Can Tho and the Mekong Delta

We flew into Ho Chi Minh City, the old Saigon.  From there a taxi to the bus station, then on to Can Tho, Vietnam.   Can Tho is deep into the Mekong Delta.  It sits next to the Song Hau river, a tributary of the Mekong River.  It used to take all day, or more, to get from Ho Chi Minh to Can Tho because they didn't have any bridges over the rivers and canals of the Delta.  They used ferries...even if the water way was only 60-80 feet across.  There was no other way.  As you can see below, they still use a ferry for foot, bike, or scooter traffic...There are bigger ferries that might hold a car or two.  It doesn't cost much and is faster then going out of your way to take the bridge.

I've mentioned many times before, they drive "hell bent for leather" anywhere in Vietnam.  Our bus driver out of Ho Chin Minh kept one foot on the gas and one hand on the horn for most of the way to Can Tho, a 3 1/2 drive...when he wanted to accelerate it was necessary to start the process with the horn.  Funny.  Drivers don't use their horn in Laos or Cambodia and very little in Thailand.  But Vietnam?, constant beeps and honks all the time...it's in their DNA, and a way to tell everybody where they are and they're coming through!

We arrived in Can Tho in the evening and happened to walk into the restaurant at Victoria Can Tho, our hotel....it happened to be rated number 1 on Trip Advisor's places to eat in Can Tho.  Lucky.

The following morning we went on a tour to the wholesale floating market.  Many boats large and small.  The boats generally sell to the folks from the restaurants and markets but they'll also sell to tourists.  Often, they string up whatever they're selling on a long pole that waves in the wind like a flag...then hand any product sales off on another pole. A fun experience to watch.

Then we were on to a garden tour and shown different types of flowers and fruit trees.  We sampled unusual kinds of fruit...rambutan, longan, dragon fruit, jack fruit, sapodilla, durian, all delicious.  The Mekong Delta grows more fruit than anywhere in SE Asia.  It's different and delicious.

We did not eat lunch there, but saw the chef's cooking chicken, frog, sausage, and snake.  The frog's skin is often pulled off from the neck to the hips to show the meat, (the frogs are alive when that's done)...ow!...The snake was put on the grill alive...double ow!....The people of this region of the world don't have much sensitivity or sympathy for what they eat.  At home, PETA, would be protesting the frog or snakes treatment with signs like, "Friends of Frogs, Stop the torture" or "We snivel over snakes!."  Here in SE Asia, they'd probably throw those folks in a holding tank long enough to get a good mental health evaluation.

Below...how to make rice noodles. 

The above picture is rice that has been made into flour, then spread over a flat iron and cooked, then dried.  After it dries, into a shredder in goes. From there the noodles are folded for packaging.

One unfortunate thing about the whole of SE Asia is the trash, and the area of Can Tho is no different.  It's everywhere.  Along the river, in the lakes, along the road, in the back yard.  People don't seem to mind.  In the NW we recycle much of what we identify as trash.  I think that here the recycling consists of which window to throw it out of.  There are resorts that are leading the way to "zero-waste" and the people seem to take care of the trash further away from the city...but they have a very long way to go.  In Bangkok, it looks the same way during the day, but most of the trash is bagged up and by the morning...it's gone.  But everywhere else...there it is.

Lastly, in southern Vietnam, people are friendly and generally helpful.  We were lost a couple of times, and someone always came to us to help or give instructions.  They didn't want anything in return.  They just offered a little help and a smile.  

Ed out.

Rural Pakse and Champasak

Off to Pakse and Champasak in rural southern Laos.  The chaotic, Mario Andretti on meth, my-life-means-nothing kind of driving is nearly the same down here as it is everywhere else in SE Asia...but we are getting closer to Vietnam where it's really "no holds barred."  So the risk has increased.  I decided to tape one eye shut so I only had to deal with half of the traffic.  It worked out for me...I don't think Moon appreciated it with all the horns honking our way.  In the big cities, a driver has to watch out for mostly scooters and cars...but here it's  the normal scooters, cars, all sorts and sizes of trucks and buses... tuk-tuks, several kind of motorcycles with side cars, platforms, and pulling carts, tractors, bicycles, and taxis.  Then there are the water buffalo, cows, goats, kids, dogs, and chickens...and people who will suddenly feel it's necessary to make a sharp turn into the middle of traffic.  If dare-devilish excitement is your thing...this is the place to be.

