Germans love David Hasselhof

And SE Asia too. There are Germans friggin everywhere! I have actually gotten accustomed to following German tour groups around the temples and getting a free guided tour.

And who is taking care of the Netherlands right now? Is there anyone home? I swear, there are also so many Dutch folks here that you think no one is in Holland right now. I suppose I don't blame them. The weather is crap in Holland now.

Due to the protests and the closing of the Bangkok airport, I took an early bus from Siem Reap to Bangkok. The drive reminded me of South America coming from Bolivia to Peru. The road was absolutely shit heading to the border from Siem Reap (one flat tire on the way). However, once across into Thailand, it was smooth sailing in an air conditioned mini-van on nicely sealed multi-lane roads. In all the trip was 14 hours and I was cashed by the end.

Still monitoring the situation here. I'll likely get on an overnighter (bus) to Phuket tonight. There are flights coming into a military base about 140 K from Bangkok, but I hear it is a real zoo down there. Khao San Road seems to be business as usual with the nightlife still going strong. I suppose it wouldn't be a complete backpacking trip without some sort of major problem. I'm looking forward to chilling on the beach and getting my PADI certification. Hopefully the airports will open up by the time I want to leave.

Siem Reap and the Temples of Ankor

Okay. This is more like it. Siem Reap is a much better place to visit compared to Phnom Pehn.

I did something a bit hasty and hired a moto driver for three days to show me around. Although I think I overpaid, I can safely say that I am seeing all of the major and even far off sites in and around Siem Reap. I bought a three day temple pass on the first day and saw some of the big hitters the first afternoon. On the second day, I saw the sunrise at Ankor Wat then went to some of the farther temples to complete the giant circuit. On the third day, I saw the Roluos group and took a boat ride to Tonle Sap lake. The trip to the lake was the only disappointment. It basically consisted of a boat ride through the floating village to a restaurant where they had farmed catfish and crocodiles. It had no real cultural value at all.

Overall, the temples were amazing. Some are over a thousand years old and are just breathtaking. There are countless number of restoration projects going on to help preserve the different sites. However, some places like Ta Prohm have a particular aesthetic about them due to the jungle taking over. There are giant trees whose roots look like melted candle wax over very old temple ruins. It kind of makes you feel like Indiana Jones searching for some precious relic. The restoration IS needed since there are places that look a bit fragile. In places, it was to the point where I was afraid to touch or lean against anything for fear that an entire wall could collapse on me. Hopefully the work will extend the life of these temples for people to enjoy in the future.

Just like South America, there is a gringo or farang trail in South East Asia. Although the scenery and the people are different from South America, there is something vaguely familiar with traveling through Asia. Laos has the Luang Prabang to Vientiane route and Cambodia has the Siem Reap to Sihanoukville route. Both are well traveled by tourists and have good infrastructure for travel, tours, and accommodations. I have five days scheduled in Siem Reap. This is likely one day too many, but I'm also handcuffed due to the protests in Bangkok which has the airport shut down. We'll see how things develop tonight, I may be busing it back to Thailand.

Yep. Still hate it

Okay. Maybe I was a little hard on the city at first. Jane always said that a hot shower gives you new perspective on a place.

After a shower and some time to relax, I figured I would give the city another try. How better to start than going to the Tuol Sleg Genocide Museum. Quite a somber place, but a must see if you are in Cambodia. If that wasn't enough, I deepened my depression by following it up with a trip to the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek. I was reminded of going to the Dachau concentration camp in Germany when I was in high school. However, back then, all I was worried about was finding a remedy for my hangover. This time, it seemed to hit a bit closer to home especially since it happened during my lifetime.

After lunch at a trendy corner bar, I hit the National Palace and the Silver Pagoda. Virtually everything I intended on seeing in the city was covered in one day. There are a few things I have noticed about the city since my arrival.
1. I think there are 5 traffic lights in the entire town. You should see the intersections here! It's MENTAL!
2. Construction everywhere. Apparently there is a huge undertaking to help keep the capital from flooding. The riverside is all dug up and it doesn't look pretty.
3. No need to exchange money since prices here are quoted in USD.

The new guesthouse gave me what I think is a table cloth as a bed sheet. Sure it covers the bed, but it IS a tablecloth (one made of synthetic material which is like sleeping under a garbage bag).

I spent this afternoon in the US embassy adding pages to my passport. I can't believe I'm on my last page. Those Asian visas take up a lot of space. If you do this overseas, the service is free. If you do this at home, it will cost you $60 USD. I took some shit for the guy at the counter for the condition of my passport. It is beat to hell, but what do you expect? It has been tucked inside the front of my pants for the better half of 5 months!

Holiday in Cambodia

I had that Dead Kennedys song buzzing in my head the entire flight!

