After the wonders of Angkor Wat, it was time to move on to the next destination. This my favorite mode of transportation thus far: the slow boat to Battambang; and what a phenomenal ride it was! The six hour journey through Tonle Sap Lake wasn’t the most impressive as far as bodies of water go but the glimpse into Cambodian river life was what impressed. Fisherman casting simple nets, kids waving, smiling and generally having a good time dancing as we passed by and my favorite was being mooned by these fun loving children. Or perhaps they didn’t like the slow boat disrupting their lives, who knows? Regardless, it was so fun to see kids (most of which were naked) having fun with us! I got the impression that despite the seeming poverty these kids lived in, they were happy, I can’t imagine American children being the same. The only down side to the trip was our boat scraping against the trees causing us all to huddle on one side so as not to get smacked by the trees. Although this was when Barry stopped drooling on my shoulder so I can’t entirely complain . Sorry to call you out dude but only getting one hour sleep the night before caused my new travel bud to miss half the trip.
Lonely Planet made Battambang sound so charming with the French provincial architecture. Lonely Planet, you lie! Cute enough town but nothing I’d write home about. Barry felt the same and the night life was virtually non-existent. We found a cute restaurant and ate on the balcony to avoid the street touts before heading to the supposedly happening Riverside balcony bar (where Angelina Jolie frequented while filming Lara Croft) and closed the place down (a new term for my British friend) at 10:30 pm on a Saturday night. Hmmmm, we decided then and there to take the next night bus to the party beach town in Cambodia.
I typically avoid tours like the plague but there wasn’t much of an option to see the surrounding villages of Battambang otherwise so we hired Soon, an English speaking guide to drive us around in his tuk tuk. Each village specializes in just one product and the whole family is involved in making it. First up: rice paper and rice noodles. Rice paper is made with very few ingredients just rice, sugar and salt, palm sugar is added if fried rolls are made and the sun dries it all, when it’s out that is. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very sunny day so breaks were compulsory. Curious what they do during the rainy season, many more breaks I suppose. Next up: fish paste and fish sauce where all parts of the fish, including the bones ferment in this village for 3-4 months resulting in the loveliest of smells. And the strangest behavior I’ve seen from a monk so far: riding in a tuk tuk talking on his cell phone he stuck out his tongue at us! Huh? Wasn’t aware Buddha taught such things, perhaps the smell went to his brain ;-). And the last village we visited made bamboo sticky rice. Seriously impressed as to how resourceful these people are in utilizing bamboo, it’s in absolutely everything: cooking, food, furniture, housing, you name it, I’m sure they have a way to use it. But my favorite: transportation! We rode a bamboo train!!!!! Probably only went as fast as 20 km/hr but sitting on a bamboo mat powered by a motor and sitting so close to the ground was so fun! Even as we could feel all the bumps the whole 7 km we went to…well, nowhere really. Essentially it’s just a tourist trap to a village to buy drinks and visit a tiny brick factory where kids gave us a quick tour. Plus the train had only one track, so we had to get off our bamboo mat and let the others pass, now that’s efficiency ;-)
Off to explore a temple complex complete with killing caves. We climbed up to see the view and despite horrible directions, managed to find the killing caves and along the way passed by some monkeys, kids dancing hip hop trying to sell us their services as tour guides, and a little girl blowing us a kiss so cute!. We kept asking for directions to the caves and monks all gave us different answers. But I think Barry summed up our experience well: all directions could lead us to enlightenment, wish I had thought of that! The complex had many Cambodian Buddhas, apparently each country’s Buddha looks slightly different with Cambodia’s difference in the longer ears as they are better listeners. The cave itself was disappointing but then again we didn’t go all the way in, just took some pictures and felt obligated to tip as the monk by the entrance had a deformed face, I felt so sorry for him but the cynical side of me wondered if he was placed there to do just that. The cave has a gruesome history, of course, people were dropped quite a long distance into the caves to their death. The few minutes we were exploring we made a friend, a little boy maybe 3 years old in his pajamas pushing a toy truck the whole time staying so close to us he kept getting in our way, but how can you be upset with a little boy wearing red nail polish, wow! Probably the most random two hours I’ve ever spent. Back to our hotel/hostel to the rooftop bar area where I spent the remaining time until our night bus asleep in a hammock.
At the “bus station” waiting for an hour or so was my first sighting of sparrow….to eat! The birds were fried and displayed in the street vendors cart. Not what I wanted to eat at midnight but hey, maybe later. The night bus wasn’t too bad although I never really sleep so arrived in Sihanoukville desperately needing a nap. Tried to check in to the most popular hostel and they were full so off to a guest house right on the beach and in a great location next to the disco bar we ended up at each night. Wicked! Tranquility Guest house was the name, the price was right and even though it just had cold water, that’s all I wanted anyway. Two beds and only one fan so as Ben, our new British friend commented, we only had ½ fan and it was damn hot! But we barely spent any time in the room, why would we as the well, actually not so lovely but just ok Sihanoukville beach awaited us just outside our door! But as you can guess, one does not go to S-ville for the beaches, one goes there to party and it did not disappoint.
All I wanted to do was nap on the beach after the long night bus but as I was sitting in the middle of two English boys who decided to have the locals give them pedis and manis, this did not happen. Seriously, I’m the girl here, shouldn’t it be me? But no, all I wanted to do was sleep so when the lady was using my beach chair to get a better angle for these boys, oh wow, I couldn’t believe it! And once you use their services they bug you the rest of the time so I would not buy anything from them the whole week, I just wanted to rest on the beach and not be bothered but of course this never happened, the boys continued to get massages, etc. from them. What I did get from my time with Barry and Ben was a crash course in British speak. It all started with Jai and then my courses intensified with B & B. I had to stop them in mid-sentence a lot of the time as I couldn’t understand what they were saying. How am I supposed to know what a toastie is? And sorted is used instead of to figure something out. And I still don’t understand what knickers are, it sounds so old-fashioned, are they panties or what?
The biggest decision I made the whole time in partyville was what to eat for lunch and dinner and since I missed breakfast that made only two decisions per day. We had a few memorable meals: bbq on the beach with barracuda and the most memorable was the sparrow, told ya I’d have it later. We had to let our guesthouse know 12 hours beforehand so the staff could buy it at the market, surprising that someone doesn’t order it every night, right? It actually wasn’t too bad, basically tasted like chicken but a lot of work for the small amount of meat you got but at least we were spared from eating it like the local Khmer do: the head and all. Our meal looked like chicken wings basically.
So the nightlife I keep referring to. Avoid Utopia, please. It is a sad mix of prostitutes and very old mostly White men and very young mostly Asian girls. We all got a bad vibe so instead each night we frequented the dolphin shack on the beach, where we somehow managed to get free shots of the local Mekong whiskey, ewwww. And the buckets at JJ’s made me sick every night and hungover the next day but I continued on, great music and good fun peeps. It was a great crew with Grethe and Megan, two fun girls traveling together from South Africa and met up with Jean again from Siem Reap. Good times! S-ville is on the backpacker’s circuit and small enough that you keep running into people you’ve traveled with at some other point and even the same locals, who I even saw on my day trip to Bamboo Island.
I so wish I had more time at Bamboo Island! I only took a day boat trip with a stop along the way to snorkel. Ate more bbq on the beach and then took a short walk to the other side of the beautiful, peaceful island to find there is just one place to stay: in the bungalows or the dorm and just one place to eat. But the remoteness meant no touts bother you, you can actually relax which is exactly what I was doing until I heard some people shouting, I turned and there was a goat (found out later his name was, appropriately, Rambo) headbutting this guy forcing him to run into the ocean while his friends were taking pictures of him! So of course I got in on the action and the goat got too close and I freaked a bit then as the goat left started talking and what cool peeps: Sean is from New York about to move to Australia and traveling with his friends Kate and Gus from Byron’s Bay. I was so close to staying the night, skipping my ferry back to toutville and staying in peaceful beach bungalow land where the electricity goes out at 11 pm each night. But the realistic part of me won out as I had to get back to Bangkok the next day
And as tradition has it, it was another bus journey to write about. I was told it would take only 12 hours to Bangkok which would have given me enough time to chill for the day, rest and meet up with my friends Ali and Sirima from Seattle that night. But you already knew I wouldn’t have it that easy, right? The route changed to pass through Siem Reap on the nicest sleeper bus so very happy about that. Arriving into Siem Reap I was well rested so should have been prepared for the boiling tarantulas, they were selling them to be eaten, ewwww. And then the waiting and transferring began, I lost track of how many. One minivan took us to breakfast then a ride on a tuk tuk with the guy who almost fell out of his bed he was so drunk the night prior, to wait for another big bus. This bus went toodling along for quite some time, had an interesting conversation with Nathalie from Victoria, BC and then boom!! We go careening to the side of the road, flat tire! We all got out in the hot Cambodian sun only a few kilometers from the Thai border. The changing of the flat tire was surprisingly efficient, maybe only 30 minutes and then we were off again to another bad border crossing at Poipet, this one taking over an hour in the heat with all of our bags. Then the transfer to another minivan for 4 hours or so and I was almost home free, although 10 hours later than they said, a total of 22 hours of bus travel. So glad to be on terra firma….Bangkok, nice to see you again!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Cambodia: the heavies--Killing Fields & Angkor Wat
$2 to the Laos government to leave their country, $1 to the non-official looking health screening and $2 to the Cambodia government followed by a hot walk with all of my bags to cross the border to be told the bus is already full. This was my introduction to Cambodia, questionably affectionately termed Scambodia, to steal Roy's term. And it kept getting better as 2 hours late from a 14 hr bus ride including 5 or 6 minibuses, I finally found my hostel an hour later in the pitch black and then had a creepy, crawly thing land on my leg in the hostel and wouldn't you know it, I screamed bloody murder but the thing was huge and green, I have pictures and Jai was my witness! How nice to meet up again, she was the best thing about Phnom Penh. Ahhhh, the city that smells like a zoo. Really I'm trying to think of good words about it but I just can not. This is the dirtiest city I've ever been to, it's hot, touts are everywhere, tuk tuks pull up right next to you practically running you over and the drivers get mad when you're not interested in using their services. And this was just my first day. Then again, Cambodia really does pack a tourist punch with the horrific genocidal history as exemplified by the S21 torture museum and the killing fields and then you have one of the magnificent wonders of the world showcasing the glory days of Khmer history: Angkor Wat. My Scambodian experience also included a slow boat from Siem Reap to Battambang with a tour of villages making fish paste (yummy smell ewwwww) complete with a ride on a bamboo train then I partied in the beach town of Sihanoukville. So I thought I'd love Cambodia, thought it'd be the highlight of my southeast Asian tour blah blah blah but this was not the case mostly as you are constantly bothered with touts all vying for your business selling the exact same product and the beggars on the beach, some missing limbs which you feel horrible about, all this resulting in my never really relaxing. Even so, I did thoroughly enjoy Siem Reap and Battambang. So here are the sordid details:
PHNOM PENH
Me mates place hostel: where the sheets are dirty and ants explode all over your banana chips. Pictures to follow.
The first day we walked around in the heat looking for the torture prison. Supposedly the city is set up in a grid system like American cities but not true. Walked around looking for block 182 and it didn't exist, walked between 178 and 184 like morons in the heat.
Eventually we found the S 21 Prison Tong Sleng, an expectedly depressing place with only 8 survivors. This was where political prisoners were held and tortured and pictures and torture equipment were on display. We walked through the cells where prisoners were held prior to being tortured. Mug shots were taken of every single person who died, prominently displayed along with some truly horrific pictures of people who had been tortured to death on the beds. A massively somber place to visit but felt to not acknowledge the genocide Cambodia went through is to not fully appreciate the country you are visiting.
Needing to let go of the heaviness, what better way than a trip to the local pharmacy. Jai wouldn't let me go on my own and I'm so glad she didn't as trying to translate the list of things needed was too comical to experience on one's own. Imagine needing a pregnancy test, contact solution and first aid care for a burn at a street side pharmacy where English is barely spoken. Comical to say the very least. Pregnancy test needed no explanation. Very few Cambodians use contacts so they brought me eye drops at first, then had to do a massive charades act involving going to sleep at night to get what I needed but the funniest ever was burn care. Because the city was so very dirty, I needed to cover my open wound but couldn't find anything to keep the antibiotic cream from sticking to the gauze. Jai and I both went through a couple of explanations and finally all I needed to say was BURN! I was praying I did not have to go to a hospital as it did not look like it was healing well so a quick email picture to the best nurse in the world (luv ya Leah girl!) consoled me that it was healing fine, yippppeeeee. Although experiencing a Cambodian hospital would surely entail some other hilarious story, I'm sure.
Time to experience some nightlife, well at least a good Mexican restaurant. I was absolutely craving guacamole, I'm such a Texas girl, no luck and it was really bad Mexican food, what I get for trying Western food. This is when I started getting annoyed at the touts, in the restaurants they even come up to you, there is absolutely no escape, the children will touch you and they won't take no for an answer. And "hey lady, want tuk tuk?" This was repeated ad nauseum.
