Ron and Dave Go East

Coffee

2007-09-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

Just discovered some outstanding Malay food stalls for a dinner on the street. Damn, that was good.

Reaching satisfactory levels of caffeination (through the conventional method) can be quite difficult. Here are some of the major challenges one faces:

1) The language barrier can occasionally make it difficult to prevent milk or sugar from being added to your coffee automatically. Occasionally, when I successfully convey that I really do actually want the coffee black, and with no sugar, I'm given a rather skeptical look, as though I can't really mean it.

2) At many restaurants, there's simply no way of knowing in advance whether you'll get real, brewed coffee (which, happily, is rarely terrible and occasionally very good, especially in Vietnam and Laos) or nescafe. In fact, I once had really good coffee at one restaurant and enthusiastically went back the next morning where I was served...nescafe.

3) (This is the big one) A cup of coffee is, anywhere from 2-6 oz. in most cases. (In Laos and Vietnam, when you get 2-3 oz of coffee, at least it's double/triple strength...). Refillable coffee, with one notable exception,* isn't done. Fortunately, it's generally cheap enough that you can order a second or third cup (the third and indeed fourth cups you order get you incredulous looks), but this can be a pain if you're in a hurry.

The good news is that Laos and to a lesser extent Vietnam have excellent coffee. Laotian coffee, in particular is outstanding. I'd heard in the past that the Bolaven Plateau in Southern Laos (wasn't able to visit it, sadly) is a truly world class coffee growing region, and the reason boutique coffee roasters around the world aren't selling laotian roasts the way they do Ethiopians and Yemenis and the like is that Laos simply doesn't have the infrastructure and international trade connections to make exporting coffee feasible. I don't know if this is true but I wouldn't be surprised. Laotian coffee reminds me a bit of good Sumatrans, but with a bit more natural sweetness (which makes loading it up with sugar all the more abominable, dammit!)

*The exception here is the glorious Scandinavian Bakery of Laos (branches in Luang Prabang and Vientiane), where I went for breakfast every day I was in those cities, and should I return, will do again. Their coffee is expensive for Laos (about 80 cents, compared to 20-40 cents normally) but you get a full 12 oz. mug with one free refill, and it's excellent and strong, and they serve it to you black without even having to ask. The so-called Scandinavian pastries aren't very good but they discovered the marriage of tropical fruits and bread pudding, which makes for a tasty complement for the outstanding coffee.

Food

2007-08-31T23:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I kinda dropped the ball on this whole blogging while travelling thing. With 5 days to go, though, here I am (Penang, Malaysia, my second-to-last destination before returning to Bangkok and then home). If anyone is still checking, I thought I'd record some thoughts about food. This will take the form of vignette style observations rather than essays.

While Malaysian food is basically awesome, I've discovered I don't much care for Laksa (a noodle soup common here in Penang, with a fish-paste and tamarind broth).

The food in Vietnam is suprisingly bland.

The food in Thailand and Laos, on the other hand, is often very spicy, especially once you get away from obvious tourist locations. The spice levels in Cambodia, Singapore, and Malaysia have been a nice level of spicyness. There haven't been that many things I found simply too spicy to eat--however, every attempted Papaya salad in Thailand and Laos was, in fact, too spicy to eat.

There is really good, cheap indian food everywhere--even in places like Laos where there is no local Indian or South Asian population to speak of. In fact, Laos seems to have only one chain restaurant--Nazim, and Indian restaurant (it doesn't look anything like a chain, it looks like just another ramshackle restaurant in every location). I saw seven branches in the five towns I visited. It is gloriously wonderful. The vegetarian indian restaurants of Little India in Singapore are the only non-hawker food to be both cheap and good, at least that I found (except for that one Chili Crab place).

Spring rolls are consistently much better here than in the US, even at places that have otherwise mediocre food. (Jody would be sad about the springrolls here, though, the two most common ingredients are pork and mushroom).

The fruit situation is simply brilliant. The bananas here but the bananas avialable in the US to shame. The strawberries of the Cameron Highlands, where the brilliantly cool climate allows them to grow year round, are the best strawberries I've ever had. There's a small problem with cantaloupe here, as people seem confused about when it should be served; it's often clearly not ripe yet. Dragronfruit is awesome, and the Lychees here are amazing. I don't much care for Guava. Watermelon isn't any better here than at home. Mangoes are much better, and I more or less enjoy them, but there's something weird about eating Mangoes I can't quite pinpoint that interferes with my enjoyment. The infamous durian, that fruit so foul-smelling it's public consumption has been banned in Singapore (500 dollar fine!), is actually kind of a let-down; once you get past the smell, it tastes kind of bland, not that good, not that bad. I was expecting to love or hate it. It does make a very nice desert with sweet coconut milk and sticky rice, though (I prefer it to the more traditional Mango in that dish).

Furthermore, delicious fresh fruit is served by street vendors for trivial prices (rarely more than 30 cents US for large servings). This seems like a good strategy for public health. If really good fruit were sold by street vendors in ready to eat form, I'd probably be a healthier snacker. I often try to take apples or bananas with me to healthify my out of home snacks during the day, and they invariably get squished or something, and I end up buying a danish or something. We need fruit vendors!

