Exodous

Phi Phi Lay...Really Great Snorkling
My bunglow in Railay...5 Stars all the way

Thanksgiving Dinnner!

Soft Corals

The infamous "purple starfish"

Bamboo Island...White Sand, and Turqouise Waters

Monkey Beach...need I say more?

Mike playing with long exposures.

Sibling bliss...That Phi Phi Lay in the background...where the filmed the movie "The Beach"

I found him!

Phi Phi Don viewpoint...our beachside bunglows are down there somwhere.

One of the many indicators of the reality of Tsunami

The Krabi night market. You name the meat on a stick and they have it here!

The river in Krabi Town.

The hassle of re booking flights has taken it's toll on me. Last night I was really sick and spent most of the night with my head in the toilet. I don't know if it's from stress, or if the Tom Yam w/ Seafood had something to do with it, but i was in really bad shape. I'm feeling better today, and so I'm hoping it was just a passing bug. I will be going to New Zealand, all my new flights are confirmed and I'm working on refunds with the previous carriers.

So, now that you all know about what been going on that makes me I'll, let me tell you about the kick ass week I had boating around the islands in Krabi, Phi Phi and Railay!

I met Nicole and Mike at the Airport in Krabi town, the day before Bangkok went belly up with its current political nightmare. This was a thanksgiving blessing to have them on the ground and NOT stuck in Bangkok. I can't imagine a worse place to be stuck.

The following morning we took the passenger ferry to Phi Phi Don, one of the islands heavily ravaged during the 2004 Boxer day tsunami. Evidence of this disaster is dotted across the island, (mountains of trash and concrete litter the car-less streets) but in this era, money trumps environmental consciousness and the rebuilding effort is marching forward at a frightening pace. The only thing the locals care about is getting money from tourists, and preservation of natural resources seems a very insignificant side note. The islands of Phi Phi Don, and Phi Phi Lay (pronounced P P) are indeed beautiful and without a doubt some of the best diving and snorkeling in the world can be found here. Sadly, the surge of unchecked tourism will take its toll on this fragile ecosystem if the government doesn't get involved. (Seeing how they handled the situation in Bangkok leaves me little hope of a rescue. Thanksgiving was pretty crazy, we went snorkeling during the day with a hired long tail boat and then, for dinner, we had hoped to buy some "rotisserie" chicken. The whole chickens, which was our pathetic attempt at recreating some quasi-aspect of a proper Thanksgiving meal. The chickens were about to be boxed up when the guy selling them wanted 600 B for them (about 20 bucks). We opted for a few stir fries, some fried chicken, and some potato chips. Who needs turkey anyway...

After a few days on Phi Phi we took off for Railay, which is not an island but is only accessible by boat due to the massive Karst walls surrounding it. Its a quiet little laid back place, withe awesome views and accommodations for all pockets.

Although there were many other places we would have liked to visit too, there were thousands of people trying to re-book flights and we felt it was important to do the same...I just heard on the ticker the airport might stay closed for 3 more weeks! I'm glad to be headed out of Thailand in a few days!

I hope everyone had a really great Thanksgiving with family and loved ones. I didnt get my tryptophan induced post thanksgiving meal coma I would have liked, but I'll live.

Stranded in Thailand...

Currently I'm stuck in Krabi (actually Railay...which is not such a bad place to be stuck) but with the situation in Bangkok it's impossible to fly anywhere. At this point it looks a 24 hour bus to ingapore is my only hope of getting to New Zealand. All flights in Asia are f$*ked up because of the protests in Bangkok.
If you need to get ahold of me, my number in Thailand is 08-7330-9598
I'll keep you posted on what happens!

Cheers!

Hasta la vista Hanoi

There are no stoplights, and no rules. Great place for a big ol lungful of exhaust!

Traffic sample #1, 9:45am.

Le Cyclo Cafe...not really Vietnamese or French, but it's a bike thing!
Drinking my beer at Le Cyclo Cafe...coincidence with my shirt? Divine intervention or plan 'ol laziness?