The next day, ironically, is where I first saw PP could be nice, the tuk tuk ride to the countryside was really quite beautiful. But the destination not so much: The killing fields a.k.a. Cheung Eok Genocide Center. In reality, I thought they were done quite well, I was expecting to leave rather depressed and instead felt hopeful that the perpetrators would be held accountable for their horrific acts. So far only Duch admitted remorse for atrocities and crimes committed against humanity. He's been in prison since 1999 awaiting trial, other officials are still denying the killing occurred, can you imagine? Very curious history, the Cambodian government didn't ask for help from the UN until 1997, the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia almost 20 years earlier in 1979. But what the government is doing correct now is encouraging people to visit so future generations learn and don't repeat this horrific pattern. But I don't understand why the government is not forcing officials from the Khmer Rouge to trial. Another curious tidbit is not all grave sites have been excavated so the total number of people who died from Pol Pot and his regime is unknown. All in all, glad to experience all this with someone, it would have been miserable to not have anyone to talk to about the experience afterwards. The actual grounds were full of graves with headless people, one just for women and children, and another for those who died naked. :( Immediately upon entering the fields, you see the stupa filled with skulls in tiers, at the bottom there's clothing and each tier contains different ages of skulls. This stupa was built to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of liberation day.
We had to find some lightness and it came at the expense of my fellow country men. A very badly dressed older man was very loudly commenting on a bird chirping in the tree. Oh, did I mention he was in suspenders and a very tacky Jesus saves shirt and had a beer belly protruding out of said suspenders/pants. Ok, not very nice of me but desperately seeking humor at this point. Jai just had to ask him where he was from, assuming he was American, I was so happy he was not. And I won't bash any other country by divulging where he was from. So it was off to the races, had to get back quickly for the bus to Siem Reap but not without first racing another tuk tuk full of German boys. All in all, 2 nights, 36 hours was plenty of time in PP.
SIEM REAP
Cara Croft (thanks for the new nickname Gwen) is happy to report Siem Reap is a whole different story! But really, how can you go wrong with the amazing ruins of Angkor Wat? Well, to get there was another smelly adventure, really sometimes I wish I didn't have such a keen sense of smell. It was the bus there, it truly smelled like a zoo, this country doesn't smell well at all and it gets worse in Sihanoukville the sewage system was just rank...but I digress. Truly, the buses are an interesting journey with the constant honking to let others know we're approaching but is it even possible to miss such huge buses? And the shadiest bus stations you've ever seen....never in the US would you even think of taking a bus ride from these places but alas when in Cambodia. I should mention the buses themselves are not horrible, it's the crazy driving and honking and toilets on the bus ewwww.
Hostel was pretty cool, we stayed in a 6 bed mixed dorm glad Jai was with me though, we both disliked a pompous American who always locked the bathroom door when showering for what seemed like hours, really that's about triple the amount of time any girl needs but I will restrict my judgment any further. Met lots of cool peeps though: Barry from the UK whom I would later travel with for a bit, Jean, a tour guide from Ireland, and Tom from England to name a few. Except you boys were kinda smelly (here I go again) and the shower sometimes refused to come out, mostly just cold dribble and there were brown outs or power outages, all the pleasures of Cambodian hostel living.
So here's how our little daily routine went: our tuk tuk driver picked us up from the bus station and apparently he was assigned to us for the whole trip. There must be jealousy among drivers, if we decided we didn't want him for the day, then what? Theour was ours and we loved him! He looked like Batman with his jacket blowing in the wind! And he loved Jai! He wanted her to try a local, oh no, he didn't, yes he actually said that! He was absolutely fascinated with her tongue ring and yes, I have to say it, her boobs. He couldn't take his eyes off her, we caught him looking as he was driving, uh oh! He got such a kick out of us! Once as we were driving we were discussing something about sex and absolutely forgot he could understand us, well he pulled a really fast turn, was laughing and said he missed his turn, RIGHT!! I digress yet again. Basically, the tuk tuk is a nice way to see the ruins, you can enjoy the breeze as you are shuttled from ruin to ruin and greeted with every sort of hawker imaginable once you stop. Lady, want water? Bracelet? Flute? Book? Lady, you promise when get back buy from me I remember you. At least it's not outright begging, they are just clamoring for your money and using bracelets instead. Sound jaded? Oh yeah, it took away from the majesty of the place, you just experienced some of the great wonders of the world only to be rushed back to the reality of the Cambodian way of doing business, in your face and unrelenting. Decided right then and there I must look at this in a different way. Jai was even more annoyed by them, they drove her absolutely mental, so when getting ready to approach the touts after breakfast, I said here, Jai, take my camera, I really want postcards and water from these kids, let's consider this a cultural experiment. So I went out with guns blazing (a.k.a. dollar bills in my hands) and wouldn't you know, I was virtually attacked, the kids swarmed around me. There was meanness and competition between the kids, this was apparent when trying to distribute the money evenly, there were ugly words and I was told I was rude when I didn't buy from each of them. Wow, Jai and I told the kids not to be rude, they didn't think they were. Sad. Unfortunately, they make more money than their parents and must give all the money they make to their family. On another occasion, a kid wanted coins from our country even as he couldn't exchange them, Cambodia only uses US dollars but just the notes and gives change in riel but no coins. This kid could name off each country's coin, this is definitely a future investment banker in the making if he can get out of the poverty cycle. He was the one kid I gave money to.
So I guess I should go into details on the ruins themselves. Of course, Angkor Wat was our first stop and it was impressive although in scaffolding and we were not appropriately dressed as it was considered a wat even though monks don't live there, huh? Even when visiting ruins one must cover shoulders and legs, wild. It was so hot so I just showed my disrespect, sorry Buddha. The next ruin, Bayon was full of faces. Two faced people existed even back then, who knew. :) Next stop was the most popular one at sunset as was obvious with the hordes of people all rushing to the top, made me want to just casually stroll. Definitely didn't dress appropriately for this either as I completely flashed Jai (for this I continue to apologize) as I went up first climbing the steep steps. Once she glanced up she couldn't stop laughing and others tried to climb up right after me and she kept laughing and when others not understanding English tried to climb after me she wouldn't let them and I just continued to carry on my way slowly climbing up with my dress between my legs covering as much as I possibly could while tears rolled down my face I was laughing so hard! Don't wear a dress to this ruin, just a kind suggestion! And I apologize for not wearing proper panties and for whoever else I gross out by saying this, oy.
It got even better! So we were just sitting on the ruin steps minding our own business enjoying the view when I was almost pushed over! A Japanese tourist lost his footing when trying to take a picture and couldn't stop laughing, meanwhile almost pushing me off the ruins, I grabbed Jai and she would've followed after me had she not caught me. Oh and then as were leaving trying to get a head start before all the other tourists left climbing down at the same time, a man leaped onto me! I kid you not! WTH? Do I have trip me, push me, hurt me, written all over my face? Funnily enough, this was on a day Jai termed for me to be accident free. Well I somehow survived but do not have fond memories of that ruin other than flashing poor Jai! After many ruins, I knew I'd never remember the names unless I renamed them myself. So faces it became, Lara Croft, Stairway to heaven, Headless peeps, Elephant tower, and water stagnation. Ta Prohm aka Tomb Raider temple was easy enough, either that or trees gone wild! What a cool place to film a movie!
Siem Reap itself is a cute town with lots of good restaurants, a night market, and Pub St with tons of you guessed it, pubs. Angelina Jolie has a drink named after her at Red Piano bar. As you can imagine, they love her! Had a meal at the night market for $2 which consisted of chicken lok lak and a mango shake, not too shabby. One night we went to the Butterfly restaurant which gives some of its' proceeds to benefit children. As I have a fondness for things/words lost in translation and notice misspelled words and how they are mispronounced like flied lice, I sometimes take it too far. For instance, I loved when our server said cakecheese instead of cheesecake, is it mean that I asked him to repeat a few times? And shrimps, it cracks me up every time! Ok, please refer to engrish.com and you get my kind of humor. I guess it was my karma when I walked out to the tuk tuk, Theour jumped out at me and of course, I screamed bloody murder. Anyway, another random note, I'm getting used to having others do my laundry, it's really quite nice but I had never had a place count out the pieces and then when returned all had yellow ties on them. Meticulous! The little things that never cease to amaze me. Hmmm, either that or I amuse quite easily.
A night of cultural dancing was not exactly my cup of tea but thought I'd open my mind a bit, it was kinda interesting but mostly for the buffet, a bit too touristy for my taste or maybe it was ruined by the Russian men beside us as they left halfway through the performance and were loud and rude the other half. Afterwards checked out the night market but so low on money couldn't buy anything. Finally received my second wire from my parents and it came at exactly the right time: I only had $53 left to my name in cash which just so happened to be the exact amount I owed Jai, wicked! It was quite a frustrating thing to have your cards sent to Siem Reap and never arriving not realizing when I ordered them how terrible the post system was. We even went in to the post office to see if my card was just sitting there and the mailman instructed us to go through all of the mail and check in their book!! Not a very efficient nor private system but it amused us for half an hour. Some poor lady has a million letters just waiting for her gathering dust.
On the last day visiting the ruins, we got up for the sunrise and could only stomach returning to Angkor Wat, which truly was stunning. Even dressed appropriately this time so we could climb up the tower but wouldn't you know it, it was too early but not early enough for the men to offer to take us up for a steep price. So how is it not appropriate for them to be complete jerks to us and we are inappropriate by not covering our shoulders? So enough of the ruins, we asked Theour to drive us around the countryside and we saw some gorgeous countryside and made Theour stop when a motorcycle was passing by with 4 dead pigs on them! He must've thought we were nuts but really we don't see this in our respective countries. We tried to visit a floating forest but when we tried to split the cost with a Spanish couple and were told we were unable to, the Cambodian way of business, we were tired of feeling like we were getting ripped off so in principle skipped it and just enjoyed the ride instead!
Battambang and Sihanoukville to follow....this post is already so long!
PHNOM PENH
Me mates place hostel: where the sheets are dirty and ants explode all over your banana chips. Pictures to follow.
The first day we walked around in the heat looking for the torture prison. Supposedly the city is set up in a grid system like American cities but not true. Walked around looking for block 182 and it didn't exist, walked between 178 and 184 like morons in the heat.
Eventually we found the S 21 Prison Tong Sleng, an expectedly depressing place with only 8 survivors. This was where political prisoners were held and tortured and pictures and torture equipment were on display. We walked through the cells where prisoners were held prior to being tortured. Mug shots were taken of every single person who died, prominently displayed along with some truly horrific pictures of people who had been tortured to death on the beds. A massively somber place to visit but felt to not acknowledge the genocide Cambodia went through is to not fully appreciate the country you are visiting.
Needing to let go of the heaviness, what better way than a trip to the local pharmacy. Jai wouldn't let me go on my own and I'm so glad she didn't as trying to translate the list of things needed was too comical to experience on one's own. Imagine needing a pregnancy test, contact solution and first aid care for a burn at a street side pharmacy where English is barely spoken. Comical to say the very least. Pregnancy test needed no explanation. Very few Cambodians use contacts so they brought me eye drops at first, then had to do a massive charades act involving going to sleep at night to get what I needed but the funniest ever was burn care. Because the city was so very dirty, I needed to cover my open wound but couldn't find anything to keep the antibiotic cream from sticking to the gauze. Jai and I both went through a couple of explanations and finally all I needed to say was BURN! I was praying I did not have to go to a hospital as it did not look like it was healing well so a quick email picture to the best nurse in the world (luv ya Leah girl!) consoled me that it was healing fine, yippppeeeee. Although experiencing a Cambodian hospital would surely entail some other hilarious story, I'm sure.
Time to experience some nightlife, well at least a good Mexican restaurant. I was absolutely craving guacamole, I'm such a Texas girl, no luck and it was really bad Mexican food, what I get for trying Western food. This is when I started getting annoyed at the touts, in the restaurants they even come up to you, there is absolutely no escape, the children will touch you and they won't take no for an answer. And "hey lady, want tuk tuk?" This was repeated ad nauseum.
The next day, ironically, is where I first saw PP could be nice, the tuk tuk ride to the countryside was really quite beautiful. But the destination not so much: The killing fields a.k.a. Cheung Eok Genocide Center. In reality, I thought they were done quite well, I was expecting to leave rather depressed and instead felt hopeful that the perpetrators would be held accountable for their horrific acts. So far only Duch admitted remorse for atrocities and crimes committed against humanity. He's been in prison since 1999 awaiting trial, other officials are still denying the killing occurred, can you imagine? Very curious history, the Cambodian government didn't ask for help from the UN until 1997, the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia almost 20 years earlier in 1979. But what the government is doing correct now is encouraging people to visit so future generations learn and don't repeat this horrific pattern. But I don't understand why the government is not forcing officials from the Khmer Rouge to trial. Another curious tidbit is not all grave sites have been excavated so the total number of people who died from Pol Pot and his regime is unknown. All in all, glad to experience all this with someone, it would have been miserable to not have anyone to talk to about the experience afterwards. The actual grounds were full of graves with headless people, one just for women and children, and another for those who died naked. :( Immediately upon entering the fields, you see the stupa filled with skulls in tiers, at the bottom there's clothing and each tier contains different ages of skulls. This stupa was built to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of liberation day.