Phnom Pehn sucks so far. I'm not sure it has a lot to offer me, but I'll give it a chance.

The fight in reminded me of flying into DFW. Wait! Even worse! The landscape is flat and featureless other than the palm trees scattered around the rice fields. The air is soooooooo bad. Could be the worst place so far on this trip. It makes me appreciate Laos even more.

I have updated a few pictures from Laos.

The suffering!

The drive down to Vientiane was not as bad as expected. I was all medicated and slept through most of the journey. Our mini-van conveniently dropped us off by the river close to where many of the guest houses are located. I realized the further south we went, the warmer it got. Although it didn't take long to find a place to stay, carrying a 17 KG pack in 30 deg heat will wear anyone out.

After checking in, Yu and I did our usual city walk to see the highlights the town had to offer. Unlike the previous towns, Vientiane is a bit larger so it took a bit longer to reach certain places. On top of that, the sun was just scrambling my brains that entire afternoon. I had enough after a few hours and hired a tuk tuk driver to get us back to our air conditioned room (which was ice cold since I cranked the air con before leaving). After a nice nap, we had a relaxing dinner on one of the many restaurants at the edge of the Mekong. There must be a row of at least 10 different restaurants all serving the same menu and all have large decks along the river. Its a crap shoot! Just pick one!

Laos has been a pleasant surprise for me on this trip. Just think that I almost considered skipping it (due to reasons I may rant about later). Even though I went the well travelled route, the trip made me want to come back to see more. I'll be sure to hit the southern part of the country in the future. If one comes to SE Asia, Luang Prabang is a must see. And come quick because by the way it looks, other parts of Laos will be completely changed in a few years.

Vang Vieng and the Rave

As I woke up during the bus ride from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng I thought to myself "Am I in Bolivia?" The 7 hour trip left my head in a throbbing state which I would not be able to shake for a couple days. What was similar between Bolivia and Laos bus trips is that the scenery IS excellent and the roads are shit. The scenery is much different, but just as beautiful. Instead of the high desert and mountains, you have stone out cropping rising out of rolling green jungles.

Vang Vieng is a small village along side the Nam Song river. It is a great place to take a break and enjoy a cold Beer Lao outside your bungalow. The town is an excellent stop for kayaking, rock climbing, trekking, etc. The most popular activity must be the tubing. Imagine a cool clear river moving at a leisurely pace with a stretch bars about every 100 meters. The music coming from these bars makes the entire valley sound like a giant rave. Great if you are a 20 something English kid on his gap year, but tiresome if you are an old fart like me. Anyway, Yu and I booked a combo Kayak and cave trek with Green Discovery tours. They were excellent for us in Luang Prabang, so we decided to go with them again.

The tour started with a short lesson on kayaking, then off we went. Within the first 50 meters, I managed to tip the boat over and dump Yu in the river (I guess I should have paid more attention to the lesson). We got the hang of it after a while, stopped for a hike into the first cave. I knew that we were going to see the cave, but I didn't think we were going to hike through it. I'm glad we hired a guide. After some more kayaking and treking, we returned back to Vang Vieng all sunburned and tired. My headache still lingering from the day before.

The next morning I looking in the mirror and to my surprise, I had what looked to be the aftermath of an accute alergic reaction. I'm thinking it was an insect bite or sting. I doubt the pizza I had the night before could have done that. I'm taking some antihystamine which I hope will clear things up.

One last thing about Vang Vieng. Every bar/restaurant has "Friends" on TV. I MEAN IT IS EVERYWHERE. As if a truck load of bootleg Friends TV series DVDs broke down next to the town and was looted.

Mission Accomplished

I wish there was more time to spend on this leg of the journey. We did visit the main attractions around Lunag Prabang including the Pak Ou caves and Kwansi Waterfall. We even climbed to the top of Phu Si to see the sunset (reminds me of watching the sunset at Lake Titicaca). Overall it was a good visit and we need to move on if we are going to make it to Vientiane by Saturday.

Some lessons learned when travelling in Laos:
20K kip entrance fee everywhere.
They don't tell you that you need a flash light (by the way, the guy at the door rents them for 5000 kip).
Sloooooooow service.
They love the TV series Friends!

I have made a few plane ticket reservations to get my butt down to Phuket from Seam Reap, but I'm missing the Bangkok to Phuket leg. It is high season and many flights are already booked. I'm a bit nervous about finding cheap accommodations in Phuket, but I'm sure it will all work out. Taking the bus to Vang Vieng tomorrow.

Luang Prabang

Schedule three days in this town and you will stay for a week. That is a good way to describe Luang Prabang.

