Being back on US soil now for a little over two weeks, I have had a little time to readjust, de-jetlag and gain my bearings a bit more. I have been able to hug those I love and missed the most and look forward to a few more weeks of reunions. All in all, I am satisfied with where I am in life right- grateful for the places I have been and very excited for where I am headed next.
To back up a little (since I totally failed on keeping my blog updated): I traveled to northeast Cambodia for about five days to explore the more 'wild' side of Cambodia and then headed to Siem Reap for a few days of exploring the old capitol and the ancient temples of Angkor Wat- absolutely stunning and mind blowing (and peaceful when you are not surrounded by tourists). I then jumped on a plane home. To be more specific, I jumped on four plans and took about two full days to come home (Siem Reap-Kuala Lumpur-Singapore-Tokyo-Seattle with 9, 10 and 2.5 hour layovers respectively). Fourty-three hours later, I showed up on Andy's door step with mimosa-making-supplies in hand on Valentine's day morning (big, fat THANK YOU to my former girl scout and lovely friend Sara for picking my jet-lagged booty up from the airport).
Getting to spend the week there in Seattle was so much what I wanted and needed upon my return: I had plenty of time to be lazy and semi-brain dead when my jetlag hit full force but also some time to get out and play in the mountains and watch the boys go surfing at the coast- we watched the crap outta the Olympic games and ate plenty of Mexican food and sushi and I spent hours and hours inside the library and Elliot Bay Bookstore- my favorite- and had a great interview with a nonprofit startup that I am just absolutely psyched about! Best of all, though, I got 9 days straight with Andy.
Flew into snowy Austin from sunny Seattle (thank you el nino) and have been welcomed home with so much love and good food and family-members-galore that it has just blown me away. I was planning on packing up my car today and leaving tomorrow but I just cannot bring myself to leave my family so soon. The overwhelming relief and love I felt just stepping out of the plane and into my parents' embrace and home has just been amazing. Four months of movement and scenery-changes makes you appreciate the familiarity of your hometown just so much more! Few more days here to be filled with yoga-doing, town-lake-walking, cooking with dad, drinks with family and friends and catching up on trashy TV/vegging out. Then it's San Diego, Orange County, LA, San Luis Obispo, TAHOE for a good bit and then unloading all of my worldly possessions into Andy and co.'s pretty blue and red Victorian in Seattle! Between the excitement of having a 'normal/non-long distance' relationship and the possible connection I have landed with this WONDERFUL new nonprofit, I am just so happy and excited to be making this move.
Besides the exciting new relocation and the family love I have been absolutely engulfed in, I have been trying to answer everyone's questions while also trying to digest my own thoughts and feelings of the last four months. I thought I would just write a few out to save some of y'all the trouble of asking....
Q: How was your trip?
A: Amazing. (what else is there to say? how do you explain four months of travel? you just cannot)
Q: Where was your favorite thing?
A: Impossible to say.... Vietnam was NOT my favorite, I know that. The culture in Bali was my favorite; The beauty of Laos; The kids of Cambodia; The food and sheer variety of landscapes in Thailand; The efficiency of Hong Kong.... How do you pick a favorite between so many different things and so many different experiences??
Q: Are you happy to be home?
A: Extremely. Traveling by yourself lends itself to a whole mess of emotions- its empowering, lonely, and is a ginormous learning experience all at once- but one thing I always learn (and then seem to forget before my next trip) is that, without the people I love by my side, my traveling experiences seem to lack a bit... I find myself looking at the most stunning landscape or ancient temple or talking to the most stunning old woman or exuberant child, and I will just think to myself 'Man, I wish so-and-so could be here'. You meet so many great people along the way but your family and closest friends are people in your life that cannot be replicated or replaced by a fellow smelly backpacker like yourself. So yes, my trip was amazing, stunning, crazy, and awesome... but I am extremely happy to be home.
What did I miss about home: (and thus, now appreciate sooo much more!)
-My friends and fam first of all... duh
-Mexican food and sushi
-Having toilet paper readily available
-The comfort of my bed and clean sheets
-Free water
-Hot showers
-Dryers and laundry only taking a couple hours instead of days
-Hair conditioner and blow dryers
-Wine and cheese
-Accountability (of businesses/buses/etc to be fair/show up on time/etc)
-Winter and the cold and SNOW
-Cooking and having a kitchen
-The holidays
-Seat belts
What I now miss about Asia:
-The kids at CCPP
-The laid back lifestyle
-The prices- being able to live off of <$20/day
-The white sand beaches
-Spicy curry
-The lifeline that is the Mekong River
-The little kids that always wave and say 'hellooooo' everytime you walk by
-Eating heaps of exotic fruits on a daily basis
-The markets
-The lush mountains of the jungle
-How history and tradition is still so deeply rooted in so many places
-The constant influence of the Buddhism and Hindu religion everywhere
-Motobikes
-Sticky rice and pineapple with chili and fried bananas
-Cheap healthcare and prescription drugs
What I do NOT miss from Asia:
-Karaoke music... oh my lord I will be the happiest person alive if I never have to see/hear another karaoke video blaring at odd hours of the night/morning on buses/in restaurants/on cell phones. Seriously.
-Being woken up by roosters, barking dogs, tricked out car horns and karaoke videos
-The lack of toilet paper and the smelliness of those squat toilets
-Mystery meat
-Having to haggle for a price with most anything you buy
-The showers and always having a wet toilet because there is no real 'shower', just a hose
-Having to drench yourself in bug spray/deet every single day
-Mosquitoes, rats, cockroaches, poisonous snakes in my shower, ants everywhere, sand flies, all that good stuff...
-Not being able to pet/play with all the beautiful cats and dogs for the worry of rabies and other personal health and safety reasons
Anyways, I have some more to write and some pictures to post but this is entirely too long as is so I will cut it off here and tell y'all that I appreciate your support as I have been away and that I so look forward to catching up with any of ya that I haven't yet. Ya'll are the reason I am back... without the people here, I think I would forever be a vagabond!
Much love and appreciation.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sen Monorom
Written a few days after leaving Sihanoukville....
I am pretty sure I dreamt about this place when I was a child. Treehouses and hammocks galore, this little piece of gorgeous land is filled with gardens, ponds and free-range animals of all sorts. The bungalows are simple but comfy and the food is rather delicious. Oh and the outdoor bathrooms- maybe the coolest place to spend time when nature calls... Added 'outdoor bathroom' to my mental dreamhouse after taking a hot shower amongst flowers and blue skies.
I arrived here at Nature Lodge in Sen Monorom after three days of buses and traveling- the plan was to get as far north as possible while still allowing myself some time to enjoy it before heading towards Siem Reap. The furthest north I could get direct from Sihanoukville was Kompong Cham so that was stop #1- a quiet little river town that, unfortunately, left a bad taste in my mouth.
I was pleased to see the town was not, by any means, touristy but started feeling a bit vulnerable as there seemed to be a substantially skewed ratio of men to women roaming the river-side streets. Was able to enjoy a nice dinner and sunset along the Mekong before reverting back to my nice hotel room (splurged the extra two dollars for a room that had a window didn't smell like smoke) after a moto with three teenage boys got uncomfortably close as they raced by yelling some Khmer nonsense at me. Woke up early to watch the sunrise and eat a yummy breakfast and then walked down to see the bridge that the locals rebuild each dry season that spans the Mekong over to a small island (pretty impressive as its made entirely out of bamboo). Talked to some kids on the way back and stopped for a few pictures of the floating villages. Decided to kill some time just relaxing by the river and taking in the fresh air before my bus journey to Kratie. The enjoyment of my nice little morning came to a crashing hault though as I realized a guy, half-hiding behind a tree, was doing inappropriate things to himself while staring intently at me... Feeling slightly violated and completely disgusted, I resorted to my room until it was time for the next bus.
A couple hours on a crowded and less-than-air-conditioned bus and I arrived in another quite riverside town- Kratie- that immediately gave me a sense of safety. Though there wasn't too much to do in this town, I had decided that I was already sick of bus rides and would stay here for a few nights before I headed west. Well, that decision lasted about an hour before I met a Swedish girl named Ana. We started chatting about what to do in kratie and where we were both staying. She said she had checked into a place but a guy had tried getting into her room and then began following her so we decided it would be a win-win situation if she came over to my place and took the free bed in my room. Less money for both of us and more security for her. That's when she started telling me about her amazing week in Sen Monorom and this wonderful place called nature lodge and how she already missed the friendly locals and jungles and waterfalls... That's when I, again, changed my plans. Watched the sunset from a beautiful balcony overlooking the Mekong and booked my ticket up north around 9pm for the following morning.
This time it was a five hour journey on both paved and dirt roads in a mini-van that was packed with (I do not exaggerate) 21 people. (And believe it or not, we were living large compared to other vans that were weighed down with people on their roofs and boxes hanging out the back with simple ropes holding the trunk door down...) Finally got in to sen monorom and found a moto to drive me out of town to nature lodge. And then I was home.
One of the guys on our packed mini bus showed up later and we started talking about hiring a moto to go see the various waterfalls and sights around for the next day. Walked into town and haggled for a good price and had a deal- the moto guy would personally drop off our moto in the morning to nature lodge and we had a day to hit up all the sights. Sweet. Dinner and sunset watching at nature lodge and bed before the generator turned off at ten.
Our moto biking day turned out slightly disasterous but one of those adventures that you can laugh about later and one that, ultimately, could have turned out a lot worse. The moto guys showed up a bit late with our bike- a red and white moto with a not so powerful engine and some pretty bald tires. Simon took a test drive and asked the guy if it was possible to get a better bike with better tires and a bit more umph in the engine. The guy though assured us that the roads we would be riding on would be plenty okay with what we were given so we caved and accepted the bike and went on our way.
Took us about 7 minutes of driving to figure out that this may be a little hairier than we were lead to believe- a 40 k drive up to this first waterfall and the roads were already filled with numerous hills and were definitely not paved like we were told. Instead of asphalt, we had roads of big, chunky rocks covered in inches of the fine, red dirt/dust that covered all of sen monorom. Awesome. Our bottoms were beyond sore and hurting only a quarter of the way in but we kept on...
We knew we had to be getting close when the roads started getting extra rough- bigger rocks with more dust/dirt on top- and we took a tumble as Simon was trying to brake (only one of which worked) and shift while avoiding the biggest rocks and ended up just skidding out on the loose dirt. To say 'tumble' may be an exaggeration though- it was more of a 'falling over' as as we were traveling at a speed of maybe 3mph. Scrapped up elbows, a deeply bruised hip and some cuts on our feet were the worst of our injuries- also just being covered in the finest of fine red dust from head to toe added a bit of insult to injury!
Dusting off our dirty clothes and bruised egos, we mustarded up the motivation to keep on going- one more curve and we had finally arrived- really?? Paid the park fee and entered into a beautiful two tiered waterfall that was surrounded with local families picnicing and, unfortunately, a mad amount of rubbish. Washed up a bit, soaked our wounds and ate our pack lunches on a nice big rock in the middle of the rushing waters. Discussed where we would head next and decided we would stop by our moto rental place first and tell the guys that our bike was crap and that we wanted a new one for the remainder of the day. If they wouldn't give us a new one, we would pay half the day's fee and walk away- we were more than willing to pay a fair price but we weren't gonna get ripped off for being put on a dangerous, ill-performing bike- yea, that's what we will do and if they give us crap, well then f that! (often times you have to give yourself a pep talk before these little haggling episodes or else your willpower will just fail against their veteran tourist-dealings).