We had to find some lightness and it came at the expense of my fellow country men. A very badly dressed older man was very loudly commenting on a bird chirping in the tree. Oh, did I mention he was in suspenders and a very tacky Jesus saves shirt and had a beer belly protruding out of said suspenders/pants. Ok, not very nice of me but desperately seeking humor at this point. Jai just had to ask him where he was from, assuming he was American, I was so happy he was not. And I won't bash any other country by divulging where he was from. So it was off to the races, had to get back quickly for the bus to Siem Reap but not without first racing another tuk tuk full of German boys. All in all, 2 nights, 36 hours was plenty of time in PP.
SIEM REAP
Cara Croft (thanks for the new nickname Gwen) is happy to report Siem Reap is a whole different story! But really, how can you go wrong with the amazing ruins of Angkor Wat? Well, to get there was another smelly adventure, really sometimes I wish I didn't have such a keen sense of smell. It was the bus there, it truly smelled like a zoo, this country doesn't smell well at all and it gets worse in Sihanoukville the sewage system was just rank...but I digress. Truly, the buses are an interesting journey with the constant honking to let others know we're approaching but is it even possible to miss such huge buses? And the shadiest bus stations you've ever seen....never in the US would you even think of taking a bus ride from these places but alas when in Cambodia. I should mention the buses themselves are not horrible, it's the crazy driving and honking and toilets on the bus ewwww.
Hostel was pretty cool, we stayed in a 6 bed mixed dorm glad Jai was with me though, we both disliked a pompous American who always locked the bathroom door when showering for what seemed like hours, really that's about triple the amount of time any girl needs but I will restrict my judgment any further. Met lots of cool peeps though: Barry from the UK whom I would later travel with for a bit, Jean, a tour guide from Ireland, and Tom from England to name a few. Except you boys were kinda smelly (here I go again) and the shower sometimes refused to come out, mostly just cold dribble and there were brown outs or power outages, all the pleasures of Cambodian hostel living.
So here's how our little daily routine went: our tuk tuk driver picked us up from the bus station and apparently he was assigned to us for the whole trip. There must be jealousy among drivers, if we decided we didn't want him for the day, then what? Theour was ours and we loved him! He looked like Batman with his jacket blowing in the wind! And he loved Jai! He wanted her to try a local, oh no, he didn't, yes he actually said that! He was absolutely fascinated with her tongue ring and yes, I have to say it, her boobs. He couldn't take his eyes off her, we caught him looking as he was driving, uh oh! He got such a kick out of us! Once as we were driving we were discussing something about sex and absolutely forgot he could understand us, well he pulled a really fast turn, was laughing and said he missed his turn, RIGHT!! I digress yet again. Basically, the tuk tuk is a nice way to see the ruins, you can enjoy the breeze as you are shuttled from ruin to ruin and greeted with every sort of hawker imaginable once you stop. Lady, want water? Bracelet? Flute? Book? Lady, you promise when get back buy from me I remember you. At least it's not outright begging, they are just clamoring for your money and using bracelets instead. Sound jaded? Oh yeah, it took away from the majesty of the place, you just experienced some of the great wonders of the world only to be rushed back to the reality of the Cambodian way of doing business, in your face and unrelenting. Decided right then and there I must look at this in a different way. Jai was even more annoyed by them, they drove her absolutely mental, so when getting ready to approach the touts after breakfast, I said here, Jai, take my camera, I really want postcards and water from these kids, let's consider this a cultural experiment. So I went out with guns blazing (a.k.a. dollar bills in my hands) and wouldn't you know, I was virtually attacked, the kids swarmed around me. There was meanness and competition between the kids, this was apparent when trying to distribute the money evenly, there were ugly words and I was told I was rude when I didn't buy from each of them. Wow, Jai and I told the kids not to be rude, they didn't think they were. Sad. Unfortunately, they make more money than their parents and must give all the money they make to their family. On another occasion, a kid wanted coins from our country even as he couldn't exchange them, Cambodia only uses US dollars but just the notes and gives change in riel but no coins. This kid could name off each country's coin, this is definitely a future investment banker in the making if he can get out of the poverty cycle. He was the one kid I gave money to.
So I guess I should go into details on the ruins themselves. Of course, Angkor Wat was our first stop and it was impressive although in scaffolding and we were not appropriately dressed as it was considered a wat even though monks don't live there, huh? Even when visiting ruins one must cover shoulders and legs, wild. It was so hot so I just showed my disrespect, sorry Buddha. The next ruin, Bayon was full of faces. Two faced people existed even back then, who knew. :) Next stop was the most popular one at sunset as was obvious with the hordes of people all rushing to the top, made me want to just casually stroll. Definitely didn't dress appropriately for this either as I completely flashed Jai (for this I continue to apologize) as I went up first climbing the steep steps. Once she glanced up she couldn't stop laughing and others tried to climb up right after me and she kept laughing and when others not understanding English tried to climb after me she wouldn't let them and I just continued to carry on my way slowly climbing up with my dress between my legs covering as much as I possibly could while tears rolled down my face I was laughing so hard! Don't wear a dress to this ruin, just a kind suggestion! And I apologize for not wearing proper panties and for whoever else I gross out by saying this, oy.
It got even better! So we were just sitting on the ruin steps minding our own business enjoying the view when I was almost pushed over! A Japanese tourist lost his footing when trying to take a picture and couldn't stop laughing, meanwhile almost pushing me off the ruins, I grabbed Jai and she would've followed after me had she not caught me. Oh and then as were leaving trying to get a head start before all the other tourists left climbing down at the same time, a man leaped onto me! I kid you not! WTH? Do I have trip me, push me, hurt me, written all over my face? Funnily enough, this was on a day Jai termed for me to be accident free. Well I somehow survived but do not have fond memories of that ruin other than flashing poor Jai! After many ruins, I knew I'd never remember the names unless I renamed them myself. So faces it became, Lara Croft, Stairway to heaven, Headless peeps, Elephant tower, and water stagnation. Ta Prohm aka Tomb Raider temple was easy enough, either that or trees gone wild! What a cool place to film a movie!
Siem Reap itself is a cute town with lots of good restaurants, a night market, and Pub St with tons of you guessed it, pubs. Angelina Jolie has a drink named after her at Red Piano bar. As you can imagine, they love her! Had a meal at the night market for $2 which consisted of chicken lok lak and a mango shake, not too shabby. One night we went to the Butterfly restaurant which gives some of its' proceeds to benefit children. As I have a fondness for things/words lost in translation and notice misspelled words and how they are mispronounced like flied lice, I sometimes take it too far. For instance, I loved when our server said cakecheese instead of cheesecake, is it mean that I asked him to repeat a few times? And shrimps, it cracks me up every time! Ok, please refer to engrish.com and you get my kind of humor. I guess it was my karma when I walked out to the tuk tuk, Theour jumped out at me and of course, I screamed bloody murder. Anyway, another random note, I'm getting used to having others do my laundry, it's really quite nice but I had never had a place count out the pieces and then when returned all had yellow ties on them. Meticulous! The little things that never cease to amaze me. Hmmm, either that or I amuse quite easily.
A night of cultural dancing was not exactly my cup of tea but thought I'd open my mind a bit, it was kinda interesting but mostly for the buffet, a bit too touristy for my taste or maybe it was ruined by the Russian men beside us as they left halfway through the performance and were loud and rude the other half. Afterwards checked out the night market but so low on money couldn't buy anything. Finally received my second wire from my parents and it came at exactly the right time: I only had $53 left to my name in cash which just so happened to be the exact amount I owed Jai, wicked! It was quite a frustrating thing to have your cards sent to Siem Reap and never arriving not realizing when I ordered them how terrible the post system was. We even went in to the post office to see if my card was just sitting there and the mailman instructed us to go through all of the mail and check in their book!! Not a very efficient nor private system but it amused us for half an hour. Some poor lady has a million letters just waiting for her gathering dust.
On the last day visiting the ruins, we got up for the sunrise and could only stomach returning to Angkor Wat, which truly was stunning. Even dressed appropriately this time so we could climb up the tower but wouldn't you know it, it was too early but not early enough for the men to offer to take us up for a steep price. So how is it not appropriate for them to be complete jerks to us and we are inappropriate by not covering our shoulders? So enough of the ruins, we asked Theour to drive us around the countryside and we saw some gorgeous countryside and made Theour stop when a motorcycle was passing by with 4 dead pigs on them! He must've thought we were nuts but really we don't see this in our respective countries. We tried to visit a floating forest but when we tried to split the cost with a Spanish couple and were told we were unable to, the Cambodian way of business, we were tired of feeling like we were getting ripped off so in principle skipped it and just enjoyed the ride instead!
Battambang and Sihanoukville to follow....this post is already so long!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Laos: monks, wats and a lost wallet
Even from the Bangkok airport, Laos was already making an impression and not the best of ones as all of the Laos Airlines employees were waving once we were inside the plane. And this from a tiny, propeller plane and some of us had to move to the other side of the plane to distribute the weight. Wow! Where was I going? No man's land? Soon to find out a very laid back, country, one of my favorites so far. And it kept impressing as upon arrival, it was so very easy to get a visa and even negotiating for a taxi into town wasn't necessary. Was so used to Thailand's touts just expected more of the same here. Pleasantly surprised to find quite the opposite!
First hostel was full but no worries second one took me in and even took Thai baht and it was all I needed: a $9 room with a bed and desk, breakfast included, shared bathrooms. Met Ricardo immediately and I know I go on but he was just what I needed: a grounded, spiritual fellow American by citizenship but not in the annoying category. He found me scattered to say the least. He's the sort of traveler who really digs in to a place, I'm the sort who explores everything to the point of exhaustion so I blame him for making me stay in Vientiane so long :-) Anyway, made immediate plans for a Korean dinner with Beer Lao after a disco nap and settling in. And the beer was good!! And this coming from a cocktail girl says a lot!
Might as well start with the food....surprising to say the least! The French influence is in full force: good bread and coffee but also a wide variety of restaurants including western ones: indian, korean, vietnamese, belgian, even swedish bakeries. A foodie's dream, there are even gourmet stores selling good peanut butter and honey. Street food was delish, by day it's a riverbank, by night vendors have set up restaurants and what a view of the Mekong at sunset! Ate spring rolls and pineapple shakes giving myself my very own Buddha belly :-)
And the nightlife was even good. If you don't mind hanging with ladyboys on the 4th floor of Mekong riverfront bars that is. So I found my new go to bar every night with Ricardo and others from the hostel, an Aussie joined us most nights mostly teasing me for exciting the Laos boys. One took a liking to me and approached me multiple times telling me I was beautiful, how difficult to do in a foreign language! Seattle boys, get a clue. :-D And a tatted Laos boy wanted pictures and to sit on his lap, whoa, boy! And be careful in the bathrooms: ladyboys attacked me (sort of!) loving my hair, so blonde! I'm not even that blonde, can you imagine Gwen Stefani like hair in there?! Sex workers were obviously there too and, like Thailand, warnings of only registered guests in the hostels were everywhere. So when the Aussie invites me to his room should I be offended? Yes, I think so, no thank you, off the Aussies fo shiz ;-)
Giving up on the motorbike, I rented a bicycle to explore and got lost going to the Thai consulate, instead found the most important Laos monument by accident, I rock! And that it was Vientiane's 450th anniversary only added to the fun party atmosphere. Only visited Wat Sisaket on purpose, knowing I'd get my full of wats touring southeast Asia, it's home of my now favorite Buddha, with the largest belly to date I've seen. But I must move on, there is much more to see!
LUANG PRABANG
Worst night bus ever! And this is not just because on the tail end of it I lost my wallet to which I'm still dealing with no credit cards, only living off of cash for the past month! No, this bus was meant for Laos people and I have long legs but my Belgian seat mate had even more trouble, our legs were painfully against the seat in front of us and when the tiny Laos men tried to recline, nope, that didn't happen! No way to recline, crappy, windy roads had us practically in the air half the time any way, can you imagine trying to sleep in conditions like these?
But finally....the good stuff! The town is super cute, a UNESCO World Heritage site for good reason with it's many wats, riverside setting and laid back feel. Made friends with the Belgian girl and she was a blessing loaning me money until I sorted out the financial mess but also splitting costs and of course, laughs!
Food again...amazing! Scored pomme frites with amazing curry and garlic sauces, homemade mayonnaise and imported chocolate to go with our Dame Blanche at the Belgian restaurant. Apparently they didn't do this well enough so we ate it again the very next night on their dime! Awww, the benefit of traveling with a Belgian, they sure do appreciate food! A typical day's assortment of foods went something like this: $2 Lao sandwich (tofu, pork floss, cucumbers, lettuce and tomato on a fab baguette), fruit shake (mango, dragon fruit, banana, pineapple); snack: crepe, fruit shake; dinner Lao bbq which consisted of buffalo and water soup with vegetables, loved it so much we ate here 3 nights in a row and so cheap even with Beer Lao, $2 per person!