One of the best bar-food type snacks is avaible, as far as I can tell, only in Luang Prabang, Laos. It's a fried freshwater Mekong seaweed, covered in sesame seeds, and seasoned with garlic (sometimes, with some fried tomatoes, sometimes with peanuts). At it's best, it's served with a dipping sauce made with chilies, plums, and flecks of dried buffalo meat. Delicious.

The best food I had in Vietnam was hands down the local specialties in Hoi An, a small town in central Vietnam (also the highlight of Vietnam for me, by a fair margin).

When in Singapore, eat cheap food. Hawker food and vegetarian restaurants in little india (not all restaurants in little india are veg, but most are, and I was warned off the meat-serving ones by serveral). From the hawkers, you are commanded to eat BBQ stingray and Chili Crab.

Hawkers in Singapore are (surprise surprise) strictly regulated. They are inspected and given a grade on the cleanliness of their kitchen. THeir grade--A, B or C (D gets you shut down, Don't know what happens if you get an F--caning?) is prominently displayed. At their food stand.

In Laos, eat Laap. I sort of minced meat salad with lots of mint and garlic. Wonderful stuff. I thought Beef was the best, although I had an excellent vegetarian Laap as well.

I've got more posting coming later tonight, but the downpour that forced me into this internet cafe appears to have given way to the sun, which means it's time to go sit on the beach for a while.

Vee-It-Nam

2007-08-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

No that I no longer am travelling in Vietnam, I will say this. Before getting into the country I had travelled to 14 other countries and had to varying extents enjoyed all 14-- despite having some tough experiences in some. After visiting Vietnam, I will say that I am now 14 out of 15.

Vietnam had its moments and I did kind of enjoy Nha Trang and motorbiking around the DMZ, but I had a very negative reaction to what I saw. People were very pushy and rude and arrogant and you had to fight people off basically when you exited the hotel. And, although the individual sights were nice, when I got off the beaten track a little I got this feeling from the people that I was somehow trespassing. Maybe it was the fact that I was an American. I don't know.

Right now, Dave and I are in Phnom Penh and I like it already. Nice people and a generally good city. We were a little afraid of the security situation around here, but it really looks like things are fine with well lighted streets and plenty of people walking around. I usually only get weirded out when travelling when I don't see anyone around.

I'm going to attempt to negotiate with China Airlines to see if I can get a couple days of extension on my trip here. I'm scheduled to leave on the 23rd, which due to the vagaries associated with travelling overland from Siem Reap to Bangkok, means that I will have only the tail end of the 21st and the morning of the 22nd to see possibly the finest religious monuments in the world at Angkor Wat. I'm going to try to leave on the 25th, which puts me back in San Francisco with barely enough time to through some camping gear and water bottles together for Burning Man.

Tomorrow, Dave and I are headed from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, which people have told us takes about 5 1/2 hours to go to. Given our luck lately with bus and train travel, I'll be happy just to get there.

Plain of Jars

2007-08-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

This is one of many sites associated with the Plain of Jars. Many of the jar sites are plagued by the presence of unexploded ordinance and even though most of the fields around this site had been cleared of weapons it was still a good idea to stay on the paths around here.

The Plain of Jars is an enigmatic group of sites that together contain thousands of stone jars strewn on in a linear fasion. Possible explanations for the jars were that they were used as furnances for cremation, as water storage devices, or as trading devices between different groups. The Laotian explanation is more imaginative. They believe that the jars were used by a group of giants to ferment and drink gallons of Lao Lao rice wine.

It was a good visit to come out to the jars-- mostly for the Laotian scenery and the great people you meet off the beaten path. Definitely worthwhile to make the trip out to the east side of Laos-- even if it was a bit of a pain to get there.

Laotian countryside

2007-08-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous mountain landscapes in Laos

The Bombing of Laos

2007-08-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

Laos is the most heavily bombed country in the later half of the 20th century and still has a devastating problem with unexploded ordinance in the country, which maim and kill hundreds of Laotians every year. Several teams of expatriots are working to remove the bombs, ordinance, anti-personnel mines, granades, and other weapons of continual destruction from Laos. It is painstaking work to say the least.

The picture I took is of U.S. bombing missions over the Laotian countryside. The resolution of the photo doesn't give justice to the thousands of marks on the page-- each of which represents a bombing run consisting of tons of ordinance. One particularly nasty form of bomb used in Laos was the cluster bomb consisting of hundreds of small bomblets. These small bomblets are designed to literally rip apart any human unfortunate enough to be in its range. An even more unfortunate aspect of this type of munition is that an estimated 30% of the bomblets fail to explode on impact-- leaving behind active munitions over a wide area that are capable of blowing off a hand or a foot.

Tubing down the Nam Sa in Laos

2007-08-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of two completely random people tubing down the river that Dave and I went down. Both Dave and I forgot our cameras.