 

Our Hotel was absolutely beautiful....overlooking the Mekong with an island in the middle.  The hotel sat in the middle of a number of rice fields...lots of trees and flowers and bushes of all kind.  The first night, after dinner, we returned to our room, turned on the light, and were greeted by a 4 inch long, green, praying mantis....I should say Terry was met by the Mantis....I didn't know we'd met until I heard Moon scream.  A very big bug, he was.  Pretty cool looking.  I saw one on the Nature channel but not in person.  I coaxed him onto my arm and then nudged him onto the railing.  For some reason large bugs seem to come my way.  He and I watched the river for a while...then he decided to take his leave.  Nice Bug.

 

Beyond the Mekong is the Bolaven Plateau where there are many coffee and tea plantations (big and small), breathtaking water falls, and the opportunity to see life the way it's been lived by the locals for many years.  This area is 5000 feet above sea level....so it was actually 75 degrees when we were there.  Pretty darn chilly by Lao standards, but pleasant for us.  Funny to see almost everyone in long sleeves, sweaters and coats.  Terry and I in our tank tops. We stopped at a small local coffee/tea farm and was offered the nickel tour and some tasty tea by a woman and her daughter. She told us all about the tea and coffee fields, the ways in which to harvest, dry and roast the product...as least I think that's what she said...because she didn't speak one work of English.  It probably would have been pretty interesting.  We purchased some organic coffee and went on our merry way.

The Bolaven Plateau was one of the most heavily bombed theaters in the Vietnam war due to it's elevation and proximity to everything.  In some of the local literature it states that the thinking of the time was who ever took and held the Bolaven Plateau was going to get an extra boost towards winning the war.  There are many unexplored ordinances, (bombs and mines) still here.  Occasionally one goes off....so no one is terribly excited about tromping off into the jungle.  An editorial comment here;  I'm wondering why we Americans have to fight these wars....in the last 50 years it hasn't gone well.  The Vietnam war didn't stop much of anything and the search for weapons of mass destruction didn't do much either except stir the hornets nest that is now the Islamic State.   And the cost of US service men and women and civilian lives?....absolutely heartbreaking.  Such a beautiful county and people to experience such devastation.

While in Paksong in the Bolaven Plateau, Terry and I had lunch at a place out of the Twilight zone.  Built in 2008, it was one of the more impressive hotels within 30 miles.  Absolutely no one here.  We walked into the lobby, which was beautiful...all wood, but no one there.  Finally, we were directed to the restaurant by a woman who walked down the dark hallway towards us, her footsteps  echoing off the polished floors and walls....like something out of "The Shining"...Where she peers around the corner with a menacing smile on her face and says in a creepy voice....."it's...lunch...time."  Anyway, we calmed down and had a good lunch, but high tailed out of there when we finished.

The next day we head to Paksa for a visit to whatever we could see, our scooter humming along the highway at 85 kph or in MPH...52.8155.  Always on the lookout for the stray water buffalo and Low and behold...I felt a tug on my left ankle.  I was avoiding a scooter we were passing...so my attention was split...but then I felt that "tug" start to crawl up my leg....YIKES...when I looked down there was a large frog just above my ankle and climbing higher.  I stopped pretty quickly to roadblock this thing from climbing  into my shorts.  Luckily, he knew this would come to no good end if he didn't leave so he took a leap to the side of the road.  Good thinking on his part.  Where the heck we picked up a daredevil frog....I have no idea.  Ed out.

Luang Prabang...an old favorit

Terry and I stayed in Luang Prabang a 1 1/2  years ago and loved it.  Here we are again enjoying the laid back ways, great food, and just relaxing. Not to say that we stopped adventuring.  We scootered out to Manifa Elephant Sanctuary.  The elephants here were rescued from logging camps.  They worked long days, at times in the heat...at times in the monsoons, pulling 1000 lb. logs through the mud and jungle. At this particular sanctuary they teach you how to be a "mahout", which is the animals trainer and keeper. We learned to direct the elephant with voice commands ....stop, go, left and right.  Our elephant was a female named Boon Mai.  We rode her and I ended up in the Mekong for a dunk to wash her down and let her cool off.  But all during the ride I had a nagging feeling that what I was doing just wasn't right with the elephant.  I won't ride another elephant again on principle.  She doesn't need some tourist from the Pacific NW on her back with a silly smile on his face. Just like an elephants long memory, Boon Mai's gentleness, sure footedness and strength is not an experience I will soon forget.

