Hi guys!! For those of you who haven't seen any of my photos yet, I sincerely apologize! I haven't been able to figure out how to link the picasa web album to my blog, so for now you can view photos from the first few weeks of my trip at: http://picasaweb.google.com/jjwright49/BangkokBangSaenPhnomPenhAngkor
Enjoy!
Friday, April 6, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Soccer in Vietnam!
Have had the most random experience in Vietnam so far!! Instead of visitng Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum and the War History museum, I met up with some professional soccer players from Africa who are living here in Hanoi and playing for Vietnamese teams. We met up with them for a pick up match at the United Nations International School (a compound where all the international ambassadors and expats live and send their kids to school)- WICKED fun time!!! And so incredibly random to be playing soccer with Ugandans and Nigerians in the middle of Vietnam.
Kong Lor Cave and Homestays in the MIDDLE of Laos!!
WOW!! So Sandra and I had NO IDEA what we were getting ourselves into when we headed for the caves in Laos! (There was only a short mention of the Tham Lot Kong Lo cave in the Lonely Planet alone with a note that travellers have reported arranging homestays in the closest town...sounded adventuous so we went for it!) It took us another 2 days of local buses and sawgnthaew (the covered pick up trucks with two benches facing each other) as suddenly we left the flatness of the Mekong Delta and found ourselves winding up and down and all around in the mountains. Figured out that this part of Laos used to be under the ocean and is now composed of a typical karst landscape typified by craggy limestone peaks, caves, and underwater streams. Incredibly majestic scenery. The climate also changed quickly to become pleasantly cool and dry, and I felt like I could really BREATHE fresh air for the first time since leaving Bangkok!
We finally managed to get on a sawngthaew that would take us to the nearest "town" to the caves where we planned to arrange a tour guide and a homestay with local people. What we hadn't anticipated (don't ask me why) was that absolutely NO ONE spoke English on the bus or anywhere so we didn't even know how we were going to go about arranging a homestay! We bounced along the rural roads practicing our limited Lonely Planet vocabulary of Laos with the delightful locals on the truck, passing through the occasional village (and I mean village in a real "villagey" sense, felt like going back in time where kids are smiling and running around naked and people are busily farming and building thatched stilt homes with their hands!) Luckily (as would be the entire rest of the voyage) the driver appeared to figure out that we would have had no idea where we were going and so dropped us off at the front door of a local homestay! We went upstairs (into the stilt house) where grandma showed us our homestay area (a lovely corner of the house with big beds set up with mosquito nets, blankets and pillows!). The entire family (4 generations!) proceeded to gather round our "area", and sat staring and smiling at us while crouched in the typical Asian squatting stance. Sandra and I just looked at each other and were like "... well... we asked for adventure, didn't we! Again we started practicing our broken Laos vocab- by now I have NO qualms with looking like a complete idiot taking my travel book out and trying to phoenetically sound out any of the introductory sentences or words such as "toilet paper" and "diarrhea" that never fail to make people laugh and break the ice. It worked, even if Grandma thought she was housing a couple of white nutbags, at least we were all laughing. A man arrived at the home who is the community representative for the ecotourism initiative set up in the area for tourists coming to the caves, and gave us customer surveys to fill out the next day. We only had to pay 50 000 kip (~$5US) per day for accomodation and 3 meals a day, of which 95% goes to the family to cover the costs of housing us and %5 goes to a community development fund. It was really neat for me to see a real community ecotourism initiative in action afer learning SO much about them in Resource and Environmental management courses at school.
Sandra and I went for a walk towards the caves (about 1500m from the village) and serendipitously ran into a semi-english/semi-french speaking guide named Camin. He was a lovely man of about 50 and we got talking (the most interesting mix of languages I've ever used to communicate) and organized a tour of the caves for the next day (for the whopping sum of $2US). Feeling much better after arranging accomodation and a guide for our tour, we found our way back through the numerous pigs, chickens, dogs, stilt houses, and small waving children to our homestay for dinner.
Our family brought us a FEAST!! Noodle soup and veggie pork stirfy and literally a VAT each of Sticky rice! We sat on a straw mat outside our beds which was apparently also a part of our "area" as well given that the whole family sat around the mat again STARING at us while we ate!! I have never felt so much like a human zoo exhibit in my whole life, Sandra and I kept bursting out laughing because it was so awkward, but we could also talk about anything we wanted because no one could understand us anyways! After such an overwhelming and unpredictable day, we headed to bed- at 8pm.
Camin came to pick us up at 7am the next morning, though we were awake at 5am with the roosters and most of the rest of the town apparently! We tried to convey our desire to take a boat THROUGH the cave, then hike back OVER the mountain (which was mentioned as a possibility in one line of the Lonely Planet- we REALLY wanted to go for a big adventure) but we weren't quite sure if he quite understood... so packed for the hike all the same. The cave was FANTASTIC!! We took a motorize boat and stopped off at various locations to check out stalactictes and stalagmites, and at points the cave is 100m wide and almost as high!! Had a very majestic and cathedral like feel, and really made me wonder how many years it's taken for the slow drip of water to erode the limestone enough to create the cave. (Life lesson from the cave- slow and steady makes for a really beautiful race!) It took a whole hour on the motorized boat to get through the whole cave, and you feel blinded when you come out on the otherside from being in the dark for so long!
We managed to convey to Camin that we wanted to actually HIKE back over the mountain (he had done it before but was defnitely suprised that two little white girls would be so adventurous!) To make a VERY long story short, the trek was basically a 5 hour BUSHWHACK, although there was some semblance of a trail it appears that it's only taken about 5 times a year. It was one of those things where you're having fun and feeling adventurous for about the first 2 hours... and then wondering what the hell you were ever thinking getting yourself into this mess for the last 3. But it was definitely an experience and I wouldn't take it back for anything now that I survived it! It also feels like an amazing feat doing SOMETHING that so few of the other thousands of travellers on this SE Asia Backpacker loop have done.
I was so pooped upon returning from the hike and not really feeling up to being chased around by the kiddies in the village so I retired to my "corner" of the homestay and lay in my bed for until dinner in the human zoo. Afterwards, we entertained ourselves by giving treats to a big group of children (they were the most reserved and shy kids EVER when it came to receiving gifts- I had to look at them individually in the eye and hold out a treat to get them to come forward!!) We also had a blast playing with the camera with them- I've never seen a kid get so excited about seeing the picture of themselves after you take it, they practically mob you to get a view! After the treats and photos we were like the pied pipers walking around town with a trail of youngsters all evening... it was SO cute!
After only a day with my homestay family, I felt so close to them and so grateful for their authentic generosity, all I wanted to do was give something back. I know that sounds cheesy, but REALLY, I have never been filled with such a feeling of indebted gratitude in my life. I searched my belongings, but decided that a pack of gum or a pair of smelly underwear wouldn't really cut it, so I busted out my HOT PINK nailpolish and painted every girls nails in the house, from age 4 to 40. It was a blast....lots of laughter when I offered to paint grandpa's nails too. We passed out again around 9pm after our day of adventure.
