AND I'm still in cambodia

Welcome back to the world of my blog. Or perhaps I should welcome myself back.
Amazingly I am nearing the 2 month mark in my trip and I have been doing exciting things, which is a great change from what I now endearingly call suckville also known as sihanoukville. I never thought I would be one who didn't like the taste of super chilling on a beach but low and behold it happened.

There were a few things from suckville that could use some commenting. The first day I tried to go diving there the waters were very rough so we skipped it. On the way back into town was a wonderful sight of monks clad in bright orange folds of fabric on their daily alms gathering. One was holding a black umbrella while an individual was praying to him. Bowing in cadence with the rhythm of the prayer and holding his hands together in front of his face. It was a beautiful sight, especially contrasted to strewn garbage on the street, the traffic and the going ons of early morning life.

That said I went diving the next day--it was alright, poor visibility. I got a bit of a scrape/irritation on my foot from the fin, and it led to an infection. That was shitty, but even worse was getting taken by a medical clinic in Siem Reap. I went to get it dressed and they sold me some pills I didn't need and charged me $10 for a bad bandage job and $8 for the pills. That may not sound like a lot, but its all relative. Luckily that was what I would call my first, and hopefully only, time of being taken in SE asia. All I needed was some antibiotic ointment and its all good now.

So I was in Siem Reap, possibly better known for housing the Angkor Wat complex and temples. It is certainly called a wonder of the world for a reason. It was epic, beautiful and majestic. What I can say about it is, go there. Being there I felt a mix of intense spirituality, destruction (khmer rouge), inspiring greatness and history. But it was constantly buZzing all around me and I found it very difficult to focus on any one element. The presence of each was very powerful but it still felt amazing being there. Perhaps I tried to use my camera too much as a kind of blinders to these sensations, but I got some great pics. It was truly killer for lack of a sweeter word. Beautiful and tragic...

Siem Reap is a cool town but not great. Its expensive and there are so many tourists. However apparently this is quite a slow high season. I'm sure we can all guess why. So I moved on to a city called Battambang, which is the second largest after Phnom Penh. This also involved something exciting because it was my first water travel. I took a boat with maybe 40 other people across the northern section of Tonle Sap lake, the largest fresh water lake in se asia. Then through many tributaries of the lake. Some only as wide as the boat and at times even less than. In fact I think our driver was training. He was constantly throwing it in reverse at bends in the river because he couldn't make the turns correctly and we kept gliding into the side of the path. At one point there was this guy on a really small fishing dingy and the device that was steering the prop caught his boat and launched him off. He looked much less than ecstatic.

Life on the water was extremely cool to experience. IF your house wasn't on a boat everything else was. Some houses were like house boats, others were just straight boats with rounded coverings made from wood, plastic sheeting or metal. Some houses were built on 30 foot tall stilts for when the river floods from snow runoff from way up north into the mekong. Everything else was on boats; markets, taxis, the schools were floating buildings, and some temples. Life looked easy, but I assume it was an illusion, it must have been the people that made it such. There were awesome bamboo contraptions that were house, raft and net fishing device that looked straight out of that shitty kevin costner movie waterworld, all connected together in an impressive amalgamation of bamboo physics. And the children, almost always smiling and waving, so sweet.

Battambang is a cool enough town for me to stay here a few days. So far it looks like a bunch of pharmacies, electronic/household ware shops, beauty salons, and clothes stores. Tonight I went with the driver of my tuk tuk to a popular restaurant with the locals and had a delicious plate of fried eel(spine in of course) which was super good. Yesterday (SUN) I must have witnessed about 4 wedding parties going on. Sometimes for the event they will erect a tent like structure with no walls from a building directly into the street, perhaps to the middle, and it is totally normal and usual.

Thats about all I've got for now. Its nice to let you in on the scoop again. But a few thoughts before I exit.


-Big props to all the ladies that wear high heels and drive manual motorbikes.

-Tuk tuks in cambodia have a front and rear facing seat, unlike the ones in thailand that only have a front facer, so that they can sleep in them.