We scrambled around for about an hour until we found a cheap but nice guest house on the bank of the Nam Khan river. After dropping our packs, we went out to check the night market and main street. The place is wonderful! Small enough to feel secluded, but large enough to have the infrastructure to support the huge number of tourists. Again, I seem to be one of the few Americans. Most are from Europe with a good mix from Oz. At the end of the evening, Yu and I planned out the net few days and set up some tours with one of the agencies. The town has a really easy going feeling and if you are not careful, you can easily waste a day sipping cocktails at the side of the Mekong with a cool breeze rustling through the palm trees. The net day we planned on waking up at 6 AM to give offerings to the monks.

The Mighty Mekong

The slow boat river tour to Luang Prabang was organised in Chiang Mai. We crossed the Mekong in the morning Laos where it was one queue after another. Doing a package deal was convenient since it made securing the visa quite easy. After a few hours of waiting we loaded up the boat and left for Luang Prabang. The trip would take two days with an overnight stop at Pak Beng. The latte colored Mekong is a slow but turbulent river with many rock protruding out of the water. The river is bounded by lush green hills with an occasional buffalo and fisherman on the side. We arrived in Pak Beng at dusk, just in time for dinner. I would soon get a taste for how things work in Laos compared to Thailand.

Pak Benk is a small village with a main street running up from the bank about 200 meters. There is no electricity, but generators keep the place running. Everything turns off at 10 PM. We soon discovered that things in Laos run at a much slower rate that what one may be used to. You must schedule at least and hour extra for dinner. This led to some worry some moments before catching the boat onward. I highly suggest that you take the slow boat if travelling to Luang Prabang. However, bring a good book and a good cushion since most of the seats are just benches. If you are really late for the boat you may end up sleeping on a pile of backpacks in the engine room. Eventually we made it to Luang Prabang safe and well rested. Looking forward to seeing the town and the scenery.

Back into the swing of things

Once again, I'm the only American.

Yu and I joined a group doing a two day hill tribe trek into the mountains north of Chiang Mai. The tour company divided the group by age, so we were hanging out with 20 and 30 somethings. We had 12 people most from Germany, a couple Dutch, and a couple Canadians (French). Our trip organizer reminded us to tell the others that we paid a higher price for the tour (since we had the Thai local price).

The trek was nice, and started with a short elephant ride. The novelty of riding an elephant wears off in about 15 seconds. There was a baby elephant which was kind of cute and was the center of attention for pictures. After the ride and crappy lunch we started the walk. Some people had issues with the climb which was nearly the entire three hours. Even with the shade from the jungle, it was a bit warm. One problem with walking through the jungle is that the trees are so thick that you can't really see anything until you get to a clearing. Eventually, we made it to the village where the views were much nicer.

The communal dinner was quite nice and for the first time in months, I really felt as if I was back in full traveller mode. Many of the people on the tour were seasoned travellers. At least half had already been to South America. Others were coming from China or other Asian destinations. Stephanie (one of the Canadians) had been travelling off and on for 11 years! The vibe for the entire evening was really good. We were able to share stories about places where we have been and funny language mix ups. The next morning I woke up at 5 AM due to the friggin roosters again. Those 5 AM rooster wake up call seems to be common no matter which continent you are on. We hiked down to a waterfall where I was able to swim a bit. No one else wanted to get in because it was too cold. It didn't matter because everyone got cold and wet from the white water rafting in the afternoon. Overall it was a good trek and the people I met were great. Looking forward to meeting them again some day.

I ended up doing something rash and bought another digital camera. The auto focus is not functioning properly on my current one. I can't afford to miss any pictures on this trip. Heading to Laos tomorrow, so I'm not sure when I can post more pictures.

Chiang Mai Moonlight Madness

The overnighter to Chiang Mai was supposed to be on a VIP bus. The bus was your standard double decker monster. Clean, but no where near as nice as a high end bus in South America. I had another "Wait a second, you are not Jane" moments on the bus when I woke up upon our arrival to Chiang Mai. Yu and I toured the city after our arrival and checked out a few treks. She has been absolutely great as far as getting the Thai local price for everything. After setting up our trek and passage to Laos, we visited the Doi Suthep temple in the mountains. The place was nice, but I'm getting to the point where all of the temples are starting to look similar.

The day that we arrived in the town was the second day of the full moon festival. We returned from the temple to see the crowds lining the bank of the Ping river. There was a barrage of fireworks and these paper hot air balloons being lifted in the air. In the river, the folks were placing floats decorated in flowers, candles, and incense. The balloons and floats signify letting go of bad vibes. At one point I looked into the sky and thought that there must be at least a thousand paper balloons up there. Some poor farmer is going to wake up tomorrow to find his yard littered with those things. The night market was an absolute zoo that evening, but we were able to spot some good food and a few nice souvenirs.