So a word on my new travel partner: she's young, fearless and loves to travel having lived in India and plans to work in China next year. This is important to know as I describe our adventures. She has that attitude I've mentioned of not particularly liking Americans, she swears to this day I'm not American as she's never had fun with one before. But I must mention how she learned English, it's quite common to learn from music but this girl, she learned from Move, bitch, get out the way, get out the way, bitch, get out the way! You know and love that song, right?;-) And oh no, we did not just go in a tuk tuk to the Kuong Si waterfalls and the bear park. No, we explored the village around it first seeing our own gorgeous waterfall without tourists, just the locals going about their daily life. And no, we did not just ride in a tuk tuk, we were hanging from the back of it. This is what I've termed Aurelie style traveling, it kept even me on my toes!
So next day we decide to rent a motorcycle, I'm stoked that I can be a passenger as I failed miserably at driving one. Motorcycle adventures Day 1: off to the Pak Ou caves to see Buddhas along the Mekong and Nam Ou river. Buddhas not all that impressive but the journey there taking the boat across resulting in the dirtiest face imaginable from all the dust from the bike, oh yeah, this is my kind of traveling! Never mind that I got a Laos tattoo along the way, you know the motorbike burn kind, arrghhh! On the way back to Luang Prabang about an hour away, maybe 30 km, we go to a lesser known waterfall and a man tries to charge us for admission when there's only 5 minutes of daylight left. I started arguing, Aurelie takes off running exploring his property, quite funny in hindsight but I was left to deal with his get off my property 'tude. By the time she gets back to the bike, he's ready to fight, she's bigger, taller and stronger so didn't really worry but when he went to grab something, I'm so American in my thinking imagining he's getting a gun, instead it's a huge stick, seriously?! She revs the engine, I hop on and we're off narrowly escaping what could have been a disaster. Phew!
Next day we weren't taking chances in having to pay for waterfalls so explored where no other tourists went. We found a back street leading to a village but first had to cross what would be considered a rickety bridge in the US, made of bamboo and really quite sturdy, the villagers even rode bikes across it. Once across the bridge, the villagers were working drying coffee beans, weaving and well, not really much else. The kids all wanted to play and chased us as we explored the jungle. I couldn't stop staring at one of the kids' feet: 6 toes on each! I took a picture, I hope, surreptitiously. So friendly and dirty, these villagers! What a simple life with their thatched hut roof homes yet all had satellite tv and cell phones.
Back in town, we hiked up Wat Phou Si for sunset with the masses, not the most impressive of sunsets but what a view of Luang Prabang! Ran into a scorpion along the way....glad they are so slow! On the way down, visited the night market and tasted scorpion whisky and the local rice whisky, called Lao Lao. Ummmm, I'll save that for the other tourists. And of course, had to get another massage, this one just $5, I am seriously spoiled! The only other wat I made it a point to visit was Xien Thong with its' gorgeous jewel tones and gold, truly impressive and I've seen quite a few wats by now! And the town itself is really beautiful along the river. But what made it that much more interesting than any other town were the monks just going about their daily business in their saffron robes. I even got my lazy butt up at 5:30 one morning to observe them in their daily routine of receiving their alms in the form of rice. What sacrifices they make!
Well, time to bid adieu to my new friend and Luang Prabang, what memories!
PAKSE
It's easy to forget Laos is a communist country at times but reminded when traveling around the country, seeing the red hammer and sickel flag next to the Laos PDR one. I liked the people immediately, so happy yet not a rich country and didn't act like victims nor did they beg, as I have found the Cambodians do. After my second worst night bus, at least this time it was a horizontal sleeping bed and now that I'm on my own again I got my very own bed in the middle back of the bus. Score, right? Not exactly. My seat mates are a Laos couple with a 3 year old kid who always managed to squeeze onto my bed and kick me. And I'm just imagining if the bus driver stops suddenly, there's nothing to stop me from flying through the air into the windshield! Oh and the bumpy roads and constant honking meant another night of virtually no sleep. Once in Pakse, I found a bed in a dorm for ultra cheap ($3) and managed to disco nap before going off to explore the riverside town and its' wat, of course! Met Monk Boud who wanted to discuss the basics of Buddhism, bowed out gracefully of that one. Back to the hostel and it was indian food for thanksgiving---so very non-traditional and so Cara!!
A tour of the Bolaven Plateau was a very memorable day! Started out with the coffee and tea plantations which I could have done without but did find the health claims amusing. Apparently green tea is a good cure for hangovers and oolong tea is good for cholesterol, ok, not aware of that but whatever it takes to sell a product. Laos has decent coffee, arabica and robust are the most popular but I don't get why they don't use milk in it. The white coffee is condensed milk, soy was everywhere but no dairy products, not even the yogurt drinks I grew so accustomed to in Thailand. If I never have to smell the fermented coffee beans I'll be happy....rancid vinegar.....ewww! So the plateau is also known for beautiful waterfalls and we saw a plethora of them....maybe 4?! I was more amazed by the villages though. The Alak tribe's belief system is in animism and they sacrifice a water buffalo every year! This tribe is the unfortunate site of many bombs though, there are many UXO workers blocking off bomb sites, this area was heavily bombed by the US government, a fact for which I had to apologize being the only American on the tour, never mind that I wasn't even born when my government did this horrendous action. The tour guide asked me why Laos was bombed! Can you imagine? I felt the hatred, so ashamed of my government! And ignorant as to how many people die each year still clearing land to farm---200! And it will take 100 years to clear all these bombs as this area was the most heavily bombed in the second Indochina war. Sad! The Katu tribe was just as fascinating, they are known for building their own coffins. This is sounding like a rather morbid tour now! Visiting the combined primary and secondary school was so fun but our group disrupted the whole school taking pictures and visiting. Actually, I felt like I was in a zoo and the kids were staring at us as we looked so different! Next we visited the village where these kids live and this is where the poverty and dirtiness struck me......a child with kwashiorkor! Oh my heart was breaking! Even if these kids go to school and get an education, where do they go from here? Tour ended on a more positive note with yet another waterfall and a scenic ride back to Pakse.
The next morning, eating breakfast in a cafe, I spoke with an Aussie girl, albeit too briefly, who works in Vientiane and travels around Laos and I mentioned I'd like to work for a non-profit eventually. She was reading the Laos paper and showed me a job opening with the UN's World Food Programme and after the previous days' tour to the Bolaven Plateau, I was seriously thinking I'd like to do just that and am still thinking on it! She is a vet and when I asked for what, small animals? She says, rather sheepishly, no large ones, ELEPHANTS! Wicked! How does one specialize in that in Australia? Wow! Timing of meeting her, again, I'm so believing in synchronicity at this point.
Change of pace and country: now it's off to Cambodia! 14 hours later, 5 minibuses, 1 awful border crossing literally walking across with all my bags only to find the bus is full and even the conversation with a fellow American and gorgeous Cambodian countryside wasn't enough to distract me from my thoughts. By the time I finally arrived in Phnom Penh, practically in tears as I couldn't find my hostel nor anyone who knew it for close to an hour, already late and Jai is expecting me plus Cambodian men were warning me it's late, you're in Cambodia and you have all your luggage, be careful! Yikes, what did I get myself in, yet again? I have never been happier to see a familiar face!!
First hostel was full but no worries second one took me in and even took Thai baht and it was all I needed: a $9 room with a bed and desk, breakfast included, shared bathrooms. Met Ricardo immediately and I know I go on but he was just what I needed: a grounded, spiritual fellow American by citizenship but not in the annoying category. He found me scattered to say the least. He's the sort of traveler who really digs in to a place, I'm the sort who explores everything to the point of exhaustion so I blame him for making me stay in Vientiane so long :-) Anyway, made immediate plans for a Korean dinner with Beer Lao after a disco nap and settling in. And the beer was good!! And this coming from a cocktail girl says a lot!
Might as well start with the food....surprising to say the least! The French influence is in full force: good bread and coffee but also a wide variety of restaurants including western ones: indian, korean, vietnamese, belgian, even swedish bakeries. A foodie's dream, there are even gourmet stores selling good peanut butter and honey. Street food was delish, by day it's a riverbank, by night vendors have set up restaurants and what a view of the Mekong at sunset! Ate spring rolls and pineapple shakes giving myself my very own Buddha belly :-)
And the nightlife was even good. If you don't mind hanging with ladyboys on the 4th floor of Mekong riverfront bars that is. So I found my new go to bar every night with Ricardo and others from the hostel, an Aussie joined us most nights mostly teasing me for exciting the Laos boys. One took a liking to me and approached me multiple times telling me I was beautiful, how difficult to do in a foreign language! Seattle boys, get a clue. :-D And a tatted Laos boy wanted pictures and to sit on his lap, whoa, boy! And be careful in the bathrooms: ladyboys attacked me (sort of!) loving my hair, so blonde! I'm not even that blonde, can you imagine Gwen Stefani like hair in there?! Sex workers were obviously there too and, like Thailand, warnings of only registered guests in the hostels were everywhere. So when the Aussie invites me to his room should I be offended? Yes, I think so, no thank you, off the Aussies fo shiz ;-)
Giving up on the motorbike, I rented a bicycle to explore and got lost going to the Thai consulate, instead found the most important Laos monument by accident, I rock! And that it was Vientiane's 450th anniversary only added to the fun party atmosphere. Only visited Wat Sisaket on purpose, knowing I'd get my full of wats touring southeast Asia, it's home of my now favorite Buddha, with the largest belly to date I've seen. But I must move on, there is much more to see!
LUANG PRABANG
Worst night bus ever! And this is not just because on the tail end of it I lost my wallet to which I'm still dealing with no credit cards, only living off of cash for the past month! No, this bus was meant for Laos people and I have long legs but my Belgian seat mate had even more trouble, our legs were painfully against the seat in front of us and when the tiny Laos men tried to recline, nope, that didn't happen! No way to recline, crappy, windy roads had us practically in the air half the time any way, can you imagine trying to sleep in conditions like these?
But finally....the good stuff! The town is super cute, a UNESCO World Heritage site for good reason with it's many wats, riverside setting and laid back feel. Made friends with the Belgian girl and she was a blessing loaning me money until I sorted out the financial mess but also splitting costs and of course, laughs!
Food again...amazing! Scored pomme frites with amazing curry and garlic sauces, homemade mayonnaise and imported chocolate to go with our Dame Blanche at the Belgian restaurant. Apparently they didn't do this well enough so we ate it again the very next night on their dime! Awww, the benefit of traveling with a Belgian, they sure do appreciate food! A typical day's assortment of foods went something like this: $2 Lao sandwich (tofu, pork floss, cucumbers, lettuce and tomato on a fab baguette), fruit shake (mango, dragon fruit, banana, pineapple); snack: crepe, fruit shake; dinner Lao bbq which consisted of buffalo and water soup with vegetables, loved it so much we ate here 3 nights in a row and so cheap even with Beer Lao, $2 per person!
So a word on my new travel partner: she's young, fearless and loves to travel having lived in India and plans to work in China next year. This is important to know as I describe our adventures. She has that attitude I've mentioned of not particularly liking Americans, she swears to this day I'm not American as she's never had fun with one before. But I must mention how she learned English, it's quite common to learn from music but this girl, she learned from Move, bitch, get out the way, get out the way, bitch, get out the way! You know and love that song, right?;-) And oh no, we did not just go in a tuk tuk to the Kuong Si waterfalls and the bear park. No, we explored the village around it first seeing our own gorgeous waterfall without tourists, just the locals going about their daily life. And no, we did not just ride in a tuk tuk, we were hanging from the back of it. This is what I've termed Aurelie style traveling, it kept even me on my toes!
So next day we decide to rent a motorcycle, I'm stoked that I can be a passenger as I failed miserably at driving one. Motorcycle adventures Day 1: off to the Pak Ou caves to see Buddhas along the Mekong and Nam Ou river. Buddhas not all that impressive but the journey there taking the boat across resulting in the dirtiest face imaginable from all the dust from the bike, oh yeah, this is my kind of traveling! Never mind that I got a Laos tattoo along the way, you know the motorbike burn kind, arrghhh! On the way back to Luang Prabang about an hour away, maybe 30 km, we go to a lesser known waterfall and a man tries to charge us for admission when there's only 5 minutes of daylight left. I started arguing, Aurelie takes off running exploring his property, quite funny in hindsight but I was left to deal with his get off my property 'tude. By the time she gets back to the bike, he's ready to fight, she's bigger, taller and stronger so didn't really worry but when he went to grab something, I'm so American in my thinking imagining he's getting a gun, instead it's a huge stick, seriously?! She revs the engine, I hop on and we're off narrowly escaping what could have been a disaster. Phew!
Next day we weren't taking chances in having to pay for waterfalls so explored where no other tourists went. We found a back street leading to a village but first had to cross what would be considered a rickety bridge in the US, made of bamboo and really quite sturdy, the villagers even rode bikes across it. Once across the bridge, the villagers were working drying coffee beans, weaving and well, not really much else. The kids all wanted to play and chased us as we explored the jungle. I couldn't stop staring at one of the kids' feet: 6 toes on each! I took a picture, I hope, surreptitiously. So friendly and dirty, these villagers! What a simple life with their thatched hut roof homes yet all had satellite tv and cell phones.
