our point of arrival in vietnam was a land border crossing...easily the least efficient crossing we've done...as we were on a bus, it was annoying...get off the bus at the cambodian exit, hand our passports to an official...as he called off our names, get back on the bus...ride to the vietnamese immigration side (during which time i guess our passports received the exit stamps from cambodia)...get off the bus, grab all our stuff, go inside the arrivals hall and wait...there were railings set up as if to guide lines, but there were no lines...we just stood around with our stuff and waited until our name was called and we were handed back our passport with the new vietnamese stamp...not all countries need a visa to enter vietnam...japan, and norway are among them...one of the travelers on our bus was from iceland...he was traveling with a norweigan...while in norway (i think they both lived in oslo) the icelandic guy went to the vietnamese embassy to ask if he needed a visa, and they said no...so he didn't get one...well, according to the guys at the border, he did need one...they turned him back and said he had to go back to phnom penh (or sihanoukville) and get a visa!! how awful is that? all of us had been wondering what happens if you show up w/out a visa, and i guess we got our answer...i wonder if he decided it was worth it or not...
anywho, our first city was saigon...the former capital of the republic of south vietnam...(which ceased to exist 30 april 1973)...a crazy city...the largest city in vietnam, with 12 million people...many residents of the city aren't legal, as they don't have proper residence permits...at the end of the war, the new government sent them out into the sticks, but they snuck back and have stayed...but not having the proper permits means they can't own businesses...traffic in saigon is crazy...probably the craziest i've ever seen, and i've seen traffic in a lot of places...it never stops...if you wait for traffic to stop before crossing a street, you'll never get to cross...(on a side note, i did see a chicken cross, without being hit!!)...there are gbillions of motorbikes, usually with more than one person on each bike...
we saw the notre dame cathedral (which has no stained glass windows since they were blown out during the war, the post office (it's huge, and for some odd reason, on a bunch of postcards,) and the war remnants museum...the museum has a few planes and tanks left over from the war, but what is most interesting are all the photos on display...quite a few from photojournalists during the war...of the people involved, the action each day, etc...some are really disturbing...and some just make you stop and stare...there are also photos of victims of toxic chemical poisoning...it's never been proven conclusively that all the toxic chemicals the US dumped on the country during the war have caused the abnormalities, but i'd say the statistics are pretty hard to deny...again, some of the pictures are horrifying, but at the same time, it's hard to look away...
as a city, saigon isn't all that pretty, and there isn't a whole lot to see, but it's great to walk around and soak up the atmosphere...it's the commercial capital of the country...
one day we took a day tour out to see a cao dai temple in tay ninh...cao daism is only followed in southern vietnam, by about 3 million people...it's a combination of confucionism, buddhism, taoism, christianity, and a bit of animism...the temple we saw is the HQ for the religion overall...it's really really colourful...the worshippers are dressed in one of four colours, i'm assuming they are based on rank, though i don't know anything about the religion...most people in white, but also some men in red, blue, or yellow...they have services 4 times a day, we were able to observe some of the noon service...the other half of our day tour was to the tunnels at cu chi...during the war, the villages in the south were often bombed a LOT...so they built tunnels for survival...the viet cong used these tunnels for fighting as well...not too far from saigon, the tunnel network is over 200km long!!...well, it was...in 1968 the US found out about the tunnels (they had wondered why their own soldiers were being shot in their tents in their bases...it turned out that several of the secret entrances were in the bases themselves) and ended up bombing them to smithereens...there is very little left of the original network...there are a few entrances left though, and they're tiny...most foreigners don't fit!! cu chi was one of the hamlets where people lived in the tunnels as well...we got a chance to see some of the booby traps, as well as the chance to go through 50-100m of a rebuilt (and slightly enlarged, though still not big by anyone's definition) tunnel...
after saigon, our destination was mui ne...it's a beach town about 5 hours north of saigon...it's having problems with coastal erosion though...at high tide, the beach doesn't exist anymore in several places...it's set up oddly, at least in comparison to other beach towns...the whole thing is set along one road...which means you end up walking quite a ways to get anywhere...but that's fine...we didn't really go to mui ne to see the beach though...i had read about sand dunes that weren't too far out of town...so one day we hired a motorbike and drove out to see them...the first dunes were red...before we even turned off and parked the bike we were approached by kids wanting us to hire sleds from them...sliding down sand dunes is a lot of fun...fortunately, i had asked what the price should be while back in town, because the first price offered was eight times higher!!! i stuck to my price, and ended up hiring from the girl...she was a sweetheart too...for each slide down, she got me started, and then ran down with me...and dragged me back up the dune for another ride down...very sweet...our second set of dunes were white...much the same, though we didn't slide down these...beautiful, nonetheless...on the way back from the dunes, we got caught in a downpour...we expected it, but still...layna had a poncho, i didn't...ooops...she drove for a while, then i drove...of course, the worst of the rain happened while i was driving...at one point visibility was so bad that i had to pull over to wait it out...i was completely soaked at that point...after it lightened up a bit, i started off again, but between the continued rain and wind, i got cold...very cold...i started shivering, and figured that wasn't a safe thing...so layna and i traded and she drove the rest of the way back...despite being soaked, the day was totally awesome...
that particular day was the first of two holidays in a row in vietnam...that was national liberation day, the day the north vietnamese tanks rolled into saigon, and the south vietnamese government surrendered...as a national holiday, that meant that mui ne was full...we ended up being kicked out of our hotel, and had to find another...we were lucky to find one that wasn't super expensive...it seemed everywhere had at least tripled their prices...our second hotel turned out to be waaaaaaay better than the first though...
after moving hotels, we went for a walk through the fairy stream...it's a regular creek, but along one side of it you can see where all the rains have eroded the rock/sand...beautiful...and being that it was a holiday, there were tons of people out walking with us...we ended up walking with a group of young'uns from phan thiet, a nearby town...they were friendly, and loved taking pictures as much as layna and i do...yay!!!
01 May 2009
25 April 2009
cambodia 2
after phnom penh, we took a bus to siem reap...the town itself isn't any great shakes, but about 6km outside town are the ruins of angkor...angkor is actually several former royal cities, built by a number of different khmer rulers...
to see all the ruins you have a number of choices...first, how to get there...we decided to hire bikes, and pedal ourselves around...apparently this isn't a common choice, because we didn't see anyone else doing the same...we saw a lot of people who had hired tuk tuk drivers for the day...the second choice is what kind of ticket you want to buy...1 day, 3 day, or 7 day...we went with the three day...there are over 100 ruins in the area, and we figured 3 days would be good to see a few of them...(as it was, after three days, we were more than templed out)...the tickets were expensive, but angkor is easily the most well known thing in cambodia, so we didn't have much of a choice...
the city first built was called hariharalaya (yeah, you have to slow down and read it a couple times before saying it out loud, correctly) but the area is now called ruolos...there are about 3 temples worth seeing in that area...i did it on day 3 of our ticket...riding my bike out i missed the turnoff the first time, and rode an extra 5km or so...not a good thing, since that involved turning around and riding back, and the day was HOT...oh well...the ruins at ruolos were similar to all the others i had seen, but that was expected...not very crowded, which was nice...one of them has a still active wat right next door...it was on this day that i ended up with severe heat exhaustion...since the ruolos ruins are a bit farther than the rest, i rode farther on the totally exposed highway, in the 40-42 degree heat...HOT HOT HOT...apparently, drinking 6L a day of water wasn't enough, even with taking breaks under trees every now and again...i had to cut this day short because i realized i wasn't feeling well at all and still had to get back to town...i couldn't cool down, despite taking several showers, and sitting in front of a fan for a while...ugh...that night i couldn't sleep much, because i still wasn't cool...ugh...
