Merry Christmas everyone!
We're in Dalat in the highlands of Vietnam right now. It's downright chilly. We're so used to the 90 degree weather everywhere else so it's been quite a shock to have weather in the 50/60 degree range. But nice for Christmas.
To finish up in Saigon, we took a trip to "Reunification Palace" which is where the South Vietnamese army surrendered to the North Vietnamese in 1975. It's a very interesting building...the president who commissioned the latest remodel was assasinated by his own army before the palace was finished. What's interesting about the building is that there's a secret passage from the president's quarters to a helipad and also to the basement where there were escape tunnels. You can also see the War Room where all the US military advisers sat. Kind of scary that the equipment in there (original) looks like my high school radio station. December 22nd is the 60th anniversary of the Vietnamese army (to fight the French way back) so there was a lot of preparation around the palace...we essentially got to see the practice for the parade. A lot of soldiers, ordinary men & women, and even kids that marched. The soldiers had it together, but the ordinary folks still needed a LOT of practice - I hate to see the consequences if you mess up in this parade!
The next evening, Deanna had a wonderful idea to go see the Ho Chi Minh Symphony & dance recital. It was great...they played a lot of "winter theme" stuff like "Winter" from the Four Seasons...it got me in the Christmas mood a bit more. It was a really nice and small concert hall...great views and great acoustics. For the dance, there were a few ballet pieces, some modern dance (think Will Ferrell in Old School with the rhythmic gymnastics...yeah), and even some Russian dance. Strange to see Vietnamese doing these Russian dances - but the communist countries stick together (especially when Russia used to fund 30% of the Vietnamese economy).
We made our way to Dalat from Saigon (and believe it or not had a GOOD bus ride) and it's just beautiful. It's very hilly and they can grow all sorts of vegetables and flowers here because of the climate. There's a small Eiffel Tower (they call this Little Paris - the French built a lot here) and Dalat is a destination for Vietnamese tourists. There have been many times where we have been the only foreigners in a crowd of people. It's nice...very different.
In Dalat, we did another trek - this one 17km climbing to Tiger Falls. Our guide was fantastic...a university student named Hoan...who was really funny and made the trip fun. We walked through an ethnic minority village in the hills (the marginalized people of vietnam) where 15 families did subsistance farming and descended/climbed hundreds of meters to get water every morning. We also walked through coffee plantations...in one shack a group of people were drunk and chased us off. I am ashamed to say that I had NO idea that coffee grew on a tree...for four hours I thought we were walking through cranberry orchards. Finally...after the hike...we went with Hoan to try Banh Xeo - a kind of rice pancake - which is his favorite food and now my favorite Vietnamese food as well. Delicious.
The other cool thing in Dalat was riding around on motorcycles with the "Easy Riders". It's a group of older Vietnamese men...all speak English and some speak French...who take people on tours around Dalat. They were great guys...very knowledgeable and besides the tourist stops, they tried to show us things you can't see on a bus tour. They were also very safe drivers - I think we were amongst the 0.5% of people that wear helmets around here. One of the gentlemen, Hung, had fought for the South Vietnamese...so when the North won, he went into a re-education camp for two and a half years. Turns out that the US accepted any political refugees that had been in the camps for three years or more - so he stayed in Vietnam and became a farmer. He was a really interesting guy. The other gentleman was also a farmer -growing coffee and persimmons - and gave a good discussion of what it was like between 1975 and 1995 when the government finally allowed private ownership again. We had thought about riding with these guys for 5 days to take us to Hoi An (in the North near the Demilitarized Zone). Unfortunately, heavy rains have washed out the backroads a couple weeks ago...so we'll take the bus (and the hugely trafficked Highway 1) tomorrow morning. Perhaps it's better...five days on a motorcycle wedged between the driver and my huge bag could be a little tiring.
Christmas was nice...we went to the Sofitel (high-end hotel) to see some caroling (in Vietnamese). We also got to see Santa distribute presents to the kids (Santa was Vietnamese as well). And then we went to a fabulous five-course dinner at a nearby cafe - and the food was incredible (and not Vietnamese). There were thousands of people out last night walking around town, going to the Catholic church, talking to family, buying items in the street market - quite the carnival atmosphere.
Have a wonderful holidays!
Saturday, December 25, 2004
Sunday, December 19, 2004
12/19/04: Into the Mekong Delta in Vietnam
Hello everyone and happy holidays!
We're in Ho Chi Minh City right now (although everyone here seems to call the city Saigon still), having traveled from Phnom Penh into the Mekong Delta and then to Saigon. It's hot here and doesn't seem to cool down as fast as Bangkok or Phnom Penh did with their large bodies of water nearby. It doesn't help that we're on the 8th floor of the hotel...and it's a walk-up...and there's no AC in the lobby. I honestly feel like I'm going to die everytime I walk up to the room. It seems that in Saigon, all property is approximately the size of my former office (read: very small) but you can build UP as far as you want. Lucky us.
Actually the trip has been quite scenic from Phnom Penh. We traveled via boat into Vietnam - and the Mekong Delta is just beautiful. The delta is primarily a rice and farming area, with some fishing - so tons of idyllic views of what you might imagine Vietnam looks like. The first night, we were dumped (tour) in Chau Doc at a hotel about 6km from the town...this way they can ensure you eat, sleep, and spend all your money at a "company" shop. I took a moto-taxi into town to find an ATM...on the way back I stopped at (what turned out to be) the Costco of Vietnam. I just wanted one soda. After ten minutes of negotiations I managed to get a great price on a whole case of soda - but could not communicate with the phrasebook that I just wanted one can. When I finally left (with no soda), I think they thought I wanted to buy the entire pallet for 15,000 dong ($1).
In Cantho, we slept at a homestay - thinking it would be nice to actually meet some real (non-tourist focused) Vietnamese people. Unfortunately, the man of the house worked for the tour company and his wife and son didn't really speak to us. Still it was great to walk around and see how "real Vietnamese" live in the Delta. It was also my first experience sleeping under a mosquito net and actually waking up to see the net covered with bugs...yikes. No malaria yet Mom. From Cantho, we toured a bit - seeing the floating market where all the vendors put their wares at the top of a pole (like a pineapple 15 feet above the boat) to show customers what they're selling and entice them to pull alongside to look at their wares. We also went to a rice-noodle making factory where I was amazed by how dirty everything looked - all the tanks, pipes, etc... especially in comparison to the food processing plants I've been to in the US. Still...the food in Vietnam has been absolutely delicious.
Saigon has been a real experience for me. First off, there are just tons and tons and tons of motorbikes here. Our guide told us therewere 83 Million people and 40 Million motorbikes in Vietnam. It is simply incredible. Last night walking home, there bikes were ten rows deep (going each way) on the street. You have to see it to believe it. And to cross the street, you just start walking - slowly and deliberately - so that all the traffic can avoid you. It was the same in Cambodia, but there's just SO many motos here that it's overwhelming as you're parting the sea to cross the street.
It's a beautiful city with a lot of great buildings (many the French built) and wonderful circles and squares to admire. There are many museums as well - we went to the War Remnants Museum - which used to be called the "Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes". There are exhibits showing a lot of the atrocities of war - the effects of napalm and Agent Orange...and also showed some of the worse behavior of the US soldiers during the war. It was pretty depressing. I recognize that the exhibit was one-sided, but being here makes me wonder if any of the soldiers knew why we were in Vietnam...the parallels to what's going on today in Iraq are scary. There's one picture in particular of soldiers posing standing over decapitated Viet Cong soldiers that's just stuck in my mind.
Tomorrow we're off for Dalat and hopefully to Hoi An for Christmas. One interesting thing we've come across is that there's no ATM's in Vietnam outside of the major cities (Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi) so we've started withdrawing money to cover us until we reach Hanoi. Since the currency is so weak, we've had to get a lot of bills - right now we have 8 Million Dong that we're carrying around in a briefcase thatDeanna has handcuffed to her wrist.
Best to everyone -
We're in Ho Chi Minh City right now (although everyone here seems to call the city Saigon still), having traveled from Phnom Penh into the Mekong Delta and then to Saigon. It's hot here and doesn't seem to cool down as fast as Bangkok or Phnom Penh did with their large bodies of water nearby. It doesn't help that we're on the 8th floor of the hotel...and it's a walk-up...and there's no AC in the lobby. I honestly feel like I'm going to die everytime I walk up to the room. It seems that in Saigon, all property is approximately the size of my former office (read: very small) but you can build UP as far as you want. Lucky us.
Actually the trip has been quite scenic from Phnom Penh. We traveled via boat into Vietnam - and the Mekong Delta is just beautiful. The delta is primarily a rice and farming area, with some fishing - so tons of idyllic views of what you might imagine Vietnam looks like. The first night, we were dumped (tour) in Chau Doc at a hotel about 6km from the town...this way they can ensure you eat, sleep, and spend all your money at a "company" shop. I took a moto-taxi into town to find an ATM...on the way back I stopped at (what turned out to be) the Costco of Vietnam. I just wanted one soda. After ten minutes of negotiations I managed to get a great price on a whole case of soda - but could not communicate with the phrasebook that I just wanted one can. When I finally left (with no soda), I think they thought I wanted to buy the entire pallet for 15,000 dong ($1).
In Cantho, we slept at a homestay - thinking it would be nice to actually meet some real (non-tourist focused) Vietnamese people. Unfortunately, the man of the house worked for the tour company and his wife and son didn't really speak to us. Still it was great to walk around and see how "real Vietnamese" live in the Delta. It was also my first experience sleeping under a mosquito net and actually waking up to see the net covered with bugs...yikes. No malaria yet Mom. From Cantho, we toured a bit - seeing the floating market where all the vendors put their wares at the top of a pole (like a pineapple 15 feet above the boat) to show customers what they're selling and entice them to pull alongside to look at their wares. We also went to a rice-noodle making factory where I was amazed by how dirty everything looked - all the tanks, pipes, etc... especially in comparison to the food processing plants I've been to in the US. Still...the food in Vietnam has been absolutely delicious.
Saigon has been a real experience for me. First off, there are just tons and tons and tons of motorbikes here. Our guide told us therewere 83 Million people and 40 Million motorbikes in Vietnam. It is simply incredible. Last night walking home, there bikes were ten rows deep (going each way) on the street. You have to see it to believe it. And to cross the street, you just start walking - slowly and deliberately - so that all the traffic can avoid you. It was the same in Cambodia, but there's just SO many motos here that it's overwhelming as you're parting the sea to cross the street.
It's a beautiful city with a lot of great buildings (many the French built) and wonderful circles and squares to admire. There are many museums as well - we went to the War Remnants Museum - which used to be called the "Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes". There are exhibits showing a lot of the atrocities of war - the effects of napalm and Agent Orange...and also showed some of the worse behavior of the US soldiers during the war. It was pretty depressing. I recognize that the exhibit was one-sided, but being here makes me wonder if any of the soldiers knew why we were in Vietnam...the parallels to what's going on today in Iraq are scary. There's one picture in particular of soldiers posing standing over decapitated Viet Cong soldiers that's just stuck in my mind.