One of the problems with the elephants is Laos, Thailand, Myanmar is those counties have made logging illegal and in particular, they are trying to save the teak trees (which take hundreds of years to grow), as well as save the forests to preserve the jungle and it's inhabitants.  That's the good news.  Now the bad news: most all logging that's been done has been done with elephants.  They are the favored work animal pulling the trees out of the jungle.  So if all logging stops, there are generally three paths an elephant takes...not one of which is their choice.  They go to sanctuaries generally for the tourist industry, turned loose in the wild (they don't last a long time there after they've been domesticated and/or their "territory" overlaps with humanity), or they are killed for their tusks and hide.  Not a pretty picture.  So in the end, you get elephant rides as a way of saving them from an industry that has left them behind and a future that is bleak, at best.

Luang Prabang and pretty much anywhere else in Laos and SE Asia, the populous are awakened by the early morning cockle-doodle-do of a rooster, somewhere nearby.  In fact, in Laos, there is a chicken, dog, or cat within reach just about anywhere you go.  And we were told that many of them end up in the stew pot.  I imagine that Thelma and Louise, our two plump Pugs, would fetch a pretty penny here in Laos.

The people of Laos enjoy eating wild or domesticated meat which includes just about anything that has meat on it's bones...we heard that they eat monkey and gibbon, frogs, lizards, snake, water buffalo, goat, every kind of fish or eel....anything that has 4 or more legs, two legs, fins, feathers or it swims or slithers....did I miss anything?  One evening we each had water buffalo...Moon swears it was the best steak she's ever eaten.  I agree.  Frog, on the other hand, tasted like chicken with a hint of seafood....an odd pairing...and dare I say, I jumped at the chance to eat it.....I couldn't help myself.

Life is simple here...which is part of the attraction  If you have food, shelter, and a scooter...you're set.  All for now.  Ed out.

Going down the River...Mekong Style

We boarded the River boat and headed down the Mekong...a seriously beautiful river which meanders hundreds and hundreds of miles from China to Vietnam's Mekong Delta.   At once it is a slow moving body of water with not a ripple anywhere...cruise around a bend and it's like you're rafting the Skykomish with less severe rapids but more power, whirlpools 2 feet deep, berms that rise above the surrounding water by 6-8 inches, and eddies, little bays, and back water near the shore that catches quite a bit of plastic bottles, greenery, and wood.  I am a good swimmer...but I sure wouldn't want to go overboard in the Mekong...I'd never be found.

I was surprised to notice at certain points the river narrows to about 30-40 yards wide with big rocks protruding out of the water, then will widen more than a mile or two.  It would be impossible to run this river at night...and it's not something that's done.  There are numerous points along the river where navigation aids have been erected.  They look like three steps about 8 ft. high and 6 feet wide, made of concrete, and painted white. I bet they weigh 2000-3000 lbs.  They're attached, in some fashion, to the highest rock structure in that particular part of the river and are basically telling the river pilots..."Watch out...there is a big freakin' rock right here."  Some of them are 20 or more feet off the water....but keep in mind that the river can rise 30-40 feet .... the river's power has pushed some of these over, but there are others where a chunk has been taken out of the top...I bet your thinking what I'm thinking...how did the River Boat Captain patch that hole?

Our Boat was about 100 feet long and 12 feet wide.  Seats were comfortable.  Food was great.  A great way to see the world along the riverbank.  Almost the entire two day cruise down the river, there were gardens on the riverbank...along with water buffalo, cows....something that looked like a cow but wasn't, goats, and people.  Oh...and fisherman tending their gill nets or fish traps...which they do twice per day. What will happen to all of this when the dam is built in the upper part of the Mekong is anybody's guess.  I hope it works out for all, but I bet somebody is going to get the short end of the chopstick.

We met some great people on the boat.  No Americans but British, Dutch, German, and French.  We hung around with a British couple and ended up having dinner with them in Luang Prabang...our departure city.   I can't speak German, French, or Dutch and wishing I would have been more studious in my education when it came to foreign languages...at the time I avoided it like it would make my face break out.....We made it all the way to Luang Prabang.  All for now.  Ed out.

Headed for the Mekong

We left Chiang Rai on a bus to the border to a place called Chiang Klong, Thailand.  Just across the river is Huay Xai, the place we leave tomorrow on our way down the Mighty Mekong River.  The cost of going through customs and having our Passport and VISA stamped was $35, or $70 for Terry and I.  That is 1/3 of a normal monthly income of a Lao person, which is $200.   No wonder the Lao agents were the only customs people we saw smile when we walked through the gate to have our documents checked.  I think custom agents are the no-nonsense types.  They might actually go through training for the intimidating look, or the "I see you and everything else around here too" look, and, of course there is the "official look"...these folks wouldn't crack a smile for all the sticky rice in Bangkok...and surely not somebody you'd see teaching a 2nd grade art class, for sure.

