Chad Things

Cambodians speak better English than Vietnamese and maybe thai, based on my limited experience.  However, their written english is definitely much more entertaining – here’s some examples from water bottles

PURE DRINKING WATER – Water excels as fit for human consumption is Reverse Osmosis Pure Drinking Water Ultraviolet and Ozone System.

MOHACHAI Pure Drinking Water
Is Purified and Disinfected by R.O., Ozone, and UV process qualified for the drinking water in high quality.

Pure water, testing through DEIONNIZED highly isolating substance and germ, keeps in high quality.

I made it to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. So far we’re just in Saigon, ahem, i mean Ho Chi Minh City (locals still call it Saigon), which is the biggest city in Vietnam (greater metro area about 9 million peeps). Parts of the city are as clean and modern as any american city, but not all parts – its still apparent you’re in SE Asia. It is much nicer than Cambodia, but suprisingly not always more expensive. You can get a nice big bowl of delicious Pho (beef noodle soup) for like 40 cents. And already we found a place that has draft beers for 25 cents .. way cheaper than Cambodia. Moped taxis are also slightly cheaper, but i’m sure i was paying a tourist surcharge for things in Cambodia. Rooms are more ($10 for a nice AC room), and many restaurants charge american prices. I’m not really on a budget, but Shayna is, so finding a good deal is always welcome.

Our first night we hooked up with Shayna’s friend Kelly, from the states – she’s been living here over a year. She took us around to some eating, drinking and Karaoke spots. We met lots of locals and expats – their are alot of westerners here and they talk about how fast the city is growing and changing. The next day we slept in but the made it to the Royal palace (aka Reunification Palace). It was completed in 1966 but hasn’t been used or modified since 1975, when the war ended and the VC (north vietnam army) took over. It was interesting to be transported back in time to the 70s – the architecture of the place as well as seeing old radio equipment and helicopters and tanks. It was also interesting to learn how the Freedom Army Liberated Saigon from 1975. No civil war here, just the good Vietnamese versus the bad Americans and their Vietnamese sympathizers. After that i had some real tasty beef BBQ – i cooked the marinated beef right at the table. Besides the beef, the place had frog, crocodile, rats, crickets, snakes, and worms. Umm.. yeah.

Tomorrow we’re doing a tour of Mekong River, then the next day we’re leaving Saigon for the Vietnamese beach town of Mui Ne. Then we slowly work our way North (Hoi An, My Son) to Hanoi, Sapa, and Halong Bay, then to Laos after Vietnam.

Cambodia was great.  We spent 15 days there, visited 4 cities, saw Anciet Ruins, villagers in the coutryside, the beach, and the busting city of Phenom Penh.  It is cheaper than Thailand, but not everywhere, and if you’re not careful you can pay american prices for things.  The people were really friendly, smiling while waving hello, especially the kids. There were kids everywhere – 40% of the population is under 15.  There was also plenty of expats and a few modern conveniences to remind you of home (yes, i enjoyed the big AC mall by the bus station in PP). There were some sad aspects – people missing limbs (from old land mines) and some general disfigurement, and they did hassle you for money alot, so it was not perfect, but not so much in your face that i had to leave.   I really only got annoyed when i was trying to relax on the beach and they kept coming up.  But at places like Angkor Wat, I was glad to have ones selling a cold drink (it was really hot the whole time in cambodia, april is like their hottest month).  There were lots of organizations trying to help cambodians – orphanages to businesses employing homeless are people who need help in one way or another.  It was good to be able to funnel money through something like that which you could trust, as opposed to a kid on the street, who get exploited by many adults.