Tomorrow we're off for Dalat and hopefully to Hoi An for Christmas. One interesting thing we've come across is that there's no ATM's in Vietnam outside of the major cities (Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi) so we've started withdrawing money to cover us until we reach Hanoi. Since the currency is so weak, we've had to get a lot of bills - right now we have 8 Million Dong that we're carrying around in a briefcase thatDeanna has handcuffed to her wrist.
Best to everyone -
Monday, December 13, 2004
12/13/04: Immodium deliver me from evil
Hello everyone:
I'm in Phnom Penh, Cambodia right now...a wonderful mash of 2 million people with 8 traffic lights (at most).
Since I've last reported from Siem Riep, we first took a boat trip to Battambang. And yes...learned once again that you can never ask too many questions before traveling. According to the guidebook, the trip should take about 3 hours. Foolishly, we did not consider the phase of the moon, tide, or the time of year...because we should have known that when there's less water, the boat has to go REALLLLLY slow to not bog down any of the fishing villages that line the entire length of the trip. And figuring that an 8am departure would escape the really harsh sun, we sat on the top of the boat. Anyway...8 hours later we arrived, dehydrated and suffering from sun delusions at our destination. The one saving grace was getting to wave to every child that called "hello" as we floated by...very cute. All 792 times I waved.
Battambang is great because it's off the beaten tourist path (ie. nothing to do) so it's very laid back and cheap. We stayed at the top place in town. It was $11/night!
We hired motor scooter drivers to take us around for the day. It was very, very dusty so the drivers stopped to let us buy dustmasks - we either looked like bandits or SARS patients, but it certainly helped. It was a mixture of uplifting and depressing. In one location, we stopped at a small temple to take pictures and soon Deanna was delighting the local kids by taking their picture and then showing them the picture. Little hams...all of them. In another, our guide spoke about how his father pretended to be crazy so the the Khmer Rouge would not take him to a prison camp. In many locations there are bones and skulls displayed to memorialize the tragedy. Really horrible stuff.
The driver was also interesting. The story as I first understood it: He had polio when he was young, and b/c of the Khmer Rouge had no medicine. Since he couldn't really do labor, he had to figure out another way - starting as a janitor in a nightclub, becoming an interpreter, buying real estate, and then buying a moto and becoming a driver after the interpreter business dried up.
The story as I later came to understand it:
1.He did work as a janitor/bathroom attendant at the nightclub
2.He soon figured out he was making better money from tips for translating for the ex-pat UN folks to talk to the girls in the clubs.
3.The women were prostitutes.
4.He was kind of a pimp...I can't be sure how exactly this worked.
5.He bought the house to rent out to the girls that worked at the nightclub.
6.When all the UN and related folks left after the 1991 election, business dried up (at least the interpreting part) and he had to find another job.
The other really fun thing in Battambang was we took a cooking class (add Khmer cooking to my areas of dangerous incompetence). As good as the class was (and the food) it was most interesting to hear about the store finances and his plan to translate restaurant cash flow into growing pigs and then the pig sales to pre-pay the restaurant lease to lock the rent (at $100/month). He was super-industrious (and only 23) and gives me great hope for the future of this country.
The really unfun thing was also related to eating. The night before we left town, we ate at a Lonely Planet recommended dining establishment and both of us just plain got SICK later that night. Stomach cramps, nausea, chills, sweats on top of the normal bad stuff. Somehow (maybe foolishly) we got on a five hour bus ride (not so bad except for the fact that I had to run for the hills at each stop - not so easy when you consider Cambodia is still the most land-mined country in the world. We arrived, found the closest hotel to the bus stop and just went unconcious for the next 18 hours. It was the nicest hotel we've stayed at and happened on exactly the right night. It's four days later and I think I'm almost all the way back...fingers crossed. Worst of all, it made me go back exclusively to western food...at least until the body forgets Battambang.
Phnom Penh is nice...there's not a whole lot to do (that's legal) here. We did go to the national museum and the palace, but after the splendors of Angkor and Bangkok, it paled in comparison. And there's no signage or information - so maybe there's something I was really missing that was amazing ("no mister Chiang, you actually have to look the other way to see the most unique thing in the world) - but I don't think so. Tuol Sleng was the opposite - very impactful...a very non-descript school yard and buildings that the KR turned into their prison/torture center. Very chilling as they kept a photo of every person ever "processed" here and they are on display.
Wednesday we leave for Vietnam. I leave Cambodia with appreciation for it's people and it's tragedy - but definitely not it's restaurant hygeine standards.
Best to everyone -
I'm in Phnom Penh, Cambodia right now...a wonderful mash of 2 million people with 8 traffic lights (at most).
Since I've last reported from Siem Riep, we first took a boat trip to Battambang. And yes...learned once again that you can never ask too many questions before traveling. According to the guidebook, the trip should take about 3 hours. Foolishly, we did not consider the phase of the moon, tide, or the time of year...because we should have known that when there's less water, the boat has to go REALLLLLY slow to not bog down any of the fishing villages that line the entire length of the trip. And figuring that an 8am departure would escape the really harsh sun, we sat on the top of the boat. Anyway...8 hours later we arrived, dehydrated and suffering from sun delusions at our destination. The one saving grace was getting to wave to every child that called "hello" as we floated by...very cute. All 792 times I waved.
Battambang is great because it's off the beaten tourist path (ie. nothing to do) so it's very laid back and cheap. We stayed at the top place in town. It was $11/night!
We hired motor scooter drivers to take us around for the day. It was very, very dusty so the drivers stopped to let us buy dustmasks - we either looked like bandits or SARS patients, but it certainly helped. It was a mixture of uplifting and depressing. In one location, we stopped at a small temple to take pictures and soon Deanna was delighting the local kids by taking their picture and then showing them the picture. Little hams...all of them. In another, our guide spoke about how his father pretended to be crazy so the the Khmer Rouge would not take him to a prison camp. In many locations there are bones and skulls displayed to memorialize the tragedy. Really horrible stuff.
The driver was also interesting. The story as I first understood it: He had polio when he was young, and b/c of the Khmer Rouge had no medicine. Since he couldn't really do labor, he had to figure out another way - starting as a janitor in a nightclub, becoming an interpreter, buying real estate, and then buying a moto and becoming a driver after the interpreter business dried up.
The story as I later came to understand it:
1.He did work as a janitor/bathroom attendant at the nightclub
2.He soon figured out he was making better money from tips for translating for the ex-pat UN folks to talk to the girls in the clubs.
3.The women were prostitutes.
4.He was kind of a pimp...I can't be sure how exactly this worked.
5.He bought the house to rent out to the girls that worked at the nightclub.
6.When all the UN and related folks left after the 1991 election, business dried up (at least the interpreting part) and he had to find another job.
The other really fun thing in Battambang was we took a cooking class (add Khmer cooking to my areas of dangerous incompetence). As good as the class was (and the food) it was most interesting to hear about the store finances and his plan to translate restaurant cash flow into growing pigs and then the pig sales to pre-pay the restaurant lease to lock the rent (at $100/month). He was super-industrious (and only 23) and gives me great hope for the future of this country.
The really unfun thing was also related to eating. The night before we left town, we ate at a Lonely Planet recommended dining establishment and both of us just plain got SICK later that night. Stomach cramps, nausea, chills, sweats on top of the normal bad stuff. Somehow (maybe foolishly) we got on a five hour bus ride (not so bad except for the fact that I had to run for the hills at each stop - not so easy when you consider Cambodia is still the most land-mined country in the world. We arrived, found the closest hotel to the bus stop and just went unconcious for the next 18 hours. It was the nicest hotel we've stayed at and happened on exactly the right night. It's four days later and I think I'm almost all the way back...fingers crossed. Worst of all, it made me go back exclusively to western food...at least until the body forgets Battambang.
Phnom Penh is nice...there's not a whole lot to do (that's legal) here. We did go to the national museum and the palace, but after the splendors of Angkor and Bangkok, it paled in comparison. And there's no signage or information - so maybe there's something I was really missing that was amazing ("no mister Chiang, you actually have to look the other way to see the most unique thing in the world) - but I don't think so. Tuol Sleng was the opposite - very impactful...a very non-descript school yard and buildings that the KR turned into their prison/torture center. Very chilling as they kept a photo of every person ever "processed" here and they are on display.
Wednesday we leave for Vietnam. I leave Cambodia with appreciation for it's people and it's tragedy - but definitely not it's restaurant hygeine standards.
Best to everyone -
Sunday, December 05, 2004
12/05/04: Cambodia - Angkor Temples
Hello All!
We made it to Cambodia and have been relaxing here for the last week. Amazing, amazing place and really wonderful people as well.
The first thing that really strikes you here (especially in comparison to the parts of Thailand we visited so far) is the poverty. As I've learned in the past week, Cambodia has been at civil war for 30 years. Starting with the secret US bombing during the Vietnam War to the Khmer Rouge killing fields (estimated that 1-2 Million people were killed out of a population of 7 Million) and finally Vietnamese liberation/occupation...so a lot of the infrastructure and "first worldness" that you might expect has really only had the last 7 years to develop. What strikes me most, however, is the spirit of the people is definitely towards making a better life and leaving the past for what it is.
I spent four days (first with Julian and then with Deanna after she returned) exploring the temples. Truly magnificent. The hard thing to capture in pictures is the absolute scope of these temples. When I am able to upload pics (I fear it may be never given the connection speeds here), or even watching video - Tomb Raider with the Angkor Wat/TaProhm backgrounds - you just can't capture how big everything is. My favorite things were:
a. Ta Prohm - a ruined temple that has not been restored. There are kapoc trees intertwined with the brick of the temples and it's simply amazing.
b. Watching Julian try to negotiate very narrow steps and duck under 5 foot doorways. Sorry buddy...it was funny.
Continuing on the theme of Julian, due to his standby ticket and United Airlines regulations he had to "look nice" on the return trip, which meant buying dress shoes and non-jean pants. This led to much comedy as the average Cambodian is probably 5'4" and has a 29" waist and maybe wears a size 6-7 shoe. And the funniest thing about it is that our guide took us to the Cambodian market (not the tourist market). Pants turned out okay. Shoes seemed to be okay provided he wore them for no longer than 7 minutes at a time.
Siem Riep (the town near the temples) has actually been a really fun time. Julian and I had a good time around town for two nights and then we welcomed Deanna home with "welcome back" dinner and drinks. I remember the night ended with most of the patrons and all the waiting Cambodian cab, moto, and security guards out on the street dancing and laughing together. Black Eyed Peas seem to bring the whole world together. The next day we walked around the temples and re-met all our friends from the night before. People are still asking me (no lie) where my tall friend is...at the restaurants, bars, gas station, etc...