We drove from the Thai side to customs, then traveled in a bus over a big new bridge that crosses the Mekong, paid for by the Thai, Laos, and Chinese governments...mostly by the Chinese.  It used to be a small ferry crossing but the Thai and Chinese wanted a quicker way to get their products into the hands of the Lao people.  We passed about 30 trucks headed for Laos at the border.  On our way down the Mekong, there was another unfinished bridge, paid for by Laos and China...and a planned dam, also paid for my the Chinese, which will probably end much of the tourist riverboat trafffic because of the time it will take to lock through....at least that was the point of view of our guide.

Our guide also mentioned that Laos was closest in friendship to Vietnam.  "They always fought together", he said.  Laos is generally on good terms with all their neighbors.  They are the poorest country in SE asia and their credit rating would probably not allow them to purchase a new bed at Sleep Country...lest they had a co-signer.  The shop keepers would prefer to be paid in Thai Baht, dollars, or Euros rather than Kip...the Lao currency.

Generally speaking, the Lao people are laid back, respecful, don't show much outward affection except to children, and are a happy lot.  Laos is my favorite place.  Peaceful.  Beautiful.  And for the time being the Lao government, communists that they are...are not in a rush to build the biggest, baddest, 20 story Motel 6 on the Mekong shoreline.  Good for them.  Ed out.

More on Monks

When in the Chiang Rai Airport I saw several monks in their saffron robes wandering to the boarding  gate with shiny Oakley aviator sun glasses and carrying a cell phone...not the flip phones, but what looked like a new i-Phone 6-S.  I remembered seeing several of them in the Bangkok airport, as well.  There is something not quite right about that.  Like seeing the Pope with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, a Bud Light in one hand, while throwing dice with the other hand...standing at the craps table, yelling "hard 8s Lady Luck, hard 8s"...it just doesn't jive.  Anyway, from a quick google search, becoming a monk requires following 227 rules. Several of the rules say monks need to be completely free of all materialistic things. be pure in thought and action, and stay above human failings.  O...K...I'd say these guys are in trouble with the Buddha...Now I certainly wouldn't gamble against a Monk....it doesn't seem....kosher.  But really...putting money on the table that these guys could ever fall into compliance with the other 224 rules?  I don't think so...sorry.

We were on our way down the Mekong river on a Luang Sai River Cruise when the topic of Monks and cell phones came up.  Our tour Guide, La, a practicing Buddhist, told our group that when the Thai and Lao people see the Monks carrying cell phones and wearing sun glasses...they call them "Bad Monks."  "They are not to be believed" La told us.  Good Monks are those respected by the people.  They adhere to the traditional values of their commitment to Buddha.

All boys and men become a monk at some point in life.  However, some only for as little as a weekend, a couple of weeks or months, years or a life time. When it comes to children, it is not usual for the parents to push the son to join the Buddhist temple as a monk if they want a better education or maybe the parents are having trouble providing for there son.  For whatever reason, it is a way to move the child into an improved environment and state of being than the parents could provide.  The young are sometimes called novice monks or European slang is "tiny Monks".  Monks of any age in the Lao and Thai culture are placed at a higher standing than any lay person, regardless of that person's rank or position in society.  All for now.  Ed out.

Chiang Rai Art Imitates Life

Two of the places we visited in Chiang Rai: the White Temple and the Black House.  Both designed by Artists.  The White Temple is Thailand’s Wat Rong Khun.  Chalermchai Kositpipat, a devout Buddhist, refurbished the Wat...spending $40 Million Baht (which comes out to $1,212,121.00 U.S.) of his own money in the process.  The temple is the artist's surreal vision of the Buddha teachings.  It's a magnificent piece of work...no joke.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Baan Dam or the Black House designed by Thawan Duchanee....believe it or not a former student of Kositpipat.  It is part architecture, part museum, part art, part taxidermy show, part sculpture.  Duchanee designed and built 40 buildings...large and small....all dark colored.  There is an element of death in all the darkness, but there is also an aspect of community and ceremony within each building.  It is also magnificent...but definitely a 180 from the lightness of the White Temple.

That's all from Chiang Rai.  I will miss the Saturday Walking Market.  We sat next to a Thai couple at the market. The husband told us that many of the towns people go to this market every week to socialize and sort of a Family night-out-on-the-town kind of thing.  I like that.

Ed out.