To recap the journey, we spent 5 days in Siem Reap, getting 3-day pass to Angkor Wat.  I recommend the 3-day pass, but if you’re not a big fan of ruins, the 1-day pass would suffice.  We then do a boat to Battambang (boat was way more scenic than bus), spent a couple nights there, taking a khmer cooking class and a ride in the countryside, before heading south to the beach.  We spent 4 nights at Sihanoukville (the beach), mostly chilling and eating, then 4 nights in Phnom Penh, where we saw the killing fields and learned more about the horrible Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge.  Even though he lost control of the country in 1979, there was still fighting till 1993.  So it’s only been a little over a decade since cambodians have felt … free.  But the attitude is still live for the present.

My favorite things include the friendliness of the people – they’re always around, either trying to sell you something (usually bad), but good if you need something; obviously the magic of Angkor Wat, the good, cheap food; easy, cheap transportation; our clean beach room and nice sand; our beautiful lakeside place in Phnom Penh, and the monkeys of Wat Phnom.

If you’re going to SE Asia, definitely goto Cambodia.

Three .. is the magic number .. yes it is, its the magic number.

Greetings from Cambodia – Shayna and I are in Phnom Penh, the capital, and its great. We’ve spent about 2 weeks in Cambodia, first seeing Angkor Wat, then by boat to Battambang, a city most tourists don’t hit, then by bus down to the beaches of Sihanoukville. Our cooking class in Battambang was great, as was the countryside – seeing how most of Cambodians live. But the beach was my favorite – we stayed at a very nice guesthouse 50 meters from the beach, everything we needed was right there – white soft sand, clear ocean waters, cold beverages, Asian and western food, and lots of kids – both annoying by when selling but fun when they played with us. Shayna wrote more on her blog.

So what about 3 dollars? Well, lemme tell ya. Cambodia is cheap. Cheaper than Thailand and prolly anywhere else in the world. Here’s what you can get for 3 bucks:

• Bus from the beach (Sihanoukville) to Phenom Penh (4 hours, actually $3.50)
• Hotel room in one of the many lakeside guesthouses in Phnom Penh ($2-$4 a night)
• Good Asian meal ($2) and a cold beer ($1) anywhere in Cambodia
• Tuk-Tuk (taxi) to anywhere in any city ($1-$3)
• 1-hour massage in Phnom Penh.
• Most any book from street vendors
• 2 CDs (albums) downloaded to your iPod from Boom Boom Room
• 2 T-shirts from the Russian market (one Tiger beer, one Angkor beer)
• many more …

So ya see, not a bad spot to live. Sadly, we leave in 2 days to goto Vietnam. But i hear they have great Pho!

I made it to Cambodia. My 5th Country on my RTW tour, after Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, and Thailand. So far we’ve only checked out western Cambodia, Siam Reap, and Angkor Wat – the largest religous structure in the world. Angkor Wat is actually one of many temples in the region, but also the name of the park housing all the temples. One of the others, Ta Prohm, was used in the filming of Tomb Raider. I definitely like Angkor Wat the best, its columns, hundreds of door frames, carvings, and sheer size – big enough to get lost in. But Ta Prohm was more interesting due to the jungle immediately surrounding it – trees are literally gorwing out and on the walls. At moments the tourists become overwhelming, you can barely walk, and at other moments you might not see any. Shayna was here in 2003 and would see only 30 people in all of Angkor Wat, whereas now you’re lukcy if you see less than 300 at any given time of day.

The town of Siam Reap is quite nice and more modern than expected – 10 years ago it was nothing more than huts and dirt roads, and now has dozens of high-end hotels, plenty more of the cheaper guest houses, western and cambodian bars and restaraunts, 24-hr ATMs, internet, at least 2 free wi-fi cafes (i’m at one called Figo right now), and markets where you can buy everything from mopends to rice, fish, shirts, and jewelry.

After Siam Reap we plan to head to Battambang and then the capital, Phnom Penh. Perhaps a detour to some Cambodian beaches, then its to the land of Vietnam for a month, then Laos, then back to Thailand.

BTW, I updated my Round the World Itinerary to arrive back in the USA at the end of July, instead of end of June.

