The last few days

I didn't have email for a few days while I traveled so I have not been able to write but that doesn't meathat there has been nothing going on. The one hinge i really wanted to do while I was in thailand besides see temples and some historical sites was to spend a couple of days just relaxing on a warm beach and getting to enjoy some sunshine and beautiful water. My original plan was to go dowto the southern part of the country and stay in Krabi. But ...... After a month of solid rain and flooding that has killed many people it just wasn't to be. So i found an island called Koh Chang down near the border of Cambodia and Joanne went along with the idea. We rented scooters and blazed up and down the coast for part of the day before finally finding an almost empty beach with warm beautiful water. We spent the better part of a day just goofing off in the ocean and sitting around. I know to read about that doesn't sound very exciting but it was a great end cap to my vacation. But backing up a little bit to how the day started...... It has been really funny that I was actually moe adjusted to the time here when i first arrived. As time has gone by I have been more and more off schedule, generally waking up really early in the morning and going to bed a little bit early as well. Kind of like an old man. But I was fortunate that Joanne generally gets up really early so we would generally get up early and get out before the crowds which worked pretty well. So crazy as it sounds I wake up close to 5 am in the morning. I can't get back to sleep so i sit in bed and start to read while i wait until a reasonable time to knock on Joannes door. But while I am sitting there I start to hear signing. Faint and just off key slightly enough to know that it is not the radio but someone close by belting out a tune...... But wait that's he wall to Joannes room? No way, she doesn't sing! Wait, wait, yes it is coming from her room. I swear it. I wait a few minutes and lean out the door to see the light on next door. I knock and sure enough she was singing her little heart out while working on sketches at 5 in the morning. It was the funniest way I have started a morning in years, especially one at 5 am.

I have to say that Joanne has been a stellar travel partner. One of the easiest going and kindest people I happen to know. It has been a real pleasure to have her join me for the last week of my trip. She is staying on for another couple of days to explore Bangkok and I hope she has an amazing time.

In the pool

So Joanne showed up and we made our way up to sukhothai to see some temples and enjoy the end of San Kram. After a really hot day and tons of walking all over the place and riding bikes around the temples we headed back to the hotel to swim in the pool. We ordered some food and Joanne decided to sit out of the water and eat while I was swimming. I swam up to the edge of the pool to talk for a bit and she sort of looked to the side of me and said ..... Whats that? I looked over and we both realized at the same time that it was a dead baby pidgin floating about a foot away from me. All featherless, pale skin and a tiny beak. We scooped it out of the water and went back to our tempura plate.......

A lost day, sort of.

I woke up bright and early this morning to wait for my friend to get off the plane and make her way to my hotel. Se was supposed to arrive at 6:30 in the morning and be at the hotel by 7:30 or so. I waited and waited for hours. At first wondering if the flight was delayed and then just all out worried when it was after 11 and she had not shown up yet. I decided to send an email and see if she was alright. Well it turns out she had the days wrong and comes in tomorrow instead of today. I was relieved and bummed all at the same time. Oh well I thought to myself what to do now. Its a holiday here so most of the temples were closed. Why not have a little spa day. First a little breakfast at the hotel then a walk out to go shopping. I went to a local shopping center here called MBK. Try to imagine a shopping mall crossed with Mexican TV. Buzzing, swarming and full of people milling around and selling all sorts of stuff. I picked up a second pair of pants and a tiny hair shaver because my side burns were getting so long I was starting to look like wolverine. Then I realized that wasn't going to do it so I hopped into a salon and had my hair done. Pretty good cut I must say. I look halfway human again! When I was in Hua Hin I mostly just ate at little restaurants because it was easy and cheap. But here in Bangkok it is a bit to expensive to eat out every night like that so I cruised up and down little alleys until i found some street food that looked interesting. A tiny little cart making soup. So i parked my ass on what can only be described as a plastic kiddy chair and wolfed down my meal. ( about 1.50 gets soup and bottled water at this here cart) This week is a big holiday week in Thailand. It is Son Kram ( probably spelled that wrong. ) Thai new years. On the big tourist street here it becomes a giant water fight with squirt guns and buckets. What the hell, I'll go check it out. Once again the tourist let me down so i left that about as fast as I could. The taxi driver that took me away from the dreaded tourist trap and I started to talk and we hit it off pretty well. He was just a really cool guy. He suggested that i get a massage and relax...... Well now there's an idea. Finish off my day in style. So he takes me to a place and says he'll wait for me. I went inside and whoa. I think he had a different idea about massage. It was the place you see in the movies and here the stories about. There were about 80 women seated in a boxed in section with numbers on there dresses...... And i politely make for the door. When I made it out. The driver ( Mr. Big) starts to laugh. " oh you want massage " hahahahaha we laughed for a minute and then he took me to a place that did thai massage without happy ending. At the end of the evening he was kind enough to ask if I was hungry. When I said yes he took me to a tiny out of the way place that had awesome spicy fried chicken. And then finally back to the hotel for some sleep before an early wake up call.

The train...

I have not written much in the last few days because I have just basically been relaxing. But at last it is time to head back to Bangkok to meet up with a friend. So the people at the hotel drop me off at the train station and wave goodby. The hotel I was at did not have a staff that spoke English very well. Just the basics.... Toilet, chicken curry, you pay bill.... So when they dropped me off at the train station here was no advice or direction. Just that loving smile and nod goodby. It would be the same if you were going off to get married or an execution. I walk up to the counter and asked for a ticket. A very non humored woman dispensed the ticket and sent me on my way ..... Well lets just say that I should have done more research. Here in Thailand like most places in the world. There are different trains. The more high class and nicer first and second class models and then there are the " locals" or third class. I ended up on the third class model. A broken down relic from railroad history. The color of that 1950's turquoise but so beat on that it was more grime than blue green. I hopped on and stowed my stuff overhead, then sitting down I noticed the pad wasn't much of a pad.... Just a material cover over hard wood. All of the windows were open because there is no ac and as the train gently started to roll forward the scent of diesel train exhaust started to pour in...... Aaaaahhhhhh my new home for 5 scheduled hours....... Or wait, lets make that 7 hours with delays. When I finally made it into Bangkok and to my hotel I went to the sink and got a wash cloth to wipe my face off a bit before going to dinner. The cloth was black, I had been covered in a film of dust and diesel fumes so thick I probably looked like I had makeup on... Lets just say that from here on out. If I take the train, I will be in the newer air con 2nd class cars.

