Home sweet home....sort of. Back to the realities of life. It's good to be back home, but feeling a little blue....missing the freedom and appropriate irresponsibility of vacationing in a far off land. This will be my last blog....I've enjoyed it immensely and would like to continue, but unfortunately no one wants to read about our everyday normal activities.....because they have those too.
As I look back upon the last 5 weeks, a few things jump out at me. In our little corner of the world....we have space....cubic feet of it. Generally speaking, most of us have as many of those cubic feet as we want. In cities like Bangkok, Hanoi, or Tokyo there is not much space to go around. Tall buildings surround just about everything. While returning to the Bangkok airport from our hotel, we were driven through 5 or 6 central downtown-like areas....each the size of Seattle or bigger....and we were still in Bangkok. We headed in only one direction....it was the same story had we turned north, south, east of west. Space is our luxury. It's not something we think about much....the freedom to move around. That realization surprised me.
Next....most of us live a pretty good life. Many folks we passed on our trip eek out a living working long hours in conditions that are less than desirable. We are graced with much.
Lastly......the bidet arrives in three days. I am giddy with excitement.....
I hope this year brings everyone a little rest, maybe a little travel, and a big bowl of curry.
Love to you all.
Ed and Terry
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Bye, Bye Tokyo
This is our last day. A little sad leaving Tokyo today. We're leaving Japan and ending our fantastic adventure. It's been a very memorable trip filled with gracious people, exotic out-of-the-way places, great food, scooter rides, and.......rest. This trip raised our energy levels back up to a more normal range. For that, I am thankful.
Tidbits: Interacting with many different people was one of the fun things about the trip. Finding out about their lives was something I sort of do naturally by asking lots of questions. Several people in their mid to upper twenties moved to the big city with their spouses from small outlying villages. They came into the city to make a life for themselves but couldn't afford to bring their children, which were home being raised by the grandparents. One taxi driver told us he sees his son 3 times a year.....he works 7 days per week to make ends meet and send money back home. A lot of people work 7 days a week. Seems like an exhausting life.
Laos had the most laid back and spiritual feel about it. It was like everyone had a music implant playing Jack Johnson or James Taylor music all day. We happened upon a restaurant/bar above the river that was very quiet and low key. Utopia was the name. The place was frequented by young backpackers so we ambled in slowly, incognito, with our hats tipped low. Nobody noticed. The patron didn't talk much and when they did it was kind of low and hushed....the way you would chat in a library or maybe a church. We sat for awhile, among the youngsters and their backpacks, downed a refreshing drink, then headed out. Next to the door was a sign that pretty much described this place exactly..."Zen during the day, Groovy ay night."
Luang Prabang, Laos, had the highest number of Monks per square block of any city we visited. Monks dressed in orange robes. Calm and smiling. You never see a hyper monk....I don't think they exist. And many monks means many Buddhism temples or Wats is the proper name for them. There are 5000 Wats in Laos, which is not a very big country. They are generally ornate and beautiful, as you would think a temple would be, with gold the primary color. Buddhists believe in the existence and cause of suffering. They also believe in moving down the path that leads to the cessation of all suffering. Tourists, on the other hand believe in taking pictures....of the Wats, hundreds of them. Then move on to the next one and take a couple hundred more pictures. At home, counting up all the pictures with every angle possible of a serious looking Buddha and ornate everything.....they say to themselves...."Wat have I done", (now that's suffering!!!..lolol....sorry about that.)
The food in Laos was great and it was cheap. They had some killer restaurants that we enjoyed, but we also ate several times at the night market for 2 bucks a piece....at a buffet, no less. I wasn't sure what I was eating sometimes, but damn it was good. They also made these slush drinks....a little sugar, fresh fruit like pineapple, mango, strawberry, lychee, etc and ice. That all goes into a blender on high for 30 seconds.....Instant hydration. I had 5 of those a day.....
I liked the people in Laos. They just seemed real without a lot of pretense. Thais were very busy, Vietnamese were aggressive and mean sometimes, and the Japanese were high fashion and had a lets-get-ahead mentality...Tokyo seems a lot like New York.....that kind of energy. If I got to pick my neighbors out of the places we visited it would be the folks from Laos and would hope they invited me over for a BBQ.
I will write one more blog and that will be the end of my SW Asia blogging. I hope you enjoyed it.
Often, when Terry and I stopped to take a second or third look at a Tokyo map, a Japanese would stop and ask if we needed help finding something. They were always in their 50 or 60s, sometimes a man, sometimes a woman. Occasionally, they would walk out of their way to point out where we needed to go. It happened 4-5 times while we were wandering around Tokyo. It was a kind gesture. This didn't happen in any other country we visited except one. In Bangkok if someone asked you if you needed help....it was the first clue there was a scam coming in the next breath.
Tidbits: Interacting with many different people was one of the fun things about the trip. Finding out about their lives was something I sort of do naturally by asking lots of questions. Several people in their mid to upper twenties moved to the big city with their spouses from small outlying villages. They came into the city to make a life for themselves but couldn't afford to bring their children, which were home being raised by the grandparents. One taxi driver told us he sees his son 3 times a year.....he works 7 days per week to make ends meet and send money back home. A lot of people work 7 days a week. Seems like an exhausting life.
Laos had the most laid back and spiritual feel about it. It was like everyone had a music implant playing Jack Johnson or James Taylor music all day. We happened upon a restaurant/bar above the river that was very quiet and low key. Utopia was the name. The place was frequented by young backpackers so we ambled in slowly, incognito, with our hats tipped low. Nobody noticed. The patron didn't talk much and when they did it was kind of low and hushed....the way you would chat in a library or maybe a church. We sat for awhile, among the youngsters and their backpacks, downed a refreshing drink, then headed out. Next to the door was a sign that pretty much described this place exactly..."Zen during the day, Groovy ay night."
Luang Prabang, Laos, had the highest number of Monks per square block of any city we visited. Monks dressed in orange robes. Calm and smiling. You never see a hyper monk....I don't think they exist. And many monks means many Buddhism temples or Wats is the proper name for them. There are 5000 Wats in Laos, which is not a very big country. They are generally ornate and beautiful, as you would think a temple would be, with gold the primary color. Buddhists believe in the existence and cause of suffering. They also believe in moving down the path that leads to the cessation of all suffering. Tourists, on the other hand believe in taking pictures....of the Wats, hundreds of them. Then move on to the next one and take a couple hundred more pictures. At home, counting up all the pictures with every angle possible of a serious looking Buddha and ornate everything.....they say to themselves...."Wat have I done", (now that's suffering!!!..lolol....sorry about that.)
The food in Laos was great and it was cheap. They had some killer restaurants that we enjoyed, but we also ate several times at the night market for 2 bucks a piece....at a buffet, no less. I wasn't sure what I was eating sometimes, but damn it was good. They also made these slush drinks....a little sugar, fresh fruit like pineapple, mango, strawberry, lychee, etc and ice. That all goes into a blender on high for 30 seconds.....Instant hydration. I had 5 of those a day.....
I liked the people in Laos. They just seemed real without a lot of pretense. Thais were very busy, Vietnamese were aggressive and mean sometimes, and the Japanese were high fashion and had a lets-get-ahead mentality...Tokyo seems a lot like New York.....that kind of energy. If I got to pick my neighbors out of the places we visited it would be the folks from Laos and would hope they invited me over for a BBQ.
