2003 - tRAVEL bLOG

NEW YORK CITY

2003-08-20T06:06:00.000Z

Aimless mission 001 complete - home at last!

Unfortunately, Blogger does not allow you to post your messages in descending order. So without me having to go in and change every date, and without you having to turn your monitor upside down, please start at the bottom and scroll upwards, for a more interesting account of the trip.

Ayutthaya

2003-08-18T02:11:00.000Z

I finally got a seat back to NYC and leave tomorrow on the 19th which should get me home by late on the 19th. Robert took off for the islands to wait out his ticket a couple of days ago and fortunately for me, I met a really great Thai woman named Saw who has been showing me around and helping the time to pass. Yesterday we went out to Ayutthaya which coincidentally was where one Mr.Hambali, one of the world's most wanted men and a senior leader of JI, was arrested only two days prior. I didn’t go there to look for more terrorists but to see Thailand's ancient ruins. While the architecture was similar in nature to Ankor Wot in Cambodia and even, as I had mentioned before, the Myan ruins in Guatemala and Mexico, it was pretty disappointing because the ruins have been completely developed for tourists, including cement and tile surrounding most of the grounds. There was no feeling left whatsoever and right next to a temple you might find a 7-11 store. Today is my last day so I'm headed out now to walk the city and get a last taste of Thailand before I anxiously board China Airlines to get back to "dodge".

Bangkok

2003-08-15T07:04:00.000Z

I may have plenty of electricity but I'm in the dark as to when I'll be getting home. It took many calls and a four hour wait at the Delhi international Airport a few days ago, but finally, with just enough time to make it through customs, we got seats out and now I'm in Bangkok, but stuck here. Apparently China Airways which my return ticket is on, is completey full until the 21st when I'm scheduled to leave. I'm on the wait list for this weekend though Saturday's flight has already been completey confirmed by all of it passangers and there is just as little hope for Sunday and Monday as well. I went ahead and put my name on a stand-by list on the three other airlines for Sat and Sun so HOPEFULLY one will come through. If not, I may head to Southern Thailand to a beach and just wait it out. I'm antsy to get back just because there is so much that I want/need to do - I'm tired now of being aimless.

DELHI

2003-08-12T12:44:00.000Z

We took the Rajamani Express train from Mumbai to Delhi and it was really a nice ride. The Indian train system is the largest employer in the world with over a million employees. It also moves the most people, something like 7million people a day. We got a two-tier sleeper car with AC. It left Mumbai around 5pm and landed in Delhi at about 9:30am. We met a nice Indian man who shared our car and he was able to feed us lots of information about India in general, especially efforts to help the population growth, relations with Pakistan, and general infrastructure progressions. Now we are back in the same neighborhood that we started from in Delhi in the Pahar Ganj district which again, is like hell. To make matters worse, the flight we want tonight to Bangkok is full and there is no flight tomorrow. I think we will leave for the airport in a few minutes and try to go standby. It really has come to that. I just now got back to the hotel with a nice set of tablas that I bought for $25. I couldn�t believe how cheap they were, including a softcase, a hardcase, tuning hammer and rests. You couldn�t even get the case in NY for $25. This is the only item I have bought so far so I�m pretty excited about it. I sure hope we make it out tonight! If not, I guess we�ll try to make it out to the Taj Majal tomorrow and see what happens from there. Just today I opened up the small pocket in my bag and held my apartment keys in my hand, thinking about walking out of the Kennedy airport to head home. I really miss Pizza now.

ALLEPPY

2003-08-12T12:42:00.000Z

The snake boat race was very interesting. Essentially teams from all over compete by racing four boats at a time and each boat is a thin, narrow, flat boat, somewhat like a crew boat only they are so long they fit as many as 125people. So on each boat, you have about 100 sitting paddlers, several standing and paddling from the stern and a few cadence people standing in the middle beating the boat with sticks to signal the rowers when to stroke. With this many people on board rowing, you can imagine that the boats went really fast. They covered just over a mile on the lake in less then 5minutes time. There were so many people attending the race, it was quite a scene. Actually, it was pretty problematic. In the first place, most of the spectators were drunk and they basically don’t drink at anytime during the year so many of the people didn’t know how to handle themselves. Also, most of the spectators sat upon bamboo-built bleachers and I watched from our platform across the lake, a set of bleachers collapse. I thought for sure I witnessed deaths as they collapsed but a young kid who was staying at our guesthouse was on those bleachers and apparently there were only injuries. After the race, I managed to hail a tiny snake boat to get us across a narrow canal and upon arriving at the other side, some rowdy, drunken kids knocked our captain into the water. The captain came out swinging his oar and whacked one of the kids really hard. Then all of the kid’s friends joined in by grabbing big bamboo sticks and started to try and whack the captain. I was trying to give the captain his 20 rupees (about fifty cents) for the ride and it seemed as though the kids were about to start whacking me so I ran and the captain fled so the ride ended up free. Another man, a bystander went to hail the police and the police just started whacking him. All of the police carry bamboo sticks for whacking like this. So then as we headed down the last stretch of road to our guesthouse, we saw a rickshaw driver with a smashed windshield and another innocent looking man in the back of a police pattywaggon and then a man passed out or dead on the side of the road. All in all, it was the most violence I had seen in India so far.

