Category: SE. Asia

Posted on

Catching Up

Just added the last set of pictures from Cambodia and some from Hong Kong into the old 2008 folder.

On my first trip into S21 (the concentration camp in Phnom Penh) I refrained from taking pictures to try and fully appreciate what happened there.  On my second time through I thought it would be okay to take a few pictures to try and illustrate some of what happened.  I’ve posted 6 photos from the concentration camp, but this really does the place no justice.  It’s full of photos and stories of people that went through a very tragic time in the history of Cambodia.  It’s a bit altruistic to think that these photos will change anything but for history’s sake I post them anyway.

Hong Kong pictures are the typical food and people types of shots.  I tried to give an idea of what Mong Kok is like, it’s the reason I enjoy the area so much.  You are absolutely enveloped by people the moment you step onto the sidewalk.  I can walk down the side walk and people don’t even give me a second glance, a nice change from Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam.

Posted on

Delay No More

On arriving into Hong Kong Homer was quite sure I would be run over within the first half hour.  Fortunately I’ve been able to avoid this fate, not without some close calls.  I picked up the bad habit of crossing the road whenever I wanted to in Viet Nam and it’s something that I found to be very easy to get used to, much to Homers disbelief.  The traffic and people there move slow enough to avoid pedestrians and generally move at a slower pace.  The pace of Hong Kong is something I should have been prepared for seeing that this is my 4th trip th HK but it still caught me off guard, everyone here is basically running from place to place where people in the rest of SE. Asia stroll to their next appointment.  This is essentially how I think of Hong Kong people now, they move at 2 speeds; full blast or full stop.  This goes for anything they do be it talking, walking, eating or anything you could think of.

This isn’t to say I’m not once again charmed with Hong Kong because I totally am.  Homer’s cousin took us to what I like to call Kung Fu Dim Sum, a totally new experince for me.  The dim sum i’m accustomed to is very calm and orderly with a food routine basically worked out over many times eating dim sum.  This was a polar opposite to what I’m used to, starting with getting seats. We had to stand over people and try and guess who was finished eating and would soon be leaving their seats.   I personally thought one fellow who was enjoying the news paper would soon be leaving, he barely gave me one glance and went back to reading his paper and didn’t move one inch.  We managed to sneak onto a nearby table sqeezing in between two other groups of diners.  This wasn’t the end of the trials there, I’m used to them wheeling around their carts of food and we point at things we’d like to eat.  In this case you can wait for things, but you may be waiting for quite some time.  It’s quite normal for people to go wandering around the shop themseleves looking for what they want and it’s not uncommon to see a popular cart overwhelmed by people.  At one point Homer went to the kitchen to ask for something, he was informed gruffly that the food was out on the floor and to go find it himself. It was a totally fun eating experience in Hong Kong, I was informed this was a genuine tea house that had been there forever and this was how it’s supposed to be.

Once again Homer’s family took good care of us, feeding us way too much good food and Homer and I made trips out to some food eating mecca’s like Sai Kung.  We consumed more than our fair share of mangoes and I had my ghost eyeballs.

Long flight to London tomorrow, flying on Virgin Atlantic.  Hopefully Mr. Bransons planes all have personal video players.

Posted on

Familiar Territory

Current Location:Hong Kong, China

On leaving Cambodia for the second time I’ve realized that it’s quite important to be aware of the history of a country and to be conscious of what we do and how we behave as tourists in these countries.  What really bothered me upon leaving is tourists wearing the red Krama (Krama is the traditional Cambodian scarf.)   On the surface it seems that it’s quite harmless to wear something as trivial as a red scarf, but in this case it’s the symbol of the Khmer Rouge, and on the way back to Thailand I saw more than one tourist wearing these scarves.  I’m not sure if these people were aware of the symbolism of these garments but I find that little excuse for what they are portraying .  I believe it’s our responsibility as travelers to be educated and aware of what we do in someone elses home and to be as insensitive as to promote something as terrible as the Khmer Rouge is enough to make my blood boil.  I’m not sure where I learned about the red scarf but it was something I knew about far before I set foot in Cambodia and while I see locals still wearing these garments, it’s something that is somewhat understandable as almost all of the educated population was eradicated in the 70’s leaving just the peasants and a few of the educated population.

All of the ranting is probably exascerbated by the fact that I visited S21 for a second time, again on the day before leaving the country.  I re-read all the stories and looked again at all the pictures on the wall and tried again to understand how a human being can try to kill all of his brothers and sisters.   It’s not something I enjoy doing but like I wrote earlier it’s important to understand the history of a place as a responsible traveler.  On leaving a second time I realized I enjoy the place quite a bit and there is a more than better chance I go back there, not sure in what capacity but probably not a tourist for a while.