Jumped back on the bike again and started heading back towards town. Took our time over the nasty streches of roads and were sure to give our asses a break or two along the way. We were doing good. That is, until we started veering off the road for no apparent reason. Simon and I were both able to balance the bike with our feet as he put on our one break and caught our breath for a second before asking eachother 'what the f??'. Our front tire had blown... Sweet. We have the number of our moto guy but no cell phone- the last village was about two miles down- let's just start walking that way. Out of some miraculous coincidence, a pick up truck (probably only about 20 of them in the entire eastern region of Cambodia) with an empty bed (empty space in any car is always a rarity) was driving towards us just as we started our journey. We asked them if we could get a ride back to town and the guys obliged and even helped us haul our POS bike into the bed of the truck. Simon got to 'ride' the bike back in the truck bed so it wouldn't tip over- we were the epitomy of 'farang' (the dumb white tourist). We unloaded the bike, offered the nice man some money which he would not take and b-lined for the cooler with beer for sale. Paid, cheersed eachother and sat down to enjoy the beer as our not-so-happy moto guy inspected the damage. He took responsibility for it and we paid him for the time we had it and then some and then jumped on his bike for our complimentary ride home.
A long shower and first-aid session later, Simon and I both agreed to just give up and hang around the rest of the day.
Today I tried getting a guide to take me around to the places I missed and even that failed. A quarter into the trip, my driver told me we couldn't go to half the places I told him I wanted to go- told him to take me home and now here I am: done being adventurous and fully soaking in the lazy feel of this place in a treehouse hammock with a book and my iPod. It could be worse...
I am pretty sure I dreamt about this place when I was a child. Treehouses and hammocks galore, this little piece of gorgeous land is filled with gardens, ponds and free-range animals of all sorts. The bungalows are simple but comfy and the food is rather delicious. Oh and the outdoor bathrooms- maybe the coolest place to spend time when nature calls... Added 'outdoor bathroom' to my mental dreamhouse after taking a hot shower amongst flowers and blue skies.
I arrived here at Nature Lodge in Sen Monorom after three days of buses and traveling- the plan was to get as far north as possible while still allowing myself some time to enjoy it before heading towards Siem Reap. The furthest north I could get direct from Sihanoukville was Kompong Cham so that was stop #1- a quiet little river town that, unfortunately, left a bad taste in my mouth.
I was pleased to see the town was not, by any means, touristy but started feeling a bit vulnerable as there seemed to be a substantially skewed ratio of men to women roaming the river-side streets. Was able to enjoy a nice dinner and sunset along the Mekong before reverting back to my nice hotel room (splurged the extra two dollars for a room that had a window didn't smell like smoke) after a moto with three teenage boys got uncomfortably close as they raced by yelling some Khmer nonsense at me. Woke up early to watch the sunrise and eat a yummy breakfast and then walked down to see the bridge that the locals rebuild each dry season that spans the Mekong over to a small island (pretty impressive as its made entirely out of bamboo). Talked to some kids on the way back and stopped for a few pictures of the floating villages. Decided to kill some time just relaxing by the river and taking in the fresh air before my bus journey to Kratie. The enjoyment of my nice little morning came to a crashing hault though as I realized a guy, half-hiding behind a tree, was doing inappropriate things to himself while staring intently at me... Feeling slightly violated and completely disgusted, I resorted to my room until it was time for the next bus.
A couple hours on a crowded and less-than-air-conditioned bus and I arrived in another quite riverside town- Kratie- that immediately gave me a sense of safety. Though there wasn't too much to do in this town, I had decided that I was already sick of bus rides and would stay here for a few nights before I headed west. Well, that decision lasted about an hour before I met a Swedish girl named Ana. We started chatting about what to do in kratie and where we were both staying. She said she had checked into a place but a guy had tried getting into her room and then began following her so we decided it would be a win-win situation if she came over to my place and took the free bed in my room. Less money for both of us and more security for her. That's when she started telling me about her amazing week in Sen Monorom and this wonderful place called nature lodge and how she already missed the friendly locals and jungles and waterfalls... That's when I, again, changed my plans. Watched the sunset from a beautiful balcony overlooking the Mekong and booked my ticket up north around 9pm for the following morning.
This time it was a five hour journey on both paved and dirt roads in a mini-van that was packed with (I do not exaggerate) 21 people. (And believe it or not, we were living large compared to other vans that were weighed down with people on their roofs and boxes hanging out the back with simple ropes holding the trunk door down...) Finally got in to sen monorom and found a moto to drive me out of town to nature lodge. And then I was home.
One of the guys on our packed mini bus showed up later and we started talking about hiring a moto to go see the various waterfalls and sights around for the next day. Walked into town and haggled for a good price and had a deal- the moto guy would personally drop off our moto in the morning to nature lodge and we had a day to hit up all the sights. Sweet. Dinner and sunset watching at nature lodge and bed before the generator turned off at ten.
Our moto biking day turned out slightly disasterous but one of those adventures that you can laugh about later and one that, ultimately, could have turned out a lot worse. The moto guys showed up a bit late with our bike- a red and white moto with a not so powerful engine and some pretty bald tires. Simon took a test drive and asked the guy if it was possible to get a better bike with better tires and a bit more umph in the engine. The guy though assured us that the roads we would be riding on would be plenty okay with what we were given so we caved and accepted the bike and went on our way.
Took us about 7 minutes of driving to figure out that this may be a little hairier than we were lead to believe- a 40 k drive up to this first waterfall and the roads were already filled with numerous hills and were definitely not paved like we were told. Instead of asphalt, we had roads of big, chunky rocks covered in inches of the fine, red dirt/dust that covered all of sen monorom. Awesome. Our bottoms were beyond sore and hurting only a quarter of the way in but we kept on...
We knew we had to be getting close when the roads started getting extra rough- bigger rocks with more dust/dirt on top- and we took a tumble as Simon was trying to brake (only one of which worked) and shift while avoiding the biggest rocks and ended up just skidding out on the loose dirt. To say 'tumble' may be an exaggeration though- it was more of a 'falling over' as as we were traveling at a speed of maybe 3mph. Scrapped up elbows, a deeply bruised hip and some cuts on our feet were the worst of our injuries- also just being covered in the finest of fine red dust from head to toe added a bit of insult to injury!
Dusting off our dirty clothes and bruised egos, we mustarded up the motivation to keep on going- one more curve and we had finally arrived- really?? Paid the park fee and entered into a beautiful two tiered waterfall that was surrounded with local families picnicing and, unfortunately, a mad amount of rubbish. Washed up a bit, soaked our wounds and ate our pack lunches on a nice big rock in the middle of the rushing waters. Discussed where we would head next and decided we would stop by our moto rental place first and tell the guys that our bike was crap and that we wanted a new one for the remainder of the day. If they wouldn't give us a new one, we would pay half the day's fee and walk away- we were more than willing to pay a fair price but we weren't gonna get ripped off for being put on a dangerous, ill-performing bike- yea, that's what we will do and if they give us crap, well then f that! (often times you have to give yourself a pep talk before these little haggling episodes or else your willpower will just fail against their veteran tourist-dealings).
Jumped back on the bike again and started heading back towards town. Took our time over the nasty streches of roads and were sure to give our asses a break or two along the way. We were doing good. That is, until we started veering off the road for no apparent reason. Simon and I were both able to balance the bike with our feet as he put on our one break and caught our breath for a second before asking eachother 'what the f??'. Our front tire had blown... Sweet. We have the number of our moto guy but no cell phone- the last village was about two miles down- let's just start walking that way. Out of some miraculous coincidence, a pick up truck (probably only about 20 of them in the entire eastern region of Cambodia) with an empty bed (empty space in any car is always a rarity) was driving towards us just as we started our journey. We asked them if we could get a ride back to town and the guys obliged and even helped us haul our POS bike into the bed of the truck. Simon got to 'ride' the bike back in the truck bed so it wouldn't tip over- we were the epitomy of 'farang' (the dumb white tourist). We unloaded the bike, offered the nice man some money which he would not take and b-lined for the cooler with beer for sale. Paid, cheersed eachother and sat down to enjoy the beer as our not-so-happy moto guy inspected the damage. He took responsibility for it and we paid him for the time we had it and then some and then jumped on his bike for our complimentary ride home.
A long shower and first-aid session later, Simon and I both agreed to just give up and hang around the rest of the day.
Today I tried getting a guide to take me around to the places I missed and even that failed. A quarter into the trip, my driver told me we couldn't go to half the places I told him I wanted to go- told him to take me home and now here I am: done being adventurous and fully soaking in the lazy feel of this place in a treehouse hammock with a book and my iPod. It could be worse...
Friday, February 5, 2010
Farewell CCPP and all you beautiful souls...
Well here I am, sitting on another over-air conditioned bus with my life once again packed up into one oversized backpack and an overcrowded purse. Both iPods are fully charged and I have two new books and my journal within reach should I feel bored with the scenery. This time, however, I am leaving a town that was a home of sorts- one where I had a makeshift family of international sweethearts and 150+ reasons to get up in the morning. These kids have left an impression on me that I hope to never forget- they are small glimmers of hope in a country with a dire history and a dim future.
There are so many kids that come in and out of CCPP that it is virtually impossible to know all their names and stories- we have over 150 registered and still have new kids showing up daily- but there are definitely a few that stood out to me during my month here. There's the young ones who stole my heart from the very beginning- 'Grumpy' or Tas is maybe one of the cutest little boys I have ever seen- being the youngest out of a family of 9, he probably gets the most crap from his brothers but also the most amount of love. He doesn't really ever paint, he just likes to wander around making little bouts of trouble and small gestures of friendship. Not sure how he acquired the nickname as he is always pretty happy but somehow it still seems to fit him. Then there's 'sharktooth' or Dom- he's a lot like Grumps but is a real troublemaker and no one questions his nickname- this little guy has his front 4 teeth completely rotted out- all jagged and blackened. He had never painted before and would just come with his sister Vandy all the time, but he has recently started scribbling mad amounts of colors together and is selling paintings as fast as he makes them. Then there's Mary, a new little girl that posesses a beauty that makes people stare. She comes now with her two older brothers, the middle one always making trouble and the oldest always looking after the you younger two, and is a mystery to us. Sometimes she comes in with a big smile on her face and other times, it takes us a whole day to even get a sliver of happiness out of those beautiful eyes. Becca is now sponsoring one of the brothers and got to go meet the family. These three kids live on a platform on the beach with their mom and two (even younger) siblings- I was told the father passed away. Madeline and co. are going to try and find a sponsor to get the family into a real structure and/or build some kind of home for them before the rainy season begins. Hopefully it won't be too long before they have something over their heads but a simple tarp.
Then there is Piseth who is an older boy with autism (never properly diagnosed but has all the symptoms) who was a strain on his family for a long time and who now sells these amazing abstract paintings for $40-100/each. His favorite thing to do is to make these stunning canvases filled up with a giant circle in the middle using ketchup-like bottles filled with paint and a knife. We couldn't figure out why he always did this circle pattern until it was finally told and translated to us one day- it is the golden lions traffic circle- the roundabout just up the road from our building. We were all contemplating different deep meanings of the circle before and it was just simply a traffic circle- amazing!
