Asian Tourist

The American War

2006-01-02T12:40:00.000+07:00

A reasonable person could get a little nervous traveling by plane in the third world. There are a million airlines here (Thai Air, Thai Airways and Thai Air Asia are actually different companies) and some of the airports only see a couple flights a day go in or out. According to my research, Lao Airlines, for example, has passed no international safety standards at all.

Fortunately, many of the airlines are run very well and the service is outstanding. During a 50 minute flight, the crew manages to offer everyone complimentary international newspapers, serve hot food and full beverage service (very good food is served on every flight) and refill your coffee several times. They couldn't be more polite or accomodating through the whole thing.

The other positive is that the flights are very cheap. When your consumer base makes only a few dollars a day, you just can't charge too much.

After a week in and around Hanoi, I left to head down to Central Vietnam. The goal was to do some touring of the Vietnam War sites ("American War" or "American War of Agression" as it's called here) and hit the beaches.

Vietnam Air is the only company that operates internally in Vietnam. The company is run by the communist government and a one-way flight from Hanoi to Hue (about 500 miles) costs $40. You can book a bus ticket that runs from Hanoi to Saigon for $21. With this ticket, you can get off and get on the bus as many times as you'd like and stay at each stop as long as you'd like. It takes over 45 hours of total bus travel to get from North to South and most busses run at night. The bus drivers are bigger idiots on the road than anyone else and if you crash and are injured in rural Vietnam, we'll let's just say the emergency aid here makes FEMA look good. Apparently, the drivers also blast karaoke all night long. Needless to say, I booked the flight.

What the airlines might lack in competence, they make up for in cautiousness. It was raining in Hue, so they rerouted our plane to Danang then bussed us the 125 km back to Hue. The rain didn't stop the entire time I was in Central Vietnam.

The 17th parallel is the line chosen in 1945 by the US, Brits and Russians to divide Vietnam. Though it saw some of the heaviest fighting in the American War, it is known as the "Demilitarized Zone" or DMZ. Tours of the DMZ are offered all over Hue and they all leave at 6:30 am. I reconsidered the whole thing at that point, but signed up anyway.

The Vinh Moc tunnels were our first stop. During the war, the Vietnamese dug hundreds of miles of tunnels, throughout South and Central Vietnam. The Vinh Moc tunnels were about 3 km in length and up to 25m deep. Seven enterances face the sea to provide ventilation. Over 300 people lived in these tunnels from 1966-1971. Incredibly, the Americans never found them.
Descending into the tunnels is a chlosterphobe's worst nightmare. There is very little lighting and the ceilings are about 5 feet high. With the outside rain, the tunnel was wet and slippery. While the whole concept of the tunnels is really amazing, the advertised "maternity wards" and "meeting rooms" were little more than widened arteries coming off the main branch. The reality that sets in is how desperate these people must have been to spend years in a dark hole.

The Khe San military base is near the tunnels and was one of the strongest American footholds in Central Vietnam. This is where the diversion that allowed the Tet Offensive occured. (Historical note if you're not familiar with the Tet Offensive: In Vietnam, the US wanted to fight a war like it had in Europe. They wanted to line up the troops from both sides on the battlefield and fight it out. Needless to say, the Vietnamese could not win that kind of war, hence the guerrila tactics. In late 1967, the North Vietnamese Army infiltrated the cities near the major US bases. They then created a diversion by attacking the Khe San base with traditional military tactics. The US thought they finally had the fight they wanted and rounded up forces from all over the South Vietnam to fight at Khe San. Once the US bases were undermanned, the Vietnamese infiltrators attacked. The attack took place on the first night of the Tet Holiday (which is the Vietnamese New Year, January 30th, 1968.) While the Americans eventually turned back the NVA, the Tet Offensive caused many American casualties and marked the awakening of the American public to the horrors of the Vietnam War.)

Khe San currently houses a museum with American tanks and aircraft around the outside of the base. The exhibits are sort of amusing. The captions under the exhibits read like the national newspapers. Every description is, almost hilariously, one-sided. Some of the pictures are used to show the bruatality of the American soldiers. Others captions read "See the Americans flee in terror as the superior NVA forces attack" below a picture of 3 American soldiers standing around, smoking cigarettes.

