The Long Way Home
All too soon we are back in Canada, and while I don’t miss the constant sweat I am wishing it was a little warmer here at home.
Since the last e-mail we travelled overland from Siem Reap back to Bangkok, well actually rattled would be a more accurate descriptions. The road to Poi Pet (on the Cambodian side of the border) is a little rough – and the cars don’t have seat belts. I was being thrown around so badly that it looked like I was seizing. After three hours we were in Thailand and on paved roads.
With Bangkok as the base, we visited the Bridge Over the River Kwai and Hellfire Pass. Previous to this trip I didn’t know much about the impact of World War II in Asia, so this was an eye opener. After riding the Thailand-Burma Railway (Death Railway) from the city of Kanchanaburi, where the bridge is located, to Nam Tok, the current railway terminus, we visited the Konyu cutting. Knoyu was the name given by the Japanese, however it was also called Hellfire pass, because the fires from the bamboo torches required for light as the PoWs worked for 18 hours shifts were said to look like the lights from hell. This pass was the largest – 600m long and 30m deep – cut for the railway; it was also completed in a very short time, only six weeks using picks, shovels, hammers, drill taps and explosives as tools. Thousands of allied Prisoners of War and Asia workers died from Malaria and other diseases as they worked during the monsoon season. The real moment of understanding was when hiking up hundreds of steps to get back to the museum, sweating and having difficulty breathing, the audio guide mentioned that this walk was a small part of what the PoWs walked to-and-from the work site each day. I returned to Bangkok very humbled.
Bangkok provided a place to complete the rest of our travel plans, but we also took in some of the sights. The Royal palace redefined the word gaudy, but the amulet market and Temple of the Dawn (Wat Arun) were both interesting. Every Buddhist in Thailand has at least one amulet (usually more), for protection, and they range in price from a few baht to hundreds.
With time quickly running out we boarded a night train from the city south to Surat Thani arriving at 4:30 a.m. After a lot of waiting and some huge mistakes on the part of the travel company, we were headed to Khao Sok National Park. The two nights I spent there taught me something important – I am not a big fan of the jungle – especially in the rain!!
There were leeches … a lot of them, after pulling off three I pulled the plug on further hiking, despite only having travelled a few hundred metres. The next day was better, Cheo Larn Lake. Created by the hydroelectric damn, the lake is both beautiful and destructive – it pushed people from their land, but left a fascinating landscape, where giant karst mountains rise out of the water like islands. We went swimming and Mom – who is far braver than me when it comes to bugs, spiders, and deep water with unknown creatures – went back into the jungle, with a guide.
However, the swimming at Cheo Larn was nothing compared to the water off Koh Tao – our last official stop in Thailand. Known as Turtle Island because of its shape, it is a diving Mecca. In the wonderfully warm (27C) water, among the massive school of brightly coloured fish, I saw coral, sea cucumbers and a turtle. One of the days we even saw Nemo. It was like nowhere I had dived before. Picture sitting in the IMAX theatre watching the National Geographic version of the Living Sea – and that is not even the half of it. Mom even tried snorkeling, overcoming some pretty major fears, and was amazed at the abundance of life she could see while floating in the water. The time above water (and that was not much) was spent walking along Sariee beach’s endless white sand. Leaving was exceptionally difficult, but after having to no luck trying to find someone to take my ticket home, we headed to Koh Saumi (a neighbouring island) for our last night.
The plane out was at 6 a.m., we snuck off the beach like thieves, grateful for darkness so we wouldn’t see what we were leaving behind.
Due to weird ticketing we were left with a one day layover in Singapore – incidentally one needs more than a single day to see the city, but we tried. It started with a two hour walking tour of the Little India district, where I ended up with a henna tattoo and Indian candy, and Mom dragged me out of the Sari shop. Then Singapore Slings at the Raffles hotel, the only place in Singapore you can litter, the peanut shells coat the floor. Then to ride the old cargo ships, called Bumboats, to see the fabled Merlion – indeed part mermaid part lion. The grossly over priced cable cars took us to Sentosa Island – part Amusment Park, part tourist trap – where we say the surprisingly impressive Images of Singapore Museum. The interactive displays explained the history of the country, and the different ethnic groups that make it up: Malays, Indian, Eurasian, and Chinese. By the evening we were starving so we headed to Clake’s Quay, the trendy restaurant area, for the highly recommend, unique chili crab. It was amazing – if I was a crab, this is what I would want to die for. Delicious crab swimming in sweet/spicy chili sauce served with piping hot fried buns to soak up all the flavours. After tea and lychee ice cream, it took all our energy to drag ourselves back to the metro for the trip back to the hostel.
All that was left was the trip home. To those of you whose have made it through these marathon e-mails and I haven’t totally turned off Asia, if you decide to go I definitely recommend Singapore Airlines.