I will write one more blog and that will be the end of my SW Asia blogging. I hope you enjoyed it.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Tokyo....the City
We are nearing the end of our trip and are now sightseeing in the great metropolis of Tokyo, the most densely populated country in the world. Thirty Five million folks live in the greater Tokyo area. The transportation system here is one of the best anywhere, with wide use of subways, trains, and buses, (the primary choice of personal transport is the bicycle, a few electric but most are "manual"). It is also one of the most confusing systems to use and getting lost is pretty darn easy. Our hotel is near the Shinjuku Train Station, the busiest train or subway hub in the world, amazingly, serving 3,000,000 people per day. Rising to the street level or entering the station offers a whopping 200 differrent options of exits or entrants depending on whether you're coming or going. It's sometimes overwhelming to see so much humanity in one place so you might forget whether you're coming or going. I personally passed 500,000 people on the subway platform and tunnel trying to get back to the street level.......half those were men in black suits and ties.....the other half were women, many of them younger, wearing Hello Kitty socks, a Mickey Mouse something and looking a lot like an anime character. In general, it's very busy here.
Everybody bows. They bow for any reason. It's automatic. I guess they're being respectful. Being a respectful guy myself, I always bowed back, which causes them to bow again. Ornery as I can sometimes be, a couple times, I bowed a second and third time to see what would happen.....and my bow would always be followed by their bow. So....trying to be the last one to bow or attempting to out-bow your Japanese counterpart would take a serious commitment and some cervical stretches beforehand.
This is important. I would like to nominate the bidet as a UNESCO World Heritage product....or the Eight Wonder of the World, which ever one is most appropriate. There is a huge need for the bidet in the United States. The Japanese bidet is the best. It has 3 settings. One directs a warm slow stream of water at your bottom, (Oh my)...the other setting directs a more stern stream of liquid for those hard to reach issues....(giggle). There is another setting to regulate the pressure of each stream of water. Hygenic. No fuss. No muss. A little tissue at the end of the whole procedure and boom....you're done. I'm thinking about getting one of these little numbers for my own enjoyment....I mean my own use at home. The worst bidet was in Thailand, although a bad bidet is better than no bidet at all. The Thai bidet looked exactly like a hand held kitchen sink sprayer operated with the thumb. Unfortunately, the pressure was so high the first squirt made my eyes water. Ooops.
Lastly, a visit to the Tokyo Sky Tree was on tap yesterday. The Sky Tree was the tallest broadcasting tower in the world until someone from Dubai wanted to make sure their turban was bigger than anybody else's turban. At 2080 feet tall, it's nearly a half mile tall. To get perspective.....the Space Needle is 605 feet tall.....so if you were careful enough to stack three Space Needles on top of each other ....it'll still be shorter than the Sky Tree. The observation deck is at 1480 feet....I jumped out of an airplane when I was younger (lots of courage and no brains) at 1000 feet. So it's waaay up there.
Tokyo is the cleanest place in the world, at least by my estimation. It's pretty amazing how clean they can keep a place this big. There's little or no trash and the whole place seems like it's wiped down on a daily basis. It contrast, Bangkok was the filthiest place I've ever been and wondered why everybody wasn't horribly sick....with malaise, infection, and some ungodly life threatening disease being the norm with trash, litter, and pollution run rampant. But everybody looks as healthy as a water buffalo. I don't get it.
Tidbits: Like the Vietnamese males, Japanese men smoke. I didn't see one woman smoke, but the men smoke like chimneys all over the place. If you ever thought that, generally speaking, women are smarter than guys....there's the proof. Unfortunately, homelessness is alive in Tokyo. Hard to believe for some reason.....you'd think maybe they could get a job cleaning something......Also....we didn't see any homeless women, just men. Food.....the food here is so good it's unbelievable, (but it's been good everywhere, really.) A funny thing.....they have barkers outside on the sidewalk yelling to potential patrons about the benefits of the goods sold inside, e.g. makeup, suits, household good etc. This seems a little inconsistent with the prim and proper behavior they generally portray. Consider an attractive woman at the mall entrance to Nordstroms at southcenter yelling at the top of her lungs about the lace undergarment or the petite size clothing on the second floor, trying her best to coax you in the door, (over the commotion and loud voices you hear the guy at the piano playing Blue Danube in the background. It just doesn't make sense.
More later. But not much more. We're nearing the end of the trip.
Everybody bows. They bow for any reason. It's automatic. I guess they're being respectful. Being a respectful guy myself, I always bowed back, which causes them to bow again. Ornery as I can sometimes be, a couple times, I bowed a second and third time to see what would happen.....and my bow would always be followed by their bow. So....trying to be the last one to bow or attempting to out-bow your Japanese counterpart would take a serious commitment and some cervical stretches beforehand.
This is important. I would like to nominate the bidet as a UNESCO World Heritage product....or the Eight Wonder of the World, which ever one is most appropriate. There is a huge need for the bidet in the United States. The Japanese bidet is the best. It has 3 settings. One directs a warm slow stream of water at your bottom, (Oh my)...the other setting directs a more stern stream of liquid for those hard to reach issues....(giggle). There is another setting to regulate the pressure of each stream of water. Hygenic. No fuss. No muss. A little tissue at the end of the whole procedure and boom....you're done. I'm thinking about getting one of these little numbers for my own enjoyment....I mean my own use at home. The worst bidet was in Thailand, although a bad bidet is better than no bidet at all. The Thai bidet looked exactly like a hand held kitchen sink sprayer operated with the thumb. Unfortunately, the pressure was so high the first squirt made my eyes water. Ooops.
Lastly, a visit to the Tokyo Sky Tree was on tap yesterday. The Sky Tree was the tallest broadcasting tower in the world until someone from Dubai wanted to make sure their turban was bigger than anybody else's turban. At 2080 feet tall, it's nearly a half mile tall. To get perspective.....the Space Needle is 605 feet tall.....so if you were careful enough to stack three Space Needles on top of each other ....it'll still be shorter than the Sky Tree. The observation deck is at 1480 feet....I jumped out of an airplane when I was younger (lots of courage and no brains) at 1000 feet. So it's waaay up there.
Tokyo is the cleanest place in the world, at least by my estimation. It's pretty amazing how clean they can keep a place this big. There's little or no trash and the whole place seems like it's wiped down on a daily basis. It contrast, Bangkok was the filthiest place I've ever been and wondered why everybody wasn't horribly sick....with malaise, infection, and some ungodly life threatening disease being the norm with trash, litter, and pollution run rampant. But everybody looks as healthy as a water buffalo. I don't get it.
Tidbits: Like the Vietnamese males, Japanese men smoke. I didn't see one woman smoke, but the men smoke like chimneys all over the place. If you ever thought that, generally speaking, women are smarter than guys....there's the proof. Unfortunately, homelessness is alive in Tokyo. Hard to believe for some reason.....you'd think maybe they could get a job cleaning something......Also....we didn't see any homeless women, just men. Food.....the food here is so good it's unbelievable, (but it's been good everywhere, really.) A funny thing.....they have barkers outside on the sidewalk yelling to potential patrons about the benefits of the goods sold inside, e.g. makeup, suits, household good etc. This seems a little inconsistent with the prim and proper behavior they generally portray. Consider an attractive woman at the mall entrance to Nordstroms at southcenter yelling at the top of her lungs about the lace undergarment or the petite size clothing on the second floor, trying her best to coax you in the door, (over the commotion and loud voices you hear the guy at the piano playing Blue Danube in the background. It just doesn't make sense.
More later. But not much more. We're nearing the end of the trip.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
More of Hanoi
We had some great food at a place named Highway 4 in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. There was a license plate above the front door from Oklahoma, of all places. I didn't see any Oklahomans running around anywhere. Tough to figure.
That evening we attended a water puppets show accompanied by live singers and musicians. It was considerably better than the local folk music we heard in Hoi An....which sounded a lot like somebody strangling Glen Campbell while he's trying to sing "Wichita Lineman"...after he took a couple big hits of helium. Not my cup of tea, so to speak. During the puppet show there were live singers and musicians playing cool Asian instruments which you just don't see at Open Mic night at the local neighborhood coffee house. Very interesting when the play concluded and the puppeteers came out behind the curtain standing waist deep in water. They manipulate the puppets from underneath the water instead of from above. Great fun to watch and the Asian music was great.
