Sawat-dee from Thailand! Today we left Laos and made it to our fourth, and kind-of final, country. Time does fly: two weeks from today I'll be flying home from our brief stopover in Malaysia!
So, reflections on Laos. It was a good time! I think my experience there can be summed up well in what our kayaking river guide said that "PDR" of "Laos PDR" really stands for: Please Don't Rush. Life in Laos was laid-back. People were friendly, and time seemed to move at a slower pace. (Or sometimes it stood still, as it seemed to when we got to glimpse village life in the hill country and saw lots of dirty and partially naked little children running around with pigs and chickens ...) While enjoying this relaxed pace, we got to spend a lot of time in the stunning natural surrounds: we spent a day playing in picturesque lagoons and waterfalls, another kayaking down a river with a very fun and friendly guide, and still another trekking through the hills in the northern part of the country (post the worst car ride I have ever taken - imagine taking your mother's minivan off-roading for seven hours. Katrina and I were lodged in the back of this minivan and were thrown around so much that we kept hitting our heads against the ceiling and one another's skulls. Needless to say, we felt a little woozy after that one.). Another thing that was fun for us was that our final extended stop in a town called Luang Namtha was really close to China, so we spent some time watching our favorite Chinese music videos (ha!) and the women's short program via CCTV. It's funny how I've stopped noticing that I still can't really understand much of the language, because it just sounds so familiar and almost comforting.
I was worried about crossing the border into Thailand today; after one rather "thrilling" experience from Nepal to India, I believe I'm scarred for life and was expecting the worst. However, everything went off without a hitch ... and Katrina even found her passport again, after taking the ferry back to the Laos side of the crossing. :)
I'll look forward to updating you on this magical little place in the next couple days! While you wait for this next post with eager anticipation, fill the time by doing something that makes you happy and telling someone you love them.
Love to YOU, my friends!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Speed Limit: 30 kph
Hello from Luang Prabang, Laos! With a move that took us about 100 miles north, we've left the all-day Happy Hours and "Laobeer" singlets behind us. Suddenly, we have entered the realm of wine-tasting, art galleries, and handicraft boutiques. Essentially, we've progressed from Spring Break to mid-life-crisis in the span of about three days. Nice. Don't spread this around too much, but we like this crowd a little bit better: they're dressed a little more tastefully, know how to use inside voices, and eat better food, as a rule.
As you can see, it's gorgeous here. But, most awesome places are really hard to get to, and this was no exception. The bus ride was a dicey eight hours or something (the speed limit was about 18 mph ... ), and I don't think that there was any leg of the trip that didn't include hairpin curves along mountainsides. I'm used to this white-knuckle riding experience by now - and I don't think anything will ever top getting to Mt. Everest - but my stomach might never be. I felt pretty horrible the whole time, and my uncomfortable situation wasn't helped any by the fact that I had about half a seat. The other half was taken up by the giant seated next to me. I believe this man's neck was about the same circumference as my waist, so that was a blast ... especially when he would nod off and his head would come crashing onto me, threatening to break my collarbone or cause death by asphyxiation.
Other than the silliness of taking an entire working day to travel the distance between Milwaukee and Green Bay, I don't have too much to report. Oh! Except that we saw a Lao farmer wearing an old-school Brett Favre jersey!! Have I ever mentioned that sometimes globalization is awesome?!
On that note, this sleepy Wisconsin girl is off to bed. Go Pack Go?!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
It Was Good.
Today was one of those perfect kind of days, the kind of day that makes you happy to be traveling, happy to be alive, and eager to have a day just like it again sometime..
For me, these days all tend toward some kind of mean: they pretty much always involve friends, food, fantastic scenery ... and more often than not, bikes. I can't explain this last element - I'm not even good at riding bikes and it makes my weak little legs sore. But, they're usually just thrown into the mix. At any rate, this is pretty much all I need to make me one happy camper.
Today's perfect day involved us renting those bikes and riding out of Spring Break Central 2010, a.k.a., Vang Vien, a town that seems to have been invented for foreigners. Here, the average age is about 21, most clothing consists of a bikini and little else, Friends episodes play on a loop at every guest house, and hash brownies are readily available. I feel a little bit like I'm on location for Girls Gone Wild: Laos. This isn't quite my cup of tea (really? shocking!), so riding out of town was like a breath of fresh air: we were finally in the countryside, we were being active, we were surrounded by beauty, no one was shouting "WHOOOO!" These are all good things. We biked and biked, explored some scary caves (me not liking the dark or small spaces, I was pretty proud of myself for even venturing in), and enjoyed the perfect weather.