Princess, polo and snakes.

I forgot to mention that the last night in siem reap Cambodia I went out and had dinner. A delightful mixed grill arrived on my plate along side a few 50 cent beers. The mixed grill included, chicken, beef, shrimp, and ..... Snake. I'm not exactly sure what kind of snake it was mind you but it was snake the lady assured me. She laughed and said. " don't worry, not dog. Hahahahaha" but then she went on to tell me how good dog was and that I really really had to try some. So I made my way through some of the m ore familiar delicacies and then dove into the snake. Believe it or not.... Not to bad. A little chewy and it was almost kind of sweet. It did have some sauce on it as well. The closest I can get to describing it is kind of like the eel at a sushi bar.
After a four hour flight delay and a three hour drive I ended up in a city south of Bangkok called Hua Hin. It is where the king has his summer palace and it is on the beach so you can imagine that it is a little more upscale than some of the other places I have been hanging out in. I was so exhausted when I arrived that I just went straight to bed. But when I awoke I went down and rented another scooter and blazed my way about an hour south along the coast to one of the national parks here. It was another awesome easy rider through palm trees and mountains. The only freaky part is that Thailand drives on the left. So when I first took off I almost killed m yself trying to figure out the road ediquite here. If anyone reading this has Katie Bartons phone number give her a call and tell her that I saw monkeys! No they did not attack me, but the furry little bastards did have a look of evil in there eyes so I took off quick. Remember the warning from the clinic! Momma didn't raise no dummy.
When I returned to town and got back to my hotel it was still about mid afternoon so decided to take a walk along the beach and check it out. Basically right next door there was a pavilion and a sort of rectangular area of the beach sectioned off and there were horses under big expensive canopies.i stopped to ask some other people what was going on and they told me that it was a big event. It was an international polo exibition overlooked by the princess of Thailand. Ha, ok i have to stay and check this out. So I stayed there for about an hour and a half sipping on a freshly cracked open coconut and watching polo on the beach. I even got to watch the princess throw the first ball out into the area to start the match..... Yes thats right I got to see a real princess.

Holiday in Cambodia

It was something of a fast trip to Cambodia but I am so glad that I had the chance to do it. Most of the time i was there was brutally hot to me. He locals just laughed and said, oh this is nothing. Wait until it gets hot. I didn't realize it but april is the hot month in Cambodia! Two days of amazing temple tours have left me a little in awe. Most of the structures are almost a thousand years old and even though some of them are in bad shape and being restored it was amazing to me that so much of it is still in amazing shape. But this morning was a great send off. I couldn't sleep very well so I ended up waking up very early, maybe around 5:45 and just sat thee reading in my room with a faint light starting on the horizon through clouds. Then all of a sudden it was a full on tropical storm. Rain, thunder and lightning as the sun was coming up. The interesting part was that all of the city noise just sort of stopped. I couldn't hear the car horns, motor bikes prowling by or any of the street hawkers pushing there wares. Just the rain hitting the windows and the crack of thunder. As I finally put my butt into gear and made my way to the airport to leave town I slapped my headphones in and turned on the iPod that I picked up just for this trip. Over 10,000 songs and what should come on as i head to the airport? He old dead kennedys tune holiday in Cambodia. I'm not joking or making it up. It came on during the shuffle and I laughed my ass off.

Personal notes nothing important.

I have a long lay over in the ho chi min airport this afternoon and it has left me some time to think. I am about two thirds of the way through my trip and it has been really good for me so far. It was strange at first to be traveling alone for so long and I have to admit to sending tons of emails and pestering several friends while I have been away. But after some adjustments I realize that it has been good for me. For so many years I have just had my head down and working away at some irrelevant goal just trying to reach that end for its own sake. I sadly realized that I had lost all of my desire to do art, or anything creative at all for the last few years. Just in a state of trying to stay alive and make the next bill or some other bullshit. I am slowly coming back around. Taking time to look at things again for what they are and a little less concerned with the next marker. It is so strange to me that I went into commercial photography so that I could make a career out of being creative and it ended up stealing all of my creativity and left me as something of a husk. Maybe it was the fact that so much time was spent trying to develope something for other people more than for myself. So I have decided to do a couple of things when I return. I am signing up for serious classes in a foreign language and I am going to convert part of my basement into a studio/darkroom for creative projects. The other thing I realized from this trip was how much I missed traveling. All of the years i spent working with steve were fantastic. It was tough at times traveling so quickly and not getting a chance to stop and see things but the chance to see so many places in the world on someone elses dime was a great opportunity. As much as i have been burned out by commercial photography it saddens me to see it die as a profession. Replaced by computer terminals, shoots on white seamless and a feeling of being nothing more than an assembly line worker. But I suppose that's evolution. I am writing this mainly to remind myself later when I start to be a shit head again.......