Back in town, we hiked up Wat Phou Si for sunset with the masses, not the most impressive of sunsets but what a view of Luang Prabang! Ran into a scorpion along the way....glad they are so slow! On the way down, visited the night market and tasted scorpion whisky and the local rice whisky, called Lao Lao. Ummmm, I'll save that for the other tourists. And of course, had to get another massage, this one just $5, I am seriously spoiled! The only other wat I made it a point to visit was Xien Thong with its' gorgeous jewel tones and gold, truly impressive and I've seen quite a few wats by now! And the town itself is really beautiful along the river. But what made it that much more interesting than any other town were the monks just going about their daily business in their saffron robes. I even got my lazy butt up at 5:30 one morning to observe them in their daily routine of receiving their alms in the form of rice. What sacrifices they make!
Well, time to bid adieu to my new friend and Luang Prabang, what memories!
PAKSE
It's easy to forget Laos is a communist country at times but reminded when traveling around the country, seeing the red hammer and sickel flag next to the Laos PDR one. I liked the people immediately, so happy yet not a rich country and didn't act like victims nor did they beg, as I have found the Cambodians do. After my second worst night bus, at least this time it was a horizontal sleeping bed and now that I'm on my own again I got my very own bed in the middle back of the bus. Score, right? Not exactly. My seat mates are a Laos couple with a 3 year old kid who always managed to squeeze onto my bed and kick me. And I'm just imagining if the bus driver stops suddenly, there's nothing to stop me from flying through the air into the windshield! Oh and the bumpy roads and constant honking meant another night of virtually no sleep. Once in Pakse, I found a bed in a dorm for ultra cheap ($3) and managed to disco nap before going off to explore the riverside town and its' wat, of course! Met Monk Boud who wanted to discuss the basics of Buddhism, bowed out gracefully of that one. Back to the hostel and it was indian food for thanksgiving---so very non-traditional and so Cara!!
A tour of the Bolaven Plateau was a very memorable day! Started out with the coffee and tea plantations which I could have done without but did find the health claims amusing. Apparently green tea is a good cure for hangovers and oolong tea is good for cholesterol, ok, not aware of that but whatever it takes to sell a product. Laos has decent coffee, arabica and robust are the most popular but I don't get why they don't use milk in it. The white coffee is condensed milk, soy was everywhere but no dairy products, not even the yogurt drinks I grew so accustomed to in Thailand. If I never have to smell the fermented coffee beans I'll be happy....rancid vinegar.....ewww! So the plateau is also known for beautiful waterfalls and we saw a plethora of them....maybe 4?! I was more amazed by the villages though. The Alak tribe's belief system is in animism and they sacrifice a water buffalo every year! This tribe is the unfortunate site of many bombs though, there are many UXO workers blocking off bomb sites, this area was heavily bombed by the US government, a fact for which I had to apologize being the only American on the tour, never mind that I wasn't even born when my government did this horrendous action. The tour guide asked me why Laos was bombed! Can you imagine? I felt the hatred, so ashamed of my government! And ignorant as to how many people die each year still clearing land to farm---200! And it will take 100 years to clear all these bombs as this area was the most heavily bombed in the second Indochina war. Sad! The Katu tribe was just as fascinating, they are known for building their own coffins. This is sounding like a rather morbid tour now! Visiting the combined primary and secondary school was so fun but our group disrupted the whole school taking pictures and visiting. Actually, I felt like I was in a zoo and the kids were staring at us as we looked so different! Next we visited the village where these kids live and this is where the poverty and dirtiness struck me......a child with kwashiorkor! Oh my heart was breaking! Even if these kids go to school and get an education, where do they go from here? Tour ended on a more positive note with yet another waterfall and a scenic ride back to Pakse.
The next morning, eating breakfast in a cafe, I spoke with an Aussie girl, albeit too briefly, who works in Vientiane and travels around Laos and I mentioned I'd like to work for a non-profit eventually. She was reading the Laos paper and showed me a job opening with the UN's World Food Programme and after the previous days' tour to the Bolaven Plateau, I was seriously thinking I'd like to do just that and am still thinking on it! She is a vet and when I asked for what, small animals? She says, rather sheepishly, no large ones, ELEPHANTS! Wicked! How does one specialize in that in Australia? Wow! Timing of meeting her, again, I'm so believing in synchronicity at this point.
Change of pace and country: now it's off to Cambodia! 14 hours later, 5 minibuses, 1 awful border crossing literally walking across with all my bags only to find the bus is full and even the conversation with a fellow American and gorgeous Cambodian countryside wasn't enough to distract me from my thoughts. By the time I finally arrived in Phnom Penh, practically in tears as I couldn't find my hostel nor anyone who knew it for close to an hour, already late and Jai is expecting me plus Cambodian men were warning me it's late, you're in Cambodia and you have all your luggage, be careful! Yikes, what did I get myself in, yet again? I have never been happier to see a familiar face!!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thailand: beach bummin' it round 1!
I can certainly think of worse places to get over a break up than the gorgeous beaches of Thailand! I had never explored this region of Thailand, having only been to Bangkok and Chiang Mai for work so despite southeast Asia not on the original itinerary, I was nevertheless very excited! Ko Samui was meant to be the first stop but the weather had other ideas so Phuket it was. And although overcast some of the time, was glad I made the switch as unbeknownst to me at the time, Ko Samui and Ko Phan gan is in my future for the full moon party New Years Eve style with my most devilish friend, and this is a total compliment: Vickie!
Aside from the cute older, Japanese men sleeping on my flight, Sonja and Ryan were the first peeps I met flying to Phuket, a couple from the Gold Coast of Australia, we hit it off and made plans to meet up along Bangla road for drinks. But first, the touting had begun. On the bus ride from the airport into Phuket, the ever present tactic of making more money from the Western tourists (wow, I'm already jaded and I've just arrived, yikes), I mean, visit to a travel agency was made. Everyone had to get off the minibus and were questioned individually as to where we were staying. They played like they were baffled that I didn't have accommodations and didn't want to book something with them, I said I wanted to see a room before booking, fine, fine, but it's high season, I was warned, I might not find a room, fine, fine, I said, I'll take my chances. Round one of touting: I win! Found a nice, music cafe themed hostel in the center of touristy Patong beach.
First day was spent along the beach and of course, eating and trying the local brew, Chang. I really need to make it a habit of checking the alcohol content on those things, a whopping 6.4 % and this on an empty stomach and being such a lightweight, not my most shining moment. Also should've taken a clue from the German guys (if anyone knows beer they should, right?, hindsight 20-20) of just how strong Chang was. Yeah, they both drank just 1 small can each, I was on my second by the time they introduced themselves. Oh, my poor head, I went back to the hostel with the idea of taking a disco nap and properly going out to Bangla road later but my body had other ideas: slept 14 hours!
Quickly realized I wasn't the biggest fan of Phuket as the beaches were crowded, very touristy at least Patong beach was but I liked my hostel, met some fun peeps and experienced Bangla Road, which has to be the epicenter of ladyboys. (Seriously there's a bar people are lined up outside taking pictures of them dancing, with signs that the real girls were upstairs! The debate was on on just how to tell if they were proper lady boys, of course, obvious if they were dancing but along the streets they were everywhere. Is it the height? Or maybe their defined jawline? Or perhaps the presence of the adam's apple? I thought the latter was the answer but apparently this can be surgically corrected so your guess is as good as mine.) Although aside from the ladyboys, the only real view I had of life outside of touristy Patong beach was the motorbike ride with the manager of my hostel, Anman, who took me to see a quieter beach, Kamala and this great restaurant overlooking the ocean. Ordered all sorts of yummy Thai dishes: spicy, mango salad, massaman curry, green curry, Thai tea, some green bean, spicy mystery dish. Why I travel emphasized yet again.
So branching out of Phuket was obvious as there were so many gorgeous beaches nearby: just a few were James Bond Island and Ko Phi Phi, I decided on the latter and took a scenic slow boat which stopped near Maya Bay to snorkel. Phi Phi has nice beaches but only spent an hour or so there, half of which was spent walking the touristy village and the other half sleeping on the beach. There seems to be a pattern of sleeping emerging here but really, what else do you do in the heat of the day? Met a cool couple from South Africa living in Dubai and chatted about acting non-American, they were amazed I was from there, another pattern that was emerging. Basically, my American friends, we have a crap reputation abroad as uptight, no fun, gun-touting conservative freaks. I intend to change this stereotype with every non-American I meet!
The last day in Phuket had absolutely no rhyme or reason to it, a true wandering day, what I do best if I allow it but have decided to apply some semblance of structure and purpose to this trip which had suddenly changed direction and now feels like the ultimate self-exploratory journey. The only other productive thing I did was to go for the famous Thai massage as I was limping quite a bit. Was nervous explaining to the guy to be very careful, all this is pertinent as I noticed a girl getting a fish massage, her feet were just being tickled by these fish, I guess cleaning away at any dead skin. Wasn't feeling very extroverted but happened to strike up a mini conversation with her, thought she was cool then I was off to my massage. Yay, my knee did feel tremendously better, great decision! And later that night at my hostel, take a wild guess as to who I struck up a conversation with and hit it off with immediately, a few minutes into our conversation we realized hey, it's the fish massage girl and I was the knee surgery girl! The only glitch was I was leaving the next day to go to Krabi, to the more chill, less touristy island of Ko Lanta.
And so I am introduced to the Thai minibus experience. It all begins with a pick-up from your hostel, continues around the entire town in a seemingly random manner picking up numerous other passengers until voila! just when you think you're finally on your merry way and you get comfortable despite being packed in like sardines when they add yet another passenger to an already full bus, just where did they get that extra seat anyway? then they yell your destination and you switch buses, hoping your bag that's on top of the bus is still attached to the vehicle. Phew! Pretty similar to Central America and am still perplexed as to how the seeming disorganization somehow works. All of this transpired over 6 hours, 3 buses and 2 ferry rides and I wasn't entirely sure that I had a place to stay at the end of it meanwhile striking up a friendship with a French couple who decided to join me. Once onto Ko Lanta, I borrowed the cell phone of a local guy to call the Kantiang Bay resort where I thought maybe I had a place to stay as the previous hostel recommended this place, his friend worked there, yada, yada, yada, yes, we have a place for you and are coming to pick you up, yay, the Thai way of doing business works! They picked us up in a pickup truck with 12 others, our hair blowing in the wind, a favorite method of transport for short trips around islands, I have to say! The resort was just what I needed, the antithesis of Phuket, right on the beach, quiet enough but still had some nightlife and I stayed in a bungalow with mosquito netting! Sure, it was a bit crap, damaged from the horrible tsunami of 2004 but I thought charming at the time, even the detached bathroom seemed quaint but after two nights, I was ready for the room switch to air con and a view of the ocean. Days were spent along the beach and if not reading then taking the necessary dip in the ocean when it's too hot on the beach, you know the drill. Ahhh, the lazy, beach days with your biggest decision being what to order off the menu. I didn't even need to decide where to eat, the Why Not tiki bar with live music each night on the beach, yeah, no brainer. Jord, the friend from the first hostel I stayed at, happened to be the lead singer of the band which played great cover songs every night: Coldplay, Killers, Linkin Park, they even managed to keep the typical beach vibe cheese Bob Marley type of music to a minimum. Even played Pearl Jam and Nirvana, more memories of my Seattle roots, rock on! And the fire show preceding the music, not too shabby.
The only times my little routine diverged was when I ventured out into the little town but really my motivation was solely to buy the yogurt drinks, my RX for health and of course, visit the street vendors selling coconut pancakes, delish! And the mangoes, the fresh fruit and the shakes, heavenly! Ok so I did cartwheel on the beach. And oh yeah, took a little walk on the beach along some rocky formations towards the ultra-cute little bungalow beach side resort-y thatched roof hut with hammocks restaurant the ultimate cliche as far as naming restaurants in southeast Asia: Same Same but different. This phrase every single Asian and tourist has uttered it is the ultimate joke, on t-shirts, it's everywhere. If an explanation is too difficult to go into, same same....but different. Anyway, the food was amazing, by far the best papaya salad and spring rolls I've had yet! And other than that, tried to ride on the diving pier which moved along with the waves but security would never let me, believe me, I kept trying. Yes, I basically stuck to my little sliver of paradise for 6 days, loving my beach time, hanging with my new friends and basically, loving life! Well, aside from the bugs, geckos, mantises and other disgusting creepy, crawly things that unfortunately go hand in hand with the tropics. I was reminded why I like Seattle so much and why I chose it after years of living in the south of the US and Guam, ewwww. But I'm facing my fear of them one little scream (albeit sometimes muffled) at a time! :-)
So this seems like a pertinent time to mention synchronicity. You know when you meet someone just when you need to at exactly the moment you need to? Well, this has been happening to me consistently since traveling on my own, I have many examples in each place I've visited which continues to reinforce me that I'm on the right path whatever that may be. So, remember how my knee was messed up? I was limping, was seriously worried I'd need to return home to take care of it, well the lovely French couple just so happened to be osteopaths! They worked on my knee and assured me it was ok and of course, gave me advice on how to take care of it. And have since offered to stay with them in France! The fun Aussie couple as well! And the offer is vice versa.....if or when, I ever stay in one place long enough! And meeting Jai, the vivacious girl from London at the fish spa? Well, she joined me in Ko Lanta and we've since met up in Cambodia and plan to in Bangkok as well. It amazes me that everyone loves that I'm traveling on my own and if they're older, they say they wished they had when they were my age. Yes, I'm definitely grateful for this time so bring it, I'm ready for some more adventure!!
