One way ticket

End of the Line

2008-05-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

I am writing this as a final entry...for now. I'll be heading off to the lost continent of Africa where there is very little computers let alone an internet connection for them. Nah, I don't really know for sure but I hear there are few connections and the ones that are there are really expensive, as much as eight to ten dollars an hour! So needless to say I'm not paying that for dial up. Anyways I'll keep up the entries on my computer and upload them once I get back to a decent connection (probably back in the states). I know I'm already behind seeing how I've been in India for three weeks and haven't even finished my Laos posts.

The plan is to make a loop from Kenya to Uganda and then to Rwanda where I might get the chance to trek the endangered mountain gorilla. Then I'll head back east into Tanzania's Serengeti to try and witness the annual wildebeest migration before heading to the island trading post of Zanzibar. I plan on moving south through Malawi to hang out on the beaches of Lake Malawi before crossing in through the middle of Mozambique where I'll do some scuba diving and snorkeling with some rather large marine life. I'll then keep heading south into South Africa before trying to squeeze in a trip to Namibia and/or Victoria Falls. I know it's a lot but I think I might be able to pull it off. Wish me luck... better yet, send money. Until then we'll see how the story changes.

Happy New Year...again

2008-04-17T03:16:00.000-07:00

After another small debacle with the minibus that we booked, we finally ended up in Luang Prabang. Pii Mai or the Lunar New Year is celebrated from April 13^th through the 17^th. It’s their version of Christmas where everything shuts down. Businesses close, families gather, food is eaten, and alcohol flows freely. What’s most commonly associated with the new year celebration are water fights. I’ve heard its because they are celebrating the new year and the coming of the rainy season so they douse people with water all over the streets. There is no discrimination as everyone is fair game, even the police. Don’t think that just because you have a nice expensive camera they will spare you. Loads of tourists and loads of locals celebrate it throughout SE Asia but they say Luang Prabang is the place to be if you’re in Laos. As with any holiday the prices for everything is increased but it was well worth it.

After meeting back up with Adam and Oracle the first night we prepared ourselves for the next day. I put my money and wallet in my dry bag and headed off. True to the stories we got wet pretty quickly. But its so much fun and they love for you to join in. We cut the tops off some plastic bottles and there are refill stations where water hoses fill up big buckets along the way. There are also truckloads of people driving around town that have their own buckets filled. What we weren’t informed of was the black residue they gather from cooking pans and smear over each other as well. There’s also flour being slapped on as well as dyed water being thrown everywhere. The colored water washes out if you rinse off in time but unfortunately I didn’t notice some green on my shirt and now its ruined. Oh well.

It’s a very fun and festive time as all the locals let loose and there is something going on everywhere. The kids are running around with their water guns but I think the adults are having more fun getting wet. Plus it’s a great way to escape the sweltering sun. There are also some beautiful parades through town where you can see some great costumes and traditional Laos dress.

Spring Break 2008

2008-04-17T02:54:00.000-07:00

They say that April and May are the hottest months in SE Asia. I concur. Its been insanely hot hear in Vang Vieng. Some of the people who ran the guesthouse that the girls were staying in took us to a cave where you could swim through. This gave us the chance to cool off a little before the sun went down. But even at night its still crazy freaky hot. It turns out that if you ask anyone anything about Laos the first thing they think of is tubing down the Nam Song River. Its so well known you can google it or see it on youtube. Basically the town has turned in to a giant spring break, not what should come to mind when you talk about Laos. The population seems to consist of more backpackers than locals and many of them are laid back watching reruns of ‘Friends’ sipping their Beer Lao or ‘happy’ shakes. But if you think about it there are a lot of places in Thailand that have similar reputations. Ironically enough we met several people who had been there for weeks, even months. Either way it was a fun place to spend a little time in and have a little break from the typical SE Asian cities.

The next day went down and rented some tubes to try out the river. It’s just like tubing down the Green River in North Cacalac except for the swings. These swings are insane. There are makeshift bars alongside the riverbank where you can stop and have drinks and also swing. Depending on when you let go you can have a little as a five foot drop or as much as a 25 foot drop. The video is of Adam doing a zipline but the photo is of me (kinda hard to tell) trying to become a trapeze artist. They’re really fun but pretty intimidating as well because the river depth varies so much, but I guess they plan where they place the swing lines well enough to ensure you don’t hit boulders in the water. They have OSHA in Laos right? Well we only made it about halfway down the river before it was too dark to see so we had to jump out early to get a tuk tuk to take us the rest of the way. Oh well, we still have tomorrow. Turns out that Jessica’s friend, Mathias, was arriving the next day and it was his birthday so we suited up and went again. Once again we didn’t make it back in time even though we skipped a lot of the bars. We had to get a motorized boat to take us to the end.

The next day we decided to have a little change of pace and doing some rock climbing. Mary and Jo were pretty unresponsive the next morning so we left them and headed for the rocks. There were some pretty good climbs except when the rocks got slippery from the rain. Luckily the climbing area was beside the river so we got to do one more swing on our way out. By this time it was almost the new year so we decided to try and take the overnighter to Luang Prabang. Well we were in a rush so it turned out that only Adam and our new friend Oracle (by the way most of these names aren’t real, they’re just nicknames we gave each other along the way) were to go that night. The rest of us were going to wait until the next day and take a minibus with our rock climbing guide. Bad idea. The guide was a moron stoner from Canadia and he didn’t book the bus, what’s worse was that he didn’t have the decency to tell us. So by the time we figured out he wasn’t going it was too late to catch any other bus and we didn’t want to take the overnighter and end up there at two in the morning. The craziness continued as we had already checked out of our guesthouses but had to try and find another guesthouse for that night since idiot didn’t come through. Because of the new years there were hoards of Thais who had come over and filled all the accommodations in town. We finally came across a single room and the owner said there were two double beds. It turns out his double beds were single beds and he was charging insane prices because he knew rooms in town were limited. Long story short Mary, Jo, Mathias, and I had to somehow all squeeze in one tiny room so we all went out for a night cap to help us sleep. Turns out it was one of the best nights of sleep I had had in a while.

Road Trip from Hell

2008-04-17T00:56:00.000-07:00

Being that I am now a frugal backpacker I decided to forgo the chance to fly from Hanoi to Laos and take the much cheaper yet more time consuming 24 hour chicken bus. The bus was to leave from Hanoi at 7 pm and reach Vientienne the next day. Well after doing almost no research on this I went ahead and booked because it was only $22. When we got to the bus we were shocked to say the least. It was an old beat up coach packed full of supplies on top, underneath, and in the back of the bus. I've included a pic I took before we even left Hanoi. There were 3 others who had booked the same bus as I and we each grabbed up seats hoping that no one else would get on and we could stretch out a little. Well our hopes were lost as it seemed we kept picking up more people and more supplies throughout the night. Finally at 1 in the morning we reached a stop where we picked up more people and filled every seat as well as there were several people sitting on plastic seats in the aisle.