Pass keys and cobras

I arrived in Cambodia late in the afternoon after a two hour flight delay. It was extremely hot and dusty. After the long travel time I just wanted to cool off and settle into my room for a minute before venturing out. I realized that I had forgot to ask the desk about something so I graves the plastic room key card out of the wall switch and went down to the desk. After a short conversation I went back up to my room. But I was rather tired and turned around so I end up coming up to the wrong door. I put the key in the lock .... And voila the lock opened. I walked in and realized that it was the wrong room! Holy shit. So I backed out, closed the door and went to what I thought was the right room again. Put the key in and ...... Opened the door. Wrong room a again..... So all in all my key opened 5 doors in the hotel. Its a shame there was no hot naked women lying around..... Didn't really give me. A sense of security in my room.
Today I went to angkor wat and some of the surrounding temples. Really cool. It was hot as he'll and dusty but it was so amazing that I just pushed on and walked around to see all that I could see. As you enter a ngkor wat there is a long stone entry way over a moat to get you into the city. As we started to walk over the walkway. My guide stopped me and pointed out into the water at something. It looked like a stick sitting up slightly out of the water. But it was moving..... He leans over to not say it to loudly around other people. " look, that is a cobra" are you fucking kidding me! He then goes on to tell me that they clear most of them out so there are no problems with the tourists but occasionally one or two make there way back in. " if we see cobra .... Run quickly" no shit I thought to myself. I don't think you have ever seen a white boy run so fast my friend. I had to guess that the snake was at least 5 or 6 feet, and swimming at an alarming pace. The cool thing was that just like when you see them in the movies when they rear up, they do the same thing in the water. While swimming it can
raise its head up to get a better look at where its going. Hopefully away from me. That aside the temples and area around Angkor wat are pretty amazing. It is something to see in a book but completely different in person. Even with tons of other people there it was amazing to see. In my travels i have to say that I have started to develope certain stereo types about the personalities of other travelers..... I have had a great time with Australians, and British. The germans are a mixed lot. Either amazingly fun and outgoing or that bland stuffy personality you see in the war movies. However there is a group that I have learned to avoid. The new breed of traveling Russians. Jesus christ what a bunch of asshole travelers.....

Dinner with the ladies.

I had some clothing made for myself here in Hoi An. I made friends with the ladies who make the clothing and they were kind enough to invite me out to dinner. We ended up going to there favorite restaurant near there house. We started with squid and then moved on to fresh crab. It was great and I was having a good time. The ladies were very sweet and even though communication was a little difficult it was awesome. Then the next course came out.... Chicken, freshly steamed. I do mean fresh. They told me that they kill them out back just before cooking. S this little birdie got cut and dropped into the pot just moments before I ate him. Still doing pretty good the last course came out. Congee. Basically a rice and broth soup ..... With chicken intestines and other bits as well as the feet sticking up out of the pot. It was one of those classic moments where I would be insulting if I didnt have some. So I went for it. I ended up not only getting the intestines in there but the heart as well! At first it ws a little rugged at first. But honestly it was pretty good.

Easy rider Asia.

Yeah okay so it is a little odd that I chose now to try out riding a scooter around through crazy traffic. I went down to the front desk because I have heard that you could cheaply rent a scooter and it was a good way to get around and not have to pay for taxis and tours. So for the low price of ten dollars a day I said okay. The woman showed up with the scooter and a set of keys. No paper work. No insurance, no nothing. Just a set of keys, a helmet and a 30 second tutorial...... Yeah so it was so damn fun I had a smile on my face all he way around town like those photos of idiots smiling at the rental car office. I made my way up to a place called he marble mountains. A beautiful rock platue Comprised mostly from marble. On top here were several temples and a series of caves that had carved statues and temples inside. It was super cool, complete with rays of light streaming in to light up the statues. It was probably the most impressive thing I have seen since I arrived here. After that I hoped on my trusty steed and made my way back to town for lunch. Tomorrow I ride the long haul up to Hue.

The caves

With a little time to kill on cat ba island before returning to the main land and back to Hanoi we took a little trip up into the mountains. I decided to brave the main streets and do the scooter taxi. Here in Asia you can pay a few dollars and hop on the back of some guys scooter and they blaze around town like there on fire with you on the back. The place we were headed of to was a cave in the mountains that during the war with America. Inside the cave they had built a large bunker area complete with pool ( square cement box underground) and meeting rooms, hospital rooms and there was even a giant room that was the actually just the large part of the cavern as a theatre inside. It was interesting with a poured cement floor and then stalagmites hanging from the ceiling. When we arrived there was a Vietnamese gentleman there in an old military uniform ready to take us on our tour. Okay so up we go over a little wooden ladder th at I was sure was going to collapse at any moment and then into the main hallway. It was the sort of square cement hallway that you have seen before in all of the old movies. Bare with a few lightbulbs spaced to far apart so that it is mostly dark the entire way. Then as I turned around he guide was grabbing a plastic m16 and saluted very crisp and said in a very official and barely understandable "chreck proint" holy shit I was thinking to myself. This guy has a necklace of human ears someplace behind the counter! But he laughed and waved and returned to giving us the tour. As we made our way from room to room we eventually reached what was a meeting and propaganda room. Our guide once again snaps into a officially crisp and upright position, raising one arm he started chanting " ho chi min, ho chi min" and started singing the official party song. So much for new era modern Vietnam and capitalism. This guy was all about old school communism. After making our way from room to room and through some tough interpretations I figured out that he had been stationed at that place for over ten years as a soldier and fought not only the Americans but Chinese as well. During the stay uncle ho himself had stayed there and lets just say that it left a lasting impression on this fellow. Through the woods and back on the scooter we raced back into town through the forest and past a little place that served dog....... The first time I have seen this yet.

Pitter patter.....