Tales of Asia
From a lazy boat trip down the Mekong to the crazy streets of Phnom Penh, the last two weeks have just flown past. Currently we are in Siem Reap, the access town for the temples of Angkor. Typical for my luck - many of the temples have scaffolding up - the good news is they are undergoing restoration.!
Getting here has been quite the adventure: the Thai-Laos border crossing involved one night in a hostel where leeches had taken residence in the bathroom; the town at the half-way point had all generator power off at 10 pm, making in really dark; and the touts in Louang Phabang are pretty persistent. However, 15 minutes on the Mekong river makes you forget all the major troubles and minor annoyances as you motor through the beauty and stillness. Only a few speed boats passed us (those that make the run between the border and Louang Phabang in 6 hours instead of 2 days). You have to be pretty brave (or slightly crazy) to get in one of those as they have been known to hit the rocks, just underneath the muddy water, with alarming regularity. The water reminded me of chocolate milk. Our boat took it easy, stopping every once and a while to pick up another person and their belongings: a suitcase, bag of rice, rebar, freshly caught fish, chickens (both alive and dead)... and every time I thought it would be impossible to find room for another person - a scooter would be wheeled on the front.
After two great days on the water, it felt as though the land would be a big disapointment - fortunately Louang Phabang was not! The former French colonial town retained a lot of its charm, french baguettes can be found in nearly every cafe. It was also the home of some of the strangest fusion cuisine I have ever seen - Laos/French ... pate of Mekong fish with a side of Mekong river weed, fried and coated with sesame seeds. Both were actually quite good. The highlight of the city was actually outside the city - a waterfall called Kouang Si. There is swimming in most of the pools of these falls and you can jump in from one level to the next. The surrounding park is home to wildlife sanctuaries, a rescue centre for Asiatic black bears and a tiger who was saved from poachers.
Our final morning we watched monks line up single file to collect alms at 6 am, the line of orange robes stretches for many city blocks. Everyday the people line the main streets to make merit (good for the afterlife) and give food to the monks.
Shortly after, we left Louang Phabang for the capital of Laos, Vientiane, a city alarming like Paris, right down to the mini Arc-de-Triumph (Patouxai) at the end of a mini Champs-de-Elysee. The saving grace was a sunset over the Mekong as viewed from the bar formerly known as 'the end of the earth bar.' The place expats would go when the Laos government was restricting the movements of foreigners - it was as far out of the capital (1 km) they could go without official permission. A great place for a drink.
Speaking of great drinking locations- the Foreign Correspondents Club in Phnom Penh was a brilliant place to watch the sun go down while getting slowly smashed with friends. We met up with a couple of girls we travelled with in Thailand and - aside from indulging in half-price happy hour sangria - we visited an orphanage. As much as it was good for the kids for one-on-one attention - it was good for us. The kids performed some Aspara (traditional Khmer (Cambodian)) dances between impromptu clapping games and random math questions. Phnom Penh was not all fun and games though, we visited the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields, where once again I was reminded of the horrible things people can do to one another. Toul Sleng, also known as S21, was a school the Khmer Rouge converted into a place to torture those they thought opposed them: intellectuals, doctors, teachers, even people with glasses. Much of the museum has been left they way it was found - classrooms converted into holding cells and torture chambers... Despite the hardships the people endured under that Khmer Rouge Regime, the Khmer people are very welcoming and friendly. Overall Phnom Penh is a dirty, smelly city desperately trying to develop - I love it!
Mom on the other hand had no problem leaving to head to Siem Reap and the temples. Sunrise at Angkor Wat gave the feeling of being in a National Geographic video. Ta Phrom, on the other hand, was brought to current fame as the 'Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider Temple.' Not for that reason, but it was my favourite temple - trees growing out of the parts that haven't yet crumbled. The jungle is slowing reclaiming its turf.
And while on the topic of jungles tomorrow we leave Cambodia (sob) and head back to Bangkok.
Elephants and other Thai Adventures
Currently, we are in the Thai city of Chiang Mai, home to massage & cooking schools, famous temples, night markets, and thousands of Burmese migrant workers - some legal and some not-so-legal!
Since the last time I wrote we have crossed two time zones, seen the inside of three airports, spent the night in one, and travelled by plane, bus, van, tuk-tuk, songthaews (red pick-up trucks with benches), and scooters.
Before leaving South Korea we visited the DMZ - Demilitarized Zone - a 2 km strip running on either side of the North-south Korea border. Realization about the seriousness of this border dawned when an armed soldier boarded the bus to check our passports. It made airport security as we left Korea seem like a breeze.