Chiang Rai

First things first.  While waiting to board the plane from Bangkok on our way to Chiang Rai...we heard the usual "Those person needing extra time to board, Parents with children, our Premier members and Monks can now board."  Monks?  Really?  Why would monks need more time to board?  So I ambled to the front desk and asked about boarding early, along with my assistant, Ms. Moon, as a Pastor in the Church of Universal Enlightenment...I have a genuine internet certificate to show for it.  I couldn't believe it...they said no!...to me...Pastor Ed.  So I did what Monks and all Pastors worth there collection plates would do...I blessed them  and went on my merry way.  I noticed they don't pay for ferries in Bangkok either.

Chiang Rai is in the northern part of Thailand.  It has the same types of Markets as the rest of SE Asia..but we especially enjoyed the Saturday Night Walking Market with it's huge line of goods up one side of street...for 5 blocks...then back down the other side.  There was a huge....I'm talking gargantuan...food court in the middle which sat 400-500 people with somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 food stalls around the outside...and dancing and music in the middle.  From fried crickets and larvae to fish omelets to pork satay to squid curry...whatever their tastes, they have something for everyone.  Some of the Thai music sounds not unlike someone torturing a cat with one of those instruments a dentist uses to remove something stuck between your back two teeth...alone with some organ music thrown in to set the mood.  But some of it was pretty good, modern music...with live musicians.

This market....well, all markets in Thailand sell T-shirts.  The favorites are Kurt Cobain and/or Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Elvis...all of which have met the big Maestro in the sky except Elvis.  Somebody heard him covering Bruce Springsteens' "Tunnel of Love" down one of the market side streets in a local Karoke bar....which happens to be one of the more credible sightings I've heard...just sayin'.....

All for now. Ed out.

So Long...Mae Sot

Hellow Friends and fellow travelers.....A couple things I missed in the last blog about Mae Sot. The beds in our hotel were a little...ahh...firm. Going to bed is much like laying on a cushy piece of marine plywood laid over a marble floor...then throwing some sheets on...and whamo...you're ready for a slumbering nights rest. I was awakened by my right arm sending urgent messages to my brain that it had been paralyzed. True to form I had been laying on it...between my body weight and the marble bed I had squished all the blood and sensation out of it...and had to pull myself to a sitting position with one arm to allow the blood back in...Whoa.

 Did I mention the food? Eating on the street is the best way to go. It's delicious and inexpensive. However, neither Terry or I always knew exacting what we were eating...which is probably for the best. Not much beef eaten in SE Asia. Chicken, pork, and sea food are the mainstays. There are a few stalls offering fried larvae, crickets, and beetles....which I swore to myself that I would try before the trip...but just couldn't bring myself to step up and place one on my tongue when confronted with a steaming pile of the insects.

 The further away from the larger cities like Bangkok we traveled...and Mae Sot was pretty far away...the fewer people spoke English and the names of restaurants, stores, markets, etc. were all in the Thai language...same with menus....they don't do directions or estimates of distance or time very well either...at least in my experience....so a 30 minute ride could be more like 5 or "about a kilometer" ended up being a couple of blocks. But we made it where we wanted to go and in a timely fashion on our little scooter. Going to be on a cruise for a couple of days...more posts after that. Ed out.

Myanmar-Thailland connection...Mae Sot

Mae Sot is a smallish town on the border of Thailand and Myanmar, (used to be identified as Burma). Many cultures inhabit the area including a Thai majority, Burmese, Chinese, Lao, Indian, Native Hill Tribes, and Karen...a subset of the Burmese.  Many Karen have fled Myanmar due to persecution by the military government...on the other hand, the military says they were persecuted because, for many a year, the Karen trained their guns on the military for target practice....so who knows.  Anyway you split it, there are a large number of Burmese refugees in Mae Sot.  An Australian fellow and his wife we chatted with volunteer with the refugees...helping them get work permits, housing, and food...They liken the situation much like the Mexicans and Latin Americans who flock to America hoping for a better life. 

And by the way,  Myanmar Democratic activist and Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi and her politicl party, with an 85% voter turnout, won the majority of the seats in the Myanmar congress...by a landslide. The Burmese people are hoping for a change in government.  But this has happened once before and the military rule basically said, "just kidding" and crushEd an uprising by the people.  We talked to several people about the situation over there and Suu Kyi's move to lead the governmet...None were very confident that she'll make it to the presidency, although that is everyones hope. Good luck to her.