The afternoon came and we grew quite hungry, and we spotted an organic farm! Yay! I was so excited as we approached; it was set in the most idyllic place, in a plot of land overlooking the river and spotted with hanging trees, bungalows, goats, and even piggies. And then I heard the dance music. Kanye, MGMT, and the Black Eyed Peas echoed throughout the surrounding valley, pretty much destroying the ambiance. However, nothing could have destroyed the taste of the mulberry shakes, the right-out-of-the-oven baguettes, the spicy eggplant dip, the freshest mango I have ever put to my lips, the coconut curry ... and the goat cheese. My god. The goat cheese. It was a truly remarkable gastronomic experience. We sat there the rest of the afternoon, too full and lazy to do anything else but order more mulberry shakes. Keep 'em coming.
For me, these days all tend toward some kind of mean: they pretty much always involve friends, food, fantastic scenery ... and more often than not, bikes. I can't explain this last element - I'm not even good at riding bikes and it makes my weak little legs sore. But, they're usually just thrown into the mix. At any rate, this is pretty much all I need to make me one happy camper.
Today's perfect day involved us renting those bikes and riding out of Spring Break Central 2010, a.k.a., Vang Vien, a town that seems to have been invented for foreigners. Here, the average age is about 21, most clothing consists of a bikini and little else, Friends episodes play on a loop at every guest house, and hash brownies are readily available. I feel a little bit like I'm on location for Girls Gone Wild: Laos. This isn't quite my cup of tea (really? shocking!), so riding out of town was like a breath of fresh air: we were finally in the countryside, we were being active, we were surrounded by beauty, no one was shouting "WHOOOO!" These are all good things. We biked and biked, explored some scary caves (me not liking the dark or small spaces, I was pretty proud of myself for even venturing in), and enjoyed the perfect weather.
The afternoon came and we grew quite hungry, and we spotted an organic farm! Yay! I was so excited as we approached; it was set in the most idyllic place, in a plot of land overlooking the river and spotted with hanging trees, bungalows, goats, and even piggies. And then I heard the dance music. Kanye, MGMT, and the Black Eyed Peas echoed throughout the surrounding valley, pretty much destroying the ambiance. However, nothing could have destroyed the taste of the mulberry shakes, the right-out-of-the-oven baguettes, the spicy eggplant dip, the freshest mango I have ever put to my lips, the coconut curry ... and the goat cheese. My god. The goat cheese. It was a truly remarkable gastronomic experience. We sat there the rest of the afternoon, too full and lazy to do anything else but order more mulberry shakes. Keep 'em coming.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Cambodia in Bits and Pieces
This post was written in far too many sittings to have any sense of coherence, so please excuse the length and sloppiness of the ideas here. In short, I've loved being here in Cambodia; read on to find out more!
------------------------------------------------------------
I can't quite put my finger on why I am loving Cambodia so much. Maybe it's the fact that if I spin around in a circle in any given location, I will be able to spot someone lounging in a hammock. Or perhaps because my taste buds are thrilled by all the lime and coconut that flavors Khmer food, or the mango that is never more than a couple food stalls away. Maybe it has to do with all the nature that I was surrounded by for the first time in about half a year: trees, rivers, crickets, stars. (Stars!? If I saw A star in Wuxi, it was practically a miracle heralding the birth of the Christchild, or similar.) Or, maybe it's because the simple bamboo huts and palm trees that line the bumpy roads make it feel like I've landed in some quintessential tropical paradise. (I'm kind of just waiting for Oceanic 815 to come crashing into the nearest hillside. It feels like I'm on "the Island," sadly sans John Locke. This is clearly symptomatic of my LOST withdrawal.) But, they say that the people make the place, and the old saying has proven its truthfulness once again. The people of Cambodia are some of the most vibrant, friendly, and helpful people I've come across in all my travels. There's something to be said for the fact that I haven't felt scammed, cheated, or threatened in any way since being here. Further, I haven't felt frustrated or annoyed by swarms of people hounding me, trying to get me to buy this or that trinket or service that I have no desire to have. Instead of feeling pressured and irritated, I feel welcomed, and this is such a breath of fresh air.