the first day we went to the ruins we started with the most famous of them all...angkor wat...the profile of angkor wat is on the cambodian flag...it's beautiful, no doubt...but after all the hype, neither layna nor i felt it matched up...(or maybe we've seen too many temples during this trip)...angkor wat was built by suryavarman II, who was one of the greatest khmer rulers...it "only" took 40 years to build, and afterward was a city whose population was at least 750,000!! this guy was a pretty good ruler...he rewarded those who were good at their jobs, like artisans, ministers, courtiers, etc...he built up a good relationship with the chinese, but didn't like his next door neighbors, the chams...he wasn't so good militarily...he tried to go after some cham (current vietnam) lands and failed...anywho...not far from angkor wat is the former city of angkor thom...built by another ruler (one of the jayavarmans i think?) the most famous temple in the city is the bayon...with 54 towers on the third level with four faces each, you always feel like you are being watched...there are 216 faces in all, and it feels like you can climb all over the temple for quite a while...also in angkor thom are the elephant terrace, and leper king terrace...(and a bunch of others)
i could go on and on about all the temples i saw, but it gets a bit boring...lots of temples, lots of ruins...the ones i liked best were the ones that didn't have a lot of people hanging about...several of the ruins have trees growing in them, and through them, and under them, and over them...beautiful...i wonder if they'll ever do anything to stop the eventual takeover by the jungle...
one of the days i was riding around i met three peace corps workers...currently, the only peace corps program in cambodia is teaching english, though these three said some health care workers will be coming in july...they said it really was a good idea to wear long sleeves, but i just couldn't do it...too HOT!!
after three days of templing, we decided to stay in town and actually see the town...i read about a silkworm farm just outside town, so i caught a shuttle out there, and learned all about silk...a labour intensive process, to say the least...we got a chance to see the silkworms eating, you could even hear it!! they eat for 24 days, all mulberry leaves...yum...hee hee...walking around town was nice too, though there wasn't much to see...it's relaxing though...
our last stop in cambodia after siem reap was sihanoukville...no one really comes to cambodia with the idea of spending time on a beach, but this is the place to find a cambodian beach...we came because we heard it was the quickest and fastest place to get a vietnamese visa...it was certainly fast, it only took about 10 minutes!!! i loved the market, sooo much good food to choose from:)
to see all the ruins you have a number of choices...first, how to get there...we decided to hire bikes, and pedal ourselves around...apparently this isn't a common choice, because we didn't see anyone else doing the same...we saw a lot of people who had hired tuk tuk drivers for the day...the second choice is what kind of ticket you want to buy...1 day, 3 day, or 7 day...we went with the three day...there are over 100 ruins in the area, and we figured 3 days would be good to see a few of them...(as it was, after three days, we were more than templed out)...the tickets were expensive, but angkor is easily the most well known thing in cambodia, so we didn't have much of a choice...
the city first built was called hariharalaya (yeah, you have to slow down and read it a couple times before saying it out loud, correctly) but the area is now called ruolos...there are about 3 temples worth seeing in that area...i did it on day 3 of our ticket...riding my bike out i missed the turnoff the first time, and rode an extra 5km or so...not a good thing, since that involved turning around and riding back, and the day was HOT...oh well...the ruins at ruolos were similar to all the others i had seen, but that was expected...not very crowded, which was nice...one of them has a still active wat right next door...it was on this day that i ended up with severe heat exhaustion...since the ruolos ruins are a bit farther than the rest, i rode farther on the totally exposed highway, in the 40-42 degree heat...HOT HOT HOT...apparently, drinking 6L a day of water wasn't enough, even with taking breaks under trees every now and again...i had to cut this day short because i realized i wasn't feeling well at all and still had to get back to town...i couldn't cool down, despite taking several showers, and sitting in front of a fan for a while...ugh...that night i couldn't sleep much, because i still wasn't cool...ugh...
the first day we went to the ruins we started with the most famous of them all...angkor wat...the profile of angkor wat is on the cambodian flag...it's beautiful, no doubt...but after all the hype, neither layna nor i felt it matched up...(or maybe we've seen too many temples during this trip)...angkor wat was built by suryavarman II, who was one of the greatest khmer rulers...it "only" took 40 years to build, and afterward was a city whose population was at least 750,000!! this guy was a pretty good ruler...he rewarded those who were good at their jobs, like artisans, ministers, courtiers, etc...he built up a good relationship with the chinese, but didn't like his next door neighbors, the chams...he wasn't so good militarily...he tried to go after some cham (current vietnam) lands and failed...anywho...not far from angkor wat is the former city of angkor thom...built by another ruler (one of the jayavarmans i think?) the most famous temple in the city is the bayon...with 54 towers on the third level with four faces each, you always feel like you are being watched...there are 216 faces in all, and it feels like you can climb all over the temple for quite a while...also in angkor thom are the elephant terrace, and leper king terrace...(and a bunch of others)
i could go on and on about all the temples i saw, but it gets a bit boring...lots of temples, lots of ruins...the ones i liked best were the ones that didn't have a lot of people hanging about...several of the ruins have trees growing in them, and through them, and under them, and over them...beautiful...i wonder if they'll ever do anything to stop the eventual takeover by the jungle...
one of the days i was riding around i met three peace corps workers...currently, the only peace corps program in cambodia is teaching english, though these three said some health care workers will be coming in july...they said it really was a good idea to wear long sleeves, but i just couldn't do it...too HOT!!
after three days of templing, we decided to stay in town and actually see the town...i read about a silkworm farm just outside town, so i caught a shuttle out there, and learned all about silk...a labour intensive process, to say the least...we got a chance to see the silkworms eating, you could even hear it!! they eat for 24 days, all mulberry leaves...yum...hee hee...walking around town was nice too, though there wasn't much to see...it's relaxing though...
our last stop in cambodia after siem reap was sihanoukville...no one really comes to cambodia with the idea of spending time on a beach, but this is the place to find a cambodian beach...we came because we heard it was the quickest and fastest place to get a vietnamese visa...it was certainly fast, it only took about 10 minutes!!! i loved the market, sooo much good food to choose from:)
16 April 2009
cambodia 1
our first stop in cambodia was more out of necessity than anything else...we took a bus from the border to a town called stun treng...it's the first real town after the border...most travelers don't stay more than one night...i met a cute irish boy who invited me out for drinks:)...a redhead:)
we did walk around stun treng for a while, during which time i ended up with heat exhaustion...my first of many times dealing with this...we learned that atms in cambodia dispense mostly dollars...and lots of prices are quoted in dollars...change is given in a combination of dollars and riel...they don't use US coins, only the paper money, so cambodian money is used in place of the coins...for stuff at markets, of course you pay in riel...(approximately $1USD = 4100 riel)...the next morning we caught a bus to kratie...
like stun treng, there isn't much to see or do in kratie...the reason to stop there is to use it as a base to go 15km upriver to see the irrawady dolphins...they're freshwater dolphins, and they're endangered...i hired a motorbike driver (i wanted to drive myself, but i wasn't going to drive a motorbike w/out a helmet, and the place i asked didn't have helmets!) and enjoyed the ride...the dolphins themselves aren't exciting and entertaining...they don't jump out of the water like flipper...they just come up to breath every 2-3 minutes, then go back down...i've gotta say, they're not very pretty...it looks like their noses and heads were smushed flat against something...you can hear them breath when they surface...females have a baby once every three years or so, and keep the baby with them until it reaches about 40kgs...(which happens to be about 2 years i think)...the guy poling my boat said there are about 50 dolphins in this pod, and that it's easier to see them during the dry season (now)...during wet season they head farther up river...
in kratie i tried my first kralon...a khmer food, it's sticky rice and red beans and some coconut put into a bamboo flute...soooooooo good!
from kratie we went to the capital of phnom penh...it's a whole LOT more lively than vientienne...there are a number of interesting markets around town, and it's easy to walk everywhere...(not that that discourages every single moto driver from slowing down to ask you want a ride)...we didn't know it when we arrived, but we arrived the day before the start of the khmer new year...it turns out that cambodia has the highest number of public holidays of any country, and it celebrates 3 different new years!!! the international new year, the lunar new year, and the khmer new year...both the lunar new year and the khmer new year are three day holidays, during which most shops close...fortunately, tourist sights don't close, and apparently neither does the post office...
i visited the royal palace, which was okay, but not outstanding...at least for me...the complex reminded me a bit of the complex of the royal palace in bangkok...in the royal palace complex of phnom penh is the silver pagoda...it had a sanskrit name until 1993, when they changed it to make it easier for tourists...the silver pagoda name comes from the floor tiles...i think there are supposed to be quite a few of them, all silver...as i walked in, i expected to be amazed...but i forgot that silver tarnishes, and as a result, the tiles that were showing, (most of the tiles had carpet laid over them, to protect them) weren't very shiny...they almost looked like tin...