The best "Pho Bo" in all of Vietnam was made in this kitchen! This is beyond street food...this place didnt even have a sign out front. When you see plastic chairs and tables sized for Uumpa Loompa's, they have Pho...go tell the lady with the cleaver what you want and take a seat.

There is somthing like 10 million moto bikes in Vietnam, and a majority of those must be in Hanoi! The traffic is mad. The concept of a traffic signal, or "blinker" is totally foreign. Instead, they use the horn to alert others to their whearabouts. So imagine 10 million scooter horns honking in succession....there isnt enough tylenol to fix ones head.

My point being that after I returned from Ha Long bay to Hanoi, I delcared war on the big city. Not just Hanoi, but "big city" i have had enought. The streets are filthy, there is no place to walk (sidewalks are a cruel joke) and people are hasseling you every 10 feet for a "taxi" or a "moto"...or "bananna" and "donut"!

I left Hanoi, and won't return unless I am forced to or am passing through. Coming from the quiet solitude of the bay to this madness is just nerve wracking.

I will fly to Bangkok and spend the night and then it's off to Krabi!
If I get swallowed by the beach or just dont feel like coming back, I wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Please chew your turkey well, I hear about too many turkey related accidents. If you are so kind, please eat some mashed potatoes since they dont seem to have anything here but fried potatoes! And pie...eat an extra piece of pie for me.

Ha Long Bay

Junk boat, smilar to the one i was on 'cept ours had no sails! (BOO)
Too much salt water

There are over 3000 of these "islands" in Ha Long Bay

Sunset...you can see another few boats in the bay where we had anchored for the night!

Never really get this opportunity mcuh at home, John...this is chicken scrap compared to the things you jump off.

Took an overnight cruise at Ha Long bay. It's really quite something. Literally translating as "the place where the dragon enters the sea" (dont ask how "Ha Long" becomes 8 words) the local lore supports that the islands were formed when the dragon tail lashed about cutting deeply into the land and letting the water it. At least thats what the guy on the boat said.

It was pretty hazy when I was there, and so visibility was much lower than normal. Still, an incredible place to spend 2 days. My time is out here, so I will have more on Ha Long in the future. I'll be leaving Vietnam tomorrow. Which is both happy and sad. I have to say i wont miss someone trying to sell me something every 3 feet. "Mis-ter...you buy!? 2 Dolla? Mis-ta?...

Gotta go!

And yes... I DID eat the rest of the sandwich! (keep reading the older post if you don't understand this)

Tastes like chicken!

I ate pigeon the other day.

Vietnam, perhaps more than most other Asian countries, is known for its vivid and curious cuisine. It happened like this:

After 14 hours on the train, and not having had any food for nearly 24 hours (thanks to the train being 4 hours late in Hue) I arrived in Ha Noi half crazy, emmiting a noxious odor of train and B.O and badly needing food. After finding a rather dodgy guesthouse down an alley filled with prawn guts and chicken feet, I asked the lady working the front desk where I could find a bowl of Pho. She informed me of a place that was "go left, then right and then right and then left" and then look for "#65...very good food there!". I never found the place she recommended and most certainly walked much farther than I needed to find food, but when navigating Hanoi, alone without a map, it's best to stay on one street and walk back the way you came, and pray that you can identify the dodgy alley by the stench of fish being gutted there.

I finally found a place on the sidewalk with baguette and "stuff" ...but no english menu, or english anything. Fear not. I have gotten quite good at getting what I need by smiling, and pointing and closing my eyes and enlisting a higher power to guide the food through my my gut to a safe and uneventful end. I pointed to some mass of white "meatish" substance with the opinion that it was probabaly chicken or maybe fish. I pointed to a block of "happy cow" cheese and some cucumbers and the no-frills street matron proceeded to slice open a baguettte and haphazardly load in the fillings. She wrapped it in some kind of oily, previosuly used paper, and thrust it at me. She went back to her chopping and prep work giving no more notice to me than any other customer she had that day!