Here I am, traveling for seven weeks. That’s the longest I’ve ever been traveling without a home, and altho i’m not really homesick, i definitely notice a difference in the way i look at things. I lost some excitement, and i have more desire to chill. It’s only natural it would happen sometime, and it here it is.

Before this, the longest was 6 weeks in Europe in 1995. I went with my college buddies, and by the 5th week we were all like .. no more churches, no more castles, no more museums. Just a place to sit. Thats kinda how i feel now. However, Shayna just joined me last week, and she’s all siked to be traveling. Her energy in contrast with mine made it obvious to me that i do feel different than i did when i first left SF.

Specifically i want to slow things down more, spend more time thinking, reading, writing, exercising, and chilling. Normally traveling for me is see this, do that, most days full of action. Most days i love it. But these days i’m not loving it more.. just tolerating it. The other thing that sux is that i don’t get to regularly exercise. When i was a wee young lad, that didn’t matter, but as an old man, i get grumpy when my body is not taken care of. I can still drink and dance. In fact, that was some of my best moments in Bangkok – drinking, dancing, meeting people. No sightseeing. Just chilling and having fun. But here I am in Cambodia, seeing Angkor Wat, one of the coolest things ever, and i’m not too excited. So from here on out, i’m gonna switch up my game plan and start planning in more chill time.

So looking forward, we got a couple weeks in Cambodia, about a month in vietnam, 2-3 weeks in Laos, than back to thailand. Shayna goes home, and i head to India in june for about a month. Then a couple weeks in europe (maybe), then home by end of July. I hope to go from tolerating most days back to really loving them. I’m sure i will.

I orginally didn’t plan on heading to the middle of Australia, but then i decided i had to. I mean, why go all this way and not see the part of Australia that is really unique to Australia? It added a thousand bucks, 10 days, and definitely a worhwhile experience to my trip. Sarah and I booked a 6 day package tour thru Groovy Grapes that spent about 3-4 days in the middle, then the other days driving south to Adelaide. It was a fun trip, met some cool people, had a nice hot desert experience, learned about Indigenous culture, and saw one big ass rock – Uluru.

Uluru is the most recognized natural wonder in Australia. It was impressive, and i’m glad i saw it, but its not the most amazing thing i’ve ever seen. I appreciated learning about the indigenous tribes and the overall experience more .. sleeping under the stars, enduring the heat of the outback, getting pissed at hundreds of flies in my face for days, and doing hikes and walks around Uluru, Olgas, and Kings Canyon. Specifically the little swim in Kings Canyon was great – refreshing and unique. We also learned about 2 types of trees that are poisonous – thats right .. a splinter from the wrong tree and its off to the hospital. Australia is not the safest place in the world. You knew that.

The Groovy Grapes tour was totally fun – Joe, our driver, was a very easy going guy. Almost too easy for some – he would often be late in the mornings, but i’d much prefer that than to somebody who was strict on schedules. Our fellow travelers were all cool – everybody could take the heat and hiking with a smile, would help out with dinner, cleaning, loading the truck, and whatever else needed to be done. I liked sleeping under the stars in a swag (a durable sleeping bag thing). I’d also learned a few more drinking games. Coober Pedy was a nice bonus for the trip. I really liked all the underground stuff – the mines, the houses, our hotel, and the museum. But it was alot of driving, especially the last 2 days .. i’d say 2000 km the whole week.

The trip ended in Adelaide – not exactly the outback, but i’ll sum it up here as well. My last 3 days in Australia were in Adelaide, and it was nice. Our first night most of the groovy grapes crew went out, starting off at a thai place before having a few beers. At the thai place i finally ate kangaroo, and it was delicous – kinda like a nice cut of beef. Adelaide was the first time i felt no desire to see all i could see. I wanted to chill and enjoy myself – and i did. I stumbled upon the Future music festival – an all day DJ music event in the park. Green grass, lots of people watching, dancing, good music, and a few beers. Soo nice. The next few days i basically hung out, Sarah and i did a little exploring and had a nice Indian dinner as my last real meal in Australia.

