This concept photo documentary got me in a bit of trouble with Chad and Shane. But, I swear, all of the photos are real! What a date!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Our fancy digs in Bangkok
We had the good fortune to stay with our friend Shane in his fancy digs in Bangkok. Thanks Shane!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Hello, U.S.A.
After three days of traveling, we made it back to the U.S.A! It was very nice to finally be able to walk through the "local" line at the airport and not the foreigner line. Ahh, it is good to be home, where we can drink the tap water and everyone knows not to stand on the toilet.
We had a harrowing journey home as we flew right into the middle of chaos at the Tokyo Narita airport, where hours earlier a fed ex cargo plane crashed killing two people. Utter, utter and complete chaos. The airport was officially closed for 24 hours, but somehow, our flight from bangkok was still sent to tokyo, where we were stranded for hours with no plan and no information. Staff were obviously not prepared for an emergency. They finally bussed us to a five star luxury hotel ($600 plus a night) with no information about when our flight would leave, when or if they would pick us up again, or even who was paying the bill.
When our flight finally left 24 hours after it was scheduled, it was only 60% full even though it was one of the first flights out, and even though there were obviously many people who should have been on the flight who were still waiting in lines at the terminal. The situation was very poorly handled. We were sent to tokyo after they knew about the "incident", and even though the major runway was closed. Our plane coming in had to use a smaller landing strip to get in, but our larger plane to MSP could not get out. Why Northwest routed us to tokyo even though the airport was closed and then proceeded to put us in a luxury hotel with a steak dinner and 5* buffet breakfast is totally beyond me. This must have cost them a bundle, and could have been prevented by *not* flying us into the closed airport. Hello? Is this crazy or what?
Needless to say, we are happy to be home and also delirious from lack of sleep, but trying to stay awake a few more hours so we are not *totally* screwed up.
We had a harrowing journey home as we flew right into the middle of chaos at the Tokyo Narita airport, where hours earlier a fed ex cargo plane crashed killing two people. Utter, utter and complete chaos. The airport was officially closed for 24 hours, but somehow, our flight from bangkok was still sent to tokyo, where we were stranded for hours with no plan and no information. Staff were obviously not prepared for an emergency. They finally bussed us to a five star luxury hotel ($600 plus a night) with no information about when our flight would leave, when or if they would pick us up again, or even who was paying the bill.
When our flight finally left 24 hours after it was scheduled, it was only 60% full even though it was one of the first flights out, and even though there were obviously many people who should have been on the flight who were still waiting in lines at the terminal. The situation was very poorly handled. We were sent to tokyo after they knew about the "incident", and even though the major runway was closed. Our plane coming in had to use a smaller landing strip to get in, but our larger plane to MSP could not get out. Why Northwest routed us to tokyo even though the airport was closed and then proceeded to put us in a luxury hotel with a steak dinner and 5* buffet breakfast is totally beyond me. This must have cost them a bundle, and could have been prevented by *not* flying us into the closed airport. Hello? Is this crazy or what?
Needless to say, we are happy to be home and also delirious from lack of sleep, but trying to stay awake a few more hours so we are not *totally* screwed up.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Escaping the party in Vang Vieng, Laos
Vang Vieng was really a very beautiful location, however, all the obnoxious partying and drug abuse by backpackers had, in my opinion, basically ruined the town. Who wants to see a 6 foot tall skinny white girl in a bikini limping/pacing back and forth like a zombie, with a hurt foot/ankle that she does not even notice, eyes wide, dark, red and swollen, moaning and repeating to herself, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, because she is too messed up to know what is going on? It was in some ways astonishing to watch, I admit. I tried to say something to her but her eyes would not focus on me, she was in her own world. Eventually we did see that she hooked up with another bunch of girls who helped her, thank goodness.
Video: Crazy party scene in Vang Vieng, Laos
Instructions:
1. Head to one of the poorest, most conservative, rural countries on earth where the women wear long sleeves in 100F heat.
2. Put on your bikini!
3. Wait in line at the tubing station and pay a few bucks to get your own tube.
4. Hop on the bus to the river.
5. Head to the river bar and buy some $2 mojitos. Dance to the music!
6. Draw some stuff all over your body. Example: Free Hugs!
7. Climb up the bamboo ladder and swing 50 feet into the river.
8. Tube about 50 feet to the next bar.
9. Repeat.
1. Head to one of the poorest, most conservative, rural countries on earth where the women wear long sleeves in 100F heat.