The weather was a little cloudy and cold when I headed off for halong bay but I was still excited to see it. After a four hour drive we arrived in a small port city and hopped onto the boat and headed out into the bay. Thousands of rock spires and small islands jutting straight up out of the water with vegetation all over them. It is really a sight to see even in cloudy and rainy weather. I was aboard a Chinese junk for the trip and it was kind of fun. Possibly a little closer in actuality to the name than I would have liked but it was fun. It was all wood and there was a large dining room as the middle deck with a sun deck on top and the cabins on the lower deck. It was a smaller group only amounting to 7 of us for the entire trip. It was a very mellow trip and most of the other people and myself just relaxed and took in the sights like good little tourists, and after dinner we put two decks of cards together and played the most confusing game of gin rummy possible over a few drinks. After dinner and a little socializing I went down to my somewhat dank rooand decided to read. I settled into my bed and was relaxing when I noticed two things.... On the night stand there were two objects. One, a flashlight was there for obvious reasons but net to it was a hammer ..... Huh. I guess a number of these boats sink on a regular basis. So when the door is locked it can be hard to get out. In case of emergency you have the hammer to bust your way through the window and swim out. I guess not that long ago, maybe a couple of months ago a boat went down killing two Swiss tourists. Well I guess I'll just forget about that and settle in to read...... It was dead quiet and very peaceful in this little bay that we were anchored in and as I was reading I could hear every pin drop. The creaks and groans of wood and the gentle lapping of wind swept waves on the hull. Then a little potter patter and shuffling. Because the dining area was above my cabin I just dismissed it as the shuffling of the staff and furniture whle they were cleaning up. Then after a time i realized that it was the tiny little feet of rats scurring about inside the floors and walls of my cabin. The hammer might actually have more than one use here after all. I am not worried in general about a rat or two but in the dead calm and silence of this place the scurrying around kept me up for ever! Finally I drifted off to sleep and woke the next day to happily find out that my face had not been chewed off while i was asleep and it was a beautiful hazy morning and we spent three hours kayaking around the bays, lagoons and little fishing shacks. It was very relaxing and the first time since I have been in asia to completely slow down and have an experience that was mellow and at a relaxed pace. On the four hour return trip to Hanoi one of the other travelers was really getting on my nerves. He was a nice enough guy be he just wouldn't stop talking to me. I finally had to do the old trick of jamming the headphones into my ears and stare out the window at the sights to drown out his chatter. It was a really strange and cool thing though. I was completely relaxed, a little tired and just taking it all in. It is strange sometimes how much music can alter your mood and change how your senses take something in. Cruising through open road and rice paddies listening to the shuffle going throu random selections. Tom waits and old David Bowie tunes have a whole different feel when you have he over powering smell of smoke and fish sauce filling your senses.

Wow new levels of hotel service

I have been at my hotel in Hanoi for three days now and i am blown away by the service here. I am paying about 50 dollars a night for my room. By local standards that is about middle of the road. But catch this. There is not only free Internet but there is also a computer in my room to use as well. Breakfast is included and a fruit plate is dropped off every afternoon.
This afternoon I purchased some souvenirs and wanted to send them back home rather than carry them with me so I ask the hotel staff how to do that. This young guy shows up with box, tape and packing material. After packaging it he hops on the moped. Takes the package to the shipping store and gets a price. He then hops on the moped, brings the box back and informs me of the price. When i agree he says that he will take it back tomorrow and mail it for me as well...... He wouldn't take a penny for it either..... So to take it one step further I am leaving for a couple of days and then returning for one night before I leave. When I asked if I should pay now before i go they said, oh no don't worry about it just pay when you get back. No problem. I will have stayed at this hotel for almost a week by the time I fly out and they were cool with only having a $60 deposit. I can't really wrap my head around it. In the USA if you did that you would have every meth addict for a thousand miles checking in and bailing out on the bill!

You got girl friend Vietnam?

Probably the funniest moment so far this trip.... My new friend Yves and I were having lunch in a cool little restaurant. On the way out we were waiting for the elevator and one of the staff started to talk to us. The normal pleasantries, where are you from, and then eventually, " are you going to any other places in Vietnam?" my answer " yes after Hanoi I am going to Hoi an." his response. " oh yes, I think Hoi An is place for romance. You sit on bridge and watch sun set. Very nice." so in my normal goofy manner I reply " maybe i can find a wife there" his started to chuckle a little and simply said " keep trying " and we all laughed. So from here on out the motto is ..... Keep trying. The funny follow up to that is on the way home from dinner this evening I got my first sexual advance in Vietnam. I was walking back from dinner and several johnnie walkers. A tall young Vietnamese guy In his twenties walking the other direction and said. " massa " I politely inquired " massa? " he asked again massa? Onto the third try her replied " you want massage " and looked me up and down from head to toe like a cheesy movie scene. I smiled and replied ... " no thank you " the look was that classic. You don't know what your missing out on sort of look and I carried on. It was a funny contrast. There are so many hookers in Thailand that is was obnoxious. Not beautiful classy call girls mind you, but sort of rode hard and put away wet types. They blaze up to you and start pawing at you in such a disturbing way that it is not sexual at all. It's more like a cheap zombie movie with Small badly dressed hookers and trannies.

Hanoi Rocks observations and the sights.

Well it seems like you know your in a communist country when they block facebook! It seems they are not to fond of social networking around here.... So unfortunately I will have to post photos when i get back to thailand. I will say this. I do like Hanoi. It is crazy and busy but has a great charm about it and the food is awesome here. And yes I have been going native all the way. No western food unless you count a baguette with breakfast. There is an amazing restaurant here just down the street that I have been gorging myself at so cheaply that I am almost ashamed to admit it. I met a cool Swiss guy here and we went to dinner the other night. We shared 7 dishes of food ( portions are small, sort of like tapas) and we each had two beers and a little desert. We were just living it up. When the bill came it was 400,000 dong! Holy shit. What have we done! After working it out i realized that was only 10 dollars each. Hahahaha. Vie had steamed snail soup. Crispy crepes with shrimp and sprouts, roasted hens, pho till I drop and great little dumplings galore. I have been here for almost three days and other than my hotel room and a few souvenirs I have only spent something like forty or fifty dollars the entire time I have been here!