After getting the hang of it, I thought tubing down the river was one of the most relaxing ways of spending a day that you could have. Near the start of the trip, the Laotians had set up various fixed lines that you could slide down and jump into the river. I made the mistake of stopping for one of them and jammed my foot in the raft of bamboo that was used to construct the platform. A week later, I still have a bruise.

But other than almost breaking my foot, loads of fun.

Vinh, Vietnam

2007-08-09T04:26:00.000-07:00

I'm in Vinh, Vietnam right now after my massive overland journey through Laos and Vietnam. It was the bus trip that would not end-- especially through the last leg of the trip in Vietnam. One of the more annoying things the local bus drivers do around here is put their personal business ahead of getting people to their destination. It seems like the first priority is to get the bus drivers chores done, meet the family, take long lunches and then a distant second on the list is to actually get people from one point to another. I'm not privy to the conversations that go on amongst Laotians here, but I would be pretty upset if someone dropped off their laundry (as happened today) to their house while getting us to the bus stop. I envy the Laotians their patience and lack of time-conciousness, but at some point its time to go.

So far I think the idea of taking the trip overland from Laos to Hanoi is a good one. You get way off the beaten path and have an idea how ridiculously crazy it is to be a Vietnamese driver. Saw some good scenery around the border and the communist Vietnamese signs are pretty hilarious and campy.

The border crossing at Nam Can was pretty easy. Friendly border guards wondering what we were doing out in the middle of nowhere. They wanted to know what the meaning of the word "accompany" Its hilarious to try to talk with the locals and I get the meaning of the phrase "lost in translation." I could live here my whole life and not really understand what is going on.

Anyway, I'm getting on the midnight train from Vinh to Hanoi. I get in about 5:00 am in the morning. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a sleeper train so I'll be trying to get some sleep without having a bed. Hey, I've done things like this before so it should be no problem. It feels really amazing to actually be in Vietnam. I've read so many books about it and to see it is pretty special.

Phonesaven, Laos

2007-08-08T05:11:00.000-07:00

So, I've decided to travel overland from Laos to Hanoi, Vietnam-- which takes about 16 hours of butt-bruising riding on cramped buses through uncertain border crossings with potentially hostile Vietnamese border guards. Dave has decide to fly to Hanoi. Woosie.

My stopover and primary stop during this journey is Phonesaven, Laos. The town in a thoroughly enjoyable place where I have managed to run into 4 cyclists who are going overland through Laos in various directions. I had a two-hour political discussion with some Australians and a Frenchman and wondered when the last time I had done that in the United States.

Phonesaven is a provincial capital here in Laos and received some fairly substantial bombing during the Vietnam War. You can see the pockmarks in the landscape as you travel around here and its pretty certain that the little dimples you see around here in this region of rolling hills and rice patties aren't caused by natural phenomenon. The other thing about the town is the appearance of war related spare-parts (bomb casings being the most common) that are used as construction material around here. Still, I haven't run into any kind of hostility in town, which is hardly surprising considering the general demeanor of the people in Laos, who have been awesome.

I went on a tour today with a bunch of English and one Frenchmen. We visited the jar sites on the Plain of Jars, which are enigmatic jar-like structures which litter the fields around the province. There are literally thousands of stone-age "jars" strewn around the Xieug province and no one has a definite idea what purpose they were used. It has been theorized that they were used in some sort of trading operation, but nothing has been confirmed for sure. It was nice to visit them, but the main thing was the scenary surrounding the jars, which was stunning-- remining me a little of the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

Two things happened along the way that were unusual. One is that the minivan we were in got stuck in the muddy roads along the way. The second is that the minivan actually hit another vehicle-- in this case, a motorbike. I actually saw the person on back getting bumped by the car. Everyone was ok, but it was remarkable for the fact that it was the first time that I have ever seen any of the locals in Laos or Thailand, for that matter, angry.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Vietnam via Nam Can and Vinh. I'm going to try to fit in a quick trip to Ho Chi Minh's birthplace-- after which, I will get the night train to Hanoi where I will reunite with my long lost travel partner. There will be lots of tears of joy.

Anyway, just a note that my digital camera has broken so I won't be posting any more pictures outside of the ones that I can get developed. Its a shame that I can't seem to be able to buy any kind of camera that is robust enought to survive more than one month of picture taking. Frustrating!

Vang Vieng--A strange place

2007-08-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

Ron and I are approaching 24 hours here in Vang Vieng, a town on Laos' main "highway" (which doesn't have a straight stretch longer than about 50 meters, and rarely has a line in the middle, but at least it's paved and usually wide enough for two vehicles...) about 2/3 of the way from Luang Prebang to the capital city, Vietiane (which is also at the Thai border). We spent the morning being driven up river in a tuk-tuk with innertubes, in which we floated back to town. The first stretch of the river is lined with makeshift bars, offering long sticks to tubers, in hopes that they will allow themselves to be pulled over to the side for a drink or two.

This is a good beginning of why this town is strange. It is probably one of the top two tourist destinations in Laos, along with Luang Prebang. But the latter, a city of great history, culture, art, palaces, and temples, has a much broader appeal. There were more nice hotels, nice restaurants and middle aged Europeans staying there. It can be accessed by plane.

