Thursday, July 31, 2008
the latest
Tonight at the internet cafe I saw no less than eight transgender/transvestite men to women. They were propositioning left and right, particularly to the Frenchies, who abound in Vientiane. We appeared in Vientiane the other night after leaving Hanoi at 5 pm the day before. This was a 23 hour bus ride. Getting into the bus station, about 10 sangthaew (little trucks with 2 benches in the back) and tuk tuk drivers who call wanted to drive us into town, bum rushed the seven dirty, exhausted, impatient and oh-so hungry falang (foreigner) as we tried to go down the bus stairs. All shouting prices and waving us over, grabbing our arms, steering us toward their vehicles... Kellie and I and two Welsh people broke free and headed away from the chaos towards the entrance to the bus station where we bargained another, seemingly-understanding driver to take us into the center. Little did we know.....The picture above is the Welsh people (Zeb and Holly) and Kellie in the back of the coal truck we found ourselves in after we realized that we were not in fact heading towards the city center, but were more than 40k towards the next town. There had been only a slight miscommunication and he had thought we said 60,000, not 6,000. Oops. The coal truck we waved down from the side of the road was happy to accommodate us and dropped us off just outside of the center and we had to take another tuk tuk to a lovely little Indian restaurant to finally eat dinner....Ahhhh.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
bike ride!
SE Asia is finally here! After a month in Indonesia, and a few days sampling the culinary delights that are ubiquitous in Singapore, Pete and I arrived in Bangkok, where we met up with our local expat friend from UC Santa Cruz. Matt's been living in Bangkok and working for the UN for 3 years, so he knows the ropes and has the connections; he also taught us smatterings of Thai, took us to the best restaurant in Thailand (a few photos of the food and our licked-clean plates are on my flickr; see link below); introduced us to his very cool Thai friends and his visiting New Jersey Jewish parents, both of who were totally shocked when Jesse (my cousin) and I sadly had to reveal that even tho all Jewish people we meet insist we surely must be Jewish that we were in fact not. Matt's been a key addition to our fun and happiness factor over here.
We took some advice and spent 10 days in a Vipassana Meditation Center in Prachinburi, Thailand, where we did not speak, read, write, make eye contact, exercise, or really do much else but meditate or sleep for 14 hours a day. It was a life-changing experience for sure, and I can unequivocally say that I am a happier, calmer, more positive and accepting of life's experiences person after getting deep deep inside my psyche and the nature of my consciousness. I did not decide to give up the beer-drinking however. Some people apparently expressed concern that I might just want to now meditate all day....Fat chance!
Jesse, Kellie (my sister is here traveling with me for almost 3 months!!!!!), Matt and I are working our way up thru Laos, Cambodia and (mostly) Vietnam together over the next few weeks. More recently we've gotten into some dodgier parts of town, i.e. Lakeside in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Late at night Kellie and I could hear the rats splashing and squealing while at the pool party taking place in the large puddles that had collected outside of our $5/night room. Sleep was interrupted by the rats or the occasional prostitute or drunken "fa rang" ambling down the hall that was more than just a tad reminiscent of urine-stained tile and rotting wood. Mmmmmm.
Today we're in In Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon, where your day can consist of a bicycle-driven cart by a sweet old man who will show you letters of praise from Teresa Smith from California, and Bob Owens, "Van is just about the best tour roller ever!" Huh? Or buying tissues or gum --Happytyne-- from kids and women with babies on their shoulders who may be working for bad bad people; incredible incredible vegetarian Vietnamese food, enormous wholesale markets with people puking in front of them (this was Matt after lunch); sprinting and dodging thru the 16 motorbikes whizzing by each second to cross the street; the viewing of jars of deformed embryos -- effects of the Agent Orange the US sprayed years ago at the War Remnants Museum. On the opposite wall you can also see pastel pictures drawn by little kids of deformed children reading and writing, people fishing in clean blue rivers, US bomber helicopters, underneath which lay massively charred bodies, dollar bills; or Kellie's favorite: the contemplative man in the wheelchair, playing guitar and pondering over the gruesome affects of the war on the people as well as the environment. There are camo planes flying thru blue skies and fluffy clouds, dropping bombs in the background with smiling children in the forest. (Agent Orange and its Victims was the title). I think we all had some terribly tough moments today at the museum. Especially being Americans....
Tonight was supposed to be the big going out night, but alas.... (We spent 3 nights on a small land mass on the Mekong in Laos, 1 night, but 2 days at the gianormous rat rec room at the Happy Guesthouse #9, where we were unsurreptitiously offered opium and weed every time we stepped out the door. (You do know what "happy" means, don't you?) A day and a half in the lovely little town of Chau Doc, on the semi-border of Vietnam, just off the Bassac River proved to be quite enjoyable and with a kick-ass vegetarian restaurant to boot. All 4 of us long ago chose to eschew the action of animal-eating, so almost every meal is a shared feast. We took a 6-hour boat ride down this river and the Mekong into Vietnam. Noisy, but pretty epic to come into Vietnam that way.
So, no going out tonight due to the fact that the puke lunch consisted of noodles with MSG-ridden, salt-infested god knows WHAT vegetable (??), slimy bean sprouts and an oddly fishiesh, odoriferous, very odoriferous indeed, snail and scarab infused sauce/ooze tofu and/or gluten-maybe meal. I saw 2 rats; one in the jaws of an enormous cat, and another scurry under our table. Matt felt something scurry across his sandal and when he looked under the tablecloth he kicked over a brick and out scatted 10 cucarachas, plus the couple that had jumped around his feet. Matt was adversely affected and is now sick, puking in his room after we searched thru miles of flip flops, 10 to a bag. Buy one; you buy all! We wandered around upstairs; another maze of cute underpants, silk local scarves, 20x magnified Ralph Lauren polos, extra thick face masks. Jesse and Matt each bought one for the thick smog of pollution around here. Tonight we're taking the night bus to Na Trangh. The seats even recline almost all the way! I've heard that the ride is beautiful, with unspoilt beaches giving way to rugged coastlines where the forest drops into the sea, boats laze in the bays, and small towns pop up in the mountains and the coast. Once in Na Trangh I'm hoping to do a little English teaching /volunteering there to get ready for working in a few months.