Everything is very compact in SE Asia's big cities. Shop owners with a 100 sq foot business, (that's pretty big), normally make their residence in the back. Along with a wife or husband, a couple of kids and maybe Mom and Dad....makes for a cozy little family nest. Everybody works the store. Every one does there part for the household. On top of that shop is 4, 7, 8, maybe 10 floors or more. The buildings are not very wide but sometimes very talI. I have a couple of pictures.
A couple of observation here about the Vietnamese in Hanoi....many shop owners like to have a beer after their morning coffee. Beer and coffee just seems like it would upset my stomach. Call me crazy but that could make for a long day when beer is number one on your 9 a.m list. Secondly, somebody forgot to tell these guys that smoking is bad for you. All the men smoke, for cryin out loud. But hey, if you're going to have a beer in the a.m.....might as well light one up while you're at it.
As you can see by the picture, Hanoi is a busy place.....And your local Hanoi Telecom at work
We visited Hanoi Hilton where thee Vietnamese imprisoned the pilots they shot down in the war. Vietnamese propaganda in high gear showing the prisoners enjoying a Christmas party, a basketball game and some arts and crafts. I thought much of it was a bunch of bullshit until it donned on me...what the heck were we doing over there anyway? Everbody trying to put their own spin on it to save face. All the countries in SE Asia call the conflict "the American War". So when will we understand, as an American society, the wasteful cost of human lives in wars like Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq? And consider NOT doing that again...? I sure hope it's in my lifetime, otherwise, its just heartbreaking to think about.
We spent a couple days in the rain, than returned to Bangkok.
More later.
That evening we attended a water puppets show accompanied by live singers and musicians. It was considerably better than the local folk music we heard in Hoi An....which sounded a lot like somebody strangling Glen Campbell while he's trying to sing "Wichita Lineman"...after he took a couple big hits of helium. Not my cup of tea, so to speak. During the puppet show there were live singers and musicians playing cool Asian instruments which you just don't see at Open Mic night at the local neighborhood coffee house. Very interesting when the play concluded and the puppeteers came out behind the curtain standing waist deep in water. They manipulate the puppets from underneath the water instead of from above. Great fun to watch and the Asian music was great.
Everything is very compact in SE Asia's big cities. Shop owners with a 100 sq foot business, (that's pretty big), normally make their residence in the back. Along with a wife or husband, a couple of kids and maybe Mom and Dad....makes for a cozy little family nest. Everybody works the store. Every one does there part for the household. On top of that shop is 4, 7, 8, maybe 10 floors or more. The buildings are not very wide but sometimes very talI. I have a couple of pictures.
A couple of observation here about the Vietnamese in Hanoi....many shop owners like to have a beer after their morning coffee. Beer and coffee just seems like it would upset my stomach. Call me crazy but that could make for a long day when beer is number one on your 9 a.m list. Secondly, somebody forgot to tell these guys that smoking is bad for you. All the men smoke, for cryin out loud. But hey, if you're going to have a beer in the a.m.....might as well light one up while you're at it.
As you can see by the picture, Hanoi is a busy place.....And your local Hanoi Telecom at work
We visited Hanoi Hilton where thee Vietnamese imprisoned the pilots they shot down in the war. Vietnamese propaganda in high gear showing the prisoners enjoying a Christmas party, a basketball game and some arts and crafts. I thought much of it was a bunch of bullshit until it donned on me...what the heck were we doing over there anyway? Everbody trying to put their own spin on it to save face. All the countries in SE Asia call the conflict "the American War". So when will we understand, as an American society, the wasteful cost of human lives in wars like Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq? And consider NOT doing that again...? I sure hope it's in my lifetime, otherwise, its just heartbreaking to think about.
We spent a couple days in the rain, than returned to Bangkok.
Drizzling in Hanoi
We left Hoi An and landed in Hanoi Vietnam. Drizzling and much cooler than what has been the normal for the last month. There is a period in northern Vietnam ....about 3 weeks worth...where winter morphs into spring. Druing that period, it rains or drizzles and the temperature hits a rock bottom of 65-70 degrees, some of the coolest weather of the year. Moon and I happened to hit that period.
The ride into downtown Hanoi was both interesting and a little bit terrifying....seems like everywhere we go the driving and traffic gets crazier by a multiple of 10. The Vietnamese take the trophy for maniacal but skillful dare devilish driving, hands down. NASCAR drivers come here first to learn and practice their skill before driving on the circut. Tailgatting, cutting in front of other drivers, speeding, weaving in and out of traffic like you're on meth?...in the rain?...it's all ok. I'm going to start taking pictures of the different shades of my white knuckles......Getting used to holding on to whatever is available.
The general rule when loading a scooter is if you can move you're ok. Doesn't matter if you can see or not. Load up your scooter to the hilt. Chickens, 4 people on a scooter, barrels, food and produce were just a small variety of what we saw loaded on scooters. Pull a large water buffalo into town for a bath and a comb-out....easy.(below left). Can't see because you couldn't leave that one big sack of something at home?....it'll fit somewhere......if they have scooter hoarders I have a couple of pictures of that below.....
More later.
The ride into downtown Hanoi was both interesting and a little bit terrifying....seems like everywhere we go the driving and traffic gets crazier by a multiple of 10. The Vietnamese take the trophy for maniacal but skillful dare devilish driving, hands down. NASCAR drivers come here first to learn and practice their skill before driving on the circut. Tailgatting, cutting in front of other drivers, speeding, weaving in and out of traffic like you're on meth?...in the rain?...it's all ok. I'm going to start taking pictures of the different shades of my white knuckles......Getting used to holding on to whatever is available.
More later.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Cham Islands Outside of Hoi An
Outside of Hoi An is a Pottery Village, supposedly famous, but we couldn't find it and nobody knew where it was when I asked for directions. Funny....Straying miles out of the way trying to find this place....the goal became finding our way back to town, forget about the pottery. The ride through the rice paddies and out-of-the-way hamlets was pretty interesting and beautiful...that was worth the trip in itself. We happened on the village and their famous pots while trying to find our way back to town.....it was right around the corner from the first person we asked. LOL. The pots are thrown on a wheel that sits off the ground about 6 inches and is operated manually by a second person who keeps the wheel turning by kicking it as it goes around. I have a picture. The Vietnamese people are an ingenious bunch....and they have electricity.....as I observed many times, they can gerry-rig just about anything....so I think the manual pottery wheel is for effect......for the tourists. It was fun to watch anyway.
Two days ago was the snorkeling day. A trip out to Cham islands, about 6 kilometers from Hoi An, (which is just south of Da Nang in the middle of Vietnam between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hanoi.) Our Vietnamese Junk boat was run by a Vietnamese captain and a bunch of French Guys....all of them were great with the divers. They actually looked like they enjoyed their jobs....it was refreshing. We accompanied a variety of fishing boats out of the harbor and into the bay. The trip out took about an hour. At 30 minutes Moon and I were handing out candied ginger to several of our cohorts who were starting to turn green with sea sickness We were a hit. The ginger worked.
(This fellow is rowing something that looks exactly like a wok or half a coconut. There are usually two of these on a boat and they are turned upside down so it looks like there are two little domes.)
We arrived at our destination, donned wet suites and jumped into water. What a shock....it was cold and I didn't expect it. 78 degrees. Moon is a warm water person but she stayed in for 30-45 minutes. I was amazed she made it that long. There was a second opportunity but most of the folks stayed on the boat....even though we all had wet suits....it was chilly. It happened to be the better location, clarity was better, more fish, and tons of coral. Then the boat took off for a beach where a local lunch was prepared for us....whole fried fish, prawns, several different salads, noodles....a great meal. It was a It's always enjoyable to be stretched out and relaxed on a boat. It was a good day.