It was very hard to sleep so I stayed awake talking to Jessica, another American, who got on on the last stop. Apparently they had a really nice sleeper bus before being transferred onto our chicken bus. Around 5 in the morning the bus came to a halt and it turned out we were at the border but had to wait for it to open. Even after it opened we went through a crazy process of getting our exit stamps and having to 'pay' for an exit stamp. I think its very lucrative to be a border guard. Hours later we finally make it into Laos and are on our way again only to stop ten minutes down the road for one of the most lax customs checkpoints I've ever seen. We got back on briefly before stopping ten minutes later for what they said was lunch. None of us were hungry so we didn't really eat but it turns out we probably should have. Two hours after we stopped we all were waiting on the bus wondering what was going on while the driver and his friends were outside playing bocce ball. We assumed we were waiting to pick up more supplies or people but that wasn't the case. All of a sudden they decided they had enough bocce and started the bus back up. Well that turned out to be the last stop (other than a quick stop to jump into the fields for a wee) before we ended up in Vientienne around 6pm. The trip was definitely a memorable one that I would like to forgot but most likely will scar me for the rest of my life. The only upside was that I met some really cool people who I ended up traveling with through Laos.

Jessica and I had read that Vientienne had a bowling alley and we all decided to treat ourselves after such a horrific ride. Bowling was a lot of fun and since everything closes early in Laos anyways we called it an early night exhausted from the crazy ride. Adam, a Swede who I met on the Hanoi bus, and I wanted to try to make it to Luang Prabang for the lunar new year because it was the place to be. Jessica and two other Brits (Jo and Mary) were going to Vang Vieng the next day, about halfway between Vientienne and Luang Prabang, and asked if we wanted to go so they booked us on the bus as well. Turns out that the nice comfy bus we were supposed to have wasn't so nice and comfy. We were duped again! Once again we were relieved just to get off the bus but we were finally in Vang Vieng, one of the crazies little towns I've ever been to.

Trekking in Sapa

2008-04-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

After my experience with the Halong Bay tour I decided to do Sapa on my own so I went to the train station and booked an overnighter to Sapa. I've been told Sapa is constantly 'shrouded in mist' so I knew not to expect great views when I was there. When I arrived to town I was greeted with nice cool weather. Considering it was almost April I welcomed the opportunity to wear pants and long sleeved shirts. Sapa is a small town in the mountains that recently has become a big hit on the tourist trail. Its known for all the ethnic minorities consisting of Hmong, Dzao, Tay, and Xa Pho tribes that live close by and the absolutely stunning views you can see if you get a clear day. My first day I just spent lazing around the town getting all my bearings straightened out. But the best part of the day was when I sat down at a street stall to grab a snack before heading back to the hotel and a bunch of locals came stopped in. We all ordered some food on the grill and then they got an aquafina bottle from the vendor with what looked like dirty water and a root in it. Well long story short, they insisted I drink with them and we ended up finishing the bottle off. Even though we didn't understand hardly a word of each other we all had a good time and some good laughs (probably at my expense).

The next day I hired a driver to take me around to some of the local villages where I got to see how the locals lived. When I arrived at a local cave I was bombarded with kids asking if I wanted a guide through the cave. Even though I only hired one I got four. They obviously were experienced spelunkers because they hopped and zipped right through while I trudged along slowly. When I got out a woman allowed me into her home where I saw their true lifestyle and got to have my first (and not soon to be last) taste of rice wine. The day was good but after checking back in with some of the travel offices there was no one signed up to try and climb Fansipan (the highest peak in Indochina). So instead I booked a homestay trek for the next day.

We started off walking out of town for about a kilometer before we turned off and headed towards the villages. Just before we made it to the first village it seems as if the skies just opened up. We came to a ledge that overlooked the village in the valley and you could see for miles. It was perfect. Walking through the villages was very fun and rewarding just to see the way they live. I felt like these villages seemed a lot more authentic then the ones I saw in Thailand. When we finally arrived at the village where we were to spend the night we were given some free time to explore before dinner. This was loads of fun because I didn't have to follow anyone around and had the freedom to do what I wanted. After my discovery tour we had dinner at the house and then it began to rain. The rain didn't matter since there was no electricity and we couldn't see anything if we wanted to. The night turned out to be one of the funnest nights in a while though. The family we stayed with cooked a feast that was probably the best meal I've had in Vietnam. We then sat around and talked with the family and the guide while the host broke out his rice wine which we didn't refuse. About five our six bottles later we were all having a great time and they night became blurry.

The next day we got up early and trekked back towards Sapa. I had booked overnight train heading back to Hanoi for that night but wished I hadn't. Sapa had really grown on me and its definitely one of my top destinations in SE Asia. So as I waited for the minibus to take me back to the train station I unloaded all my snacks and little trinkets on the little kids. They're really cute and these two girls gave me some bracelets even though all I gave them were some useless Singapore coins I had left over which they would never be able to use. I definitely would like to come back sometime but for now I gotta get over to Laos.

How long in Halong

2008-04-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the starting place for most activities in the north. Northern Vietnam might as well be a different country. The lifestyle is more fast paced and in your face. It seems that you're more likely to be ripped off or scammed up here. But I just stayed for one day before booking my trip to Halong Bay. Halong Bay is known for its picturesque limestone karsts that jut out from the sea. They say that you can't do it for much cheaper than the tour prices so I booked a 3 day trip out to the bay where we would stay on Cat Ba Island one night and the next night on a junk boat.

So after herding up 20 or 30 people the next morning we jumped on the minibus for our 3 hour journey to the bay. When we finally arrived things started going downhill. First off, the weather in northern Vietnam was bleak the entire time I was there. I think in the week and a half I was there I saw the sun for a total of 3 hours. Other than that its always overcast, dreary, or raining. Despite the weather I still wanted to see Halong Bay but when we arrived at the pier we waited for what seemed like hours. Apparently the way it works is that there are hundreds of travel agencies in Hanoi that book the same tour so after they take their cut they send you to an operator who tries to fill up boats according to the number of people in your party and length of stay you're on. Well two hours later we finally had a full boat and were on our way. With the weather being so bad we weren't able to see further than maybe 25 meters but we still weren't deterred. That day we made it to a fascinating limestone cave but it was lit up with lights and stairs and such which made it too touristy for me. We were then given the chance to board a small boat that took us through a couple caves that lead to what were essentially craters filled with water in the middle of these limestone karsts. That night we were dropped off on Cat Ba and it was loads of fun because they were having a festival to commemorate when Ho Chi Minh came to the island. It reminded me of the state fair but it was fun to see all the locals get so excited over such a cheezy festival.

The next day we hiked up to the top of Cat Ba where the mist allowed us to see absolutely nothing but you can imagine how cool it could of been. Thats a picture of me on the summit. We then waited around near the hotel before we were taken back to the pier where we waited again and finally boarded our boat for the night. We spent the night on the boat and it was very nice but since we were short on time the second day we had to wake up very early the next day to get our kayaking in before heading back to Hanoi. Honestly, the trip wasn't very good and I feel Halong Bay is overrated. It could be very nice but the way they shuffle people around like cattle is annoying and the way they keep the bay environmentally isn't very good at all. All throughout the bay you can see where they dump garbage overboard and the oil from the engines sit on top of the calm water. Some people were given the opportunity to swim in the bay but I wouldn't just because it seemed way too polluted. Despite all that it was pretty fun because the people on the boat were lots of fun. We had a great night on Cat Ba and the night on the boat was fun playing cards and hanging out. My recommendation would be to go to Khao Sok NP in Thailand where its very similar to Halong except a million times cleaner and way less touristy.