phnom penh is probably better known as a city where pol pot (ruler of the khmer rouge) did some of his worst deeds...first he established a prison called S-21...it was a detention and interrogation center...some 20,000 prisoners spent time there...only 7 survived...the rest either died during "questioning" or were executed at the killing fields...as in some of the camps of the holocaust, records were kept in great detail at this prison...they took pictures of nearly all the detainees, and many of those photographs are displayed now...it's scary to look and see people who were at the same point in their lives as i am...there were pictures of kids, and old folks...seeing some of those pictures, you couldn't help but wonder "how on earth could they think that person could be a danger?"...you can wander in the rooms where torture ("interrogation") was conducted...they're fairly large rooms, with nothing but metal cots in them...you can wander through the cells where the prisoners lived...they're tiny...in addition to the "mug shots" they also have photo exhibitions of people who were involved at the time...its odd to realize that people who were involved, are still middle aged!!! they show a movie twice a day, the movie describes the story of a couple...it's really sad...all too often during the time, family members disappeared, (or entire families,) and were never heard from again...estimates vary, but the generally accepted number of deaths during the genocide is about 1.7 million...considering cambodia only has a population of 12 million, that's HUGE...relatively speaking, its the worst genocide the world has ever seen...the question a lot of people ask, is how did it happen...how did it happen after the world first said "never again" after WWII?
we also visited the killing fields, which are just outside the city...the area is quiet now, and nothing remains of the facilities that were once there to cause death so efficiently...there are big holes in the ground, where some of the mass graves have been discovered...they've found about 8000 sets of remains in the area, and it's expected that in the future they'll find many more...there is a sign telling about the killing tree...guards swung children against the tree...just reading that sign got to me...the only thing you see at the killing fields (other than the beggar children who run along the fence outside the area) is a tall building, filled with the skulls of the deceased...it's a moving area...and, we all hope, nothing like this will ever happen...
i investigated a couple wats in phnom penh as well...one supposedly holds buddha's eyebrow...another is on top of the only hill in the city...since it was a holiday while we were there, all wats were busy with locals dressed in their sunday best, bringing offerings...awesome people watching...
we did walk around stun treng for a while, during which time i ended up with heat exhaustion...my first of many times dealing with this...we learned that atms in cambodia dispense mostly dollars...and lots of prices are quoted in dollars...change is given in a combination of dollars and riel...they don't use US coins, only the paper money, so cambodian money is used in place of the coins...for stuff at markets, of course you pay in riel...(approximately $1USD = 4100 riel)...the next morning we caught a bus to kratie...
like stun treng, there isn't much to see or do in kratie...the reason to stop there is to use it as a base to go 15km upriver to see the irrawady dolphins...they're freshwater dolphins, and they're endangered...i hired a motorbike driver (i wanted to drive myself, but i wasn't going to drive a motorbike w/out a helmet, and the place i asked didn't have helmets!) and enjoyed the ride...the dolphins themselves aren't exciting and entertaining...they don't jump out of the water like flipper...they just come up to breath every 2-3 minutes, then go back down...i've gotta say, they're not very pretty...it looks like their noses and heads were smushed flat against something...you can hear them breath when they surface...females have a baby once every three years or so, and keep the baby with them until it reaches about 40kgs...(which happens to be about 2 years i think)...the guy poling my boat said there are about 50 dolphins in this pod, and that it's easier to see them during the dry season (now)...during wet season they head farther up river...
in kratie i tried my first kralon...a khmer food, it's sticky rice and red beans and some coconut put into a bamboo flute...soooooooo good!
from kratie we went to the capital of phnom penh...it's a whole LOT more lively than vientienne...there are a number of interesting markets around town, and it's easy to walk everywhere...(not that that discourages every single moto driver from slowing down to ask you want a ride)...we didn't know it when we arrived, but we arrived the day before the start of the khmer new year...it turns out that cambodia has the highest number of public holidays of any country, and it celebrates 3 different new years!!! the international new year, the lunar new year, and the khmer new year...both the lunar new year and the khmer new year are three day holidays, during which most shops close...fortunately, tourist sights don't close, and apparently neither does the post office...
i visited the royal palace, which was okay, but not outstanding...at least for me...the complex reminded me a bit of the complex of the royal palace in bangkok...in the royal palace complex of phnom penh is the silver pagoda...it had a sanskrit name until 1993, when they changed it to make it easier for tourists...the silver pagoda name comes from the floor tiles...i think there are supposed to be quite a few of them, all silver...as i walked in, i expected to be amazed...but i forgot that silver tarnishes, and as a result, the tiles that were showing, (most of the tiles had carpet laid over them, to protect them) weren't very shiny...they almost looked like tin...
phnom penh is probably better known as a city where pol pot (ruler of the khmer rouge) did some of his worst deeds...first he established a prison called S-21...it was a detention and interrogation center...some 20,000 prisoners spent time there...only 7 survived...the rest either died during "questioning" or were executed at the killing fields...as in some of the camps of the holocaust, records were kept in great detail at this prison...they took pictures of nearly all the detainees, and many of those photographs are displayed now...it's scary to look and see people who were at the same point in their lives as i am...there were pictures of kids, and old folks...seeing some of those pictures, you couldn't help but wonder "how on earth could they think that person could be a danger?"...you can wander in the rooms where torture ("interrogation") was conducted...they're fairly large rooms, with nothing but metal cots in them...you can wander through the cells where the prisoners lived...they're tiny...in addition to the "mug shots" they also have photo exhibitions of people who were involved at the time...its odd to realize that people who were involved, are still middle aged!!! they show a movie twice a day, the movie describes the story of a couple...it's really sad...all too often during the time, family members disappeared, (or entire families,) and were never heard from again...estimates vary, but the generally accepted number of deaths during the genocide is about 1.7 million...considering cambodia only has a population of 12 million, that's HUGE...relatively speaking, its the worst genocide the world has ever seen...the question a lot of people ask, is how did it happen...how did it happen after the world first said "never again" after WWII?
we also visited the killing fields, which are just outside the city...the area is quiet now, and nothing remains of the facilities that were once there to cause death so efficiently...there are big holes in the ground, where some of the mass graves have been discovered...they've found about 8000 sets of remains in the area, and it's expected that in the future they'll find many more...there is a sign telling about the killing tree...guards swung children against the tree...just reading that sign got to me...the only thing you see at the killing fields (other than the beggar children who run along the fence outside the area) is a tall building, filled with the skulls of the deceased...it's a moving area...and, we all hope, nothing like this will ever happen...
i investigated a couple wats in phnom penh as well...one supposedly holds buddha's eyebrow...another is on top of the only hill in the city...since it was a holiday while we were there, all wats were busy with locals dressed in their sunday best, bringing offerings...awesome people watching...
11 April 2009
lao 3
savannakhet was my first time in southern lao...it's one of quite a few border crossings with thailand, though i don't think foreigners are allowed to use this crossing...savannakhet is on the mekong river, it was an important center of commerce when the french still ruled the country...now, it's really quiet...REALLY QUIET...the whole time we were there i felt like it was sunday afternoon...the streets were quiet, there didn't seem to be many people, anywhere...
there wasn't much to see or do in savannakhet, save for walking around and enjoying the old colonial buildings...there is plenty more outside the city, in the province, but we didn't have time to explore, which is too bad...it's one of the provinces that has quite a bit of UXO, which is kinda scary...layna found a couple places that served up great BIG bowls of soup, she's been on a bit of a soup kick...the most exciting thing to happen happened in our hotel room...while layna was shaving, the sink dropped, and broke...for absolutely no reason...she had filled it partway with water in order to shave, but wasn't touching it at all when it dropped and broke...one of the pieces cut her toe quite badly when it fell, there was blood everywhere...it was loud, and i immediately asked what had happened...about 10 seconds after i asked, there was a knock on our door...turns out the owner of the hotel heard it as well, and knew it couldn't be a good sound...he insisted layna split the cost of a new sink with him, even though she hadn't done anything wrong...while they were out shopping for the sink, he took her to the doctor as well...it's a big cut though, and will probably scar...(to go along with her scars from the nasty mosquito bites in goa)...on their way back to the hotel after shopping and the doctor, the moto got a flat tire...layna told me later she wished she had had her camera then, as it would've been a fantastic shot...her, sitting on the back of the moto, holding a sink, while the guy worked on the tire...opportunities lost, oh well...
from savannakhet we went to pakse, which is basically a transportation hub...there isn't much here, save for a few wats...we stayed one night, in order to catch further transportation the next day...