It was then that I noticed what must have been her son's nearby googly eyed and awestruck at Farang (asian gringo) about to endulge in what for them must be like a slice of pizza. I found a nearby stool and had a go at is.

"Tastes like chicken...must be chicken"

Her son mimes to me "drink?" and I politely reply with "Bia Siagon". He screws his face like he doesn't understand and so I simplify to just "Bia".

"Bia" being the widely used term for beer I thought this would bring about some kind of frothy beverage that would be appropriate for my mid morning feast. He doesn't get this either, but then in a flash of brilliance, gives me the index finger pointed up to indicate "wait just a second" bounding off up a previosly unseen stairacase. Leaping down minutes later with a huge smile on his face and holding what looks like an english-esque menu, he trusts it in my face and I point to a "Tiger Beer". During the ensuing rush of enthusiastic bottle jostling and top-popping, I continue to masticate my sanwhich and vacantly peruse the menu. To my horror realize that there are only 2 meats listed on the menu.

I know what pate looks like, and I could eliminate this option as what was now nearly half-chewed in my mouth. Opposite "pork liver pate", was Pidgeon. Just plain pidgeon.

Weather by choice or by instinct my jaw stopped working and the half-chewed mass became my singular focus at the moment. I was certain then that the hard, cartiledge bit that I was processing with my molars was no normal chicken tendon , but rather a claw, or a piece of scaly pidgeon foot...maybe even a beak. In shock at my current situation, I chewed through it and swallowed hard, recounting the sage advice of my doctor, "if it's cooked you don't have anything to worry about" ...

The beer arrived and I drank nearly two-thirds of the bottle before returning my focus to my sandwich. I stared at the white meat between the cucumbers and the cheese, and told myself "this was actually not too bad before you knew what it was, maybe a little gamey but it is street food." My options weighed heavy and I recall for the first time the unnatural silence of the traffic. Should you be rude and chug the beer, settle the bill and walk? Or should you finish the remaining one-third of the sandwhich because at this rate if your gonna be sick...your gonna be sick"

If you know me well enough you know what I did.

It started here innocently enough.

...North

The Vietnamese version of a Pith Helmet..very classy!

Fishing Boats anchored ourside Nha Trang.

A game of pickup with the locals.

The Vietnamese are very proud people andthe flags fly everywhere.

Going down into the Cu Chi Tunnel...

Procesing rice on the side of the road. I never thought I would say this, but I think I have had enough rice for awhile.

Saigon is the largest big city in the south of Vietnam, and in a country filled with such history it's hard to leave so much behind in the Mekong delta. But money is running low, and I told a friend I would meet them in Hue on the 15th, so I have begun my journey north on the train. It takes about 3 days to go directly from Saigon in the south to Hanoi in the north, which is my terminus, but i will split this into a few shorter segments for sake of saving sanity!

But first, a stop at the Cu Chi tunnels before I go. (Pronounced "Goo Chee), Throughout Vietnam, there are tunnels which were built as safe havens from the attacks of enemy forces durting the Vietnam war. Between 3 and 9 meters below ground the network of the Cu Chi tunnels span more than 200 KM of interconnected rat holes not much bigger than the diameter of a basketball. Of course today, for the sake of fat tourists, the tunnels have been expanded to a width where one can crawl through them on hands,knees and bellys. It's an interesting experience to be so far below the ground in a light-less hole with bats clinging to every crevass. Feeling the walls and hoping that you spot the exit before the next bat does a reconnasance mission into your face. Only during the cover of night was it that the Cu Chi people would emerge for supplies. They lived for many weeks below ground during the heaviest of attacks. The longest tunnel a tourist can go in is 120 meters and believe me, that's quite enough distance in the dark. If you are claustrophobic, don't go here. The bats and the mud are enough to keep most people out.