Marching on Northward

2008-03-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

My next stop after Dalat was to the resort beaches of Nha Trang. I had heard that the place was just basically a row of resorts along the beach and that suited me fine. My plan was to use it as a pit stop before heading further north. I got there late the first day and set off to find a dive outfitter to schedule a trip for the next day. For less than $55 I was able to get 3 dives which is crazy cheap. That night for dinner I came across a street vendor selling grilled seafood on the sidewalk. I got a fresh lobster for $6 but little did I know that I could have gotten it for half. Oh well, you win some you lose some. The next day the diving was pretty decent. There wasn't much marine life but the coral was very nice. The funnest part of the dive was swimming through an underwater cave about 15 or so meters. Inside there were tons of fish taking shelter and they parted just enough for you to swim through. The next day I had enough time before the next bus to grab a quick visit to the hot springs outside of town. I've been told that it makes your skin nice and smooth. Not sure about the truth in that but the bath was fun. It felt like swimming in chocolate milk except maybe a little grittier. Now I know what a Cheerio feels like.

After my mud bath I jumped on the overnight train to Hoi An. Hoi An is an old fashioned city with a few uninteresting sights. I found that the main draw card here were the loads of tailors that live here. Walking down any street you can't walk a block without passing at least four shops. They can make exact copies of designer clothes that normally would cost thousands and you can get it for less than a hundred bucks. Since I'm now a jobless bum and I don't have the need to wear a suit, I just got a pair of pants made. After trying on the end product I can tell you firsthand they're very very good at what they do. The quality of the sewing and of the material is excellent. I was surprised at how well they fit. Unfortunately, my attempt to stuff one of the ladies in my bag and ship her back home failed so I decided to head up to Hanoi the next day.

Adventures in Dalat

2008-03-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

After the hustle and bustle of Saigon I decided to let out some of energy up in Dalat. Most people make their way towards the beaches of Mui Ne but since I had planned on going to the Nha Trang beaches after Dalat there really wasn't a reason to go to two beaches. Dalat is a small town up in mountains of Vietnam that much resembles the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. Its got the same cooler temperatures and rolling hills along with the cloudy skies and small town atmosphere. Its known as a honeymoon destination for many Vietnamese. For foreigners, most people associate Dalat with the Easy Riders, a group of local guides who ride around on Russian style Harleys and take you on personalized tours of waterfalls, villages, pagodas, and other sights. I had something else in mind though. I came across a website for some adventure tours and the canyoning/abseiling trip seemed just the thing I needed.

The day began with myself and another Brit jumping in an old BMW and heading down to one of the closer falls where we had to wait because an American girl who had signed up at the last minute. Yay, finally another American traveler. We headed straight past the touristy falls with their amusement rides and Easy Riders everywhere. Trudging over, around, and through the river we finally came to an opening where we practiced our abseiling (much more safely then my previous experience in Pisgah). Right afterwards, we went straight into our first dry rappel to help prepare us for what was to come. Following the river down we got to a spot where we jumped right in and the guides just told us to lay down. Basically they pushed us on our backs down the waterfall to get our feet wet.

After a quick lunch our first wet rappel was pretty crazy. We started by coming down right in the middle of a waterfall and after your passed a boulder in the middle it was like standing underneath the Hoover dam. Hundreds and hundreds of gallons of water just poured on your face and you couldn't see anything, not that it mattered because the rock was so slick you could slip at any moment. More trekking led us to a spot where you could jump off a rock into the water below, making sure the guides went first so that we knew it was deep enough. The day ended in the falls they call 'The Washing Machine'. After rappelling for about 10 feet you're completely off the rock where its a free rappel into the falls and down. You run out of line and basically fall into the water which takes you down the bottom of the falls. Since we had a small group we all got to do this one twice. All in all it was a great way to release some energy and was one of the funnest days yet.

Good Morning Vietnam!

2008-03-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

As soon as I touched down in Saigon I knew things were starting to look up. No lost luggage this time and I got a free ride downtown (which is one of the only expensive things over here) with an American freelance photographer who was on assignment so she just put it on her tab. The people are friendly, the food is nice, and everything is so cheap. Probably the cheapest place I've been so far. But apparently not for too much longer. I've been told several times that the cost of everything is starting to go up and new construction is going on everywhere. Apparently Vietnam plays host to a booming economy. Its the second fastest growing economy in Asia, just behind China. In other words, it might not be such a deal in a couple of years.

My plane arrived late so I just had time to grab some food and settle in for an early night. The next day I made my way through the city to see some of the sites. Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as the locals still call it, is the largest city in Vietnam and this is evident in the number of motos running throughout the streets. I started off with a morning tour of the Cu Chi tunnels outside the city. These are just a small part of a maze of over 200 km of tunnels that the Vietnamese used during the war to travel, hide, and ambush from. Going through the tunnels gives you an understanding of how resilient these people are. Its so easy to get lost and having the patience to excavate that much earth is pretty amazing. The tunnels are pretty small though so if you're claustrophobic you might want to think twice before heading there. I've heard these tunnels were actually widened a little for the tourists.

The afternoon consisted of heading to the War Museum. Here is mostly photos by photojournalists and different aid organizations of the American War (as its known in Vietnam) from both sides of the field. Reading into the stories you get a sense of what war does to you emotionally. Some of the pictures and stories revealed some things that are simply hard to swallow but after being in a place fighting for that long I think it really messes with your head. Just ask those crazy vets in the retirement homes. The saddest part had to be the pictures of the direct victims and their children of defoliants (mainly Agent Orange) used by the US during the war. The destruction to the people, their children, and the environment are pretty gruesome. Not even the US troops were lucky enough to escape unscathed from the effects of the poisons. Whoever thought those were a good idea was a real genius.

The next few days I spent in the Mekong Delta where the mighty Mekong River empties into the sea after traveling thousands of miles through China, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Its a step back in time from the lights and modern buildings in Saigon. The area is full of fertile grounds in which rice and tons of fruit are grown. The Mekong supplies southern Vietnam with abundant seafood. The highlight of the trip was the floating market. Unlike the floating market in Bangkok, this one is not geared towards tourists. The locals still barter and trade using their boats on the river. There you can get products at wholesale prices like the fresh pineapple I got for about a quarter. Afterwards, we made our way back to Saigon so I could grab the rest of my stuff before heading up to Dalat.

Sh*tty Singapore

2008-03-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

First off, let me begin by saying I don't care for Singapore. And I had already established this opinion before the crappiest part of my trip occurred there. Singapore is a small set of islands on the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia. It grew from a country with little natural resources into an international financial hub. There are some tourist attractions but none I wanted to see. I don't know what the big deal about getting a $30 drink at Raffles is, I don't care about their world class zoo (much rather see animals in the wild), their beaches don't compare to Thailand or even Malaysia so why bother. Well, the only reason I had planned on going there was because it was a short trip from KL, I wanted to try and find a cheap portable hard drive, and I could fly cheap from there to Vietnam.