So I decided while I was here I had to see some of the big sights. S I got up early and headed of to see ho chi mins mausoleum and the one pillar pagoda. It is funny because in a lot of countries around the world you can approach a police man and even if there not all that friendly they will generally be helpful...... Ummmmmm not here. I walked up to one of the very official police men and asked very politely... It was like looking at a disapproving statue in a green suit. Sooooooo I sort of walked away. As I searched for the entrance I ended up meeting a Swiss guy who turned out to be very cool and we went looking together. When we finally found the line I was blown away. I'm not kidding when I say that about 20 minutes after opening at 8 am the line was approximately 10 to 12 blocks long. So much for the wax museum tour. So we headed off to other sights and decided to leave uncle ho in his final eating place. Well now, whats this here on the map? The single pillar pagoda? Gee that looks cool. I was thinking of some sort of awesome piece of architecture. A beautiful pagoda balancing in all of its glory atop a single giant tree trunk in th sniffle of a pond or lake. Yeah so much for visions of glory and majesty on this one. I almost shit myself laughing when I showed up to the "landmark" it was a pagoda all right. But it was about the size of my living room supported by a round cement column that was more akin to a freeway overpass support. Yes I do have a photo..... After walking around and just exploring for about ten hours we took a break and had dinner. After dinner we decided hey, lets tear it up a little and have a few drinks. What the hell. So we set off in search of some sort of Tom waits esk drinking spot. Little did we know that this was the sleepiest big city around and it was a really tough search indeed. It seems that around here there are still a lot of those old school communist rules in effect. There is a midnight curfew here and while you can eat yourself silly and drink cheap Hanoi beer by the gallon you better do it early. we rapped up drinks at 11 and I started the 15 minute walk back to the hotel. By the time I was half way the doors were all going down lights going off and basically what is a major bustling city was almost deserted by 11:30 I strarted to to hurry a bit and made it back to my hotel. As i walked through the front door the door man was already asleep in his chair head tilted, moments from drooling.

Hanoi day 1

By the time I left Bangkok I had sort of had my fill for one week. It can be an overwhelming city when your traveling alone, and it can be more expensive than you anticipate. So I was ready to go this morning and happy to be off on a new adventure. Everyone I have met on this trip that has been to Vietnam so far has said great things about it.
I arrived in Hanoi bright and early already exhausted from the early morning flight. But I gathered some strength and pushed on. I went a few blocks away from the hotel to a recommended restaurant. Wow, crowded but awesome. Noodles and pork, fried calimari, a 20 ounce beer and a cup of coffee for 7 dollars. When I did the math I couldn't believe it at first. And this was a nice place. So far so good. So like the little tourist I am I grabbed a little map and started off on a walking tour of the old town. I have to say I am kind of impressed a little with Hanoi. It is crazy and busy in that Asian metropolis sort of way but there's a completely different feel here. Bangkok sort of felt like Asia mixed with new York. Where Hanoi seems more like Asia mixed with Europe. Most of the buildings are only two or three stories high and a lot of the old buildings have the architecture going back to the French colonial period. Not only that but there is good shopping here as well. Most of the stuff in Thailand was all tee shirts and the regular trinkets you might find at any flee market in the world and if you wanted anything unique you had to dig to find it. Hanoi is a completely different beast entirely. All of the big fashion houses have stores here and there sort of spread around the shopping area so that there not all lumped into one street or section. But the coolest part is that each of the streets and little sections of the old town were originally set up by what that area made. So on one street you have all cloth and cotton goods, on another all of the tin. Then a street for shoes and so on.... It is not strict anymore and you can find a smattering of things all over but it is cool to see. Not only that but some of the stuff is actually cool and worth buying! The only draw back is that the street hawkers and tour cycles are very aggressive and I spent as much time fending the off as I did looking at the wares. I do like it here so far and the staff at the hotel is very nice. The gril at the front desk actually sat down with me for about ten minutes and told me about all of the cool things to see, places to eat and gave me a full run down over my complimentary fruit plate. There are some things I am really going to miss about Asia.

Ping pong show after all ....

So I ended up making it to a ping pong show after all. I met up with some new friends that I first met in chiang Mai and we headed off to the show.... Where to even begin ..... Haha first of all we had a nice meal and worked our way on foot from the restaurant. When Joly ( austrailian friend) suggested that we hop in one of the pimped out Tuk Tuks and just tell them ping pong show. So we found the most pimping Tuk Tuk we could. His thing was an open disco on three wheels. Blinking lights, funky horn flash chrome accessories. Everything a thai super pimp driver needs to get noticed. All we had to say was " ping pong show " and we were off like a bolt of lightning, blazing through the streets of Bangkok. We arrived at the the ping pong show location and after paying way to much we went in. To our surprise the place was packed to the gills. Every nationality you could think of. Thai, American, Russian, German you name it everyone was there. There were even a few couples there that had to be in at least there mid to late 60's. But the astonishing thing was that I would say that at least half the crowd or more was female. I guess chicks just want to see what sort of parlor tricks the competition can pull off...... All in all it was the least erotic thing you can think of. The girls come up and sort of wiggle but I wouldn't exactly call it dancing. But then it starts, The things stories are made of. The most impressive to me being the blow gun trick. A balloon is let go of up in the air and a woman uses a blow gun in her vagina to shoot a dart and pop the balloon. After that there was a woman who had a string of razor blades that she magically produced from her business one blade at a time ... I'm not sure how that one works...... It was interesting but only for about a half hour or forty five minutes. After that we were on our way out. The highlight of my evening however was seeing my new friends again. Jo and jolly are a fantastic couple and pretty much the most fun I have had since coming to Thailand. It was sad to have to leave at the end of the night. I will miss there humor and company.

Ok end immersion time....

So while I have been here I have really tried to immerse myself as much as that might be possible as a tourist. I have not turned on the tv once nor have I had any Americanized food. Just thai food .... Well okay I did have some yummy Indian curry but thee is a large Indian population here so I guess it counts ....but i realized enough is enough. I have been pushing so had that it is time to relax a little. I just ate dinner and I am typing in bed watching the news.
In a lot of ways it has been really cool traveling by myself but now that I am a little over a week into it I am stating to miss easy conversations with friends and family. Eveytime i meet someone I have to start from scratch. In a lot of ways it is fantastic. I have met a ton of great people but it also strains the brain a bit. I hate to admit a love hate thing with Bangkok but I will be happy to move on to Vietnam this weekend. I think a change of pace is in order.