The last memories I have of my homestay family is one that sums up the simple generosity and kind spirit of all the people I encountered in Kong Lo village: the young mother of the family packed us each a heaping portion of sticky rice in a plastic bag to take for our lunch on the road. As we piled into the truck and waved goodbye to all the villagers I saw the young woman running after the truck with two boiled eggs in her hand she had meant to add to our lunches. The truck keep driving away and we waved, but the image of her standing in the dust simply holding out the eggs is one that is imprinted in my mind and will bring me to tears forever.
Simply: GIVE
We finally managed to get on a sawngthaew that would take us to the nearest "town" to the caves where we planned to arrange a tour guide and a homestay with local people. What we hadn't anticipated (don't ask me why) was that absolutely NO ONE spoke English on the bus or anywhere so we didn't even know how we were going to go about arranging a homestay! We bounced along the rural roads practicing our limited Lonely Planet vocabulary of Laos with the delightful locals on the truck, passing through the occasional village (and I mean village in a real "villagey" sense, felt like going back in time where kids are smiling and running around naked and people are busily farming and building thatched stilt homes with their hands!) Luckily (as would be the entire rest of the voyage) the driver appeared to figure out that we would have had no idea where we were going and so dropped us off at the front door of a local homestay! We went upstairs (into the stilt house) where grandma showed us our homestay area (a lovely corner of the house with big beds set up with mosquito nets, blankets and pillows!). The entire family (4 generations!) proceeded to gather round our "area", and sat staring and smiling at us while crouched in the typical Asian squatting stance. Sandra and I just looked at each other and were like "... well... we asked for adventure, didn't we! Again we started practicing our broken Laos vocab- by now I have NO qualms with looking like a complete idiot taking my travel book out and trying to phoenetically sound out any of the introductory sentences or words such as "toilet paper" and "diarrhea" that never fail to make people laugh and break the ice. It worked, even if Grandma thought she was housing a couple of white nutbags, at least we were all laughing. A man arrived at the home who is the community representative for the ecotourism initiative set up in the area for tourists coming to the caves, and gave us customer surveys to fill out the next day. We only had to pay 50 000 kip (~$5US) per day for accomodation and 3 meals a day, of which 95% goes to the family to cover the costs of housing us and %5 goes to a community development fund. It was really neat for me to see a real community ecotourism initiative in action afer learning SO much about them in Resource and Environmental management courses at school.
Sandra and I went for a walk towards the caves (about 1500m from the village) and serendipitously ran into a semi-english/semi-french speaking guide named Camin. He was a lovely man of about 50 and we got talking (the most interesting mix of languages I've ever used to communicate) and organized a tour of the caves for the next day (for the whopping sum of $2US). Feeling much better after arranging accomodation and a guide for our tour, we found our way back through the numerous pigs, chickens, dogs, stilt houses, and small waving children to our homestay for dinner.
Our family brought us a FEAST!! Noodle soup and veggie pork stirfy and literally a VAT each of Sticky rice! We sat on a straw mat outside our beds which was apparently also a part of our "area" as well given that the whole family sat around the mat again STARING at us while we ate!! I have never felt so much like a human zoo exhibit in my whole life, Sandra and I kept bursting out laughing because it was so awkward, but we could also talk about anything we wanted because no one could understand us anyways! After such an overwhelming and unpredictable day, we headed to bed- at 8pm.
Camin came to pick us up at 7am the next morning, though we were awake at 5am with the roosters and most of the rest of the town apparently! We tried to convey our desire to take a boat THROUGH the cave, then hike back OVER the mountain (which was mentioned as a possibility in one line of the Lonely Planet- we REALLY wanted to go for a big adventure) but we weren't quite sure if he quite understood... so packed for the hike all the same. The cave was FANTASTIC!! We took a motorize boat and stopped off at various locations to check out stalactictes and stalagmites, and at points the cave is 100m wide and almost as high!! Had a very majestic and cathedral like feel, and really made me wonder how many years it's taken for the slow drip of water to erode the limestone enough to create the cave. (Life lesson from the cave- slow and steady makes for a really beautiful race!) It took a whole hour on the motorized boat to get through the whole cave, and you feel blinded when you come out on the otherside from being in the dark for so long!
We managed to convey to Camin that we wanted to actually HIKE back over the mountain (he had done it before but was defnitely suprised that two little white girls would be so adventurous!) To make a VERY long story short, the trek was basically a 5 hour BUSHWHACK, although there was some semblance of a trail it appears that it's only taken about 5 times a year. It was one of those things where you're having fun and feeling adventurous for about the first 2 hours... and then wondering what the hell you were ever thinking getting yourself into this mess for the last 3. But it was definitely an experience and I wouldn't take it back for anything now that I survived it! It also feels like an amazing feat doing SOMETHING that so few of the other thousands of travellers on this SE Asia Backpacker loop have done.
I was so pooped upon returning from the hike and not really feeling up to being chased around by the kiddies in the village so I retired to my "corner" of the homestay and lay in my bed for until dinner in the human zoo. Afterwards, we entertained ourselves by giving treats to a big group of children (they were the most reserved and shy kids EVER when it came to receiving gifts- I had to look at them individually in the eye and hold out a treat to get them to come forward!!) We also had a blast playing with the camera with them- I've never seen a kid get so excited about seeing the picture of themselves after you take it, they practically mob you to get a view! After the treats and photos we were like the pied pipers walking around town with a trail of youngsters all evening... it was SO cute!
After only a day with my homestay family, I felt so close to them and so grateful for their authentic generosity, all I wanted to do was give something back. I know that sounds cheesy, but REALLY, I have never been filled with such a feeling of indebted gratitude in my life. I searched my belongings, but decided that a pack of gum or a pair of smelly underwear wouldn't really cut it, so I busted out my HOT PINK nailpolish and painted every girls nails in the house, from age 4 to 40. It was a blast....lots of laughter when I offered to paint grandpa's nails too. We passed out again around 9pm after our day of adventure.
The last memories I have of my homestay family is one that sums up the simple generosity and kind spirit of all the people I encountered in Kong Lo village: the young mother of the family packed us each a heaping portion of sticky rice in a plastic bag to take for our lunch on the road. As we piled into the truck and waved goodbye to all the villagers I saw the young woman running after the truck with two boiled eggs in her hand she had meant to add to our lunches. The truck keep driving away and we waved, but the image of her standing in the dust simply holding out the eggs is one that is imprinted in my mind and will bring me to tears forever.