I should have seen it all coming when I got to customs. It started raining just as we got to the border. I spent over an hour waiting at customs and when I finally got through the bus I took from KL had already left so I had to take a city bus downtown. When I got downtown I had to get some Singapore dollars so I tried several ATMs but my card didn't work. I ended up having to take money out of my Wachovia account. I just found out today that I was charged for two withdraws that didn't happen with my first account so I'm in the process of working that out. But I finally had some cash so I decided to grab some food since I hadn't eaten all day. I walked into a Burger King and was asked to leave because I was dripping water (note, it had not stopped raining since the border). I finally made it to my hostel and was just relieved that I was leaving the next day. Since I had the rest of the evening open I went to one of the places recommended to buy electronics only to find out that most of the electronics here are just as expensive if not more than they are in the states. The waterproof digital camera I wanted to buy was over $100 more over here. Its not just electronics, everything is expensive here. I was in the grocery today and saw a small box of cereal for $6 USD. I think its because they have to import all their goods.

Now for the real crappy part and I realize that this is mostly my fault but all the stuff from the previous day didn't help. As I was checking into my flight the next day they informed me that I needed a visa to enter the country. Well no !*#@ Sherlock. What I didn't notice and my trusty Lonely Planet didn't mention was that Vietnam is one of the countries that requires you to get your tourist visa ahead of time and it can take up to two weeks. This put me into a downward spiral where I was trying to figure out how to get a visa, trying to rebook flights, places to stay, etc. Looooong story short I lost 2 days and around $140. I ended up hooking up with an online travel agent who can arrange for a visa pick up upon arrival in Saigon for a fee of $50. Plus I couldn't rebook or get a refund on my flight because it was one of those low budget fare deals so that first ticket I bought just went down the toilet. On top of all that I had to spend an extra 2 days in my favorite place in SE Asia, Singapore.

So that's where I'm at now, sitting here waiting to get out of Singapore tomorrow. So let me tell you a little more about Singapore. It is sometimes referred to as the 'fine' city. Not because its all that, but because you can get fined for almost anything. Smoking and littering in public places carry hefty fines, not flushing a public toilet does too, and my favorite is chewing gum will get you fined as well. I heard people get ticketed for jaywalking a lot, but I don't know how true that is. The country prides itself on being a really clean city but outside the city center I don't think its that clean. But it is nice to not have litter everywhere like in the other southeast Asian countries I've been to. Oh yeah, and the rain here sucks. Its worse than Malaysia so if you combine that with the freaky clean addicts you get kicked out of fast food joints like I did. I only took 2 pictures while in Singapore, the first one is of the downtown skyline when there was a break in the rain and the second is hard to see but its a big plastic container full of live frogs at this one restaurant I ate at. The container was out front beside all the tables. Needless to say, I didn't order frog. Get me outta here!

Rants and Raves

2008-03-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

After spending almost two weeks in Peninsular Malaysia I'd like to take a moment to reflect. I wasn't unhappy with the place but it didn't appeal to me the way that Cambodia and Thailand did. Maybe thats because I didn't get to visit Sarawak and Sabah, where all the cool stuff was. Or maybe Cambodia and Thailand set the bar too high and from now on I'll be disappointed in the places I go. But with the mixture of so many cultures I think the country is still trying to establish an identity. Its not really like the Thai's established culture or the Khmer's in Cambodia.

But like I said before I wasn't unhappy with the place. The food is dirt cheap where I consistently got nice big meals and a drink for less than $3. The weather was surprisingly cooler than I thought it would be despite being closer to the equator. A lot of people spoke English and intercity transport was pretty easy. On the other hand although the food was cheap it didn't hold a candle to the excellent food in Thailand and Cambodia. It is cooler but it rains at the worst possible times and for extended periods every day. There are a lot of English speaking people but the taxi drivers always try to rip you off even though they're supposed to be required to use the meter and the city bus routes are absolutely impossible to understand.

At the end of it all I really did like Malaysia, I just didn't love it. I think I would like to return and do Sarawak and Sabah as well as the rest of Borneo sometime. I have no regrets in taking a few extra days to do a little roaming.

Mountains and Beaches

2008-03-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

When you do things on a whim you often do things that make no sense. In my case I ended up traveling all through peninsular Malaysia on the longest route possible. My path didn't make any sense but I just made it up as I went. I started off in the Perhentian Islands located all the way back near the Thai border in the Gulf of Thailand. Its a laid back beach where relaxation is key. There really isn't much to do besides snorkeling, sunbathing, and eating. I had some delicious Malaysia fried king fish. Most people just chilled out on the beach or read a book on their bungalows overlooking the sea. So the next day I ended up doing some snorkeling with a Korean, Canadian, and another Brit. The snorkeling wasn't too bad and for $10 you couldn't beat the price which included a boat ride to 5 spots and equipment rental. Although I didn't see the big black tip reef shark that everyone else saw, I think I may have seen its baby daughter (well probably not). But the highlight of the day was at Turtle Bay where I got to swim beside another sea turtle. By that point I had figured out how to clear my snorkel so after entering the water I dove down two meters and swam with it for the whole 2 seconds that I can hold my breath. We ended up celebrating later on that night with a few cocktails overlooking the bay.

The easiest destination to make it to next was the Cameron Highlands simply because they offered direct transfer there from the Perhentians. The Cameron Highlands are located in a mountainous region in the middle of the peninsula. The high elevation gives the area a cool climate and is a welcome relief from the tropical and humid climates I've been in. One morning I woke up and the thermometer outside read 50. But that's not all the area had to offer. The mountains are home to the largest tea plantations I have ever seen. I toured some of the countryside and tasted some tea overlooking one of the plantations. Too bad I don't like tea. We then took a ride up the to the top of the tallest peak in the highlands but the clouds and fog (it rains constantly in Malaysia) prevented us from seeing the view. Before lunch we stopped at a butterfly farm. And although I have lots of pictures of butterflies, the coolest part was some of the monster insects and reptiles they had. These photos are not photoshopped and yes that is my hand. We ended the day visiting an Orang Asli village where I learned how to use a blow gun and steer clear of leeches.

I decided to try and spend a little time in Penang before heading back to Kuala Lumpur. Penang island is located up north again except on the west coast of Malaysia (you can see why my route didn't make sense). There really wasn't that much to the town that I wanted to see but a lot of locals seem to go there for their holidays so I gave it a shot. Well it rained about 80% of the time that I was there so I was lucky there wasn't much I wanted to do. The rain did give me a chance to ride in one of those rickshaws where your ride in the bucket seat in the front of a bicycle while someone pedals you through the driving rain. I made sure to tip the guy well. I did try and take the fusilier train up to the top of Penang Hill to check out the view but once again it started raining when I got on the train. It did clear up momentarily for me to take a couple shots from the top. By this time I was itching to get to Vietnam and so I headed back to KL for a quick pit stop before heading off to Singapore.

Change of Plans

2008-03-07T06:30:00.000-08:00

Well after my liveaboard I had about two days to make it to get out of Thailand before my visa expired. So I made a vee line towards the Malaysia/Thailand border. Originally I was just going to take the train/bus all the way to Singapore and then fly to Vietnam but I figured since I was in Malaysia anyways I should go ahead and spend a few extra days there. Well it turns out I only knew around 3 things about Malaysia before I arrived: 1) the Petronas Towers are in Kuala Lumpur 2) the island of Borneo has orangutans 3) Zoolander tried to kill its prime minister. Well none of this did me much good as I was on the overnight bus to Kuala Lumpur but none of that seemed to bother me.