The highlight of the trip was the tour guide. I actually got to sit next to him and talk to hm throughout the day. When he found out I was American, he became very friendly. He had grown up in the DMZ during the war. He told harrowing stories of having guns from American helicopters pointed at him. If he ran, he'd be shot, but remaining calm went against every instinct he had.

He explained his transformation from hating Americans to empathizing with them. Through reading many perspectives on the war, he came to realize that the American soldiers and, in many ways, the American people were also victims in the Vietnam war. He said the Vietnamese people didn't care who won, they just wanted the fighting to stop. He said the current government is popular with the people because of the peace and stability. After years and years of fighting, they just don't care about anything else.

We traveled along to see the northern base of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other famous battle sites like Rockpile and Hamburger Hill. The land there is absolutely beautiful. You can tell the forest growth is not too old, but it is thick and colorful.

I left Hue after two days to see the beaches in Nha Trang. Those were rained out as well and Vietnam Air had completely cancelled that flight, so I headed to Saigon. (Interesing note: The Vietnamese language is entirely monosyllabic. Commonly known names are actually written incorrectly abroad. Sai gon, Ha noi and Da nang are the correct names of these places. I just didn't want to throw you off.)

Saigon is officially known as Ho Chi Minh City, but the people in the south and most travelers refer to it as Saigon. The chaos in the streets is much like Hanoi, but on a larger scale. Saigon doesn't have the obvious European influence of Hanoi and lacks much of its charm. Though "Notre Dame," a Catholic Cathedral (pictured) is located in central Saigon (Vietnam is the only place in SE Asia where I've seen any Catholic influence.) While Saigon is a very tourist friendly city, the locals have caught on to the potential for extracting money from tourists.

Anywhere you go in SE Asia, you are approached on the street by people who are trying to get money out of you. You can not ask directions from anyone because they will insist on taking you to the place you want to go at a price. If you refuse, they will follow and argue. In fact, you can't get 5 feet in a major tourist area without hearing "motorbike, sir" or having someone try to get you into a restaurant or massage parlor. Most of the time a polite wave is enough to indicate "no." However, if 95% of the people trying to get your attention on the street are polite, the other 5% are, shall we say, persistent.

If 5% of the people are persistent, that makes for about 20 persistent people per day. This persistence comes in the form of following you and trying to start a conversation ("Where are you from?" "Where are you going?") but can get as bad as people physically grabbing you and pulling you by the arm to get your attention. You absolutely can not begin talking about the price of their services without an intention to buy. Once the hagglng starts, there is almost no getting out. Again, you will be chased down the street and subjected to every cheap sales tactic under the sun. Eventually you master the polite wave and how to ignore people to get them to leave you alone.

While the European influence in Vietnam is not as present in the architecture and feel of Saigon, the art is clearly inspired by the Western masters. The art museum in Saigon has an extensive collection of Vietnamese artists. While the subject matter and other elements are distictly Asian the technique and style could fool a casual art lover into thinking they were looking at Seurat, Cezanne or Van Gogh. I've included several pictures of the art here. (Sorry, but Blogger.com is driving me nuts. I can't figure out the formatting to save my life. The 3 photos pictured here are obviously not from the War Museum.)

The most gripping of all of the museums I've visited in SE Asia is The War Museum in Saigon. Originally, it was called "The Museum of American and Chinese Atrocities," but they changed the name because it scared off the tourists (go figure.) There are many exhibits with factual information about the American War. It was fascinating and I learned quite a lot. Then you get to the extensive collection of photos and videos of people who were maimed and killed in the war. There are very graphic pictures and videos of civilians who have lived through napalm bombings and other atrocities. There is also an entire section about the severely disfigured children of people who ingested Agent Orange.

The goal of the museum is to raise awareness that a cease fire does not end the suffering of the people. They are trying to raise money to support the Vietnamese poplutaion that is still vicitmized by the war. I'm not going to include any pictures of this place. You'll just have to trust me, they are very successful in their goals.

It can't be easy for people from other countries to see these exhibits, but as an American, it is downright chilling. While government criticism is common in the US, I'm just not used to my country being talked about in these terms. One of the most striking pictures is one of several American soldiers proudly holding up the severed heads of dead NVA soldiers. Other photos show Americans torturing and terrorizing Vietnamese civilians.