-Never have I seen a better cargo on a motorbike than two large live pigs upside down in a sort of wicker harness awaiting who knows what.

How many days can one be happy by the beach?

Well, I will let you know when I find out. Probably very many.

I am simply going to tell all about my days here in Sihanoukville so that you have a picture of the paradise in which I am currently living by the good graces of the universe.  

Like I may have previously stated we are staying in a bungalow that is on a rock bluff between the more hectic and busy beach, and a more relaxed and calming beach. It is a much closer walk to the calmer beach named Otres. I leisurely wake up have a good stretch and prepare myself for an afternoon of sunning. I walk to the cabana that looks most fitting for the day and plop my stuff down on the chairs with cushions that lay on the beach in front of the establishments. I put in an order for a fruit juice or some food and then quickly proceed to jump in the ocean because, well, its mighty hot. So then it is a long day of lying on the beach, usually reading, drinking and eating. 

Then the sunset comes and that is another highlight to the day. They are incredible here, completely comparable with those in Santa Fe, I know, crazy. What I have really come to appreciate is the way the light compliments the texture of the clouds and how much it varies even in one sky. The shading is fantastic. Ill pick out the better pics and throw them up here shortly. 

After the sunset, Samantha and I make our way to the main beach road or right to the nightlife beach itself. That is the more hectic beach as Otres doesn't have much of a night life at all. We will get a meal, but it is usually my prerogative to get drinks and many of them at that. Only seen one sunrise, but enough 3:30 mornings leaving to the shack. 

Repeat

Repeat

Repeat

Still not sure, but it's sweet

I still haven't got much of a grasp on Cambodia, slowly pieces are coming together to make a very interesting picture. This last week I have spent at a soon to be developed beach that will have mega resorts and 10 times the hawkers it now enjoys. At this point it is bar/restaurant/BBQ after another after another with little variation. It is only somewhat garbage strewn and the water is still swim -able. Give it seven to ten years and it will look nothing like it does now, and there is already construction everywhere. There is however much work that needs to be done for this beach to not become an immediate dump in the same amount of years. But it certainly has the potential. So that has been my scene for a while. With 75 cent beers, a good book (the story of edgar sawtelle-I recommend it), and a ton of hot sun, its more than easy to let the days melt away. And they have. Im surprised that I have already been gone for nearly a month and yet it seems like it might as well have been three already with this slower than average pace. 

Recently Samantha (the girl I'm traveling with) and I moved to this rather nice bungalow atop a rock bluff overlooking the ocean. Its very nice. Away from the torch of the town but still a quick moto ride away, which we have rented but I realize insurance doesn't cover drivers.

So let me speak about the craziness here. I though that driving in Bangkok was mad. Where people are probably paying attention to lights, maybe leaning over the yellow line to move around traffic or pass other vehicles, and where usually they stay in the direction of the respective lane. Well that just doesn't exist in Cambodia. Thank god we rented a moto in a small town and not Phnom Penh were the traffic laws are, well... I don't think there are any. People drive on the wrong side of the road on the opposite side of the vehicles going the correct direction. Traffic lights might as well not have colors, certainly not the colors that signify go and stop. Its a hodgepodge of vehicles and directions, but they all get where they are going, but its fucking nuts. 

The people, they too are crazy. Well the foreigners who have remained here for a while, or for too long I might say. They are. Its not the locals that I am writing of, genuinely nice, even the hawkers you constantly refuse at the beach. Sometimes though those kids will stick quite a quip to you. This one guy from Germany who has purchased a hostel named the Cool Banana speaks 10 miles a minute, smokes dope all the time and runs his business quite poorly, from a money making perspective. He is really exaggerated and speaks in quite a hilarious accent because his english is so rushed. Real friendly, but kinda out of his mind with ideas, ridiculous ones at that. He's got this puppy that is infatuated with bitting everything. I was there hanging out, of course, and he comes in and sits down and right away the puppy bites him. He responds "oww you bastard." I don't know why I'm writing this because you had to be there to laugh, but think of it in the funniest German accent you can imagine. Quite hilarious, he then proceeds to fling the pup away from him. Right funny.  Oww you bastard (in german accent), classic... He is really just nuts. His business won't be lucrative the way he is running it and I think he just likes to party all the time. But I think that can be life in Cambodia. Apparently you can only rent the land here from local owners. So it is possible at any time for the land, and the business on it to be pulled from you. And this is not the place to disagree with anyone over something like that. I guess everyone is connected. And not to the people you or I want to know. 