As soon as the bus cleared customs I could tell we had arrived in a different country. Malaysia is a lot more modern than Cambodia and even Thailand. Everything just looked newer and more advanced. After arriving in KL five hours later, I headed for my hostel to grab some more sleep. The next day I literally spent the entire day catching up on emails, updating my blog, and registering for facebook as I finally had a high speed wifi connection. Apparently facebook is the new myspace except better. Everyone that I was in Thailand with and some people from other places as well are on it and it really does help keep in touch. So anyways, back to my story. My second day in KL I spent researching facts about Malaysia, places to go, and things to do. Here is a little of what I learned: Malaysia is blend of various Asian cultures. The people are made up of Malays, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Orang Asli (aborigines), and other various Asian decents. The majority of the people are Islamic but there is also a large population of Muslims, Christians, Hindu and other religions. The majority of the island of Borneo is not part of Malaysia. Orangutans also live on the island of Sumatra.

Well despite this influx of knowledge I still hadn't sorted out all my plans. I just realized that I probably wasn't going to make it to the Sarawak and Sabah regions on Borneo because it costs more to get there than to get to Vietnam and it was advised to steer clear of the eastern side of Sabah because of terrorism (not sure how true all that is). Unfortunately as it turns out most all the things I wanted to do in Malaysia are in Borneo so that put me back at square one. I finally ended up deciding on taking buses throughout some highlights of peninsular Malaysia including the Perhentian Islands, the Cameron Highlands, and the island of Penang before heading back to KL.

Diving, diving, and more diving

2008-03-01T00:21:00.000-08:00

So I booked a liveaboard for 4 days and 4 nights on the MV Andaman. Basically what was required out of us was to dive, eat, sleep, and dive. The first two days were to start with wake up at 6:30 followed by a dive at 7:30. We'd come up for some surface time in which we'd eat some breakfast. The next dive would be around 11:30, followed by lunch and usually a nap. The third dive was around 4:00 which I usually followed up with a nap and a snack. Our final dive was at 7:30 and was a night dive. The third day was to have a similar schedule except our night dive would be replaced by a cocktail/bbq. And the last day would follow the same schedule except we'd head back to the mainland after the second dive. So basically its 13 dives squeezed into an itty bitty 4 day window. To be honest I probably shouldn't have been doing all these dives with my little experience. We were diving to 30 meters where nitrogen narcoses is said to kick in and there were some pretty strong currents at times. But if you're gonna do it you might as well do it big, right?

Our first dive was an easy dive to 30m just to see some marine life and so the dive master could see where we were at with our dive skills. Luckily I wasn't the only one onboard who just got done with their open water course. Gabriel had just finished his in Koh Tau so we both had 5 dives a piece coming in and you could tell. We used our air supply a lot quicker than the others, especially when we started hitting the currents. But by the third and fourth days we had calmed down and were able to finish out the entire dives. We spent the first five dives around the Similan Islands and saw some amazing marine life. Anything from anemone fish to lionfish (Deuce Bigalow), moray eels, trumpet fish, angelfish, banner fish, butterfly fish, parrot fish, stingrays and much more. The best way for me to describe it to someone who hasn't dove before is that its like swimming in an exotic aquarium except these fish aren't trapped in a tank. Some of the fish made you think 'man, I need to watch Finding Nemo again to tell them what they did wrong' while others made you think 'damn, you'd look good on my dinner plate.' The best was the first dive of the second day when we came across a sleeping leopard shark. Watch the video Horst took while he swims away.

We then went to the island of Koh Bon and Koh Tachai for our second and third dives of the day. The highlight of those dives were these huge batfish that were just chillin at their cleaning stations just getting their pedicures (do fish have toes?). The next day we headed off to Koh Chi where I saw my first sea turtle! It moved so slowly yet effortlessly. I thought it was headed out to sea when it turned back and did another circle through us. Horst took another good video of this as well. By the way my dive group consisted of 3 Germans and me so when they decided to talk quickly it was in German and I was basically in Mars somewhere so that was fun. Ok, back to the diving. Our last day was at what is said to be the best dive site in Thailand: Richelieu Rock. It had an abundant amount of marine life but unfortunately the visibility was not so good. But it was still fun and while we were coming up on our final dive we got to swim alongside a school of barracuda. Mmmm, tasty. All along everyone was secretly hoping to see a whale shark or manta ray that occasionally visit these waters but that wasn't the case this trip. Hopefully with more exotic sites I'll run across one of these massive creatures.

Whats up Beaches? (part 2)

2008-02-29T23:11:00.000-08:00

Next we headed down to the beaches of Ao Nang in the Krabi Province. Home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, Southern Thailand receives hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. So while others went to sunbathe on the gorgeous white sand, a few of the more adventurous ones decided to head to Railay Beach to take on one of the most famous rock climbing sites in the world. The climbing was great fun and although the shoes they gave me were falling apart, you can't beat the price and the view from the top (or close to it anyways).

The next day was our last day together as a group. So we said goodbye to Katie as she wandered off to the infamous Full Moon Party and the rest of us gathered for a speedboat that was going to take us to Bamboo and Phi Phi Island. We arrived at Bamboo Island before most of the other boats came so after a little bit of a walk we found a secluded area of beach to just hang out and chill for a while. We then made our way over to Koh Phi Phi where there were hoards of tourists. The island became most well known for Maya Bay where the film 'The Beach' was shot. I still haven't seen the movie but I think I'll add it to my queue when I get back. There we had lunch and went snorkeling! The fish life is outrageous there. There were just tons and tons of tropical fish swarming around. Probably in large part to the bread that was being fed to them. With calm crystal clear water you could see everything from fish to coral (pronounced Carl by the Aussies and Brits) to the absent minded tourists who touch, damage, stand on the coral. Despite that it was really a fabulous way to end off our tour. But the day wasn't completely finished. We still had one last night to say our goodbyes...

The next day after saying goodbye to everyone I made a quick reservation at another hotel where I started researching liveaboards. There were two things on my list that I knew if I made it there I would splurge money on. One was a safari in Africa if I made it and the other was a liveaboard to the Similand Islands of Thailand. Being the idiot that I am, I never reserved anything so I had to do a huge search on places that weren't to expensive, still had availabilities, and departed/returned within my time frame so I could get out of Thailand before my visa expired. Luckily I came across a company called Sea Dragon that had a couple spots open and it turned out to be a good choice. So I packed my bags and hopped on the local bus towards Khao Lak.

Livin on the lake

2008-02-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

We arrived at Khao Sok National Park and headed directly to the lake where we would stay for the next two nights. The lake is amongst some of the most picturesque limestone mountains in southern Thailand and is surrounded by the oldest rainforest on earth. Are accommodations were actually floating rafthouses anchored to nearby islands. We spent our time swimming, kayaking, hiking to caves and viewpoints, but most of all just relaxing. The tranquility and peacefulness of the place was a nice break from the frantic pace of Bangkok. Aside from our unwanted night visitors it was a very memorable experience.