(Our Captain and first mate playing a Vietnamese game....sort of a cross between checkers and chess. They play for money.....always. Card games and whatever this was are favorites. Vietnamese are big gamblers.)
Two days ago was the snorkeling day. A trip out to Cham islands, about 6 kilometers from Hoi An, (which is just south of Da Nang in the middle of Vietnam between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hanoi.) Our Vietnamese Junk boat was run by a Vietnamese captain and a bunch of French Guys....all of them were great with the divers. They actually looked like they enjoyed their jobs....it was refreshing. We accompanied a variety of fishing boats out of the harbor and into the bay. The trip out took about an hour. At 30 minutes Moon and I were handing out candied ginger to several of our cohorts who were starting to turn green with sea sickness We were a hit. The ginger worked.
We arrived at our destination, donned wet suites and jumped into water. What a shock....it was cold and I didn't expect it. 78 degrees. Moon is a warm water person but she stayed in for 30-45 minutes. I was amazed she made it that long. There was a second opportunity but most of the folks stayed on the boat....even though we all had wet suits....it was chilly. It happened to be the better location, clarity was better, more fish, and tons of coral. Then the boat took off for a beach where a local lunch was prepared for us....whole fried fish, prawns, several different salads, noodles....a great meal. It was a It's always enjoyable to be stretched out and relaxed on a boat. It was a good day.
The hustle and bustle of Hoi An, Vietnam
The operative word here is hustle. Hoi an is known for its tailoring and shoe making as well as the historic old town where locals sell trinkets, art, pottery, cloth and silk and, of course, t-shirts. The Vietnamese are hard-sell entrepreneurs. "What are you looking for", "Where are you from?", and "How long are you staying?" are the three questions one is asked while doing any kind of browsing in the markrets or on the street...it doesn't matter whats on the shopping list...squid, art, or clothes.
What you're looking for gives them an idea of the item you're seeking and everything in the entire universe that is even remotely related to that item, ("You want t-shirt?" We have many t-shirts. Good quality. How about bowl? Bowl go with shirt when you eat with friends. You buy chopsticks,go with bowl! How bout nice table runner...would go well with shirt..and bowl!"...you get the picture.) Where you're from gives them a chance to inform you they have a bother in Portland when you tell them Seattle is your hometown. Now you're friends because you have something in common....(geez). And "How long you staying?" ....that gives them an opportunity to assess whether they'll have time to custom make a dress, shirt, suit, or leather anything for you or exhaust themselves trying.
(This is the guy we bought a street painting from....he could speak english but his daughter did...the first thing she said to me was, "Good quality painting....Where you from?")
Getting your attention is prime to making a sale so they may block your way, following you down the street, rub your stomach, grab your arm, or scream, "you buy something"! It way funny at first....then it became obnoxious. The Vietnamese are a gracious bunch, but disgust is often shown if there is no sale. One guy tried to sell us a paper we already had and just would not leave us alone...he finally left but rode by several times giving us "stink eye".
The word I'm searching for a word that describes the way the Vietnamese drive...it's a cross between the behavior of an out-of-control kamikaze and a determined 6 year old who is way overdo for a nap. That word describes them perfectly. The bigger the city, the more dangerous and chaotic the traffic. I know that I've written about this before, but the way these people drive is.......just not believable. Thai drivers negotiate the streets like crazy people but still, they have a sense of self preservation. But the Thais pale in comparison to the Vietnamese.
From the looks of it, most everyone owns a scooter or bicycle, mostly scooters. I did my own survey late yesterday afternoon during rush hour while waiting for Moon to get her hair colored. Fifteen to 20 scooters to one bike. Of the bikes, 2 out of 5 are electric, so that makes them scooters. Cars or trucks were a distant 3rd. The reason there are few cars?....there's simply no where to park them. Not many buses or large trucks although they were there. The pecking order seems obvious...you give way to anything that's bigger, heavier, or that's coming right at you, head-on. But then, that's not always true.....and I could not figure out what the clues were to help make that decision. Some kind of internal high pitched bat radar thing going on here....who knows?
We had a great time at the market, which is the center of business and social happenings. Every city has one somewhere. Hoi An's was down near a waterway by the Old Town. I guess just about everybody has an Old Town too. I'll add some pictures. More later.
What you're looking for gives them an idea of the item you're seeking and everything in the entire universe that is even remotely related to that item, ("You want t-shirt?" We have many t-shirts. Good quality. How about bowl? Bowl go with shirt when you eat with friends. You buy chopsticks,go with bowl! How bout nice table runner...would go well with shirt..and bowl!"...you get the picture.) Where you're from gives them a chance to inform you they have a bother in Portland when you tell them Seattle is your hometown. Now you're friends because you have something in common....(geez). And "How long you staying?" ....that gives them an opportunity to assess whether they'll have time to custom make a dress, shirt, suit, or leather anything for you or exhaust themselves trying.
(This is the guy we bought a street painting from....he could speak english but his daughter did...the first thing she said to me was, "Good quality painting....Where you from?")Getting your attention is prime to making a sale so they may block your way, following you down the street, rub your stomach, grab your arm, or scream, "you buy something"! It way funny at first....then it became obnoxious. The Vietnamese are a gracious bunch, but disgust is often shown if there is no sale. One guy tried to sell us a paper we already had and just would not leave us alone...he finally left but rode by several times giving us "stink eye".
The word I'm searching for a word that describes the way the Vietnamese drive...it's a cross between the behavior of an out-of-control kamikaze and a determined 6 year old who is way overdo for a nap. That word describes them perfectly. The bigger the city, the more dangerous and chaotic the traffic. I know that I've written about this before, but the way these people drive is.......just not believable. Thai drivers negotiate the streets like crazy people but still, they have a sense of self preservation. But the Thais pale in comparison to the Vietnamese.
From the looks of it, most everyone owns a scooter or bicycle, mostly scooters. I did my own survey late yesterday afternoon during rush hour while waiting for Moon to get her hair colored. Fifteen to 20 scooters to one bike. Of the bikes, 2 out of 5 are electric, so that makes them scooters. Cars or trucks were a distant 3rd. The reason there are few cars?....there's simply no where to park them. Not many buses or large trucks although they were there. The pecking order seems obvious...you give way to anything that's bigger, heavier, or that's coming right at you, head-on. But then, that's not always true.....and I could not figure out what the clues were to help make that decision. Some kind of internal high pitched bat radar thing going on here....who knows?
We had a great time at the market, which is the center of business and social happenings. Every city has one somewhere. Hoi An's was down near a waterway by the Old Town. I guess just about everybody has an Old Town too. I'll add some pictures. More later.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Bugs, Bears, and Butterflies near Kuang Si Waterfalls
This is Brad the bug. We were eating lunch in a place called DyanSabai, and this little guy flew onto my hand. If you notice, Brad is a rather large beige colored bug and when something like this lands on your body it initiates some kind of sympathetic system protective response that causes you to flick it away. That happens in a blink of an eye without ever thinking about it. Automatic. But Brad stayed the course and held on during the flick like his life depended on it. I didn't know if this large insect was going to bite me or fly off with my thumb. He didn't move, just sat there very still. So I poked him to see what he'd do and to my surprise he turned around and looked at me. That began my affinity for the little bugger, (so to speak.) A minute later Brad walked off my hand and flew off...landing on the back of a guy sitting at the next table. He started crawling up towards the guy's neck. I know it's a little cruel, but I wanted to test my hypothesis about that automatic flick response thing so I didn't alert this fellow. When Brad made it up and over the shirt collar and onto this guy's neck.....he started flailing like he was having a seizure...both arms and hands like a 60 mile an hour windmill trying desperately to break this thing loose from his neck. His table mates looked at him like he was out of his mind....but then he pointed out the bug and we all had a good laugh.