our last stop in lao was the 4000 islands, or in lao, si phan don...the actual number of islands varies by the season (whether its wet or dry) and we wondered what constitutes an island...anywho, we stayed on the biggest of the islands, don khong...just because it's the biggest doesn't mean it's very cosmopolitan...all habitation was village style, there weren't any big areas of people or housing on don khong...we loved our guesthouse though...the room was HUGE, we both had HUGE beds, and the guesthouse had a giant wraparound porch...on the porch was my new favorite chair...too bad i couldn't take it home with me...the day after arriving, we took a boat trip to a couple other nearby islands...don det, and don khon...there is a waterfall on don khon, and you can walk there from don det...howeva, the walk is across open fields, which were HOT HOT HOT...but, we like walking, so we did it...we ended up walking for a while with a couple from austin, TX, so layna had plenty to talk about, just in terms of TX...the waterfall ended up not being very impressive...you couldn't see where the major fall was...given that the river was quite spread out, i climbed upriver a ways, out into the middle, and got to see a bit more of the falls...fun, but not easy...surprisingly, i didn't fall off anything while climbing around!!! after walking back to the boat, we swam around in the mekong for a little while...it wasn't quite refreshing, but it felt pretty good nonetheless!!
the next morning, we crossed the border into cambodia...crossing the border was an adventure, of course...first they have to stamp you out on the lao side...the fun part is when they won't give you back your passport until you pay them a dollar...all sorts of people show up at the border with no extra money, but they still wouldn't give back passports...it's clearly very shady, but seeing as they have actual possession of your passport at that point, you don't have much of a choice...then we walked down the road a bit, and filled out a form for our cambodian...conveniently, the handwritten sign said that cambodian visas cost $21, even though the visa itself says $20...again, you don't have much of a choice if you want to get in the country...they have no problem letting you just sit there and go nowhere...argh...
there wasn't much to see or do in savannakhet, save for walking around and enjoying the old colonial buildings...there is plenty more outside the city, in the province, but we didn't have time to explore, which is too bad...it's one of the provinces that has quite a bit of UXO, which is kinda scary...layna found a couple places that served up great BIG bowls of soup, she's been on a bit of a soup kick...the most exciting thing to happen happened in our hotel room...while layna was shaving, the sink dropped, and broke...for absolutely no reason...she had filled it partway with water in order to shave, but wasn't touching it at all when it dropped and broke...one of the pieces cut her toe quite badly when it fell, there was blood everywhere...it was loud, and i immediately asked what had happened...about 10 seconds after i asked, there was a knock on our door...turns out the owner of the hotel heard it as well, and knew it couldn't be a good sound...he insisted layna split the cost of a new sink with him, even though she hadn't done anything wrong...while they were out shopping for the sink, he took her to the doctor as well...it's a big cut though, and will probably scar...(to go along with her scars from the nasty mosquito bites in goa)...on their way back to the hotel after shopping and the doctor, the moto got a flat tire...layna told me later she wished she had had her camera then, as it would've been a fantastic shot...her, sitting on the back of the moto, holding a sink, while the guy worked on the tire...opportunities lost, oh well...
from savannakhet we went to pakse, which is basically a transportation hub...there isn't much here, save for a few wats...we stayed one night, in order to catch further transportation the next day...
our last stop in lao was the 4000 islands, or in lao, si phan don...the actual number of islands varies by the season (whether its wet or dry) and we wondered what constitutes an island...anywho, we stayed on the biggest of the islands, don khong...just because it's the biggest doesn't mean it's very cosmopolitan...all habitation was village style, there weren't any big areas of people or housing on don khong...we loved our guesthouse though...the room was HUGE, we both had HUGE beds, and the guesthouse had a giant wraparound porch...on the porch was my new favorite chair...too bad i couldn't take it home with me...the day after arriving, we took a boat trip to a couple other nearby islands...don det, and don khon...there is a waterfall on don khon, and you can walk there from don det...howeva, the walk is across open fields, which were HOT HOT HOT...but, we like walking, so we did it...we ended up walking for a while with a couple from austin, TX, so layna had plenty to talk about, just in terms of TX...the waterfall ended up not being very impressive...you couldn't see where the major fall was...given that the river was quite spread out, i climbed upriver a ways, out into the middle, and got to see a bit more of the falls...fun, but not easy...surprisingly, i didn't fall off anything while climbing around!!! after walking back to the boat, we swam around in the mekong for a little while...it wasn't quite refreshing, but it felt pretty good nonetheless!!
the next morning, we crossed the border into cambodia...crossing the border was an adventure, of course...first they have to stamp you out on the lao side...the fun part is when they won't give you back your passport until you pay them a dollar...all sorts of people show up at the border with no extra money, but they still wouldn't give back passports...it's clearly very shady, but seeing as they have actual possession of your passport at that point, you don't have much of a choice...then we walked down the road a bit, and filled out a form for our cambodian...conveniently, the handwritten sign said that cambodian visas cost $21, even though the visa itself says $20...again, you don't have much of a choice if you want to get in the country...they have no problem letting you just sit there and go nowhere...argh...
03 April 2009
lao 2
vang vieng is a backpacker town in between luang prabang and vientienne...there is no culture here, only outdoorsy stuff, and a LOT of restaurants with cushions and tvs showing friends/simpsons/family guy...there are a lot of caves nearby, some are interesting to explore...some, not so much...
one day i explored several caves with the same group i had hung out with in luang prabang...our first cave had a big buddha in it, but that was all...our second cave allowed us to do a bit of exploring...thankfully the money taker guy had given us head torches, or we would've had to come back out...(i'm not sure why we didn't think of bringing our own, it's not as if caves have natural light, hee hee)...it was slippery, but still fun...our explorations took longer than expected, so i don't think anyone did anything that afternoon...(layna spent hours in a sauna and loved it)...dinner that night was pizza...i didn't think anything of it, but it kept me in bed for over 24 hours...i couldn't walk straight, not fun at all...thankfully, it didn't affect layna nearly that badly...that's the first "wasted" day of our trip...
we had wanted to go tubing the afternoon after i explored the caves, but due to my late return, we didn't...and i spent the next day in bed, so it didn't happen then either...the third afternoon we finally went tubing...it's basically a backpacker ritual...you hire a tube (the deposit was more than the hire price!!) and they take you about 3km up river...you float down, stopping at any of the bars alongside the river on your way back...there are quite a few bars, and it seemed as though several people were intent on stopping at every one!! i put suncream on my face, but forgot my arms and legs, so i got roasted...one girl we saw along the way said she had used coconut oil, so i can only imagine her condition when she finished...we only stopped twice, and not for long, and we still took 3.5 hours!!! according to another traveler who had done this before, the river was quite low, lower than he had ever seen it...i suppose that explains the slowness...
our next city was vientienne...the capital of lao...quite possibly the only capital i've ever visited where there seemed to be no movement...there were very few people walking around...of course, that's cause it was HOT HOT HOT...apparently april is the hottest month of the year in lao...lucky us...we visited the most famous wat in the country, pha that luang...it's not all that big, but it's covered in gold...it's important enough to be on the seal of the country...on our way to the wat, we walked under a memorial arch...it memorializes the lao people who have died during war...ironically, the memorial is built with cement donated by the US...the cement was supposed to be used for building a runway in 1969...considering the US was dropping a LOT of bombs on lao at the time (in what was at the time a secret operation) i don't blame the people for using the cement for another purpose...the memorial was never finished...it's a bit like the arc de triomphe in paris, but uglier...a good spot to people watch...the other wat i visited in town had over 10,000 buddhas inside!! most of them very small, set into niches in the wall...it is the only wat in town not destroyed by invaders over the years, and needs some renovation...
while in vientienne i took a local bus about an hour out of town and visited buddha park...it's not big at all, but it's absolutely chock FULL of buddhas, and shivas, and other hindu deities...most are pretty interesting, especially the sculpture that allows you to climb up and look out over the whole park...a few monks were exploring as well, it was interesting to see where they were taking pictures...
vientienne is expensive compared to the rest of the country...i guess that's normal for a capital city, but this city didn't have anything justifying the higher costs!!! we ended up sleeping in dorm beds for the first time during our entire trip...unfortunately, mosquitos ate layna each of those nights...(but they left the rest of us in the dorm alone)...mosquitos love layna, she doesn't know why...and i'm surprised they haven't eaten me, as usually they love me...