Throughout the trip I've had interesting conversations with people from all over the world about politics and current events. I've had several people tell me that they don't usually like Americans, but that I'm ok. Universally, people despise our current government. Every single person I've talked to speaks about George Bush in the most disparaging terms possible (Bill Clinton, on the other, is loved by all.) Bush is seen as a rich kid who hasn't earned his own way. He is considered an idiot and a villain. While I agree with these sentiments, it's not nice being from a place that's seen as the world's bully. It's always a little awkward telling people where I'm from. I've gotten quite a wide range of reactions, though most positive.

I had lunch with a nice couple from Denmark who told me something that made me feel a lot more comfortable about the situation. "You know, we don't hate the American people, we just protest the actions of your government. But, um, you re-elected him?"

Halong, Hanoi and Uncle Ho

2005-12-17T19:36:00.000+07:00

A perceptive friend who's travelled extensively in Vietnam observed; "the whole country reminds me of one giant ant hill." That's a pretty apt description of many things in this country, the traffic in particular.

I arrived in Hanoi after a one night layover in Bangkok. I was much more prepared for Bangkok this time and really enjoyed it. Upon arrival at the Hanoi airport, I headed outside to hop in a cab. Immediately, things were different. A line of cab drivers greeted me with shouts of "Michael Jackson! Michael Jackson!" I quizzed the drivers to see who could name the most #1 hits from "Thriller" and the winner and I were off (he got 1, "Billie Jean.")

The Vietnamese have a different way of expressing themselves on the road. There are more than 7 motor bikes for every car in this country. In Hanoi, there are 200,000 cars and 1.5 million motorbikes. It also should be noted that the motor bike riders follow (and I can't stress this enough,) NO ROAD RULES AT ALL. The only means of communication between riders, drivers and pedestrians is incessant horn honking.

Honking a car horn here does not mean "get out of my way" or "I hate you" like it does in the U.S., it just means "here I am." Without it, (the logic must go) people would crash into each other constantly. As I was about to ask my driver why he was honking so much, he turned completely around (we were moving at about 40 mph on something that resembled an expressway) and told me he needed to make a phone call. "OK..." I said as he came to a dead stop and turned off the engine, without pulling out of the lane! There was no shoulder to the road and traffic zipped around us as though this was a perfectly normal occurence. I felt somewhat unsafe, but compared with what was to come, this was nothing.

As we reached Central Hanoi, the driver again turned completely around while we were moving. This time he was checking my reaction. This guy must be used to driving Westerners, because he got a good laugh at my open mouth gape. The streets were completely jam packed with 125 cc motorbikes. Visualize, if you will, the worst urban traffic jam you've ever seen. Now, take 95% of the cars and replace each one with 10 motor bikes. Now imagine the riders (usually 2 per bike, sometimes as many as 4) following no rules at all. No helmets, no street lights or stop signs anywhere, and many of the riders talking on their cell phones!

Your next question must be; "How would one cross such a street?" Well, you just go for it. One of the nice things about the motorbikes is that they are very maneuverable. Another is that the bikes are so small that the rider has great impetus to avoid hitting you. So you stand on a street corner, and in spite of better instinct, you just walk directly into the on-coming traffic. Incredibly, I've not yet seen anyone come close to getting hit.

In spite of the chaos in the streets (which you sort of get used to,) Hanoi is a lovely city. There are big lakes everywhere. The architecture is a nice mix of functional 3rd World dwellings and striking French Colonial strucutures. In fact, the French influence extends beyond the architecture into food (I wasn't expecting great quiche in Hanoi,) language (everything is written in French here) and of course, the war monuments.

The Old Quarter of Hanoi shows the juxtoposition of the French and Vietnamese cultures. The areas around the Cathedral and Opera House (both pictured) feel very European. Posh cafes and high fashion shops clash with the aggressive motorbike drivers and hole in the wall, locals-only restaurants.

After 2 days of wandering, I took a 3 day excursion out to Halong Bay. According to the Western news I'd seen, this whole area was shut down to tourists. Well, apparently no one told the people here about the terrifying "Bird Flu" pandemic. In fact, the whole thing is hardly in the papers at all. A few restaurants don't serve chicken to tourists, but that's about it.

Like Luang Prabang, Halong Bay is a UN "World Heritage Site." The skies were overcast the entire time I was there, but the scenery was still fantastic. There are over 2,000 rock formations and islands jutting out of the Gulf of Tonkin. Like my trekking tour in Chiang Mai, I was fortunate to be surrounded by a group of really great people on this tour. This group was made up of 6 Aussies, a New Zealander, a Frenchman, a hippie from Northern California and me.