On the serious side, there's just so much that needs to be done here in Cambodia. I think Deanna is much more in-tune with the world than I am (yet) and thank god for that. At her suggestion, we went to a cello concert given twice weekly by a Swiss doctor who has dedicated his life to saving children in Cambodia. He has built three hospitals here in Cambodia and tirelessly raises funds in Switzerland and Cambodia to support the efforts. It's really sad, but almost all kids here have tuberculosis, so smaller medical problems can cause huge problems. Certain very common ailments here require immediate blood transfusions to treat shock - and over 50% of the local blood supply (Cambodians) have hepatitis. Very, very sad. We both donated blood yesterday (very clean process...don't worry) to help the cause.
The other great experience was going to a silk farm and watching how silk is made from growing the feed crops for the worms, colleting the silk from the cocoons, and then weaving. The school actually takes poor from around Cambodia, teaches them a skill, and then they go home with a trade. There are tons of programs like this out here.
A very cute Cambodian girl I met that is a waitress at the Red Piano (bar whose claim to fame is that Angelina Jolie frequented the place during filming of Tomb Raider) is a really great example of how hard life is here. Her parents both passed away, so instead of going to university, she left home to get a job and save up to go back to school someday. She sees her family only twice a year, and works 7 days a week doing laundry in the morning to make extra money, then coming to work from 1pm until midnight. And she thinks that she'll have to save for 2+ years before she has the money. I asked how much tuition was and her answer was $300/year. I felt incredibly ashamed when she asked me in turn how much my plane ticket alone cost ($4000).
Anyway...not to be a downer...being here I'm reminded every 3 minutes how lucky I am. Cambodia is a wonderful place and just feeling it's way towards the future. We're off to Battambang next in NW Cambodia and then most likely heading to Phnom Penh and then into Vietnam!
We made it to Cambodia and have been relaxing here for the last week. Amazing, amazing place and really wonderful people as well.
The first thing that really strikes you here (especially in comparison to the parts of Thailand we visited so far) is the poverty. As I've learned in the past week, Cambodia has been at civil war for 30 years. Starting with the secret US bombing during the Vietnam War to the Khmer Rouge killing fields (estimated that 1-2 Million people were killed out of a population of 7 Million) and finally Vietnamese liberation/occupation...so a lot of the infrastructure and "first worldness" that you might expect has really only had the last 7 years to develop. What strikes me most, however, is the spirit of the people is definitely towards making a better life and leaving the past for what it is.
I spent four days (first with Julian and then with Deanna after she returned) exploring the temples. Truly magnificent. The hard thing to capture in pictures is the absolute scope of these temples. When I am able to upload pics (I fear it may be never given the connection speeds here), or even watching video - Tomb Raider with the Angkor Wat/TaProhm backgrounds - you just can't capture how big everything is. My favorite things were:
a. Ta Prohm - a ruined temple that has not been restored. There are kapoc trees intertwined with the brick of the temples and it's simply amazing.
b. Watching Julian try to negotiate very narrow steps and duck under 5 foot doorways. Sorry buddy...it was funny.
Continuing on the theme of Julian, due to his standby ticket and United Airlines regulations he had to "look nice" on the return trip, which meant buying dress shoes and non-jean pants. This led to much comedy as the average Cambodian is probably 5'4" and has a 29" waist and maybe wears a size 6-7 shoe. And the funniest thing about it is that our guide took us to the Cambodian market (not the tourist market). Pants turned out okay. Shoes seemed to be okay provided he wore them for no longer than 7 minutes at a time.
Siem Riep (the town near the temples) has actually been a really fun time. Julian and I had a good time around town for two nights and then we welcomed Deanna home with "welcome back" dinner and drinks. I remember the night ended with most of the patrons and all the waiting Cambodian cab, moto, and security guards out on the street dancing and laughing together. Black Eyed Peas seem to bring the whole world together. The next day we walked around the temples and re-met all our friends from the night before. People are still asking me (no lie) where my tall friend is...at the restaurants, bars, gas station, etc...
On the serious side, there's just so much that needs to be done here in Cambodia. I think Deanna is much more in-tune with the world than I am (yet) and thank god for that. At her suggestion, we went to a cello concert given twice weekly by a Swiss doctor who has dedicated his life to saving children in Cambodia. He has built three hospitals here in Cambodia and tirelessly raises funds in Switzerland and Cambodia to support the efforts. It's really sad, but almost all kids here have tuberculosis, so smaller medical problems can cause huge problems. Certain very common ailments here require immediate blood transfusions to treat shock - and over 50% of the local blood supply (Cambodians) have hepatitis. Very, very sad. We both donated blood yesterday (very clean process...don't worry) to help the cause.
The other great experience was going to a silk farm and watching how silk is made from growing the feed crops for the worms, colleting the silk from the cocoons, and then weaving. The school actually takes poor from around Cambodia, teaches them a skill, and then they go home with a trade. There are tons of programs like this out here.
A very cute Cambodian girl I met that is a waitress at the Red Piano (bar whose claim to fame is that Angelina Jolie frequented the place during filming of Tomb Raider) is a really great example of how hard life is here. Her parents both passed away, so instead of going to university, she left home to get a job and save up to go back to school someday. She sees her family only twice a year, and works 7 days a week doing laundry in the morning to make extra money, then coming to work from 1pm until midnight. And she thinks that she'll have to save for 2+ years before she has the money. I asked how much tuition was and her answer was $300/year. I felt incredibly ashamed when she asked me in turn how much my plane ticket alone cost ($4000).
Anyway...not to be a downer...being here I'm reminded every 3 minutes how lucky I am. Cambodia is a wonderful place and just feeling it's way towards the future. We're off to Battambang next in NW Cambodia and then most likely heading to Phnom Penh and then into Vietnam!
Sunday, November 28, 2004
11/28/04: Bangkok and Tropical Storms
Hello everyone!
Still alive out here and coping with Deanna leaving me for Thanksgiving. Julian has arrived and we've had a great time exploring Bangkok and making, breaking, re-making travel plans as a tropical storm hit Thailand.
First things first...Bangkok. Something for everyone. And we tried to see all of it. The Grand Palace is an absolutely breathtaking view, as the temple on site is vast and everything is covered in gold. Julian and I sweated our way through the audioguide tour - you can't wear shorts to the best sites - and around every corner was something more incredible.
It's been a little hard to communicate here. Every time we get in the cab, it seems that we have to show the driver how it's spelled. The other day, we got in the cab and asked to go to Radjamoen for Muy Thai Boxing. He didn't understand one word we said...and we had asked the hotel clerk exactly what and how to say it (apparently not well enough). I think we finally got the message across when Julian and I held up fists and pretended to box. At that point, the driver got very excited..."MUY THAI! BOXING! BOXING! MUY THAI!" He either a. loved boxing, b. was excited to figure out what the hell we wanted or c. thought we were about to mug him.
The other interesting thing was going to "red light" district of Patpong...I guess you have to go to see it as this is the sin city of Asia. Imagine a show with every sex thing you could think of, take all the class and energy out of it, add drinks that are 6 times the cost of regular bars and very, very insistent "bar girls" and you have the picture. It was actually really disappointing but just something you have to see while here.
What was MUCH more fun was the beer festival downtown. Julian and I happened to sit in the perfect spot - we had the cutest server and we were her only table. The interesting thing was when she poured the beers from the pitcher, it took literally one full minute of continous pouring for one beer...not a speck of foam. She didn't speak a word of English but somehow still managed to refuse our invitation to sit down with us...unfortunate. Julian did get a great picture (for me) of me and the girl with her "Beer Chang" hat, "Beer Chang" pin, in front of the "Beer Chang" pavilion. I loved it and love Thailand. I think I'm going to move here.
From Bangkok, we attempted to go to Ko Samui for the full moon party. After some very interesting times with a very funny travel agent, we schedule flights to Ko Samui and then onwards to Siem Riep in Cambodia. We thought everything had been "confirmed" - but upon arriving at the airport, the flight to Ko Samui had been cancelled. We reschedule for the next morning and headed to an airport hotel (not so nice) to spend the evening. While I was in the lobby, I picked up the Bangkok Post and the top story was "Tropical Storm threatens Coast"...so I sat there and read about how they were EVACUATING parts of Southern Thailand including parts of Ko Samui. Of course, by that time, the ticketing desk was closed...so we had to get up and change the flight at 5am in the morning...minutes before the plane left. So back in Phuket now.
Life on Phuket is great. Julian pulled the "I don't think I need sunscreen if we're just out here for a little while" thing. Just like Deanna and I did on our first day on the beach. Let's just say I think he'll be wearing sunscreen for the rest of the trip.
We're also here during the Loy Krathong festival (and the full moon) so there's a little town fair and Friday night everything was absolutely PACKED. Patong Beach has tons of great bars and Julian and I have determined that we have to check out every one of them.
Okay...on to Siem Riep tomorrow. We did a little research last night watching Tomb Raider 2 (filmed in Cambodia) and are still going despite what a putrid movie that was.
Still alive out here and coping with Deanna leaving me for Thanksgiving. Julian has arrived and we've had a great time exploring Bangkok and making, breaking, re-making travel plans as a tropical storm hit Thailand.
First things first...Bangkok. Something for everyone. And we tried to see all of it. The Grand Palace is an absolutely breathtaking view, as the temple on site is vast and everything is covered in gold. Julian and I sweated our way through the audioguide tour - you can't wear shorts to the best sites - and around every corner was something more incredible.
It's been a little hard to communicate here. Every time we get in the cab, it seems that we have to show the driver how it's spelled. The other day, we got in the cab and asked to go to Radjamoen for Muy Thai Boxing. He didn't understand one word we said...and we had asked the hotel clerk exactly what and how to say it (apparently not well enough). I think we finally got the message across when Julian and I held up fists and pretended to box. At that point, the driver got very excited..."MUY THAI! BOXING! BOXING! MUY THAI!" He either a. loved boxing, b. was excited to figure out what the hell we wanted or c. thought we were about to mug him.
The other interesting thing was going to "red light" district of Patpong...I guess you have to go to see it as this is the sin city of Asia. Imagine a show with every sex thing you could think of, take all the class and energy out of it, add drinks that are 6 times the cost of regular bars and very, very insistent "bar girls" and you have the picture. It was actually really disappointing but just something you have to see while here.
What was MUCH more fun was the beer festival downtown. Julian and I happened to sit in the perfect spot - we had the cutest server and we were her only table. The interesting thing was when she poured the beers from the pitcher, it took literally one full minute of continous pouring for one beer...not a speck of foam. She didn't speak a word of English but somehow still managed to refuse our invitation to sit down with us...unfortunate. Julian did get a great picture (for me) of me and the girl with her "Beer Chang" hat, "Beer Chang" pin, in front of the "Beer Chang" pavilion. I loved it and love Thailand. I think I'm going to move here.