Australia was great. A bit pricier that i expected, so i didn’t want to chill out there too much – much prefer to do that in SE Asia. I got roughly 3 months there , then a month in India, then it’s back to the USA (maybe a week in europe). Wish me luck in Thailand!

Sawadee Krap! That’s Hello, in Thailand. I got here a couple nights ago and haven’t done anything. I’m staying with my friend chin, who moved here 3 years ago from SF. He lives south of downtown bangkok (about 9km as bird flies). I’ve just been chillin, catching up with some email, posting some pseudo blogs, uploading a couple pics, etc. I’ve also had the pleasure of eating some home-cooked thai food from his girl, .. oh, sooooo good. We even went out for lunch yesterday and had amazing papaya salad, some chicken/basil dish, some noodle dish with mushrooms, plus sticky rice, all we could eat, for about 25 baht each. 5 peeps. thats like 75 cents each in US. This is cheaper than most meals, but still, one of my best meals on the trip, and it was 75 cents. Damn thailand is cheap.

Now i just check out bangkok till Shayna arrives on tuesday night, the 20th. I can’t wait !!!

Well, i’m done with Australia. Whew. It was a nonstop month-long adventure. I saw many beautiful cities, beaches, mountains, deserts, kangaroos, koalas, birds, beers, and backpackers. A great trip, i spent more and stayed longer than originally planned, really enjoyed kickin’ it with my peeps from Cali, and met more people not from Australia than from Australia (backpacker way). I will not go into detail every day like I did for New Zealand, just give the broad strokes. I have over 1500 pictures that i’m still sorting through, i expect to post several hundred of them onto flickr within a week.

As mentioned earlier, I started off in sydney, meeting a few friends from the bay area – Damian, Juan, and Ramon. Next we flew to Brisbane, where we had a few pints before meeting Sarah and Steph. Not just any pints – a few pints of Kilkenny, a smooth, creamy, Guiness-like beer only not as dark. You can’t find it in the US, but you can in Europe, Hong Kong, and apparently Australia. Mmmm… After meeting the girls, we hopped on the greyhound bus to Hervey Bay for our Fraser Island experience.

We rented a 4WD Land Rover for Fraser Island – all 6 of us and our stuff squeezed in very comfortably (yeah, right). I did the most of the driving – it was fun driving on the wrong side of the road, especially on the sand once we got on the island. The beach on the east coast of the island had a 100kph speed limit (60mph). Cruisin’ down the beach was saweeeet. I did have to share my road with planes – yes, airplanes land on the beach. Why wouldn’t they? The Shipwreck Maheno was cool, the view from Indian Head was stunning (you must see all my pics), but my favorite on Fraser Island was Lake McKenzie. It was unbelievably beautiful. Fresh blue water, blinding white sand, green trees and plenty of relaxing vibes.

After Fraser we took the greyhound back to Brisbane for one night before heading to Melbourne. Our last night in Brisbane was fun – we had a few drinks at the bar/hostel we were staying in – tinbilly. We even made up a cool game – guess what the next song will be. you pay a buck for a guess, you get as many guesses as you want, and if you win you take the pot. And if you’re the first to identify 2 songs in a row, you get to add a guess. Fun, eh?

We arrived in Melbourne on Sunday, Feb 25, checked into our hotel, Rendezvous, and started walking around. Melbourne is almost as big as Sydney, but seems a bit less busy. They have lots of random art, cool people watching, but one of our more interesting moments included an ice bar – that’s right, a bar where the inside is made out of ice. It was sooo cool. heh. The black cat in Fitzroy was another cool bar. I also give props to the bars and restaurants in St. Kilda – so now you know where to drink. But St. Kilda also had penguins – we saw one on the pier. We saw more penguins on Philip Island, a few hours from Melbourne. Our trip down there also passed through a kangaroo farm and a nice beach.