Yesterday we rented a scooter and took off for the mountains and a place called Kuang Si. A beautiful waterfall about 30 kilometers out of town. We stopped first at a butterfly exhibit that a couple from Holland developed out of raw land, totally from scratch. It took them an entire year. They built small waterfalls, bathrooms, a tiny restaurant with a covered place to eat....and a huge netted area to keep the butterflies in...there ere hundreds of them. It looked much like a botanical garden. The owner told us that she and her beau spent every last penny they had and "now we're flat broke." I hope they make it, it's a nice stop.
The next stop was a bear rescue area. There was a commotion ahead so we took a look. The first thing we see were two bears mating...within 5 feet of the fence. The second?....eight Japanese guys pointing at the amorous bears, laughing so hard they're about to fall over...so giddy they can barely catch a breath to make a joke and start each other laughing all over again. We watched for a few then left....they were still howling. Too funny. The bears are rescued from from some sort of horrible captivity and suffer from some degree of abuse, starvation, or other inhuman treatment. The pens they were in, were huge...so from my vantage point their conditions have greatly improved.
We arrived at the falls. Apparently someone spilled the beans about this being THE place to go....there were people coming out of the woodwork from every direction. The walk up toward the fails with all of our friends was gorgeous with one pool spilling into another and another.....all the way down the hillside. The falls were spectacular.....they had to be several hundred feet above us.....the foliage finally cut off our view but there was sunlight through the mist....like you might see in some exotic travel movie. A good experience, albeit a little crowded.
I didn't major in english nor am I an author of any kind....but you could probably tell that by now. This thing is pretty rough grammatically, so my apologies for that. Hope you are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it. More later.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Sunset over the Mekong
US Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan, Michael McKinnley and his wife Mia sat next to us at breakfast yesterday morning. He works in the compound and is an expert at war, as his wife explained. The Ambassador only leaves the compound with an armed-to-the-teeth four car motorcade and keeps his head down. Mia never leaves except when she and her husband are able to take a break out of country. He's trying to help negotiate a way out of the whole mess.
So this tiny blog is dedicated to these two people who put their lives on the line to do important work.
More later.
Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang is right in the middle of Laos. The brick colored Mekong River runs through it. It's a busy waterway carrying supplies and tourists. The width in front of the hotel is about a quarter to a half mile wide. A boat trip to sight see and fish was on the agenda this morning. As we moved downriver, on each side of us there were many small gardens very near the water. Lots of cucumbers, corn, cabbage, carrots...staples of the food stuff around here. The different water levels are evident above the rivers edge...so it looks as if the river rises during monsoon season then washes all the gardens away, renews the soil and everybody starts over the next year.
There were a few water buffalo along the way. The Laotions raise water buffalo instead of cattle for a couple resons, one, they're suited to the environment but they don't chew the roots out of the areas they graze and cattle do. Cattle kill off a grazing area while buffalo leave enough of the plant and root to regrow. I didn't know that. There were no other animals along the river....except a couple of chickens. No ducks, no seagulls, no geese, no birds of any kind flying over or swimming in the water. It's kind of like viewing a picture of the Seattle waterfront with the Space Needle nowhere in sight. Weird and it seems a little impossible, but hey, this is Laos not Seattle.
Every morning Moon and I have coffee on the veranda.....the minute one of us opens the door it smells of smoke.....like when you're camping. Everybody here, locals anyway, cooks over some kind of open fire outside, whether charcoal or wood.....and that means so much smoke that it's hazy in the valley most of the time. You can see by the picture below...a typical day of campfire smog.
Butterflies....that's what I noticed first when arriving in Luang Prabang. They're all over the place and they never seem to light on anything, they just keep flying around, sometimes chasing each other for a couple of minutes at a time...like seagulls only not as obnoxious. We visited a butterfly exhibit, where in a netted area we were surrounded by hundreds of butterflies....all different colors and sizes. Very unique.
It's just as hot here then in Bangkok, but it's not as humid, that makes it much more tolerable. When the humidity gets to 87% Moon gets "sphitzy", which is a word she coined to mean sweaty, humid, and hot accompanied by mild delirium. And if you've ever observed a delirious Moon...it ain't pretty....it's time to cool off and hydrate. More later.
There were a few water buffalo along the way. The Laotions raise water buffalo instead of cattle for a couple resons, one, they're suited to the environment but they don't chew the roots out of the areas they graze and cattle do. Cattle kill off a grazing area while buffalo leave enough of the plant and root to regrow. I didn't know that. There were no other animals along the river....except a couple of chickens. No ducks, no seagulls, no geese, no birds of any kind flying over or swimming in the water. It's kind of like viewing a picture of the Seattle waterfront with the Space Needle nowhere in sight. Weird and it seems a little impossible, but hey, this is Laos not Seattle.
Every morning Moon and I have coffee on the veranda.....the minute one of us opens the door it smells of smoke.....like when you're camping. Everybody here, locals anyway, cooks over some kind of open fire outside, whether charcoal or wood.....and that means so much smoke that it's hazy in the valley most of the time. You can see by the picture below...a typical day of campfire smog.
Butterflies....that's what I noticed first when arriving in Luang Prabang. They're all over the place and they never seem to light on anything, they just keep flying around, sometimes chasing each other for a couple of minutes at a time...like seagulls only not as obnoxious. We visited a butterfly exhibit, where in a netted area we were surrounded by hundreds of butterflies....all different colors and sizes. Very unique.
It's just as hot here then in Bangkok, but it's not as humid, that makes it much more tolerable. When the humidity gets to 87% Moon gets "sphitzy", which is a word she coined to mean sweaty, humid, and hot accompanied by mild delirium. And if you've ever observed a delirious Moon...it ain't pretty....it's time to cool off and hydrate. More later.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Heading back to Bangkok, then on to Luang Prabang
Phuket to Bangkok. Left our beach experience behind....reluctantly....and headed for Bangkok. Arriving in BKK airport is much like being in the middle of a science fiction movie. The airport is ultramodern, 10 different types of Wifi, people movers, sky train to downtown, high tech city.....outside of the airport?....over crowdedness everywhere you look...up, down, or sideways....Neal Stephenson sort of wrote about a city like this 20 years ago. in his novel Snow Crash. It has an energy much like New York City...very vibrant but absolutely raw. An odd detail about Bangkok....skate boards.....didn't see one anywhere in Bangkok or Thailand. Good for them.
Didn't want to forget this. There is a common scam in Bangkok...a nicely dressed gentleman approaches or walks up beside you and asks if you need direction. You say no I'm going to _____(you can put anything in those spaces)...this time I'll put the "The Jim Thompson Silk Museum". He then says to you..."that's closed today" or "that's not open until this afternoon......or "they're not open for another couple of hours"....Being the helpful and generous soul that he is...he'll then gives you the address of a jewelry store that has the "cheapest gold and silver in Bangkok"....or better yet, he'll walk you over since he knows the owners personally. We were approached 3 times like this. Gotta tell you, I got pretty tired of looking at jewelry....just kidding. Became good at crossing the street when we made eye contact with any well dressed male.
We stayed one night at a little place call Jumputa Garden Villas. Eight small bungalows built over a lake....Beautiful little place. Then entire inside of the little villa was teak wood. The lake had fish like bass although they weren't...maybe tilapia? Complete with lily pads, plumeria trees, and other plants to make the whole thing appear as an oasis. There was a rice paddy next door. Very quaint. If it weren't for the fact that we were in the middle of an industrial area five minutes from the airport....and the friggin guy next door in his backhoe that was 60 feet away from us where we were having dinner... it would have been a pretty peaceful evening. LOL Having a great trip. More later.