The smiles of the Khmer people are truly some of the most beautiful I've ever seen, something that is all the more incredible given the bloody and horrific history that the people here are only a generation or two removed from. Just a little over 30 years ago, Cambodia was under the iron fist of the brutal Khmer Rouge, a revolutionary Communist party that promised total social reform. If you consider horrifically destructive policies and genocide that decimates a quarter of your country's population "social reform," then the party certainly delivered. During my time in the chaotic capital of Phnom Penh (a city our always-has-something-positive-
It has taken years of rebuilding for Cambodia to get back on its feet, and it still has a long way to go. The destructive policies of the past have ramifications that last today. Because many families are beset by poverty and cannot afford to send their children to school, the kids end up working in the streets, selling trinkets and snacks. I read one statistic that estimated that there are about 40,000 street children living in Cambodia, with somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 in Phnom Penh alone. It was heartbreaking to have to say "No Thanks," and "Sorry, don't need it" over and over again to these kids who tried to sell us the same postcards, bracelets, or keychains at every opportunity. Another problem that Cambodia faces is that there are still hundreds of thousands of active landmines left over from both the US and the Khmer Rouge during the time of the Vietnam War. These mines explode to this day, injuring, maiming, and killing thousands of people every year.
It was so frustrating to see such problems first hand, but there are ways that we can help. You can learn more about the plight of street children or landmine victims, and find out ways that you can contribute to organizations that are working to give Cambodia a better future. Some organizations that I recommend are:
cambodialandminemuseum.org and mithsamlanh.org
Both are keeping kids off the streets and helping them acquire both knowledge and skills that will empower them to contribute to their own country's future. It's good stuff. I know I'll be tracking these orgs for years to come. They say that Cambodia sticks to you. You can feel its red dust, the grittiness of its cities and the sands of its beaches on your skin. For me, it has left an impression that will be long-lasting; it has a past that is both glorious (as seen the architectural and artistic extravagance of the absolutely stunning Ankor Wat) and horrific, and a future that is just as ambiguous. Whatever becomes of Cambodia in the next couple decades will be interesting to see; I hope the smiles and open hearts of its people can help them to repair a broken past and pave the way for a better future.
As for our trip, it is now halfway through! It's hard to believe, but we're flying to our third country tonight. With some prayers and good fortune, we'll be in Vientiane, the capital of Laos tonight. I'm not sure what's in store for us there, but I'm eager to set my feet on some new soil, as much as I would love to continue to explore the country I'm currently in. But, this is just a "sampler platter" of South East Asia after all; maybe I'll be able to make it back for a main dish some other time.
Also, thanks for the birthday wishes! 23?! How did that happen?! Sheesh. Life's crazy, and it flies. Thanks for sharing it with me. Here's to another wonderful year. :)
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Uncle Ho v. Uncle Sam
Hello, friends!
The past couple days have flown by, and I've suddenly found myself in the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. But, I'll get to that some other time. First: HCM City.
We stumbled off the bus at 7am, bleary-eyed and barely awake, searching all over for a place to stay. The streets were chaos, completely overrun with tuk-tuks and motorbikes and people and their food stalls spilling out from every nook and cranny of the sidewalk. It was already unbelieveably hot, and we seemed to look at one dodgy hotel after another in our search. After trying about 5 or 6 different places, we finally found a place to sleep that seemed reasonably comfortable and fairly priced and ended our hour long search, pretty soaked and glad to ditch our bags. (The highlight of our search was that we stumbled upon a restaurant that sold real, homemade cookies and bagels ... a breakfast sent from heaven! Literally. We found out later that the place was actually a Christian NGO that gets kids off the streets and into a safe place where they can gain work experience. More on this topic later, I hope?)
Because of time constraints (there always is when you're doing an entire region of the world in 2 months), we had to hustle to see of much of the city as we could in one day. We took an unbelieveably cheap "cyclo" ride (a man biking, pushing both Jones and I for about 15 minutes through insane traffic and heat ... we felt awful that we had negotiated the price down as much as we did once we realized how far it was!) Our first stop was the highly memorable war Rements Museum, formerly known as the "American War Crimes Museum." This alone should give you a pretty good idea of what you found inside. There were heart-breaking pictures of napalm victims and those who suffured the after-effects of Agent Orange, of bombed villages and mothers escaping the battle with their children. It made you feel sick inside, like you didn't want to believe that people have had to undergo such horrors in their lives.
Our next stop (after Gloria Jean's Coffee - what? Gloria Jean's Coffee, my old place of employment at Mayfair Mall, has a branch in HCMC?!) was the Reunification Palace. I know that North Vietnam broke though the gate, which pretty much signaled the end of the war; other than that, I couldn't tell you much, as it was the lamest museum I've ever been to (no plaques, no information, nothing - just a lot of gross 70's era furniture) and I didn't learn anything. The fun thing about it was that we saw three guys at the entrance, including one wearing a Badger hat and one wearing Gator athletic shorts. They were indeed WI and FL alum (the D1 schools of my family - sorry Kristen, no LAX grads ...) and we ended up getting along famously and spending the rest of the day with them.