Rented our first scooter.  A Suzuki at 110 CCs.  A veritable sprint machine.  Not quite as stable as my Harley, but got us where we needed to go in fine fashion.  Our longest trip was to Highland Farms and Gibbon Sanctuary, about 45 kilometers out of Mae Sot. It also acts as a small wildlife refuge that houses a couple of bears..(question...who among you think it's a good idea to keep a bear as a pet?)...two jackals and a  handful of rhesus monkeys (used in medical experiiments and whose bodies are very similar to humans.)  All but the Jackals were pets that became too big or too aggressive to handle at home...Thats when the cruelty begins.  The owners attempt to stop the aggressiveness or adolescent behavior by "disciplining", caging, or chaining the gibbons, which in turn, makes things worse...this leads to the animals being sold, killed, or, if their lucky luck holds, they end up in a sanctuary, which there are very few.  The monkeys/apes are human-like...the gibbons are closest to humans as far as their DNA.  They walk upright, are very intelligent, mate for life, and often act like humans.  They are so smart, in fact, that they're not trainable. When they don't want to do someting, they don't....and when they do...it's hard to stop them, which makes them poor medical experiment subjects.  It was our luck day...the owner invited us to have lunch with her, the Oregon student and a 2 month old gibbon in diapers. All you have to do is sit 5 feet away from this baby gibbon or lucky enough to hold her and it's easy to understand how they become pets.  They look like babies, act like babies, and need to be taken care of just like a baby with the same curiosity and playfullness.  It was a highlight for Terry and I. 

All for now.

Dining in the Dark, Bangkok Style

Our "guide" for our evening at Dining In the Dark was a tall, lanky, and very chatty Thai fellow named M.  M is blind, as are all the other guides or wait staff.  We entered an area that was pitch black...no light whatsoever.  Zero.  M led us down two steps then a left turn then a right...then to our seats. Dinners were chosen before we entered the restaurant...Moon had Asian....I had "the Surprise"...no idea what I was eating...still don't...except it tasted like chicken, (found out after the meal it was chicken.)  We both felt like rookies using utensils, unsure of where the food was...so I used my fingers as an advanced guide for my fork. After a while you begin to adapt, but it's a little creepy at first.  During the meal we started talking to Matt and Mena.  Mena drives for Uber in Singapore and Matt is a marketing agent for Sony, out of Hong Kong, ("my top show is "the Blacklist" he informed us....my favorite show).   We guessed each others age...we were close in identifying them...26 & 22.  They thought Terry and I were were 30 and 50-55 respectively...(bless their hearts.)  Of course, I couldn't pick them out of line up if a winning lotto ticket was on the line...luckily, sight is a luxury most of us possess...it adds much to our life...glad I was only "blind" for 2 hours.  BTW, the Sheraton donates a couple bucks from each dinner to the Thailand Foundation for the Blind.  

This Section Not For The Squeamish. You've been warned.  The next day...off to the Siriraj Hospital Forensic Museum.  Very interesting but kind of gross at the same time.  You can imagine that medical forensic science is the business of finding out how a person kicked the bucket. So we saw all manner of actual dried skulls and other bones, photographs, x-rays, etc. and all manner of body parts in formaldehyde. Gross.  There was a picture of a guy that was run over by a bus (why is it always a guy?)...complete with tire tracks...and I wondered how long did it take those guys to figure out what killed him?  There were several two headed babies....which led me to think....what if I was one half of such a person(s) and my brother was a lot smarter than me and a real dick to boot?...what a bummer having to deal with a snotty sidekick all my life...I'm glad we went, but not something I'm dying to see again...so to speak.

Bangkok's Chinatown is a cross between the Fremont Solstice parade, the Bite of Seattle only bigger,  and the largest outlet mall to ever exist.  Very lively.  Exciting.  At night it's all about the food.  Fragrances from fresh food on the grill, griddle, fryer, or steamer fills the air.  We had curried prawns cooked just right, steamed conch, and morning glories in a tasty sauce.  There are endless culinary delights here for the asking.  During the day it's about the shopping...anything you want is here somewhere.

We decided to get  away from the center of town, so we headed to Thewej at pier 15.  This is home to a local fish market.  Fish, eel, frogs, mud shrimp, and some kind of fermented fish that I would use on my garden, but never ever think about eating it. I start to gag thinking about it.  Then we moved on to the poulty and pork stalls.  I gotta tell ya...the thai are very creative and frugal when faced with what the heck to do with a whole pig...they use every part including the head, feet, intestines, ears, and toungue...besides the usual roast and pork chop and bacon areas of the pig.  The chicken are cooked whole...so the droopy head is always looking at you when you put in in the bag....