one day i explored several caves with the same group i had hung out with in luang prabang...our first cave had a big buddha in it, but that was all...our second cave allowed us to do a bit of exploring...thankfully the money taker guy had given us head torches, or we would've had to come back out...(i'm not sure why we didn't think of bringing our own, it's not as if caves have natural light, hee hee)...it was slippery, but still fun...our explorations took longer than expected, so i don't think anyone did anything that afternoon...(layna spent hours in a sauna and loved it)...dinner that night was pizza...i didn't think anything of it, but it kept me in bed for over 24 hours...i couldn't walk straight, not fun at all...thankfully, it didn't affect layna nearly that badly...that's the first "wasted" day of our trip...
we had wanted to go tubing the afternoon after i explored the caves, but due to my late return, we didn't...and i spent the next day in bed, so it didn't happen then either...the third afternoon we finally went tubing...it's basically a backpacker ritual...you hire a tube (the deposit was more than the hire price!!) and they take you about 3km up river...you float down, stopping at any of the bars alongside the river on your way back...there are quite a few bars, and it seemed as though several people were intent on stopping at every one!! i put suncream on my face, but forgot my arms and legs, so i got roasted...one girl we saw along the way said she had used coconut oil, so i can only imagine her condition when she finished...we only stopped twice, and not for long, and we still took 3.5 hours!!! according to another traveler who had done this before, the river was quite low, lower than he had ever seen it...i suppose that explains the slowness...
our next city was vientienne...the capital of lao...quite possibly the only capital i've ever visited where there seemed to be no movement...there were very few people walking around...of course, that's cause it was HOT HOT HOT...apparently april is the hottest month of the year in lao...lucky us...we visited the most famous wat in the country, pha that luang...it's not all that big, but it's covered in gold...it's important enough to be on the seal of the country...on our way to the wat, we walked under a memorial arch...it memorializes the lao people who have died during war...ironically, the memorial is built with cement donated by the US...the cement was supposed to be used for building a runway in 1969...considering the US was dropping a LOT of bombs on lao at the time (in what was at the time a secret operation) i don't blame the people for using the cement for another purpose...the memorial was never finished...it's a bit like the arc de triomphe in paris, but uglier...a good spot to people watch...the other wat i visited in town had over 10,000 buddhas inside!! most of them very small, set into niches in the wall...it is the only wat in town not destroyed by invaders over the years, and needs some renovation...
while in vientienne i took a local bus about an hour out of town and visited buddha park...it's not big at all, but it's absolutely chock FULL of buddhas, and shivas, and other hindu deities...most are pretty interesting, especially the sculpture that allows you to climb up and look out over the whole park...a few monks were exploring as well, it was interesting to see where they were taking pictures...
vientienne is expensive compared to the rest of the country...i guess that's normal for a capital city, but this city didn't have anything justifying the higher costs!!! we ended up sleeping in dorm beds for the first time during our entire trip...unfortunately, mosquitos ate layna each of those nights...(but they left the rest of us in the dorm alone)...mosquitos love layna, she doesn't know why...and i'm surprised they haven't eaten me, as usually they love me...
30 March 2009
lao 1
the full name of the country is the lao people's democratic republic...but it's not democratic, not at all...it's communist politically, though capitalist economically...people are now able to open businesses and make money, but they're still not allowed to talk badly about the government..
after getting ourselves stamped out of thailand, we crossed the mekong river in a small longboat..i wanted to swim, it wasn't that far...but i didn't want to soak everything i had..hee hee..after we crossed the river, we got our lao visas, passports stamped, and exchanged money..we also signed ourselves up for a slow boat ride to luang prabang..it's a two day ride (7-8 hours in the boat each day) down the river..the name is slow boat, but it didn't feel slow at all..there was a constant breeze, and it was nice to just watch the landscape go by..lao is the least developed of all the countries in this part of the world, nearly 85% of the people have rural lives, living in small villages..lao has had a very turbulent past, like the rest of the countries in this part of the world..there isn't much of a lao national identity, partly because there are people of so many different ethnicities..the most well known culture and group is the lowland lao, they compromise about 50% of the country..it's their culture that is known, if any is known at all..anywho, throughout the two days on the river, we stopped several times for locals to get on or off the boat, and also to take on supplies..the first day i mostly stared at the landscape and daydreamed..layna did the same, in another area of the boat..the second day, i ended up getting to know a group of travelers who had all joined up randomly in the past week or so..one american, one aussie/american, two brits and two germans..all great fun..the first night on the boat we all stayed in pak beng..the second day, we arrived in luang prabang, a former royal capital..a fantastic town..it's at the confluence of the mekong river and the khan river..it's a UNESCO world heritage listed town, which means there is a ban on buses and trucks in town..how awesome is that?
there are a number of wats in luang prabang, as well as a night market..though it has become more touristed over the years, you can still see local traditions that have been taking place for years..one morning layna and i got up before daybreak to watch the morning alms round of the monks..the monks from eat wat walk out in a line from their respective wats, and walk around with their alms bowls to collect alms from the locals..i'm not sure, but i think the monks are only allowed to eat what they receive each morning..the locals gather in several spots to give the alms..at first, i was surprised by how much each person seemed to have..but after seeing how many monks walked by, it made a lot more sense..a little bit is put into the alms bowl of each monk in each line..the women who give alms stay on their knees the whole time, and reach up to the alms baskets/bowls..men who give alms stand at the same height as the monks..i'm not sure how i feel about that..
the first full day i was in luang prabang i went with the group i had met to a waterfall about 35km outside of town..sam and i decided to rent a motorbike, the others all hired bicycles, and pedaled the whole way..needless to say, sam and i arrived their first, nice and relaxed..the others were all covered in sweat..hee hee..anywho, the waterfall is actually a series of waterfalls, about 7 levels in all? i don't remember for sure..several of the levels are perfect for swimming..one of them has a rope swing, and you can jump off that particular level!! it turned out that one of the germans (andre) was pretty good off a rope swing, he was pulling gainers..anywho, the others decided to hire a tuk tuk and put their bikes on top for the way back, but since sam and i had the motorbike we decided to explore the countryside a bit more..lots of fun to just follow the road and see where it went..at one point we actually came to the end of the road, just after a village..i don't think i've ever come to the end of a road before!! judging by the stares we got riding through some of the villages, i don't think they ever see many foreigners..on the way back, sam and i had a little mishap, but we are both fine..
the second day layna and i wandered around town..temples, relaxing, etc..she discovered a local sauna, and loved it..with my scratches, i didn't think a sauna would feel very good..(at that point i still couldn't make a proper fist, or use my right hand to shampoo in the shower)..we both went to the night market each night in town..tons of fantastic street stall food..it's a good thing i'm on a budget, and don't have a house or flat to decorate, because there was plenty in the night market that i really liked..
after getting ourselves stamped out of thailand, we crossed the mekong river in a small longboat..i wanted to swim, it wasn't that far...but i didn't want to soak everything i had..hee hee..after we crossed the river, we got our lao visas, passports stamped, and exchanged money..we also signed ourselves up for a slow boat ride to luang prabang..it's a two day ride (7-8 hours in the boat each day) down the river..the name is slow boat, but it didn't feel slow at all..there was a constant breeze, and it was nice to just watch the landscape go by..lao is the least developed of all the countries in this part of the world, nearly 85% of the people have rural lives, living in small villages..lao has had a very turbulent past, like the rest of the countries in this part of the world..there isn't much of a lao national identity, partly because there are people of so many different ethnicities..the most well known culture and group is the lowland lao, they compromise about 50% of the country..it's their culture that is known, if any is known at all..anywho, throughout the two days on the river, we stopped several times for locals to get on or off the boat, and also to take on supplies..the first day i mostly stared at the landscape and daydreamed..layna did the same, in another area of the boat..the second day, i ended up getting to know a group of travelers who had all joined up randomly in the past week or so..one american, one aussie/american, two brits and two germans..all great fun..the first night on the boat we all stayed in pak beng..the second day, we arrived in luang prabang, a former royal capital..a fantastic town..it's at the confluence of the mekong river and the khan river..it's a UNESCO world heritage listed town, which means there is a ban on buses and trucks in town..how awesome is that?