What I will carry with me from the Reunification Palace was the documentary they showed, giving a brief history of the Vietnam War. Yet again, we witnessed the loaded and provokative language used to describe those pesky "American imperialists." This was taken a step further at our day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels the next day. It took a long time to get there (we visited the Caodai temples first - a very strange religion where both Victor Hugo and Sun Yat-Sen hold the third revelation of God to man, the first two being from Moses and Jesus. Hm ... ) but once we arrived we watched yet another documentary that informed us how the Americans came in to Vietnam with the intent of 1) Slaughtering women and children 2) Bombing Hanoi back into the Stone Age and 3) Subjecting South Vietnam to their imperialist regime. It's true that all these things might have happened in some way or another, and to say that this is a tragedy would be a cruel understatement. But to say that it was the intent? Meanwhile, the video depicted the valor of the Viet Cong "martyrs," and told stories about soldiers who recieved awards for "killing the most American enemies." Now, I've heard of the American government awarding its soliders medals for honor or bravery, but never for killing the most people.
Then we saw the tunnels that were used by the VC as hideouts, and also some of the weapons that they used in their guerilla warfare. They were homespun, ingenious, and horrific. Certainly no one's going to say that Agent Orange was a good idea, but is creating a device that will send another person flying down into a jungle pit to be impaled by bamboo spikes any less brutal? How can you condemn someone else's brutality in one breath and applaude your own in the next? It made me so sad to think that these are the videos that are being shown to the world, shown to all the foreign tourists about all the terrible things that evil old America did. We get enough bad press already. Do we really need sensationalized, even blatantly untrue propoganda against us as well? It was troublesome indeed and left me pretty agitated.
But now I've left Vietnam behind me. Truthfully, I'm glad to be gone. While there were places that I liked a lot, there were no places that I loved. While we came across really friendly people, there were a lot of people who didn't treat us very well (shocking, given the information they recieve about Americans ...). I don't believe that you could get a truly fair and representative picture of a place if you're only there a couple weeks, but you can get a good feel. And, I've been to lots of places that I've gotten a better "feel" from in the same amount of time. (China, Palestine, and Nepal, most notably.) I'm eager to see how the next leg of the trip, Cambodia, works out! I'm feeling optimistic!
The past couple days have flown by, and I've suddenly found myself in the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. But, I'll get to that some other time. First: HCM City.
We stumbled off the bus at 7am, bleary-eyed and barely awake, searching all over for a place to stay. The streets were chaos, completely overrun with tuk-tuks and motorbikes and people and their food stalls spilling out from every nook and cranny of the sidewalk. It was already unbelieveably hot, and we seemed to look at one dodgy hotel after another in our search. After trying about 5 or 6 different places, we finally found a place to sleep that seemed reasonably comfortable and fairly priced and ended our hour long search, pretty soaked and glad to ditch our bags. (The highlight of our search was that we stumbled upon a restaurant that sold real, homemade cookies and bagels ... a breakfast sent from heaven! Literally. We found out later that the place was actually a Christian NGO that gets kids off the streets and into a safe place where they can gain work experience. More on this topic later, I hope?)
Because of time constraints (there always is when you're doing an entire region of the world in 2 months), we had to hustle to see of much of the city as we could in one day. We took an unbelieveably cheap "cyclo" ride (a man biking, pushing both Jones and I for about 15 minutes through insane traffic and heat ... we felt awful that we had negotiated the price down as much as we did once we realized how far it was!) Our first stop was the highly memorable war Rements Museum, formerly known as the "American War Crimes Museum." This alone should give you a pretty good idea of what you found inside. There were heart-breaking pictures of napalm victims and those who suffured the after-effects of Agent Orange, of bombed villages and mothers escaping the battle with their children. It made you feel sick inside, like you didn't want to believe that people have had to undergo such horrors in their lives.
Our next stop (after Gloria Jean's Coffee - what? Gloria Jean's Coffee, my old place of employment at Mayfair Mall, has a branch in HCMC?!) was the Reunification Palace. I know that North Vietnam broke though the gate, which pretty much signaled the end of the war; other than that, I couldn't tell you much, as it was the lamest museum I've ever been to (no plaques, no information, nothing - just a lot of gross 70's era furniture) and I didn't learn anything. The fun thing about it was that we saw three guys at the entrance, including one wearing a Badger hat and one wearing Gator athletic shorts. They were indeed WI and FL alum (the D1 schools of my family - sorry Kristen, no LAX grads ...) and we ended up getting along famously and spending the rest of the day with them.