The next day we went with the French women, Anges and Sandine for a backwater boat ride that was very enjoyable. We stopped and ate coconuts and saw a lot of the lifestyle of locals who worked the rice fields. Our boat winded through narrow canals and ended up in a large lake that interestingly enough was freshwater with the force of the Monsoon and then turned to saltwater in the fall.

Everything in Alleppy was really nice except for the next morning when we checked out and the Guesthouse sprung surprise charges. Aside from the fact that they assured us from the start that we were paying extra for hot-water, which there was never any of, I had racked up a $20 Internet bill because the house computer apparently cost per minute. When I first saw the computer and asked if it was for the guests to use, the man said “Yes!” but failed to mention the cost or even that it cost at all. I spent a lot of time uploading all of those pictures and piddling around a lot… Oh well, what can you do. I tried to argue and threatened to write a letter to the Lonely Planet Guide book which, upon paying full charges, I will do.

So the next morning we left for the airport and flew to Mumbai (Bombay). From the air, we could see that this was a lot like Delhi and decided we were really ready to get out of India. I am extremely exhausted for even the nicest moments are filled with noise, beggars, bad smells, garbage, etc and its just very intense. I’m really ready to get home. So we decided we would take the train back to Delhi, change our tickets to get back to Bangkok ASAP, spend a couple of days in Bangkok recuperating and then fly home.

PICTURES

2003-08-09T02:16:00.000Z

CAMBODIA:
Anchor Wat 1
Anchor Wat 2
Anchor Wat 3
Anchor Wat 4
Alan & Sibella from S.Africa

THAILAND:
Andrew tries to take the National Thai Kick Boxing belt
Pre-Match Thai Kick Boxing Dance
Laura with Champ
Andrew with the reclining Buddah
Robert joins in for Thai Chi in the park
Bugs for food

INDIA
Leh
A gompa in Leh
Two cows battle for trash in Leh
Hotel in Leh
A Tebettan Bhudist sewes Andrew a Silk sleeping bag/beg sheet
A bunk festival near Leh
The Himalaya 1
The Himalaya 2
The Himalaya 3
The Himalaya 4
The Himalaya 5
The Himalaya 6
The Himalaya 7
The Himalaya 8
The Himalaya 9
The Himalaya 10
The Himalaya 11

MANALI
The streets of Manali

SIMLA
Simla
Simla from the hotel balconey
Monkeys everywhere

Alappuzha

2003-08-08T13:08:00.000Z

Now I”m writing from Allepy and I am very excited to have bought my platform pass to the ever so famous snake boat races tomorrow. Sara recommended this from the start and as the festival only happens on the second Saturday of August each year, we planned this one just right. We are staying in a very lovely guesthouse that is essentially a family home with a few extra rooms to rent out to tourists. Also here are a couple of very lovely French women. Both teach Literature and are vacationing for the summer. Today we all went out for a swim in the Indian Ocean. The waves were very ruff and all of the Indians looked at us like we were crazy for getting into the ocean and it made me nervous that the water was polluted but apparently most people just don”t swim. In one wave, I swallowed a load of salt-water and immediately started throwing up. This was actually a good thing though because I think I ate some bad masala in Bangalore. I was so looking forward to coming back and saying that I didn”t get sick, but it happened. Luckily though it was only for one full day and I was for the most part mobile, just not feeling up to par. Also, I have to admit, by now, this trip is starting to wear on me as there is not much of a break from filthy smells, depressed conditions and noisy racket. Everyone that knows me will know that I have always thought NYC is loud and dirty but now I think it is clean and quiet and I can”t wait to get back. After this weekend”s Allepy stay, we will probably be headed to a beach resort that we heard about further south, still in Kerela, spend a couple of days in Bombay, hopefully no more then an hour or so in Delhi and then three final days in Bangkok before heading back to America.

Bangalore

2003-08-07T04:37:00.000Z

Bangalore is the tech capital of India and has the most Western appearance of any place in India that we have been so far. Whereas every place to the North was predominantly Hindu where us Americans are probably thought of as heathens, in Bangalore, there is clearly a desire to emulate the west where you don’t get looked at for wearing a t-shirt and jeans or drinking a beer. Speaking of Hindis, its very sad because they acknowledge a long-time standard of the caste system. Therefore, there are many people, referred to as the untouchables, which are literally too dirty to touch and they are stuck to cleaning the sewers, streets and basically doing the worst jobs of the village with no hope for ever getting out. Even their kids will be destined to the lowest positions of the hierarchy.