Vang Vieng offers comparatively little in history and culture; it is a destination for because of the exquisite natural beauty of the surrounding region. So it attracts tons of falang, but pretty much only the low-budget, bus taking, "backpacker" crowd, who do things like tubing and kayaking down rivers and whatnot.

How has the local community responded to this influx? Vang Vieng must have a completely unique "bar scene." All restaurants and bars, starting around 6 or 7, turn on the TV and put it at top volume. They've generally removed traditional tables and replaced them with seating areas so everyone there is watching the TV. What are they showing? Well, either bootlegged recent hollywood films (the latest installments of Shrek, Harry Potter, and Die Hard are common) or more commonly, reruns of that most odious of all sitcoms, Friends. I can stand in the middle of the main drag at 8:00 PM, and there are 5 different bars blaring episodes of Friends.

Like i said, strange place. Tomorrow--early morning bus to Vietiane. Day after tomorrow--evening flight to Hanoi, and the beginning of my Vietnam adventure. Ron has decided his appetite for smelly, hot cramped busses on twisty unpaved roads has not been satiated, so he'll be traveling overland an meeting upwith me a day or two later.

Bicycle Ride

2007-08-03T04:43:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of my ride through Northern Laos ending up at the border town of Boten. Rained a little of the way there and most of the way back. I had to really get going in order to make it back to Luang NamTha before dark. I felt a little like Lance Armstrong cycling through France as the people along the road were cheering, waving, etc.

As far as the cycling goes this trip has to be one of the best I've ever experienced. The roads were in excellent shape (about the same as I-95 down in Florida) with one 1 km muddy spot and a 2 km 10% grade climb that I had to muscle through. Another thing that was great is that most of the time you could stop off at any vendor stand and get cookies or the M-150 energy drink that kept me wired through the whole experience.

Getting over the Chinese border was an experience in itself. I get up to the border guards and try to make it clear that I don't want to go into China and that I only want to take a couple of pictures and maybe walk over the border a little. Anyway, I'm the only Westerner around (apparently no one crosses the border here other than Chinese and Laotians) and I almost fall over my bike while I'm trying to explain myself. By the time I'm done the border guards are laughing at me and waving me through-- apparently satisfied that I'm incredibly inept and am definitely not a spy. Then, I cross back over to the Laotian side of the border and accidentally cross back over into China, where there's a big collection of noodle stands and shops. I take a couple of photos, have a lunch of fried rice and get back on the bike to ride back to my guesthouse. It was great fun and an interesting experience.

Notes from the Road

2007-08-01T20:30:00.001-07:00

I thought the six hour, two leg bus trip from Chiang Mai to the Laotion border at Chiang Khong was my initiation into serious developing world bus travel, but I was sorely mistaken. That trip was a breeze compared to the public bus from Luang Nam Tha to Luang Prebang. Advertised as an eight hour trip, it took 10, and it was very, very crowded. The bus could probably reasonably seat about 22-25, and we had well over 30 passengers, which is to say nothing of the cargo. I was fortunate to have an actual, non-makeshift seat, but unfortunate in that a large bag of rice or something was on the floor in front of my seat, which meant that my knees were roughly at chest level. And the road...the less said, the better. When I could take my mind of the physical conditions and enjoy the scenery it was absolutely beautiful. The Laotian countryside is absolutely stunning. Too bad I couldn't take it all in from a train...

Last day in Luang Nam Tha, I took a trek with a number of French and Belgian travellers with a guide in the Nam Na Protected area, Laos' newest national park. It was high enough to be a bit cooler, and the rain came in the form of drizzle rather than downpour which was perfect. Trek highlight--lunch and hanging out in an Akha village, with the chief of the village chatting with us over lunch and graciously giving us homemade whisky and cigarettes to complement our lunch. The Akha treated us like celebrities, following us around the village and shouting the one Laotian word they all know...sababee! sabadee! (hello). I discovered that when you take pictures of Akha children and then show them the pictures on the camera viewscreen, they completely flip out and start mugging for the camera like crazy. Trek lowlight--leeches. I managed to get most of them off before they attached, but one managed to climb into my shoe and do some damage.

Today, I arrived in Luang Prebang, the epicenter of the emerging Laotian tourist industry. It shows, in some ways this feels more like Thailand than Laos. However, as touristy as it was become, it still feels more laotian than thai, which is a good thing. I'm going to check out Museums and Wats today, and try to arrange for a Vietnamese visa (the one country I'll be visiting that doesn't allow for visa on arrival).

How You Get Around in SE Asia

2007-07-30T07:51:00.000-07:00

Although I've been on a variety of forms of transportation, this picture of our bus ride from Chaing Rai to Huay Xia in Thailand pretty much sums up the quality of transportation in this neck of the woods. Its not exactly up to the standards of a standard trip on Amtrak from Portland to Seattle, but you get there.

I was very annoyed with the people that were running the trip from Chaing Mai to Chaing Rai as they checked tickets about three times on the trip-- even though it was obvious that no one new got on board the bus. And the person checking the tickets-- hmmm, not exactly the skinniest person on the planet. She kept wedging herself over and around me as I tried my best to accomodate my butt to the Asian sized (that means small) seats on the bus.