There is Varen who is fairly young but does just breathtaking works and is a charming but cheecky fellow and Chandlon who is new and so polite and has an amazing and very unique style of painting. There's Nyogk who has made me actually think that there IS a legitimate reason why ridaline (spelling?) was invented- though I'm thinking a minor diet change could also help to lower his hyperactivity as the kid is always eating some sugar-loaded dessert of one kind or another. There's Nil, a new ten year old boy that has more hoola-hoopin skills than I have ever seen before and who always uses his 'please' and 'thank you's'. Ho, our cook, is 18 years old and speaks amazing English- she always wears layers of clothes in the blaring Cambodian heat and tells us she's cold as she constantly sports a sweat mustache. There's one boy who always helps us with lunch and picking the kids up from school and who told us wants to be an 'NGO staff' when he gets older. Srey Own was one of my favorite little girls after our first field trip where she drew a beautiful picture of me in the sand- she always used her manners and had a beaming smile that just radiated light. Sing was a veteren kid who was great about taking care of his little brother and was a sweetheart to everyone... The list goes on.
(btw- This is nowhere close to a complete or fair compilation- a month is not near long enough to really get to know that many kids, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment.)
As for our crew of volunteers, we had quite the variety as well: Felix, the guy who really got this project rolling, is resigning in sihanoukville to put on a European art show to make money for ccpp and for the new foundation they want to start up in Africa. Taking his place is Madeline who grew up on the San Juan islands and who has spent the last few years working in China and Thailand. Then there's Sandi- a Canadian artist who runs a big portion of this whole production- as a general rule: what Sandi says, goes. Pip and John Brown are both Khemer social workers that do everything from keeping records of school attendance and driving kids to the doctors/dentist to teaching English and disiplining. They are both great guys and are our saving grace when the kids don't listen to us (they speak the language and are male- goes a long way out here). Nikki is a Minnesota native who has spent the last six years in Alaska- she went to school for nursing so she gets to do all the first aid around the house: disenfecting wounds and wrapping toes and scrapped knees and applying anti-fungal cream to the kids we found ringworm on. There is Becca and Sarah- both beautiful Melbourne girls who are/were the social butterflies around town and in the bars every night. Matt and Lisa- a Brit couple who are genuinely some of the nicest people I have come across... I just hope they get married one day and make little children that have the same values and enthusiasium as those two- the world needs more people like them! Then there's Paige and Kylie- gorgeous friends who met in college in New York and who are now traveling and volunteering for a few months after working real jobs for a bit. And Ischtvan, our Hungarian volunteer who was previously working in Dubai and who does not have a single bad bone in his body.
As I was leaving, we were just getting four new volunteers- one, Zoe, is a spunky girl from Amsterdam with a passion for poi and fire dancing. The other three are all from Melbourne and seem to be whole-heartidly good people. I think CCPP is in good hands for awhile...
My emotions are all jumbled as I start the journey home but I am so very grateful for my time here and, most of all, the people that were a part of it all. To everyone helping to run and maintain the successful program that CCPP has become, thank you! To the kind souls that all came together to help volunteer, safe travels and thank you for making my time here what it was. And to the kids of CCPP- I love you all- keep on being kids and please please stay in school and in CCPP- you are all capable of doing whatever your little hearts desire- and thanks- you taught me a lot!
Please pass along the info for ccpp to anyone who may be intrested in volunteering and/or wanting to clear out their closests of acrylic paints and boxes of erasers...
www.letuscreate.org
There are so many kids that come in and out of CCPP that it is virtually impossible to know all their names and stories- we have over 150 registered and still have new kids showing up daily- but there are definitely a few that stood out to me during my month here. There's the young ones who stole my heart from the very beginning- 'Grumpy' or Tas is maybe one of the cutest little boys I have ever seen- being the youngest out of a family of 9, he probably gets the most crap from his brothers but also the most amount of love. He doesn't really ever paint, he just likes to wander around making little bouts of trouble and small gestures of friendship. Not sure how he acquired the nickname as he is always pretty happy but somehow it still seems to fit him. Then there's 'sharktooth' or Dom- he's a lot like Grumps but is a real troublemaker and no one questions his nickname- this little guy has his front 4 teeth completely rotted out- all jagged and blackened. He had never painted before and would just come with his sister Vandy all the time, but he has recently started scribbling mad amounts of colors together and is selling paintings as fast as he makes them. Then there's Mary, a new little girl that posesses a beauty that makes people stare. She comes now with her two older brothers, the middle one always making trouble and the oldest always looking after the you younger two, and is a mystery to us. Sometimes she comes in with a big smile on her face and other times, it takes us a whole day to even get a sliver of happiness out of those beautiful eyes. Becca is now sponsoring one of the brothers and got to go meet the family. These three kids live on a platform on the beach with their mom and two (even younger) siblings- I was told the father passed away. Madeline and co. are going to try and find a sponsor to get the family into a real structure and/or build some kind of home for them before the rainy season begins. Hopefully it won't be too long before they have something over their heads but a simple tarp.
Then there is Piseth who is an older boy with autism (never properly diagnosed but has all the symptoms) who was a strain on his family for a long time and who now sells these amazing abstract paintings for $40-100/each. His favorite thing to do is to make these stunning canvases filled up with a giant circle in the middle using ketchup-like bottles filled with paint and a knife. We couldn't figure out why he always did this circle pattern until it was finally told and translated to us one day- it is the golden lions traffic circle- the roundabout just up the road from our building. We were all contemplating different deep meanings of the circle before and it was just simply a traffic circle- amazing!
There is Varen who is fairly young but does just breathtaking works and is a charming but cheecky fellow and Chandlon who is new and so polite and has an amazing and very unique style of painting. There's Nyogk who has made me actually think that there IS a legitimate reason why ridaline (spelling?) was invented- though I'm thinking a minor diet change could also help to lower his hyperactivity as the kid is always eating some sugar-loaded dessert of one kind or another. There's Nil, a new ten year old boy that has more hoola-hoopin skills than I have ever seen before and who always uses his 'please' and 'thank you's'. Ho, our cook, is 18 years old and speaks amazing English- she always wears layers of clothes in the blaring Cambodian heat and tells us she's cold as she constantly sports a sweat mustache. There's one boy who always helps us with lunch and picking the kids up from school and who told us wants to be an 'NGO staff' when he gets older. Srey Own was one of my favorite little girls after our first field trip where she drew a beautiful picture of me in the sand- she always used her manners and had a beaming smile that just radiated light. Sing was a veteren kid who was great about taking care of his little brother and was a sweetheart to everyone... The list goes on.
(btw- This is nowhere close to a complete or fair compilation- a month is not near long enough to really get to know that many kids, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment.)
As for our crew of volunteers, we had quite the variety as well: Felix, the guy who really got this project rolling, is resigning in sihanoukville to put on a European art show to make money for ccpp and for the new foundation they want to start up in Africa. Taking his place is Madeline who grew up on the San Juan islands and who has spent the last few years working in China and Thailand. Then there's Sandi- a Canadian artist who runs a big portion of this whole production- as a general rule: what Sandi says, goes. Pip and John Brown are both Khemer social workers that do everything from keeping records of school attendance and driving kids to the doctors/dentist to teaching English and disiplining. They are both great guys and are our saving grace when the kids don't listen to us (they speak the language and are male- goes a long way out here). Nikki is a Minnesota native who has spent the last six years in Alaska- she went to school for nursing so she gets to do all the first aid around the house: disenfecting wounds and wrapping toes and scrapped knees and applying anti-fungal cream to the kids we found ringworm on. There is Becca and Sarah- both beautiful Melbourne girls who are/were the social butterflies around town and in the bars every night. Matt and Lisa- a Brit couple who are genuinely some of the nicest people I have come across... I just hope they get married one day and make little children that have the same values and enthusiasium as those two- the world needs more people like them! Then there's Paige and Kylie- gorgeous friends who met in college in New York and who are now traveling and volunteering for a few months after working real jobs for a bit. And Ischtvan, our Hungarian volunteer who was previously working in Dubai and who does not have a single bad bone in his body.
As I was leaving, we were just getting four new volunteers- one, Zoe, is a spunky girl from Amsterdam with a passion for poi and fire dancing. The other three are all from Melbourne and seem to be whole-heartidly good people. I think CCPP is in good hands for awhile...
My emotions are all jumbled as I start the journey home but I am so very grateful for my time here and, most of all, the people that were a part of it all. To everyone helping to run and maintain the successful program that CCPP has become, thank you! To the kind souls that all came together to help volunteer, safe travels and thank you for making my time here what it was. And to the kids of CCPP- I love you all- keep on being kids and please please stay in school and in CCPP- you are all capable of doing whatever your little hearts desire- and thanks- you taught me a lot!
Please pass along the info for ccpp to anyone who may be intrested in volunteering and/or wanting to clear out their closests of acrylic paints and boxes of erasers...
www.letuscreate.org
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Cambodia!
Holy guac- where has the time gone??? I officially have less than a month in Asia and am already more than halfway through my time with CCPP. Bittersweet.... Just wishing time could slow down for just a second to let my mind catch up a bit!
To start where I left off:
I had another luxurious flight from Hong Kong back to Saigon and had just enough time to haggle for a taxi and find a guesthouse before everyone closed up at midnight. Woke up early the next day and caught the first bus to Phenom Penh. Crossed the border no problems and got to sit next to a very talkative and intrusive Russian who smelled moldy for a good 6 hours. Arrived in Phenom Penh and found out that the buses for Sihanoukville had already left- checked into a nearby guesthouse, befriended an Aussie and two Nigerians over dinner and headed to bed. Early morning stroll around the grand palace and breakfast on the river in PP and then jumped on a bus at noon towards Sihanoukville.
Got picked up by Madeline, CCPP's new director, from the bus stop and hopped into a tuk tuk. I learned within the first few minutes that she grew up with the beautiful and sweet Jess Levee- a sure sign of good things to come- and she was gracious enough to give me a mini tour of the town as we flew by in our little tuk tuk. Arrived at CCPP right around 5 which is closing time so everyone was outside at the bar next door with a fresh beer in their hand. Got introduced, shown around and given my room- nothing fancy but oh how I loved unpacking and putting that backpack away! Went outside and grabbed a beer as well and got to know my fellow volunteers before we all headed out for dinner- real burgers at Outback (no, not the chain with bloomin onions)- delicious!
Some background info on the program and the town: Sihanoukville is a little city on the Cambodian coast near the Vietnam border. The town is broken up into a few different sections and beaches which are fairly spread out. The beaches here are gorgeous- white sand, turqouise water- but are also taken over a lot by little restaraunts and shops and vendors offering massages, pedicures and children selling bracelletes and fireworks. Like much of Cambodia, much of this town is plauged with poverty- made obvious by the amount of beggars and delapitated shacks lined behind the bigger resorts.
Sihanoukville has been a backpackers place for quite awhile and the tourism here is what keeps this little place afloat. Unfortunately, with the increased tourism, other serious issues have become more prevalant- theft is not uncommon and cases of vilonce and rape are not unheard of here (though most of these cases tend to be more localized around the heavy bar scene here). More disconcerting, however, is the fact that this place has become a destination of those who come to Asia for the sex tourism. Even worse and more sickening, it has become a 'hotspot' for pedophiles.