From Bangkok, we attempted to go to Ko Samui for the full moon party. After some very interesting times with a very funny travel agent, we schedule flights to Ko Samui and then onwards to Siem Riep in Cambodia. We thought everything had been "confirmed" - but upon arriving at the airport, the flight to Ko Samui had been cancelled. We reschedule for the next morning and headed to an airport hotel (not so nice) to spend the evening. While I was in the lobby, I picked up the Bangkok Post and the top story was "Tropical Storm threatens Coast"...so I sat there and read about how they were EVACUATING parts of Southern Thailand including parts of Ko Samui. Of course, by that time, the ticketing desk was closed...so we had to get up and change the flight at 5am in the morning...minutes before the plane left. So back in Phuket now.
Life on Phuket is great. Julian pulled the "I don't think I need sunscreen if we're just out here for a little while" thing. Just like Deanna and I did on our first day on the beach. Let's just say I think he'll be wearing sunscreen for the rest of the trip.
We're also here during the Loy Krathong festival (and the full moon) so there's a little town fair and Friday night everything was absolutely PACKED. Patong Beach has tons of great bars and Julian and I have determined that we have to check out every one of them.
Okay...on to Siem Riep tomorrow. We did a little research last night watching Tomb Raider 2 (filmed in Cambodia) and are still going despite what a putrid movie that was.
Monday, November 22, 2004
11/22/04: From Phuket to Bangkok
Hello everyone...
Hope that you're doing well. I'm in Bangkok right now and our friend Julian is arriving tonight around midnight...perfect timing as Deanna leaves tomorrow for a short break (from me mostly) in Perth.
Had a wonderful time in Phuket, Thailand. It is crowded with a lot of tourists (like many people told us), but we stayed on Ao Karon rather than the super-popular Ao Patong and had a wonderful time. We stayed at a Nordic place called "The Little Mermaid" which was nice after ourstay on Phi Phi because we had hot water and air conditioning both (and a TV!)...the life of luxury.
We took a daytrip from Phuket which was a real adventure. Obstensibly the trip was sea kayaking on several different islands. It was incredible - they actually paddle for you (which was nice for Deanna as i would have made her paddle) and you have to actually go at low tide and duck to get through caves and into secret lagoons - which are completely inaccessible at high tide so they're still very isolated and serene. Very beautiful...make sure you check out the pictures labeled Phuket when I get them uploaded (this week). More entertainment came from a very fat Scotsman, who also happened to be very drunk, having screaming matches with his Thai girlfriend(?) and then come to physical blows with another passenger (German). It was quite exciting.
The other highlight of that trip was paying a visit to "James Bond" island where "Man with the Golden Gun" was filmed. Remember the last scene where Bond storms the island fortress and has the duel with the owner of the Golden Gun? Right...I must be the only one. Deanna thinks I'm crazy because I got very excited and ran around the island and had her take pictures of me doing James Bond poses and pretending to sneak around.
From there, another bus ride. You would think I would FINALLY learn about these. But no. This time we were pretty careful to ask about how many seats, do they recline, is it air conditioned, etc... So we take a minibus (reasonably comfortable) for three hours to Surat Thani bus stop. Then we wait until there's enough people to send a bus to Bangkok. In our case, we arrived around 4:30 and there weren't enough people...so we waited. We were actually going to have to wait until 8pm to leave, but it just happened another bus had a few open "spaces" on the bus. We just wanted to get to Bangkok, so we opted on.
I found myself sitting in the "lounge" area of the double decker bus rather than an actual seat. It didn't recline and I sat in a small semi-circle with 5 people who were destined to become my best friends given how close together we were sitting. The bathroom was right next door...first a good thing...then a bad thing...then a very bad thing as the girl across from me had a bout of stomach flu and had to continually run to the bathroom. Did I mention the in-transit movie was "DinoCroc" by Roger Corman? Ugh. The most insulting thing about it was that DVD's are 100Baht ($2.50) here and everyone on that bus was probably carrying better DVD's. I think it's the Thai way of saying FU.
Bangkok has been awesome so far. We're staying near the Khao Sahn area and it's a real trip. Lots of backpackers, lots of interesting people and things. We literally arrived into town at 5AM from our bus ride from hell and at Deanna's urging went to the Weekend Market. For shoppers, it's 15,000 stalls in 28 sections of pure bargain merchandise heaven. I think we covered at least 12,000. For someone (me) who doesn't really buy anything, it was tough. I just hung out in the 'pet' section and petted dogs and squirrels and watched the cockfighting (they didn't fight, but they were selling them for that purpose).
But I actually did buy a CD player on Khao Sahn. We've been thinking about getting some music on this trip, and it seemed like the place to buy. I "negotiated" a great deal by charming a Thai girl and got the player for probably twice the value I should have paid. Honestly, I'm a horrible bargainer...and she was cute...and she kept saying"Mister...I give you best price." and then giggling. Oh well. I was such a good negotiator that I actually gave her the box back so she could repack stuff in it and sell to some other schlep. It was only later that I realized that the deal didn't include the actual rechargable batteries even though I had bought the charger. The sad thing is, I'm thinking about going back to her to buy the batteries. Somebody stop me.
Last thing...I'll leave you with a teaser. Deanna got her nose pierced and I have all the pictures. Wait for it...
Best to everyone...
Hope that you're doing well. I'm in Bangkok right now and our friend Julian is arriving tonight around midnight...perfect timing as Deanna leaves tomorrow for a short break (from me mostly) in Perth.
Had a wonderful time in Phuket, Thailand. It is crowded with a lot of tourists (like many people told us), but we stayed on Ao Karon rather than the super-popular Ao Patong and had a wonderful time. We stayed at a Nordic place called "The Little Mermaid" which was nice after ourstay on Phi Phi because we had hot water and air conditioning both (and a TV!)...the life of luxury.
We took a daytrip from Phuket which was a real adventure. Obstensibly the trip was sea kayaking on several different islands. It was incredible - they actually paddle for you (which was nice for Deanna as i would have made her paddle) and you have to actually go at low tide and duck to get through caves and into secret lagoons - which are completely inaccessible at high tide so they're still very isolated and serene. Very beautiful...make sure you check out the pictures labeled Phuket when I get them uploaded (this week). More entertainment came from a very fat Scotsman, who also happened to be very drunk, having screaming matches with his Thai girlfriend(?) and then come to physical blows with another passenger (German). It was quite exciting.
The other highlight of that trip was paying a visit to "James Bond" island where "Man with the Golden Gun" was filmed. Remember the last scene where Bond storms the island fortress and has the duel with the owner of the Golden Gun? Right...I must be the only one. Deanna thinks I'm crazy because I got very excited and ran around the island and had her take pictures of me doing James Bond poses and pretending to sneak around.
From there, another bus ride. You would think I would FINALLY learn about these. But no. This time we were pretty careful to ask about how many seats, do they recline, is it air conditioned, etc... So we take a minibus (reasonably comfortable) for three hours to Surat Thani bus stop. Then we wait until there's enough people to send a bus to Bangkok. In our case, we arrived around 4:30 and there weren't enough people...so we waited. We were actually going to have to wait until 8pm to leave, but it just happened another bus had a few open "spaces" on the bus. We just wanted to get to Bangkok, so we opted on.
I found myself sitting in the "lounge" area of the double decker bus rather than an actual seat. It didn't recline and I sat in a small semi-circle with 5 people who were destined to become my best friends given how close together we were sitting. The bathroom was right next door...first a good thing...then a bad thing...then a very bad thing as the girl across from me had a bout of stomach flu and had to continually run to the bathroom. Did I mention the in-transit movie was "DinoCroc" by Roger Corman? Ugh. The most insulting thing about it was that DVD's are 100Baht ($2.50) here and everyone on that bus was probably carrying better DVD's. I think it's the Thai way of saying FU.
Bangkok has been awesome so far. We're staying near the Khao Sahn area and it's a real trip. Lots of backpackers, lots of interesting people and things. We literally arrived into town at 5AM from our bus ride from hell and at Deanna's urging went to the Weekend Market. For shoppers, it's 15,000 stalls in 28 sections of pure bargain merchandise heaven. I think we covered at least 12,000. For someone (me) who doesn't really buy anything, it was tough. I just hung out in the 'pet' section and petted dogs and squirrels and watched the cockfighting (they didn't fight, but they were selling them for that purpose).
But I actually did buy a CD player on Khao Sahn. We've been thinking about getting some music on this trip, and it seemed like the place to buy. I "negotiated" a great deal by charming a Thai girl and got the player for probably twice the value I should have paid. Honestly, I'm a horrible bargainer...and she was cute...and she kept saying"Mister...I give you best price." and then giggling. Oh well. I was such a good negotiator that I actually gave her the box back so she could repack stuff in it and sell to some other schlep. It was only later that I realized that the deal didn't include the actual rechargable batteries even though I had bought the charger. The sad thing is, I'm thinking about going back to her to buy the batteries. Somebody stop me.
Last thing...I'll leave you with a teaser. Deanna got her nose pierced and I have all the pictures. Wait for it...
Best to everyone...
Sunday, November 14, 2004
11/14/04: Into Thailand...following Leo's Trail
Hello everyone -
The time between updates increases as I am beginning to lose motor coordination and the ability to actually form sentences with both subject and predicate.
When last we spoke, I believe we were in Langkawi, Malaysia...just a few more thoughts on that. First, there is GREAT snorkeling on Langkawi...they have a national park which is actually just one of the 99 islands that make up the area. After my initial difficulties with the basic concept that you CANNOT breathe in through your nose while snorkeling (I've never been before)...I settled in. There was TONS of fish and great coral and even got to see sand sharks (must've been 15 or so). It was amazing - and actually better than what we've experience in Thailand around Ko Phi Phi. The "guides" actually bring bait fish and slap the water with it about 5 feet from shore - and the sharks actually come and when they turn their tails are out of the water. It was amazing and a bit scary how casual these guys were holding the fish for the sharks. The only downside was getting bitten by these tiny light pink fish. The actual injury caused (none) was far less than the humiliation of getting chased out of the water by a fish half the size of my hand.
The other cool thing on Langkawi was renting a scooter. Thanks to my really great parents, I've never actually had the pleasure of learning to drive a motorscooter or motorcycle. We picked Langkawi because it seemed to be the only place where we could manage the driving on the left side and unfamiliarity of the bike without dealing with really heavy traffic or the "middle lane" being a two-way lane. As it turns out, Deanna is quite an excellent biker...I was passable. I think I've gotten the urge out of my system but in my new enlightenment I will no longer try to open my car door on the highway as bikes "share" my lane.
From Langkawi, we moved on to Krabi in Thailand...enduring yet another ferry and bus ride where we had NO idea what was going on. "Traveling by instinct" is probably accurate. The tough thing about Thailand is that the alphabet is different...a bit like Arabic to my untrained eye. Luckily, I walk around with such a dumbfounded look on my face (think George W) that no one tries to speak to me in Thai.
Best thing about Krabi. The food. Awesome. There is a night market in Krabi Town and I was in fried food heaven (one of my many, many weaknesses). They have tons of stands where you just point to what you want deepfried and they deep fry, dip in chili sauce, and provide to you in a little plastic bag. Genius. Simply genius.