Wednesday we left Melbourne for Hobart. Hobart? yes, Hobart, in the bustling state of Tasmania. This was the smallest city on our tour, about 120,000 peeps, and the second oldest city in Australia. Its famous for Port Arthur, where prisoners from the UK were sent from 1830 to 1856. Before 1856, Tasmania was called Van Dieman’s Land, and it received more prisoners from UK than anywhere else. We spent one of our 2 cloudy days at Port Arthur. The other day was at the Cascade Brewery – Australia’s oldest Brewery (1824). They had tours of the brewery, but it was booked up, so we just enjoyed fresh beer and lunch there. My favorite was the Blond beer.

Friday we flew back to Sydney to have a bit o’ fun before the boys head back to California. We squeezed into this hotel/apartment place called the Macleay. I loved that they had internet in the room, plus a nice view from our room. Friday night we got our drink on – first at the Fountain cafe – where its 2 for 1 beers from like 4 to 6pm. Then on to more bars and dance clubs around oxford street. We slept in pretty late saturday, but made it out before sunset for snacks before the mardi gras parade. The parade was huge, several hundred thousand people were out watching it, and it lasted a couple hours before took over the streets. Only juan and i made it to the end (it did get boring), but then juan and i had fun bar hopping before heading to this cool bar in kings cross called Melt. A/C, Good DJs, and a nice dancefloor. Brilliant. Kebabs and bed. Sunday the four of us had a big brekky before they had to fly home. I love me a big brekky – eggs, bacon, sasausage, beans, tomato, mushrooms, and toast. Altho their bacon sux – they need to learn american bacon.

Later sunday i met up with Sarah and we headed out of Sydney to the blue mountains. We stayed in the Katoomba YHA sunday night – it was super nice – and did a bit of hiking monday. Our hiking included ridge walking, rainforest walking, and leeches. Yes, i had 2 leeches on my foot and Sarah had one. Looking back on it, it was funny how we both freaked out .. i got them off of us using a stick – it wasn’t too hard. Sarah’s leech was huge compared to mine, and i eventually squished it, but it didn’t die. It just squirted out all its blood but then crawled away. Ooooewww!

Monday night we stayed in Sydney, had a couple pints of Kilkenny (mmmm…), then got up early tuesday for our flight to Alice Springs.  We booked a 6 day outback adventure tour from the middle of australia down to Adelaide on the coast.  You can read more about that in the my Australia Outback entry.

cheebra.

“Good on ya, mate!” That means “Nice one, brutha!” Well, i’m here in the land down under. Where the women roar and the men thunder. I arrived in Sydney a couple days ago, and we’re for Brisbane today. Sydney is a really beautiful city – clean, lots of parks and trees, water from the harbor goes most everywhere. It feels more like a european city than most anything – they say you have to get out to feel the real australia.

I arrived and met the boys by our hotel – my friends Juan, Damian, and Ramon, all from California. The first day was mardi gras thing in the park – Juan and I and several thousand others had fun dancing to DJs, drinking beers, kickin’ it on the grass, and enjoying the warm sun. Damian and Ramon had their luggage temporarily relocated by the airline – so they had no clothes. Damn Qantas. The next day we walked around the city, hitting the botanical gardens, sydney opera house, downtown, and taking a ferry to the Zoo to see our Koala bears, wallabees, and kagaroos. Yesterday we did more walking, checked out the view from the sky tower (like seattle’s space needle), and hit Bondi beach – a really gorgeous beach.

Today we leave Sydney and head to Brisbane, where we’ll meet up with Sarah and Stephanie, our California girls. But we quickly hop on the bus and goto Frasier Island. After that, we fly to Melbourne for a few days, then Hobart to see the real Tasmanian Devil, then back to sydney for a few more days. I’ll stay in the land down under for another week while most everyone else leaves. I was thinking of doing Uluru (ayer’s rock), but that it is expensive to get there. We’ll see.

Cheebra! (short for “cheers, brother”)