Simply: GIVE
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Si Phan Don to Savannakhet, Laos
Just wanted to touch base and say I'm in Savananakhett, Laos (lovely and quaint little town on the Mekong directly across from Thailand). Had a fun time on the 4000 islands (Si Phan Don) in the Mekong Delta of southern Laos with a big group of people I met (Brits, some Irish, some Aussies, French Canadians and a Swedish girl) it's a SMALL place when you stay there for a few days, especially because the "beach" or swimming area is about 10m2 (almost as big as Bondi, haha) so you get to know everyone pretty fast!! We went kayaking around the islands, took a boat to see some endangered freshwater dolphins (irrawady dolphins in case anyone's interested!), went to see a few awesome waterfalls, and rented bikes and peddled around the winding paths and bridges connecting the islands which was my personal favorite. I also got a fantastic sunburn, and have apparently come down with some travellers diarahhea as well. Thanks for the sensitive digestive system dad!!!! argh hahha. I have been following advice in my travel book and avoiding fruit, milk, coffee etc and sticking to rice, bread, and lots of water. if it doesn't clear up in a couple days I'll take a course of Cipro. Will let you know how it goes, bit of a pain but such is life on the road!!
I am currently travelling with a LOVELY swedish girl I met on the island named Sandra. Was nice to be with a big group for a few days but even nicer to get back out on our own. We are having a fantastic time together since we are both on our own and are thoroughly enjoying the intelligent conversation and company. She is planning to study international business in Copenhagen this fall. We are heading a bit further north in Laos tomorrow and planning on spending a few days exploring a 7km long limestone cave (you can get a boat through it and apparently hike/bike around it too...). I was hoping to move on to Vietnam from there and then back into Northern Laos in a couple weeks but it will depend if I can get money out in this town or not (there are NO ATM's in most of Laos!!!) Trying to plan travel in southeast asia is a real crapshoot and everything changes because of your visiting Visa dates, and whether or not there is any place to take out money where you are... etc etc. Hindsight is truly 20/20, but I'm learning not to beat myself about ANY decision I've made because you really are doing what you think is best given the information you have at the time. I've also noticed that whenever I think things have gone "wrong" or not according to my plan, they always end up to be amazing or at least a great learning experience anyways- I've decided to adopt this as my new approach to life in general. :-) NO worries!
So far Laos is great, people are AWESOME and friendly, much nicer than my experience of Cambodia but then again I was only in the tourist areas there and I've heard that the rural parts of Cambodia are exceptional. Will update again once I've made it through the caves!
I am currently travelling with a LOVELY swedish girl I met on the island named Sandra. Was nice to be with a big group for a few days but even nicer to get back out on our own. We are having a fantastic time together since we are both on our own and are thoroughly enjoying the intelligent conversation and company. She is planning to study international business in Copenhagen this fall. We are heading a bit further north in Laos tomorrow and planning on spending a few days exploring a 7km long limestone cave (you can get a boat through it and apparently hike/bike around it too...). I was hoping to move on to Vietnam from there and then back into Northern Laos in a couple weeks but it will depend if I can get money out in this town or not (there are NO ATM's in most of Laos!!!) Trying to plan travel in southeast asia is a real crapshoot and everything changes because of your visiting Visa dates, and whether or not there is any place to take out money where you are... etc etc. Hindsight is truly 20/20, but I'm learning not to beat myself about ANY decision I've made because you really are doing what you think is best given the information you have at the time. I've also noticed that whenever I think things have gone "wrong" or not according to my plan, they always end up to be amazing or at least a great learning experience anyways- I've decided to adopt this as my new approach to life in general. :-) NO worries!
So far Laos is great, people are AWESOME and friendly, much nicer than my experience of Cambodia but then again I was only in the tourist areas there and I've heard that the rural parts of Cambodia are exceptional. Will update again once I've made it through the caves!
Siem Reap & Angkor Wat
March 10
Like.... whoa. I don't even know why I'm bothering to write a blog about Angkor Wat because there are no words to describe the feeling of being in such a fantastic surrounding of intricately designed temples and jungle, I HIGHLY recommend the trip, and sunrise/sunset visits to the temples is a MUST!! All I can do is post photos for this one. I really fell in love with the ambiance of Angkor even though I only spent 1 day visiting the temples (you could easily spend an entire week exploring the grounds and there are more temples 40km North that are apparently fabulous as well...) I was also shocked to find that it was very easy to get away from the hoardes of Japanese tourists and find yourself alone exploring the temples and the grounds, and get some superb photos photos.
The nearby town, Siem Reap, appears to be adapting to the surge in tourism quite well, and by that I mean that the town planners are doing a great job developing the area- there is still a HUGE amount of poverty and begging from the local people because there are so many tourists to depend on. The little kids are CLEVER ones too, they know how to count to 10 in about 17 different languages and have all kinds of games set up so that if they guess the country you are from and tell you it's capital you have to buy postcards or something. At first I found this constant begging really irritating, but then I found out that many of the children are kept out of school by their parents to beg/sell items on the street and bring the money home to their parents. There is always so much more to the story, isn't there? Especially in a foreign culture.
I totally fell in love with this cafe in Siem Reap called the Blue Pumpkin- the concept would TAKE OFF in Vancouver!! It is a 2nd floor lounge (with AC- SOO good in the heat of Cambodia!!), decorated completely in white (white floors, walls, tables, chairs, decorations, EVERYTHING!) and one whole wall is this gianormous white L-couch with big comfy cushions that everyone lounges around on drinking iced coffee and reading. It's very IKEA/Vancouver-esque and was a fantastic little taste of home for a few hours one afternoon as a read my book and journalled. A bit of a shock to walk back outside to be surrounded by haggling tuk tuk drivers and children and landmine victims selling postcards and books.
I would have liked to spend more time in Siem Reap and Angkor but it is pretty expensive, and I had to head back to Phnom Penh to pick up my Laos visa and drop my passport off for a Vietnamese visa. Until next time!
Like.... whoa. I don't even know why I'm bothering to write a blog about Angkor Wat because there are no words to describe the feeling of being in such a fantastic surrounding of intricately designed temples and jungle, I HIGHLY recommend the trip, and sunrise/sunset visits to the temples is a MUST!! All I can do is post photos for this one. I really fell in love with the ambiance of Angkor even though I only spent 1 day visiting the temples (you could easily spend an entire week exploring the grounds and there are more temples 40km North that are apparently fabulous as well...) I was also shocked to find that it was very easy to get away from the hoardes of Japanese tourists and find yourself alone exploring the temples and the grounds, and get some superb photos photos.
The nearby town, Siem Reap, appears to be adapting to the surge in tourism quite well, and by that I mean that the town planners are doing a great job developing the area- there is still a HUGE amount of poverty and begging from the local people because there are so many tourists to depend on. The little kids are CLEVER ones too, they know how to count to 10 in about 17 different languages and have all kinds of games set up so that if they guess the country you are from and tell you it's capital you have to buy postcards or something. At first I found this constant begging really irritating, but then I found out that many of the children are kept out of school by their parents to beg/sell items on the street and bring the money home to their parents. There is always so much more to the story, isn't there? Especially in a foreign culture.