Because kids can often make 'good money' selling on the beach to tourists, they often decide to forego school and spend their days and nights out on the beach schmoozing with the fat westerners laying out in speedos- charming them and eventually getting them to buy whatever they are selling. And how can you refuse?? These kids are beyond adorable- and they are tough as nails- you can tell they are poor and they will sit forever and chat with you- you feel guilty and sad for this sweet child so you buy $5 with of handmade bracelletes and feel better for helping out- that seems to be the mentality here. And I have no doubt that each beach kid goes home with anywhere from $10-40/night- which is huge in a place where teachers get paid $30/month and cops get paid $80/month. Thus, in a place where education is seriously lacking and costs money, heaps of kids decide they rather make the money and learn English through their haggling and bargining with the western tourists (and these kids have excellent english skills after a few years on the beach- but they can't read or write a word of it!).
A lot of these beach kids are the ones that fall into prostitution though- easy money. Your heart always breaks when you see a young (12-17ish) pretty Khemer girl walking the beaches at night. There are other stories of western tourists offering kids on the beach a wad of cash to come back to their hotel for a few hours- absolutely sickening. With a corrupt government and police force and a terrible national history, the problems do not seem to be getting any better as time goes on- it's ultimately a vicious cycle perpetuated by poverty.
CCPP, Cambodian Childrens Painting Project, is a NGO dedicated to giving kids a safe place to be. There are a lot of different projects that they run but child safety, I would say, is the number one priority. It was started by an artist who used to paint on the beaches here and would attract a rather large number of beach kids who were all interested in what he was doing. What it has evolved into now, is a program that allows children of all ages to come and learn and play. Each child is allowed to do two paintings a day which are then sold in our gallery- the paintings are $4/each: $2 goes directly to the kid and $2 gets put back into the program. Everyday after the morning art, there is an hour long English lesson and/or a typing class. After the afternoon painting session, the kids get to do some kind of arts and crafts and/or read and play games. Once a week (sometimes more), we take the kids on a field trip to a nearby beach or temple or to see the monkeys. We serve snacks and a hot lunch daily to anyone who shows up and provide health care, dental care, clothes and food to anyone who needs it. CCPP is always finding new sponsors for kids to go to school as well and keeps records of their attendence and makes house visits whenever neccessary. There's a bike fund to buy and maintain bikes for kids who live further away and a rice fund where needy families get a designated amount of rice a month. We also do a trade with the local English school where we have one volunteer help teach everyday and, in turn, they sponsor 10 kids for a year.
All in all, it is an impressive program that offers a ton of great services to any kid who wants or needs them. There is no requirement to show up or punishment for not attending- it is entirely the child's choice. We have anywhere from 30-110 kids showing up daily ranging in age from 1.5 to 18 years old. Though most of our kids all come from poor families, all of them seem to have a family and home of sorts- some being raised by relatives and some living in rather depressing locations- it is not an orphange though as many seem to assume.
It has been really nice waking up in the morning with a purpose again. Working with the kids is entirely exhausting at times but is fun and entertainng as well. Just like the kids back home, a lot of them are just little 'cheeky monkies' (as two of the Aussie girls just taught them to say- aka: little shits) and like to make your life a little bit harder by 'boxing' with one another or messing up eachothers paintings or just climbing all over you. As a whole though, it is a great group of kids with some amazing talent. The group of volunteers, as well, is a fantastic group of people. We have an international crew that is ever-changing but all of which are beautiful souls. My time there, thus far, has proven to be worth the time and money and my only regret is not having more time here.
I have much more to write and share about the individual kids and the wonderful volunteers and the great little Cambodian towns I have since visited but I will save that for the next blog and just get SOMEthing up for now- sorry for slacking!
If you want to look up some more info on CCPP, look us up on the interweb- it's a worthy cause and amazing program if you are looking for some place to stash a bit of cash...
www.letuscreate.org
To start where I left off:
I had another luxurious flight from Hong Kong back to Saigon and had just enough time to haggle for a taxi and find a guesthouse before everyone closed up at midnight. Woke up early the next day and caught the first bus to Phenom Penh. Crossed the border no problems and got to sit next to a very talkative and intrusive Russian who smelled moldy for a good 6 hours. Arrived in Phenom Penh and found out that the buses for Sihanoukville had already left- checked into a nearby guesthouse, befriended an Aussie and two Nigerians over dinner and headed to bed. Early morning stroll around the grand palace and breakfast on the river in PP and then jumped on a bus at noon towards Sihanoukville.
Got picked up by Madeline, CCPP's new director, from the bus stop and hopped into a tuk tuk. I learned within the first few minutes that she grew up with the beautiful and sweet Jess Levee- a sure sign of good things to come- and she was gracious enough to give me a mini tour of the town as we flew by in our little tuk tuk. Arrived at CCPP right around 5 which is closing time so everyone was outside at the bar next door with a fresh beer in their hand. Got introduced, shown around and given my room- nothing fancy but oh how I loved unpacking and putting that backpack away! Went outside and grabbed a beer as well and got to know my fellow volunteers before we all headed out for dinner- real burgers at Outback (no, not the chain with bloomin onions)- delicious!
Some background info on the program and the town: Sihanoukville is a little city on the Cambodian coast near the Vietnam border. The town is broken up into a few different sections and beaches which are fairly spread out. The beaches here are gorgeous- white sand, turqouise water- but are also taken over a lot by little restaraunts and shops and vendors offering massages, pedicures and children selling bracelletes and fireworks. Like much of Cambodia, much of this town is plauged with poverty- made obvious by the amount of beggars and delapitated shacks lined behind the bigger resorts.
Sihanoukville has been a backpackers place for quite awhile and the tourism here is what keeps this little place afloat. Unfortunately, with the increased tourism, other serious issues have become more prevalant- theft is not uncommon and cases of vilonce and rape are not unheard of here (though most of these cases tend to be more localized around the heavy bar scene here). More disconcerting, however, is the fact that this place has become a destination of those who come to Asia for the sex tourism. Even worse and more sickening, it has become a 'hotspot' for pedophiles.
Because kids can often make 'good money' selling on the beach to tourists, they often decide to forego school and spend their days and nights out on the beach schmoozing with the fat westerners laying out in speedos- charming them and eventually getting them to buy whatever they are selling. And how can you refuse?? These kids are beyond adorable- and they are tough as nails- you can tell they are poor and they will sit forever and chat with you- you feel guilty and sad for this sweet child so you buy $5 with of handmade bracelletes and feel better for helping out- that seems to be the mentality here. And I have no doubt that each beach kid goes home with anywhere from $10-40/night- which is huge in a place where teachers get paid $30/month and cops get paid $80/month. Thus, in a place where education is seriously lacking and costs money, heaps of kids decide they rather make the money and learn English through their haggling and bargining with the western tourists (and these kids have excellent english skills after a few years on the beach- but they can't read or write a word of it!).
A lot of these beach kids are the ones that fall into prostitution though- easy money. Your heart always breaks when you see a young (12-17ish) pretty Khemer girl walking the beaches at night. There are other stories of western tourists offering kids on the beach a wad of cash to come back to their hotel for a few hours- absolutely sickening. With a corrupt government and police force and a terrible national history, the problems do not seem to be getting any better as time goes on- it's ultimately a vicious cycle perpetuated by poverty.
CCPP, Cambodian Childrens Painting Project, is a NGO dedicated to giving kids a safe place to be. There are a lot of different projects that they run but child safety, I would say, is the number one priority. It was started by an artist who used to paint on the beaches here and would attract a rather large number of beach kids who were all interested in what he was doing. What it has evolved into now, is a program that allows children of all ages to come and learn and play. Each child is allowed to do two paintings a day which are then sold in our gallery- the paintings are $4/each: $2 goes directly to the kid and $2 gets put back into the program. Everyday after the morning art, there is an hour long English lesson and/or a typing class. After the afternoon painting session, the kids get to do some kind of arts and crafts and/or read and play games. Once a week (sometimes more), we take the kids on a field trip to a nearby beach or temple or to see the monkeys. We serve snacks and a hot lunch daily to anyone who shows up and provide health care, dental care, clothes and food to anyone who needs it. CCPP is always finding new sponsors for kids to go to school as well and keeps records of their attendence and makes house visits whenever neccessary. There's a bike fund to buy and maintain bikes for kids who live further away and a rice fund where needy families get a designated amount of rice a month. We also do a trade with the local English school where we have one volunteer help teach everyday and, in turn, they sponsor 10 kids for a year.
All in all, it is an impressive program that offers a ton of great services to any kid who wants or needs them. There is no requirement to show up or punishment for not attending- it is entirely the child's choice. We have anywhere from 30-110 kids showing up daily ranging in age from 1.5 to 18 years old. Though most of our kids all come from poor families, all of them seem to have a family and home of sorts- some being raised by relatives and some living in rather depressing locations- it is not an orphange though as many seem to assume.
It has been really nice waking up in the morning with a purpose again. Working with the kids is entirely exhausting at times but is fun and entertainng as well. Just like the kids back home, a lot of them are just little 'cheeky monkies' (as two of the Aussie girls just taught them to say- aka: little shits) and like to make your life a little bit harder by 'boxing' with one another or messing up eachothers paintings or just climbing all over you. As a whole though, it is a great group of kids with some amazing talent. The group of volunteers, as well, is a fantastic group of people. We have an international crew that is ever-changing but all of which are beautiful souls. My time there, thus far, has proven to be worth the time and money and my only regret is not having more time here.
I have much more to write and share about the individual kids and the wonderful volunteers and the great little Cambodian towns I have since visited but I will save that for the next blog and just get SOMEthing up for now- sorry for slacking!
If you want to look up some more info on CCPP, look us up on the interweb- it's a worthy cause and amazing program if you are looking for some place to stash a bit of cash...
www.letuscreate.org
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
New Years in Hong Kong
Much to my disappointment, we arrived in Hong Kong early- thus meaning I had to leave my comfortable, massaging seat and free drinks and make my way to the hotel in the foggy China weather to patiently await Andy's arrival in about 11 hours. Grabbed my bags, made it through customs and jumped on the very sleek and efficent Airport Express with my new friend and airplane neighbor Tom. Got off the rail and had to try and translate the name of my hotel to three different taxis before one finally knew the Rambler Garden. Got to the hotel ready for a warm bed and hot shower to be told that my room wouldn't be ready for another couple hours. Oh, I was heartbroken! Killed time waiting in the overly air conditoned coffee shop (which I was kicked out of because I wasn't ordering anything cuz I was so damn full from my flight here) and freezing lobby and exploring the mini mall that was below our hotel (not so long till I figured out everything here is a mall). Finally got to our room, turned the aircondtioner to the highest temperature possible (since I was unable to turn it off) and then curled up into a ball and slept a solid three or four hours.
More sufficently rested, I could now appreciate the view from our huge window that overlooked hong kong island and kowloon (and much to Andy's liking, a huge port where they loaded and unloaded huge freight ships with various things such as Mercedes cars). I still had hours till andy's flight got in and my motivation to get lost in an overwhelmingly huge city was just not there so I went and got some oatmeal and bananas and a bottle of wine from the mall's grocery store and stole wifi from our neighbors also living on the 27th floor and watched Discovery channel while dozing in and out of sleep.
Andy finally arrived after 10pm, exhausted and bagless. My sweet boy gave me the nice business class seats for my three hour flight as he was on the most indirect/not so galmorous 18+ hour flights and was dealing with a 20 hour time difference as I had only an hour time difference. Despite the mishaps though, we were here and happy to be together.