2. Put on your bikini!
3. Wait in line at the tubing station and pay a few bucks to get your own tube.
4. Hop on the bus to the river.
5. Head to the river bar and buy some $2 mojitos. Dance to the music!
6. Draw some stuff all over your body. Example: Free Hugs!
7. Climb up the bamboo ladder and swing 50 feet into the river.
8. Tube about 50 feet to the next bar.
9. Repeat.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Vientiane, Laos Itinerary & Photos
-A visit to the very strange Buddha park with crude concrete sculptures and lots of school kids running around.
-Scooting on a vintage 1950s red vespa all over the countryside, waving to the kids and stopping for some noodle soup and beer lao with locals who knew no english but had lots of smiles and laughs. Our old police moto helmets gave them pause.
-Delicious dining on fine french cuisine & chilled bourdeaux.
-Crossing a rickity bamboo bridge by scooter! Two 9 years olds passed us on a moto and had no fear.
-The beautiful Lao textile museum, set in a lush facility with gardens and teak buildings.
-Hanging out at another concrete monstrosity, the victory arch, a project constructed out of concrete that was supposed to be made into an airport runway.
-Watching cute laos dancers at a cultural show.
-Scooting on a vintage 1950s red vespa all over the countryside, waving to the kids and stopping for some noodle soup and beer lao with locals who knew no english but had lots of smiles and laughs. Our old police moto helmets gave them pause.
-Delicious dining on fine french cuisine & chilled bourdeaux.
-Crossing a rickity bamboo bridge by scooter! Two 9 years olds passed us on a moto and had no fear.
-The beautiful Lao textile museum, set in a lush facility with gardens and teak buildings.
-Hanging out at another concrete monstrosity, the victory arch, a project constructed out of concrete that was supposed to be made into an airport runway.
-Watching cute laos dancers at a cultural show.
Incredible story of landmine remover in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Aki Ra was a child soldier who marched in front of the older soldiers laying land mines in his native Cambodia. Now, his life's work is removing land mines from his country. He began this incredible musuem just by collecting remains from land mines that he had removed. Tourists started to stop by, eventually his house became the land mine museum. The museum has since moved to a dedicated facility that also provides housing and a school for kids impacted by the landmines. Meanwhile, Aki continues his work removing the dangerous and devastating landmines, which are designed to maim rather than kill victims (the war theory being that an injured soldier is more expensive to the enemy than a dead soldier). A truly inspirational place and story of how one person can really make a difference in their own community and in the world.
Silk Weaving in Siem Reap, Cambodia
When we were in Cambodia, we visited a silk farm operated by Artisans D'Angor. It's a project to sell local handicrafts and provide fair market jobs to the local people. The free tour was very informative -- of course they bank on visitors making some purchases in the gift shop, which we did (an amazing grey silk dress for me!)
Friday, March 13, 2009
Angor Wat, Cambodia
Apologies -- lots of temple pictures here. Angor Wat was truly spectacular, the level of craftsmanship, detail and scale is difficult to comprehend, even today, but completed 700 years ago? Astonishing.
The Road to Cambodia
Chad recovered, and we made it to Chang Mai, Thailand, where the internet connection is much better than Laos. In other news, here are some pictures from the drive into Cambodia from Thailand.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Struck by bacteria.
Well, it has finally happened. Chad is down and out in the hotel with a bad case of food poisoning, or some kind of nasty bacterial invasion. Somehow, i managed to escape. We ate exactly the same thing yesterday, so I must be very lucky indeed.
It's strange. A few days ago, we shared the same lunch and the same dinner with a couple here after our kayaking trip, and we ran into them a few days later, they were both sick and throwing up all the day before. Chad and I totally escaped that one, even though we had exactly the same dishes as they did. My theory was that our stomachs were more accustomed to the bacteria here, since we had been here for 2 months and they were only here for two weeks. I don't know why the bacteria gods chose to infect chad and not me, but I am fine.
We had booked an air ticket to Chang Mai for today, but luckily i was able to change it to tomorrow. Hopefully chad will be feeling better by then, or we may need to change it again. It's much better to be recovering in a comfortable, familiar hotel than have to catch a plane and then carry our packs all over looking for a new place to stay. We are in no hurry to get to Chang Mai, other than our time here in SE Asia is soon coming to a close and we will be meeting up again with Shane on Friday. We should have no problem getting there by then.
It's strange. A few days ago, we shared the same lunch and the same dinner with a couple here after our kayaking trip, and we ran into them a few days later, they were both sick and throwing up all the day before. Chad and I totally escaped that one, even though we had exactly the same dishes as they did. My theory was that our stomachs were more accustomed to the bacteria here, since we had been here for 2 months and they were only here for two weeks. I don't know why the bacteria gods chose to infect chad and not me, but I am fine.