This ride to the Thai-Laos border was much more typical of the Thai mode of travel. All you had to do was jump on board and pay the fare once you were there. Its all wonderfully informal, laid back, and dirt cheap (less than $2 for a roughly 100 mile trip)-- if a bit uncomfortable after you spend four hours on a bench seat.

Highest point in Thailand

2007-07-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

My [rented] motorbike and I climbed up the highest point in Thailand-- Doi Inthanon. It was a fun ride up and I got to take in several waterfalls and an absolutely beautiful mountain temple just a couple of kilometers shy of the peak. The bonus part of the trip was that it was about 45 oF at the top, which was a nice break from the heat and humidity of Thailand. It has been running close to 90 oF with near saturated humidity most of our trip.

No real problems with the trip up. I got back a little later than I wanted to and forgot my glasses at the hotel on the trip (which made getting back at night interesting) but all and all came through pretty unscathed.

Luang Nam Tha, Laos

2007-07-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

Here Dave is in Luang Nam Tha-- looking slightly confused as to exactly where we are in this fairly small town. There's an easy explanation. I'm doing the navigating and got us pretty lost in an otherwise easy to navigate city. We spent our time in the city reading books-- I finished 'The Year of Living Dangerously'-- and organizing treks for tomorrow. Dave is going on a hiking and trekking trip. I'm setting off on my own to travel about 60 km north to Muang Sing on a bicycle.

We really are pretty much off on our own right now and the English signs that were fairly standard affair in Thailand have tapered off a bit and I feel like we're getting into more genuine culture here. There are still tourists around, but at least there aren't karaoke bars and faux-Western dive bars on every street corner like there were in Chaing Mai.

I'll post pictures on my trip tomorrow. Dave and I are having a bit of a discussion about how to get down to Luang Prabang so we don't know what exactly the plan is over the next couple of days. We'll figure it out.

I'll post pictures of whatever I do tomorrow.

Crossing the Mekong

2007-07-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid watching series about the Vietnam War, I thought my chances of ever seeing the Mekong River were pretty low, but here it is-- on our way to Laos. Laos border security-- into a communist country-- had to be one of the easiest crossings I've ever made. I get a nice welcome from the Visa processor, several interesting stamps on my passport and a bemused and slightly confused look on the people hanging out at the docks. Hanging out seems to be a national past time here in Laos.

Dave and I are off to Lam Na Tha in Northern Laos. We are catching the next minibus up there which should take about four hours-- depending on road conditions and when the driver gets around to showing up. I'll post more pictures of my motorbike adventure later.

The Funeral

2007-07-27T02:21:00.000-07:00

Ron is off on a motorscooter exploring the countryside today, leaving me alone to explore the city. After a morning of coffeeshops, bookstores, and tours of a couple of Chiang Mai's many temples, I set out toward a recommended restaurant. Along the way, I see another lovely temple. I decide to step inside and have a look around before lunch.

This temple actually has two buildings in the classic Wat style, and courtyard between them. There are about 20 people standing around talking, including several monks. They are setting up some tables and chairs. They ignore me, so I go over the temple, remove my shoes and step inside. There are about 20 people inside as well, sitting in prayer pose, but chatting with each other rather than praying. I notice the Buddha shrine, and start to move towards it (noting that none of the temple's inhabitants are facing it. An older woman looks up at me, and enthusiastically smiles and greets me. I smile and return her greeting. She says something in Thai and I smile confusedly back at her. She begins gesturing vigorously toward me. I look more confused, her gestures get more vigorous, although her face is still smiling and patient. Finally I grasp she wants me to sit down, so I do. Then I suddenly turn and see what they are all facing--there is a coffin in the corner of the Wat, someone is getting up to speak. All the people outside are coming in to sit down.

So, here I am. I don't know if it's bad form to crash funerals, although it's seems surely worse form to leave in the middle of them. People speak about 20 minutes, some incense is lit, and people get up to go outside. The same woman sees me heading toward the exit. She confers with a friend and says to me, in very broken English, "Thank you for coming." Then, she points to the table, where some food has been set up. I begin to motion a decline, but she gives me a look of such crushing dissapointment that I can't do it. So, I head over to the table and serve myself up some lunch. The older woman continues to beam at me. I wonder what her relation is to the deceased, but I have no way to find out.

The food--a vegetarian concoction of cabbage, mushroom, and onion heavily seasoned with garlic and kaffir lime and served over rice, is without doubt the tastiest thing I've had since I arrived.

Jet Lagged?

2007-07-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

This is Dave about an hour after I met him outside of the MBK mall in Bangkok. Looks better than I did, I imagine, after my flight.

Stuck in Ko Tao

2007-07-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

OK, so I joined the groups of people that get "stuck" in the islands off of Thailand. I did have plans to travel as far south as Signapore, but the only significant thing I managed to do was take dozens of photos of the sunset off of my bungalow and watch various movies being shown at the bars around town.

