13 Tymaynothavebeenreadyfortheexperience. She met the two remaining survivors of Security Prison 21 or S-21 as it was called during the Khmer Rouge regimes reign on an amazing and humbling day. Iwaswalkingonbonesshesaid.Thetiles intheprisonwerestillstainedwiththeblood of the people they tortured there. That dark and moving day was one of nine theyspentinCambodiatheystayedinVietnam for 19. There was no shortage of culture shock oneithersideoftheborder-theywerefollowed by hawkers and little Vietnamese ladies who marveledatTysheighteverywheretheywent. All the little Vietnamese ladies would ask how old how old and go Oh when I said he was only 13. Most of those experiences took place in open-air markets with no refrigeration and Fort Smith teen mom take wanderlust to Vietnam and Cambodia for second birthday trip sh slime mealworms and dog heads as far as the eye could see. Where else would you take a tween who despite taking to chopsticks like a sh to water is more of a hamburger-and-fries kind of guy I was grossed out by the smell of it Ty said. There was hepatitis there Ty had his own powerful experience when he became one of the millions of people who have waited for hours to see the revered Viet- namese leader Ho Chi Minh in stasis at his mausoleum in Hanoi. We had to buy a shawl so Ty could cover up since exposed skin is forbidden on the sacred ground. That experience may only have been ri- valled by a delightful sh massage. All these little sh about this big he holds out an open hand nibble at your feet and eat all the dead skin he said. It felt so weird. He got a kick out of successfully ordering a shot of whisky at a restaurant too even though mom made sure it never made it to his lips let alone past his gums. EvanshasacoupleofreasonsforbringingTy alongontheroad.Herhusbandhatestotravel and on the only trip they ever took together to Mexico a couple of years ago he made no secret of the fact he didnt enjoy himself and he picked up a nasty sunburn to boot. Ty on the other hand is a wonderful travel- lerwhonevercomplainsallowinghismomto indulgeherwanderlustbeforehertimerunsout. I want to travel before I get too old she said.IwasraisedinthebushandIdontknow where this travel bug came from but its in my blood. I want him when I am gone to travel. Its such an education and an eye-opener. Theres more to the world than Fort Smith. Ty has until January to decide where in that wide world to go next. ImnotsuremaybePolandorRussiasome- where like that he said. I kind of want to see the Kremlin in real life. It looks interesting. NORTHERNERS TRAVEL PhotoscourtesyofMarleneEvans A spider not unlike the one his mom tried to convince him to eat crawls up Fort Smith teen Ty Martens t-shirt in Vietnam. The intrepid travellers Marlene Evans and Ty Marten visit the historic temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Fort Smith teen Ty Marten is tickled pink by a Vietnamese sh massage this summer. I was raised in the bush and I dont know where this travel bug came from but its in my blood. I want him when I am gone to travel. Marlene Evans