We left South Korea on June 22 and spent the night as a layover at the Singapore Airport - possibly the best airport I have ever been in completed with movie theater - before arriving in Bangkok the morning of the 23. As we checked into the hotel their was a huge protest massing right outside the front doors - the thousands of people shut down the street for 30 minutes. It was for democracy and the return of the Prime Minister to power. Although later we heard the organizers may have been paid. Life under the current rule in Thailand is much different as the media and some internet is controlled by the goverment - they even block youtube.
Bangkok is a noisy, dirty city, full of people looking to make a fast dollar off an unsuspecting farang (foreigner), so we were happy to leave the with the tour. The first stop was Sukhothai, where we bicycled in 35C weather to look at temples, then to Lampang, where we had out first Thai massage.
Just outside of Lampang is the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre, where there is a genuine effort under way to rehabilitate and look after injured and abandoned elephants. Historically elephants were used in teak logging but since the ban many have been abandoned by their owners because of very costly upkeep. The centre has a hospital where they look after injured and malnourished elephants, including those that have stepped on landmines. The healthy animals preform tasks in tourist shows such as turning on faucets, playing intruments, stacking and moving logs and painting pictures. They also give rides. Let me tell you - you are a lot higher up on an elephant than you are on a horse! Outside of normal fundraising methods the centre has found a unique money maker - paper out of elephant dung. The process is amazing and it is made from raw materials they have lots of.
Another great fundraiser we encountered was in the city of Chiang Rai - in the far north. The restaurant Cabbages and Condoms - whose slogan is 'Our Food is Guaranteed Not to Cause Pregnancy - serves up great food with the money going to educate about HIV/AIDS and family planning and to rural community development. Instead of mints at the end of the meal you are offered a condom as part of the drive to make condoms as available as cabbages.
Chiang Rai was also the base for our visit to the Golden Triangle and Burma (Myanmar). The Golden Triangle - so named for the Opium trade is the place on the Mekong where Laos, Burma, and Thailand meet. After a view of the area we crossed the border into military held Burma for the afternoon.
Chiang Mai was the last stop on the group tour. Mom and I stayed on an extra week. While here we have sampled local specialties including Khoa Soi (a chicken noodle curry dish) and learned we could eat Mango and sticky rice as breakfast, lunch and dessert. Mom toured the area, attended cooking classes and shopped while I volunteered with a media based NGO. Through them I met several Burmese migrant workers who were keeping their presence in Thailand off the radar. The situation for many ethnic groups in Burma is so bad many people would rather risk, dangerous - low paid work in Thailand, and risk running into trouble with the Thai authorities then stay in their home country. The people I met are amazingly resilient and I have learned so much.
It will be very hard to leave Chiang Mai as we both love the city, but today we head for the Laos border to begin a two-day journey by slow boat down the Mekong river.
Hello from Korea
Anyoung haseyo - Hello from Korea
South Korea is the country where spicy food meets fierce nationalism and where, in some places, seafood is still gathered by 60-year-old women free-diving. Foreigners are looked at as a way to practice English and acceptance is based on whether you like Kimchi, the firey hot, pickled cabbage.
Korean food is more than just kimchi though. There has yet to be a meal where we have been able to eat everything that is placed in front of us. Each main course - say a piece of fish - comes with a bowl of rice, soup, and side-dishes ranging from peppery vegetables, to fish, to beef, to soothing green and garlicky spinach. Chopsticks are used to take food from the side dishes into your bowl of rice and much to Mom's relief a large spoon is used to eat the rice from the bowl.
Seoul is a massive city with12 subway lines and hundreds of buses. It never seems to sleep.
After only half-a-day in the capital we flew to Jeju Island, according to the Globe and Mail one for the top 10 under visited islands in the world and had it been a little sunnier I would have agreed. Between rainstorms we saw huge orange and tangerine groves, and rugged coastlines of basalt rock. While we didn't have the opportunity to see them, Jeju Island is the home of the longest lava-flow tunnels in the world.
Jeju is also the home of the haenyeo, a group of women that dive to collect seafood: sea squirts, cucumbers, octopus, abalone, and whatever else they can catch. They do it all without oxygen tanks and some of these women are more than 70 years old. It is a tradition that is dying however, as many of the daughters of these women take to less dangerous jobs.
Gyeongju was the next stop where my friend Kumyoung's friends joined us. The five of us rented a car to see the sights the ancient capital of Korea had to offer. After a few near misses we found where we were staying, a pension in the middle of rice paddies. It was pretty amazing. In Tumuli Park we saw tombs - grass hillocks that are similar in purpose to Egyptian pyramids but are more sedate. Bulguksa, a UNSECO reserve, is a huge temple complex that is popular vacation destination of many tourists both Korean and foreign.
The weather now is amazingly hot - as soon as you get used to sweating it is no problem. In the next few days we will be wrapping up in the south of Korea before heading back to Seoul.