In the spirit of food, Deanna and I took a day long cooking class. Our instructor "Ya" had an amazing history and also showed us fool-proof (hah! she hasn't seen this fool in the kitchen) methods to cook four different curries, stir fry, soups - all really starting from the same basic ingredient preparation. Yes...2005 will be the year of Mike Chiang, Master Thai Chef. Or at least I have a nice book of Thai recipes to look at before I go to McDonald's.
To celebrate our graduation from class, Deanna and I went to a local fair where we watched 9 year old girls dance "in-sync" to Thai music, browsed for knock-off everything, and ate deep-fried crickets...carefully selected from a stand offering silk worms (recommended by a passing pedestrian laughing at us), some other type of worm, large beetles, and a few other creepy-crawlies. Crickets do NOT taste like chicken...don't actually taste like much. Good with beer. Like everything.
From Krabi Town, we moved on to Ao Nang beach in the Krabi area. Wonderful. Had a Thai massage there and really learned what it is to hurt. The massage was administered by a Thai gentleman named "Mork"...yes really. I didn't think it was possible that he was strong enough to hurt me. I was wrong. The other excitement was getting a haircut. Adding to the experience was:
a. I don't speak Thai
b. The barber didn't speak English
c. The owner of the shop spoke just enough English to get by...27 words or so by my estimation.
In the end, I just closed my eyes and hoped for the best. And actually it ended up fine. Good for me...bad for this story.
Anyway, we are on Ko Phi Phi for the last few days. Yesterday we took a trip to some incredibly beautiful islands (Bamboo Island, Ko Phi Phi Ley). The importance of course of Ko Phi Phi Ley is it's the island where they filmed the immortal, beloved film (here) "The Beach". To all of you that avoid Leonardo DiCaprio on principle, I commend you. But we are looking to watch the movie to compare to our pictures...it won't be easy, but probably easier than watching the crap I normally do (no WB over here unfortunately). DVD's here are 150B...same price as video games. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was sold out, but I did pickup a few others. I think I'll offer my expertise to help them make the games look more legitimate ("you see sir, you need to put the Nintendo Official seal above the DOL code"). They could start by spelling "Activision" correctly.
Best to everyone. We're off to Phuket next. And then Bangkok where Deanna will make a side-trip to Perth to visit a friend and hopefully Julian will arrive for his visit.
The time between updates increases as I am beginning to lose motor coordination and the ability to actually form sentences with both subject and predicate.
When last we spoke, I believe we were in Langkawi, Malaysia...just a few more thoughts on that. First, there is GREAT snorkeling on Langkawi...they have a national park which is actually just one of the 99 islands that make up the area. After my initial difficulties with the basic concept that you CANNOT breathe in through your nose while snorkeling (I've never been before)...I settled in. There was TONS of fish and great coral and even got to see sand sharks (must've been 15 or so). It was amazing - and actually better than what we've experience in Thailand around Ko Phi Phi. The "guides" actually bring bait fish and slap the water with it about 5 feet from shore - and the sharks actually come and when they turn their tails are out of the water. It was amazing and a bit scary how casual these guys were holding the fish for the sharks. The only downside was getting bitten by these tiny light pink fish. The actual injury caused (none) was far less than the humiliation of getting chased out of the water by a fish half the size of my hand.
The other cool thing on Langkawi was renting a scooter. Thanks to my really great parents, I've never actually had the pleasure of learning to drive a motorscooter or motorcycle. We picked Langkawi because it seemed to be the only place where we could manage the driving on the left side and unfamiliarity of the bike without dealing with really heavy traffic or the "middle lane" being a two-way lane. As it turns out, Deanna is quite an excellent biker...I was passable. I think I've gotten the urge out of my system but in my new enlightenment I will no longer try to open my car door on the highway as bikes "share" my lane.
From Langkawi, we moved on to Krabi in Thailand...enduring yet another ferry and bus ride where we had NO idea what was going on. "Traveling by instinct" is probably accurate. The tough thing about Thailand is that the alphabet is different...a bit like Arabic to my untrained eye. Luckily, I walk around with such a dumbfounded look on my face (think George W) that no one tries to speak to me in Thai.
Best thing about Krabi. The food. Awesome. There is a night market in Krabi Town and I was in fried food heaven (one of my many, many weaknesses). They have tons of stands where you just point to what you want deepfried and they deep fry, dip in chili sauce, and provide to you in a little plastic bag. Genius. Simply genius.
In the spirit of food, Deanna and I took a day long cooking class. Our instructor "Ya" had an amazing history and also showed us fool-proof (hah! she hasn't seen this fool in the kitchen) methods to cook four different curries, stir fry, soups - all really starting from the same basic ingredient preparation. Yes...2005 will be the year of Mike Chiang, Master Thai Chef. Or at least I have a nice book of Thai recipes to look at before I go to McDonald's.
To celebrate our graduation from class, Deanna and I went to a local fair where we watched 9 year old girls dance "in-sync" to Thai music, browsed for knock-off everything, and ate deep-fried crickets...carefully selected from a stand offering silk worms (recommended by a passing pedestrian laughing at us), some other type of worm, large beetles, and a few other creepy-crawlies. Crickets do NOT taste like chicken...don't actually taste like much. Good with beer. Like everything.
From Krabi Town, we moved on to Ao Nang beach in the Krabi area. Wonderful. Had a Thai massage there and really learned what it is to hurt. The massage was administered by a Thai gentleman named "Mork"...yes really. I didn't think it was possible that he was strong enough to hurt me. I was wrong. The other excitement was getting a haircut. Adding to the experience was:
a. I don't speak Thai
b. The barber didn't speak English
c. The owner of the shop spoke just enough English to get by...27 words or so by my estimation.
In the end, I just closed my eyes and hoped for the best. And actually it ended up fine. Good for me...bad for this story.
Anyway, we are on Ko Phi Phi for the last few days. Yesterday we took a trip to some incredibly beautiful islands (Bamboo Island, Ko Phi Phi Ley). The importance of course of Ko Phi Phi Ley is it's the island where they filmed the immortal, beloved film (here) "The Beach". To all of you that avoid Leonardo DiCaprio on principle, I commend you. But we are looking to watch the movie to compare to our pictures...it won't be easy, but probably easier than watching the crap I normally do (no WB over here unfortunately). DVD's here are 150B...same price as video games. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was sold out, but I did pickup a few others. I think I'll offer my expertise to help them make the games look more legitimate ("you see sir, you need to put the Nintendo Official seal above the DOL code"). They could start by spelling "Activision" correctly.
Best to everyone. We're off to Phuket next. And then Bangkok where Deanna will make a side-trip to Perth to visit a friend and hopefully Julian will arrive for his visit.
Friday, November 05, 2004
11/05/04: Penang and Langkawi, Malaysia
Hello everyone -
Hope that everyone is doing well...Monday is four weeks that we've been on this trip and it really helps to "talk" to people from home. I think the election really brought us back to thinking about home - it's been a lot of the talk around here (and none of it good). We actually watched the election coverage in an Indian buffet in Penang,Malaysia...it was the only place with CNN - so it was Indian breakfast (Roti - a very nice bread), Indian lunch (lamb is always good...it's just a fact), and we didn't quite make Indian dinner - and the owner was quite sick of us at that point.
Penang is/was fantastic. We started the city by taking a tour of Cheong Fatt Tze's home - one of the last Mandarins of China. He built a phenomenal house or as the tour leader said it "perfectly balanced feng shui"...and it's completely rentable for special occassions...each of the 16 rooms has a different theme and the room we saw was pretty phenomenal. This guy had 8 wives and 8 houses...a model citizen that I will attempt to emulate in the future. http://www.cheongfatttzemansion.com/
Other fun things in Penang were taking a bicycle taxi - very, very scary and the driver doesn't actually seem to watch where he's going...and it's the typical 5 lanes in 2 type driving around here. We had thought about renting scooters but thought better of it...something about health insurance running out after I quit working.
The other big to do was trying the fruit "Durian" - and Mom, I just don't like it. We were walking by an older French couple and Deanna somehow psychically indicated that we would like to try. Next thing you know, they're speaking French, looking at me and laughing (hmm...), and then the man breaks open his bag and offers us Durian. The durian is a fruit that's supposed to be incredibly stinky (check) and apparently many buses, public places, etc... have banned people from eating the fruit within their premises. The fruit is also supposed to be very, very flavorful (not so sure about this). Deanna and I agreed that it had an avocado texture, couldn't agree on what exactly it tasted like (like fruit mixed with cheese), but did agree there was a distinct onion afterflavor (and not a good one just in case the statement is noncommittal).
We've been eating really well in Malaysia - we were staying in the Chinatown area and ate dim sum every morning. And the bill each day was about 15RM - or $4. Incredible. I love everything about Asia. Actually, everything but the toilets. And the humidity. And some other things.
We're on Langkawi Island on the Malaysian side of the Thai border right now. It's great. We have a bungalow RIGHT on the beach and Langkawi is a DUTY FREE zone! The problem with Malaysia is that alcohol is expensive (relatively)...but here...40 cents a beer (Tiger). Needless to say, Langkawi has been fun and we've met some cool people (of course at the Irish pub - you were right Chuck...there's one everywhere, but no Raiders jerseys). The most amazing drinking, however, has been how much water Deanna drinks. We picked up a 5 or 6 L just last night after dinner and it was gone by 3pm today - and I swear I didn't drink a drop of it. Granted it is 90% humidity, 95 degrees, but still.
Next up, we're spending a few more days here on Langkawi...then on to Krabi in Thailand. We did get the pictures uploaded on Ofoto - so see the links below. Deanna has captioned quite a few - but there's alot...you've been warned.
Also - Deanna has been posting a web-blog. It has all of my emails and her own "column". Check it out at: www.offandaway.blogspot.com Her account is more entertaining and far more truthful.
Everyone take care.
Hope that everyone is doing well...Monday is four weeks that we've been on this trip and it really helps to "talk" to people from home. I think the election really brought us back to thinking about home - it's been a lot of the talk around here (and none of it good). We actually watched the election coverage in an Indian buffet in Penang,Malaysia...it was the only place with CNN - so it was Indian breakfast (Roti - a very nice bread), Indian lunch (lamb is always good...it's just a fact), and we didn't quite make Indian dinner - and the owner was quite sick of us at that point.
Penang is/was fantastic. We started the city by taking a tour of Cheong Fatt Tze's home - one of the last Mandarins of China. He built a phenomenal house or as the tour leader said it "perfectly balanced feng shui"...and it's completely rentable for special occassions...each of the 16 rooms has a different theme and the room we saw was pretty phenomenal. This guy had 8 wives and 8 houses...a model citizen that I will attempt to emulate in the future. http://www.cheongfatttzemansion.com/
Other fun things in Penang were taking a bicycle taxi - very, very scary and the driver doesn't actually seem to watch where he's going...and it's the typical 5 lanes in 2 type driving around here. We had thought about renting scooters but thought better of it...something about health insurance running out after I quit working.