There are sure to be more accounts of people like this and I will relate them to you the best I can. I saw some really interesting things on the beach yesterday. There were periods of time when these school of smaller white fish would kind of porpoise through the water. What looked like little swells breaking on the waves, which aren't really existent here, were actually hundreds of these fish doing it over and over again in great long line. That was cool to see yet no idea why it was occurring. Maybe feeding time? Also in the night time we were walking along the beach and all of these bio-luminesces become visible. They are everywhere; in the surf, on the beach, in the sand. You just walk along and there is a glowing creature in every step of the trail made. And more washing onto the sand every second. It's really cool to see. The best glow in the dark stuff in the world of the beach. I think they might be phytoplankton, but I can't be sure. 

Anyway its all real nice...

I'm not sure what to call it

Oh Cambodia, Oh Cambodia, Oh Cambodia hail to thee. You are so great, a big party all the time. Oh Cambodia. Are you going to make me crazy?

That said here's why. Firstly my vices; 30 cent packets of cigarettes, 50 cent beers, and 2 dollar bags of scwhag. There is an apparent law-less-ness that exists in all sectors of life, from driving to refuse to bribery. But it all appears to work on the surface so far to my eyes. It seems that anyone foreigner who is here for a bit of time is either working diligently or has become trapped here and turned insane and is on some sort of wild scheme. Must be the place???

I am now traveling with a friend that I graduated with. She is working for an NGO while I bum around and enjoy the sun on the beach. That is now where we are, Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Along their only coast. That has been a relief, some time from my own mind and quite a party really. She knows people is Phnomh Penh and Sihanoukville, mostly teachers of english and all ready to party.

Cambodia is really a trip I just don't know what to make of it yet. Its filthy and smelly and beautiful and friendly.

I can't tell yet but I think the pimp my scooter thing is a lot bigger in Thailand then Cambodia but its done none the less. Little bicycle type tires, loud exhausts and flsahy colors all the way. All about the status.

I've also realized that I HATE cricket. I had never witnessed it before Thailand and Cambodia. Its the worst game ever allowed on television, yet I'm addicted to watching at least a couple of pitches or whatever they call them and then thrashing around thinking how I have a repulsion for it and still am drawn to it.

In Thailand there is a 7/11 on every corner. Sometimes there are two on the same street not even a block a part. Even in smaller cities and the islands there is an insane amount of 7/11's There is a nice lack of such an establishment in Cambodia. Even though it is a nice place to get anything and a great way for a quick glance at any culture's habits or tastes the unbundance is good. More room for the local markets to work and maneuver, which is good, because if there is one thing that is lacking for the majority of individuals it is a good income.

Check out what my mate has written about Cambodia. It is quite concise and makes a lot of sense. It is the second blog from the top at this link. Also about her times teaching in Korea if interested. http://chattinguptheworld.blogspot.com/

The World of Oceana

I have just returned to Bangkok again for a brief stint because tomorrow I will find myself in Cambodia. I traveled to an island named Koh (island) Phangan. Truly a land of paradise with untamed forests and beautiful blue water and huge boulders that have tumbled into the sea. Other than its beauty and constant parties (it is the location of the renowned full moon parties) it seems quite boring.