I totally fell in love with this cafe in Siem Reap called the Blue Pumpkin- the concept would TAKE OFF in Vancouver!! It is a 2nd floor lounge (with AC- SOO good in the heat of Cambodia!!), decorated completely in white (white floors, walls, tables, chairs, decorations, EVERYTHING!) and one whole wall is this gianormous white L-couch with big comfy cushions that everyone lounges around on drinking iced coffee and reading. It's very IKEA/Vancouver-esque and was a fantastic little taste of home for a few hours one afternoon as a read my book and journalled. A bit of a shock to walk back outside to be surrounded by haggling tuk tuk drivers and children and landmine victims selling postcards and books.
I would have liked to spend more time in Siem Reap and Angkor but it is pretty expensive, and I had to head back to Phnom Penh to pick up my Laos visa and drop my passport off for a Vietnamese visa. Until next time!
Friday, March 9, 2007
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
March 7-9
I have been in Phnom Pnh for 2 days now. The trip here was hilarious. I left Trat at 6am for the border town of HatLek/Ko Kong which is at the narrowest point of Thailand, literally less than 50m from the road along the border is the ocean, it's beautiful countryside. I was immediately bombarded by Cambodians at the border who want to help you with EVERYTHING from carrying your bag across to helping you fill out your visa forms and get you a moto ride, ANYTHING to make a buck. This behaviour only gets more overwhelming in the cities, where they will come right up to your dinner table on the patio and try to beg, sell you books or sunglasses, or simly ask for food (children do most of the begging); is a clear indication of the fact that Cambodia is still one of the poorest nations in the world. The van from the border to Phnom Penh was the hilarious part as there were 7 travellers on board and about halfway there the driver pulled over in the middle of a round about where we were supposedly "switching buses". He proceede to HAIL buses down and try to herd us into an already full minibus of Chinese tourists! Luckly the American boys with us forcefully refused and put all our bags back onto our bus, until the driver flagged down a big bus and we all piled onto it, assured we wouldn't have to pay. Very strange idea of integrity from some of the people here... I guess the driver wanted to go to the beach for the afternoon or something.
Anyways, Phnomn Penh is quite nice along the riverfront with many ritzy hotels and patios combined with the usual rustic traditional restaurants. My hostel is very nice and within walking distance, plus i'm paying $1 US for a dorm bed- a steal!! Things are actually relatively expensive here (relative to the standard of living and to prices in Thailand); I think this is because of the high usage of US $$ but no small US coins, so things often get rounded up to 1$ when they really should be much cheaper, especially moto and tuk tuk transportation!
I met a guy from SFU at my hostel on the first day, and isn't the world SOO small that he was on Sandy's rowing team!!! THese surprises never cease to amaze me. I made a Cambodian friend (Poun)who works at my favorite local restaurant where I have eaten 3 times already (I feel kind of bad but I've checked out menus all along the river and this seems best!) and he drove me around the city one afternoon on his moto, we even went to the mall where Lacoste shirts still cost over $70 US!!! The contrast is Asia gets more and more obvious everyday, especially here in Cambodia with all of the outright begging.
I went for a run along the riverfront yesterday morning for a change of routine and all of the local people stared at me like I was absolutely MAD- obesity is defintely not a problem in Cambodia so I don't think the idea of running in the heat for pleasure has really occurred to them. I also visited the s-21 genocide museium, located at the compund in the city where Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge housed/tortured prisoners before there were executed during his regime. It was good to see, although sometimes I feel guilty that I'm not incredibly moved by these kinds of displays; it seems that humans have always done (and continue to do) incredibly horrible things to each other and I feel somewhat jaded to the whole thing.
I am very excited to get up to Siem Reap and the famed and ancient temples of Ankor Wat (my main interest in Cambodia- Phnom penh is just a stopover to get money changed and get my Laos visa processed). Write more from there and hopefully post photos soon too!
I have been in Phnom Pnh for 2 days now. The trip here was hilarious. I left Trat at 6am for the border town of HatLek/Ko Kong which is at the narrowest point of Thailand, literally less than 50m from the road along the border is the ocean, it's beautiful countryside. I was immediately bombarded by Cambodians at the border who want to help you with EVERYTHING from carrying your bag across to helping you fill out your visa forms and get you a moto ride, ANYTHING to make a buck. This behaviour only gets more overwhelming in the cities, where they will come right up to your dinner table on the patio and try to beg, sell you books or sunglasses, or simly ask for food (children do most of the begging); is a clear indication of the fact that Cambodia is still one of the poorest nations in the world. The van from the border to Phnom Penh was the hilarious part as there were 7 travellers on board and about halfway there the driver pulled over in the middle of a round about where we were supposedly "switching buses". He proceede to HAIL buses down and try to herd us into an already full minibus of Chinese tourists! Luckly the American boys with us forcefully refused and put all our bags back onto our bus, until the driver flagged down a big bus and we all piled onto it, assured we wouldn't have to pay. Very strange idea of integrity from some of the people here... I guess the driver wanted to go to the beach for the afternoon or something.
Anyways, Phnomn Penh is quite nice along the riverfront with many ritzy hotels and patios combined with the usual rustic traditional restaurants. My hostel is very nice and within walking distance, plus i'm paying $1 US for a dorm bed- a steal!! Things are actually relatively expensive here (relative to the standard of living and to prices in Thailand); I think this is because of the high usage of US $$ but no small US coins, so things often get rounded up to 1$ when they really should be much cheaper, especially moto and tuk tuk transportation!
I met a guy from SFU at my hostel on the first day, and isn't the world SOO small that he was on Sandy's rowing team!!! THese surprises never cease to amaze me. I made a Cambodian friend (Poun)who works at my favorite local restaurant where I have eaten 3 times already (I feel kind of bad but I've checked out menus all along the river and this seems best!) and he drove me around the city one afternoon on his moto, we even went to the mall where Lacoste shirts still cost over $70 US!!! The contrast is Asia gets more and more obvious everyday, especially here in Cambodia with all of the outright begging.
I went for a run along the riverfront yesterday morning for a change of routine and all of the local people stared at me like I was absolutely MAD- obesity is defintely not a problem in Cambodia so I don't think the idea of running in the heat for pleasure has really occurred to them. I also visited the s-21 genocide museium, located at the compund in the city where Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge housed/tortured prisoners before there were executed during his regime. It was good to see, although sometimes I feel guilty that I'm not incredibly moved by these kinds of displays; it seems that humans have always done (and continue to do) incredibly horrible things to each other and I feel somewhat jaded to the whole thing.
I am very excited to get up to Siem Reap and the famed and ancient temples of Ankor Wat (my main interest in Cambodia- Phnom penh is just a stopover to get money changed and get my Laos visa processed). Write more from there and hopefully post photos soon too!