Going North...
The night train to Nha Trang was surprisingly posh. The train has just been renovated with all new interior, western toilets (no more toil-hole) and LCD TV's in every cabin. Remarkable! Really a classy way to travel.
Nha Trang is known for its calm, tourqoise waters and spotless beaches. However duing my 3 days here, due to the typhoon offshore, the beaches were closed. The sea was angry and she would eat everything that came near. Except the garbage, which she threw back to the land loving mortals. So what can you do when the beach is not beach-able? Play a game of pickup football with the locals. Notbody spoke any english, and none of the poeple I was with spoke much Veitnamese, but I think the rules are the same and football is football. It's the only truly global sport.
I found out today that Nha Trang is where T-bo's grandfather was born. As he stated in his e-mail, "it's a small world...but not too small!" Im sad to know that he will be gone when i decide to come back. I guess thats a good excuse to travel around Europe for a while.
I will be off again on the train tonight for a 13 hour journey to Hue, the ancient capital. If all goes according to plan, I will meet Nichole and Steve for the day and we can bum around the roayl tombs before I continue north into flooded Hanoi.
Keep your fingers crossed that the water subsides and I can make it to Halong Bay!

A world away...

King Moto getting on one of many ferries needed to get across the many tributaries of the Mekong.

The only quiet street in Saigon.

The view of Sam Mountain, looking west to cambodia. The border is at the far end of that road.

The last town in Cambodia before the border. He took about 10 minutes to finally look and me and smile.

The Bamboo Island Beach, not what I had pictured when i thought of Cambodia+Beach

I'm writing all this nearby the beach in south central Vietnam. The city of Nha Trang.

Quite a bit has happened since I jumped on last. I'll do my best to fill in the gaps.

After PP I was off to Sihanoukville, on the beach in southern Cambodia. I wasnt sure what to expect of a beach in Cambodia. I know what the streets looked and smelled like and when it rains all that drain into the river at some point along with the dog, cat, rat, bat and human waste. The river then collects the runoff of hundred of miles of villages without any sewers or wastewater treatment facilities. This all then eventually drains into the ocean where I expected it to look like somthing from a post apocalyptic war movie. I was dead wrong. The beach was actually pretty nice. It had the dead fish and garbage that you expect in a place that has no governement to facilitate beach clean-up efforts, but it was still pretty nice. A shot boat can be hired to go to bamboo island (which is the generic name for pretty much every island i have come across) but there, the tourquoise waters and warm sand pretty much had me questioning if i was still in Cambodia. I never expected it to be this nice. Incredible.

A 10 hour bus trip through the greater Mekong delta brought us near to the town of Chao Doc, Vietnam. Flooded rice paddies and thatched huts dominate the landscape and once again shortly after the border everything changes again. The sweet smell of dried fish and bananas, the shape of faces and the landscape are just different again. How these things change so dramatically when a political boundary is crossed is a mystery. The land knows no political lines, yet inexplicably things DO change. That's a pretty lame description of how it really feels to just experience it. Maybe next time I'll do it a little better.

In Chao Doc I hired a guy a guy to take me to the top of Sam Mountain on a "moto". A little vespa like scooter that is the dominating mode of transport in Vietnam. Without traffic lights or lane designations, traffic here is pretty much a game of Russian Roulette. A chaotic go-anywhere dance of suprising elegance. Its amazing i havnmt seen more traffic accidents. Twice, i have seen a bus hit a moto and twice, the moto and its passengers get up, brush off, and get back on. Bumps and bruises are part of the game in Vietnam. The view from the top of Sam Mountain is really somthing to see. IN one direction you can see the road leading from the Cambodian hills through the rice paddies into vietnam and in the other, you begin to see the vast and uninterrupted life-scape of Mekong living.