The other big to do was trying the fruit "Durian" - and Mom, I just don't like it. We were walking by an older French couple and Deanna somehow psychically indicated that we would like to try. Next thing you know, they're speaking French, looking at me and laughing (hmm...), and then the man breaks open his bag and offers us Durian. The durian is a fruit that's supposed to be incredibly stinky (check) and apparently many buses, public places, etc... have banned people from eating the fruit within their premises. The fruit is also supposed to be very, very flavorful (not so sure about this). Deanna and I agreed that it had an avocado texture, couldn't agree on what exactly it tasted like (like fruit mixed with cheese), but did agree there was a distinct onion afterflavor (and not a good one just in case the statement is noncommittal).
We've been eating really well in Malaysia - we were staying in the Chinatown area and ate dim sum every morning. And the bill each day was about 15RM - or $4. Incredible. I love everything about Asia. Actually, everything but the toilets. And the humidity. And some other things.
We're on Langkawi Island on the Malaysian side of the Thai border right now. It's great. We have a bungalow RIGHT on the beach and Langkawi is a DUTY FREE zone! The problem with Malaysia is that alcohol is expensive (relatively)...but here...40 cents a beer (Tiger). Needless to say, Langkawi has been fun and we've met some cool people (of course at the Irish pub - you were right Chuck...there's one everywhere, but no Raiders jerseys). The most amazing drinking, however, has been how much water Deanna drinks. We picked up a 5 or 6 L just last night after dinner and it was gone by 3pm today - and I swear I didn't drink a drop of it. Granted it is 90% humidity, 95 degrees, but still.
Next up, we're spending a few more days here on Langkawi...then on to Krabi in Thailand. We did get the pictures uploaded on Ofoto - so see the links below. Deanna has captioned quite a few - but there's alot...you've been warned.
Also - Deanna has been posting a web-blog. It has all of my emails and her own "column". Check it out at: www.offandaway.blogspot.com Her account is more entertaining and far more truthful.
Everyone take care.
Sunday, October 31, 2004
10/31/04: From Bali to Singapore to Penang, Malaysia
Hello everyone and happy Halloween -
Hopefully by now, you're not sick of me. These emails also serve as my journal (since I don't know how to work that "pen" thing they invented a few years ago). Definitely let me know if you want to get taken off the email list...I don't want to be part of the spam problem by any means.
A few last notes on Bali - some a bit funny. We were taking a walk through some rice paddies in Ubud (thanks Lonely Planet) and were stopped to talk by a farmer who was 20 or so. His English was very good and he showed us his hut (very small, no electricity, in the middle of a rice paddy next to his parents "larger" hut) and his land. His dream someday was to become a taxi driver (which was why he practiced english, but could not afford the fee for school). Anyway, he actually climbed a cocunut tree, grabbed a coconut, cut it open and we drank the juice directly from the coconut...good pictures on this one. Anyway, we bid him adieu, gave him a little money and were on our way. Quite heart-warming or the best actor I've ever seen.
...In direct contrast to our hotel attendant/cleaner. We found an awesome little hotel looking out on (what else) rice paddies and a small brook - just beautiful - and for 80,000 Rp (less than $10/night). Well our "friend" spent most of the time completely stoned...at least we think so from his 25% room cleaning frequency. We weren't 100% sure, but when he came up to the deck next to us, said hi, then stood looking at us for about 10 minutes after our "conversation" (while we were looking down at our books) convinced us that he was on something...
On the last day in Ubud, we visited the Monkey Forest Sanctuary. There's about 200 macaques there (from my incredible powers of inference, a type of monkey). The monkeys were NOT afraid in the slightest and in a golden display of reverse evolution we saw a few kids and adults that didn't understand why the monkeys were jumping on them as they carried food through the park. Note to self: when the monkey grabs the banana, let him take it. One monkey actually jumped up on my leg as I was sitting...there were families of monkeys and the babies playfully fighting for bananas and such. They weren't the most beautiful monkeys in the world, but they were cute and fun to play with.
From there back to Singapore (oh the food...just amazing). Mom - I tried to find everything you ever made me (I do mean everything...I ate a LOT) - and everything was cheap, cheap, cheap. The food markets sell everything for $3-4 Singapore dollars ($2-3). I also found every CD, DVD that's ever been made for $3 each. They have a lot of stuff that's not out on DVD yet. I think they may even have a copy of Spider-Man 3 - created from Sam's notes on a napkin at a lunch.
Finally, from the "lessons" category. The rules for bus travel. Always ask:
1. Where is the bus going? Are you sure? Really?
2. How many times does the bus stop? Does it really go to the bus station it's supposed to? Is a Shell station really considered the bus station?
3. When you say "9 hours" do you really mean "12 hours"?
4. I see the pictures you're showing me of the "luxury seats". Does this mean that MY seat will actually look like this?
5. Does Air Conditioning mean the entire bus, or just the driver?
We took an 11 hour bus ride from Singapore to Penang in Malaysia. We had no idea what was going on the entire time. We got the very back row of seats where there's four seats across instead of the three that are in every other row. And the seats are smaller. And the seats in front can actually cut off your ENTIRE leg space just by reclining. It was great to see Deanna negotiate with the driver to change seats at one stop in a combination of Bahasa Malaysian, Engrish (proper spelling), and I thought I heard some Hokkainese as well. Quite the experience - at least the total cost was $10 each. amazing.
Finally Penang - a very cool city. Majority here are ethnic chinese... We're staying in Chinatown...it's so cool. So far we ate incredible Dim Sum (for $4 between the two of us), went out and had drinks - met some cool people - including two folks from Perth for Deanna's side jaunt in a few weeks to visit friends. And we're staying at the Cathay Hotel in Penang - it's 100 years old (very clean though) and played some part in the movie Beyond Rangoon (which of course, was the extent of the research I did for this trip...so perfect).
Hopefully by now, you're not sick of me. These emails also serve as my journal (since I don't know how to work that "pen" thing they invented a few years ago). Definitely let me know if you want to get taken off the email list...I don't want to be part of the spam problem by any means.
A few last notes on Bali - some a bit funny. We were taking a walk through some rice paddies in Ubud (thanks Lonely Planet) and were stopped to talk by a farmer who was 20 or so. His English was very good and he showed us his hut (very small, no electricity, in the middle of a rice paddy next to his parents "larger" hut) and his land. His dream someday was to become a taxi driver (which was why he practiced english, but could not afford the fee for school). Anyway, he actually climbed a cocunut tree, grabbed a coconut, cut it open and we drank the juice directly from the coconut...good pictures on this one. Anyway, we bid him adieu, gave him a little money and were on our way. Quite heart-warming or the best actor I've ever seen.
...In direct contrast to our hotel attendant/cleaner. We found an awesome little hotel looking out on (what else) rice paddies and a small brook - just beautiful - and for 80,000 Rp (less than $10/night). Well our "friend" spent most of the time completely stoned...at least we think so from his 25% room cleaning frequency. We weren't 100% sure, but when he came up to the deck next to us, said hi, then stood looking at us for about 10 minutes after our "conversation" (while we were looking down at our books) convinced us that he was on something...
On the last day in Ubud, we visited the Monkey Forest Sanctuary. There's about 200 macaques there (from my incredible powers of inference, a type of monkey). The monkeys were NOT afraid in the slightest and in a golden display of reverse evolution we saw a few kids and adults that didn't understand why the monkeys were jumping on them as they carried food through the park. Note to self: when the monkey grabs the banana, let him take it. One monkey actually jumped up on my leg as I was sitting...there were families of monkeys and the babies playfully fighting for bananas and such. They weren't the most beautiful monkeys in the world, but they were cute and fun to play with.
From there back to Singapore (oh the food...just amazing). Mom - I tried to find everything you ever made me (I do mean everything...I ate a LOT) - and everything was cheap, cheap, cheap. The food markets sell everything for $3-4 Singapore dollars ($2-3). I also found every CD, DVD that's ever been made for $3 each. They have a lot of stuff that's not out on DVD yet. I think they may even have a copy of Spider-Man 3 - created from Sam's notes on a napkin at a lunch.
Finally, from the "lessons" category. The rules for bus travel. Always ask:
1. Where is the bus going? Are you sure? Really?
2. How many times does the bus stop? Does it really go to the bus station it's supposed to? Is a Shell station really considered the bus station?
3. When you say "9 hours" do you really mean "12 hours"?
4. I see the pictures you're showing me of the "luxury seats". Does this mean that MY seat will actually look like this?
5. Does Air Conditioning mean the entire bus, or just the driver?
We took an 11 hour bus ride from Singapore to Penang in Malaysia. We had no idea what was going on the entire time. We got the very back row of seats where there's four seats across instead of the three that are in every other row. And the seats are smaller. And the seats in front can actually cut off your ENTIRE leg space just by reclining. It was great to see Deanna negotiate with the driver to change seats at one stop in a combination of Bahasa Malaysian, Engrish (proper spelling), and I thought I heard some Hokkainese as well. Quite the experience - at least the total cost was $10 each. amazing.
Finally Penang - a very cool city. Majority here are ethnic chinese... We're staying in Chinatown...it's so cool. So far we ate incredible Dim Sum (for $4 between the two of us), went out and had drinks - met some cool people - including two folks from Perth for Deanna's side jaunt in a few weeks to visit friends. And we're staying at the Cathay Hotel in Penang - it's 100 years old (very clean though) and played some part in the movie Beyond Rangoon (which of course, was the extent of the research I did for this trip...so perfect).
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
10/26/04: Back in Bali
Hello everyone
Spent a wonderful time in Lombok...for the first time, I felt competent (slightly) getting around a place and we actually met some local, real people who really added to the experience. We're right in the middle of Ramadan right now so services start (and the prayer calls on the loud speakers on top of the mosques) at 3am to tell people to get up and pray (and...my guess...eat before dawn).
First up, we met a German woman, Andrea, and hired a driver together, a local man named Sharif, to take us around the island for a tour. It was a great experience. We went to the market (Deanna still can't eat chicken after the tour) which was a neat experience, then to a lot of the different craft villages. At one village, they showed us the whole basket/bamboo weaving process and how all the kids are taught the craft to carry on the tradition. When I was standing in the shop after the tour a little 8-year old girl took my hand and made a bamboo ring for my finger. She was incredibly cute...I'm not sure if she wanted money or just a courtesy to help people buy things in the shop, but what I was really thinking about was adopting her. I'm sure her mom and dad wouldn't mind. There are actually a lot of awesome, fun kids here. In another part of the island, it had started to rain and as we drove by and we saw 6 kids...four of them naked running for shelter. The funny thing was that a few had plastic bags covering their heads (I guess they know what's important) but nothing else on. Even our driver (a very serious type) laughed.
We traveled all around the island, and ended up in Kuta Beach (in Lombok) where there was a grand total of 5 tourists. Sharif backed our jeep up on the path and we got stuck in the sand near the beach. Forty minutes later, with the help of two local men, 6 local boys, another truck and some rope we were free. I think we all bonded having to push the truck out of the ditch over palm fronds and cocunut shells. I'm still covered in dirt from the experience.