Delhi

2003-08-07T04:35:00.000Z

We stepped off the train in the New Delhi train station and made our way towards the thick of what I now know as complete and utter hell. After dodging about 1000 people who reached out for us for money or service, we broke out into the streets of complete and utter mayhem, filth and chaos. I have to admit, I was completely surprised at the living conditions of this place. In only the three blocks that we walked to our hotel, I saw more activity then I had seen the entire trip. Imagine an intersection where 15 streets come to a head with no traffic lights. There were really only three but it looked like fifteen. People going in every direction in every kind of vehicle or cart, there were cows, goats, the whole works. Every stand had goods for sale that seemed rotten or broken. We were unable to step clear of animal and human feces. The smells were unbearable. Perhaps the most impressionable moment of that short walk was a man bent over trying to clean the street with his bare hands. Our hotel was definitely a home base and the next day as we tried to venture out into the city, hitting up the Red Fort, Delhi gate, etc, though we only dreamt of getting back to the hotel room to just lie on the bed, staring up at the ceiling in retrospect of the horror that we had just experienced. Thus, the next day we were ready to spend high dollar to fly far away. We decided we wanted to get to Kerela and spend some time just settling down and we found that for the same price, we could stop in Bangalore so that’s the way we went. We were originally planning on spending a few more days in Delhi at the end of our trip, before flying back to Bangkok but definitely not now, its just too much for a cap.

Simla

2003-08-07T04:34:00.000Z

We left Manali on a 12 seater bus through the night that was shared with three young British folks who were very nice. We arrived in Simla at about 5am and the town was completely dead and dark. We were unable to find the hotel that we were looking for so we finally stopped off at one that was pretty sad, mildewy and unpleasant. Unfortunately, I left my umbrella in the lobby and it was gone in the morning. Seeing as how there was only one man who worked the hotel at night, it was pretty obvious who the culprit was. He was especially disgruntled because we were so stiff on our negotiations for the price of the room. Even though India is so cheap, it’s very easy to negotiate. Robert and I have a good system down for this. The first thing that happens is they tell us the price and then we look at each other rather melodramatically as if there is no way we could afford that much. Then the clerk always says, “See the room first”. So then we go up to see the room and act pretty bumbed about it. But the one thing that happens in our favor every time, which is pretty strange is that in India, a double means two beds put together to make one big bed. Then we say, “look, we are friends, but not that close, we need two separate beds.” Most of the time, the beds will not come apart; so then they exclaim that we can have the room for much cheaper. We refuse sharing a bed (this is one thing we don’t budge on, mind you) and then the clerk brings up the possibility of a “family room” which is two sets of beds. We exclaim that there is no way we could afford the family room, but we would be willing to take it for the bargained price of the double, and before we walk out, every time, we end up with the family room for just over half the initial price of the double. Most of the places that we have been hitting are also involved in the off season for tourists so we all know that anything for them is better then nothing. Anyway, since the clerk in this hotel in Simla must have walked away from our room feeling like a real looser, I’m sure he felt that taking the umbrella was justified. When we woke up at around 11am, we immediately went to seek out our intended hotel that was much nicer with a top floor view overlooking the entire village. Of course the same situation occurred here as well and we ended up with the family room for a fraction of the double. In terms of finding out where to go, where to stay and where to eat, we have been using the Lonley Planet guides and they have been completely reliable. I would recommend the books to anyone traveling aimlesslessly and cluelessly. With just our one book called India, for instance, we have been able to manage the entire trip just perfectly.

The thing about Simla which was not expected was the monkeys. There were so many monkeys all over the village, it completely blew me away. Imagine instead of a high population of squirrels, that there were monkeys instead. Little baby monkeys, big huge mama and papa monkeys, and they were everywhere you looked. Many people carried sticks as a safety precaution and most of the women held their small children in hands to keep their babies from being massacred. The monkeys ruled Simla and most of the locals there think of the monkeys as gods. I still can’t believe how strange it was to have so many monkeys around. When you walk though the town, you can’t make eye contact with them or they will challenge you like dogs. You just have to ignore them and pretend they don’t exist. Unfortuneatly Robert often challenged the monkeys “Bad monkey! Bad monkey!”. Luckily for both of us, we escaped the village untouched.

Otherwise, Simla was a different kind of village then most in India. It is one of the last little places in the mountains before entering into the hot-monsoon regions of India and it had the appearance of a small European town, as it was built up by the British. Back in the day, and even still now, the wealthy British/Indians would escape away from the summer heat of their resident villages to vacation there. In fact even as we were there, and even as it was an off-season, it was full of la-di-da Indian people strolling aimlessly through the causeways, seeing and being seen. It was pretty much like Aspen or the Hamptons in this regard.