There isn't much to do in Chao Doc but sleep and see a few bits of an "un-touristed" city. Vietnam is truly a land ruled by the Moto. With a nod to the occasional truck and Cargo van, Moto is the ONLY vehicle. Used for hauling everything from familys of 4 to a basket of chickens or even a half-ton hog, tied up and tossed onto a makeshift pannier on the back.

The next day was spent on a a bus....always on the bus it seems to get to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) or Saigon.

Saigon:
I thought the Chaos of bangkok was bad. May I please retract that statement from the record? Saigon is like a beehive in a bonfire. The same 1 to 1 ratio of moto to human exists here, but on a massive scale. There is plenty to do in the city when its not raining, but it was raining at least most of the time. So what does one do when it rains in Saigon? Go for a walk of course! It's just rain...right? Due to the pollution-infused clouds, the rain is filled with chemicals which burn your skin. I had never experienced this before, but I have also never been anywhere as polutted as this! The War museum was really an experience that everyone who was no yet born, or doesnt remember the Vietnam War needs to experience. Photos, displays and writings documenting every perspective of the war are found here. There is one exhibit which hit me particularly hard. It was a dedication to memory of the photo-jounralists who lost their lives to bring snapshots home of the reality that was going on so far away. Many died during surpise attacks and explosions, and seeing the "last frame" taken only moments before their death speaks to the indelible and everlasting power of a photograph. For civillians, this was the first war where radio could no longer "yellow up" the airwaves and shape the way we perceived things. It was a war where media was brought directly into the living rooms of people across the globe. We could finally "see and hear" the reality of war, and it changed the world.

A personal note: I feel like I have been suffering from photo-block, I'm just not seeing things and feeling things the way I like to. Im dealing with this as a temporary hiatus in creative living, and that this too shall pass in time. Keep your fingers crossed.

My time here is up today, but stay tuned for Cu Chi tunnels, and Nha Trang!

Phnom Penh

Ýes, you have to peel the meat out of this big ones or the shells get stuck in your throat on the way down. I haven't yet...but'I'm told they are like salty crisps. Its the ones that are still alive that i will stay away from.

Our tuk-tuk did run out of gas and we had to push it to the nearest petrol stand so the driver could buy a liter. (notice the Johnny Walker bottles they sell petrol in)

Part of the wall-o-weapons

The shooting range... I think it speaks for itself.

You just go back the way you came when you come across this.

A former high school classroom turned into one of the cells at S-21

Another....they have pretty much left them untouched.

The food stalls deep within the bowels of the Russian market. Sadly I didn't see any Russians when I was eating my noodles with "pork"...which was most certainly mystery meat!

Phnom Penh from our hotel window. Anyone care for a lung-full of smog to go with your morning cuppa-joe?

The central flower market

A motley crew of package delivery boys.

A pretty typical street in PP. It used to be pavement, but they road repairs have left the city looking like this.