I also managed to learn to scuba dive-- although I promptly mailed my certification (due to arrive in 90 days) back to San Francisco. To get your PADI license, you have to spend four days and three nights taking some fairly rigorous exams and then having a couple sessions in the pool. After which you do four practice dives where you have to demonstrate certain tasks. I can't say at the time that I liked doing it, but I wonder if it was the pressure of learning how to do the many things that are required to get your certification. I spent about six sessions trying to get the idea of clearing your mask of water (breath in through mouth, out through nose while lifting your head skyward underwater). Additional things that you had to learn was how to recover your regulator when it comes out of your mouth, how to put your mask back on after it gets knocked off, how to "tow" a tired diver, etc. All of this sounds easy to do in principle, but I found it hard to do while scubaing. Ehhh, maybe I will take it up as a hobby. The idea of doing it again is kind of growing on me. I was under such pressure to get everything done, but I think it would be much easier to just do a dive and not worry about my particularly overwrought scuba instructor.

Thailand Meets San Francisco

2007-07-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

For those of us living in San Francisco this won't be an unfamiliar scene. This is the Black Moon Party on Ko-Pha-Ngan, which happens every month. I ended up carousing with various Europeans on a sand bar at 8 in the morning. Pretty fun stuff.

Beaches around Ko Pha-ngan

2007-07-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the road from Had Riin. You can hire any of the boat owners aroung here to give you a tour of the island from the boat. Awesome stuff. There is a monthly beach party on this island that draws about 10,000 people to celebrate the full moon. Lately the celebration has been drawing religious protests on the island and the next one has been delayed because it lies on the King of Thailand's birthday.

Best Way to Get Around

2007-07-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

What better way to get around a beautiful island than one of these? I haven't been on a scooter-- let alone drove one-- since I was about twelve. I don't know if it was such a good idea to reacquint myself with one on narrow, steep, mountainous Thai roads or not. You can rent one of these, BTW, dirt cheap-- about $4/day-- and you don't have to have a driver's license for one. They are great fun to ride around, but I wouldn't want to try them out in Bangkok.

I circumvented Ko Phangan on the scooter. Beautiful place and surprisingly nice in the center of the island where the jungle is.

Ko Pha-Ngan boat ferry

2007-07-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

A two hour ferry boat ride to the islands of Thailand.

Down to the Islands with Oliver Stone and Nicholas Cage

2007-07-16T06:34:00.000-07:00

I caught the bus from Bangkok to Ko Pha-Ngan and met up with a friendly New Zealand girl, a guy from Scotland and another man from Vietnam-- travelling with his sexually ambiguous (girl?)friend.

On the way down, they were playing "World Trade Center", which I thought was pretty good. Alot of people don't like Oliver Stone, but I consistently like his stuff. "Wall Street", "Born on the Fourth of July", "Nixon", etc.

Anyway, the picture is of me and the Vietnamese guy after a sleepless night on the bus and waiting from the taxi to take us to the ferry boat. Also, after "World Trade Center" they insisted on showing "Ghost Rider" (Nicholas Cage fest?), which would have been funny in a bad way had I seen it at home, but the fact that it was at an uncomfortable volume at 1:00 am was fairly distressing.

A Day of Books, Malls in Bangkok

2007-07-16T06:24:00.000-07:00

I travelled back to Bangkok after dealing with a bunch of monkeys in Lopburi. I got a hotel in Silom Square in Bangkok, which I liked much better than the place I was before. Much more laid back and had everyday people around that weren't trying to sell something (or themselves) to me. Got up and hung around the MBK mall, which is a fantastic place. I was talking with a person about how it was a great utilization of time to spend a day at the mall in Bangkok. I think I agree. I also had the best Dunkin Donuts donut in my life here.

I finally finished "Collapse" by Jared Diamond. Awesome. I traded it for "The Girl in the Picture" which is about the girl photographed after a mistaken bombing run in South Vietnam. It is less awesome.

Monkeys

2007-07-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

This is the San Phra Kan temple in Lopburi, Thailand. The place is infested with monkeys, who pretty much own the place as well as surrounding parts of the town. I watched a ten year old kid full out punch a monkey in the head after it tried to bite him while he was trying to feed another monkey in the troupe. Funny stuff-- although I wouldn't have the nerve to mess with one of these guys.

I went into the temple with a friendly German physicist. Upon entering the guide gave me a cane stick to ward off the monkeys. Yeah. Within about 10 minutes the monkeys had managed to get that away from me. One grabbed the stick as I tried to shew him away. I tried to shake him off by twirling around and around to get him off-- similar to the way you spin a kid around. Then, he tried to bite me and his friends started to gang up on me-- one of which jumped on my back! I let the stick go. Monkeys 1, Ron 0.

Elephants

2007-07-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is my excursion for elephant riding. Can't say its really my thing exactly. Carrying around three primates on your shoulder can't exactly be much fun for the elephants-- although they looked pretty well taken care of and got tons of bananas from me and the rest of the tour after they got done.