Back in Hong Kong for my 4th trip here and things are incredibly familiar, from the people to the food and everything in between.  I’ve already had to loosen the belt one notch since arriving thanks to Homers family treating better than good.  Most meals typically have more than 10 dishes and go on far longer than I’m really comfortable eating.  I’ve put away the camera for a while as most of the pictures would be a re-hash of the last trip but I’ll wander around a few days and snap pictures to try and give a better idea of what a day in the life of Hong Kong might be.  Up until this point all we have worried about is where dinner might be in 3 days time or where lunch will be tomorrow, I know it’s quite silly but I’ve done most everything in Hong Kong and typically while a way the afternoon wandering around the streets people watching.  I really do love the food culture here in Hong Kong.  No where else have I visited before is food so central to every day life.  It’s literally found everywhere you look whether it be a food stall, someone eating, a restaurant, or a street vendor cooking something quite random.  And you also have to appreciate the fact that the Chinese waste nothing when it comes to food, this time I got to enjoy ducks’ tongues for lunch.

All of this food leaves me to believe I was probably Chinese in a previous life.

Posted on

Flashpacker

Current Location: Siam Reap, Cambodia

I realize I tend to gush about a place as an initial reaction but I really did like Laos, even though I only stayed there 6 days. The people are genuinely laid back and don’t take too much advantage of tourists like Viet Nam, that was especially refreshing. I ended up staying just a few days in Savanahket and a few days in Vientiane, the old capital and where dad used to teach. I peddled out to his old school one day and wandered around the campus for a while getting stared at by just about everyone. Most likely because I was in the wrong attire, shorts and a blue shirt. Everyone there is dressed in long trousers or long skirt, and white long sleeve shirts and ties if you’re a boy. I start sweating just thinking about what they have to wear.

The french influence is still quite apparent in Laos, from a fair few locals still speaking french to the patisseries found everywhere. I can’t say there is much to do in Laos, although most of the backpackers head to Vienvang for ‘tubing’ down the river there. Basically an eternal spring break where people float down a river, get roped into bars that line the river and drink themselves silly each day. I didn’t make it to the plain of jars which leaves a reason to head back to Laos and spend more time.

Dad summarized some of his time in Laos as

Vientiane was a pretty sleepy little town when I was there late 60’s/early 70’s, except of course, for the USAID/Air America/and some US military “advisers”…The school was operated by the French at the time, although most of the upper echelon were Lao. Much of the teaching staff were French and IVSers. The Lao people were very good people – very friendly and seemly happy folk.”

Back in Cambodia after bouncing through Thailand is a bit much in terms of traveling, and we’re off to Phnom Penh tomorrow after doing the temples yesterday and the museum today. The temples were amazing all over again. I got to fit in a few extras that I didn’t get a chance to see last time and was pleasantly surprised, especially at Bantay Srey. The carvings there look like they could have been done yesterday instead of 967 when they were made.

I’ve taken on the mantle of flashpacker since traveling with Homer, mostly because he doesn’t have a budget like I do so I end up having to forgo my 1$ lunches and dinners for something a little more extravagant. On the other hand I did manage to get him to stay in backpacker lodging, which is something completely new to him, and quite a few steps down from what he is used to.

I’ll might post a few more pictures of the temples if any of them came out.

Posted on

New Country

Current Location: Savanakhet, Laos

My time here, in Laos, is shorter than I had anticipated due to circumstances out of my control, to some extent. My first impression of this place can simply be put as, relaxed. Crossing the border took something along the lines of 2 hours, something I’m used to taking less than an eighth of that time. Due mostly to the Laos side of the border things move a shade slower than Hawaii. This is something I’ve heard about from all the travelers who had been through already and had been looking forward too after the crazy that is Viet Nam.

My first few days here in Laos has really been nice.  Wandering through the streets you don’t even get touted at, instead you may get a friendly Sabadee (Hello) and a wave.  There isn’t much to see in this particular town, but it’s just nice to walk around and not be shouted at or bothered really.  I’ll head to Vientine and from there hop back into Thailand to collect Homer and run through Cambodia all over again.  Homer having recently quit his job has a few weeks off before starting the new job, is interested in seeing Angkor Wat and since I’ve already been there he enlisted my help.

I added the last of the Viet Nam pictures.

Posted on

Hai-Ba-YO!

Current Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

I’m certainly glad I made it back down for the wedding I was invited to.  There was a fair amount of trepidation towards it seeing as I could have ended up sticking out quite badly and being awkward at the same time.  Fortunately for me I just end up sticking out but without the awkward part of it.  Fatimas mom and her sisters family ended up taking care of me more than I could have rightly asked anyone to have done and even went as far as to include me in the ceremony of the wedding.