From Simla we took what was called the toy train towards Delhi and that was very beautiful. It was the little engine that could all through and around the hills towards the plains. There were over 150 tunnels on the route. About half way to Delhi, we transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Express train, first class of course because it was only a couple of extra dollars and enjoyed comfortable sprawling seating and good views to Delhi.

Manali

2003-08-03T09:31:00.000Z

Last night we arrived in Manali but there is still a lot to mention about Leh and also the trip between there and here. I know surprise is in the air, but I will be surprised if I come across another place in India that is as different to me as Leh was. We had been hearing that we were just in time for a Festival and after hearing from everyone I know say go to festivals, we took a trip to a neighboring village Phyang to see. Unfortunately, it was a bum deal that fuelled the taxi jeep industry of neighboring villages, provided a high-priced 50-vendor market of tourist goods and showed off a dance that was probably traditional and important to the village but seemed contrived somehow. Anyway, the most interesting time was the drive between the two places which was essentially entirely military bases. If you look at most maps of India, you will see Leh positioned about 200 miles to the East of Pakistan. If you look at a map from the Ladakh Pradesh of India, like the ones they sell in Leh, you will see a line about fifty miles to the west which says controlled by Pakistan. This explains the large military presence in Leh. After speaking with the driver, it became apparent that everyone is on edge and apparently expecting the Pakistanis to terrorize their roads and bridges at any minute. Every bridge, usually just a one-lane steel flat-platform connecting the two sides of dirt banks has at least two lookout points made of rocks with a man stationed in each side of the bridge, usually with the best sniper views of oncoming traffic. Anyway, the area is a fragile war zone but I didn’t feel threatened. Unlike the US military, there are so many different clothing styles and patterns, Leh seems like a global military convention with suits from a hundred different places.
The trip from Leh to Manali where we are now was clearly the best drive I have ever been on in my life. A bus takes two full days and one night, while a Jeep takes 16 to 17 hours straight through. Though unadvertised as a possibility for tourists, we managed to find a half price Jeep that left at 2am. The disadvantage of the ride was missing the scenery for the first 4hrs of the trip, but from what we saw once the light came up, there was plenty to see. For the most part the long and winding road was a dirt road up and down through the great Himalaya. Just before the light came up we stopped for pictures at the highest point, which I can’t find in my notes right now but about 18,300 ft. This is the second highest pass in the Himalaya only to be beat by one further North of Leh that is also around the same height. This high altitude will be a hard record to beat. Though Robert has been higher at the base camp of Mt. Everest, we were both surprised that we felt fine, didn’t breath heard, etc. Most of the entire ride was above 15 thousand feet which is higher then the tallest mountain in Colorado. Anyway, I would have to pretty much spend the rest of the money I have for this trip trying to type how dense, spectacular, grand, overwhelming, emotional, fantastic, unbelievable and especially beautiful the mountains were, definitely topping the most beautiful nature I have ever been in but I am excited to print out the 1123 pictures that I took along the way. You have to imagine too that adding to the beauty was what was missing: there was no asphalt, no Texaco stations, no electricity cables or electricity, no bathrooms, no snack bars, no nothing. The only signs of civilization were the military bases scattered throughout including four, get-out-of-the-truck passport checks, the outposts on the little bridges and about three locations where there are four of five tents which shelter a place to stop for tea or a canister of gasoline. Also along the way the co-driver of our Jeep, who fought against Pakistan in 1999 and showed on his leg where he was hit but shrapnel from an explosion, told us last month nomads came through Ladakh and he had joined them for a month. In all of the oldest of architecture, writings, etc, imagine seeing people that descended from a tribe before humans even began agriculture. We found the tribe along the drive nestled temporarily from the night on a large plateau along a mountain river. I cant help but mention too that the entire road was only one lane and mostly around the kind of corners that hide oncoming traffic and provide direct views of the bottom of the mountain, so we were just plain lucky that we didn’t die about 100times.

Manali India is very beautiful because it has the intense beauty of large mountains, so many waterfalls that they become overlooked after a while and awe-inspiring views, but this area sees monsoon rain and it is additionally extremely lush. This would be a great place to spend some time hiking around but it is a bit too touristy and off-season. Robert just bought a handful of saffron from a young gypsy kid for $8 which would have been over $100 in the US. Tonight we are headed on a bus to Shimla where we will spend a day or two depending and then train it on to Delhi. As of today, we have pretty much put together a plan for the rest of the trip: if all works out well, when we get to Delhi, we will fly to Bangor, which is the silicon valley of India, where the most cutting edge technology of India lies, then head on a long train trip to Kerela which is on the south west coast for a festival, then spend a few days in and around Bombay, fly back to Delhi to finally spend a few days there and then back to Bangkok for a day or two of gathering goods. I know, I know, everyone we meet says we are not spending enough time in any one place to come to know the place and while of course that is true, I’m really enjoying doing this in motion and going for quantity now. This will help to give me a better idea of where I might want to visit more at length another time. I’m already sure I would want to come back to India, perhaps I’ll have a better idea of where that would or wouldn’t be after this far-reaching trip, one more for the eyes then anything else.