A couple things on Bangkok and train travel before I get to my awesome adventures in Koh Phangan. I will continuously try to stick to street food as the few encounters I have had in restaurants were sub par, kinda of shitty really. Also salty drinks are the strangest creation to my taste buds. I had one at the noodle house restaurant I just spoke of and salty and sweet and cold and strangely pulpy... not my thing. Street vendors are the bomb. I ate at one the other day for the second time. Apparently, per this chap who lived in the Philippines, it has been around for the last 50 years, they must be doing something right.

I have stopped trusting the ladies who collect on the bus because usually I am rather far from my destination when they say that I am not. Oh well, its all about the adventure... I have noticed that all the buses have wooden floor boards, not that it is frightening, just interesting to note the level of standards. All public transportation looks extremely well used. Which leads me back to the train station. In Bangkok when walking along the platform to catch the night train it is like being transformed back in time. Choked in diesel fumes that are actually blurring your vision you see a scene that I would expect in imperial Britain at the turn of the century, not that the trains are that old, well some of the cars might be. But it is totally mesmerizing until you start tearing up from the fumes. Maybe I'm reading a little too much into it, but its cool.

So to the island. Diving is awesome, if one can see. I obtained my open water certificate, and now I really like to dive. It is just completely a different world. There is sooo much cool stuff to see under the surface. What can I say. It was terrifying during my first open water because we had been practicing in a pool and when we hit the ocean there was less then two feet of visibility. We weren't going very far either, maybe 4 meters. I was not enjoying myself, but it just took a while to become calm and comfortable and from there it was great. It was kinda good to do my first dive in shit visibility because now I will appreciate much more whenever I can see. It was also very authentic Thai diving because each time we went off of a longtail boat. A wooden boat with benches for seats and a long and pointy nose. Then it has an exposed motor, usually taken from a car with a really long pole at the end of which is the prop. It looks simple but it seems to be quite and art to maneuver. It is also an art just walking around the boat because it is hardly balanced.

At one point underwater I was working on the skill of removing my mask and replacing it and clearing the water in by breathing out my nose. Well I had a scrape on my knee from the river rafting we did in Chiang Mai and this fish started to nibble on it and nearly spooked me. But I prevailed. Take that tiny fish! Saw some really cool stuff under water. Extremely brightly colored fish, awesome looking reefs and coral, and even a moray eel and sea snake. Sweet and truly amazing.

So just getting ready to make it to Cambodia. However, one thing I did discover for this last train ride is that barbiturates are a great help.

The sky is alive with a thousand lights

It has been just over a week and I' m still in one piece with a million things to say. This past week I took my first Thai train. To all readers, try and get the bottom bunk. The top one is shit, very short and too much light. However, the dinning/smoking car is where the action is at. Walking in there at around 730 am nearly every table had a large beer bottle on it. Apparently there is no sensible time to start drinking, its just ALL good. Besides the cramped quarters the ride was great, especially after my fifth beer in as the train was about four hours late. Supposedly one of the third class cars derailed in the night and, well, they certainly would have had to do some work to right it.

I took the train to Chiang Mai. A bustling town of about 130,000 with a small town feel to it. Usually tranquil and quiet this past weekend it was f-ing bumping for the festival Loi Krathong, aka the festival of lights. The town is a thriving pulsating party for the three day festival. There are many parades and processions and hundreds of fireworks being ignited every moment once the sun goes down. This is down with little regard to safety as some are riding the back of scooters and firing five foot long roman candles. Whether they are under trees or power lines it doesn't matter. The river banks where much of the action is for the launching of small lotus shaped boats made of banana leaves with a candle and incense is packed with people shoulder to shoulder. There are also food and craft stands everywhere you look. Standing on the river bank one gets the sense of a full blown city party where there are fireworks being launched from one bank to the other and back. It is f-ing raucous.

The most beautiful sight is the launching of glowing paper lanterns. About three or four feet tall and two feet wide there is a fire source in the center of the lantern at the bottom that creates the lift for the lanterns. The lantern is held down by a few people until there is enough lift and it is released into the sky. There are literally hundreds of these lanterns floating in the sky at any moment and in every direction, with tens and tens taking off every second. This is quite a dazzling sight to see, nearly magical. Certainly there must be a village somewhere that the drifting lanterns fall to, hopefully they have a need for many thin metal rings. This is by far the coolest celebration I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing, I recommend it to all who have the chance.