Tattoo

I had a good laugh when I was doing the zip line thing. I showed up at the place one of the guides saw my tattoo and about three guys lifted up my shirt to check it out. When they saw that I had some on my lower back and butt one of the guys yanked my shorts back to look at my ass. I thought I was going to get gang raped on the spot by a bunch of small laotian men. Then they we all started to laugh. It turns out that one of the guys does tattoo work himself. He went into the back and pulled out those old fashioned long sticks with the needles on the end. It was kind of cool to see ...... Maybe not very sanitary but cool.

Zip lines and monks.

The zip line thing was really cool. There were over thirty lines and we had two guides that were awesome and hilarious. Part fear factor and just cool scenery I am really glad I embraced the tourist in me and went for it. One of the cool things about this whole trip so far is he people I have run into. Very step of the way I have met some really great people, most of them from England, Australia and Germany. Today was no exception. I had lunch at a great seafood restaurant yesterday and decided to go back for my final dinner here tonight in Chiang Mai. Yesterday when i was having lunch there was a guy working at the restaurant that started to talk to me. His name was Leo and he is from Burma. His English was pretty good so we started talking. When i went back tonight he recognized me and we started to talk again. Before i was about to leave he came up to me and made me an offer. He said that in three days there was going to be a ceremony that happens once a year when men become bhuddist monks. He was kind enough to invite me to the ceremony. When i mentioned that I was leaving tomorrow he was kind of bummed and said it was to bad that I wouldn't be able to make it. As I was leaving I gave him a donation for the monks robes and the other things that they need. In general I hate organized religion but the monks here have sort of a cooler attitude and place society. I figured a couple of bucks out of my pocket wouldn't hurt but it seems to make a huge difference here. Not only that but I think there are so many people and tourists coming through here doing shity stuff that a single kind deed mit go a long way in renewing a little faith in foreigners....now that my good deed is done it is back to Bangkok and the ping pong show with the austrailians!

Elephant park

The photos are better than the text..... I'll post when I get back.

I ended up booking a trip to a elephant reserve. The place I went to was actually my second choice but it turned out to be the best choice. I s originally signed up to go to a place where you ride the elephants. I didn't know that is actually a bad thing. I guess the seats they put on there backs deforms them and they are rather nasty to the elephants when they train them. The p,ace I ended up going to is sort of a reserve for rescue elephants. Most of the elephants there were rescued from logging operations or street beggars. The elephants just get to roam around freely most of the time except when the wranglers take them back and forth to the river to cool off. So the guides just sort of take you to random spots around the park where certain groups of elephants are hanging out. I got to feed and hang out with a bunch of elephants for the day. It was super mellow very cool. It was cool because even if it is a tourist type place to go, the money goes to support a place where the elephants were actually being taken care of. No tricks or performances at all.

I also met a really cool australian couple that I am going to meet up with back in Bangkok, we decided that if we were together as a group we could be brave enough to go to the ping pong show. I'll report back later .....

Giant squid for dinner!

Okay so the sexing day in chiang Mai was a lot better than the first. I decided to take some time and get a thai massage. So I searched out the best one I could find. Despite what your thinking I was not looking for happy ending massage but an actual real massage. So I happened upon a great Little place only a few blocks from the hotel. First of all I have never had a t hai massage before so I didn't know what to expect. The place was sort of modern and very clean with all sorts of aroma therapy scents wafting through the air. They washed my feet in a little bath and then led me into a small room where I was to change into a shirt and loose fitting Capri pants .... Laying face down on a small futon matress I waited in relaxed anticipation. Enter a small charming thai woman. Little did I know she was a massage ninja! I have been doing jujitsu for ten years now and this woman bent me and beat me down. At one point she basically had me in a leg lock with one foot on my butt cheek. Then all of a sudden there was a shift, my little Capri pants gave way and her foot slipped. I thought her big toe was going to be firmly lodged up my ass but at the last moment she dodged and I breathed a sigh of relief. We were both laughing because she was beating on me so hard that I kept groaning, something she founf endlessly amusing and was laughing at me the whole time. By the way this two hour massage of epic quality was only 400 bat .... That just about $16! so yes .... I did schedule another one wednesday morning.

Feeling relaxed I decided to wander up to the sunday night market and have a look despite my aversion to craft fairs. But there was a bright and shiny spot to all of the trinkets and bobbles. The food court ...... As I walked around I started to notice many of the regular items the carts have. But something caught my eye ...... Is that halibut? No, iasked the woman what it was and she pointed to a little sign. " it giant squid ....." whaaaaaat? Of course I got it. I'm not sure if I will ever have another piece of calimari that is about 12 inches across! I have a phot but I can't upload it from here. You'll just have to wait until i get back and take my word for it.

All in all not a bad day. Giant squid and a toe in the ass. The things vacation memories are made of!

Finally relaxing.

I went to sleep early, bummed out by all of the flashing lights and tourist crap. But going to sleep early leads to .... Getting up early. I hopped out of bed and went for an early morning stroll. It was the best thing I could have done. Chiang Mai gets really hot ( 94 degrees today ) so most of the town never really gets going until later in the day around 4 or 5 at night. Then it is game on with all of the shopping and food markets etc. So everything was calm and quiet. I just started heading into the old part of town and when I was sort of in the middle I just made a left and went down an alley. Off the beaten path were just these little alley ways with houses behind gates. I just strolled the alleys for almost two hours. It was just the sort of thing I needed to forget about all the trinket shops. I also realized that since I have been here I haven't slowed down for even a minute. So I hoofed it back to the hotel, threw on some shorts and went to the pool for about two hours. Super lucky thing too because I met a nice older Australian couple that had just come from Vietnam and all of the places I am about to go to next. They were sort of doing the same trip I am but in reverse. They clued me in to where and what to do in vietnam while we enjoyed a few Chang beers in the pool.

I know my last couple of posts haven't been that entertaining but tomorrow is elephant day and wed is the zip line trip. So assuming I don't plummet to my death I should have some good stories.