The next stop was Nonshaburi, also known as "end of the line" pier north of Bangkok.  The ferry stops here and turns around to head back south towards the center of Bangkok.  A paddling competition was in progress...the shells were, by my estimate, about 50-60 feet long with 32 paddlers and a fellow in the back who was paddling and steering.  Very exciting.  To watch all these guys  paddle at the same time, with a constnt rythm was truly amazing.  There was a circus like atmosphere in the stands and prominade, and food everywhere, along with the usual t-shirts, but...mostly food.  Delicious food,  so we ate again...what the heck.  The guy on the PA was calling the races fast and furiously in a Thai sing song kind of way....like Pat O'Day, on speed, calling the hydros at Seafair..  I don't nderstand Thai, but it seemed like I could undstand every word he was saying by the time the shells crossed the finsh line and his voice hit a cresendo.

Leaving for Mae Sot near the boarder of Myanmar.  First democratic elections for them.  Hope all goes well for the transition to a new democracy.

Hello Kitty....uh...I mean Hello Bangkok!

Greetings fellow travelers....Moon and I made it to Bangkok after a grueling 47 hour flight from Seattle....truth be told...it was only 19 hours...it just felt like 47.  We hailed a taxi at the airport and off to the races we went, white knuckles and all.  All drivers in Bangkok would like to drive NASCAR...our driver had a picture of Dale Earnhart next the tiny shrine he had built on the middle of the dashboard..an offering, I hoped, that would keep us all safe.  Bingo, we arrived at the hotel in record time...in one piece. It's good to be back in Bangkok.  

Wrapped in a sweater and overcoat and wearing long wool pants in the middle of Las Vegas Blvd in the middle of August is how it feels when you pop out of the taxi in downtown Bangkok. At first it feels all warm and humid, then you think...."my...it's warm"...a small bit of perspiration pops out on your forehead...the next thing you know it's shower-time.  Good thing the human body adjusts...after a few days it doesn't feel like you just climbed out of the pool with all your clothes on.  

We're staying in a hotel by the Chao Praya River.  Interesting to watch how busy the river is with it's tugs pulling barges, ferries, water taxis, dinner boats, tour boats, small fishing boats, Coast Guard, and rowboats of every type, color, and size. Taking the ferry during the day is the easiest way to get around and offers a front row seat to all the action on the river. In the evening it's a great way to see the lights of the city and stay cool.

Hello Kitty is very popular here.  Our airline, EVA, has a Hello Kitty painted plane we saw land at the airport.  Hello Kitty shops exist in the deepest darkest side streets of shopping areas and in the most expensive shopping malls. At first I didn't get it...I wondered..how is it possible that people...I should say women...buy almost any item with a pink kitty on it which are outrageously  
overpriced...a phenomena that sends young girls giggling and middle aged women to proudly show off their new purses?  But then I thought of my last trip to Stugis Bike Week...a half a million bikers, most were guys, wearing Harley Davidson T-shirts and every other thing with the Harley logo on it...then I started to understand.  

Moon and I don't eat here....we graze from one food cart to another.  The food in the restaurants is all very tasty...but the street food is to die for and is so inexpensive it's funny.  I don't always know what I'm eating...but, hey, if it taste good, what the heck.  I purchased an Indian Roji yesterday...a cross between a crepe and silly putty.  A small piece of sticky batter about half the size of a golf ball is stretched out like a large pizza...only paper thin...on a round griddle.  An egg and banana mixture is spread over the dough where it starts to bubble up like a small balloon and is then folded into a square and finished off on the grill.   It's cut up into squares with a slightly sweet creamy topping sprinkled over the top...it was so good I ordered another one. Yum.

All for now, but more later.  Ed

Curry, Part Two/Time Machine please

Last year, Moon and I enjoyed curry just about every day.  I'm looking forward to doing that again.  Green, brown, red, yellow, Thai or Indian.....all different, all delicious...as my Sister would say, "Yummers."    

This is the second part of the itinerary I started a couple of days ago.  This leg of the edventure will take us east from Chiang Rai to the Thai/Laos border where we'll board a 40 meter long riverboat for a trip down the Mighty Mekong River...floating lazily down the historic waterway to Luang Prabang, Laos. 

Luang Prabang is one of the spiritual centers of Laos....however, it could be argued that Laos, as a whole, is a spiritual center with many Wats and many more monks in their saffron robes....which are said to be unchanged over the last 25 centuries and originally worn by Buddha and his disciples…(which, at this point, could probably use a good washing). 