The next morning was spent near the hotel so we could get Andy's bag when it arrived. We ventured to one of the many subway stations that have massive malls attached and ordered some mcdonalds and decided to see the next showing of Avatar in 3D that was convinently being shown in the next half hour right across from the micky d's we were sitting at. Now I know this seems like an overly American way to spend a day, but everyone around us seemed to be spending the majorty of their day as well in these little malls and eating crap western food and just consuming.... So really, I think we were just soaking up the hong kong way of life!
Got back to the hotel, found Andy's bag, napped off our very hectic day and headed out for some mexican food. Andy knew of a good place that had excellent Mexican food and provided some entertaining people watching- and boy was he right on both... The Mexican food was spectacular and the first I had in three months- margaritas, chips and guacamole, tacos and something resembling Jalisco's armidillo- amazing! The people watching came complete with lots of creepy western dudes and young, attractive Asian girls all surrounding gentleman's lounges and strip clubs- some discretely labled while others were just plain proud of their dirty persona. Packed up what we couldn't finish and headed back to the hotel to polish off the bottle of wine and, later, the left over mexican goodness.
The rest of 2009 was pretty lazy during the day. It included such adventures as trying the Chinese take of an 'american breakfast' which was mostly horrible and sleeping off jet lag for Andy. We geared up later and bundled up for the night and headed towards Kowloon for dinner. We were in the mood for Indian and had heard that the best place to get it was the Chungking Mansion so that's where we were headed. I think we had an idea of what to expect from this place, but I'm not sure we were really prepared for what we got ourselves into. The Chungking Mansion is a huge apartment building of sorts which has been converted into a maze and madhouse of guesthouses, restaraunts, stores selling all kinds of ripped off and stolen goods. According to the two mafia guys we were chatting with outside the restaraunt, "you can get anything you want here: ammunition, girls, drugs, good Indian food". To say I was on the brink of an anxiety attack is a bit of an understatement- I think i looked like a deer in headlights. After taking the elevator to the eighth floor and then walking down a flight of stairs to the seventh floor like we were told and waiting in a crowded hallway with our mafia chums, we did, indeed, have some of the most amazing Indian food.
Took the stairs (bad idea) and got out of that 'mansion' as quick as we could after paying the bill. Followed the hoards of people as they streamed towards the waterfront. We still had about an hour and a half so grabbed a coffee at starbucks (ya I know) and took a seat on the deck overlooking the water and thousands of people who continued to be herded in. Andy grabbed us each a Bud before the actual countdown and the thousands of people waiting in the cold on the waterfront were rewarded with a pretty dinky fireworks display from the top of a couple high rises on the bay. It was quite lame really- I mean Hong Kong is such an impressive city and I'm pretty sure a huge producer of these pyros- it just wasn't quite up to par. Maybe we weren't sitting at the right angle or something but we later confirmed with other travelers that we were not alone in our disappointment. Fireworks aside, I was with Andy in Hong Kong, tummy filled with a delicious dinner and a beer in my hand- it was a pretty spectacular way to kick off the new year/decade. We watched the crowds disperse as we sat under heat lamps at the neighboring bar and attempted to get home in the sea of people after another drink. Anywhere else in the world world, it would have probably taken us hours to get home- the subways were jam packed with people and we were less than thrilled as we got into line with the crowd- but, those Hong Kongians are just fricken amazing in how they work- we made it home in no time.
The next few days were spent being tourists around this great city.
First stop, we went to see the big buddah and a little fishing village on the outskirts of town which were both gorgeous but also tourist traps in many ways. Regardless, we got to snap pictures with the biggest buddah statue in the world and inhale some frgrant smoke from the biggest inscense in the world and eat some fake vegetarian meat and have some amazing views on a very clear day. Then we got to walk around the small streets of a little fishing village that filled it's narrow roads with the aroma of dried fish and other mysterious looking food.
There was a day of exploring the longest escalator in the world, shopping and bargining for various pieces of jade and meandering around shops filled with random belongings- old shoes, antique book, various VHS's and ancient TV sets. There was a wonderful little park we got to stroll around looking for a tea house (that ended up being under construction) where we got some beautiful pictures of the finely manicured plants and coy ponds (and the many amature photographers with cameras and lenses that were meant for some National-Geographic-photo-taking rather than coy-pond-snapping in a park).
We got to eat some good Chinese food at a little tea house that was listed in an article about 'places to eat before you die' and got some pretty terrific American grub at a litlle diner that played oldies the whole time. We took the ferry across from Kowloon to Hong Kong island a few times which is short but sweet and got to semi-celebrate Andy's birthday with a little piece of cake before I had to leave. We moved to our nicer hotel that looked over the bay and soaked in the little hot tub barrel that was out on our deck. We got to be part of the hustle and bustle of the ladies market and even returned to the Kungching Mansion again for another amazing dinner at a different Indian restaraunt. All things good...
Hong Kong in general is a fascinating city. The amount of people who live there is just astounding. Everyone lives in a high rise which is typically in a bigger cluster of high rises which all usually have a mini mall in their basement. If not right next to the subway, each cluster of these high rises has a bus that regularly runs to and from the nearest MTR station. The buses, subways, everything runs so efficently and on time and the whole city just continues to flow effortlessly. Everyone there was dressed up- button downs, high heels, and some crazy fashions to be had. I think I was the only person I saw the whole time in flip flops- I definitely stood out with my yoga pants and baggy sweaters and old rainbows. The people there tend to be rather impersonable, but always polite- never unfriendly but never really overly friendly either. And the whole consumer culture there still boggles me- like I said before, everything is a mall, but I'm not sure you really understand till you have been there how much EVERYthing is some kind of shop or store- selling high fashion names (some we have never heard of- I think one was called Richard and Kevin?) and the newest gadgets and some just sheer crap like cheap plastic cars for kids and cell phone charms and such. There is a lot of western influence in many of the stores and restaraunts but there were definitely some more local influencce as well. Probably one of the most bizarre things Andy showed me was the mall attached to our second hotel- it was a bridal mall of sorts where the shops were dress shops and tailors, hair and makeup salons, a stationary store, rentals for tables and plate ware and then ballrooms and reception areas- you could literally plan your wedding out all in one spot and then have your whole wedding inside the mall- going from the salon and makeup place to the dressing room to the ceremony room to the reception area... And then if your guests don't like the food, they can go upstairs in the mall and order something from McDonalds or Starbucks- weird. Andy also pointed out the fact that not many people drink there and it proved to be true even on new years night- the only people at the bars were westerners. They also had some crazy fines for littering: $1500HKD for feeding pigeons in the park or $2000 HKD for spitting in the trash cans leading upto the ferry- the whole city is brilliantly clean though as you can imagine! There were even signs in various shops and tourist areas that stated how many times daily a doorhandle was sanitized. Just plain mind boggling!
After three months in under developed countries, I was a bit in shock and overload. The sheer mass of people and skyscrapers is intense in and of itself, but add to that the high fashion and consumer culture and I was just a plain fish outta water. To see things run as they should again (a bus that comes when it's supposed to? Imagine that!) and to see how clean and manicured the whole place was (after watching everyone throw their trash out the window and off bridges in southeast Asia), was very refreshing. To pay American prices again was a bit scary and not so much fun but also a reality check- not everywhere can you get by with 15 dollars a day. All in all, I was a bit on sensory overload in Hong Kong. I sure didn't fit in there, but damn, I can appreciate the way that city operates- I still don't understand it but I'm glad to see some functionality after three months of delays and 'just getting by'.
Most of all, the trip was about seeing Andy and I am so grateful for the oppurtunity to have this trip with him. It took a lot of planning and lots of miles and lots of money on Andy's end and I'm so thankful for his generosity and self sacrifice (having to go work two weeks in china afterwards) to have this rendevous. Our time apart was starting to take a toll on us both and another month and half was a daunting sentence- I think we are both breathing a lot easier now after a wonderful little trip together. So thank you Andy Olaf...
I know it's a bit delayed but happy 2010 y'all!!
More sufficently rested, I could now appreciate the view from our huge window that overlooked hong kong island and kowloon (and much to Andy's liking, a huge port where they loaded and unloaded huge freight ships with various things such as Mercedes cars). I still had hours till andy's flight got in and my motivation to get lost in an overwhelmingly huge city was just not there so I went and got some oatmeal and bananas and a bottle of wine from the mall's grocery store and stole wifi from our neighbors also living on the 27th floor and watched Discovery channel while dozing in and out of sleep.
Andy finally arrived after 10pm, exhausted and bagless. My sweet boy gave me the nice business class seats for my three hour flight as he was on the most indirect/not so galmorous 18+ hour flights and was dealing with a 20 hour time difference as I had only an hour time difference. Despite the mishaps though, we were here and happy to be together.
The next morning was spent near the hotel so we could get Andy's bag when it arrived. We ventured to one of the many subway stations that have massive malls attached and ordered some mcdonalds and decided to see the next showing of Avatar in 3D that was convinently being shown in the next half hour right across from the micky d's we were sitting at. Now I know this seems like an overly American way to spend a day, but everyone around us seemed to be spending the majorty of their day as well in these little malls and eating crap western food and just consuming.... So really, I think we were just soaking up the hong kong way of life!
Got back to the hotel, found Andy's bag, napped off our very hectic day and headed out for some mexican food. Andy knew of a good place that had excellent Mexican food and provided some entertaining people watching- and boy was he right on both... The Mexican food was spectacular and the first I had in three months- margaritas, chips and guacamole, tacos and something resembling Jalisco's armidillo- amazing! The people watching came complete with lots of creepy western dudes and young, attractive Asian girls all surrounding gentleman's lounges and strip clubs- some discretely labled while others were just plain proud of their dirty persona. Packed up what we couldn't finish and headed back to the hotel to polish off the bottle of wine and, later, the left over mexican goodness.
The rest of 2009 was pretty lazy during the day. It included such adventures as trying the Chinese take of an 'american breakfast' which was mostly horrible and sleeping off jet lag for Andy. We geared up later and bundled up for the night and headed towards Kowloon for dinner. We were in the mood for Indian and had heard that the best place to get it was the Chungking Mansion so that's where we were headed. I think we had an idea of what to expect from this place, but I'm not sure we were really prepared for what we got ourselves into. The Chungking Mansion is a huge apartment building of sorts which has been converted into a maze and madhouse of guesthouses, restaraunts, stores selling all kinds of ripped off and stolen goods. According to the two mafia guys we were chatting with outside the restaraunt, "you can get anything you want here: ammunition, girls, drugs, good Indian food". To say I was on the brink of an anxiety attack is a bit of an understatement- I think i looked like a deer in headlights. After taking the elevator to the eighth floor and then walking down a flight of stairs to the seventh floor like we were told and waiting in a crowded hallway with our mafia chums, we did, indeed, have some of the most amazing Indian food.
Took the stairs (bad idea) and got out of that 'mansion' as quick as we could after paying the bill. Followed the hoards of people as they streamed towards the waterfront. We still had about an hour and a half so grabbed a coffee at starbucks (ya I know) and took a seat on the deck overlooking the water and thousands of people who continued to be herded in. Andy grabbed us each a Bud before the actual countdown and the thousands of people waiting in the cold on the waterfront were rewarded with a pretty dinky fireworks display from the top of a couple high rises on the bay. It was quite lame really- I mean Hong Kong is such an impressive city and I'm pretty sure a huge producer of these pyros- it just wasn't quite up to par. Maybe we weren't sitting at the right angle or something but we later confirmed with other travelers that we were not alone in our disappointment. Fireworks aside, I was with Andy in Hong Kong, tummy filled with a delicious dinner and a beer in my hand- it was a pretty spectacular way to kick off the new year/decade. We watched the crowds disperse as we sat under heat lamps at the neighboring bar and attempted to get home in the sea of people after another drink. Anywhere else in the world world, it would have probably taken us hours to get home- the subways were jam packed with people and we were less than thrilled as we got into line with the crowd- but, those Hong Kongians are just fricken amazing in how they work- we made it home in no time.