*A note about internet cafes while traveling. So far, almost every place I have been except one in Bangkok had dial-up and usually the line is shared- often I will try to update the blog and give up quickly at the slow speeds. Not many computers have USB. Most stations allow you to plug US standard products into their 220 system, meaning they are using US power supplies in their computers and then converting to 220 at a power pack which is great because while you are spending five minutes waiting for yahoo to load, you can recharge your electronics. Every single computer, except for the ones at the Delhi national airport, allow complete access to the operating stystem including installing software, unix, etc and could be easily hacked for any pupose possible.

Leh

2003-07-31T16:05:00.000Z

India: I'm in the far northern section of India in a small town called Leh and now I have really been thrown for a loop! I mean this place is the most bizarre place I could have never imagined to exist on our planet. Its a tiny little town sunken in a Himalayan pass just south of Tibet and Just East of Pakistan. When we flew in from Delhi, the hour long flight through the mountains was breathtaking and we flew right beside K-2, the second tallest mountain in the world, which is virtually just as high as Everest. Right now I'm typing at 11982ft. and we jounted up to some gompas (temples) to about 12500. I have also been walking around the town at about a fifth of my usual walking speed, with my jaw completely dropped the entire day. It is so unusual here. In the first place, its a tiny little town with a load of Tibetan Buddhists, Seeks, Hindus and Christians. In recent history they have all fought with each other, along with all of the border disputes, etc. and you can feel the strange tension in the air. On the other hand, in the last few years, some faction of the Indian government has steeped in and cooled the violence (there is a huge military presence here with big trucks and automatic machine guns, etc). yet it seems like perhaps its a bit like NY where they actually all can get along and everybody is more concerned with trade. Except for the Cows and sheep which roam the streets freely and unaccompanied. This is a very popular trade route, I believe originally a part of the silk road (at least within this valley) and one of the only ways of getting goods around through the mounstains of China, Pakistan and India.
There are so many different styles of dress and culture here, all of which you basically can't find in the US, especially without western influences. I have never even heard anyone I know show me any pictures or describe any stories as extremely different then what is here. This is exactly what I was hoping to find in the world.
I am dying to post some of the 100+ photos I have taken today here in Leh, but the internet is slow dialup and expensive compared to everything else which is otherwise the cheapest place I have been so far. I guess I never really believed that in any town or city you could eat well for $1 or $2 or stay in a 4 star hotel for $10 but it really is true. So tomorrow there is a festival in the valley and we are going to try to rent moto bikes to head that way for the day. Thanks to everyone sending me e-mails, I have not had much time to respond, as this blog is pretty consuming for the short amount of time that I'm online but its great to get them! P.S. My sister Courtney agrees that money is perhaps one of the largest, if not the largest reason why Bush is in office. P.S.S. the Thai passport controller similarly returned/slammed my passport on to me, and the same thing happened in India as well with me and Robert, even at seperate stations.

BANGKOK

2003-07-30T11:25:00.000Z

Okay the Thai boxing was really a great cultural experience. It was amazing how different a sport is here in terms of spectator interaction. For instance, we were able to easily get ring side seats and that allowed us to enter into the locker room area where the boxers prep for the fight and return after the fight. On this particular night, we actually witnessed a feather-weight championship and here is a picture of me with the national champion. Also, here is a picture of Laura the French woman with a champion from another match (there were about 8 fights with different fighters, up to five rounds each. Surrounding the ring back up into the darness all of the fans flip out and use hand singnals to bet . Also there is a music group which plays music to the fight while the fighters also, at time, dance to the music. Bangkok is definately an amzing place and by now, even though its only been a few more days, I like the place a lot more and would like to come back sometime. I definately reccomend it. I havent really been shopping, but the markets here are abosulutely daunting because they encuppas thye entire city. Also the food here is more unusual with diversity then any cuisnee I have ever imagined. Here is a picture of Robert checking out the bugs that people like including grasshoppers, beetles, and I dare say otyherwise. On nearly every block you can find dozens of different kinds of food being sold by the street vendors and it's so good I just walk around and eat all day long. My drink of choice is on nearly every other street corner, freshly squeezed tangerine juice.
I'm currently at the aiprport in Bangkok killing time while waiting on the flight to Delh (pictures arent working here, but should work for posts below). The airport here in Delhi wont allow me to install my camera software and its an older version of windows, I think 98).