To Trat
March 6
I left Bill and Chuntee's around 9am this mornign, thinking I would get an early start to Trat. I arrived in Chon Buri (the nearest main town with a bus station) and accidentally got off the saewnthaw too early; lucikly Chuntee had drawn me a fantastic map in english and thai so a very nice guy who was on the truck with me walked me all the way to the bus station and right to the stand where I had to buy the ticket! I can't get over how friendly people are here, it' makes me very concious of my North American tendency to distrust everyone because in my experience so far people here have been fantastic, kind and honest. It's also amazing how much you can communicate with someone with virtually no language in common, even if it takes a lot of charades and slow words.
Unfortunatly the bus for Trat did not leave until 2:30pm (it was only 10am). At first, every productivity-wired nerve in my body screamed out, as it would at home if I had to sit around and WAIT for a bus for 4.5hrs, but then I realized that this is part of the adventure of Asian travel, and also part of the reason I came here in teh first place (to learn to CHILL the bleep out!!) The lady at the ticket stand invited me into her "house" (the room behind the ticket stand) and I watched 2 english movies on tv - Shawshank Redemption and Cold Mountain-(probably the only time I've ever watched movies during the day unless I was deathly ill in highschool or something!) I arrived in Trat around 6pm and got some dinner at the local market, and stayed at a quaint little guesthouse surrounded by the sound of crickets and frogs. REad my book (Life iof Pi) and went to bed around 9pm. Very mellow day!
I left Bill and Chuntee's around 9am this mornign, thinking I would get an early start to Trat. I arrived in Chon Buri (the nearest main town with a bus station) and accidentally got off the saewnthaw too early; lucikly Chuntee had drawn me a fantastic map in english and thai so a very nice guy who was on the truck with me walked me all the way to the bus station and right to the stand where I had to buy the ticket! I can't get over how friendly people are here, it' makes me very concious of my North American tendency to distrust everyone because in my experience so far people here have been fantastic, kind and honest. It's also amazing how much you can communicate with someone with virtually no language in common, even if it takes a lot of charades and slow words.
Unfortunatly the bus for Trat did not leave until 2:30pm (it was only 10am). At first, every productivity-wired nerve in my body screamed out, as it would at home if I had to sit around and WAIT for a bus for 4.5hrs, but then I realized that this is part of the adventure of Asian travel, and also part of the reason I came here in teh first place (to learn to CHILL the bleep out!!) The lady at the ticket stand invited me into her "house" (the room behind the ticket stand) and I watched 2 english movies on tv - Shawshank Redemption and Cold Mountain-(probably the only time I've ever watched movies during the day unless I was deathly ill in highschool or something!) I arrived in Trat around 6pm and got some dinner at the local market, and stayed at a quaint little guesthouse surrounded by the sound of crickets and frogs. REad my book (Life iof Pi) and went to bed around 9pm. Very mellow day!
Bill and Chuntee part 2
March 3-6
Staying with Bill and Chuntee has been AMAZING. I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to travelling in Asia, or a better home to be welcomed into. I'm not sure if I mentioned but Bill is about 72 yrs old and we already get along like he's my adopted cantankerous grandfather. It is also obvious that he's an incredibly intelligent and ambitious scientist, and we've had many stimulating discussions surrounding our common backgrounds, and have received some great advice regarding my upcoming entrance to graduate school. He also played football for the Toronto Argonauts, and is still in great shape- I see him up early every morning working out in his office doing sit ups, push ups, jumpkin jacks, etc. Very neat guy... And Chuntee is SOOO kind and helpful! We spent a couple of days visiting places around the area, yes we went to the university yesterday and I was amazed at how at home I always feel on a university campus no wonder where it is in the world! (I think I've defintetly found my calling in life-long studentdom, now I just have to marry rich to support it!! haha kidding:-) We went to some FANTASTIC Thai night markets from which I have GREAT pictures when I have time to upload them, we saw monkeys and a Chinese temple and the beach and all kinds of things!! (I feel like I could spend my entire trip on the internet writing about everything! Ha ha but that would take away from time to see more things!)
For exercise I did yoga in my bedroom and I worked out at a the REALLY ghetto gym with Chuntee's son Jay in the housing complex here (I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life it was like the water I was drinking was going straight out my pores and I thought my bum would slide right off the bike seat.) Then we jumped in the pool and played around for a while- I haven't spent time with kids in so long I feel like a total dork when I try to hang out with them now haha, Jay is 10 and when he gets going he is very excited about speaking english even though I have a hard time understanding him sometimes.
I also went for a 2hr Thai massage from a blind masseuse (for about $6)... it was insanely good, I told him (via Chuntee who was translating) that he should come to Canada and do massage for our athletes! Chuntee has prepared some amazing Thai food, so far my favorite is the glass noodle salad (I forget the thai name but she wrote out the recipe for me in Thai and we translated it together into English...) and of course Sum Tam (green papaya salad). I think I have tried 10 new fruits in the past 3 days including mangosteen, Thai mango, shampoo fruit, starfruit, Thai pineapple, green mango, guava... the list goes on. It is my alternative to metamucil which is great since I didn't bring any!!
Chuntee and Bill also have a spectacular garden including fruit trees, chili trees, and over 500 orchids and hibiscus'; I have been learning a little bit about the flowers since, much to Bill's dismay, I know jack shit about flower species right now. Haha. And yes mom I've been very neat and polite and all of things you are going to ask. I have been racking my brain for a gift to get Bill and Chuntee but it's not like you can just pick up a bottle of wine around here and Bill is very picky about his beloved plants so I'm still stuck.... Will think of something good though don't worry!!
Today I practiced taking the Saengthaew (Song- tau) around town by myself- it is the most common form of transport in much of SE Asia and consists of an open pick up truck with 2 bench seats facing each other in the back and a canopy overtop. It is incredibly convenient because you can literally flick your finger wherever you are and it will pull over and pick you up, provided you know which colour truck to get on. Then, you just press a little doorbell on the roof whenever you want to get off. I went to the beach in town today which is a Thai resort beach (where everyone from Bangkok and surround goes on the weekend) and apparently I was a neverending source of interest because I was THE ONLY white person on the beach. Also of interest, Thai people do not wear bathing suits because it is considered disrespectful, as such, many men are wading around in the ocean in FULL clothing including jeans and long sleeved shirts.