Didn't want to forget this. There is a common scam in Bangkok...a nicely dressed gentleman approaches or walks up beside you and asks if you need direction. You say no I'm going to _____(you can put anything in those spaces)...this time I'll put the "The Jim Thompson Silk Museum". He then says to you..."that's closed today" or "that's not open until this afternoon......or "they're not open for another couple of hours"....Being the helpful and generous soul that he is...he'll then gives you the address of a jewelry store that has the "cheapest gold and silver in Bangkok"....or better yet, he'll walk you over since he knows the owners personally. We were approached 3 times like this. Gotta tell you, I got pretty tired of looking at jewelry....just kidding. Became good at crossing the street when we made eye contact with any well dressed male.
We stayed one night at a little place call Jumputa Garden Villas. Eight small bungalows built over a lake....Beautiful little place. Then entire inside of the little villa was teak wood. The lake had fish like bass although they weren't...maybe tilapia? Complete with lily pads, plumeria trees, and other plants to make the whole thing appear as an oasis. There was a rice paddy next door. Very quaint. If it weren't for the fact that we were in the middle of an industrial area five minutes from the airport....and the friggin guy next door in his backhoe that was 60 feet away from us where we were having dinner... it would have been a pretty peaceful evening. LOL Having a great trip. More later.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Scooters, Scooters, Scooters everywhere
Scooters. The small Honda scooter rented in downtown Khao Lak didn't quite handle like my Harley so it took some getting used too. I wobbled around the corners, strayed into the other lane often enough to hear Moon yelling, "left, left, left", and sometimes getting from the curb to the street/highway was an off-road experience. Finally my comfort level rose to a point where I was confident of not falling over diving into a corner.
The majority of Thais ride scooters...young and old. Cars are a nice luxury but scooters are essential to getting around. There is an strong element of trust between the folks on scooters and cars and trucks. Everybody watches out for everyone else. Fast, slow or erratic what ever you're doing is respected by other drivers. If you're prone to road rage this is not the place for you....you wouldn't survive 10 minutes here. The Thais like to pack them on the two wheelers like a "full meal deal". We passed a scooter yesterday with a small child..(like a 1-2 year old) in between two men..the rider with one hand on the child and holding a rather large bag of groceries with the other and a 8 year old hanging off the back. That would be 4 in all and not an unusual site to see...just business as usual. Off in the distance down the highway was a blob coming straight at us. When the blob neared it was actually a scooter with a sidecar piled so high with stuff it looked as if would topple over at any second. But they never did.
Things I forgot to mention about Khao Lak...oysters, the size of a nickel, all over the rocks in front of the hotel...the seafood plate lit on fire with flames jumping 10 feet into the air....the cook coming out from that restaurant to thank us for coming (a second time, the food was so good)....the fact that we could have a great big meal for 400 baht or roughly 12 bucks...and that was a pretty expensive dinner...a ride into the jungle on the scooter was fun and relaxing.
The majority of Thais ride scooters...young and old. Cars are a nice luxury but scooters are essential to getting around. There is an strong element of trust between the folks on scooters and cars and trucks. Everybody watches out for everyone else. Fast, slow or erratic what ever you're doing is respected by other drivers. If you're prone to road rage this is not the place for you....you wouldn't survive 10 minutes here. The Thais like to pack them on the two wheelers like a "full meal deal". We passed a scooter yesterday with a small child..(like a 1-2 year old) in between two men..the rider with one hand on the child and holding a rather large bag of groceries with the other and a 8 year old hanging off the back. That would be 4 in all and not an unusual site to see...just business as usual. Off in the distance down the highway was a blob coming straight at us. When the blob neared it was actually a scooter with a sidecar piled so high with stuff it looked as if would topple over at any second. But they never did.
Things I forgot to mention about Khao Lak...oysters, the size of a nickel, all over the rocks in front of the hotel...the seafood plate lit on fire with flames jumping 10 feet into the air....the cook coming out from that restaurant to thank us for coming (a second time, the food was so good)....the fact that we could have a great big meal for 400 baht or roughly 12 bucks...and that was a pretty expensive dinner...a ride into the jungle on the scooter was fun and relaxing.
Sharks in Thailand
Each morning after breakfast Moon and I would take up our position in the lounge chairs, a few yards from the water. I would swim out to a small rocky island...maybe 300-400 yards away. I'd snorkel for awhile, then swim back. On the last monring I walked to the beach and noticed the water was very cloudy. When I dove in the water was so stirred up that I could barely see the fingers of my outstretched arm. But I swam out...lifting my head on occasion to mak sure my direction was straight. The rock was a couple feet away....I almost ran into it. I was too cloudy to snorkel. So I turn turned around and headed back. On the way in I started thinking about sharks and how this might be a perfect time for one of those Great Whites to sneek up on me and chew off one of my limbs......ouch. Why these thoughts on the last day I'm not sure but I had a premonition. The first thing that sharks do is bump their prey before they attack. And just about then and only 50 yards from shore I felt a pretty good bump on my right leg....I immediately stopped, tensed up, and lifted my head out of the water to locate a fin or the telltale sign of a water disturbance. There was nothing....so I took a deep breath and put my head into the water....looking around, still trying to locate my attacker...they say if you strike back at a shark it might scare it away....so I was ready with all my strength.....then just beneath me....there it was...a sand covered rock I had inadvertantly run into while swimming to the beach.....to say I was relieved is an understatment...not sure how I could feel beads of sweat pop out on my forehead while already in the water but I did....and while the danger was completelyl gone....I still took off for the shore pretty quickly.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
The beach at Khao Lak
We arrived in Khao Lak tuesday of this week. The trip from Phuket to our hotel was of the "fast and furious" type. Cab drivers like to get to all their destinations as-soon-as-possible. So the trip went quickly. Let me just say that all Thailand cab drivers are sort of a cross between Dale Earnhart, Jr. and Evil Knevil. It makes for a high sphincter level and little beads of sweat popping out on your forehead when the driver decides to pass while theres a car coming the other direction.....right at us...but that car moves to the left a little more and everything works out. Maybe a little, "Oh God, folks, hold on, this is goin' be tight"....or maybe a little, "sorry about that" kind of explanation....but it never happened. Just normal driving.
Khao Lak is a lazy strip of beach north of Phuket about 90 kilometers. The beaches are beautiful, the mood casual and the water is both a strikingly tourquois and warm....it's a good place to be lazy and not have to feel bad about it....when one is used to being productive....it takes awhile to get over the guilt...but we both managed that problem. Ocean on one side....jungle on the other. We attempted to find a waterfall which ended with our turning around when the road became much like those that you see on TV when watching an enduro motocylcle race. But we were far into the jungle by then....some of the leaves of some kind of plant bigger than Moon or me. Tropical smell, lovely flowers.....oh, and rubber tree farms all over the place.
Anyway, Khao Lak consists, primarily, of hotels of all shapes, sizes, and prices...right on the beach. It's nightlife is calm so the backpackers don't make this their number one destination. That's OK with Moon and I. We're usually in the sack by 8:00. The humidty and heat can get to you. Late night partying for us, sans table dancing, ended at 8:45.
There is a great market 3 days a week. It has everything. The food is delicious. You want deep fried crickets?.....grasshoppers?....and these white larvae about an inch long, moving and pulsing around with it's head coming out of one end periodically....it looked very much like what the "Wrath of Kahn's" Recardo Montoban placed on Mr. Checkov's neck.....then we all looked on in horror as it crawled into his ear....that still gives me the heebie jeebies. Anyway......the food was great. Seafood, pork....(whole pig heads)...chicken cooked with the heads on......duck....head on. Everything deep fried or cooked on the grill with every type of tasty sauce poured over it......I'm hungry. More later.