Generally, the Lao people are calm, friendly in a casual way, and polite.  This is a peaceful place with high mountains on all sides, a faint smell of campfires, and a relaxing ambiance all its own...we walked to a funky little restaurant/bar/oasis named Utopia above the river the last time we were here.  There is a sign at the entrance of this little gem than reads, "Zen during the day, Groovy at night."  That pretty much sums up  Laos in a nutshell. 

After 4 days we board a plane for Pakse, Laos....and immediately South of that is Champasak on the Mekong River in southern Laos.  Some unusual sites here with names like Plain of Jars, 4000 Islands, Bolaven Plateau…and Chick Fil A….(just kidding about the last one.) 

We’ll leave there for Can Tho, which is right smack dab in the middle of the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.  The Mekong  River originates in the plateaus of Tibet and meanders 2700 miles through China, Myanmar Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and finally empties in this delta....there is seriously fertile soil here.  They can grow just about anything here and do...with names like dragon fruit, mangosteen, longan, and durian....by the way, the 2-7 pound durian has a thorn covered husk that is called the King of Fruits in SE Asia. Unfortunately the fruit also has an odor that has been described as a cross between rotten onions, turpentine, and raw sewage.  Although many enjoy the fruit it has been banned from many hotels and public transportation due to it's..."fragrance."  

On to Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of Angkor Wat, one of the most visited religious sites in the world.  Amen.  

Then moving from divinity to chaos....we return to Bangkok for a couple of days of rest before returning to the home land.  But before we leave....we gotta get there first.  So I'm frantically looking for a time machine to step ahead 19 hours so I don't have to sit through a long 19 hour flight filled with 5 movies, bad airplane food, and a permanent imprint on my behind, from the cross-stitch of my hiking shorts.  I've checked Craig's list every day for the past two weeks and nothing.....no time machine, no time booster, no "I just saw it a second ago and then it was gone" kind of thing......bummer.  

Moon and I leave in two days.  Looking forward to reporting from the front lines.....Enjoy your week everyone.  Ed out. 

Please move your seat backs forward and tray tables up.....

Hello all. Moon and I leave next Tuesday for SE Asia.  I thought an itinerary would be helpful for those who want to be in the know......and I'll do it in two parts so not to bore you.  I'll also warn you that I am not a writer and have no editor....so all factual errors, grammatical mistakes, spelling snafus, bad or inappropriate humor, or whatever else could go wrong or offend.......is on me...Now if you could just sign the release at the bottom of the page we're ready to go....(really?..I hope you didn't actually look down there...seriously.)

First stop is Bangkok.....the World Meteorological Society has identified Bangkok as the Hottest City on the planet.....Literally.....with an average temperature of 93.3 degrees Fahrenheit, (or 34 degrees Celsius for almost everyone  else in the world except the US folks).  And, believe it or not, there is actually a Thai law,(I'm not kidding here), on the books prohibiting anyone from leaving their homes without underwear.  Could this be a coincidence?  I think not.......Anyway, I love Bangkok for reasons I'll identify later......But 8.2 million people can't be wrong.....or the other 7 million in the surrounding region.  

Next up is Mae Sot.....in the western part of Thailand about 3 miles from the Myanmar Border, formally called Burma.  It's a favorable mix of cultures.  Sixty Minutes just aired a bit on Myanmar and it's struggle to become a democracy after years of Military rule.  Historically, this area has been a point of entry for human trafficking and drugs.  These activities have been greatly reduced. ...unfortunately, not completely.  

On the bright side, we'll be staying in a wonderful little place called the Picture Book Guesthouse....a small hotel with a great story,.....teaching marginalized and unemployed youth vocational skills that will enhance their ability to find a job in the future.....the net address is http://picturebookthailand.org if you want a broader picture of what they are about.....or if you're feeling generous....offer up a small donation.....a little goes a long way here.  Finally, where two different countries meet....there is a very good chance that excellent food follows.....I'm up for that......!   

On to Chiang Rai in the northern tip of Thailand.....near the borders of Myanmar and Laos.   According to Wikipedia the city was founded in 1262....which would make for a very long invitation list of relatives for Thanksgiving Dinner.....whoa.  

This region used to be part of the Golden Triangle, which included an area about the size of Nevada situated in and around the tri-border of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar....most famous for opium production.....which at one point, not too long ago, produced 60% of the heroin consumed in the US of A. Aaah, the American's appreciation for the exotic never ceases to amaze.  Maybe we could start a poppy crop in, say....Wyoming.....help the local economy, reduce unemployment, and save on postage from Asia?  A portion of the first batch would have to go to Dick Cheney.....maybe that would finally help him chill out a little.  

All for now folks.  Stay tuned.  Leaving in 6 days.