there are a number of wats in luang prabang, as well as a night market..though it has become more touristed over the years, you can still see local traditions that have been taking place for years..one morning layna and i got up before daybreak to watch the morning alms round of the monks..the monks from eat wat walk out in a line from their respective wats, and walk around with their alms bowls to collect alms from the locals..i'm not sure, but i think the monks are only allowed to eat what they receive each morning..the locals gather in several spots to give the alms..at first, i was surprised by how much each person seemed to have..but after seeing how many monks walked by, it made a lot more sense..a little bit is put into the alms bowl of each monk in each line..the women who give alms stay on their knees the whole time, and reach up to the alms baskets/bowls..men who give alms stand at the same height as the monks..i'm not sure how i feel about that..
the first full day i was in luang prabang i went with the group i had met to a waterfall about 35km outside of town..sam and i decided to rent a motorbike, the others all hired bicycles, and pedaled the whole way..needless to say, sam and i arrived their first, nice and relaxed..the others were all covered in sweat..hee hee..anywho, the waterfall is actually a series of waterfalls, about 7 levels in all? i don't remember for sure..several of the levels are perfect for swimming..one of them has a rope swing, and you can jump off that particular level!! it turned out that one of the germans (andre) was pretty good off a rope swing, he was pulling gainers..anywho, the others decided to hire a tuk tuk and put their bikes on top for the way back, but since sam and i had the motorbike we decided to explore the countryside a bit more..lots of fun to just follow the road and see where it went..at one point we actually came to the end of the road, just after a village..i don't think i've ever come to the end of a road before!! judging by the stares we got riding through some of the villages, i don't think they ever see many foreigners..on the way back, sam and i had a little mishap, but we are both fine..
the second day layna and i wandered around town..temples, relaxing, etc..she discovered a local sauna, and loved it..with my scratches, i didn't think a sauna would feel very good..(at that point i still couldn't make a proper fist, or use my right hand to shampoo in the shower)..we both went to the night market each night in town..tons of fantastic street stall food..it's a good thing i'm on a budget, and don't have a house or flat to decorate, because there was plenty in the night market that i really liked..
26 March 2009
thailand 4
layna and i met up again in chiang mai...it's basically the second city of thailand...smaller, more laid back than bangkok...still full of temples, shopping, guesthouses, and markets...chiang mai is a great town to take a cooking course, or a thai language course, or a massage course...there are tons of tour agencies, and tons of trekking options...unlike nepal, where we did all of our trekking independently, there is very little independent trekking in thailand...treks in thailand last anywhere from 1-7 days most of the time...you can go see mountains, hill tribes, waterfalls, ride elephants, etc...there are also TONS of temples in chiang mai, most of them still in active use...something like 300 temples, which is nearly as many as in bangkok...chiang mai is also fantastic for shopping...there is a night market at which you can buy nearly anything...there is also a sunday walking market, during which a few streets are blocked off to traffic, and become crowded with stalls and people...i thought the stuff available at the sunday walking market was more unique than at the night market, but still, it was all stuff i didn't need...
chiang mai was where i had to throw away one of my pairs of capris...the first item of clothing that has bit the dust...i had thread, and had already patched them once, but they were done...sad...
one of our days we went to prison!! there is a women's prison in chiang mai, and as part of the program to help the women learn something useful for when they get out, they have the chance to become massueses...the women in the program go through a 180 hr training course for thai, and foot massages...the women working in the salon are all w/in 6 months of being released...we loved the massages, and wondered how much the women received for each massage they do...
chiang mai was where i had to throw away one of my pairs of capris...the first item of clothing that has bit the dust...i had thread, and had already patched them once, but they were done...sad...
one of our days we went to prison!! there is a women's prison in chiang mai, and as part of the program to help the women learn something useful for when they get out, they have the chance to become massueses...the women in the program go through a 180 hr training course for thai, and foot massages...the women working in the salon are all w/in 6 months of being released...we loved the massages, and wondered how much the women received for each massage they do...
after chiang mai, we went to chiang rai...the guidebook says it's a more laid back version of chiang mai, which i thought was plenty laid back to start with...we stayed in a place 23km outside the town, and the best part was the truck ride to and from town each day...standing in the back of the pickup with the wind in our faces was awesome...i could live here, but it's not a great place to visit...there is one temple worth mentioning though...called wat phra kaew...yup, the same name as the temple in bangkok...legend has it that the emerald buddha (the one living in bangkok) was actually found in the chedi of this temple in chiang rai...apparently lightning struck the chedi, and it opened up to reveal the buddha...there is now a copy of the original buddha, just .1cm smaller in all dimensions...
our last chiang was chiang khong...it's the border town on the other side of the mekong river from lao...most travelers come here for a night, maaaaayyyybe two, before crossing the border...for locals, it's an important market town for hill tribes...we ended up loving our guesthouse, and wishing we had more time to spend here...the owner of the guesthouse is a woman who said she ran away from chiang khong for 19 yrs, before returning and opening the guesthouse...she worked in chiang rai first, then went to school in bangkok...it was fun to hear how she has expanded over the years, and how her dog loves farang (foreigners)...the lives of women in thailand are MUCH better than the lives of women in nepal and india...
20 March 2009
thailand 3
after ayuthaya i went to lopburi...another historical town, with more temples/ruins...not too far from ayuthaya...i was excited when the bus dropped me off in town instead of at the bus station, saving me a 2km walk in the heat...i was not excited when the first place i wanted to see had an entrance fee WAY higher than i had expected...i had expected 50 baht, but it had increased to 150 baht...sad, but i walked away...the third place i visited was the best...as a set of ruins, it's not all that exciting, you can take all the pictures you want across the street...but you pay the entrance fee in order to hang out with the monkeys...for whateva reason, a band of monkeys hangs out at these ruins all day long...they're smart, or at least they've learned certain behaviors from being around humans so much...they know how to take food out of your hands, even if you weren't planning on giving it to them...they know how to drink out of a cup...they know how to peel the lid off a jello cup and eat the jello...they know how to take the wrappers off little lollies and eat them...they know how to eat corn on the cob...i loved it when they climbed on me...that's supposed to be dangerous, but nothing happened to me, and i loved it...they're cute:)...across the train tracks from these ruins is a shrine at which an old man gave me a fortune, which just happened to be the best fortune in the bunch...yay!! the second day at this shrine i saw a novice monk be ordained...he wasn't smiling, but everyone else was...he was dressed in a fancy white uniform, and carried on the shoulders of someone...there was even a band set up in the back of a truck!! lopburi doesnt have much to see or do, so i only stayed a day and a half...i didn't see any other westerners (well, none that i could visually identify as westerners) while i was there, which was fun...the town isn't nearly as touristy as ayuthaya, and the street stalls have GREAT food...i walked around for quite a while just checking out the food options..
after lopburi, i headed to sukhothai...my third city in a row of ruins/history...the fourth if you count the history of kanchanaburi...sukhothai was the capital of the first true thai kingdom...waaaayyyy back when...during the time sukhothai was the capital city, the nation grew quite a bit, a specific architecture style was created, and an alphabet was created...all in just 150 yrs:) ...nowadays, most visitors stay in new sukhothai, and go visit sukhothai historical park, which is about 15km out of town...again, it's a great place to rent a bicycle...the entire area is flat, and perfect for pedaling...the park is divided into 5 sections, and you have to pay an entrance fee for three of them...again, the entrance fees had increased quite a bit from what i had expected, which was hugely disappointing, but this time i didn't walk away...the temples/ruins are pretty impressive...it's a big area, and there didn't seem to be too many tourists...the ruins here are much better preserved than in ayuthaya...
another day i took a local bus 1.5 hours down the road to si sitchanalai historical park...very similar to sukhothai historical park...but even less touristed...and i got rained on...whoops...now that i've seen the ruins in different cities, i can sorta see some architectural differences...not many, but some...
after lopburi, i headed to sukhothai...my third city in a row of ruins/history...the fourth if you count the history of kanchanaburi...sukhothai was the capital of the first true thai kingdom...waaaayyyy back when...during the time sukhothai was the capital city, the nation grew quite a bit, a specific architecture style was created, and an alphabet was created...all in just 150 yrs:) ...nowadays, most visitors stay in new sukhothai, and go visit sukhothai historical park, which is about 15km out of town...again, it's a great place to rent a bicycle...the entire area is flat, and perfect for pedaling...the park is divided into 5 sections, and you have to pay an entrance fee for three of them...again, the entrance fees had increased quite a bit from what i had expected, which was hugely disappointing, but this time i didn't walk away...the temples/ruins are pretty impressive...it's a big area, and there didn't seem to be too many tourists...the ruins here are much better preserved than in ayuthaya...
another day i took a local bus 1.5 hours down the road to si sitchanalai historical park...very similar to sukhothai historical park...but even less touristed...and i got rained on...whoops...now that i've seen the ruins in different cities, i can sorta see some architectural differences...not many, but some...