Khao Lak is a lazy strip of beach north of Phuket about 90 kilometers. The beaches are beautiful, the mood casual and the water is both a strikingly tourquois and warm....it's a good place to be lazy and not have to feel bad about it....when one is used to being productive....it takes awhile to get over the guilt...but we both managed that problem. Ocean on one side....jungle on the other. We attempted to find a waterfall which ended with our turning around when the road became much like those that you see on TV when watching an enduro motocylcle race. But we were far into the jungle by then....some of the leaves of some kind of plant bigger than Moon or me. Tropical smell, lovely flowers.....oh, and rubber tree farms all over the place.
Anyway, Khao Lak consists, primarily, of hotels of all shapes, sizes, and prices...right on the beach. It's nightlife is calm so the backpackers don't make this their number one destination. That's OK with Moon and I. We're usually in the sack by 8:00. The humidty and heat can get to you. Late night partying for us, sans table dancing, ended at 8:45.
There is a great market 3 days a week. It has everything. The food is delicious. You want deep fried crickets?.....grasshoppers?....and these white larvae about an inch long, moving and pulsing around with it's head coming out of one end periodically....it looked very much like what the "Wrath of Kahn's" Recardo Montoban placed on Mr. Checkov's neck.....then we all looked on in horror as it crawled into his ear....that still gives me the heebie jeebies. Anyway......the food was great. Seafood, pork....(whole pig heads)...chicken cooked with the heads on......duck....head on. Everything deep fried or cooked on the grill with every type of tasty sauce poured over it......I'm hungry. More later.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Keep your head down......y
Terry and I were aware of the protests against the govt. They've been an issue for several months and have started to drag on the economy. There are flare ups and lulls. The hope has been that the lulls will become the norm and the whole thing will peter out all together. Unfortunately, the flare-ups have been more destructive and costly in terms of human life. Historically, the Thai people do not like the leaders who take advantage of them.....they do not sit idly by.
Travel reports and blogs warn to be aware of your surroundings in order to stay safe. So we tried to do that......but Bangkok is a big place. There was no map that identified the protest areas. Our first foray into the city was by skytrain. We got off the train and down below saw thousands pup tents. The building in back of the tents was a national sports arena. I'm a sports fan So naturally I thought here was a sporting event....I'm thinking maybe thats something we could take in. But no. As it happens, this in the first of many protest camps and not a very big one at that. The protesters have also camped out in the street, essentially shutting down and/or disrupting traffic. The police have cordoned them off with fences that run down the middle of the street for blocks and blocks. If you are on the outside of the protest area, you either enter their area or you walk a half mile or more around the fenced area, just o get to the other side of the street. We entered the protest area which looks like any other market selling food, trinkets.....everything else a normal market has to offer. However, the t-shirts were different....they read "We shut down Bangkok" and "I love Thailand" and "Restart Thailand". Generally speaking, the protests were calm while we were there. But the day we left the traffic was horrible and there were many ambulances, which was odd. We learned that afternoon that a clash between the protesters and the police resulted in lose of life and many injuries. The protesters threw a grenade at the police and the police shot back. The lovely smiles and congeniality of the happy Thai people doesn't seem consistent with grenades and bulletts. I dont want to be naive here, but maybe everyone gets a piece of what they want and the conflict can resolve. More later.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Safety First!
As an Occupational Therapist working in the field of work injury management for many years, I have an eye for something amiss when visiting an injured worker's place of employment. Particularly...I notice if the environment is not safe. With that in mind......Moon and i observed a 5 man crew running a pile driving rig. Approx. 50 feet tall, roughly 15 by 15 feet square and all steel. The whole thing sat on two railroad-type rails. The rails were 30 ft long. Estimated rig weight was 3-4 tons. One pile would be driven every10-12 feet. When the rig ran out of rail...they jacked the whole thing up with something that looked like a beefed up car jack, then pulled the rails forward by hand. At that point the rig was lowered back down to the rail. They would then attach a hook to the end of the rail which was attached to the rig and winch the whole thing forward, screeching, over the rails. You might think this is crazy, but we're not there yet. The five man crew did not use gloves, they didn't wear hard hats, no safety glasses, no protective clothing within 10 miles, and......get this....they were all wearing slippers for God's sake.....hard to beleive. I can imagine....maybe in a strange alternate universe that these men....before rising each morning to start their day said a short prayer asking their maker for a little pain and suffering....maybe a nasty head injury would be fun or maybe a grossly amputated foot would be the order of the day.....or couple of fingers crushed flat...haven't done that in a while....or maybe....on their lucky day....the rig would fall over on them all and pin them to the asphalt (a crew that is pinned together, stays together!). The foreman, dressed in shorts and also sporting slippers, told us to go away. I'm thinking he thought it wasn't safe for us to be there....40-50 feet away......go figure.
The whole city planning thing is willy nilly. I am not sure hat the city fathers had a good idea of that they wanted. Considering how the whole thing is laid out it looks like it was planned out and developed by either a hoarder or a five year old whose primary experience was with sand castles and/or legos. But then again, it is a very old city whose outgrown it's infrastructure several times over. It seems to work, albeit maybe not as efficiently as it might.
I'm not sure what all is attached to the telephone poles, but there are sometimes 50-60-70 lines running between poles....bundled together or not.....occasionally, poles look as if they might collapse under their own weight....we take for granted building codes or are not even aware of them or what they do for us.....but i'm glad we have them. Sometimes this place runs like the Wild West, complete with shoot-at-hip building projects, sometimes those projects look sophisticated, futuristic, and architecturally sound. All for now. More later.
The whole city planning thing is willy nilly. I am not sure hat the city fathers had a good idea of that they wanted. Considering how the whole thing is laid out it looks like it was planned out and developed by either a hoarder or a five year old whose primary experience was with sand castles and/or legos. But then again, it is a very old city whose outgrown it's infrastructure several times over. It seems to work, albeit maybe not as efficiently as it might.
I'm not sure what all is attached to the telephone poles, but there are sometimes 50-60-70 lines running between poles....bundled together or not.....occasionally, poles look as if they might collapse under their own weight....we take for granted building codes or are not even aware of them or what they do for us.....but i'm glad we have them. Sometimes this place runs like the Wild West, complete with shoot-at-hip building projects, sometimes those projects look sophisticated, futuristic, and architecturally sound. All for now. More later.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Last Day in Bangkok
Cities have ther own......odor. As a child, I could identify the city I was in by the smell. Blindfolded and scurried away in a jet plane to Colorado's largest city..then plopped down on a park bench somewhere......I could take a deep breath and confidently spout, "I'm in Denver". Bangkok has it's own brand of "fragrance" that smacks you in the face and tends to numb the senses after awhile. It's a mixture of the sweet smell of tropical flowers, a bucket of kim chee, diesel, vomit, and a fish you've had in your pocket for 3 days, ( I don't know why you'd end of up with a rotten fish in your pocket but I'm trying to make a point here)....oddly enough, you get used to it.
There is so much to see and do here....it overwhelms. The "Weekend Market" with it's 8000+ vendor stalls where for your purchase you could assume ownership of almost anything you can imagine....t-shirts, animals, art, food, ladders, iPhones, Tupperware, medical supplies, or a foot massage. You name it...they got it in different colors, sizes and textures.
The floating market offered some great food....actually the street food was some of the more delicious and the variety is unbelievable. Let me just say that I love curry.....and this is the place to get it whether its red, green, yellow, Northern style......I'm in culinary heaven. Moon loves it too. We're having a great time. More later.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Life along the Chao Phraya River
Arrived in Bangkok late at night....Looking out the window of the plane seeing lights to the horizon. Eleven and a half million people live in Bangkok proper. When those rural folks come into the city to sell their wares....you could imagine that it might get a little crowded at the lunch line. Humanity everywhere, all the time......like being at the Puyallup Fair on the hottest day, waiting in line for the Tilt-a-Whirl with 500 of your closest friends....