I'm leaving Bill's tomorrow morning on my way to the town of Trat. Trat is a touristy centre because it is on the way to an island Ko Chang, and is also en route to a popular border to Cambodia, where I am heading. On Tuesday morning, I will head to the border of Thailand and Cambodia at Hat Lek (Thailand) and cross to Krong Ko Kong (Camb) and catch another bus there to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. I expect to meet other travellers in Trat with whom to I will travel to Cambodia. (check out the map below for an idea). Phnom Penh should be very interesting as it is very touristy for backpackers now, but is the former headquarters of the Khmer Rouge empire. There is a genocide museum in the building (S-21) that used to house the concentration camp. Very historical, though chilling; I am interested to see it.
http://www.thailandmaps.net/trat/trat_map.html
Staying with Bill and Chuntee has been AMAZING. I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to travelling in Asia, or a better home to be welcomed into. I'm not sure if I mentioned but Bill is about 72 yrs old and we already get along like he's my adopted cantankerous grandfather. It is also obvious that he's an incredibly intelligent and ambitious scientist, and we've had many stimulating discussions surrounding our common backgrounds, and have received some great advice regarding my upcoming entrance to graduate school. He also played football for the Toronto Argonauts, and is still in great shape- I see him up early every morning working out in his office doing sit ups, push ups, jumpkin jacks, etc. Very neat guy... And Chuntee is SOOO kind and helpful! We spent a couple of days visiting places around the area, yes we went to the university yesterday and I was amazed at how at home I always feel on a university campus no wonder where it is in the world! (I think I've defintetly found my calling in life-long studentdom, now I just have to marry rich to support it!! haha kidding:-) We went to some FANTASTIC Thai night markets from which I have GREAT pictures when I have time to upload them, we saw monkeys and a Chinese temple and the beach and all kinds of things!! (I feel like I could spend my entire trip on the internet writing about everything! Ha ha but that would take away from time to see more things!)
For exercise I did yoga in my bedroom and I worked out at a the REALLY ghetto gym with Chuntee's son Jay in the housing complex here (I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life it was like the water I was drinking was going straight out my pores and I thought my bum would slide right off the bike seat.) Then we jumped in the pool and played around for a while- I haven't spent time with kids in so long I feel like a total dork when I try to hang out with them now haha, Jay is 10 and when he gets going he is very excited about speaking english even though I have a hard time understanding him sometimes.
I also went for a 2hr Thai massage from a blind masseuse (for about $6)... it was insanely good, I told him (via Chuntee who was translating) that he should come to Canada and do massage for our athletes! Chuntee has prepared some amazing Thai food, so far my favorite is the glass noodle salad (I forget the thai name but she wrote out the recipe for me in Thai and we translated it together into English...) and of course Sum Tam (green papaya salad). I think I have tried 10 new fruits in the past 3 days including mangosteen, Thai mango, shampoo fruit, starfruit, Thai pineapple, green mango, guava... the list goes on. It is my alternative to metamucil which is great since I didn't bring any!!
Chuntee and Bill also have a spectacular garden including fruit trees, chili trees, and over 500 orchids and hibiscus'; I have been learning a little bit about the flowers since, much to Bill's dismay, I know jack shit about flower species right now. Haha. And yes mom I've been very neat and polite and all of things you are going to ask. I have been racking my brain for a gift to get Bill and Chuntee but it's not like you can just pick up a bottle of wine around here and Bill is very picky about his beloved plants so I'm still stuck.... Will think of something good though don't worry!!
Today I practiced taking the Saengthaew (Song- tau) around town by myself- it is the most common form of transport in much of SE Asia and consists of an open pick up truck with 2 bench seats facing each other in the back and a canopy overtop. It is incredibly convenient because you can literally flick your finger wherever you are and it will pull over and pick you up, provided you know which colour truck to get on. Then, you just press a little doorbell on the roof whenever you want to get off. I went to the beach in town today which is a Thai resort beach (where everyone from Bangkok and surround goes on the weekend) and apparently I was a neverending source of interest because I was THE ONLY white person on the beach. Also of interest, Thai people do not wear bathing suits because it is considered disrespectful, as such, many men are wading around in the ocean in FULL clothing including jeans and long sleeved shirts.
I'm leaving Bill's tomorrow morning on my way to the town of Trat. Trat is a touristy centre because it is on the way to an island Ko Chang, and is also en route to a popular border to Cambodia, where I am heading. On Tuesday morning, I will head to the border of Thailand and Cambodia at Hat Lek (Thailand) and cross to Krong Ko Kong (Camb) and catch another bus there to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. I expect to meet other travellers in Trat with whom to I will travel to Cambodia. (check out the map below for an idea). Phnom Penh should be very interesting as it is very touristy for backpackers now, but is the former headquarters of the Khmer Rouge empire. There is a genocide museum in the building (S-21) that used to house the concentration camp. Very historical, though chilling; I am interested to see it.
http://www.thailandmaps.net/trat/trat_map.html
Staying with Bill & Chuntee in Bang Saen
March 2
I caught a local bus and then a skytrain in Bangkok to the main Eastern bus terminal, then ran around the bus terminal/side street saying the name of the place I needed to go (Nong Mon) and a guy directed me to the appropriate bus. The busride was a few hours because we stopped all over the place to pick up passengers ( more like herd them on haha). I REALLY have to learn to stop drinking water before I get onto long bus trips or else my bladder will REALLY suffer on this trip!! The bus ride got really fun because I was the only "white guy" on the bus heading into a completely Thai area (no more English signs except for the road signs dad :-) so I think everyone thought I was completely lost. When we arrived, I was about to pee my pants so I exploded off the bus asking "toilet?toilet?" and I used my first Asian toilet out back of a gas station, it was quite mysterious with the basin of water and bucket to rinse it down and such, at least I've already gotten accustomed to bringing by own TP everywhere so I was safe this time! I called Chunte from a payphone and waited for her to come pick me up while lots of friendly Thai's asked me where I needed to go (in very broken English) and I just kept saying I had a friend coming to pick me up.
I arrived to a spectacular Thai meal already on the table in Bill and Chuntee's gorgeous home!! Bill is very talkative and friendly and they have a great house in a secure compound/neighborhood near the beach town of Bang Saen (with air conditioned rooms- yay!!) and we had a fab dinner and fresh mangoes for dessert which grow year round on the tree out in the backyard.
I caught a local bus and then a skytrain in Bangkok to the main Eastern bus terminal, then ran around the bus terminal/side street saying the name of the place I needed to go (Nong Mon) and a guy directed me to the appropriate bus. The busride was a few hours because we stopped all over the place to pick up passengers ( more like herd them on haha). I REALLY have to learn to stop drinking water before I get onto long bus trips or else my bladder will REALLY suffer on this trip!! The bus ride got really fun because I was the only "white guy" on the bus heading into a completely Thai area (no more English signs except for the road signs dad :-) so I think everyone thought I was completely lost. When we arrived, I was about to pee my pants so I exploded off the bus asking "toilet?toilet?" and I used my first Asian toilet out back of a gas station, it was quite mysterious with the basin of water and bucket to rinse it down and such, at least I've already gotten accustomed to bringing by own TP everywhere so I was safe this time! I called Chunte from a payphone and waited for her to come pick me up while lots of friendly Thai's asked me where I needed to go (in very broken English) and I just kept saying I had a friend coming to pick me up.