On our third day we were supposed to be staying in treehouses. Yes, it would have been great being 10 again but things don't always work out the way its planned and for better or worse we were relocated to some lovely cottages nearby. We dropped off our junk and made our ways towards the river where we were going tubing! Well because we were so far into the dry season the tubing experience was a little disappointing. So for any of my fellow tubers who make it to the states, yall come down to the Green River and we'll show you some good ole' tubin North Carolina style. There were times when the guide had to get up and pull us through the water. Also I got bit by a fish, but it was still good fun.

After we had time to dry off a bit we made it to a cliff side where a large group of monkeys lived. We were given the chance to climb about and feed the monkeys. They were very timid but if you moved slow enough, you could get them to grab food out of your hands. When were were done monkeying around we headed back to our bungalows for a couple nightcaps. Tomorrow we head to the beach!

Hill Trekkin

2008-02-29T21:01:00.000-08:00

After leaving the Nature Park we headed off to some local hilltribes near the Burmese border. Me thinks the reason that the hilltribes are still there is because its too damn hard to get down the mountain. All joking aside the first day’s hike was pretty tough but worth it. After the village’s monkey ate half my necklace we had a nice local meal followed by some songs by the fire. The second day’s trek was a lot easier and we ended up at a village alongside a river. This time they performed songs and dances around the fire in their traditional outfits. It was all very tourist oriented but I was ok with it because the money went directly to the villagers. So after Tegan and Katie’s plan to steal one of the local babies failed we headed off to bed to get ready for the next day. The third day’s trek was a lot easier because all we had to do was walk down to the river and jump on some bamboo rafts that I made. I actually didn’t make them but the picture makes you think I did. It was loads of fun especially when they let you help steer.

The pickup at the end of the river took us back to Chiang Mai where we celebrated our hot showers with some nice cold Sang Som. It was quite a fun night as our drunken tour leader showed us exactly how tough her job can be. But the next day I paid for it when I had to be up and checked out by 8:15 to go to my cooking class. That’s right, look out Iron Chef here I come. We learned how to make Pad Thai, spring rolls, Tom Yum, curry, sticky rice, and lots more but I couldn’t eat it all because my stomach was doing cartwheels. Luckily I had time to recover on the overnight train back to Bangkok. By the way, the song ‘One Night in Bangkok’ officially became mine and Bec’s theme song for the trip but I’m not sure how much the others liked it (did you know its about a chess championship?????). Back in Bangkok we had just about enough time for Tegan and I to get our awesome tattoos and for Jen to almost get arrested before we headed off to the gorgeous Khao Sok National Park.

Elephant Nature Park

2008-02-29T20:32:00.000-08:00

These past few weeks have been pretty full on so I apologize for not being able to post any new entries. So lets rewind a little bit to my time at the Elephant Nature Park. Like I said before it’s a wonderful place and I hope to visit again soon. A typical day starts with breakfast at 7 (I think I only made one breakfast), followed by morning chores at 7:30. Then we’d either go on a hike with the elephants or do another chore before lunch. The day visitors and the fruit trucks arrived around 11-ish and those ellies (elephants) can put away some food. I was told the average elephant eats around 400 lbs of food a day. So after unloading the trucks we cut the fruit up and get to hand feed them (my favorite time). We then feed ourselves before taking the ellies down to the river where they lay down for their baths which we also provide. Immediately afterwards the younger ellies play in the mud and its very entertaining to watch. The mud acts as a natural sunscreen for them. I’ve got some great videos but they would take too long to put on the blog. We then have afternoon projects followed by dinner and more free time. For week long volunteers they take you on a hike through the jungle with a family of elephants where you camp overnight and the ellies are allowed to wander the mountainside before you get up the next day to track them down. Tegan, Bec, and I got to help Boonshu track Lilly who is a fun loving elephant clever enough to stuff mud into her bell so its harder to find her (shown below).

After living and working at the park for a week you start to get to know the different elephants. You can distinguish their movements, expressions, and subtle differences. But most of all you learn their stories and what they’ve been through and what their lives could have been. Everyone loves Jokia who was blinded in both eyes by humans but found a friend in Mae Perm, the park’s first elephant, who hardly ever leaves her side. You can always hear them trumpeting back and forth. There’s the towering Max, one of the tallest elephants in Thailand who was hit by a semi-truck and walks with a slow limp but can move when he wants to. I believe it was Lilly who was addicted to drugs that her owners gave her so she could work around the clock. Medow had her hip broken when her owners tied her up to a bull elephant in ‘must’ and he attacked her after she didn’t accept him (her pic was in my last entry). BK can be easily distinguished by his single tusk, the other was cut off by a chainsaw and he still has to get routine cleanings to prevent infection. And then there is Hope, the adolescent elephant that Lek saved as a child who will always have a life free from abuse and neglect.

But on the second or third day at the park I found this cheeky (its an British word) little baby elephant at the end of the platform named Aura. I started to feed her and really just fell in love with her. After that I kept coming back day after day to the same spot to feed Aura (see pic). By the second feeding I knew her likes and her dislikes, her commands, just everything. She didn’t eat the green bananas but still would take the mushed up yellow ones. She would often spit out the watermelon skin so I began to scoop out the good stuff with a spoon, then she would suck out any remaining juice with her trunk. I knew Aura rushed through her food so that she could quickly try to steal Medow’s. I knew how to get her to open her mouth so you could place food directly on her tongue (as shown). I could get her to give out kisses with her trunk. It actually seemed like I was her mahout during feeding time. Unfortunately not all stories here have a happy ending. Aura and her mother, Mae Boon, are on lease, which means the park doesn’t actually own them but they take care of them anyways because that’s how much Lek loves elephants. We were told shortly before the end of the week that they suspect Mae Boon and Aura’s owners are going to come within the next 3 months to take them back so that Aura can be put through her ‘training’. And there’s nothing that can be done because it’s not a matter of money but rather the owners are just not willing to sell. Despite all this we try to give her a happy life while we can and we hope that all the training Aura has had through positive reinforcement will allow her to have a less harsh training process. I would like to try and come back this spring after I get back from Laos and hopefully Mae Boon and Aura will still be there.

Plight of the Asian Elephant

2008-02-11T00:22:00.000-08:00

The past week we went from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok to the open wilderness in the mountainous jungles north of Chiang Mai. There we stayed at the Elephant Nature Park and learned of the struggles that the Asian Elephants in Thailand and Burma (Myanmar) have been through. Roughly a century ago there was around 100,000 elephants in Thailand but due mostly to habitat loss as well as other factors the number has dwindled to an estimated 2500. For centuries the Asian Elephant have been living and working alongside the Thai people. Up until 1988 they were used primarily in the logging industry, ironically destroying their homes in the process. Although logging is still going on in Burma, once the industry was banned in Thailand the domesticated elephants were soon out of work This caused a shift in the role of the elephants to cater to the tourism industry in what you see today as trekking, painting, and other forms of entertainment. And through this 'domestication' process in which the elephants learn their tricks is what the Elephant Nature Park is about, providing a refuge to sick and abused elephants where they can spend the rest of their lives in a more natural setting.