Aside from the cute older, Japanese men sleeping on my flight, Sonja and Ryan were the first peeps I met flying to Phuket, a couple from the Gold Coast of Australia, we hit it off and made plans to meet up along Bangla road for drinks. But first, the touting had begun. On the bus ride from the airport into Phuket, the ever present tactic of making more money from the Western tourists (wow, I'm already jaded and I've just arrived, yikes), I mean, visit to a travel agency was made. Everyone had to get off the minibus and were questioned individually as to where we were staying. They played like they were baffled that I didn't have accommodations and didn't want to book something with them, I said I wanted to see a room before booking, fine, fine, but it's high season, I was warned, I might not find a room, fine, fine, I said, I'll take my chances. Round one of touting: I win! Found a nice, music cafe themed hostel in the center of touristy Patong beach.
First day was spent along the beach and of course, eating and trying the local brew, Chang. I really need to make it a habit of checking the alcohol content on those things, a whopping 6.4 % and this on an empty stomach and being such a lightweight, not my most shining moment. Also should've taken a clue from the German guys (if anyone knows beer they should, right?, hindsight 20-20) of just how strong Chang was. Yeah, they both drank just 1 small can each, I was on my second by the time they introduced themselves. Oh, my poor head, I went back to the hostel with the idea of taking a disco nap and properly going out to Bangla road later but my body had other ideas: slept 14 hours!
Quickly realized I wasn't the biggest fan of Phuket as the beaches were crowded, very touristy at least Patong beach was but I liked my hostel, met some fun peeps and experienced Bangla Road, which has to be the epicenter of ladyboys. (Seriously there's a bar people are lined up outside taking pictures of them dancing, with signs that the real girls were upstairs! The debate was on on just how to tell if they were proper lady boys, of course, obvious if they were dancing but along the streets they were everywhere. Is it the height? Or maybe their defined jawline? Or perhaps the presence of the adam's apple? I thought the latter was the answer but apparently this can be surgically corrected so your guess is as good as mine.) Although aside from the ladyboys, the only real view I had of life outside of touristy Patong beach was the motorbike ride with the manager of my hostel, Anman, who took me to see a quieter beach, Kamala and this great restaurant overlooking the ocean. Ordered all sorts of yummy Thai dishes: spicy, mango salad, massaman curry, green curry, Thai tea, some green bean, spicy mystery dish. Why I travel emphasized yet again.
So branching out of Phuket was obvious as there were so many gorgeous beaches nearby: just a few were James Bond Island and Ko Phi Phi, I decided on the latter and took a scenic slow boat which stopped near Maya Bay to snorkel. Phi Phi has nice beaches but only spent an hour or so there, half of which was spent walking the touristy village and the other half sleeping on the beach. There seems to be a pattern of sleeping emerging here but really, what else do you do in the heat of the day? Met a cool couple from South Africa living in Dubai and chatted about acting non-American, they were amazed I was from there, another pattern that was emerging. Basically, my American friends, we have a crap reputation abroad as uptight, no fun, gun-touting conservative freaks. I intend to change this stereotype with every non-American I meet!
The last day in Phuket had absolutely no rhyme or reason to it, a true wandering day, what I do best if I allow it but have decided to apply some semblance of structure and purpose to this trip which had suddenly changed direction and now feels like the ultimate self-exploratory journey. The only other productive thing I did was to go for the famous Thai massage as I was limping quite a bit. Was nervous explaining to the guy to be very careful, all this is pertinent as I noticed a girl getting a fish massage, her feet were just being tickled by these fish, I guess cleaning away at any dead skin. Wasn't feeling very extroverted but happened to strike up a mini conversation with her, thought she was cool then I was off to my massage. Yay, my knee did feel tremendously better, great decision! And later that night at my hostel, take a wild guess as to who I struck up a conversation with and hit it off with immediately, a few minutes into our conversation we realized hey, it's the fish massage girl and I was the knee surgery girl! The only glitch was I was leaving the next day to go to Krabi, to the more chill, less touristy island of Ko Lanta.
And so I am introduced to the Thai minibus experience. It all begins with a pick-up from your hostel, continues around the entire town in a seemingly random manner picking up numerous other passengers until voila! just when you think you're finally on your merry way and you get comfortable despite being packed in like sardines when they add yet another passenger to an already full bus, just where did they get that extra seat anyway? then they yell your destination and you switch buses, hoping your bag that's on top of the bus is still attached to the vehicle. Phew! Pretty similar to Central America and am still perplexed as to how the seeming disorganization somehow works. All of this transpired over 6 hours, 3 buses and 2 ferry rides and I wasn't entirely sure that I had a place to stay at the end of it meanwhile striking up a friendship with a French couple who decided to join me. Once onto Ko Lanta, I borrowed the cell phone of a local guy to call the Kantiang Bay resort where I thought maybe I had a place to stay as the previous hostel recommended this place, his friend worked there, yada, yada, yada, yes, we have a place for you and are coming to pick you up, yay, the Thai way of doing business works! They picked us up in a pickup truck with 12 others, our hair blowing in the wind, a favorite method of transport for short trips around islands, I have to say! The resort was just what I needed, the antithesis of Phuket, right on the beach, quiet enough but still had some nightlife and I stayed in a bungalow with mosquito netting! Sure, it was a bit crap, damaged from the horrible tsunami of 2004 but I thought charming at the time, even the detached bathroom seemed quaint but after two nights, I was ready for the room switch to air con and a view of the ocean. Days were spent along the beach and if not reading then taking the necessary dip in the ocean when it's too hot on the beach, you know the drill. Ahhh, the lazy, beach days with your biggest decision being what to order off the menu. I didn't even need to decide where to eat, the Why Not tiki bar with live music each night on the beach, yeah, no brainer. Jord, the friend from the first hostel I stayed at, happened to be the lead singer of the band which played great cover songs every night: Coldplay, Killers, Linkin Park, they even managed to keep the typical beach vibe cheese Bob Marley type of music to a minimum. Even played Pearl Jam and Nirvana, more memories of my Seattle roots, rock on! And the fire show preceding the music, not too shabby.
The only times my little routine diverged was when I ventured out into the little town but really my motivation was solely to buy the yogurt drinks, my RX for health and of course, visit the street vendors selling coconut pancakes, delish! And the mangoes, the fresh fruit and the shakes, heavenly! Ok so I did cartwheel on the beach. And oh yeah, took a little walk on the beach along some rocky formations towards the ultra-cute little bungalow beach side resort-y thatched roof hut with hammocks restaurant the ultimate cliche as far as naming restaurants in southeast Asia: Same Same but different. This phrase every single Asian and tourist has uttered it is the ultimate joke, on t-shirts, it's everywhere. If an explanation is too difficult to go into, same same....but different. Anyway, the food was amazing, by far the best papaya salad and spring rolls I've had yet! And other than that, tried to ride on the diving pier which moved along with the waves but security would never let me, believe me, I kept trying. Yes, I basically stuck to my little sliver of paradise for 6 days, loving my beach time, hanging with my new friends and basically, loving life! Well, aside from the bugs, geckos, mantises and other disgusting creepy, crawly things that unfortunately go hand in hand with the tropics. I was reminded why I like Seattle so much and why I chose it after years of living in the south of the US and Guam, ewwww. But I'm facing my fear of them one little scream (albeit sometimes muffled) at a time! :-)
So this seems like a pertinent time to mention synchronicity. You know when you meet someone just when you need to at exactly the moment you need to? Well, this has been happening to me consistently since traveling on my own, I have many examples in each place I've visited which continues to reinforce me that I'm on the right path whatever that may be. So, remember how my knee was messed up? I was limping, was seriously worried I'd need to return home to take care of it, well the lovely French couple just so happened to be osteopaths! They worked on my knee and assured me it was ok and of course, gave me advice on how to take care of it. And have since offered to stay with them in France! The fun Aussie couple as well! And the offer is vice versa.....if or when, I ever stay in one place long enough! And meeting Jai, the vivacious girl from London at the fish spa? Well, she joined me in Ko Lanta and we've since met up in Cambodia and plan to in Bangkok as well. It amazes me that everyone loves that I'm traveling on my own and if they're older, they say they wished they had when they were my age. Yes, I'm definitely grateful for this time so bring it, I'm ready for some more adventure!!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Konichiwa!
Clean, orderly, funky Japan, a culture I still can't fully grasp, how you are so appreciated after dirty, loud, unruly China! Truly, the clash of cultures is amazing. When planning this trip I was almost more excited to revisit Japan than to see Russia and Mongolia for the first time. Having only explored Tokyo and the area near Yokota air force base, I had regretted living so near Japan and missing Kyoto. That regret is now gone! Woo hoo, I got to see kinky kimonos in Kyoto!!
After flying into the Osaka airport, frustration set in trying to figure out how to get to the hostel, locating an ATM for yen and on top of that being completely exhausted from my previous night's escapades, what a relief to finally arrive at the cutest hostel imaginable, Hostel 64 Osaka. Think pure Japanese style: beds in the form of futons on tatami mats, shoji screens and the most unique showers (tatami and a seated shower with swinging arms to name two--wait until you see these pictures!), I was in love!
It was Halloween and this girl loves a dress up but just couldn't get my act together with all the traveling and lack of sleep so merely wore colored glasses and some flare and enjoyed others' creativity instead. It was hard to tell if the locals were dressed up for Halloween or if merely dressed in their usual style but as far as sheer numbers go, it's not like the droves of people dressed up in the States so even harder to tell if they were true harajuku girls or not. We checked out the local scene in the Tenjinbashi-suji shopping district, an area of arcades (the Japanese form of gambling), tons of bars and lights: think Vegas.
So many good eating experiences and this just in the course of 4 days but one of my favorites was the Takoyaki, octopus in fried dumplings, wicked good street food. I think Seattle should adopt this instead of the hot dog, street dogs are so last year and hot pockets just haven't taken off yet ;-) Another yummy experience was okonomiyaki, do it yourself grill type cooking but I have no idea what kind of meat I was eating, come to think of it nor did we have any idea what we were ordering, no wax foods at this joint. And here's another: just a typical udon restaurant yum! Soba in soup, ground beef with egg in rice, common ingredients but how do they always make it taste so damn good? Ramen with garlic, great ambience in the escort district, oh yeah! Breakfast at the hostel was homemade baked bread using rice flour vs. wheat and what a difference, so light with a touch of sweetness. And the sushi, honestly, don't have to say anything, do I? Besides YUM! But the ultimate gastronomic experience was by far the 10 course, fixed meal in Kyoto. Oh but before I describe probably should mention we weren't even hungry but thought, hey, let's check out this place, looks cool and random, we'll just order something light. Yep, 10 courses later, we rolled out of there. My favorite course had to be the whole fish that came out with the explanation in English: fish boiled in broth. (Love the Japanese, again I know I keep repeating but they crack me up always wanting to practice their Engrish, so cute, I want to just pinch every one of their cheeks!) So I attempted the whole fish, well the eyeballs, specifically. And I can't even brag I've eaten it as here's another foodie faux pas: fish eyeball, the first food that I've ever spit out. So sorry for my rudeness but crunch, gulp, it wasn't even the texture, just. wouldn't. go. down. :-(
Again I must point out the differences between China and Japan, which let's just get right down to it, can be summed up in one word: toilets. Yes, I am back on to my second favorite topic. Just take one look at the care of their facilities, no pushing to the front of the line and always immaculate. (By the way, apparently only Americans use the term bathroom or restroom, there is no bath and certainly no rest involved so why call it that? A fact that was pointed out by my Aussie travel mate, but then again they say dunny and the English say loo so what's wrong with bathroom or restroom? But clearly the rest of the world says toilet or WC, duh.) Have you any idea how nice it is to not only have clean and dry facilities but a WARM seat with a bidet and buttons that do everything from play music to splash water to dry and could probably pick the name of your firstborn if you let it. Pure BLISS after squat toilets.
Kyoto: dear God, can this country get any more perfect? LOVE!!!! It's as simple as that, quaint but big enough to have the most amazing Zen gardens, temples, and pagodas. It was apparent the moment you step out of the train station, Kyoto is more traditional than Osaka and Tokyo. The architecture of the buildings and the rock gardens made me feel completely at peace, this after a visit to an especially beautiful temple ground complete with a rock garden ending with a walk through a bamboo garden. Truly Zen! Kimonos were almost commonplace and the sheer variety was brilliant! And on one occasion, a group of girls in kimonos wanted pictures of us, so strange as I wasn't sure if it was rude to take pictures of them and here they were clicking away at us. The best moment was when a group of 3 geishas came toward us but I completely froze and only managed a photo as they were walking away, bummer. And oh yeah, I found a Seattle's best coffee, I kid you not! Oh and even a Tully's, Kyoto must be sister cities? And how funny to see Pike Place blend in Japanese, definitely getting homesick for Seattle. But Japan, I could live here, yes, I am not through with you just yet.