We had booked an air ticket to Chang Mai for today, but luckily i was able to change it to tomorrow. Hopefully chad will be feeling better by then, or we may need to change it again. It's much better to be recovering in a comfortable, familiar hotel than have to catch a plane and then carry our packs all over looking for a new place to stay. We are in no hurry to get to Chang Mai, other than our time here in SE Asia is soon coming to a close and we will be meeting up again with Shane on Friday. We should have no problem getting there by then.
Last day in Louang Prabang, Laos
Chad and I have been in Louang Prabang, Laos for over a week now, as we have really enjoyed the culture, scenery and people here in this little sleepy town.
A highlight of our time here was a kayaking trip down the Nam Ohn, about a one hour drive out of the city. On the way to the river we stopped at two local villages and "exchanged information" (as our tour guide put it) with the locals in the village. One of the villages was a Hmong village that had been relocated from the mountains further south down the hill. Our guide was also from a Hmong village and so he spoke the local dialect of the people there. Our guide was from a hmong family, and his parents had previously been opium farmers. He said that in 2000 Opium was outlawed, leaving many of the hmong without jobs and without a way of life.
We saw them going about their daily jobs such as the blacksmith mending an ax, knife sharpening, paper making, and weaving baskets and bamboo roofing materials. We were invited into the home of the village shaman, who played us a toon on his bamboo instrument. He asked our guide if he would come back to the village and teach the local kids, as they had no school and no education system in place. There is a widespread belief here that education is really the path to a better future, but it's hard to come by in a little village with no teachers and no school supplies. Learning english seems to be the path to a good job in the tourism industry, which is really pumping much needed cash into the economy. The kids in the village followed us around with huge smiles.
After the village visits, we spent the day kaying on some class 2 white water.
Along the way, we heard the sounds of what we thought to be generators along the river. We asked our guide was was going on, and he said that the people were panning for gold. We stopped at one of the operations to get a good look. About every 50 meters, about 25 people sat along the river banks. Wooden boats held 2-3 air compressors that had clear plastic tubing attached, going out into the river. At the other end of the tubes, at the bottom of the river, the plastic tubes were giving air to men who were collecting the dirt on the river bottom. The plastic tube was stuffed into a diving mask so that the men could breathe for 20 minutes or so on the river bottom. They took a simple bag and the mask and air tube, and then used their hands to collect the river rocks. There were several men walking on the bottom of the river at a time collecting the dirt. They would bring it to the surface, and the women used big wooden bowls to swirl the dirt in the river to sort out the big rocks, and eventually find little teeny specks of gold in the bottom. We watched a women doing the panning, and in about 10 minutes she had maybe 20 teeny teeny specks of gold. Amazing! People all along the river were using these home made scuba diving contraptions to collect tiny specks of gold. Considering the alternate forms of employment available (paper making, weaving, farming) the gold operation seems very lucrative indeed. Our guide even joked that he should find a wife in this village, as only the local villagers had rights to pan the river for gold.
Tomorrow, we fly to Chang Mai to meet up again with Shane for the weekend.
A highlight of our time here was a kayaking trip down the Nam Ohn, about a one hour drive out of the city. On the way to the river we stopped at two local villages and "exchanged information" (as our tour guide put it) with the locals in the village. One of the villages was a Hmong village that had been relocated from the mountains further south down the hill. Our guide was also from a Hmong village and so he spoke the local dialect of the people there. Our guide was from a hmong family, and his parents had previously been opium farmers. He said that in 2000 Opium was outlawed, leaving many of the hmong without jobs and without a way of life.
We saw them going about their daily jobs such as the blacksmith mending an ax, knife sharpening, paper making, and weaving baskets and bamboo roofing materials. We were invited into the home of the village shaman, who played us a toon on his bamboo instrument. He asked our guide if he would come back to the village and teach the local kids, as they had no school and no education system in place. There is a widespread belief here that education is really the path to a better future, but it's hard to come by in a little village with no teachers and no school supplies. Learning english seems to be the path to a good job in the tourism industry, which is really pumping much needed cash into the economy. The kids in the village followed us around with huge smiles.
After the village visits, we spent the day kaying on some class 2 white water.