We took meandering cruises through the bay, toured caves (one was beautiful and unadulterated, the other might as well have had escalators going through it.) and trekked in the hills. 3 days, including most meals, all accomodations (we stayed on the boat one night and the rooms were amazing,) a fantastic tour guide and transport to and from Hanoi cost a whopping $70.

When I returned to Hanoi, I set off to see the landmarks and museums. My first stop was Hoa Lo prison. This place is famous among Vietnamese as the prison used by the French to torture "Vietnamese Patriots." It's famous among Americans as the "Hanoi Hilton" that housed John McCain as well as other POWs.

The exhibits focus on their anger toward the French while extolling the virtues of the way the American POWs were treated while in the Vietnamese prison. The torture rooms and solitary confinement chambers used by the French are still intact. They even have two guillotines on display. On the other hand, American POWs are shown playing basketball, "receiving gifts" from their captors and eating feasts. There is even one caption that implies that the soldiers are so happy, they don't want to leave when the war is over.

In Hanoi, there is a massive complex devoted to Ho Chi Minh (his mausoleum is pictured.) Unfortunately, I missed seeing his body, which is available for public viewing. They send "Uncle Ho" to Moscow once a year for maintanence, so hopefully he'll still be in good shape if I ever come back.

On the other hand, nothing is embalmed in his museum, which is a good thing. The Ho Chi Minh museum is one of the most impressive tributes to any subject, that I've ever seen. Every display is a work of art. The theme is to show not only the resilience of the Vietnamese (who've fought the French, Americans, Chinese and Cambodians on their own soil since 1955) but the horrors of war.

My favorite display was one where they took anti-war art from Spain and made a sort of collage. They used many images from Picasso's "Guernica." It, like most of the museum, was very effective and really avoided a lot of the heavy handed propaganda you find in other exhibits here.

There are many, many images of "Uncle Ho" in Vietnam. Oddly, when set against a red backdrop, he looks just like Colonel Sanders. In fact there is a famous quote of an American pointing this out to a Vietnamese officer. The officer replied "No they are not alike. Uncle Ho was a General."

After a couple days of this, I decided to head south to see more of the war history. Hue, in Central Vietnam, was my first stop. More on that later.

In a Tranquil Place

2005-12-14T17:28:00.000+07:00

Computers in Vietnam are a little rough, so sorry for the delay in my postings. It's been nice to hear from everyone and I'm glad people are actually reading this. I left off on my way out of Chiang Mai, Thailand, rested and acclimated.

Luang Prabang, Laos was the next destination, so I eagerly headed off to one of SE Asia's most beautiful cities. The stunning nature of the scenery hits you before you land. In fact, the descent into Luang Prabang's airport had me glued to the window of the tiny prop plane that took us on the two hour flight.

The Mekong and Khan Rivers shape LP into a narrow peninsula. I'd imagine the mosquitos can get pretty intense there, but I was visiting at the right time of year. I have no idea how to convert Celsius to Farenheit, but the day times were pleasantly warm (probably 75-80 degrees) and the evenings seemed to dip into the low 60s, with no wind chill at all. This is my idea of perfect weather. On the other hand, the locals were so stunned by the cool evenings that you could find groups of them huddled in the markets, shivering inspite of their layers of thick winter clothes.

On my arrival, I was in the midst of doing some reading on the history of Laos, but hadn't gotten to the part where they explain that the current government is communist. Well, that didn't take long to figure out because the flag of the Soviet hammer and sicle flies up and down all of the major streets, as commonly seen as the Lao national flag.

You also realize you are in a communist country when you go to a newsstand. The media is tightly controlled and there was no presence of the Western press anywhere. Bookstores had a range of used Western books, but that was it. The Lao paper is printed in English and is quite amusing. As an American I'm used to government criticism that borders on slander, but the Lao paper's purpose is cheerleading.

Story after story recounts "the great progress" and "revolutionary vision" of the current government. The improvement of roads, building of schools and medical facilities and patriotic displays of the people are the only topics covered. There is an area near Vientienne (the capitol) that is held by the rebels and too dangerous to travel. In many ways, the country is still recovering from 10 years of US bombings and insurgent support in the 1970's.