It's the little things about the people that I love the most. For instance, stopping at a random little eatery one night, we were greeted by some friendly Japanese wanting to know where we were from and eager to give us food suggestions. They quickly took a fascination to us, was it the turquoise glasses or maybe the disco bear? Who knows but as the night wore on and they drank more and more Asahi, one girl kept coming over and covering her mouth laughing, pointed to spoon man and said Brad Pitt, handsome. To me, beautiful. They wanted pictures, however, none came out, there was too much laughing and covering of the mouth. Hilarious!
And then there are the weird Japanese inventions. At Starbucks they have umbrella condoms! Yes, folks, just place your umbrella in this machine and it wraps a plastic bag around it, whisking away the rain as it does, a very cool, not sure if it can be classified as a chindogu but I'm gonna anyway. Seattle, are you listening?
My last day in Japan was spent biking around Osaka, running various errands to the US consulate, mailing cold weather clothes home and just seeing the city in its' entirety. Biking is such a great way to get to know a city, plus you can just cruise through the uninteresting industrial and business parts. Really fun although in a city the size of Osaka, trying to maneuver through the massive throngs of people is not fun and made even more not fun when the local police pull you over. Really? Do I look like a menace to society? Asking for my passport? Really? I'm on a bicycle. Clearly a safe and orderly country.
And this is where the story of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell ends. Flash packer status stripped, it's now real backpacking for this pixie dust throwing wanderlust girl. Stay tuned, the real adventure is just beginning........
After flying into the Osaka airport, frustration set in trying to figure out how to get to the hostel, locating an ATM for yen and on top of that being completely exhausted from my previous night's escapades, what a relief to finally arrive at the cutest hostel imaginable, Hostel 64 Osaka. Think pure Japanese style: beds in the form of futons on tatami mats, shoji screens and the most unique showers (tatami and a seated shower with swinging arms to name two--wait until you see these pictures!), I was in love!
It was Halloween and this girl loves a dress up but just couldn't get my act together with all the traveling and lack of sleep so merely wore colored glasses and some flare and enjoyed others' creativity instead. It was hard to tell if the locals were dressed up for Halloween or if merely dressed in their usual style but as far as sheer numbers go, it's not like the droves of people dressed up in the States so even harder to tell if they were true harajuku girls or not. We checked out the local scene in the Tenjinbashi-suji shopping district, an area of arcades (the Japanese form of gambling), tons of bars and lights: think Vegas.
So many good eating experiences and this just in the course of 4 days but one of my favorites was the Takoyaki, octopus in fried dumplings, wicked good street food. I think Seattle should adopt this instead of the hot dog, street dogs are so last year and hot pockets just haven't taken off yet ;-) Another yummy experience was okonomiyaki, do it yourself grill type cooking but I have no idea what kind of meat I was eating, come to think of it nor did we have any idea what we were ordering, no wax foods at this joint. And here's another: just a typical udon restaurant yum! Soba in soup, ground beef with egg in rice, common ingredients but how do they always make it taste so damn good? Ramen with garlic, great ambience in the escort district, oh yeah! Breakfast at the hostel was homemade baked bread using rice flour vs. wheat and what a difference, so light with a touch of sweetness. And the sushi, honestly, don't have to say anything, do I? Besides YUM! But the ultimate gastronomic experience was by far the 10 course, fixed meal in Kyoto. Oh but before I describe probably should mention we weren't even hungry but thought, hey, let's check out this place, looks cool and random, we'll just order something light. Yep, 10 courses later, we rolled out of there. My favorite course had to be the whole fish that came out with the explanation in English: fish boiled in broth. (Love the Japanese, again I know I keep repeating but they crack me up always wanting to practice their Engrish, so cute, I want to just pinch every one of their cheeks!) So I attempted the whole fish, well the eyeballs, specifically. And I can't even brag I've eaten it as here's another foodie faux pas: fish eyeball, the first food that I've ever spit out. So sorry for my rudeness but crunch, gulp, it wasn't even the texture, just. wouldn't. go. down. :-(
Again I must point out the differences between China and Japan, which let's just get right down to it, can be summed up in one word: toilets. Yes, I am back on to my second favorite topic. Just take one look at the care of their facilities, no pushing to the front of the line and always immaculate. (By the way, apparently only Americans use the term bathroom or restroom, there is no bath and certainly no rest involved so why call it that? A fact that was pointed out by my Aussie travel mate, but then again they say dunny and the English say loo so what's wrong with bathroom or restroom? But clearly the rest of the world says toilet or WC, duh.) Have you any idea how nice it is to not only have clean and dry facilities but a WARM seat with a bidet and buttons that do everything from play music to splash water to dry and could probably pick the name of your firstborn if you let it. Pure BLISS after squat toilets.
Kyoto: dear God, can this country get any more perfect? LOVE!!!! It's as simple as that, quaint but big enough to have the most amazing Zen gardens, temples, and pagodas. It was apparent the moment you step out of the train station, Kyoto is more traditional than Osaka and Tokyo. The architecture of the buildings and the rock gardens made me feel completely at peace, this after a visit to an especially beautiful temple ground complete with a rock garden ending with a walk through a bamboo garden. Truly Zen! Kimonos were almost commonplace and the sheer variety was brilliant! And on one occasion, a group of girls in kimonos wanted pictures of us, so strange as I wasn't sure if it was rude to take pictures of them and here they were clicking away at us. The best moment was when a group of 3 geishas came toward us but I completely froze and only managed a photo as they were walking away, bummer. And oh yeah, I found a Seattle's best coffee, I kid you not! Oh and even a Tully's, Kyoto must be sister cities? And how funny to see Pike Place blend in Japanese, definitely getting homesick for Seattle. But Japan, I could live here, yes, I am not through with you just yet.
It's the little things about the people that I love the most. For instance, stopping at a random little eatery one night, we were greeted by some friendly Japanese wanting to know where we were from and eager to give us food suggestions. They quickly took a fascination to us, was it the turquoise glasses or maybe the disco bear? Who knows but as the night wore on and they drank more and more Asahi, one girl kept coming over and covering her mouth laughing, pointed to spoon man and said Brad Pitt, handsome. To me, beautiful. They wanted pictures, however, none came out, there was too much laughing and covering of the mouth. Hilarious!
And then there are the weird Japanese inventions. At Starbucks they have umbrella condoms! Yes, folks, just place your umbrella in this machine and it wraps a plastic bag around it, whisking away the rain as it does, a very cool, not sure if it can be classified as a chindogu but I'm gonna anyway. Seattle, are you listening?
My last day in Japan was spent biking around Osaka, running various errands to the US consulate, mailing cold weather clothes home and just seeing the city in its' entirety. Biking is such a great way to get to know a city, plus you can just cruise through the uninteresting industrial and business parts. Really fun although in a city the size of Osaka, trying to maneuver through the massive throngs of people is not fun and made even more not fun when the local police pull you over. Really? Do I look like a menace to society? Asking for my passport? Really? I'm on a bicycle. Clearly a safe and orderly country.
And this is where the story of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell ends. Flash packer status stripped, it's now real backpacking for this pixie dust throwing wanderlust girl. Stay tuned, the real adventure is just beginning........
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Shanghai--the World Expo, travel thoughts and more of that mystery organ meat
I immediately liked Shanghai with it's certain Hong Kong-esque feel, very Western compared to Beijing: the poorer, dirtier and probably more authentic China even as Shanghai is China's most populous city, weighing in at a whopping 19 million. The stores in the subway were more upscale, even the trinkets seemed nicer, though still made in China, of course.
The strange, questionable foods finally did me in here. There will be no more pointing at the menu and blindly ordering things (well, until ? safer Japan anyway). I blame it on the probable kidney mixed with vegetables and more of that mystery meat, the smell nauseated me. And this from the Szechuan region, known for it's excellent, albeit, spicy fare. I realized, although adventurous, I do have certain reservations about my food, this chica ain't no Anthony Bourdain. So I vowed to stick to safer food options of the chicken-esque variety in meals such as hot pot soup. So for the record, it was Shanghai, 3 weeks into the trip where I broke down and had my first real western meal: pizza. Read 'em and weep, China will do that to a girl, even a self-proclaimed foodie.
Explored the happening Nanjing pedestrian shopping district, slightly akin to Vegas with it's garish lights. Hawkers kept trying to sell those laser things, you know what I'm talking about? It's fun to respond you're looking for, say a Ferrari or a yak, they'll still persist with trying to sell you their crap, gotta love their persistence anyway....or not. Moving along at the far end of Nanjing street is the Bund located on the banks of the Huangpu River with it's gorgeous 20th century neoclassical and art deco architecture. What a view of the Shanghai skyline at night, gorgeous! Took a ferry for 2 yuan to the Pudong Financial district, home of the world's third tallest skyscraper, the Shanghai World Financial Center, then hopped on board an open-air tourist bus to the Oriental Pearl Tower. Again, great view of the city at night. Then it was off to try out the Shanghai nightlife on a Wednesday night, ok, not bad but then again we did put on a bit of a show. Who me? Yeah ok, I was dancing in my seat, saving the knee and all, and when a Chinese girl wanted me to dance, this li'l disco diva just couldn't say no! Love the Chinese for their fun loving 'tudes. However, due to the price of liquor, this cocktail girl made best frenemies with Chinese beer.
Timing to Shanghai was great as the World Expo was being held! We braved the very Chinese crowds, avoiding a long queue by hopping into the special needs line (being a foreigner sometimes rocks) then proceeded to stand in a very long line for security, yet again. Ok, it's official, I feel safe in this country. We searched for bike rentals which were nowhere to be found despite being advertised and as the Expo covers a big chunk of real estate, no way could bum knee navigate. So the oxen attempted to first give me a ride on a trash can with the lid closed, ewwww, I couldn't do it (but I did manage to meet someone who works at my first professional job, Christus Santa Rosa hospital in San Antonio, small world!) There were no bus options either and since we had already tried the shoulder ride with some success although lots of Chinese pointing, laughing and taking lots of photos, maybe it was the spoon waving again that did 'em in. So the only feasible option left was a wheelchair. So you know those peeps who are disabled and get first access to everything and you secretly hate them because you've had to stand in line way longer than them and as you're waiting you begin to wonder if they're truly handicapped, well that was me and it got us into way more countries at the front of the line with barely any waiting time. Yeehaw, now I'm loving my bum knee! ;-)
So the Expo is pretty much a traveler's biggest dream or biggest nightmare. Dream, in terms of all it did for me was add yet another country to my already growing list by the minute and nightmare in that there's not enough time to see our big, wide, world. Little did I know at the time how soon I'd get to go back to further explore southeast Asia, and this time not for business. I had been talking to other travelers about Cambodia and Laos especially, so southeast Asia was on my mind. Better get cracking, I'm not getting any younger. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm actually doing, right now, in the present, the kind of travel I've always dreamed of doing. Jobs and responsibilities will always be there. Youth, not. I'm in a time rich cash poor situation which makes southeast Asia the ideal locale for me. I can not tell you how strongly I feel about this, starting to feel that the universe has conspired to get me to exactly this point. Either that or I'm reading entirely too much Paulo Coelho. But I majorly digress.
Another short trip to a big city, this one about 3 days. The last day explored the City God temple and Yuyuan Garden. The latter was pretty with the classic Chinese architecture and koi ponds although heavily touristed but my heart wasn't in it. Had to experience the Chinese foot massage, which was very nice and then a man with a light on his head came in, from now on he will be called torch dude. Torch dude took care of the dirty business of scraping off all that dead yucky skin, oy, and there was a lot of it, yuck. Sounds scary but was painless and left with the softest skin imaginable. After a bland but safe Chinese meal, finally, nightlife in a swanky club, a high rise building with a view of the river Huangpa and the Pudong skyline. And I did it up right, my friends, 2 caipirinhas, 2 tequila shots and a cigarette later, wow. (And oh yeah, managed to get locked in yet another bathroom stall, this is getting embarrassing.) Yeah, I felt this one and it didn't even wait 'til the morning. Cab ride home I couldn't get enough air and it's cold, peeps! Ok, I'm off the cigs foreva! The 2 hours of sleep and flight the next morning to Osaka was bearable, barely, courtesy of my lovely friend, the anti-emetic.
So China, here are my thoughts: I loved ya at times but sorry to say, you're not my favorite of countries. Perhaps once you relax the Facebook, news ban, and any other sort of means of freedom of expression, stop pushing everyone in crowds, spitting everywhere and wait your turn in line, I will reconsider. This last point gets me, I truly don't understand the logic behind the anything goes in bathroom lines. Why is it ok to jump right in front of someone? Ok, I obviously need to not be so judgmental and realize this is their cultural norm but these are my gripes. I like many of your people but if I return it will be to a prettier part like Guilin in the southwest and when it's warmer. Noticing the correlation yet? Girl needs some heat ;-)
The strange, questionable foods finally did me in here. There will be no more pointing at the menu and blindly ordering things (well, until ? safer Japan anyway). I blame it on the probable kidney mixed with vegetables and more of that mystery meat, the smell nauseated me. And this from the Szechuan region, known for it's excellent, albeit, spicy fare. I realized, although adventurous, I do have certain reservations about my food, this chica ain't no Anthony Bourdain. So I vowed to stick to safer food options of the chicken-esque variety in meals such as hot pot soup. So for the record, it was Shanghai, 3 weeks into the trip where I broke down and had my first real western meal: pizza. Read 'em and weep, China will do that to a girl, even a self-proclaimed foodie.