The other real highlight was climbing Mt. Rinjani (an active volcano) in Lombok, near the city of Senaru. What really made the trip was our guide, a gentleman originally from Borneo, named Alyn (actually Mochammed) Syafari. He was incredible and actually got us up the 2700M climb with much encouragment, incredible cooking (really), and sometimes actually reaching back and pulling us behind him. I think over the first day, I drank about 8 liters of water and needed to pee exactly once. Let's just say there was a LOT of sweat. At camp the first night, we had to wake up at 3am to make the climb to the crater rim (in order to see the sunrise over the mountain). The stars were incredible...there wasn't a light for miles - you would have loved it Dad. As we climbed through the night with two flashlights for three people (I thought Deanna or I would fall off the mountain for sure) we sweated up the mountain and the view was absolutely 100% worth it. We're heading to Singapore in a few days and I'll send pictures when the connection is a bit faster. While we were on the rim, we saw some volcanic activity (smoke bursting through the volcano).
There were only two negatives - 1. the climb down and 2. lying to the guide. First, the climb down sucked. I twisted my knee a bit and took some magic pills that Deanna had just to make it down. It got to the point where I could either take a. huge steps or b. little, tinysteps but nothing in between. I swear I looked like Frankenstein learning to walk coming down the mountain...just sad. Second - Alyn was so awesome and open about his life - but we had told him that we were Canadien (the whole anti-American worry). I think he took us/me at face value that I was from Toronto - but every story I told him around the campfire was about California and Ohio and Minnesota - and every price I quoted in US dollars...I think I'm going to hell. But if you ever want to climb Rinjani, Bromo (in Java), take a trip to Borneo - please email Alyn at lintrack@lycos.com.
From Lombok, we headed to Bali (Ubud) to recover. Neither of us is walking well and riding 9 people + luggage in a van built for Balinese (read: tiny), it was very comfortable. I think the statute of limitations on soreness should run out in 5 days or less. I did get a massage here and it was awesome...although I seriously considered murdering the masseuse when she touched my (sore) right thigh.
Today we went and saw a Cremation ceremony. The pageantry of the whole process is amazing...there's a parade of sorts where they bring these huge bull figurines to the cemetary and then make lots of offering and then burn it all. It was an amazing experience (only 4 tourists there)...but we were absolutely badgered into buying sarongs (yes...I am a proud owner...pictures to come) to enter the cemetary. I've never been so scared of 60 year old women...they walked with us the entire parade with my woman poking me in the arm every 10 feet with "good price" and "you need to wear". We bargained her down from 250,000 Rp ($27) to 80,000 Rp ($9) and then ended up buying so they would just leave us alone. Deanna insists that we got taken. I did negotiate pictures with the old women as part of the deal and a lesson in how to tie the sarong.
Next Up:
Flying back to Singapore
Penang, Malaysia
Langwaki Island, Malaysia
Best to everyone and thanks so much for your replies...it's really, really nice to hear from home.
Spent a wonderful time in Lombok...for the first time, I felt competent (slightly) getting around a place and we actually met some local, real people who really added to the experience. We're right in the middle of Ramadan right now so services start (and the prayer calls on the loud speakers on top of the mosques) at 3am to tell people to get up and pray (and...my guess...eat before dawn).
First up, we met a German woman, Andrea, and hired a driver together, a local man named Sharif, to take us around the island for a tour. It was a great experience. We went to the market (Deanna still can't eat chicken after the tour) which was a neat experience, then to a lot of the different craft villages. At one village, they showed us the whole basket/bamboo weaving process and how all the kids are taught the craft to carry on the tradition. When I was standing in the shop after the tour a little 8-year old girl took my hand and made a bamboo ring for my finger. She was incredibly cute...I'm not sure if she wanted money or just a courtesy to help people buy things in the shop, but what I was really thinking about was adopting her. I'm sure her mom and dad wouldn't mind. There are actually a lot of awesome, fun kids here. In another part of the island, it had started to rain and as we drove by and we saw 6 kids...four of them naked running for shelter. The funny thing was that a few had plastic bags covering their heads (I guess they know what's important) but nothing else on. Even our driver (a very serious type) laughed.
We traveled all around the island, and ended up in Kuta Beach (in Lombok) where there was a grand total of 5 tourists. Sharif backed our jeep up on the path and we got stuck in the sand near the beach. Forty minutes later, with the help of two local men, 6 local boys, another truck and some rope we were free. I think we all bonded having to push the truck out of the ditch over palm fronds and cocunut shells. I'm still covered in dirt from the experience.
The other real highlight was climbing Mt. Rinjani (an active volcano) in Lombok, near the city of Senaru. What really made the trip was our guide, a gentleman originally from Borneo, named Alyn (actually Mochammed) Syafari. He was incredible and actually got us up the 2700M climb with much encouragment, incredible cooking (really), and sometimes actually reaching back and pulling us behind him. I think over the first day, I drank about 8 liters of water and needed to pee exactly once. Let's just say there was a LOT of sweat. At camp the first night, we had to wake up at 3am to make the climb to the crater rim (in order to see the sunrise over the mountain). The stars were incredible...there wasn't a light for miles - you would have loved it Dad. As we climbed through the night with two flashlights for three people (I thought Deanna or I would fall off the mountain for sure) we sweated up the mountain and the view was absolutely 100% worth it. We're heading to Singapore in a few days and I'll send pictures when the connection is a bit faster. While we were on the rim, we saw some volcanic activity (smoke bursting through the volcano).
There were only two negatives - 1. the climb down and 2. lying to the guide. First, the climb down sucked. I twisted my knee a bit and took some magic pills that Deanna had just to make it down. It got to the point where I could either take a. huge steps or b. little, tinysteps but nothing in between. I swear I looked like Frankenstein learning to walk coming down the mountain...just sad. Second - Alyn was so awesome and open about his life - but we had told him that we were Canadien (the whole anti-American worry). I think he took us/me at face value that I was from Toronto - but every story I told him around the campfire was about California and Ohio and Minnesota - and every price I quoted in US dollars...I think I'm going to hell. But if you ever want to climb Rinjani, Bromo (in Java), take a trip to Borneo - please email Alyn at lintrack@lycos.com.
From Lombok, we headed to Bali (Ubud) to recover. Neither of us is walking well and riding 9 people + luggage in a van built for Balinese (read: tiny), it was very comfortable. I think the statute of limitations on soreness should run out in 5 days or less. I did get a massage here and it was awesome...although I seriously considered murdering the masseuse when she touched my (sore) right thigh.
Today we went and saw a Cremation ceremony. The pageantry of the whole process is amazing...there's a parade of sorts where they bring these huge bull figurines to the cemetary and then make lots of offering and then burn it all. It was an amazing experience (only 4 tourists there)...but we were absolutely badgered into buying sarongs (yes...I am a proud owner...pictures to come) to enter the cemetary. I've never been so scared of 60 year old women...they walked with us the entire parade with my woman poking me in the arm every 10 feet with "good price" and "you need to wear". We bargained her down from 250,000 Rp ($27) to 80,000 Rp ($9) and then ended up buying so they would just leave us alone. Deanna insists that we got taken. I did negotiate pictures with the old women as part of the deal and a lesson in how to tie the sarong.
Next Up:
Flying back to Singapore
Penang, Malaysia
Langwaki Island, Malaysia
Best to everyone and thanks so much for your replies...it's really, really nice to hear from home.
Monday, October 18, 2004
10/18/04: The trials of Lombok
Well everyone -
After three days in Singapore (about as much as we needed I think) we took a flight to Bali and found ourselves in Kuta...one of the main resort towns and also the sight of the 2002 bombing - it was a bit sobering to walk by the monument. Bali has been hard hit by the tragedy and some of the surrounding islands have dried up completely as tourism has declined.
Our hotel was about 15 minutes from the beach. Just long enough to assess whether you want to buy every single knick-knack known to man. Deanna now has braided hair and I am the proud owner of a genuine Frolex watch...no seriously, the hawkers are very aggressive - it's really irritating but understandable. One of the locals we spoke to mentioned that he made about 20,000 Rupiah a day (less than $3) so I guess when you buy that sarong for 50,000 Rupiah, it's a big deal. Never have I felt so rich and so suspicious of everyone that talks to me...hopefully the feeling wears off.
The real adventure was our day traveling from Bali to Lombok (just west of Bali). Woke up early and then started the trek to the bus station - this was the first time we've actually had to carry our bags over any distance...ouch. Halfway there, we stopped to talk to some of the cabdrivers and "negotiated" a fare. Basically him calling out prices and us saying no, walking away, him calling after us, him running after us, us turning around, saying no, and finally settling on a price.
When we got to the ferry (about 2 hours), we're rushed into a "ticket office" where the price list had just been "updated". You could literally see that the price for the place we just happened to be going had been freshly changed in the last 5 minutes. And of course the ferry was leaving in 5 minutes and the next ferry wasn't leaving until four hours later. Forty-five minutes later we left. And found out the boat wasn't going where we needed to go. And that Deanna is THE most fascinating sight to the locals that they've ever seen with her blond hair. And that Deanna gets sea sick. And the only thing we had were these Dutch pills (no English instructions) that we thought were for seasickness (thanks Tiffany and Michael). This was slightly challenging all-in-all...but we made it and it turns out the ferry goes only to one port and then they pick you up in a bus.
We were quite relieved, until the bus stopped in a "tourist bureau" where we got the soft sell, hard sell, guilt-trip sell, won't find a better deal sell for a trip to the top of Mt. Rinjani, an active volcano we expressed interest in. Anyway, we ended up passing on the trip from this operator and they begrudgingly took us to our hotel. The hotel is awesome. It has an essentially private beach..from our bungalow you can see the Ocean and walk down in about 30 seconds. It's perfect...except for:
a. the cockroach
b. no water
c. no lights
d. all of the above
d is the correct answer. But overall, I felt really good after yesterday like we were "legitimate" travelers. We also found a wonderful local cafe (with no lights) where we ate by candlelight and talked to the owner and the server a bit. I told the owner that I was Chinese...unfortunately then he wanted to speak to me in Chinese...quite the experience with my 25 word vocabulary. But, it was definitely the best day (in my opinion) that we've had so far.
Next up:
Senaru and Mt. Rinjani
Giles Islands (possibly)
Back to Bali (Ubud) which is the crafts/cultural center.
10/28 Back to Singapore to meet Deanna's friend Mercedes for a few nights and then on to Malaysia!
After three days in Singapore (about as much as we needed I think) we took a flight to Bali and found ourselves in Kuta...one of the main resort towns and also the sight of the 2002 bombing - it was a bit sobering to walk by the monument. Bali has been hard hit by the tragedy and some of the surrounding islands have dried up completely as tourism has declined.