The next few days were spent being tourists around this great city.
First stop, we went to see the big buddah and a little fishing village on the outskirts of town which were both gorgeous but also tourist traps in many ways. Regardless, we got to snap pictures with the biggest buddah statue in the world and inhale some frgrant smoke from the biggest inscense in the world and eat some fake vegetarian meat and have some amazing views on a very clear day. Then we got to walk around the small streets of a little fishing village that filled it's narrow roads with the aroma of dried fish and other mysterious looking food.
There was a day of exploring the longest escalator in the world, shopping and bargining for various pieces of jade and meandering around shops filled with random belongings- old shoes, antique book, various VHS's and ancient TV sets. There was a wonderful little park we got to stroll around looking for a tea house (that ended up being under construction) where we got some beautiful pictures of the finely manicured plants and coy ponds (and the many amature photographers with cameras and lenses that were meant for some National-Geographic-photo-taking rather than coy-pond-snapping in a park).
We got to eat some good Chinese food at a little tea house that was listed in an article about 'places to eat before you die' and got some pretty terrific American grub at a litlle diner that played oldies the whole time. We took the ferry across from Kowloon to Hong Kong island a few times which is short but sweet and got to semi-celebrate Andy's birthday with a little piece of cake before I had to leave. We moved to our nicer hotel that looked over the bay and soaked in the little hot tub barrel that was out on our deck. We got to be part of the hustle and bustle of the ladies market and even returned to the Kungching Mansion again for another amazing dinner at a different Indian restaraunt. All things good...
Hong Kong in general is a fascinating city. The amount of people who live there is just astounding. Everyone lives in a high rise which is typically in a bigger cluster of high rises which all usually have a mini mall in their basement. If not right next to the subway, each cluster of these high rises has a bus that regularly runs to and from the nearest MTR station. The buses, subways, everything runs so efficently and on time and the whole city just continues to flow effortlessly. Everyone there was dressed up- button downs, high heels, and some crazy fashions to be had. I think I was the only person I saw the whole time in flip flops- I definitely stood out with my yoga pants and baggy sweaters and old rainbows. The people there tend to be rather impersonable, but always polite- never unfriendly but never really overly friendly either. And the whole consumer culture there still boggles me- like I said before, everything is a mall, but I'm not sure you really understand till you have been there how much EVERYthing is some kind of shop or store- selling high fashion names (some we have never heard of- I think one was called Richard and Kevin?) and the newest gadgets and some just sheer crap like cheap plastic cars for kids and cell phone charms and such. There is a lot of western influence in many of the stores and restaraunts but there were definitely some more local influencce as well. Probably one of the most bizarre things Andy showed me was the mall attached to our second hotel- it was a bridal mall of sorts where the shops were dress shops and tailors, hair and makeup salons, a stationary store, rentals for tables and plate ware and then ballrooms and reception areas- you could literally plan your wedding out all in one spot and then have your whole wedding inside the mall- going from the salon and makeup place to the dressing room to the ceremony room to the reception area... And then if your guests don't like the food, they can go upstairs in the mall and order something from McDonalds or Starbucks- weird. Andy also pointed out the fact that not many people drink there and it proved to be true even on new years night- the only people at the bars were westerners. They also had some crazy fines for littering: $1500HKD for feeding pigeons in the park or $2000 HKD for spitting in the trash cans leading upto the ferry- the whole city is brilliantly clean though as you can imagine! There were even signs in various shops and tourist areas that stated how many times daily a doorhandle was sanitized. Just plain mind boggling!
After three months in under developed countries, I was a bit in shock and overload. The sheer mass of people and skyscrapers is intense in and of itself, but add to that the high fashion and consumer culture and I was just a plain fish outta water. To see things run as they should again (a bus that comes when it's supposed to? Imagine that!) and to see how clean and manicured the whole place was (after watching everyone throw their trash out the window and off bridges in southeast Asia), was very refreshing. To pay American prices again was a bit scary and not so much fun but also a reality check- not everywhere can you get by with 15 dollars a day. All in all, I was a bit on sensory overload in Hong Kong. I sure didn't fit in there, but damn, I can appreciate the way that city operates- I still don't understand it but I'm glad to see some functionality after three months of delays and 'just getting by'.
Most of all, the trip was about seeing Andy and I am so grateful for the oppurtunity to have this trip with him. It took a lot of planning and lots of miles and lots of money on Andy's end and I'm so thankful for his generosity and self sacrifice (having to go work two weeks in china afterwards) to have this rendevous. Our time apart was starting to take a toll on us both and another month and half was a daunting sentence- I think we are both breathing a lot easier now after a wonderful little trip together. So thank you Andy Olaf...
I know it's a bit delayed but happy 2010 y'all!!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Mekong Delta to Hong Kong
I'm a bit behind on my blogs- will try to get everything up to date asap. Tring to break them up a bit so they aren't so long... And changed the font color for Mikey so hope that helps too!!
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Woke up groggy and a little stiff to the sound of our bus blaring it's horn at the hoard of motobikes around us as we made our way through the rather impressive traffic of Ho Chi Minh. Of all the countries I have visited, Vietnam posesses the most horrendous driving habits and aggressive drivers. Of Vietnam, Saigon takes the cake for being the worst of the worst. And I can confidently say that after only spending a total of 18 hours in this town- I have never seen so many motobikes in such a small vacinity- how they function like this on a daily basis is a mystery and some kind of miracle.
Our bus pulls into our tour agency about an hour and a half late, but it's only 7am so I am totally fine with this tardiness. Grab my bag and reluctantly head into the tour agency as everyone else starts haggling with the mototaxis and hotel owners (all fun tasks to do early in the morn after a restless night on a sleeper bus).
Despite my loathing for group tours, I sign up for a one day tour of the delta with the agreement that they will leave me in the delta so I can explore the area on my own. Unfortunately, the delta (like Halong Bay) is overrun with these tour groups- making it much harder and much more expensive (if you are alone especially) to do a trip on your own. I have enough time to pay, brush my teeth, grab a sandwich, run back to the agency and wait for our bus which is 45 minutes late. Two plus hours on the bus, transfer onto a little motorized boat in My Tho, cruise around and get on with or touristy stops: to the coconut candy making shop, the fruit and veggie farms, tea time with freshly collected honey, a rowboat ride with a local through the mangroves (okay that was awesome), lunch, a bike ride through a little village (also very cool), heard the 'vietnamese opera singers', and some other semi-sweet/totally touristy things- all along the way being asked what we would like to purchase and told to tip the local people. Alas, it was to be expected...
Everyone is suffeciently tired of being asked 'buy from me???' by the time we got on the bus again. Another two hour journey through the delta area ended with a major detour- because there was a ridiculous amount of traffic, our tour guide had us unload everything and walk a path that swerved in and out of peoples houses as they were eating dinner (mind you, there are about forty people on our tour ranging in ages of maybe 18-60; some with just a backpack and others with multiple roller bags) and lead us to the water's edge where we had a motorboat taxi waiting for us (in a fashion similar to a drug deal of sorts) to take us to the other end of Can Tho. Finally make it to the hotel and get settled in after minor hassles and haggling. I end up rooming with a wonderful girl from Melbourne who is a lawyer but has a name that sounds awfully like a stripper's/i-have-hippie-parents name: Destiny or Infinity or something like that. We had some wonderful discussions though before bed and woke up at 6am to join the group for breakfast and a cruise around the floating market (again, cheaper for me to do the tour then to get my own boat out- tricky bastards!).
Breakfast was actually perfect. The floating market was beautiful but the experience is somewhat ruined by the tour-you are on a boat with 40 people with at least 18 different cameras taking the same picture- most of the time of the locals and right up in these locals' faces. You almost feel ashamed to be part of the whole process really. We did a few more little detours before they dropped me off at the dock and waved me farewell- everyone else headed off for another day and a half of this tour business- poor chaps!
It was definitely the people that made the tour though- for better or worse, you are stuck with this group of people for the majority of your day... so you better hope there is some commrodady present between y'all. There was an older couple from California who lived and worked in Yosemite, a French guy who splits his time between France and Nepal, a woman from Chicago who reminds me of aunt Patricia, and a dental suregeon who lives in Seattle (we have already set a tenative girls-night-out/happy-hour-at-kings date for when I move there). There was also a loud Minnesota girl who talked a lot about drugs and concerts, a threesome of burly Dutch dudes, a pretty chatty and uncomprehensable kiwi, and a German guy who everyone was avoiding like the plauge. To anyone who is familiar with Dane Cook's old stuff, this character reminds me of 'Obby' and 'the creepy guy from work' mixed together. There are no words to describe the vibe you got from the guy but it was close to contempt and just plain confusion on how someone could be so disrespectful in so many ways. Despite shoving everyone out of his way and never saying a word, I actually saw him meow at a woman he wanted to take a picture of and slap the top of another woman's helment as she rode by on a motorbike for absolutely no apparent reason. Yet another reason to add to the 'why I don't like tours' list.
Now, officially off the tour, I have some time to go explore the little town of Can Tho. The city appears bigger than I originally expected but was easily walkable. To tell you the truth, there is nothing overly stimulating to do in this town but that is okay with me at this point. Set along the banks of the muddy Mekong, Can Tho is about 10+ km inland of the ocean outlet, thus the town (and the whole mekong delta area) thrives on the banks of this massive river. There are a few bigger hotels but the majority of places are small guesthouses and little cafes. There is a great street filled with street vendors selling the freshest fruits, vegetables and fish. PETA would have a field day here... Old women have heaps of fish in big plastic bowls where they wriggle around trying to stay alive in the half inch of water they are alotted. Right next to those old women are more old women who sell whole boiled chickens all lined up in a row so thier eyes and opened beaks follow your gaze as you stroll by- it's enough to make you seriously consider becoming a vegetarian. Luckily, I haven't gone that far yet as I found a great looking western restauant on the water and ordered the cheeseburger I have been craving for weeks now. Now stuffed, I continued to walk along the waterfront and grabbed a nice cup of coffee before retreating back to the hotel for an early night.
The next morning consisted of a quick stroll through the market for some fresh fruit and the cheapest egg sandwhich I've had yet, a bit of picture taking and journal writing and then catching the bus back towards Saigon. Again, we were a few hours late but all was okay as I hadn't yet decided how to spend the night- my flight to Hong Kong left at 6am, check in was around 4 and I was getting into Saigon around 7pm- did I get a room for a few hours and then trust taking a taxi in the wee hours of the morn or do I spend the night in the airport?? Being the indecisive person I am, I got off the bus still not sure what to do but with a name of a good bed and breakfast in hand. I started heading that way as I was harrased by every hotel owner on the street- 'madame need room?'. This little old lady approached me and asked me the same thing and I couldn't resist her old lady charm. I told her my situation and this sweet little lady drug me around from her brothers house to her sisters to her cousins to see if there was something we could work out for a reasonable price. Thank god for this woman and her ability to make my decision for me- we ended with the agreement that I would keep my bags at her cousins shop/house where I could use the restroom and couch if I wanted and then he would drive me at the airport at midnight and then I could sleep there for three hours till my gate opened at 3am. Then I would be the first in my terminal and could sleep more in there- this was all thought up by this little lady- I think she was an angel- and cost me 5$ instead of the proposed $17 I was thinking I would have to throw down.