14 March 2009
thailand 2
after our short beach time, we decided to head up north...as much as we love beaches, we know we'll have plenty of opportunities to see them...and really, does it matter how beautiful it is when i'm laying out, eyes closed? don't get me wrong, i love them, but i do the same thing on each one..hee hee...
we arrived in the town of kanchanaburi next...most of you probably don't know that name, or care for that matter...but you've probably heard of the movie "bridge over the river kwai"...right? i've heard of it, even though i've never seen it...apparently i should watch it...anywho, the bridge is in kanchanaburi...kanchanaburi is a town with a fair amount of WWII historical stuff to see...the bridge of course, which is where we started...just walking over it the first day...the bridge is part of 415km (i think) of track the japanese used forced labour to build during 1942-43...in normal circumstances, that length should have taken 5 yrs to build...the japanese (and their korean guards,) made their workers get it done in 16-17 months...the way they treated the prisoners/volunteers was awful...they broke the treaties which they had said they would abide by, the hague convention, i think? (it was signed and ratified back in the early 1900s i think)...(on a side note, they signed but did not ratify the geneva conventions)...they didn't feed the prisoners enough, they didn't provide proper shelter or clothes, and the work being done was definitely helping the japanese militarily...(the track was laid in order to give the japanese another supply line to help with their planned invasion of india)...at one point, they had workers working 16 hour shifts, round the clock...around 200,000 people worked on the line...90,000 "volunteers" died...these were locals, and natives of thailand, lao, cambodia, etc who had been recruited or voluntold to work for the japanese...16,000 allied POWs died...not only were they not taken care of well, but the equipment with which they built the line was practically non existent...cutting through solid rock with just hammers, drills, and some dynamite!! one of the days in kanchanaburi i took a bus out to what's known as hellfire pass...so called because of the way the fires looked at night when they were working round the clock...there is a very tasteful museum, and you can walk through hellfire pass itself...the track isn't there anymore...there isn't much in the museum in terms of items, simply because there wasn't much leftover after the war was over...the interpretive boards had a lot of information, but it wasn't overwhelming...i also road the train back to kanchanaburi, and that included riding over the famous bridge...others on the train included a group of russians, who were all busy drinking, or taking pictures...THE ENTIRE TIME!!
kanchanaburi also has a couple allied war cemetaries...they're taken care of really really well...they're quiet places, people don't talk much...one of them is slightly out of town, you have to hire a bike to get there...it's a lot smaller, but the gravestones look the same as in the cemetary in town...there was very little talking by anyone in either cemetary...no matter what side of that war you were/are on, there is a lot of emotion..
in kanchanaburi we stayed on the river...and i mean ON the river, not next to it, on the banks...our bungalow was made of bamboo, and sat out on the water...everytime a boat went by we could feel the bungalow rock in the waves...totally awesome...so quiet and peaceful...except for the karaoke boats of course...they started up each evening, just ask dusk was coming...as everyone knows, some people are good at karaoke...some are, well, not...
layna loved kanchanaburi, and wasn't interested in the next town i wanted to visit, so she decided to stay there an extra couple days, and i moved on...my next destination was ayuthaya...for whateva reason, there are several different spellings in english...i guess it depends on who is producing the postcards...(postcards in ayuthaya were expensive, for whateva reason)...ayuthaya is at the point where three rivers come together, which was supposed to create a natural barrier as well as encourage trade...at it's height, there were over a million people living in ayuthaya...ayuthaya was a capital city for over 400 years, during which time 33 kings reigned...and apparently there was a rule that you had to build several temples while you were king, because the temples (well, their ruins anywho) are EVERYWHERE in ayuthaya...EVERYWHERE...obviously, some are in better shape than others...on two days i hired a bike and spent 6 hours each day pedaling around town, investigating the ruins...ayuthaya is completely flat, so a cruiser bike is absolutely perfect...at one set of ruins two monks even asked to take a picture with me...i was thrilled, of course...i had wanted just such a picture, but since i'm female, didn't think that was okay...women aren't even supposed to directly hand something to monks...so i put my camera on the ground, and the one taking the picture picked it up...go figure, i look awful in the picture...but i didn't feel like i could turn around and say hey, can we do that again...hee hee...i was also interviewed by thai uni students (who said they were majoring in english, buuuuuuuuut i don't know about that) as to why i was in thailand, what i like about the country, where i'm going, etc...ayutthaya is quiet at night, for the most part...except for the karaoke at one of the bars not too far from my guesthouse...i was there three nights, and heard it each night, and it sounded like the same guy...so maybe that was his job? i seriously hope he had another job as well...some of his attempts weren't awful, but some....hmmm...well, i couldn't always tell what song it was he was trying to sing...
we arrived in the town of kanchanaburi next...most of you probably don't know that name, or care for that matter...but you've probably heard of the movie "bridge over the river kwai"...right? i've heard of it, even though i've never seen it...apparently i should watch it...anywho, the bridge is in kanchanaburi...kanchanaburi is a town with a fair amount of WWII historical stuff to see...the bridge of course, which is where we started...just walking over it the first day...the bridge is part of 415km (i think) of track the japanese used forced labour to build during 1942-43...in normal circumstances, that length should have taken 5 yrs to build...the japanese (and their korean guards,) made their workers get it done in 16-17 months...the way they treated the prisoners/volunteers was awful...they broke the treaties which they had said they would abide by, the hague convention, i think? (it was signed and ratified back in the early 1900s i think)...(on a side note, they signed but did not ratify the geneva conventions)...they didn't feed the prisoners enough, they didn't provide proper shelter or clothes, and the work being done was definitely helping the japanese militarily...(the track was laid in order to give the japanese another supply line to help with their planned invasion of india)...at one point, they had workers working 16 hour shifts, round the clock...around 200,000 people worked on the line...90,000 "volunteers" died...these were locals, and natives of thailand, lao, cambodia, etc who had been recruited or voluntold to work for the japanese...16,000 allied POWs died...not only were they not taken care of well, but the equipment with which they built the line was practically non existent...cutting through solid rock with just hammers, drills, and some dynamite!! one of the days in kanchanaburi i took a bus out to what's known as hellfire pass...so called because of the way the fires looked at night when they were working round the clock...there is a very tasteful museum, and you can walk through hellfire pass itself...the track isn't there anymore...there isn't much in the museum in terms of items, simply because there wasn't much leftover after the war was over...the interpretive boards had a lot of information, but it wasn't overwhelming...i also road the train back to kanchanaburi, and that included riding over the famous bridge...others on the train included a group of russians, who were all busy drinking, or taking pictures...THE ENTIRE TIME!!
kanchanaburi also has a couple allied war cemetaries...they're taken care of really really well...they're quiet places, people don't talk much...one of them is slightly out of town, you have to hire a bike to get there...it's a lot smaller, but the gravestones look the same as in the cemetary in town...there was very little talking by anyone in either cemetary...no matter what side of that war you were/are on, there is a lot of emotion..
in kanchanaburi we stayed on the river...and i mean ON the river, not next to it, on the banks...our bungalow was made of bamboo, and sat out on the water...everytime a boat went by we could feel the bungalow rock in the waves...totally awesome...so quiet and peaceful...except for the karaoke boats of course...they started up each evening, just ask dusk was coming...as everyone knows, some people are good at karaoke...some are, well, not...
layna loved kanchanaburi, and wasn't interested in the next town i wanted to visit, so she decided to stay there an extra couple days, and i moved on...my next destination was ayuthaya...for whateva reason, there are several different spellings in english...i guess it depends on who is producing the postcards...(postcards in ayuthaya were expensive, for whateva reason)...ayuthaya is at the point where three rivers come together, which was supposed to create a natural barrier as well as encourage trade...at it's height, there were over a million people living in ayuthaya...ayuthaya was a capital city for over 400 years, during which time 33 kings reigned...and apparently there was a rule that you had to build several temples while you were king, because the temples (well, their ruins anywho) are EVERYWHERE in ayuthaya...EVERYWHERE...obviously, some are in better shape than others...on two days i hired a bike and spent 6 hours each day pedaling around town, investigating the ruins...ayuthaya is completely flat, so a cruiser bike is absolutely perfect...at one set of ruins two monks even asked to take a picture with me...i was thrilled, of course...i had wanted just such a picture, but since i'm female, didn't think that was okay...women aren't even supposed to directly hand something to monks...so i put my camera on the ground, and the one taking the picture picked it up...go figure, i look awful in the picture...but i didn't feel like i could turn around and say hey, can we do that again...hee hee...i was also interviewed by thai uni students (who said they were majoring in english, buuuuuuuuut i don't know about that) as to why i was in thailand, what i like about the country, where i'm going, etc...ayutthaya is quiet at night, for the most part...except for the karaoke at one of the bars not too far from my guesthouse...i was there three nights, and heard it each night, and it sounded like the same guy...so maybe that was his job? i seriously hope he had another job as well...some of his attempts weren't awful, but some....hmmm...well, i couldn't always tell what song it was he was trying to sing...