Our hotel was about 15 minutes from the beach. Just long enough to assess whether you want to buy every single knick-knack known to man. Deanna now has braided hair and I am the proud owner of a genuine Frolex watch...no seriously, the hawkers are very aggressive - it's really irritating but understandable. One of the locals we spoke to mentioned that he made about 20,000 Rupiah a day (less than $3) so I guess when you buy that sarong for 50,000 Rupiah, it's a big deal. Never have I felt so rich and so suspicious of everyone that talks to me...hopefully the feeling wears off.
The real adventure was our day traveling from Bali to Lombok (just west of Bali). Woke up early and then started the trek to the bus station - this was the first time we've actually had to carry our bags over any distance...ouch. Halfway there, we stopped to talk to some of the cabdrivers and "negotiated" a fare. Basically him calling out prices and us saying no, walking away, him calling after us, him running after us, us turning around, saying no, and finally settling on a price.
When we got to the ferry (about 2 hours), we're rushed into a "ticket office" where the price list had just been "updated". You could literally see that the price for the place we just happened to be going had been freshly changed in the last 5 minutes. And of course the ferry was leaving in 5 minutes and the next ferry wasn't leaving until four hours later. Forty-five minutes later we left. And found out the boat wasn't going where we needed to go. And that Deanna is THE most fascinating sight to the locals that they've ever seen with her blond hair. And that Deanna gets sea sick. And the only thing we had were these Dutch pills (no English instructions) that we thought were for seasickness (thanks Tiffany and Michael). This was slightly challenging all-in-all...but we made it and it turns out the ferry goes only to one port and then they pick you up in a bus.
We were quite relieved, until the bus stopped in a "tourist bureau" where we got the soft sell, hard sell, guilt-trip sell, won't find a better deal sell for a trip to the top of Mt. Rinjani, an active volcano we expressed interest in. Anyway, we ended up passing on the trip from this operator and they begrudgingly took us to our hotel. The hotel is awesome. It has an essentially private beach..from our bungalow you can see the Ocean and walk down in about 30 seconds. It's perfect...except for:
a. the cockroach
b. no water
c. no lights
d. all of the above
d is the correct answer. But overall, I felt really good after yesterday like we were "legitimate" travelers. We also found a wonderful local cafe (with no lights) where we ate by candlelight and talked to the owner and the server a bit. I told the owner that I was Chinese...unfortunately then he wanted to speak to me in Chinese...quite the experience with my 25 word vocabulary. But, it was definitely the best day (in my opinion) that we've had so far.
Next up:
Senaru and Mt. Rinjani
Giles Islands (possibly)
Back to Bali (Ubud) which is the crafts/cultural center.
10/28 Back to Singapore to meet Deanna's friend Mercedes for a few nights and then on to Malaysia!
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
10/13/04: Safe in Singapore
Okay everyone -
I promise not to send daily updates but I did want to let everyone know that we arrived safely after a (not so) glorious trip from LA to Tokyo to Singapore. The flight was delayed by an hour...but we "made up"time on the way so everything was on-time - which was important b/c we had important appointments here in Singapore at 1:20am when we arrived. The other highlight was the 84 Farenheit temperature (at 1am)...you can imagine how hot it will be today.
Thank god Deanna had the foresight to schedule an airport pick-up. It seems that my Mandarin is pretty rusty and Deanna has not spoken Tamil or Malay since fourth grade (that's a joke for those of you who don't know her).
At that point (having smartly slept on the plane like frequent world travelers) we went to eat and had a wonderful crab. The only downside was the mysterious market price although we were promised "you won't be disappointed" by the waiter who of course, we never saw again. But the food was great. The other thing was apparently this restaurant does not believe in napkins...I would have taken a picture of our hands but I didn't want to ruin the camera. Let's just say it was not one of the finer moments in etiquette.
I've already figured out that we have too much stuff. I am considering jettisoning my tuxedo and/or the portable electricity generator.
More later...(you know when we've actually done something interesting).
I promise not to send daily updates but I did want to let everyone know that we arrived safely after a (not so) glorious trip from LA to Tokyo to Singapore. The flight was delayed by an hour...but we "made up"time on the way so everything was on-time - which was important b/c we had important appointments here in Singapore at 1:20am when we arrived. The other highlight was the 84 Farenheit temperature (at 1am)...you can imagine how hot it will be today.
Thank god Deanna had the foresight to schedule an airport pick-up. It seems that my Mandarin is pretty rusty and Deanna has not spoken Tamil or Malay since fourth grade (that's a joke for those of you who don't know her).
At that point (having smartly slept on the plane like frequent world travelers) we went to eat and had a wonderful crab. The only downside was the mysterious market price although we were promised "you won't be disappointed" by the waiter who of course, we never saw again. But the food was great. The other thing was apparently this restaurant does not believe in napkins...I would have taken a picture of our hands but I didn't want to ruin the camera. Let's just say it was not one of the finer moments in etiquette.
I've already figured out that we have too much stuff. I am considering jettisoning my tuxedo and/or the portable electricity generator.
More later...(you know when we've actually done something interesting).
Friday, October 08, 2004
10/08/04: What in the world am I doing?
Hi everyone -
Just wanted to send out a quick test email to make sure the email list is working properly. If the following describe you and you do not wish to get my wandering thoughts, let me know and I'll take you off the list:
a. You have no idea who this "Michael Chiang" is.
b. You know exactly who I am, but would rather not hear about my latest illness or run-in with machete wielding drug runners.
c. You have an active restraining order in the state of California.
Seriously - everything is going great. I think everything I can do is done by now and I'm looking forward to leaving before all hell breaks loose with the election.
I wanted to pass along my expected itinerary. Everything beyond the first week is pure conjecture (much like my forecasts) but I encourage each and every one of you to consider coming out and meeting up at some point along the path. Send me an email (contact info at the bottom of the list) and we'll work something out.
ITINERARY
-------------
11 Oct Los Angeles to Tokyo to Singapore (Northwest Airlines)
Believe it or not, this is the only flight I know right now.
15 Oct Singapore to Bali (Indonesia) or Perth, Australia
The opportunity just came up to possibly visit a friend in Perth...crazy. I don't know what's going to happen yet - depends on prices/times/phases of the moon.
30 Oct Bali to Singapore
November (early)
Malaysia. Likely stops (Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi). There's a train that runs from Singapore all the way to Bangkok..I think we'll take it and make stops along the way.
November (mid)
Thailand - southern. Likely stops (Bangkok, Phuket or Ko Samui). We'll spend a little extra time in Bangkok to get travel visas. For Vietnam and India, there's a real application...a lot of the countries seem to issue you a visa upon arrival at the border with a library card and $20.
November (late)
Thailand to Cambodia. Definite stop (Angkor Wat).
December
Cambodia to Vietnam.
Travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi in the north. Cross into Laos. According to my informal survey of my 5 friends, Luang Prabang and Laos in general is one of the best places to be in SE Asia. Unless you fly Air Laos...then you're dead.
December/January
Laos to northern Thailand. Look for white elephants (and ride an elephant) near Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai to Mandalay (Burma).
Assuming we can get across the border and don't get caught up in political protests, Burma is supposed to be beautiful. Looks like Christmas completely cut-off from the rest of the world (the government suppresses sites like Yahoo b/c their people might actually learn something). We'll travel by land from Mandalay south to Yangon (Rangoon) and then cross back into Thailand.
February/March
Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur to Delhi, India (Malaysia Air) More details to be shared in future emails. To those of you who are still reading (thanks mom), the general idea is to explore the Delhi area (Taj Mahal) and Rajastan...then head way south and work our way up the west coast of India, finally ending in Bombay.
March/April
Bombay to Dubai (Emirates Air) I have no idea what's in Dubai.
Dubai to Cairo (Emirates Air) Hopefully things will have settled down from the bombing last week.
Cairo to Amsterdam (KLM)
Amsterdam to Los Angeles (KLM)
So there it is. And then of course, we start on the Africa leg of the trip (kidding...for now). Please do keep in touch and I'll try to let you know what's going on in my life (like pass the Mai Tai or hmmm...I've been sick for 8 of the last 9 weeks...I guess you really can't drink the water...)
Just wanted to send out a quick test email to make sure the email list is working properly. If the following describe you and you do not wish to get my wandering thoughts, let me know and I'll take you off the list:
a. You have no idea who this "Michael Chiang" is.
b. You know exactly who I am, but would rather not hear about my latest illness or run-in with machete wielding drug runners.
c. You have an active restraining order in the state of California.
Seriously - everything is going great. I think everything I can do is done by now and I'm looking forward to leaving before all hell breaks loose with the election.
I wanted to pass along my expected itinerary. Everything beyond the first week is pure conjecture (much like my forecasts) but I encourage each and every one of you to consider coming out and meeting up at some point along the path. Send me an email (contact info at the bottom of the list) and we'll work something out.
ITINERARY
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11 Oct Los Angeles to Tokyo to Singapore (Northwest Airlines)
Believe it or not, this is the only flight I know right now.
15 Oct Singapore to Bali (Indonesia) or Perth, Australia
The opportunity just came up to possibly visit a friend in Perth...crazy. I don't know what's going to happen yet - depends on prices/times/phases of the moon.
30 Oct Bali to Singapore
November (early)
Malaysia. Likely stops (Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi). There's a train that runs from Singapore all the way to Bangkok..I think we'll take it and make stops along the way.
November (mid)
Thailand - southern. Likely stops (Bangkok, Phuket or Ko Samui). We'll spend a little extra time in Bangkok to get travel visas. For Vietnam and India, there's a real application...a lot of the countries seem to issue you a visa upon arrival at the border with a library card and $20.
November (late)
Thailand to Cambodia. Definite stop (Angkor Wat).
December
Cambodia to Vietnam.
Travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi in the north. Cross into Laos. According to my informal survey of my 5 friends, Luang Prabang and Laos in general is one of the best places to be in SE Asia. Unless you fly Air Laos...then you're dead.
December/January
Laos to northern Thailand. Look for white elephants (and ride an elephant) near Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai to Mandalay (Burma).
Assuming we can get across the border and don't get caught up in political protests, Burma is supposed to be beautiful. Looks like Christmas completely cut-off from the rest of the world (the government suppresses sites like Yahoo b/c their people might actually learn something). We'll travel by land from Mandalay south to Yangon (Rangoon) and then cross back into Thailand.
February/March
Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur to Delhi, India (Malaysia Air) More details to be shared in future emails. To those of you who are still reading (thanks mom), the general idea is to explore the Delhi area (Taj Mahal) and Rajastan...then head way south and work our way up the west coast of India, finally ending in Bombay.
March/April
Bombay to Dubai (Emirates Air) I have no idea what's in Dubai.
Dubai to Cairo (Emirates Air) Hopefully things will have settled down from the bombing last week.
Cairo to Amsterdam (KLM)
Amsterdam to Los Angeles (KLM)
So there it is. And then of course, we start on the Africa leg of the trip (kidding...for now). Please do keep in touch and I'll try to let you know what's going on in my life (like pass the Mai Tai or hmmm...I've been sick for 8 of the last 9 weeks...I guess you really can't drink the water...)
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