Fortunately for me the only job was to carry some gifts from the grooms house to the brides house and give the gifts over.  After that I just stood and sat around looking goofy as people made speeches, brides cried and grooms looked happy.  This ceremony actually took place at 6a when the fortuneteller predicted would be the best time for the wedding to take place.  Luckily for me the drinking didn’t start until 7p that night along with a 7 course dinner. The title of the post is whats chanted before drinking, much like the American ‘cheers’ (there is another word before the ‘Hai’ but I never caught it.)

I got to meet one of my old friends from Regal yesterday and the day before which was pretty neat.  They were here on a cruise from Singapore and stopped here for a day.  Nice running into them, we shared some food and I got caught up on the goings on back home.

I’d like to share my theory on street food and why It’s the best thing to eat in Viet Nam.  First of all it’s the cheapest food around, the fact that they don’t pay rent is a huge bonus; you just have to get used to the fact that you’re eating on the sidewalk on chairs made for kindergarteners.  Second of all, and more importantly, everything is transparent in terms of how things are prepared.  Most people I think are blissfully unaware of kitchen conditions because they can’t see them whereas the food cooked on the sidewalk has nowhere to hide.  Third is the food itself is amazing, usually these people only make one or two dishes meaning they have perfected the food they are serving otherwise no one would visit their stall.  All of the reasons I’ve found have yet to let me down, usually a meal costs less than a dollar and may a little more than a dollar if you throw in a beer.  How can that be wrong???

I can ceartainly see now why many travellers have said one needs to experience Viet Nam to understand it.  And while I don’t claim to understand Viet Nam at all I at least have some ideas of the place.  Besides the food being incredible the people here are really nice, contrary to what I had thought might have happened to an American running around the country.

I’ll post some pictures in the next few days hopefully.

Posted on

Raining at the Beach

Current Location: Mui Ne, Viet Nam

I’m not so sure that Viet Nam can honestly call itself a communist country anymore.  I find it to be more of a totalitarian government that tries to control information more than anything else.  Doesn’t the fact that people are allowed to own property and businesses discount some of the fundamental basis for communism?  Control of information is evident to most travellers in the form that getting access to Facebook is difficult to impossible depending on what city you are in.  I also know you get into trouble for badmouthing the government so most people are careful what the say, but occasionally you run into someone who gives you an interesting slice of what they see.

Honestly didn’t care for Hanoi very much, the people seem unfriendly as compared to the rest of Viet Nam.  I did the musem thing and walked around the old quarter which does give it a ceartain amount of charm.   Any charm this place had was squashed by a taxi driver that threatened to ‘kill me’ if we didn’t pay 200,000dong after we had already come to a deal that was 50,000dong.  Fortunately for me this was just before I was catching the train south to Nah Trang.

Mui Ne is the kite surfing capital of Viet Nam if not all of SE Asia.  Other than that it’s a peculiar place with lots of Russians roaming around.  I’m not exactly sure how this came to be but most places advertise in English and Cryllic which is somewhat strange to see here.   After that it’s just a typical beach resort town, I can look outside and pretend it’s Kihei (if it wasn’t raining.) 

Had another dinner paid for by random Vietnamese people again last night.  I do enjoy the drinking culture here in Vietnam, the only problem is they drink incredibly fast.  I’ve learned the rules to drinking here and I’ll share them.  On the first drink it’s always bottoms up, every time you cheers ‘YO’ after that it’s half the glass.  And they tend to cheers quite often.  When you clink glasses where you clink matters, below the other guy if you’re younger or less important and even with the other guy if you are same age or about the same importance.  Suffice to say I was throughly pissed after 2 hours of drinking.

One last bus ride to Saigon in time for a wedding, should be really rad I hope.

Posted on

Head in the Clouds

Current Location: Hanoi, Viet Nam

I went to Hue for two simple reasons.  Fist is that it’s on the backpacker circuit so I figured there must be something there worth seeing.  More importantly Fatty’s mom said I should go see what is there.

In the end I’m really glad I went, more than the citadel the genuineness of the people there are what sold me in the end.  I met up with a couple other backpackers on the bus from Hoi An and we decided to split the cost of a room and hang out for a few days.  On our first night in the city we wandered outside of the backpacker area to look for some food.  We ended up finding a bbq meat stall that smelled amazing, they could sense our hesitation and offered us some meat to sample. After that we were sold, it was probably one of the best dinners to date in Viet Nam.  They were incredibly friendly and kept looking our way.  Luckily I learned to kinda say delicious in Vietnamese which I find comes in handy.