Grabbed a nice dinner, found the perfect place to kill a few hours (a coffee shop with a movie theatre upstairs and free wifi- amazing!) and then headed back to the shop. Motobiked to the airport, put three seats together, turned on the iPod and put on the eye mask to collect a few winks. Checked into my business class seat (Andy works miracles!) and got my invitation into the red carpet lounge where I tried to act like I fit in- baggy sweatshirt, messy hair and all.
Talked a bit more to the cute old man I met waiting in customs (I just love the old people here) and got to board first into my luxurious business class seat that came with a back massage button, a hot towel, an amazing breakfast, a plethora of drinks and snacks, a large choice of great movies ('Up' is a stellar movie- please watch!) and the nicest stewardess' you will ever meet. I was almost praying for a delay as I really didn't want to get out of this luxurious little seat of mine!
....................................................
Woke up groggy and a little stiff to the sound of our bus blaring it's horn at the hoard of motobikes around us as we made our way through the rather impressive traffic of Ho Chi Minh. Of all the countries I have visited, Vietnam posesses the most horrendous driving habits and aggressive drivers. Of Vietnam, Saigon takes the cake for being the worst of the worst. And I can confidently say that after only spending a total of 18 hours in this town- I have never seen so many motobikes in such a small vacinity- how they function like this on a daily basis is a mystery and some kind of miracle.
Our bus pulls into our tour agency about an hour and a half late, but it's only 7am so I am totally fine with this tardiness. Grab my bag and reluctantly head into the tour agency as everyone else starts haggling with the mototaxis and hotel owners (all fun tasks to do early in the morn after a restless night on a sleeper bus).
Despite my loathing for group tours, I sign up for a one day tour of the delta with the agreement that they will leave me in the delta so I can explore the area on my own. Unfortunately, the delta (like Halong Bay) is overrun with these tour groups- making it much harder and much more expensive (if you are alone especially) to do a trip on your own. I have enough time to pay, brush my teeth, grab a sandwich, run back to the agency and wait for our bus which is 45 minutes late. Two plus hours on the bus, transfer onto a little motorized boat in My Tho, cruise around and get on with or touristy stops: to the coconut candy making shop, the fruit and veggie farms, tea time with freshly collected honey, a rowboat ride with a local through the mangroves (okay that was awesome), lunch, a bike ride through a little village (also very cool), heard the 'vietnamese opera singers', and some other semi-sweet/totally touristy things- all along the way being asked what we would like to purchase and told to tip the local people. Alas, it was to be expected...
Everyone is suffeciently tired of being asked 'buy from me???' by the time we got on the bus again. Another two hour journey through the delta area ended with a major detour- because there was a ridiculous amount of traffic, our tour guide had us unload everything and walk a path that swerved in and out of peoples houses as they were eating dinner (mind you, there are about forty people on our tour ranging in ages of maybe 18-60; some with just a backpack and others with multiple roller bags) and lead us to the water's edge where we had a motorboat taxi waiting for us (in a fashion similar to a drug deal of sorts) to take us to the other end of Can Tho. Finally make it to the hotel and get settled in after minor hassles and haggling. I end up rooming with a wonderful girl from Melbourne who is a lawyer but has a name that sounds awfully like a stripper's/i-have-hippie-parents name: Destiny or Infinity or something like that. We had some wonderful discussions though before bed and woke up at 6am to join the group for breakfast and a cruise around the floating market (again, cheaper for me to do the tour then to get my own boat out- tricky bastards!).
Breakfast was actually perfect. The floating market was beautiful but the experience is somewhat ruined by the tour-you are on a boat with 40 people with at least 18 different cameras taking the same picture- most of the time of the locals and right up in these locals' faces. You almost feel ashamed to be part of the whole process really. We did a few more little detours before they dropped me off at the dock and waved me farewell- everyone else headed off for another day and a half of this tour business- poor chaps!
It was definitely the people that made the tour though- for better or worse, you are stuck with this group of people for the majority of your day... so you better hope there is some commrodady present between y'all. There was an older couple from California who lived and worked in Yosemite, a French guy who splits his time between France and Nepal, a woman from Chicago who reminds me of aunt Patricia, and a dental suregeon who lives in Seattle (we have already set a tenative girls-night-out/happy-hour-at-kings date for when I move there). There was also a loud Minnesota girl who talked a lot about drugs and concerts, a threesome of burly Dutch dudes, a pretty chatty and uncomprehensable kiwi, and a German guy who everyone was avoiding like the plauge. To anyone who is familiar with Dane Cook's old stuff, this character reminds me of 'Obby' and 'the creepy guy from work' mixed together. There are no words to describe the vibe you got from the guy but it was close to contempt and just plain confusion on how someone could be so disrespectful in so many ways. Despite shoving everyone out of his way and never saying a word, I actually saw him meow at a woman he wanted to take a picture of and slap the top of another woman's helment as she rode by on a motorbike for absolutely no apparent reason. Yet another reason to add to the 'why I don't like tours' list.
Now, officially off the tour, I have some time to go explore the little town of Can Tho. The city appears bigger than I originally expected but was easily walkable. To tell you the truth, there is nothing overly stimulating to do in this town but that is okay with me at this point. Set along the banks of the muddy Mekong, Can Tho is about 10+ km inland of the ocean outlet, thus the town (and the whole mekong delta area) thrives on the banks of this massive river. There are a few bigger hotels but the majority of places are small guesthouses and little cafes. There is a great street filled with street vendors selling the freshest fruits, vegetables and fish. PETA would have a field day here... Old women have heaps of fish in big plastic bowls where they wriggle around trying to stay alive in the half inch of water they are alotted. Right next to those old women are more old women who sell whole boiled chickens all lined up in a row so thier eyes and opened beaks follow your gaze as you stroll by- it's enough to make you seriously consider becoming a vegetarian. Luckily, I haven't gone that far yet as I found a great looking western restauant on the water and ordered the cheeseburger I have been craving for weeks now. Now stuffed, I continued to walk along the waterfront and grabbed a nice cup of coffee before retreating back to the hotel for an early night.
The next morning consisted of a quick stroll through the market for some fresh fruit and the cheapest egg sandwhich I've had yet, a bit of picture taking and journal writing and then catching the bus back towards Saigon. Again, we were a few hours late but all was okay as I hadn't yet decided how to spend the night- my flight to Hong Kong left at 6am, check in was around 4 and I was getting into Saigon around 7pm- did I get a room for a few hours and then trust taking a taxi in the wee hours of the morn or do I spend the night in the airport?? Being the indecisive person I am, I got off the bus still not sure what to do but with a name of a good bed and breakfast in hand. I started heading that way as I was harrased by every hotel owner on the street- 'madame need room?'. This little old lady approached me and asked me the same thing and I couldn't resist her old lady charm. I told her my situation and this sweet little lady drug me around from her brothers house to her sisters to her cousins to see if there was something we could work out for a reasonable price. Thank god for this woman and her ability to make my decision for me- we ended with the agreement that I would keep my bags at her cousins shop/house where I could use the restroom and couch if I wanted and then he would drive me at the airport at midnight and then I could sleep there for three hours till my gate opened at 3am. Then I would be the first in my terminal and could sleep more in there- this was all thought up by this little lady- I think she was an angel- and cost me 5$ instead of the proposed $17 I was thinking I would have to throw down.
Grabbed a nice dinner, found the perfect place to kill a few hours (a coffee shop with a movie theatre upstairs and free wifi- amazing!) and then headed back to the shop. Motobiked to the airport, put three seats together, turned on the iPod and put on the eye mask to collect a few winks. Checked into my business class seat (Andy works miracles!) and got my invitation into the red carpet lounge where I tried to act like I fit in- baggy sweatshirt, messy hair and all.
Talked a bit more to the cute old man I met waiting in customs (I just love the old people here) and got to board first into my luxurious business class seat that came with a back massage button, a hot towel, an amazing breakfast, a plethora of drinks and snacks, a large choice of great movies ('Up' is a stellar movie- please watch!) and the nicest stewardess' you will ever meet. I was almost praying for a delay as I really didn't want to get out of this luxurious little seat of mine!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Christmas in Vietnam
Its just a tad late now but Merry Christmas guys and gals!!!
Well, y'all are hopefully all tucked into bed back home, overly stuffed and maybe a bit buzzed. I'm quite envious in a lot of ways- I miss the snow, the mac n cheese, the tacky old Christmas decorations we still use and, most of all, all of you. As my dad said, the holidays are about being grateful for what you have, and I couldn't agree more. I am so grateful for this oppurtunity to travel, but I am even more grateful that I have such a wonderful group of people back home to miss and go back for.
I did have a good christmas though and i also feel very fortunate for that.
I got to enjoy Jesus' birthday (a day earlier than everyone back home) with Jaap and Theo, a not-so-great plate of chile con carne, and three bottles of Dalat wine. The boys even got me two rather tacky porceline buddahs that are very awkwardly shaped and will be fun to pack around for another month or so. My best presents though: waking up on (Asia) Christmas morning, I recieved two wonderful emails from my papa and Andy (both brought me to tears) and then found out, as I was making my Christmas phone calls back home, that Andy is flying me out to meet him in Hong Kong for new years (I was just a bucket of happy tears that morning sitting in the lobby). Due to a last minute work trip and Andy's plethora of miles, he was able to book me a roundtrip (and business class) ticket out of Siagon- all I have to do is get to Saigon by the 30th- he arranged everything else. Amazing this boy!! Made a few alterations to my very tenative and flexible schedule and will be starting this new years off with someone I love more than life in a place I have never been before- the best of both worlds!
Christmas day also included a Christmas breakfast with the boys, a stuffy six hour bus ride to Mui Ne, and walking about 3km with all my stuff as every hotel here here was full. It was all fine and great though- honestly I was just floating last night after finding out about this trip that I could have slept on that stuffy bus and still been happy.
Spent the day today booking an overnight bus for tonight, eating a few good meals, drinking green coconut juice and just lounging on the beach here. Mui Ne is a beautiful little beach strip (not really sure if you could really catagorize it as an actual town) filled with resorts and bungalows and restaraunts. The beaches themselves are white sand and very peaceful aside from the eight hundred kite surfers in the water- honestly looks like the scene in Mary Poppins where they are singing 'let's go fly a kite'. It is a pretty cool sight to see but really ridiculous as well. Because there are numerous kite schools, there are people everywhere in the water who are just flailing with their monstorous kites- which are juat dragging the people (who appear to be swallowing gallons of sea water) away from their boards which they are so desperately trying to swim back to... It's a bit sketchy- but rather entertaining as well. The end result of my day: really bizarre sun burned patches in a very awkward fashion, one split open toe that I so gracefully stubbed as I was walking out to see the sunset, about 50 pages read from my book, and a solid 12 hours or so of 'freeloading'- the overnight bus doesn't get here till 2am (retarted bus company)- so I get to stride around this little town till the bars close and then jump on a bus for a few hours to Saigon. Woohoo! I made friends with the family at the homestay though so I have wifi and a place to store my bags and a toilet and even a shower so i have a home base at least. Going to try and be in the Mekong Delta are by mid afternoon tomorrow... Wish me luck!