Explored the happening Nanjing pedestrian shopping district, slightly akin to Vegas with it's garish lights. Hawkers kept trying to sell those laser things, you know what I'm talking about? It's fun to respond you're looking for, say a Ferrari or a yak, they'll still persist with trying to sell you their crap, gotta love their persistence anyway....or not. Moving along at the far end of Nanjing street is the Bund located on the banks of the Huangpu River with it's gorgeous 20th century neoclassical and art deco architecture. What a view of the Shanghai skyline at night, gorgeous! Took a ferry for 2 yuan to the Pudong Financial district, home of the world's third tallest skyscraper, the Shanghai World Financial Center, then hopped on board an open-air tourist bus to the Oriental Pearl Tower. Again, great view of the city at night. Then it was off to try out the Shanghai nightlife on a Wednesday night, ok, not bad but then again we did put on a bit of a show. Who me? Yeah ok, I was dancing in my seat, saving the knee and all, and when a Chinese girl wanted me to dance, this li'l disco diva just couldn't say no! Love the Chinese for their fun loving 'tudes. However, due to the price of liquor, this cocktail girl made best frenemies with Chinese beer.
Timing to Shanghai was great as the World Expo was being held! We braved the very Chinese crowds, avoiding a long queue by hopping into the special needs line (being a foreigner sometimes rocks) then proceeded to stand in a very long line for security, yet again. Ok, it's official, I feel safe in this country. We searched for bike rentals which were nowhere to be found despite being advertised and as the Expo covers a big chunk of real estate, no way could bum knee navigate. So the oxen attempted to first give me a ride on a trash can with the lid closed, ewwww, I couldn't do it (but I did manage to meet someone who works at my first professional job, Christus Santa Rosa hospital in San Antonio, small world!) There were no bus options either and since we had already tried the shoulder ride with some success although lots of Chinese pointing, laughing and taking lots of photos, maybe it was the spoon waving again that did 'em in. So the only feasible option left was a wheelchair. So you know those peeps who are disabled and get first access to everything and you secretly hate them because you've had to stand in line way longer than them and as you're waiting you begin to wonder if they're truly handicapped, well that was me and it got us into way more countries at the front of the line with barely any waiting time. Yeehaw, now I'm loving my bum knee! ;-)
So the Expo is pretty much a traveler's biggest dream or biggest nightmare. Dream, in terms of all it did for me was add yet another country to my already growing list by the minute and nightmare in that there's not enough time to see our big, wide, world. Little did I know at the time how soon I'd get to go back to further explore southeast Asia, and this time not for business. I had been talking to other travelers about Cambodia and Laos especially, so southeast Asia was on my mind. Better get cracking, I'm not getting any younger. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm actually doing, right now, in the present, the kind of travel I've always dreamed of doing. Jobs and responsibilities will always be there. Youth, not. I'm in a time rich cash poor situation which makes southeast Asia the ideal locale for me. I can not tell you how strongly I feel about this, starting to feel that the universe has conspired to get me to exactly this point. Either that or I'm reading entirely too much Paulo Coelho. But I majorly digress.
Another short trip to a big city, this one about 3 days. The last day explored the City God temple and Yuyuan Garden. The latter was pretty with the classic Chinese architecture and koi ponds although heavily touristed but my heart wasn't in it. Had to experience the Chinese foot massage, which was very nice and then a man with a light on his head came in, from now on he will be called torch dude. Torch dude took care of the dirty business of scraping off all that dead yucky skin, oy, and there was a lot of it, yuck. Sounds scary but was painless and left with the softest skin imaginable. After a bland but safe Chinese meal, finally, nightlife in a swanky club, a high rise building with a view of the river Huangpa and the Pudong skyline. And I did it up right, my friends, 2 caipirinhas, 2 tequila shots and a cigarette later, wow. (And oh yeah, managed to get locked in yet another bathroom stall, this is getting embarrassing.) Yeah, I felt this one and it didn't even wait 'til the morning. Cab ride home I couldn't get enough air and it's cold, peeps! Ok, I'm off the cigs foreva! The 2 hours of sleep and flight the next morning to Osaka was bearable, barely, courtesy of my lovely friend, the anti-emetic.
So China, here are my thoughts: I loved ya at times but sorry to say, you're not my favorite of countries. Perhaps once you relax the Facebook, news ban, and any other sort of means of freedom of expression, stop pushing everyone in crowds, spitting everywhere and wait your turn in line, I will reconsider. This last point gets me, I truly don't understand the logic behind the anything goes in bathroom lines. Why is it ok to jump right in front of someone? Ok, I obviously need to not be so judgmental and realize this is their cultural norm but these are my gripes. I like many of your people but if I return it will be to a prettier part like Guilin in the southwest and when it's warmer. Noticing the correlation yet? Girl needs some heat ;-)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Beijing: culture shock as only the Chinese can provide
Leaving Mongolia was a departure from the usual train travel: ahhhh, the luxury of flying after days on a train, you have no idea, I might even stop complaining about domestic air travel in the US after this. The idea was to train it all the way across the Trans-Siberian and then (technically) across the Trans-mongolian into Beijing, a journey of 9611 Km or 5972 miles, phew. In our defense, there was just one train per week and it left UB the day we arrived ergo a different mode of transport was mandatory. There would be no bogey changing in the cards. Disappointed, yes, but a girl even lowish on the princess scale can only take so much. And the toilets just did me in :(
Beijing is 15 million peeps strong, massive. It took 2 hours to get to our hostel by Tiananmen Square from the airport via train and subway. We stayed in an older, more typical hutong neighborhood near Tianemen Square, in a hostel featuring a typical Chinese courtyard. Street food vendors were everywhere: mystery meat on a stick, one vendor used a hairdryer to cook it faster. This was more culture shock than I had experienced on the trip so far, even having visited China before. Trying street food is so up my alley so baptism by fire it was. First night we ate fried eggs out of a plastic bag, egg yolk crackers, dumplings, probable liver with peppers, meat from a shoulder maybe, and a soupy dish with slimy, spicy stuff. Quickly learned to adopt the policy of not asking what you are eating in China. Of course tried Peking duck and lemme tell ya, seeing the head is not the most appetizing of ways to start a meal. Then again neither was the snake tincture of something or other shot I had. Ewwwwww.
It is impossible to visit Tiananmen Square at night, security is tight everywhere, even in the subway and before visiting the square, one must go through screening. So a venture to tourist hell was to be had instead the first night: a pedestrian street full of western shops such as Nike, Starbucks, Tiffany and Rolex amidst Chinese architecture, a strange clash of east meets west. And here my semi-blondness was desired, I was asked to take a picture with a mother and her Chinese daughter, cute!
Off to the Great Wall of China! With traffic, took ~ 3 hours from the hostel via mini bus with a fun bunch of peeps, with the exception of myself all had some sort of British accent. It was a clear but cold and windy day, lucky with the weather as the previous days it had snowed preventing any kind of view. I still managed to slip on ice, not once but twice, once breaking one of my trekking poles, yes, I am officially a dork. The Badaling remnant of the wall was impressive, so high up, used to be the border of Mongolia and China, truly a magnificent sight to see! Spent 3 hours on the wall, which was plenty, especially with my bum knee. A new travel symbol, the plastic teddy bear affectionately known as Disco B, the potential Pin E replacement, was introduced. For it's first day to travel and see the Great Wall, wow, now that'll be a feat hard to top. Maybe disco-ing at the top to Fergie and blowing bubbles with a toy gun. Huh? Yeah, brought to you by spoon man.
After a family style traditional lunch complete with Chinese beers and Disco B almost left behind, we were off. Traffic on the way back was horrendous, a true reminder of China's population enormity. But we made it back just in time for an acrobatics show of contortionists, men jumping through some very high rings and general Chinese random acts of bravery. The most impressive act was the five motorcycles spinning together in a cage, joined one by one, for the finale.
Would avoid bar street unless you don't mind getting fleeced because you are a Westerner. Beers and cocktails all cost much more than local spots with nowhere near the ambience. Although I have to admit I did get my fix of American pop culture with Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera music videos. Ok, if I must be separated from my girlfriends and traveling with an Aussie, I'm gonna need this taste of home occasionally, indulge me.
Last day in Beijing, another fast tour of a massive city at only 48 hours, I couldn't miss the Imperial Palace, or Forbidden City, which I almost passed on until I got a view of the massivity ( is this a word? My iPad thinks not) of the complex and knew I couldn't miss it. Day started late with a bike rental and since my knee was wrecked after the Great Wall, I got to sit back and semi-relax as I rode Dutch style through Tiananmen Square and environs. I would recommend this as a mode of transport, especially if one is in possession of an orange spoon, it's a great thing to wave while waiting in traffic and making the Chinese laugh! All this on the way to visiting a beautiful park, Jingshan, for an amazing view of Beijing along with the Forbidden City.
Phew! It was a quick trip but on to a more Western feeling city: Shanghai. This time via train and this was a true Chinese experience, 6 bunks in each compartment with no doors. And lemme tell you, the Chinese are not the quietest of peeps! Sleep was only had due to mr. Sleeping pill, thank you very much. We barely made the train, a mere minute later and we would've been shit out of luck, ahhh, the adrenaline. Another 12 + hour trip that if we had waited to travel in one month, could've been on the high speed line at only 4 hours. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.
Beijing is 15 million peeps strong, massive. It took 2 hours to get to our hostel by Tiananmen Square from the airport via train and subway. We stayed in an older, more typical hutong neighborhood near Tianemen Square, in a hostel featuring a typical Chinese courtyard. Street food vendors were everywhere: mystery meat on a stick, one vendor used a hairdryer to cook it faster. This was more culture shock than I had experienced on the trip so far, even having visited China before. Trying street food is so up my alley so baptism by fire it was. First night we ate fried eggs out of a plastic bag, egg yolk crackers, dumplings, probable liver with peppers, meat from a shoulder maybe, and a soupy dish with slimy, spicy stuff. Quickly learned to adopt the policy of not asking what you are eating in China. Of course tried Peking duck and lemme tell ya, seeing the head is not the most appetizing of ways to start a meal. Then again neither was the snake tincture of something or other shot I had. Ewwwwww.
It is impossible to visit Tiananmen Square at night, security is tight everywhere, even in the subway and before visiting the square, one must go through screening. So a venture to tourist hell was to be had instead the first night: a pedestrian street full of western shops such as Nike, Starbucks, Tiffany and Rolex amidst Chinese architecture, a strange clash of east meets west. And here my semi-blondness was desired, I was asked to take a picture with a mother and her Chinese daughter, cute!
Off to the Great Wall of China! With traffic, took ~ 3 hours from the hostel via mini bus with a fun bunch of peeps, with the exception of myself all had some sort of British accent. It was a clear but cold and windy day, lucky with the weather as the previous days it had snowed preventing any kind of view. I still managed to slip on ice, not once but twice, once breaking one of my trekking poles, yes, I am officially a dork. The Badaling remnant of the wall was impressive, so high up, used to be the border of Mongolia and China, truly a magnificent sight to see! Spent 3 hours on the wall, which was plenty, especially with my bum knee. A new travel symbol, the plastic teddy bear affectionately known as Disco B, the potential Pin E replacement, was introduced. For it's first day to travel and see the Great Wall, wow, now that'll be a feat hard to top. Maybe disco-ing at the top to Fergie and blowing bubbles with a toy gun. Huh? Yeah, brought to you by spoon man.
After a family style traditional lunch complete with Chinese beers and Disco B almost left behind, we were off. Traffic on the way back was horrendous, a true reminder of China's population enormity. But we made it back just in time for an acrobatics show of contortionists, men jumping through some very high rings and general Chinese random acts of bravery. The most impressive act was the five motorcycles spinning together in a cage, joined one by one, for the finale.
Would avoid bar street unless you don't mind getting fleeced because you are a Westerner. Beers and cocktails all cost much more than local spots with nowhere near the ambience. Although I have to admit I did get my fix of American pop culture with Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera music videos. Ok, if I must be separated from my girlfriends and traveling with an Aussie, I'm gonna need this taste of home occasionally, indulge me.
Last day in Beijing, another fast tour of a massive city at only 48 hours, I couldn't miss the Imperial Palace, or Forbidden City, which I almost passed on until I got a view of the massivity ( is this a word? My iPad thinks not) of the complex and knew I couldn't miss it. Day started late with a bike rental and since my knee was wrecked after the Great Wall, I got to sit back and semi-relax as I rode Dutch style through Tiananmen Square and environs. I would recommend this as a mode of transport, especially if one is in possession of an orange spoon, it's a great thing to wave while waiting in traffic and making the Chinese laugh! All this on the way to visiting a beautiful park, Jingshan, for an amazing view of Beijing along with the Forbidden City.
Phew! It was a quick trip but on to a more Western feeling city: Shanghai. This time via train and this was a true Chinese experience, 6 bunks in each compartment with no doors. And lemme tell you, the Chinese are not the quietest of peeps! Sleep was only had due to mr. Sleeping pill, thank you very much. We barely made the train, a mere minute later and we would've been shit out of luck, ahhh, the adrenaline. Another 12 + hour trip that if we had waited to travel in one month, could've been on the high speed line at only 4 hours. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.
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