I arrived to a spectacular Thai meal already on the table in Bill and Chuntee's gorgeous home!! Bill is very talkative and friendly and they have a great house in a secure compound/neighborhood near the beach town of Bang Saen (with air conditioned rooms- yay!!) and we had a fab dinner and fresh mangoes for dessert which grow year round on the tree out in the backyard.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Out on my own
March 2. 2007
I've been feeling a little out of sorts ever since I got here (whether it's jet lag or the wierd atmosphere of Khao San road, I don't know), but I decided it would be in my best interests to get back to my daily morning yoga routine, starting today. Every time I get back into the habit, I can't remember why I ever stopped...Yoga is THE best way to start the day. A bonus to doing yoga in Thailand is that you basically get to do Bikram's (hot yoga) for FREE! The 2nd best thing about waking up in Thailand is getting a COLD shower. I have never enjoyed a shower more in my life than I did this morning. OK well maybe I have but it wouldn't have been on my own. Ha ha. (Censor that part mom and dad... bahahah :-)
We (Ken, the Ladnerites and I) enjoyed a fantastic breakfast of fried rice and orange mango smoothies from the street vendors all for 40B ($1). I decided to head off to Bill's place in Bang Saen ASAP as I was eager to get out on my own after having being pampered and guided around by Ken since my arrival. (Bill Beamish is a professor emeritus at the University of Guelph who now works at the Burapha University in Bang Saen, about 80km southeast of Bangkok on the Gulf. He is the brother of a colleague of my mom's, and pretty much the most perfect host I could ask for seeing as he is an incredibly accomplished researcher and biologist, and knows his way around this part of Thailand with the help of his Thai wife Chuntee. Ken and I parted ways and I felt the familar rush of blood to my limbs and my brain that always happens when I'm in a new place on my own. I flagged down the bus (that's what you do here, there aren't really traditional stops) and you scamper through traffic to hop on!!
I've been feeling a little out of sorts ever since I got here (whether it's jet lag or the wierd atmosphere of Khao San road, I don't know), but I decided it would be in my best interests to get back to my daily morning yoga routine, starting today. Every time I get back into the habit, I can't remember why I ever stopped...Yoga is THE best way to start the day. A bonus to doing yoga in Thailand is that you basically get to do Bikram's (hot yoga) for FREE! The 2nd best thing about waking up in Thailand is getting a COLD shower. I have never enjoyed a shower more in my life than I did this morning. OK well maybe I have but it wouldn't have been on my own. Ha ha. (Censor that part mom and dad... bahahah :-)
We (Ken, the Ladnerites and I) enjoyed a fantastic breakfast of fried rice and orange mango smoothies from the street vendors all for 40B ($1). I decided to head off to Bill's place in Bang Saen ASAP as I was eager to get out on my own after having being pampered and guided around by Ken since my arrival. (Bill Beamish is a professor emeritus at the University of Guelph who now works at the Burapha University in Bang Saen, about 80km southeast of Bangkok on the Gulf. He is the brother of a colleague of my mom's, and pretty much the most perfect host I could ask for seeing as he is an incredibly accomplished researcher and biologist, and knows his way around this part of Thailand with the help of his Thai wife Chuntee. Ken and I parted ways and I felt the familar rush of blood to my limbs and my brain that always happens when I'm in a new place on my own. I flagged down the bus (that's what you do here, there aren't really traditional stops) and you scamper through traffic to hop on!!
A Night in Bangkok (or two)
March 1, 2007
So the first thing I noticed when I got off the place here is the oppressive HUMID heat!! All I could think is "my Dad must have DIED when he was here" (he handles heat with the grace I would expect from a St. Bernard dog). My bags arrived safely and I exchanged some USD to Baht and shared a cab with a young kid from Calgary to Khao San Rd, the main tourist/hostel area. It was about 1am when we arrived and I headed straight into a net cafe to see if there was a message from my friend Ken who was concurrently in Bangkok; I had conveniently received an email from him saying he would wait for me at the 7/11 on Khao San rd at 1am for 10 minutes or else I could meet him later at his hostel. What serendipitous timing!! (Or according to Carl Jung, simple syncronicity :-) Oh and PS I heard a rumour that there are over 5400 7/11's in Bangkok ALONE, they are literally EVERWHERE, even more prevalent than Starbucks in Vancouver!!! We hurried over to meet Ken and sure enough he was standing there amidst the chaos! He has the EXACT same haircut as Sandy right now which is pretty funny- Sandy dropped me off at the start of the trip, and a Sandy-look-alike met me at the end! It was pretty cool and wierd to be seeing my friend from home so soon after arriving, but I also havent really felt like i'm travelling or away from home yet since I've been with him ever since I got here yesterday and he really knows his way around so I haven't had to think too hard. Most of the hostels were full when we got here so Ken let me have his bed and he slept on my yoga mat on the floor of his guesthouse- what a guy!! ( oh yeah it's mostly guesthouses here in Asia where you get your own room with a bed as opposed to hostels where there are bunks and many people in one room). We stayed up late catching up since I haven't seen him since he left for travelling in June and I don't think my body had any idea what time it was anyways.
We met up with some of Ken's other aquaintainces from Vancouver today for lunch and then toured the Grand Palace where the royal family lives as well as many famous works including the Emerald Buddha; the Palace contains incredibly detailed art and architechture. My favorite aspect of the Emerald Buddha is that he is very deceiving- he's actually made of Jade (not Emerald) and by the way everyone admires him you expect to see a HUGE statue, but he's actually about two feet tall sitting on a tower of gold and statues that is easily two stories tall beneath him! What a joker, that Emerald Buddha :-).
People are selling things EVERYWHERE in Bangkok including fruits, smoothies, pad thai and fried rice, corn on the cob, and all kinds of questionable looking street meats and things, but apparently it is all quite safe! One thing I've heard time and time again is to "eat where the locals eat" because you know it's likely to be safe, even if a bit harder on the Western digestion. If you go to a place that tries to specialize in Western food (ie hamburgers), you are more likely to run into trouble.
Tonight we splurged and went to a "Baller" restaurant in downtown Bangkok. It is a top rated vegetarian restaurant called the Tamarind Cafe and F-Stop Gallery (amazing photographic art to say the least, Phil would have been thoroughly impressed :-). The restaurant is the 3rd of the same name opened in South East Asia by a French woman and her Taiwanese partner, creating an obvious European/Chinese fusion in the fare. The food was tremendous, I wish I had written down the names of the dishes (including malaysian quesedillas with peanut sauce, spinach falafel rolled in sesame seeds, etc etc) but the experience, as my dad would say in fine culinary form, was orgasmic. The location was also prime, including a third story roof top garden overlooking Sukhumvit road (central Bangkok). For appetizers, entrees, and dessert (a three tiered chocolate waffle tower layered with rosemary infused dark chocolate ice cream), we each paid a grand total of about $15 Canadian. Well worth the splurge!!!