06 March 2009
thailand...again
this is my third time in thailand...the first time was 5 yrs ago exactly, the second a year and a half ago...the first time i was by myself, and that 7 week trip in southeast asia trip was my first extended trip...the second time was with my rugby team...i wasn't in control of that trip, so it doesn't relate to anything i did before, or am doing now...
when we arrived in bangkok, i was surprised by how much it had changed in five years...(during the trip with the rugby team we didn't stay in the backpacker area, i didn't see it at all)...prices have doubled, and it's become a lot more western...and i think it's more crowded with travelers...though i don't really know...my first time in bangkok i remember being rather overwhelmed, and now i realize i hardly saw anything...i was so worried i'd get lost, or get sick...this time around we just walked around the first day, without any real direction, and no need to see anything...this is layna's first time in thailand, and one of the things we have done regularly when we arrive in a new city/town is to just walk...get the feel of things...at one point we stepped into a kfc in order to use the loo, (yes, it's western, but we knew it would have a loo) and i ended up talking to another foreigner while waiting...i was really excited that i figured out he was canadian without asking him first...he seemed surprised that i knew, but the "eh" was a dead giveaway...only canadians say it that way...hee hee...and he thought i was aussie...i have no idea why...i know i say some words aussies and kiwis use, but i certainly don't say them the same way!!
bangkok is the initial entry point into southeast asia for nearly everyone...so it's super easy to get started...thai food is found everywhere, but so is western food...(which i think is sad)...mcd's, starbucks, kfc and bk have all shown up in the last five years...there are travel shops all over the place, as well as stalls selling everything from batteries to clothes to every knick knack you do not need...according to the guidebook, thais call bangkok krung thep, which means city of angels...apparently, that's a shortened version of the full, official name...i don't feel like copying the full name, it's ridiculously LONG...
our second day we started by seeing wat phra keow (sp?)...better known to most as the temple of the emerald buddha...it's not actually emerald at all, it's jade...it's not all that big either...it sits pretty high up though, and each season gets new clothes from the king himself...most people seem to pay no attention to the "silence please" sign, i wish they would...this temple is probably one of the most well known sights in thailand/bangkok, everyone goes there...i've gotta admit though, it is pretty fantastic...(though the entrance price was half our daily budget!!!)...the temples are wonderfully coloured, and there are quite a few...our second temple was across the street, wat pho i think?...it's not nearly as crowded, layna and i both liked it better...that's where we got to see the largest reclining buddha in thailand...46m long, and 15m high...it's HUGE...there were a number of temples in this complex, we enjoyed wandering around...it's bigger than wat phra keow...this complex also has quite a number of buddhas, over 100 i think...our third and final full day in bangkok we went to a huge market, the weekend market...the guidebook makes it sound great, but we were rather disappointed...it's true, you can find just about anything there, but it's totally touristy...locals don't go there to find anything...we weren't in the mood to shop, but we loved the food stalls...hee hee...i'd never before seen yellow watermelon...
after bangkok we went down south, to one of the beaches...we opted for the phuket area, choosing kata/karon beach...it's not very party oriented, and is rather similar to the beach we stayed at in goa, india...again, there were upper class european tourists...before boxing day, 2004, kata/karon had more backpackers, more young people...they haven't really come back since the disaster...at least, not that i could see...nearly all the menus in town have a combination of swedish/german/russian options...it's amazing to see how DARK some people get...i know i like sun too much for my own good, but i look like a ghost compared to some of the people we saw!!! if you look the colour of an overcooked sausage, the last thing you need to be doing is laying out on a thai beach!!! yes, i laid out, yes i wore suncream, and yes i covered my face...there isn't much to write about the time we spend on beaches...i could do it for ages and ages, i never seem to get bored...but we moved on after just three full days...(one of which it rained, i only got two days of sunning myself!!)
when we arrived in bangkok, i was surprised by how much it had changed in five years...(during the trip with the rugby team we didn't stay in the backpacker area, i didn't see it at all)...prices have doubled, and it's become a lot more western...and i think it's more crowded with travelers...though i don't really know...my first time in bangkok i remember being rather overwhelmed, and now i realize i hardly saw anything...i was so worried i'd get lost, or get sick...this time around we just walked around the first day, without any real direction, and no need to see anything...this is layna's first time in thailand, and one of the things we have done regularly when we arrive in a new city/town is to just walk...get the feel of things...at one point we stepped into a kfc in order to use the loo, (yes, it's western, but we knew it would have a loo) and i ended up talking to another foreigner while waiting...i was really excited that i figured out he was canadian without asking him first...he seemed surprised that i knew, but the "eh" was a dead giveaway...only canadians say it that way...hee hee...and he thought i was aussie...i have no idea why...i know i say some words aussies and kiwis use, but i certainly don't say them the same way!!
bangkok is the initial entry point into southeast asia for nearly everyone...so it's super easy to get started...thai food is found everywhere, but so is western food...(which i think is sad)...mcd's, starbucks, kfc and bk have all shown up in the last five years...there are travel shops all over the place, as well as stalls selling everything from batteries to clothes to every knick knack you do not need...according to the guidebook, thais call bangkok krung thep, which means city of angels...apparently, that's a shortened version of the full, official name...i don't feel like copying the full name, it's ridiculously LONG...
our second day we started by seeing wat phra keow (sp?)...better known to most as the temple of the emerald buddha...it's not actually emerald at all, it's jade...it's not all that big either...it sits pretty high up though, and each season gets new clothes from the king himself...most people seem to pay no attention to the "silence please" sign, i wish they would...this temple is probably one of the most well known sights in thailand/bangkok, everyone goes there...i've gotta admit though, it is pretty fantastic...(though the entrance price was half our daily budget!!!)...the temples are wonderfully coloured, and there are quite a few...our second temple was across the street, wat pho i think?...it's not nearly as crowded, layna and i both liked it better...that's where we got to see the largest reclining buddha in thailand...46m long, and 15m high...it's HUGE...there were a number of temples in this complex, we enjoyed wandering around...it's bigger than wat phra keow...this complex also has quite a number of buddhas, over 100 i think...our third and final full day in bangkok we went to a huge market, the weekend market...the guidebook makes it sound great, but we were rather disappointed...it's true, you can find just about anything there, but it's totally touristy...locals don't go there to find anything...we weren't in the mood to shop, but we loved the food stalls...hee hee...i'd never before seen yellow watermelon...
after bangkok we went down south, to one of the beaches...we opted for the phuket area, choosing kata/karon beach...it's not very party oriented, and is rather similar to the beach we stayed at in goa, india...again, there were upper class european tourists...before boxing day, 2004, kata/karon had more backpackers, more young people...they haven't really come back since the disaster...at least, not that i could see...nearly all the menus in town have a combination of swedish/german/russian options...it's amazing to see how DARK some people get...i know i like sun too much for my own good, but i look like a ghost compared to some of the people we saw!!! if you look the colour of an overcooked sausage, the last thing you need to be doing is laying out on a thai beach!!! yes, i laid out, yes i wore suncream, and yes i covered my face...there isn't much to write about the time we spend on beaches...i could do it for ages and ages, i never seem to get bored...but we moved on after just three full days...(one of which it rained, i only got two days of sunning myself!!)
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