2007-07-10T08:29:00.001-07:00

I went river rafting in Arawan National Park. This raft is essentially bamboo poles lashed together with ropes. It is a very simple design and I actually saw off in the distance this design being used as a form of mass transit. There were about 20 people on one these rafts, being pulled by a speed boat.

Anyway, I decided to break a rule about not joining organized trips and take this one. Good idea. There's alot to be seen around Kanchanburi and getting out to any of the national parks, when considering transportation to and from, is an all day affair.

The second picture is taken directly at the falls. There's a series of seven pools-- the first four of which you can swim in-- in which waterfalls spill into. This one-- the fourth pool-- is the most fun because there is a natural slide that you can climb up to to go down the falls. I got up the nerve to do it and it was definitely a step down from Six Flags. Still great fun though.

I got back from the park and promptly fell asleep watching Terminator 2. I never feel like I'm wasting time when I'm travelling-- even when I'm watching a movie I've seen 20 times.

2007-07-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

For some reason I can't title posts on this computer. I was going to name this one... "Man Strikes Confident Pose on Creaky Bridge". This is me on the River Kwai bridge. Walking over this bridge is a good test of your fear of heights. Its not exactly like you have to be trained in the art of a balance beam to make it across and as long as you are on the center track you are ok. But, to walk on the wooden planks on the left or right side of the center plank require a pretty good sense of balance. I noticed alot of people not making it across. I did-- and was rewarded with the chance to feed bananas to elephants

2007-07-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Buddha meet Hitler. Hitler-- Buddha. This is from a "war museum" in Kanchanburi, Thailand. My favorite quote on one of the inscriptions of a picture of the Enola Gay. "British and Americans used a new atomic bomb on the Japanese citizens of Nagasaki. Many Japanese were killed in a jiffy." Also, the life sized plaster figurines of British soldiers during the construction of the Kwai bridge are not to be missed. A great way to spend an hour!

Wat Phra Kaew

2007-07-08T04:02:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever taken so many photos of the same place at once. The Wat Phra Kaew is Thailand's most sacred Buddhist temple. It is difficult to describe how amazing this place is-- especially in the middle of Bangkok, which is not exactly my kind of place.

Its difficult with pictures to get an idea how big and intricately designed the place is. Here's two of them-- one on a large scale taken from the west and the other a closeup of the outside wall of the temple. Basically, the entire temple has the same level of design. You couldn't take a picture of the Emerald Buddha inside the temple, as there was this rather severe looking person shouting out "no photos" inside the cathedral.

I thought some of the tourists that went inside the temple were pretty rude and insisted on taking photos of the stuff inside. I can see why the people in this country definitely have a ambivalent relationship between themselves and people like me that come into their country as a tourist. It must be difficult to have to deal with the thousands of people who tramp around your temples and basically have no respect for your traditions.

Anyway, it was good getting out of the city and onto the train out into the provinces. At least you aren't treated like a walking ATM machine.

Best-- and Possibly Worst-- Mass Transit System in the World

2007-07-08T03:27:00.000-07:00

This is the water taxi system in Bangkok-- which I took from the monorail to the National Palace. It is fast, efficient, popular and cheap (about 13 Baht). After getting about 200 people on board I noticed that the boat waterline got uncomfortably close to the top of the boat and it began to tilt to the side that everyone was getting on and off on. I started to hum "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." I looked around, didn't see anyone that was particularly worried so i didn't abandon ship at the next stop. Good move.

Water taxis are a great way to get people around. I was impressed.

Bangkok Activities

2007-07-06T09:46:00.003-07:00

OK, so I got into Bangkok and went through the usual motions with customs, which took about two hours to get through passport control. I forgot my original itinerary so I had to print up the itinerary at an internet shop and give it to the passport control people.

Took the bus into Bangkok and got my first feel of how chaotic the traffic is in Bangkok. Truly a nightmare and not really a whole lot of traffic rules that you can rely on-- except for the fact that if you are on a scooter, you are probably a whole lot better off than the hundreds of cars that are stuck in absolute gridlock. Most people in the United States don't know what they are talking about when they complain about traffic. I have never seen it so bad.

Managed to find my hotel pretty easily. It was off of Soi 11-- which stands for some Thai person's name that I found incomprehensible to pronounce. I'm on the 16th floor and, except for a hotel on the right of my window, have a pretty good view of Bangkok. The area around the hotel has a vague resemblance to "Blade Runner". Everyone (and I mean everyone) that has a shop in the area has it covered up with plastic sheeting right on the sidewalk so you can walk through half a kilometer of street shops without actually getting rained on.

I find the environs to be pretty seedy and, Dave, if you are reading this I would avoid the hotel (Ambassador) I am staying at. The place is fine, but there are better areas around that aren't catering to the 60-year-old German sex tourist. I was tramping around the Sukhumvit Road today and that seems like a much more laid back place. Everyone around here is trying to sell you something-- or someone-- so it puts a damper on any kind of notion that you are actually going to be able to talk with someone on a regular basis.

Anyway, I spent most of the night either sleeping in my hotel room or, after this failed, going out to the various stalls around the Soi road. The place got seedier as it got later and, although I don't feel the threat that I did while I was travelling in Nairobi, I felt like after 1 a.m. that it was time to go to go back to the hotel and sleep.