Life is oozing with a completely full sensory overload. Spices, grilling meats, jasmine, durian "king of fruit" and jasmine mingle with the smell of exhaust from diesel buses. From urban elephants to ladyboys, from dog masseurs/flea finders to fortune tellers; everything you could imagine is here.
Pete is on his way home next week for a very important wedding (he's playing guitar while his friends walk down the aisle), so he can be me reincarnate while there i guess.
I miss you all; love you all and hope to hear back. I've uploaded most of the photos on flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stratosphere/sets/
We took some advice and spent 10 days in a Vipassana Meditation Center in Prachinburi, Thailand, where we did not speak, read, write, make eye contact, exercise, or really do much else but meditate or sleep for 14 hours a day. It was a life-changing experience for sure, and I can unequivocally say that I am a happier, calmer, more positive and accepting of life's experiences person after getting deep deep inside my psyche and the nature of my consciousness. I did not decide to give up the beer-drinking however. Some people apparently expressed concern that I might just want to now meditate all day....Fat chance!
Jesse, Kellie (my sister is here traveling with me for almost 3 months!!!!!), Matt and I are working our way up thru Laos, Cambodia and (mostly) Vietnam together over the next few weeks. More recently we've gotten into some dodgier parts of town, i.e. Lakeside in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Late at night Kellie and I could hear the rats splashing and squealing while at the pool party taking place in the large puddles that had collected outside of our $5/night room. Sleep was interrupted by the rats or the occasional prostitute or drunken "fa rang" ambling down the hall that was more than just a tad reminiscent of urine-stained tile and rotting wood. Mmmmmm.
Today we're in In Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon, where your day can consist of a bicycle-driven cart by a sweet old man who will show you letters of praise from Teresa Smith from California, and Bob Owens, "Van is just about the best tour roller ever!" Huh? Or buying tissues or gum --Happytyne-- from kids and women with babies on their shoulders who may be working for bad bad people; incredible incredible vegetarian Vietnamese food, enormous wholesale markets with people puking in front of them (this was Matt after lunch); sprinting and dodging thru the 16 motorbikes whizzing by each second to cross the street; the viewing of jars of deformed embryos -- effects of the Agent Orange the US sprayed years ago at the War Remnants Museum. On the opposite wall you can also see pastel pictures drawn by little kids of deformed children reading and writing, people fishing in clean blue rivers, US bomber helicopters, underneath which lay massively charred bodies, dollar bills; or Kellie's favorite: the contemplative man in the wheelchair, playing guitar and pondering over the gruesome affects of the war on the people as well as the environment. There are camo planes flying thru blue skies and fluffy clouds, dropping bombs in the background with smiling children in the forest. (Agent Orange and its Victims was the title). I think we all had some terribly tough moments today at the museum. Especially being Americans....
Tonight was supposed to be the big going out night, but alas.... (We spent 3 nights on a small land mass on the Mekong in Laos, 1 night, but 2 days at the gianormous rat rec room at the Happy Guesthouse #9, where we were unsurreptitiously offered opium and weed every time we stepped out the door. (You do know what "happy" means, don't you?) A day and a half in the lovely little town of Chau Doc, on the semi-border of Vietnam, just off the Bassac River proved to be quite enjoyable and with a kick-ass vegetarian restaurant to boot. All 4 of us long ago chose to eschew the action of animal-eating, so almost every meal is a shared feast. We took a 6-hour boat ride down this river and the Mekong into Vietnam. Noisy, but pretty epic to come into Vietnam that way.
So, no going out tonight due to the fact that the puke lunch consisted of noodles with MSG-ridden, salt-infested god knows WHAT vegetable (??), slimy bean sprouts and an oddly fishiesh, odoriferous, very odoriferous indeed, snail and scarab infused sauce/ooze tofu and/or gluten-maybe meal. I saw 2 rats; one in the jaws of an enormous cat, and another scurry under our table. Matt felt something scurry across his sandal and when he looked under the tablecloth he kicked over a brick and out scatted 10 cucarachas, plus the couple that had jumped around his feet. Matt was adversely affected and is now sick, puking in his room after we searched thru miles of flip flops, 10 to a bag. Buy one; you buy all! We wandered around upstairs; another maze of cute underpants, silk local scarves, 20x magnified Ralph Lauren polos, extra thick face masks. Jesse and Matt each bought one for the thick smog of pollution around here. Tonight we're taking the night bus to Na Trangh. The seats even recline almost all the way! I've heard that the ride is beautiful, with unspoilt beaches giving way to rugged coastlines where the forest drops into the sea, boats laze in the bays, and small towns pop up in the mountains and the coast. Once in Na Trangh I'm hoping to do a little English teaching /volunteering there to get ready for working in a few months.
Life is oozing with a completely full sensory overload. Spices, grilling meats, jasmine, durian "king of fruit" and jasmine mingle with the smell of exhaust from diesel buses. From urban elephants to ladyboys, from dog masseurs/flea finders to fortune tellers; everything you could imagine is here.
Pete is on his way home next week for a very important wedding (he's playing guitar while his friends walk down the aisle), so he can be me reincarnate while there i guess.
I miss you all; love you all and hope to hear back. I've uploaded most of the photos on flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stratosphere/sets/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)