Chiang Mai is well known for its trekking so I trekked. It was great. There was a lot of jungle and the guides were entertaining. The group of people was great with only an eight year gap between the youngest and oldest, myself being the youngest, just wonderful dynamics. We got to witness a hill tribe and sleep in thatched communal sleeping huts the first evening. The dinners that the guides made were absolutely delicious, and the opium they smoked in the village was quite good as well, great for trekking long and hard. Walking to the village on the first day I though I heard wooden wind chimes, but what I came to discover was that they were the nicest sounding cow bells every, what a treat. All the villages we went through were in a national park, so no power lines were allowed which encouraged the use of solar power which I believe was subsidized by the government. This all surprised me quite a bit.

On the second day we trekked to a beautiful waterfall were we swam and played and stayed for the evening in individual huts built on stilts, I assume for the rainy season. We even built a fire there. Who would have imagined a fire in the middle of the jungle next to a raging waterfall, it was sweet. The next day was most adventure filled as we got to go elephant trekking, which wasn't really trekking but more of a small trail we walked around. My self and two others were on this giant elephant, probably 15 feet tall. Luckily didn't have to ride on the neck because this guy was a lumbering giant. So that was great fun except that it stopped every thirty seconds for another banana that we were feeding it and held us up quite a bit. Also the handlers spiky instrument, not so fun, sometimes when he would hit it on the trunk it sounded like hitting a musical pipe of sorts. Anh, they have thick hides. Finally we went river rafting on bamboo rafts, we got into some water fights and tried capsizing each others rafts. It was good. We got back to Chang Mai that night, last night and I found this restaurant were they ring you a clay pot over coals with broth in it and it is buffet style for all the meets and fish and veggies that you put in there raw. I had no idea what I was doing, it was all delicious but from watching other I now know better what to do. Took the train back to Bangkok last night, and it sucked... Def. third class no beds, no dinning car, and way too much AC, at least they turned the lights off. Tonight I am off to the island of Ko Samui to get my diving certification. Yay...


Thoughts

-Oh my Buddha

-Elephant farts stink BAD

-Fat men should not stand in their undies in a glass window front fish spa that's on the second floor for everyone to see. (That's where you stand in a tank of small fish and they eat off the dead skin on your feet)


I promise I will soon add photos.

WAT in the...

Wats, better known to you and I as temples are a pennies throw from each other in many cities in Thailand, and Bangkok is no exception. Some are off the beaten track and are sorta run of the mill style, while others are decorated to the teeth and ornate as anything I have every seen in my life. Wat Phra Kaew also known as wat of the emerald buddha. Which surprisingly was much much smaller (the statue, not the complex) than I thought yet it is extremely respected and important to Thai culture. The base of the statue did however make up for the lack in size as it was the most beautiful pedestal I have ever had the privilege of seeing.

Besides the statue itself the grounds were immensely beautiful and decorated with shiny glass and gold and many aesthetic eye catchers, unfortunately it was also filled with ugly tourists like myself. Really I am finding it hard to describe in words. I will have to post photos shortly.

I had to kinda make it a quip trip because I have discovered to my demise that Thai pork and I do not get along. So i had to run for the runs. Quite unpleasant... One last note. The thrown rooms that were in the grand palace which is in the same complex were also beautiful, but the thrones themselves looked mighty uncomfortable. I don't think Thais care much for chair quality.


That day I also made it to one of the main malls in Bangkok. What a scene that was. Shoppers for days, really thousands of them. There was even a hotel. But it wasn't like a conventional mall from the states. It was like an outdoor market moved indoors. Had to get out quick. However as it goes for most malls many many many girlys around, most of which were quite babe-esq. Just goes to show a mall is a mall is a mall.