What I will carry with me from the Reunification Palace was the documentary they showed, giving a brief history of the Vietnam War. Yet again, we witnessed the loaded and provokative language used to describe those pesky "American imperialists." This was taken a step further at our day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels the next day. It took a long time to get there (we visited the Caodai temples first - a very strange religion where both Victor Hugo and Sun Yat-Sen hold the third revelation of God to man, the first two being from Moses and Jesus. Hm ... ) but once we arrived we watched yet another documentary that informed us how the Americans came in to Vietnam with the intent of 1) Slaughtering women and children 2) Bombing Hanoi back into the Stone Age and 3) Subjecting South Vietnam to their imperialist regime. It's true that all these things might have happened in some way or another, and to say that this is a tragedy would be a cruel understatement. But to say that it was the intent? Meanwhile, the video depicted the valor of the Viet Cong "martyrs," and told stories about soldiers who recieved awards for "killing the most American enemies." Now, I've heard of the American government awarding its soliders medals for honor or bravery, but never for killing the most people.
Then we saw the tunnels that were used by the VC as hideouts, and also some of the weapons that they used in their guerilla warfare. They were homespun, ingenious, and horrific. Certainly no one's going to say that Agent Orange was a good idea, but is creating a device that will send another person flying down into a jungle pit to be impaled by bamboo spikes any less brutal? How can you condemn someone else's brutality in one breath and applaude your own in the next? It made me so sad to think that these are the videos that are being shown to the world, shown to all the foreign tourists about all the terrible things that evil old America did. We get enough bad press already. Do we really need sensationalized, even blatantly untrue propoganda against us as well? It was troublesome indeed and left me pretty agitated.
But now I've left Vietnam behind me. Truthfully, I'm glad to be gone. While there were places that I liked a lot, there were no places that I loved. While we came across really friendly people, there were a lot of people who didn't treat us very well (shocking, given the information they recieve about Americans ...). I don't believe that you could get a truly fair and representative picture of a place if you're only there a couple weeks, but you can get a good feel. And, I've been to lots of places that I've gotten a better "feel" from in the same amount of time. (China, Palestine, and Nepal, most notably.) I'm eager to see how the next leg of the trip, Cambodia, works out! I'm feeling optimistic!
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
The Nha Trang Beach Diet
Experts will tell you that there are a few things you should do to lose weight in a healthy manner. You know, exercising, limiting your sugar and carbohydrate intake, eating lots of fresh fruits vegetables, possibly some lean meats ... this is old news. I've recently discovered a new way, however, which is most convenient for those who are traveling in foreign countries, or for those who are fortunate enough to play host to a colony of bacterium living in your gut. I like to call it the Nha Trang Beach Diet.
On this diet, you simply lose your appetite completely, and when you do consume calories of any kind, you simply expel them as quickly as possible. While you won't have enough energy to burn calories the good old fashioned way (such as by sitting upright, walking around, going down a flight of stairs), you should burn enough by simply sweating feverishly, whimpering, and calculating the pros and cons of getting the next flight out of Ho Chi Minh City to a more developed country, such as the one you were born and raised in.
By following these simple steps for just a couple short days, your body will be bikini-ready, for the beach that you may or may not care to visit any longer.
For concerned parents and grandparents reading this post, please do not rush to contact the nearest US embassy to have me airlifted out of this country. I am, in fact, feeling better today, and will make it a point to go to some legitimate, English-speaking health-care provider in our next city (Saigon / HCMC) to see if I can't get some meds that will hopefully kick out whatever has been lingering in my system. Contrary to what you may have heard, traveling when you're ill is not actually that fun, so I'm rather keen to make it stop.
But, like I said, if you're interested in being trimmed and toned, I have one word and one word only: parasites.
On this diet, you simply lose your appetite completely, and when you do consume calories of any kind, you simply expel them as quickly as possible. While you won't have enough energy to burn calories the good old fashioned way (such as by sitting upright, walking around, going down a flight of stairs), you should burn enough by simply sweating feverishly, whimpering, and calculating the pros and cons of getting the next flight out of Ho Chi Minh City to a more developed country, such as the one you were born and raised in.
By following these simple steps for just a couple short days, your body will be bikini-ready, for the beach that you may or may not care to visit any longer.
For concerned parents and grandparents reading this post, please do not rush to contact the nearest US embassy to have me airlifted out of this country. I am, in fact, feeling better today, and will make it a point to go to some legitimate, English-speaking health-care provider in our next city (Saigon / HCMC) to see if I can't get some meds that will hopefully kick out whatever has been lingering in my system. Contrary to what you may have heard, traveling when you're ill is not actually that fun, so I'm rather keen to make it stop.
But, like I said, if you're interested in being trimmed and toned, I have one word and one word only: parasites.
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