BANGKOK

2003-07-29T09:46:00.000Z

Back in the big city. This time, instead of the 12hr bus ride from Bangkok to Siem Reap, I took the plane back in only one hour. On the plane I sat next to a really cool French woman named Laura and found myself, again, trying to explain how it was the Bush got into office and how it is that most people in America are. My best guess is that most people in America live in very small, backwards towns, where voting on issues like gun rights and abortion are the main reason for choosing a president and that most people have little to no knowlegde about international affairs. Of course it is also apparently a money game where politics can be won with monetary support. If you have some general ideas about "the true essence of Americans", send me an e-mail to help me explain the seemingly unfortunate phenomenon. Alan and Sibella (from S. Africa) took off for the capital of Cambodia at the same time I left for Bangkok and I heard that in fact there was some violence over the elections so I'm waiting to hear back to assure that they are okay.

It's much more fun now here in Bangkok because Robert knows so much about the place. The first thing we did was go for a foot massage. I was worried this would be no fun and only tickle but for an entire hour, we lounged on big leather chairs as our feet were professionally worked by traditional Thai methods (for $12) and it was truely amazing how great it felt. I think we be going in for a full body later today. I have never had a professional massage in my life and now I know what I have been missing all of this time.

Last night was quite a scene down in the Pat Pong district which is slightly similar to 6th street in Austin in that it's mostly all bars and tourist crap, but its also a red light district where the most unfortunate of activities occur: legal prostitution. As we walked down the street, every other Thai man held out a brochure with pictures of women - nay girls - to be had for the eveing and many of the bars were go-go and featured scantly clad young girls with numbers pinned onto them as they danced with metal poles. Apparently, patrons select a number, pay the gatekeeper $40 or $50 and then they are out the door with the girls. The saddest thing of all is that most of the girls couldnt have been more then 19yrs old and many of them seemed as young as early teens. It was really sleezy and sad. I read in the guide book that most of them are bonded with mobsters and dont have a lot of choice in the matter. The names of the bars are too x-rated to mention here (p.s. don't worry, I'm not interested at all in this).

Today we woke up early and headed out to Lumhini Park where gangs of old Thai people compete with amplifiers, broadcasting their music as they engage in Tai Chi. Then we hoped on the Chao Phrya river taxi and rode up river for about 25 cents. Next we stopped off at Wot Po, a temple with the largest recling Buddah. It was pretty amazing. The entire buddah was gold plated and we were able to add gold leaf to another smaller buddah. The Wots(temples) are really very beautiful and give Thailand its distinctive look. I have some more pictures but the computer I'm at now is the slowest yet so hopefully I can get some up tomorrow before we take off for India.
So in about an hour, we will go and pick up Laura who I met on the plane and head out to the Nuay Thai kickboxing match. I'm not into boxing at all but it does sound really fun and interesting and it is as big here as football is in America. Apparently too, it is entirely unrigged and all of the fighters have huge amounts of respect for each other before, during and after the fights. Its hard to imagine having respect for someone as you slam their head onto your knee . . .we'll see.

SIEM REAP

2003-07-28T03:38:00.000Z

I have uploaded a few pictures below which should work now (see Bangkok entry).

Yesterday, I spent the day by myself on a bicycle and took off south towards the lake as far as I could ride out into the depths of Cambodian life style where tourists esentially do not go at all and it was even more of an eye opener as to how the Cambodians live. It was really crazy. Almost eveyone I passed looked at me with amazement but nearly everyone waved and called out "hello" and, erroneously, "bye-bye". It really made me want to take my next big trip by bicycle because it was very enjoyable and a great way to see the countryside, being able to focus on the land and the people and their homes, etc. while not going too fast to have it wizz by. At one point I was invited into a home and sat for a bottle of water while we all pretty much misunderstood eachother, neverthless, with a lot of amazement and enthusiasm. As I was headed through the middle of the lake on a dirt dam, I approaced the greatest wall of rain and wind storm I have ever seen. I kept right on biking through and recived many laughs from passerbys and others stopping temporarily for shelter. This is clearly the poorest area I have ever seen in the world. Again, strangely, smiles abound. Today, all of the of-age Cambodians had a finger which was soaked in black ink from voting - this was the only way for them to keep people from voting twice because the ink is nearly impossible to get off for many days, if not weeks. I have heard it might be a real scene in the capital today as riots could be breaking out over the result.
Last night I went with Alan and Sibella (the S. African couple) to Angkor Wat to watch the sunset from atop a mountain temple where nearly every young Cambodian goes daily and especially on the weekends to take in the event. It was very beautiful and brought on the spirit of ancient Cambodian lifestyle. Then we went for a shadow Puppet show and I was dying to get pictures for Allison but we just missed the event because they decided to run it earlier then advertised as a full crowd was already abound. Its been bad luck catçhing the entertainment but I'll head back to Bangkok by air at noon today and meet up with Robert for transvestite kickboxing. Here are a few pictures from Cambodia. I have a lot more but its taking for ever to upload them all from here so I'll try for more later:
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SIEM REAP

2003-07-27T03:52:00.000Z

p.s. If you are having toruble with the applet or refreshing your screen (do to domain masking) click on this direct link and then refresh:
http://a.parsons.edu/~baron/blog/001/travel.htm.