Thailand is one of the most diverse countries in the world. Everything seems to work relatively well as far as people to people, considering the differences in religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. If the Republicans and Democrats could be so lucky.
Thailand is one of the most diverse countries in the world. Everything seems to work relatively well as far as people to people, considering the differences in religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. If the Republicans and Democrats could be so lucky.
Outside our window is the Chao Phraya River....the color of a good Borsch soup. The river is a major transportation water way, seemly just as busy as the highways. They have every kind of watercraft. Water taxis, water buses, private boat taxis, barges of all types, party boats, dinner cruises, small oil tankers...you name it....if it floats and has a motor attached to it....it's here. Very interesting to watch it all unfold.
Did I mention the heat. About the time we realized that it was just too hot to stay out was the very second you feel like passing out. Staying hydrated is important. So we learned to get something to drink or head inside to cool off in order to continue on.....the humidity is pervasive.
Bangkok is of two minds.....it is the dirtiest, most polluted, over-crowded, impoverished place I have experienced...on the other hand....it is opulent, high tech, seeped in history, forward thinking, and very easy to get around with all the transportation options. Thais are generally wonderful people and they prepare the tastiest food in the world.......
Did I mention the heat. About the time we realized that it was just too hot to stay out was the very second you feel like passing out. Staying hydrated is important. So we learned to get something to drink or head inside to cool off in order to continue on.....the humidity is pervasive.
Bangkok is of two minds.....it is the dirtiest, most polluted, over-crowded, impoverished place I have experienced...on the other hand....it is opulent, high tech, seeped in history, forward thinking, and very easy to get around with all the transportation options. Thais are generally wonderful people and they prepare the tastiest food in the world.......
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Good Morning All.....we leave this morning for Bangkok. Life has been busy. Planning an extended trip is kind of like playing "whack a mole". Each time the plans are finalized and finished...ooops there's another one. By the time Moon and I get to the plane....right before I step off the tarmac.....I'll remember something else...that, "did I turn off the oven?" thing. In general , though, we're ready to go. Will miss Thelma and Louise and all our friends and family.
Have noted some unrest in Bangkok. Middle class Thais don't think too much of the current president....that's what Google says anyway. The protests have died down in the past week...probably because it's beginning to hurt the economy. It will be interesting to see how it plays out with all the tourists. Just read an article that mentioned many of them are cancelling trips to Bangkok and diverting to Chang Mai to steer clear of the unrest. We'll keep our heads down......lol.
I'm going to have my fair share of anything with curry in it. And then maybe have another helping. On the flip side, I've promised that I will absolutely, never-ever, under any circumstance purchase another T-shirt again. There is just no reason to get another one. My closet is filled with them. But, you know...maybe just one Bangkok Harley Davidson shirt is ok.........There....just one.
Moon looking forward to relaxing after working until yesterday afternoon. She needs some rest. Fabrics are at the top of her list. Cooking class? I vote for that.......
We start our Edventure today.
Ed...out.
Have noted some unrest in Bangkok. Middle class Thais don't think too much of the current president....that's what Google says anyway. The protests have died down in the past week...probably because it's beginning to hurt the economy. It will be interesting to see how it plays out with all the tourists. Just read an article that mentioned many of them are cancelling trips to Bangkok and diverting to Chang Mai to steer clear of the unrest. We'll keep our heads down......lol.
I'm going to have my fair share of anything with curry in it. And then maybe have another helping. On the flip side, I've promised that I will absolutely, never-ever, under any circumstance purchase another T-shirt again. There is just no reason to get another one. My closet is filled with them. But, you know...maybe just one Bangkok Harley Davidson shirt is ok.........There....just one.
Moon looking forward to relaxing after working until yesterday afternoon. She needs some rest. Fabrics are at the top of her list. Cooking class? I vote for that.......
We start our Edventure today.
Ed...out.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
I didn't read my first post. I guess there were a couple things in there I was going to address.
Terry and I visited Red Lantern Tours. It is a great place if you would like to have them do everything. Each day has it's own itinerary. You're with a tour guide much of the time. All Travel arrangements, transfers, hotel/dinner reservations are done for you....really.....you don't have to lift a finger. If you can get yourself on an airline to SE Asia the rest is done for you. It's the no runs, no drips, no errors way to travel. And Red Lantern knows SE Asia.
There is an expense to all that.....at the same level of a decent cruise on, say, Windstar. Besides the increased cost, I really wanted to chart our course. My wife doesn't have a great desire to do much of the planning. The research and planning is part of what I enjoy.
Enough for now.
Terry and I visited Red Lantern Tours. It is a great place if you would like to have them do everything. Each day has it's own itinerary. You're with a tour guide much of the time. All Travel arrangements, transfers, hotel/dinner reservations are done for you....really.....you don't have to lift a finger. If you can get yourself on an airline to SE Asia the rest is done for you. It's the no runs, no drips, no errors way to travel. And Red Lantern knows SE Asia.
There is an expense to all that.....at the same level of a decent cruise on, say, Windstar. Besides the increased cost, I really wanted to chart our course. My wife doesn't have a great desire to do much of the planning. The research and planning is part of what I enjoy.
Enough for now.
SE Asia....the groundwork
Traveling to another part of the world.....that has never been experienced, presents some....issues. I've researched so many hotels that I am now an expert.....in ruining a perfectly good place to stay because one out of 1600 reviewers identifies that one problem that taints the other 1599. A review written in 2009 about a bedbug....could it be that the little critter is still living.....? How can a 5 star hotel on the beach have one bedbug? How did they get rid of it? Or did it leave on it's own? Who knows.......Or a nasty reception person in a Vietnamese B&B....who can't speak English?....is that enough to ruin an otherwise decent establishment in a foreign land? I don't speak Vietnamese.....has TripAdvisor dinged me? I hope not.
Anyway....TripAdvisor, Smarter Travel, and Wikitravel are the sites I used for general information. They're the best all around and easy to use for me. Wikitravel can be a little uneven due to it's "boots on the ground" perspective....but that's also it's charm.
This blog is being written for two reasons. I might happen on some sage advice for SE Asia explorers...which might help them avoid some of the pitfalls of meandering around the countrysides of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam......or my lovely wife and I might experience something unique and would love to pass that on. The second reason is to let our friends and family know where we are and let them travel along with us if they so choose.
We'll there is a third reason. Humor. I will try to stick a little humor into the blog....about things, situations, or people who are amusing. The only problem is there are a number of my friends and family that don't think I'm terribly funny, but get a kick out of me thinking I'm funny.....which in the end, I guess.....is funny.
Another shout-out. This one to Jessica W. who coined the phrase Edventures, as in
www.edventureswithmoon.com Very creative. Thanks Jessica.
Airplane travel is nature’s way of making you look like your passport photo. – Al Gore
Enough for now.
Anyway....TripAdvisor, Smarter Travel, and Wikitravel are the sites I used for general information. They're the best all around and easy to use for me. Wikitravel can be a little uneven due to it's "boots on the ground" perspective....but that's also it's charm.
This blog is being written for two reasons. I might happen on some sage advice for SE Asia explorers...which might help them avoid some of the pitfalls of meandering around the countrysides of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam......or my lovely wife and I might experience something unique and would love to pass that on. The second reason is to let our friends and family know where we are and let them travel along with us if they so choose.
We'll there is a third reason. Humor. I will try to stick a little humor into the blog....about things, situations, or people who are amusing. The only problem is there are a number of my friends and family that don't think I'm terribly funny, but get a kick out of me thinking I'm funny.....which in the end, I guess.....is funny.
Another shout-out. This one to Jessica W. who coined the phrase Edventures, as in
www.edventureswithmoon.com Very creative. Thanks Jessica.
Airplane travel is nature’s way of making you look like your passport photo. – Al Gore
Enough for now.
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