The domestication of an elephant is a sad and abusive story which hardly anyone (western or Thai) know about. Much like how many westerners don't know how horses are broken. But it is the process that has been used for centuries in order for elephants to be submissive to people. At a very young age, usually within the first 5 years, the elephant is taken from its mother and forced into a tortuous 2 to 3 week process where it is forced into a wooden pen barely big enough to fit the elephant. There it is stabbed, poked, and hit with sticks, hooks, knives, etc until it learns how to perform various commands. The elephant is kept there with little food or sleep and constant abuse until its will and spirits are broken. I believe that less than half of the elephants make it through this training and there have been cases of elephant suicide where they stand on their own trunk until they die.

The elephant nature park is a radical new approach to domesticating and training elephants. The elephants do not paint, do not carry tourists, and the only tricks performed are not done through abuse but rather they are given treats when they do something good. This hopefully will show other elephant parks and trekking camps that the elephants can still be used without having to put them through hell. The park was started by an elephant lover named Lek (shown to the right) back in the mid 90's. There are so many stories both good and bad that Lek and the park have been through. You can read more about it at www.elephantnaturefoundation.org or you can just do a search on Lek and the Elephant Nature Park. But the park is run mostly by foreign donations and hoards of volunteers such as us. My next entry will tell you about my time at the park.

Whats up beaches?

2008-01-30T02:32:00.000-08:00

Now on a lighter note. I had about a week to kill before heading back to Phnom Penh so I decided to head down to the beaches of Sihanoukville. My original plan was to try and get my open water scuba certification while in Thailand but since I had some time on my hands I went ahead and signed up for a class in Cambodia. Not only would this give me a chance to do some full on diving in the Simlian Island next month but my certification was around 100 bucks cheaper over here. Its true that the visibility and the fish life aren't as good as you find in Thailand but there is quite a bit of beautiful coral despite the dynamite fishing that occurred in the past. Funny story (skip the rest of this paragraph if you get grossed out easily): The dive company takes you to a remote island where there's just a few rustic villages. Well something I ate in Phnom Penh gave me a funny feeling in my tummy and I still felt the effects. So when they served lunch I only made it halfway through before I had to go. Well long story short, I finally pooped in a hole (they have nothing else, but I did bring my own TP). Actually it was a pit I found near the base of a tree but on the bright side I had an awesome seaside view.

Sihanoukville itself is really not all that glamorous. You can tell that there's a lot of money being pumped in and one day could be another Pattaya but thats about it. Everything is priced higher, there are frequent electrical blackouts, and there was bit of seediness that I felt when I was here. I'm still not sure why there's so many men in speedos and I'm even less sure of why there are old larger men in speedos. On the weekends the places book up fast because of all the Cambodians on holiday from Phnom Penh. But on the bright side some of the seafood here is just fantastic. I had a seafood barbecue with barracuda, squid, and prawns. It was to die for. I'm so surprised on how good barracuda is. It like tuna but without the smell and better taste so I had to go back for more the next day. Also there are lots of guesthouses and restaurants here that are literally right on the beach. So if you make it down here give the place a shot but don't expect too much.

Tomorrow I take the speed boat Koh Kong to meet up with a friend before heading off to Bangkok to start my tour which lasts 3 weeks. So it might be a while before I get another post up. Until then...

And by the way there's a commercial on the Animal Planet channel about an elephant rehabilitation center in Thailand that looks like the one I'll be at. If you happen to catch it let me know. I'll be at the Elephant Nature Park run by a woman named Lek. I think its supposed to air Feb 3rd.

Moving on

2008-01-30T01:38:00.000-08:00

After spending about two weeks in Siem Reap, I finally headed on my way. A few days earlier Laura befriended a girl named Palynath on the way back from Phnom Penh and she lived in Battambang. So Laura, Rachel, and I shared a taxi through the less than comfortable roads to the less touristy Battambang province to pay her a visit. We were in luck because Palynath works at an NGO, teaches at a school, and is also a tour guide. So after lunch Rachel headed off with her friend Sak and Laura and I got a free tour of the city from an official guide. Its a lot different from the feeling you get in Siem Reap. There's less people hounding you for tuk tuk rides and souveners and it seems to just be more of the Cambodia that you think of. You have to check out the video I took of us riding the bamboo train. Its essentially a bamboo platform placed on a set of axles. There's a motor with a belt that attaches to the back axle and thats how people get to and fro. The next day I also visited a set of caves outside the city where the Khmer Rouge executed numerous people. Its an odd setting seeing this one 'mountain' in the middle of the plains of Cambodia. The beauty there is mixed with an eeriness of whats happened there in the past.

Moving on again I made my way to the capitol of Phnom Penh. Its more of a fast paced city with a lot of bigger buildings, flashing lights, and other quirks you associate with bigger cities. When you are there you definately can tell there are some very rich (by Cambodia standards) people as well as some very poor. But I think here more than any other city there is a pretty solid middle class.

The main two places in Phnom Penh I wanted to see were Toul Sleng and Choung Ek. Skip this part if you don't want to hear about some of the dark and sad stories of Cambodia's past. Toul Sleng was formerly a school that was converted to a prison during the Khmer Rouge reign between 1975 and 1979. Here prisoners were taken in and interrogated and tortured until they confessed to crimes they didn't even commit. There was an estimated 20,000 people who went through the facility and less than a dozen of those survived to talk about it. For some unknown reason they took photos of each prisoner and many of the pictures are on display throughout the buildings. One of the most disturbing things was the amount of children that went through. Its just hard to imagine. But the thing that struck me the most was the expressions on the faces of the victims. They looked as if they had just accepted their fate and there was no fight left in them. Some even had a little smirk on their faces. A lot of these prisoners were taken outside the city to Choung Ek or the Killing Fields where they would eventually end their journey.

The first thing you see when you get to Choung Ek is a large stupa where hundreds of excavated skulls and clothes are displayed showing what happened. The skulls sometimes had bullet holes through the top but often they just showed signs where they had been bashed in with a blunt object. Outside of the memorial there really isn't all that much. Its essentially rows upon rows of mass graves that were excavated after the end of the regime. Most of the prisoners were brought in at night and were taken one by one for execution. Some had to dig their own graves. There is one grave that was filled with women and children while another one contained only headless bodies. Its hard to imagine what the prisoners as well as the soldiers went through. But as you meet and talk with the locals you really get the sense they just want to move on. I think thats why so many people I've come across really love this place.

My Tomb Raider experience

2008-01-25T03:13:00.000-08:00

So after a week and half in Siem Reap I still hadn't been to the legendary Angkor Wat and truthfully I didn't see what all the hype was about. But what is a visit to Cambodia without seeing the iconic ruins. So I tagged along with Laura and Louise and tried to squeeze all the major temples into one day. If you are interested in trying and seeing the temples here's a tip: don't get the 7 day pass unless you plan on taking it real slow and going every other day. If you're really fascinated by them get a 3 day pass and hire a guide for the first day. I on the other hand, I opted for the one day pass. I didn't get to see some of the further out temples but that was ok by me.