SIEM REAP

2003-07-27T03:42:00.000Z

Cambodia: The adventure has really begun now. Wow! So I left Bangkok at 7am on Friday in a minivan to the Cambodian border at Poipet and then took a slightly larger bus from there to Siem Reap where I am now. On the van I met two couples which I have been hanging out with, one couple is a stately British sounding bunch from South Africa, and the other from the Netherlands. The four are very well traveled recently and have been filling me in on the worldâ€™s perceptions of Americans which is obviously not good. Everybody in the world it seems is pretty pissed. Whenever people ask where Iâ€™m from I say â€œNew York but I didnâ€™t vote for Bushâ€�. Everybody hates Bush. Iâ€™m pretty sure, from what I can gather, itâ€™s the language that Bush uses so arrogantly and of course itâ€™s getting to be pretty absurd, in retrospect, how many wars we are fighting. Back to the bus ride, it was nice because I got a chance to see some of the beautiful country side of Thailand and once I got to Cambodia, everything changed. Cambodia is so poor and so different it was a bit overwhelming. Everywhere around Poipet, little children run around without shoes begging for anything and garbage and flies line the mad and chaotic, mud streets. It reminded me of those old info-commercials where you would find the daughter of â€œAll in the Familyâ€� exposing the poor and depressed children to adopt for a dollar a month. It was very sad, but at the same time, it was amazing to see how happy all of the people seemed. They were always playing around, smiling and laughing. The entire ride from BKK to Seum Reap was 12 hrs and cost $1.50 total. Once out of the Cambodian border town, things did not seem as miserable and the country side was stunning. Rice fields as far as the eye can see were intermixed with some very tall trees and slightly less depressed homes, etc. Most of the main highway was unpathed and would have destroyed most vehicles several times over. In a few places the police came out into the road to collect money to improve the road but apparently the money is pocketed and none of the Cambodians have any hope of increasing the quality there. Essentially, there is no infrastructure to most of the country. Elections begin today and I have been trying to find out more about that, but the people are unwilling to discuss who they will choose for fear of the other party winning. Last night we went to a childrenâ€™s hospital to watch a traditional performance for $ or blood donations but the performance was cancelled. Here is exactly how the flyer read:
Dear ladies and gentlemen, just today, one day before the election, the ruling partyâ€™s CPP big news paper Ramsey Kamuchea is presenting a prominent very bad article on the cover page insulting the Kantha Bopha Hospital in Phnom Penh by a story telling lies. It is not the first time. But now it is no more tolerable, no more understandable. They want to destroy Kantha Bopha. That is why I can not do the concert today. Sincerely Yours, Beat Richner.
So instead we just went to a bar and drank up a substantial amount of local Angkor Wat beer, which tasted very light.

The highlight however so far was the entire day yesterday that I spent at The Temples of Angkor. These ruins were built and inhabited around 1000 BP (before the present) and had many of the characteristics I remember from the Myan ruins though these were much more elaborate with carvings. Also the entire area encompassed so much land it would take several days to see everything. Also, what is very interesting, is that there is a subcomunity of traditional Cambodians, which live within the park. The people have schools, home and farmlands intermixed within the temples and all of the temples are still used as a worship and playground for these Cambodians. For $7, I rented a very good English speaking man who was my motorcycle driver/tour guide for the entire day. Every time we stopped at a new temple, a lot of children would become kind of annoying by trying to sell all of their stuff, cold drinks, etc, but it was very impressive how good their English was. Apparently, they have been following all of the tourists around over the years and learn English mostly indirectly that way. They were also very cute and eager so it was hard to get too upset. By the way, it has pretty much been raining all day every day since I arrived in BKK but only really hard in moments and towards the end of my day yesterday when it was really raining down, it was the nicest because I had the temples to myself. Also, this is not tourist season so that helps too. My moto driver was very cool and it was amazing to hear stories about Cambodiaâ€™s history.
Pol Pot on behalf of the Kamer Rouge, came in a destroyed half the population very recently (around 1975) killing off as many of the educated and professionals as possible and leaving most of the place evacuated. My moto driver was 10 years old at the time and told of fleeing his home to a place in the countryside where his family would have to retreat to underground holes nearly daily when the Kamer Rouge bombed the area. Of course the US, for its dealings with Vietnam, who supported the Pol Pot, dropped half a million tons of bombs on Cambodia as well. This being said, the country has not had much time to revive. Vietnam came to end the terrible rein for the Cambodians. Now almost everything manufactured comes from Thailand. There are virtually no factories, no building materials, no clothes â€“ nothing â€“ from Cambodia. They mostly just have rice and as I learned from my moto driver, rice does not bring in much $ for all of the work that it takes to farm. 90% of all of the people in Cambodia are farmers. Anyway, again, it is absolutely amazing how happy everyone seems with perma-smiles, etc. I think they are happy to have their independence and hope for a brighter future.
There is so much to say about how beautiful and unusual (to me) everything is here I could go on for hours but I should get back to the beautiful countryside. This afternoon, I will head out to a floating village and then leave back to Bangkok to meet Robert. I just got e-mail from Robert who responds:
â€œShauri wants to know why you don't like BKK (be specific): You may not like BKK but you don't know BKK. When I get there Mon. we will check out Wat Po, take a 5-cent river cruise, and hang out in Lumphini Park. Then go to the Muay Thai kickboxing match Tue. night - VERY COOL.â€�.
Cool. The city is so big, itâ€™s a bit daunting so it will be nice to see what Robert is talking about, however, Iâ€™m more of a mountains, out-back type looking to get away from any city, not just BKK.
Iâ€™m trying to work out uploading more pictures and get the BKK pictures up properly. I just now plugged my camera in to the USB port and got shocked upon touching the camera so it may be another day or two to get them up. All in all, Iâ€™m feeling very safe and despite everything, nobody I have met seems to look at me suspiciously for being an American, except for the customs workers. Upon entering Thailand, the passport stamper who seemed to smile at everyone else, frowned upon me and stamped my passport with an extra expression and the same thing occurred in Cambodia. Hopefully our next president will not be such a terrible spokesperson or war monger.