I’ve found that the best experiences come when I get out of the tourist area and into the real city.  I relate it to other people like a bunch of zoo animals escaping from their cage and the natives are mildly amused that the animals have wandered into their area.

On another occasion we wandered further away from the area to find a stall next to the river and sat down.  We were then invited by a bunch of guys to eat and drink with them.  After a minutes hesitation we decided we couldn’t refuse their offer and sat down with them.  We ate some delicious meat and drank heaps of beer with them all the while we had a stilted conversation about ourselves.  Lots of beer and laughing make up a great dinner here in Viet Nam.  They then paid the bill and left, leaving Jergen and I a little dumbfounded.

I kinda skipped through Hanoi on my way north to Sapa figuring I’d be back through on my way back south.  I met up with some guys I met down in Hoi An and we went to pay our respects to Uncle Ho.  Side note, why do communist leaders always put themselves on display after they are dead?  So far I’ve visited Ho Chih Minh and Mao Zedong, I only have to visit Lenin to get a full set of communist leaders on display.

I made it to Sapa only to be enveloped by the clouds for the entire day.  Quite a disappointment after seeing pictures of the area that are absolutely stunning.  The second day was a bit better but still half of the day was spent in the clouds.  Found some other backpackers heading into the hill tribe area on their own and wandered around with them.  The scenery is amazing to see, it must take tremendous amounts of effort to shape the hills into rice paddies and maintain those fields.  The costumes worn by the hill people are very colorful but I still couldn’t bring myself to take pictures of them, though I did see people unabashedly shooting to their hearts content.

We had a few conversations between us on what the area would look like in 10 years.  Construction of homestays is furious in the area and I wonder how focused they are on rice production any more, it seems they are far more interested in selling trinkets and clothes.

Now that I’ve made it all they way to the North of Viet Nam it’s time to go all the way back down to Saigon.  Fatty’s mom will be here in a few weeks time for a wedding which I’ve been invited to in Saigon.  Also coming is Ray and Sonya on a cruise a few days later so it’ll be nice to meet up with people I know.    I expect picture taking will slow down as I’ll have visited most of the areas already.

On that note I posted a few pictures from the last few days.

Posted on

Easy Rider

Current Location: Hue, Viet Nam

I must say that I didn’t set out to do a six day trip by motorcycle upon entering Da Lat but the one day tour around Da Lat was a lot better than I could have imagined and he gave me a price that was better than I had expected so I figure I’d spend mom and dads Christmas gift on something that would take me off the beaten track.  As I often bemoan the typical backpacker circuit this would be a surefire way to get off the path and see some things authentically Vietnamese.

We left Da Lat promptly at 8:30a and proceeded to hit the countryside stopping as we went along to see what people were up to.  It took me a while to get used to this as I feel like we were intruding but it genuinely seemed like people were happy to sit and talk for a while to the guide and stare at me for a while. I met tons of locals at parks and things who were keen to have their picture taken and share a little rice wine or fruits as I walked along.  Not much else is said besides “Hello, How are you?” by both sides but it’s still fun and they usually get a kick out of saying anything in English.

This experience was very similar to the one day ride I did through the countryside of Battenbong where kids would smile, wave, and shout hello as the bike zoomed by often with me waving back.  It’s quite charming to see them all smiling on the side of the road.  My favorite experiences were those that felt fairly organic, often he would stop the bike and I would walk a kilometer or so just to stretch out my legs and I would often run into people on the side of the road, we’d both motion to each other and ‘converse’ as much as we could… I left each of these encounters smiling.

It’s nice to take a break after 6 days of running around Viet Nam on the back of a motorcycle.

I spent a few days resting in Hoi An and really enjoyed the place.  It’s easy to see why it has UNESCO World Heritage status with all of the old buildings down by the waterfront.  They shut down traffic at night and it becomes walking streets and you can almost pretend that you are back in time at that point, you just have to ignore the hundreds of tailor shops that inhabit Hoi An.  Other than that they have some wonderful regional food there that was extremely cheap and you could always find people to chat with.  I spent quite a bit of time wandering around the back alleys that wind their way past houses and have the occasional well driven in the middle of the path.   Definitely a must if you make it to Vietnam.

Last thing I did before leaving Hoi An is to visit the Marble Mountains, a suggestion given to me before leaving New Zealand by Terry.  It was worth the trip as the area isn’t heavily tourist and it’s basically left out of the Lonely Planet. Huge caves and lots of sculptures in there make it a neat place to visit, that along with being able to climb to the top of the mountain for a great view was awesome.

I’ve posted the first set of Viet Nam pictures