Walking across the moat and into the entrance of Angkor Wat is amazing. The size of the structure and the details of the carving put it alongside the Roman Colosseum and the Pyramids of Egypt when you consider the times that they were built. After marveling at the size and beauty of Angkor Wat, we headed off to Ta Prohm (made famous when a miss Angelina Jolie climbed through its rubble in Tomb Raider). This was my favorite place of the day. The jungle just takes over and you really feel like you're in the jungle; well aside from the bus loads of Korean tourists shoveled in every half hour. Tip #2: go here between noon and 2 o'clock when the buses head back to the city for lunch. We also visited some smaller lesser known temples before ending the day at the Bayon Temples. Its basically a head with 4 faces and there's something like forty some odd heads all of different sizes, but I can't remember what each face stands for. Another must see along with the previous two I mentioned. By the time we finished up there it was late in the afternoon and everyone heads up to the top of a hill to watch the sunset. Well its not setting over Angkor Wat, its crowded, everyone is tired and you have to clamber down in the dark afterwards. Tip #3: Don't do the sunrise, nuff said. If I would've changed anything it would have been to skip the sunset and try to make the sunrise at Angkor Wat which looks amazing in the pics I've seen.

After my day crawling through ancient ruins I was thoroughly impressed and extremely glad I went. Its something that pictures or videos just don't do justice. But if you're planning a visit do it soon while its still in the state it is now. There are reconstruction and preservation projects going on but it seems like a lot of the new construction is going to take away from that "jungle" feel that you sometimes get. Next stop Battambang.

Helping out some more

2008-01-20T06:07:00.000-08:00

We decided to cut the school teaching short after Laura found a brochure for a very rural orphanage in a village called Pouk. Talk about roughing it. This is the type of place where you sleep in a wooden shack and poop in a hole. The first day when we first arrived we dodged cow poo as we hiked through someone's yard to get to the orphanage. There was no electricity, no running water, no valet parking. But they were absolutely thrilled to see us. Being so far out and with limited funding they get very little support from outside of the local village.

Helping out here was so rewarding because they had essentially nothing so that made everything we gave that much more special to them. During our 3 days there we played games, taught English, worked on crafts, laid in hammocks, and much more. We (well maybe it was more the others than me but I'm unemployed so give me a break) bought for them some new bikes, all new school uniforms, sandals, bananas, oranges, notebooks, hammocks, and probably more. I don't think some of the kids were able to go to school until we arrived simply because they couldn't afford the uniforms. Here are some pics of the ones I named. The first two are P and Q (the story behind their names is a long one), the next one is Smiles and Dimples and some of their friends, I didn't give the last two names but they were a lot of fun.

Doing my part

2008-01-20T05:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, so lets rewind a little bit. After arriving in Siem Reap and exploring for a little while I worked at a countryside school about 35km outside the city for a week. It was one of the few volunteer projects I could find that allows for free short term volunteers. I just didn't feel comfortable paying to volunteer and not really knowing where my money was going. This project was funded by a tour company originally called the Sage Foundation but now its owners are going seperate ways so the name is going to be different.

The program was set up for volunteers to be assistant English teachers or help with repainting the school walls. The students are extremely well behaved. They stand up whenever you enter the room and wait for you to let them sit down. I felt like a drill sergeant. The class sits in the front of the room instead of fighting for the back like I did when I was in school. A lot of times when the other classes let out early there would be dozens of faces crowded in the windows to see what we were doing. All in all it was a great experience and getting to know the kids was extremely humbling.

If you consider the Khmer Rouge destroyed most of the educational institutions and executed most of the educated, the country has come a long ways. And the government doesn't provide nearly enough financial support. Teachers only make between 30 and 50 dollars a month and when you consider that English speaking tour guides can make that in a week its no wonder there's a shortage of teachers. I've passed many schools that were built by funding from other countries. The textbooks seem very inadequate and thats if you're lucky enough to get them. But still many of the younger kids you run into in the city know decent English and are very smart. There is a lot of optimism and hope in the country and I think with a little support the the Cambodians can go a long way.

Back to the Motherland

2008-01-12T21:52:00.001-08:00

Well I guess I last left off when I decided to travel overland to Siem Reap. Lets just say its not for everyone. After crossing the border into Cambodia I might as well have had SUCKER tatooed on my forehead. But honestly I didn't really care I just wanted to get there. Besides I was only getting overcharged anywhere from a nickel to a dollar each time. The road from the border to Siem Reap is... well its awful. Two and three foot potholes littered the road almost the entire way so a trip that probably would have taken 40 minutes in the states ended up taking about 5 times as long. Apparently Bangkok Airways had a contract with the Cambodian government not to pave the road so more people would fly, but not my cheap ass.

I did finally arrive in one piece and since then I've been working at a school which I'll describe in another post. But coming over to a third world country is a little overwhelming if you're not prepared for it. You do see a lot of poverty in Thailand but not to this scale, especially away from the cities. I was cruisin along on the back of a moped when I saw these kids playing with a scrap of styrofoam so I stopped and offered them my bag of sun dried cranberries. But don't worry about me, I'm not staying in a shack made of sticks and pooping in a hole. My place is actually very nice and after a long day at the school I've been coming back and going for a swim and relaxing in a hammock overlooking the pagoda next door. All that for the price of a mere $5, you can't beat that. Also a decent breakfast and maid service make this the probably the best hostel I've ever stayed in.

But Cambodia is a really awesome place if you can get past the poverty. The food has been excellent and very cheap, the people are great other than the pushy tuk tuk and moto drivers, and I've met some wonderful people who are doing great things over here. The other night I had dinner and some drinks with the workers of several NGOs and others who have recently set up companies to help out the people of Cambodia.

On the downside the sun can be brutal at times, I'm slowly being eaten alive by mosquitoes, and I haven't found a place that shows the playoffs....

Starting Off on the Wrong Foot

2008-01-06T04:14:00.000-08:00

Flying into Bangkok I knew either one of two things were going to happen: a) I was going to have to buy a ticket out of Thailand because they require proof of exit within 30 days or a valid Thai visa or b) my luggage was not going to show up when I did. Well after clearing my way through customs I had just one hurdle to clear. Of course 20 minutes later when the luggage carousel was empty and I was sitting there with my thumb up my arse a lovely Thai woman approached me and explained that my bag was still in Beijing and it wouldn't be available until the next day.

Luckily I had stowed away enough essentials for a day in my carry on so I made my way to my hostel. Finding the place at 2:30 in the morning with a driver who didn't understand a word I was saying seemed like the icing on top of the cake but thats another story. Not to be down I spent the next day walking about and trying some local cuisine so on the bright side I spent about $2.10 on my meals that day. By around 8 that evening my baggage had still not arrived and I was worried I'd out of clothes to change into that night. Did I mention its pretty toasty over here? Just as I was about to give up the guy from the airport arrived with my bag so we all celebrated by putting away some Chang and Singh beers. Turns out that might not have been the greatest idea as I slept too late to catch the bus to Cambodia the next day.

I ended up going over and checking out Wat Po (the giant reclining Buddha) and the famous Thai massage school next door. Honestly, I've had just as good massages in the states but you can't beat the price for $12. You can actually get them cheaper throughout the city but I wanted to make sure I got the real thing to compare it to. I'm sure I'll have a chance to do it again soon. But as luck would have it as I was packing my stuff to leave the next day I realized I my passport wasn't around. After searching on end for the next half hour I gave up and prepared for the worst. But I got up late that evening and went to the lobby to hang out for a while. My luck may have turned as the guy sleeping below me came out with my passport in hand. Since it was already around 1 or 2 in the morning and Katrin was staying up anyways I decided to just rough it and go without sleep that night. So after a couple speed bumps and two days later I was finally off for Cambodia...