BANGKOK

2003-07-24T14:27:00.000Z

I finally made it to Bangkok. It took 27hrs from the time I left my apt in NYC. I got in around 1pm today and I spent the day just walking all around the city. I don't mean to knock Bangkok but after being in NYC, this is not exactly what I'm looking for right now. It is EXTREMELY polluted to walk around with all the cars, buses, motos, tuk-tuks, etc and its pretty developed too. I only have a couple of

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to show and basically, I'm hittin the high road tomorrow when I wake up. I'm sure there is plenty to do and see here, but I'm looking to get away from this place ASAP. I picked out a room in an area called Banglamphu on the west side of the city where all of the backpacker tourists are en masse. My room was only $10.20 US per night. This is a bit of a splurge as I have AC and hotwater. I'm basically styllin compared to all of the other packers who mostly pay $3 or $4 (bed bugs included) and I just spent a wopping $2 on a substantial meal with two 7-ups included. Actually, it was more like two 7ups with the meal included. I guess I'll be headed either to a national park "upstate" or head directly to Cambodia tomorrow. p.s. The internet connection which is really quick (over 100,000bps) was only $1 US per hour!

NEW YORK CITY

2003-07-20T22:55:00.000Z

I've got everything together and despite another two days before departing I'm feeling like I have already traveled the world after a Tetanus Diphtheria shot in one shoulder, hep A & B in the other shoulder, typhoid pills, malaria pills, tylenol and a trip to the Indian Conciliate. I'm headed to Thailand and plan to make my way east to Cambodia for the first week. Then, I'll meet my great friend Robert from Austin for a mad dash to Delhi and then spend three weeks aimlessly moving through mostly the northern section of India. First we'll probably head up towards Leh which is well seated in the Himalayas and seemingly dangerous. Despite being in the midst on disputed borders between India, China and Pakistan, where apparently there is a large military presence, kidnapping and bombing, Sara Vetteth my excellent friend from India assures me that it's okay and so extremely beautiful. Anyway, here at home, in the last few days I saw an attempted bank robbery at my branch across the street, I saw a man pound another man into a bloody pulp, I helped to re-route my sister to another train after her station was closed from "a suspicious package with white powder and a message", so-on and so-forth, so I think I should be able to dodge a few shells here and there. Right now the greatest challenge I see ahead of me is enduring the 18hr flight from NY to Taipei without a stop.

Before reporting next from afar, I wanted to mention that I have been eating a lot of Pizza and today I hit the grand streets of my own great city, to pretty much suck it all up why I can. So here begins the story. Click HERE for pictures.

NEW YORK CITY

2003-07-14T23:36:00.000Z

Andrew's Itinerary:
JFK - TPE July 22, 2003 23:55 - July 24th, 2003 06:30
TPE - BKK July 24, 2003 09:30 - July 24th, 2003 12:10
RT/NYC: APROX August 21st, 2003

Hmm.. lets see. If I leave NYC at 11:55pm on Tuesday night July 22nd and arrive in Bangkok on July 24th at 9:30 am, how long of a flight is it? Considering the time change and the crossing of the international border? Answer: a long time. From scrolling the globe above, you can see that longitudinally, I couldn't be any further away!

AUSTIN

2003-07-13T20:45:00.000Z

Robert's Itinerary:
AUS SFO TPE BKK arriving at 12:10 pm noon on the 28th
RT/AUS: APROX August 21st, 2003