To back track slightly, I'm gonna post a blog that i started when I was in Dalat but never posted... I'm sorry for slacking on this whole posting thing- will try to get some routine going. K, here is Dalat (and a bit of Nha Trang) in a nutshell:
Made my way from the beaches of Nha Trang (which I got to spend about two hours enjoying as the rain finally broke for a couple hours) and am now in Dalat, a small city set in the central highlands of Vietnam. Sitting at nearly 2,000m, the town itself is bigger than I expected but is easily managable once you realize that many of the streets loop back on themselves and figure out which way on your map is 'up a hill' or 'down some stairs'. There is a huge lake near the center of town where you can rent a paddleboat creepily shaped like a ginnormous swan or take some pictures of ponies draped in flowers being held by a Vietnamese guys dressed as a cowboy. The garbage trucks here play the tune of 'its a small world after all' (not joking!) and the towns' cell phone tower is shaped after the Eifel tower. Despite the hoakyness though, it is a nice little town to wander around in. The beautiful mountains around the area are home to countless flower, fruit and vegtable farms as well as tea and coffee. In fact, I learned on my little tour (details to follow), that over 60% of Dalat's population is comprised of farmers of one sort or another. Thus, the streets and main market in the middle of town are chuck-full of the freshest looking produce and flowers. And, much to my liking, they also make wine here which is, actually, really great wine. I'm no wine conosoure (spelling?) or anything, but (as my tahoe roomies could confirm) I had grown quite fond of having at least a glass of wine before bed everynight- especially after those doubles and triples we were so good at pulling- that wine is right up there with Mexican food on my list of 'things I miss from home'. The two times I have ordered wine on this trip has been sheer disappointment. There was the glass that Andy and I shared in dirty Phuket that was okay but was overpriced and tasted slightly expired; and then there was just the other night when the Kiwi boys had dressed up in their newly tailored outfits and we all went out to dinner- as a promotion, we were offered one free drink with dinner- we all excitedly ordered red wine but were brokenhearted when we found out it was served cold and out of a box. Overall, I am content here in Dalat for a few days... Between the wine and the fresh food and chilly nights, it's as close to home as I think I'm gonna get for my 'christmas in vietnam'.
Dalat is home to the Easy Riders- a group of motorbike tour guides that were started by a group of unemployed men when VN opened their doors to tourism. I hired one of these Easy Riders the night I got here after much haggling and negotiations. Mr. Lulu, as he called himself, picked me up the next morning and showed me around the area for a solid 7 hours. At times, it seemed a bit silly as we would pull off on the side of the road and he would tell me some story about whatever we were looking at and then he would always end with:'okay you take picture'. But, overall it was interesting and informative. We stopped at flower, veggie and fruit farms, saw how silk is collected and produced, learned how coffee and tea are harvested at a 'plantation', saw some bamboo weaving, explored a pretty sweet waterfall, walked through a few temples where we got to view tons of different buddahs and even went on a few 'treks' (I told him I wanted to do a trek in the area so he would just drop me off on the side of the road and point to the top of a hill and say: 'Go trek. Good excercise'- thanks Mr Lulu).
The Dutch boys found me that night just as I was heading out to dinner... Caught up over a nice dinner and a bottle of wine before I went back to the hotel. We made a resolution that first night that we should drink a bottle of wine a night (which we actually one up-ed as we had one the first night, two the second and three on the third) and had a good routine going by day #2: we would all do our own thing till maybe 6 or 7, drink some wine at the hotel, go out to dinner, finish another bottle, and then come back and finish whatever we had left. It is not a stressful life here.
It is Christmas eve now and I leave for Mui Ne tomorrow, so trying to soak up all that Dalat has to offer. Walked around some nice walking paths earlier, cruised around the lake for a bit (turned around after some guy meowed at me) and am now sitting and enjoying a VN coffee and artichoke tea and am enjoying the view as it sits right above the lake where all the vendors are- an awesome people-watching location! My favorite sight right now? A Vietnamese man who is dressed up in a really bad Santa suit who has taken one of the ponies from the Vietnamese cowboy and is holding him as he sits on a motorcycle- and the kids are lined up for pictures! Oh and the coffee shop I'm at which is part of a really boutique-y hotel is playing the quinessential techno-remixed Christmas songs I have been hearing everywhere lately. Merry Christmas!!
Well, y'all are hopefully all tucked into bed back home, overly stuffed and maybe a bit buzzed. I'm quite envious in a lot of ways- I miss the snow, the mac n cheese, the tacky old Christmas decorations we still use and, most of all, all of you. As my dad said, the holidays are about being grateful for what you have, and I couldn't agree more. I am so grateful for this oppurtunity to travel, but I am even more grateful that I have such a wonderful group of people back home to miss and go back for.
I did have a good christmas though and i also feel very fortunate for that.
I got to enjoy Jesus' birthday (a day earlier than everyone back home) with Jaap and Theo, a not-so-great plate of chile con carne, and three bottles of Dalat wine. The boys even got me two rather tacky porceline buddahs that are very awkwardly shaped and will be fun to pack around for another month or so. My best presents though: waking up on (Asia) Christmas morning, I recieved two wonderful emails from my papa and Andy (both brought me to tears) and then found out, as I was making my Christmas phone calls back home, that Andy is flying me out to meet him in Hong Kong for new years (I was just a bucket of happy tears that morning sitting in the lobby). Due to a last minute work trip and Andy's plethora of miles, he was able to book me a roundtrip (and business class) ticket out of Siagon- all I have to do is get to Saigon by the 30th- he arranged everything else. Amazing this boy!! Made a few alterations to my very tenative and flexible schedule and will be starting this new years off with someone I love more than life in a place I have never been before- the best of both worlds!
Christmas day also included a Christmas breakfast with the boys, a stuffy six hour bus ride to Mui Ne, and walking about 3km with all my stuff as every hotel here here was full. It was all fine and great though- honestly I was just floating last night after finding out about this trip that I could have slept on that stuffy bus and still been happy.
Spent the day today booking an overnight bus for tonight, eating a few good meals, drinking green coconut juice and just lounging on the beach here. Mui Ne is a beautiful little beach strip (not really sure if you could really catagorize it as an actual town) filled with resorts and bungalows and restaraunts. The beaches themselves are white sand and very peaceful aside from the eight hundred kite surfers in the water- honestly looks like the scene in Mary Poppins where they are singing 'let's go fly a kite'. It is a pretty cool sight to see but really ridiculous as well. Because there are numerous kite schools, there are people everywhere in the water who are just flailing with their monstorous kites- which are juat dragging the people (who appear to be swallowing gallons of sea water) away from their boards which they are so desperately trying to swim back to... It's a bit sketchy- but rather entertaining as well. The end result of my day: really bizarre sun burned patches in a very awkward fashion, one split open toe that I so gracefully stubbed as I was walking out to see the sunset, about 50 pages read from my book, and a solid 12 hours or so of 'freeloading'- the overnight bus doesn't get here till 2am (retarted bus company)- so I get to stride around this little town till the bars close and then jump on a bus for a few hours to Saigon. Woohoo! I made friends with the family at the homestay though so I have wifi and a place to store my bags and a toilet and even a shower so i have a home base at least. Going to try and be in the Mekong Delta are by mid afternoon tomorrow... Wish me luck!
To back track slightly, I'm gonna post a blog that i started when I was in Dalat but never posted... I'm sorry for slacking on this whole posting thing- will try to get some routine going. K, here is Dalat (and a bit of Nha Trang) in a nutshell:
Made my way from the beaches of Nha Trang (which I got to spend about two hours enjoying as the rain finally broke for a couple hours) and am now in Dalat, a small city set in the central highlands of Vietnam. Sitting at nearly 2,000m, the town itself is bigger than I expected but is easily managable once you realize that many of the streets loop back on themselves and figure out which way on your map is 'up a hill' or 'down some stairs'. There is a huge lake near the center of town where you can rent a paddleboat creepily shaped like a ginnormous swan or take some pictures of ponies draped in flowers being held by a Vietnamese guys dressed as a cowboy. The garbage trucks here play the tune of 'its a small world after all' (not joking!) and the towns' cell phone tower is shaped after the Eifel tower. Despite the hoakyness though, it is a nice little town to wander around in. The beautiful mountains around the area are home to countless flower, fruit and vegtable farms as well as tea and coffee. In fact, I learned on my little tour (details to follow), that over 60% of Dalat's population is comprised of farmers of one sort or another. Thus, the streets and main market in the middle of town are chuck-full of the freshest looking produce and flowers. And, much to my liking, they also make wine here which is, actually, really great wine. I'm no wine conosoure (spelling?) or anything, but (as my tahoe roomies could confirm) I had grown quite fond of having at least a glass of wine before bed everynight- especially after those doubles and triples we were so good at pulling- that wine is right up there with Mexican food on my list of 'things I miss from home'. The two times I have ordered wine on this trip has been sheer disappointment. There was the glass that Andy and I shared in dirty Phuket that was okay but was overpriced and tasted slightly expired; and then there was just the other night when the Kiwi boys had dressed up in their newly tailored outfits and we all went out to dinner- as a promotion, we were offered one free drink with dinner- we all excitedly ordered red wine but were brokenhearted when we found out it was served cold and out of a box. Overall, I am content here in Dalat for a few days... Between the wine and the fresh food and chilly nights, it's as close to home as I think I'm gonna get for my 'christmas in vietnam'.
Dalat is home to the Easy Riders- a group of motorbike tour guides that were started by a group of unemployed men when VN opened their doors to tourism. I hired one of these Easy Riders the night I got here after much haggling and negotiations. Mr. Lulu, as he called himself, picked me up the next morning and showed me around the area for a solid 7 hours. At times, it seemed a bit silly as we would pull off on the side of the road and he would tell me some story about whatever we were looking at and then he would always end with:'okay you take picture'. But, overall it was interesting and informative. We stopped at flower, veggie and fruit farms, saw how silk is collected and produced, learned how coffee and tea are harvested at a 'plantation', saw some bamboo weaving, explored a pretty sweet waterfall, walked through a few temples where we got to view tons of different buddahs and even went on a few 'treks' (I told him I wanted to do a trek in the area so he would just drop me off on the side of the road and point to the top of a hill and say: 'Go trek. Good excercise'- thanks Mr Lulu).
The Dutch boys found me that night just as I was heading out to dinner... Caught up over a nice dinner and a bottle of wine before I went back to the hotel. We made a resolution that first night that we should drink a bottle of wine a night (which we actually one up-ed as we had one the first night, two the second and three on the third) and had a good routine going by day #2: we would all do our own thing till maybe 6 or 7, drink some wine at the hotel, go out to dinner, finish another bottle, and then come back and finish whatever we had left. It is not a stressful life here.
It is Christmas eve now and I leave for Mui Ne tomorrow, so trying to soak up all that Dalat has to offer. Walked around some nice walking paths earlier, cruised around the lake for a bit (turned around after some guy meowed at me) and am now sitting and enjoying a VN coffee and artichoke tea and am enjoying the view as it sits right above the lake where all the vendors are- an awesome people-watching location! My favorite sight right now? A Vietnamese man who is dressed up in a really bad Santa suit who has taken one of the ponies from the Vietnamese cowboy and is holding him as he sits on a motorcycle- and the kids are lined up for pictures! Oh and the coffee shop I'm at which is part of a really boutique-y hotel is playing the quinessential techno-remixed Christmas songs I have been hearing everywhere lately. Merry Christmas!!
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