This blog will be a continuation of Siem Reap and the inclusion of Phnom Penh, so stick with me as I ramble around.
Angkor Archaeological park was an incredible learning experience on my first day in Siem Reap, but seeing as there is a vibrant and lush countryside extending out hundreds of miles in every direction, temples are only one thing to see. Many developed countries have national parks and wilderness preserves. Cambodia is a little behind on this development due to a fractured economy and the ravages of war and genocide.
Land mines are real here. They are not props in movies and there are physical reminders of this in the signs dotting the country side, and the people you see walking in the streets. Many of the places visited by tourists have been thoroughly cleared of any danger, but just a few yards off the beaten path, danger lies under foot. I paid a visit to then land mine relief museum which contrary to my initial thoughts was not a gruesome and grisly picture show of what we all might expect, but rather one man's uplifting story and life-mission to clear the country of land mines and prevent such devices from being used in the future. The museum wasn't much, but reading the stories and new paper articles written over the past 30 years this mans work (forgive me I don't have notes with his name) was a worthwhile venture.
Our tuk-tuk driver on the way back from the museum asked us (this would be a few guys from the hotel, Andre from Canada, James from Ireland and myself) if we wanted to fire guns...only he couldn't say "fire guns"so he imitated what a child does when he plays war and cradled the barrel of an invisible rifle in one hand and with other pulled the same invisible trigger attached to that gun. "Bang! Bang!" His smile was so convincing, how could we say no! So we said yes. Apparently when the mafia-army-civilians are not training (which is all the time) they just lay around in cement tunnels that double double as fire ranges. This is about an hour outside the city for good reason. You have your pick form pretty much any gun you want, AK-47, Uzi, grenade launchers, machine guns etc... I know this sounds quite fictitious but trust me, and remember it's Cambodia!
Some of you will be relieved to know that I DIDN'T fire any of the weapons available as the price was a little beyond what I could afford. A clip for the Uzi ran 80 dollars, but this did not stop Andre from pursuing this weapon and an AK-47. (I hate to think what price they wanted for the machine guns or the grenade launcher) It was actually a very fun time, sans actual trigger pulling, and the army-guys, who speak little english, were really thrilled that we ventured so far from the tourist trappings near the city to join them for a morning of male bonding.
Off to PP...
The public bus arrived in Phnom Penh after dark and we were assailed by tuk-tuk drivers and moto owners all trying to win your business. It's quite amusing if you are as tired as Í am to listen to them fight with each other over who talked to the tourist first and who should get the next fare....etc..physical fights do break out over this subject.
A ride to the central part of the city is about $1-2 from anywhere else on the outskirts of the city. whic is quite expensive seeing as a tuk-tuk in Thailand is half the price. I guess since the US dollar is so readily available and used here, the small bill gets a rather high rate of circulation and everything becomes "One dolla!"...One dolla..you buy!". All prices are listed in US currency.
Although my arrival in Phnom Penh was after the election took place, it didn't stop hordes of ex-pats from swarming the streets and celebrating Obama's win. Quite a spectacle to witness "Cambodian Democrats for Obama" af the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) on the main drag next to the river! Yes, I stopped in a for a beer to revel in the spectacle...

Afterward-
Cambodia is an extremely poor country. From the roads and electricity, all aspects of urbanized infrastructure we take for granted is challenged here. The majority of the roads remain unpaved (I''ll get to the "remain" part in a minute) even in the largest city, Phnom Penh. The country has a very rich history and is the people remain amazingly upbeat and are always smiles, even in the face of adversity. In the late 1970's the Pol Pot regime took power and began what many believe to be acts of terror, violence and unspeakable torture worse than Hitler's. Entire family's were exterminated and anyone with any education, especially doctors, and teachers were thrown into horrific prisons for interrogation and unfathomable acts of anti-humanitarianism. I don't feel like going into a lesson of history here, nor do I feel like reliving yesterdays sobering visit to the S-21 "school-prison"and the killing fields. I will be happy to share my experience with you in person upon my return, but not here. The tour guide, who's father committed suicide in prison so he wouldn't have to rat-out his family, was an incredible wealth of knowledge despite his very personal connection to the subject. A statistic I heard was that 77 percent of Cambodians are 35 years of age or younger. If you look at the dates that means a huge percentage of the population in todays cities was born after the genocide, after Pol Pot had been defeated. It also means that a very large population of middle age people died during that time. As a result, the cities fell into disrepair, and poverty seeped into the ever expanding cracks in the foundation that would have very possibly made Cambodia a semi-modern country like neighboring Thailand. Despite this, it's remarkable that in just over 30 years these people have managed to lift themselves up and start again.

Ahhh...Angkor Archeological Park

Ta Prohm...Locally known as "Tomb Raider Temple"

Smiling Faces at Prasat Bayon

Tuk-Tuk? ...uh I mean Toot Toot...they have elephant Taxi's in Siem Reap

Sunrise: 5:28am....Angkor Wat...worth it to get up and see it!

Just a few photos for now..I'll get some stories and text go with them whenI find a decent keyboard....hopfully that'll be in Phnom Penh.