Chiang Mai first impressions

It stuck me this afternoon as I got into chiang Mai, I may have gotten it backwards. I was thinking that I didn't want to spend to much time in Bangkok because it was going to be big and dirty. On the contrary. Bangkok was way cooler than I expected, easy to get around in and all in all a pretty amazing place. As a contrast, when planning my trip chiang Mai kept coming up as this place I had to see blah blah blah. I got here this afternoon and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Back to that disdain that I have for trinket shops. This place is nothing but trinket shops. I'm hoping that Monday when i head off to do some activities that I get a better impression. Its disturbingly lop sided. There are more westerners here than thai, or at least it came across that way. Think of something like the craft fair your folks dragged you to except instead of wizard mugs and vagina ash trays it's all bad tennis shoes and crap watches with the occasional " authentic ethnic clothing " thrown in. Except that if your a westerner and actually wear that crap it is sort of like hanging a big sign on yourself saying I'm a jackass. The exception to my tourist contempt was the food today. Bangkok dining was good but spendy. Chiang Mai has some great food at low prices. For the first time I got food from a street cart. It was awesome and cheap. I don't know what I was thinking but I also broke my cardinal rule and had something with ice in it! So my bowl of soup and mango shake cost me a whole $2 after that it was a long walk through the bar district and back to the hotel.

One cool bit of news today, a good friend of mine is going to catch up with me and we are going to see Angkor wat together. I'm really happy about that. It is supposed to be one of those amazing places that you want to be able to look at your friend years later say, " remember when i got bit by that fucking snake when we were at the temple" yes kids that area of the world has more deaths by reptile bites than any other place on earth.

Muay thai and the sights

On my way out of the hotel I happened to be behind a couple that were headed in the same direction hat I was headed. At some point I can't even really remember we started to talk. Marco and Amo were a cool couple from kazekstan. I can honestly say that I don't know anything about kazekstan other than the borat parody. These two couldn't have been further away from that. They were charming, cool and both really well educated. We were headed to the same place so we decided to go together. First stop, the palace. We hopped onto a river boat and went up river to the palace. As we hopped off the boat it was instantly swarming with people from every part of the planet come to take in the sights. At first it really put me off. Growing up in a tourist town, pretty much anything that says "shity trinket" makes me curl up like salt on a slug. But then we made our way inside the main palace area. Sure there were tons of people, but it was a pretty awesome sight. The amount of work and detail that went into the place is astounding. The three of us wandered a little aimlessly at first, sort of caught up in the scale of the place but after a whle we kind of got a pace going and sort of wandered with purpose. It was one of those places that I was really glad to have company with me.
As the afternoon started to turn to early evening Marco turned to me and said that they needed to get back because they didn't want to be late for the muay thai match ........ Uhhh what did you just say...... Holy shit can I still get a ticket? So we raced back to the hotel and I managed to pay way to much to get a ringside seat. ( that being $60 for fourth row ) in short.... It was awesome! First off it was being help at a big thai stadium so when we dashed off to get there we were looking for a big place. You know, the rose garden or something befitting the reputation of one of the two most important arenas in a city of 6 million people. I cracked up when we got there. It was cool in that sort of old rustic gym kind of way but it was no bigger than a grey hound bus station. That being said, it was a blast. Not only were the fights great but there was live music. A little section where 5 guys were playing traditional thai music as background for the fight. I managed to get up right next to the ring and shoot some video I will post later. Complete with music and shouting fans. At the end of the evening my new friends and I parted and I was bummed. They were charming and so much fun it wish I had a few more days to spend hanging out with them.

You want to see ping pong show?

I went through the big scary red light district area last night.my friend Carol's brother has lived here for almost ten years and he said that I needed to at least walk through one time just to see it ...... Whoa it was a little too much. I had at least 15 dudes run up to me and say " ping pong show, you come now. See ping pong show." the first time someone said it I thought to myself ...... Should I? Just because I have always heard about it. But then I took one look at the environment inside and I think I could actually see the bugs and aids cells flying around.mirrored walls everywhere and something like 6 woman holding onto brass poles in bikinis. There weren't so much dancing as they were sort of wiggling. Kind of like fleshy wind chimes. It was super crowded and I didn't even want to take my camera out and take a photo because every time I stopped walking for a minute, throngs of barkers would surround me with lists of sex show details......let's see. Local menu. Pad thai, currie, girl shoot banana from Asian flower. I think I'll be looking for other entertainment but thank you sir.

The afternoon with Chatty

I have recently been going to a sushi bar near my house and the gentleman who owns the establishment is Thai. He was kind enough to have his mother who still lives in Bangkok come and meet me to show me around town a little bit. Her name is Chatty and I can not say enough nice things about her! She picked me up from the hotel and we drove for about 30 minutes to a quiet area of Bangkok and this amazing open air restaurant. The food was spectacular! Whole roasted chicken, papaya salad with caramelized peanuts, grilled pork with tamarind sauce and a super amazing pork spare rib lemmongrass soup. An extra cool thing about lunch was that I was the only white guy there. It was sort of fun to see people sort of looking at me in surprise. I sort of felt like I was taken to a private club, it was very cool. It wasn't over there however. Chatty presented me with a cool little gift. She had made me home made sweet mango and sticky rice. Complete with home made coconut sauce to go on it! Okay so by now I am in hog heaven and my gut is expanding at an awful pace but there was one last stop to be made. She took me to a tailor in a quiet little neighborhood where I was to be measured for a new suit. A little bit more than I wanted to spend but I am really looking forward to have a custom suit. A great day by all accounts and it is not even 6 pm yet.

The guy on the train ......