Another Wat of epic proportions is Wat Pho where the largest reclining Buddha in the world resides. Absolutely amazing to see. A huge golden (painted) buddha representing the stage before reaching enlightenment. It blew my mind absolutely. Also with hundreds of images carved into the feet and inlaid with pearl, awesome. There is a tradition that coins are dropped into bowls for wishes and good luck and the like. Well where the buddha was at there were hundreds of bowls and plenty of people dropping in coins. It literally sounded like different pitches of rain were falling in the room, really cool. This wat also houses the most buddha statues of any, quite an accomplishment?? There is also a massage school that is affiliated with the wat so got an awesome hour herbal massage for about 12 dollars. That is pretty expensive though. I think I will probably get one today for about 5, without sex of course. Those are much more expensive.


Some thoughts:

-Do as the signs say and don't take pictures where you aren't supposed to. The guards make you delete them.

-The bus is awesome, as long as it isn't rush hour. The collection system is very informal but the person with the collection tin is very professional, constantly clapping their metal pencil carrier at new arrivals.

-With the calm exterior of Thais I wonder if road rage exists?

-If you are going to take an overnight train, get the bottom bunk. It will save you some sleep.

-It seems that the hot soup that is served in such a warm environment is actually efficient at making it feel cooler outside. Also I don't think you can go wrong at a place that has a communal water cup.

The land of spoon and fork

There is soo much I would like to say here. Many comments I have made to myself concerning what I have witnessed and the places and attractions that I have been to so far. They are very few and yet I could write for days.

Let us simply begin with the title. When you order a meal (this is strictly from the street however, not sure about restaurants) you are given a fork and spoon. The fork is also flat, no curve. The fork is used as the knife would be in our great America, and the spoon serves the role of the fork. Silly,? not really it works quite well.

I began my stay on a road called Khao San, a pure backpacker decompression zone. Filled with fake Habianas (sandals w/ the Brazilian flag), ridiculous amounts of clothing and many bars and people trying to sell you suits and fish massages ( they eat the dead skin on your feet, the fishes ofcourse).

Anyway the street is very international, the only Thais are those trying to sell stuff. Except for these two last night, but that will come in a latter post...

The first attraction I made it to was this one that a tuk tuk (three wheeled carriages that are powered by a small two-stroke engine) driver convinced me to go to. Apparently the tallest buddha statue in thailand. Anyway I walk into this shrine room and this little (redundant) old toothless lady gives me some incense that has leaves of gold wrapped in paper and some garland. I have no idea what to do and she leads me through it. Burn the incense while kneeling, put it in pot. Apply gold leaf to one of many figures of buddha, or the king (I think, it might also have been ghandi??). then pay for the offering and depart knowing that you are closer to peace of mind. The statue was kinda of cool, sorta lame compared to what I have seen now (pictures to come soon I promise), but the surrounding temple, wat, was gorgeous. The level of ornate decoration and the use of shiny and colorful glass is unbelievable. Here was no exception. I also saw a group of school children (under 8 years old) gather and pray and recite with this monk that was sitting to the side of one of the temple buildings. Very heart warming.

Next made it to the lucky buddha. Called such because there was a bomb dropped on the building where it is housed and it was a dud. GO buddha... The gentleman there watching the shrine was usually the engineer of construction on the temple right next to it, but it was his day off or something.

Very nice man named Art who told me about the statue and the history and about the area that we were near. So far any Thai I have gotten to know or talk to that wasn't involved with money was full of kindness. Quite a treat.

Saw a few other things that day, but don't want to write about them now, also some are not appropriate for this blog as it will most likely remain PG for all those who love me to continue doing so.

A few thoughts from my first day however.

1. Feral cats are certainly the new temple guardian.

2. Where is the designer/fashion market for H1N1 masks?

3. That's okay, I came mostly for the massage anyway.

4. One of the last cities I would want to drive it.

However number 4 leads to the underlying order of what seems a very chaotic environment. It can be seen in the traffic, how wares are delivered, the way businesses are set up, and nearly everything else, at least in Bangkok. This thought will continue to develop and I will continue to share.