Travelling through REAL Bangkok (as opposed to tourist central at Khao San Rd) has helped me to appreciate the lure to come and live/work/do business here. There is SO much going on at so many levels (physical levels in terms of vertical space); it kind of feels like warping into the land of the Jetsons, but with the jungle of the ghetto city still going on at ground level. I was really expecting to see flying cars whizz by overhead. Downtown Bangkok is ritzy, flashy, colorful, yet laid back and down to earth at the same time. Seeing this side of Bangkok was my first real experience of the stark contrasts that epitomize Thailand; observing these contrasts has become a central theme to my voyage thus far.
So the first thing I noticed when I got off the place here is the oppressive HUMID heat!! All I could think is "my Dad must have DIED when he was here" (he handles heat with the grace I would expect from a St. Bernard dog). My bags arrived safely and I exchanged some USD to Baht and shared a cab with a young kid from Calgary to Khao San Rd, the main tourist/hostel area. It was about 1am when we arrived and I headed straight into a net cafe to see if there was a message from my friend Ken who was concurrently in Bangkok; I had conveniently received an email from him saying he would wait for me at the 7/11 on Khao San rd at 1am for 10 minutes or else I could meet him later at his hostel. What serendipitous timing!! (Or according to Carl Jung, simple syncronicity :-) Oh and PS I heard a rumour that there are over 5400 7/11's in Bangkok ALONE, they are literally EVERWHERE, even more prevalent than Starbucks in Vancouver!!! We hurried over to meet Ken and sure enough he was standing there amidst the chaos! He has the EXACT same haircut as Sandy right now which is pretty funny- Sandy dropped me off at the start of the trip, and a Sandy-look-alike met me at the end! It was pretty cool and wierd to be seeing my friend from home so soon after arriving, but I also havent really felt like i'm travelling or away from home yet since I've been with him ever since I got here yesterday and he really knows his way around so I haven't had to think too hard. Most of the hostels were full when we got here so Ken let me have his bed and he slept on my yoga mat on the floor of his guesthouse- what a guy!! ( oh yeah it's mostly guesthouses here in Asia where you get your own room with a bed as opposed to hostels where there are bunks and many people in one room). We stayed up late catching up since I haven't seen him since he left for travelling in June and I don't think my body had any idea what time it was anyways.
We met up with some of Ken's other aquaintainces from Vancouver today for lunch and then toured the Grand Palace where the royal family lives as well as many famous works including the Emerald Buddha; the Palace contains incredibly detailed art and architechture. My favorite aspect of the Emerald Buddha is that he is very deceiving- he's actually made of Jade (not Emerald) and by the way everyone admires him you expect to see a HUGE statue, but he's actually about two feet tall sitting on a tower of gold and statues that is easily two stories tall beneath him! What a joker, that Emerald Buddha :-).
People are selling things EVERYWHERE in Bangkok including fruits, smoothies, pad thai and fried rice, corn on the cob, and all kinds of questionable looking street meats and things, but apparently it is all quite safe! One thing I've heard time and time again is to "eat where the locals eat" because you know it's likely to be safe, even if a bit harder on the Western digestion. If you go to a place that tries to specialize in Western food (ie hamburgers), you are more likely to run into trouble.
Tonight we splurged and went to a "Baller" restaurant in downtown Bangkok. It is a top rated vegetarian restaurant called the Tamarind Cafe and F-Stop Gallery (amazing photographic art to say the least, Phil would have been thoroughly impressed :-). The restaurant is the 3rd of the same name opened in South East Asia by a French woman and her Taiwanese partner, creating an obvious European/Chinese fusion in the fare. The food was tremendous, I wish I had written down the names of the dishes (including malaysian quesedillas with peanut sauce, spinach falafel rolled in sesame seeds, etc etc) but the experience, as my dad would say in fine culinary form, was orgasmic. The location was also prime, including a third story roof top garden overlooking Sukhumvit road (central Bangkok). For appetizers, entrees, and dessert (a three tiered chocolate waffle tower layered with rosemary infused dark chocolate ice cream), we each paid a grand total of about $15 Canadian. Well worth the splurge!!!
Travelling through REAL Bangkok (as opposed to tourist central at Khao San Rd) has helped me to appreciate the lure to come and live/work/do business here. There is SO much going on at so many levels (physical levels in terms of vertical space); it kind of feels like warping into the land of the Jetsons, but with the jungle of the ghetto city still going on at ground level. I was really expecting to see flying cars whizz by overhead. Downtown Bangkok is ritzy, flashy, colorful, yet laid back and down to earth at the same time. Seeing this side of Bangkok was my first real experience of the stark contrasts that epitomize Thailand; observing these contrasts has become a central theme to my voyage thus far.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
The trip to Bangkok
So my trip didn't even remotely start out as planned. Somehow Sandy and I managed to sleep through BOTH alarms that we had set to wake us up at 4:30AM so I could get downtown to catch my shuttle to Seattle airport at 6AM. My dad woked us up with a phone call at 6:05AM, 5 minutes AFTER my bus left from downtown!! Missing an exam or a flight because I slept through an alarm has always been one of my worst nightmares, luckily it didn't turn out to be so bad because we had a chance to catch up with the shuttle in Cloverdale (south of Vancouver) just before it crossed the border. Sandy and I jumped in the car and took off (not having time to shower was also a great addition to the beginning of a 27hr journey), with Dad at Mission Impossible ground control calling us every few minutes for progress reports and predict whether or not we'd make it. Lucky for me my brother has one of the best senses of humour of anyone I've ever met so we were laughing and joking the whole way, which helped ease my sense of being a complete twit/asshole for having gotten myself into this situation. In the end, we pulled into the bus stop at EXACTLY the same moment as the bus, I grabbed my bag and hopped on!! As Sandy aptly put it, there was "no time for tears" (no tears= a new thing for me as most of you know). I slept all the way to Seattle and my experience at SeaTac was typically American and disorganized, but I made it onto the place to Narita, Japan. I was expecting to feel like I was really in JAPAN when I got there, like Harajuku girls and blinking lights and noises and little happy people running about, but Narita could seriously have been Vancouver and I wouldn't have known a difference. I had some great sushi, definitely rivaled that of Vancouver, so I can technically SAY I had sushi in Tokyo even if it wasn't very authentic. Getting on the plane to Bangkok was the first time my body starting questioning what time it really was, especially since I didn't sleep on the 10hr flight to Japan. I slept all the way to Bangkok, only waking to enjoy the ON BOARD food service- flying Air Canada for so long has conditioned me to feel that you really have to appreciate free hot food on planes! We arrived in Bangkok at 11:30pm and even at that time all I could sense was the oppressive, humid, fragrant, HEAT.....
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