So hopping onto a commuter train in Bangkok at 8 in the morning on a work day you can imagine it might be a little crowded. I was sort of standing back for a minute to try to get a read on how the whole thing worked when a slight Asian gentleman approached me and asked me if I knew the way to a certain stop. He was Japanese and probably about 28 dragging a big silver case and he was drunk enough to fall over except that his luggage sort of provided some support like a giant wheeled crutch. So we hopped onto the train together and started to talk. He had just flown in from Tokyo about an hour earlier. The reason he was so drunk was that the flight attendants were so overwhelmed with emotion over recent events they just pumped him full of booze to ease the pain. At one point he lowered his head and paused. Partly from the booze but also overwrought from what he was obviously going through. " you know, it's a lot worse than there saying on the tv. A lot worse. The reason I'm here is because my company told us to evacuate." " my parents went to the southern part of the country and my firm sent me here for ... I don't know how long" it was heart breaking. For those of you that know me I am not usually an overly emotional guy but this was just about the hardest thing I have seen in a long time. Our conversation was'nt monumental in and of itself but the thought of thousands dead and a huge amount of people being rushed into a mas exodus sort of put a whammy on my brain. I have a lot of respect for the Japanese as a people and a culture. I am truly sorry for there misfortune. He realized that his stop had come up and he was about to miss his chance so he nodded and left before I could give him my information. I will probably never see him again and it is a shame. Even in the middle of the worst time in his life he was pleasant,conversational and ..... I don't know what else to say.

The first day ....

Wow. Where to even begin. I got off the airplane and started to make my way through the airport to the car that was taking me to the hotel. I have met people over the years that say " I'm a good driver because I learned how to drive in ...... SF, New York, whatever...." I have news for you. Your all pussys Bangkok is the craziest driving place I have ever seen. The sheer volume of vehicles is one thing. Then on top of that there are really no lanes. Scooters buzzing inches from total death screaming down the middle of moving traffic, no helmets and girls riding side saddle on the back seat. I was in awe. To make things even worse it was 5 pm rush hour traffic and my hotel is in a busy part of town.
To be honest I woke up with a bit of jet lag and a mild panic attack at around 6 in the morning. I was sort of wondering if I had bit off more than I can chew. This place is huge and being my first stop alone in Asia it was working at my brain. I finally hopped into the shower and realized I was being a fool. So like any one standing at the edge of a cliff would do. I decided to just go ahead and jump. A had a great breakfast and just walked out of the hotel. I headed to the train station, bought a day pass and just hopped on the train until the next to last stop. Then I hopped off and just started walking the streets of Bangkok. It really was the best thing I could have done..... Maybe not the smartest, but I'm glad I did it.

Half way there...

It has been a long time since i have traveled by myself and i am reminded how much more i pay attention to things. The first flight was pretty much uneventful. Going from Portland to Vancouver BC. Normally I like the canadiens but the security services had a hard on for me. Apparently I didn't look right and it was just shy of a cavity search before they let me on my way. I suppose a 40 year old man traveling by himself to Asia for a month with only a backpack and some insulin syringes looks a little shady. Hahaha . But then i boarded he plane and off to Hong Kong. Just let me say ...... Holy shit. I traveled for years and had a chance several times to travel business class but this was something else entirely! Before I had even planted my bottom into the chair, at least three people had shaken my hand or bowed and said welcome. It was three in the morning but the lovely stewardess ( something of a rarity these days ) took my things and stowed them into my very own cubbyhole and shoved a double Johnnie walker black and soda into my hands. I saved air miles for years for this..... Cathay first class. While I was sipping my drink and dropping an ambien into he mix the lovely stew returned. "Mr Peterson, when your ready I'll prepare your bed." huh? So I proceeded to get up and let her do her thing. The seat folded completely into a flat bed. Then she produced a little funny shaped sheet and blanket for me. The only thing lacking was the kiss goodnight but it was replaced by watching the kings speech on my 17 inch monitor and drifting easily into whisky dreams. Nine beautiful hours of solid speed later I woke up refreshed to a breakfast of dim sum and fruit, Earl grey tea and a hot towel. I will never be happy flying any other way again. I am completely spoiled.

Unlike Vancouver Hong Kong has been a breeze. It is strange to me though. It feels more like San Francisco than it does Asia. Tons of Asians but everyone speaks English and the shopping
area makes 5th ave. look shoddy.


Now to the lounge for some coffee and noodles.

The first signs ....

Let me start by giving a little warning. I am posting this blog obviously for others to read. However I am also using it as a journal of sorts. If you know me then you already know that I have a quirky nature and can use somewhat harsh language along with being rather politically incorrect. If this bothers you .... stop reading now and close this page because I don't want anyone sending me email or posting comments about how I might offend anyone .... Other than that I hope you have fun following me around SE Asia. I really have no idea what to expect and I am completely looking forward to just letting things unfold.

  The hardest part for now seems to be letting go of all of the weird stories and imagery for various books and movies that have clouded my vision of what to expect. Throngs of transsexual lady boys and prostitutes everywhere waiting to be plucked by creepy old tourists ( Gary Glitter ) like low hanging fruit, food poisoning and pick pockets at every turn.... That and the nicest sweetest people around with great food, culture and beautiful surroundings. I have a feeling it will probably be somewhere in between and I am just going to try and erase all of those images out of my head.

I have just been working and trying to keep my head down and slowly accumulate all of the things that I want to take with me. Books, shoes, backpack etc. But up until today it has been something of an abstraction, a trip that was still way off in the future with only a couple of little shopping moments. But today I went to the travel clinic! Nothing says vacation like having 5 needles jammed into both arms. Measles, mumps, rubella, Hep A, Hep B, Hep C, flu, typhoid, malaria pills and more. I was wondering if I was going to a foreign country or working cleaning a roto router turd truck. But the funniest part of the whole thing was the warnings she gave. The medical information was blandly stated .... "be careful of this and that " but her tone was almost the tone sales people get after reciting something a thousand times. Until she got to one section. " Oh, I almost forgot .... and this is important. " Her tone turning a little more like that of a concerned mother. " Animal bites ..... if you get bit. Rinse it out and go to the hospital to watch for rabies." a little pause ...... " don't look the monkey in the eye ........ don't smile at the monkeys ....... they'll attack you...... by the way, if not treated ..... rabies is 100% fatal " Don't mess around. If the monkey bites get to the hospital..... Okay then, have a great trip!"