Along the way, we heard the sounds of what we thought to be generators along the river. We asked our guide was was going on, and he said that the people were panning for gold. We stopped at one of the operations to get a good look. About every 50 meters, about 25 people sat along the river banks. Wooden boats held 2-3 air compressors that had clear plastic tubing attached, going out into the river. At the other end of the tubes, at the bottom of the river, the plastic tubes were giving air to men who were collecting the dirt on the river bottom. The plastic tube was stuffed into a diving mask so that the men could breathe for 20 minutes or so on the river bottom. They took a simple bag and the mask and air tube, and then used their hands to collect the river rocks. There were several men walking on the bottom of the river at a time collecting the dirt. They would bring it to the surface, and the women used big wooden bowls to swirl the dirt in the river to sort out the big rocks, and eventually find little teeny specks of gold in the bottom. We watched a women doing the panning, and in about 10 minutes she had maybe 20 teeny teeny specks of gold. Amazing! People all along the river were using these home made scuba diving contraptions to collect tiny specks of gold. Considering the alternate forms of employment available (paper making, weaving, farming) the gold operation seems very lucrative indeed. Our guide even joked that he should find a wife in this village, as only the local villagers had rights to pan the river for gold.
Tomorrow, we fly to Chang Mai to meet up again with Shane for the weekend.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Lovely Luang Prabang, Laos
Luang Prabang, Laos is probably the loveliest place that we have traveled to so far. It's a small city of around 26,000 but big on culture, personality, and in a gorgeous natural setting between two rivers and the mountains. It was the former capital of Laos, and is filled with temples, varied architecture influenced in the styles of Laos, Thai, Vietnam and France, and cultural activities like the Royal Museum, National Theatre, lots of art galleries, cafes, and the biggest night craft market in all of Laos.
The people in Laos are very gentle and kind, unlike the Cambodians who were more aggressive in their selling techniques, and the Thai who are also very friendly and accommodating, but less caring and gentle. 80% of people live outside the city, making their living mostly with rice farming, making textiles, paper, or whisky.
Today we biked to a weaving village 4km outside of the city. The bikes we rented were pretty crappy, and it turns out i really don't like mountain biking, but it was nice to get out of town and get a peak at village life. Everyone in the village we visited makes their living weaving textiles. Each home had a loom sitting outside where the women were at work, weaving intricite silk and cotton textiles. The mothers teach their daughter how to weave each piece. We stopped at one house that had a large display outside, and got to watch the mother working on a very detailed piece, while the daughter worked on a less intricite, but still beautiful and patterned piece. The son was making a fishing net. We bought some textiles and biked our way on, stopping at a few other places including a silversmith house and then to a roadside shop for lunch. We had purchased some baguette sandwiches in town to bring along for the ride. For $1.25 we got a huge baguette filled with chicken and vegetables.
Another great thing about Laos, because of the French influence there are baguettes everywhere. Unlike Thailand, where they do serve bread to the tourists for breakfast, but it is basically wonder bread that sucks. The lao have adopted the baguette as their own, and fill it with pates and fillings of their own making. Lots of bakeries and cafes line the streets, and you can get a huge fruit shake and a beer lao almost anywhere for $1 each. Also, they have decent wine here, including imported french wine, and a local wine made here. They also sell bottles of lao snake whisky -- with cobras and scorpions along with the whisky. We haven't tried this yet.
Tomorrow, we head to some class 3 rapids on kayaks up river.
The people in Laos are very gentle and kind, unlike the Cambodians who were more aggressive in their selling techniques, and the Thai who are also very friendly and accommodating, but less caring and gentle. 80% of people live outside the city, making their living mostly with rice farming, making textiles, paper, or whisky.
Today we biked to a weaving village 4km outside of the city. The bikes we rented were pretty crappy, and it turns out i really don't like mountain biking, but it was nice to get out of town and get a peak at village life. Everyone in the village we visited makes their living weaving textiles. Each home had a loom sitting outside where the women were at work, weaving intricite silk and cotton textiles. The mothers teach their daughter how to weave each piece. We stopped at one house that had a large display outside, and got to watch the mother working on a very detailed piece, while the daughter worked on a less intricite, but still beautiful and patterned piece. The son was making a fishing net. We bought some textiles and biked our way on, stopping at a few other places including a silversmith house and then to a roadside shop for lunch. We had purchased some baguette sandwiches in town to bring along for the ride. For $1.25 we got a huge baguette filled with chicken and vegetables.
Another great thing about Laos, because of the French influence there are baguettes everywhere. Unlike Thailand, where they do serve bread to the tourists for breakfast, but it is basically wonder bread that sucks. The lao have adopted the baguette as their own, and fill it with pates and fillings of their own making. Lots of bakeries and cafes line the streets, and you can get a huge fruit shake and a beer lao almost anywhere for $1 each. Also, they have decent wine here, including imported french wine, and a local wine made here. They also sell bottles of lao snake whisky -- with cobras and scorpions along with the whisky. We haven't tried this yet.
Tomorrow, we head to some class 3 rapids on kayaks up river.
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