For some reason, I have a desire for breakfast food all of a sudden. Eggs, bread, jelly, fruit, coffee, etc. In any event, I have an early morning tomorrow so I will write more about the National Palace and the best mass transportation system in the world when I get to Kanachanaburi tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll post pictures of the Bridge on the River Kwai by tomorrow, and I'll post pictures of the National Palace, which was great.

Everything is going well and I'm doing fine. Learning how to get around and how things work. The usual travel stuff.

How to Post Photos When Your Browser Language is Thai

2007-07-06T09:46:00.002-07:00

Sunrise Over Taipei

2007-07-06T09:46:00.001-07:00

This is my first sunrise in Asia. Too bad I was completely jetlagged to appreciate it. The flight was very long and very uncomfortable, but at least my back did not act up-- courtesy of two glasses of wine and an Ambien. China Airline designs their seats with comfort of the 5 ft 1 in Asian women in mind. Naturally, the flight that was completely full was the long stretch. My second leg-- from Taipei to Bangkok-- was fairly empty.

Packed and out the door

2007-07-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

I'm always amazed at how little it takes to exist for two months. My large backpack is basically empty as I'm saving it for whatever space I may need for stuff I pick up along the way

Airline schedule and CD list

2007-07-03T16:12:00.000-07:00

This is my longest flight ever. The time difference between San Francisco and Taipei is 14 hours making this a 14 hour aircraft flight. I hope they have [several] good movies on board.

DATE FLIGHT AIRPORT FROM/TO TIME CLASS STATUS
------ ------ ------------------------ ---- ---------------
4JUL CI 3 SFO-SAN FRANCISCO 0135 T CONFIRMED
5JUL TPE-TAIPEI 0530

5JUL CI 693 TPE-TAIPEI 0940 T CONFIRMED
5JUL BKK-BANGKOK 1220

23AUG CI 696 BKK-BANGKOK 1705 T CONFIRMED
23AUG TPE-TAIPEI 2145

23AUG CI 4 TPE-TAIPEI 2250 T CONFIRMED
23AUG SFO-SAN FRANCISCO 1930

CDs I'm putting on my iPod for the trip
Lemon Jelly- Triptych
Sasha-- Involver
Royksopp-- Melody A.M.
Miguel Migs-- Nude Tempo One
Billy Corgan-- The Future Embrace
A Tribe Called Quest
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult-- Gay, Black and Married
Thievery Corporation--Versions
Dimitri From Paris-- Essential Mix from 1995
Syd Gris-- A Progressive Set
Michael Jackson-- Off the Wall
Air-- Walkie Talkie

How A Failed President Affects Your Travel Plans

2007-07-03T14:38:00.000-07:00

Itinerary

2007-07-02T00:20:00.000-07:00

I'm getting into Bangkok on July 5th and planning on staying in Bangkok for the next couple of days. I am going to stay at the Ambassador Hotel and I will plan on staying in Bangkok to get over jet lag, figure my way around the Sky Train (transportation around Bangkok) and find a great massage place so that I can work out the small problems that I am having with my back. I need to figure out the train system so that I can book travel to eastern Thailand, where I am planning on spending the next couple of days. I want to check out the Khao San road in Bangkok, Wat Phra Kaew (Grand Palace), the Emerald Buddha, Wat Pho, Lumphini Park (before sunrise). I've been told to indulge my taste for nightlife at a club called Bed (http://www.bedsupperclub.com/) which has a compelling website, which in my experience leads to a non-compelling experience.

My plan is to then leave Bangkok on the 7th, travel east by train to Nakhon Pathom to see Phra Pathom Chedi, which is the tallest Buddhist monument in the world. It also has the largest ball of yarn only four hours away. Then I'm planning on travelling east to Kanchanaburi Province and will stay on the night of the 8th in Kanchanaburi to see the Death Railway Bridge (aka the Bridge over the River Kwai) I probably will tramp around the city, looking at the WW2 exhibits and maybe doing a trek to the Erawan Falls. I probably will stay at the Ploy Guesthouse, which seems nice. I probably will go up to Sai Yok National Park to go see where the Russian-roulette scenes from "The Deer Hunter" were filmed. If I can swing it, I probably will stay at some of the raft houses there, which seem wonderful. From there I probably will meander back to Kanchanaburi and over to Ayuthaya, to see the Wats and appreciate the UNESCO heritage site. From there, I don't know... maybe north, maybe south. Depends.

Welcome

2007-06-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

This blog exists to document the travels of Ron and Dave in the Summer of 2007. These two unemployed degenerates have perhaps foolishly decided to spend good portions of their summer aimlessly wandering through Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and wherever else the wind takes us. This blog will serve as our primary means to communicate with the outside world, if all goes according to plan. If you think you might be amused by tales of our activity, check back in this space periodically. Hopefully we'll post pictures occasionally. Comments will be opened for your questions and mockery. Ron departs in just a few days, and I'll be joining him on July 21st.