I have decided to buy another suitcase when I return to Bangkok and stuff it with a ton of junk before leaving home.

Chill day

I've been doing a ton of walking around the city the past few days and need a break. We are gettting ready to jump on the overnight VIP bus to Chiang Mai. Yu and I have planned out about five days of treking, rafting, and elephant riding before shipping off to Laos. If this is anything like South America, these next two weeks will fly by REAL quick. I am a bit relieved to get out of the city due to the smog (as in any big city).

I have noticed that I am not in drinking shape anymore. I'm a lightweight to begin with, but since Switzerland, I haven't been doing too much drinking other than the ten day bender when Jon met me in Argentina. I had a couple beers with Greg in HK and my liver gave me that "Who you talking about Willis" feeling.

Also, since Hong Kong, my camera has been acting up. This comes at a very bad time since I'm headed into the meat of my Asia travels.

Wats Up?

I arrived in Bangkok without issue and met Yu at the airport. Yu is a friend of an old TI colleague and will be traveling with me for a couple weeks (she is local which will help with the logistics). We arrived at Lamphu House where I was able to get a room for about $10 per night. The place is backpacker central just off of Kao San road. She showed me how to use the public transportation so I could get around on my own. Since it was the weekend, we went to the JJ market. The market is huge and you can actually find good stuff. We spent about 2 hours in the market and only saw about 1/3 of the shops. It will be one of those places I return to just before leaving back to the states. Ended up buying a few shirts at the second hand country western store anyway.

I thought that Taiwan was cheap, but Bangkok has proved to be the cheapest place to eat so far. My first lunch here cost me just over $1. There are plenty of tourist attractions near the guesthouse. I have had one of those long days where you try to see as much stuff as possible in the shortest amount of time. My legs are beat and I'm dehydrated. I was able to see the grand palace, Wat Prakaew, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun. My camera got a ton of use this afternoon. Most all of the Wats look like they were just unwrapped from the packaging. Everything looks so new and shiny. It is a shame that these places are not open at night. The lighting at these places puts another dimension to their beauty.

Found the USB port. Enjoy the few pics.

The Couple

My arrival to Hong Kong was not at a convenient time for Greg and Jeanette. As I mentioned earlier, they are currently between houses now. Both have been busy balancing work with the stress of decorating and moving into their new place. I really doesn't bother me that they don't have that much time to show me around. At this point, I'm just happy to see them. I was scared for a moment that they would need my help to assemble all of the storage units from Ikea, but they paid for the assembly for the furniture too. I've attached some pictures of their new place in the works (which is high up there and has a nice view). I'll be staying here for the rest of the week.

Greg and I were able to take the ferry to Macau this past weekend for some gambling. As soon as we arrived, Greg was turned away at the Wynn Casino because he was wearing flip flops. What a way to take the air out of the tires! We quickly hailed a cab which drove us to the nearest mall. Greg bought himself some stylish Pumas and we were back in business. After losing about 2000 HKD at craps, both Greg and I clawed our way back into the positive numbers at the black jack table. Greg even won enough to pay for his shoes as well! We rolled back to HK at 4 AM totally exhausted. It is great that the JW has excellent beds.

I have been able to do some sightseeing, but most of the things I have already seen from the last trip. One new place that I visited was the goldfish market. I liked watching the store owners blast compressed oxygen into the water filled plastic bags and display pre-packaged goldfish. They also had other creatures ranging from snails to turtles to crayfish. I have the next few weeks finally planned out, so looking forward to push off into Thailand.

Moonlighting

I've been working my mangina in the hotel restaurant to earn some extra cash for my travels.

I'm in Hong Kong sucka

I have been keeping a written journal since I have not been able to access the internet as frequently as I want. I found that I was literally writing an entire book on paper, but then thought to myself no one really wants to read all this crap! So I'll try to keep the descriptions and sappy sentimental stuff to a minimum on the blog.

Hong Kong is such a unique city compared to every place else I've been. It is such a strange mix of international people, money, culture, etc. It is a great place to visit, but you couldn't pay me enough to live here.

It was good to see Greg again and to meet his fiance. Greg and Jeanette had some issues with their last apartment, so they are currently staying at the JW Marriot until their new place is ready. By some miraculous show of negotiation skills, Greg was able to reserve four nights for me in the JW Marriot on Tyco Electronics bill! Not only that, but I have access to the executive lounge (free food and drinks)! The JW is soooo nice (for well over $350 a night, it should be). I'll have four nights of pure luxury bliss by backpackers standards. Unfortunately, I was told I couldn't use the mini bar or order any adult movies. Those corporate types are such party poopers!

I'm using this week to charge up and get everything set for Thailand. The weather is going to be wet for most of the week, so I'm not quite sure how much sight seeing I'll do.