Stability is on the horizon, but Laos is still one of the ten poorest countries in the world. The average person gets by (if you can call it that) on less than $1 per day. Maybe they need to pick up their paper and feel good about something, but the media control is not total. The internet is available everywhere and the TV in the room in my guesthouse had CNN, ESPN Asia and HBO, all in English.

Laos made for a fascinating contrast to Thailand and later, to Vietnam. While Thailand and Vietnam feel as though they are struggling to emerge into the industrialized world, Laos doesn't exist on the same planet as the rest of us. There is no sense of urgency anywhere. Things don't run on time, food in a restaurant takes forever and before long, you notice you are walking a lot slower than usual.

One bar on the main strip in LP shows Western movies on a big screen TV. Another had a campfire every evening, marketed to Western backpackers. Day trips for kayaking, mountain biking and visiting waterfalls and hilltribe villages abound. Other than that, there is almost nothing to do, but when you're somewhere this beautiful, that's ok.

There is a night market that takes over several blocks on the main street. It goes on for 5-6 hours and was another great example of the different pace of life in Laos. While the markets in Thailand are brightly lit, with people shouting at you and shoving products in your face, the people in Laos sit on the ground in soft light. They nod appreciatively as you inspect their wares and wave good-bye as you move on.

At the night market, food is available everywhere. For 5,000 kip (50 cents) you can fill up your plate at one of the many buffets. You have to sort of forget the importance of refridgeration in food service and eat things that you don't recognize, but it's worth it.

I missed out on some of these activities as, well, without getting into details, an illness hit me. I know it wasn't the street food, since I hadn't had any since my arrival. Unfortunately I was bed ridden for 3 days. The great thing is that the budget accomodations across SE Asia are terrific.

Now, you can spend as much as you'd like on a room. There are plenty of plush resorts and boutique hotels charging $200+ per night. The great thing is that my budget of $10-$15 per night gets you a lot in return. All the rooms I've stayed in have been absolutely spotless. The walls may need a fresh coat of paint, the sheets and comforters are not exactly new, but the places are clean and safe. When you make the jump from the $5-$8 rooms into the $10-$15 range you typically get; your own bathroom with hot shower, a/c, a minibar (water, beer and soda,) and you have your choice of location.

As mentioned above, you also get satellite TV in these rooms. While the range of available programming varies, I had the good fortune of watching the Duke-IU basketball game live on one of the days I was sick. Even people on the other side of the planet love Hoosier Basketball.

Lazy Days

2005-12-01T20:16:00.000+07:00

Since I've been in Asia, I've talked to a number of people about their travel plans. Regardless of age or income, it seems that people come here and take on a break-neck pace. People cover dozens of sites and locations in a minimal amount of time, sleep on the trains and go rush around somewhere else. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm sure when I return, people who've traveled this region will be shocked by all the major tourist attrctions I've missed. Oh well, maybe next time.

The benefit of my flight arrangements are that the dates are flexible without charge. When I got back to Chiang Mai on Friday night, I was scheduled to leave on Monday. That wasn't going to cut it. I extended 5 days and rescheduled my flight to Laos for the following Saturday. I spent the next week doing almost nothing.

Chiang Mai is the cooking class capital of the world. There are over 30 schools in a relatively small town. So, I took a class. We started at the market, gathered our ingredients and made authentic Thai food. It was great fun and the food turned out really well.

Kick boxing is popular here, so I went to a match. Actually, going to see kick boxing includes seeing ten matches, taking about 4 hours. Of course, the fighters are classified by weight. There were children as small as 80 pounds and adults as large as 200.

The fights we saw weren't particularly violent. The technique is really different than European/American boxing. The fighters throw punches, but mostly use their hands for positioning. In ten fights, I never saw one good punch land. Most of the kicking is aimed at the thighs and butt. We only saw three knockouts and no blood.

With the exception of these two orgainized activities, most of my time was spent hanging out in cafes, getting massages, going for long walks and then hanging out in cafes some more.

The hotel and guesthouse where I stayed are located near a strip of shops and cafes in the old city near Tha Pae gate. There are a good mix of locals and tourists as this area is loaded with cheap places to stay, but not near the heavily touristed night market. On this strip, a pleasant Dutch fellow owns a Pink Floyd themed cafe called "The Wall." Lots of Western music, travelers and great, cheap food.

The menus in the cafes are all very similar and so is the service. Every menu has at least 150 items on it. Everyone serves hamburgers and other sandwiches. (The best burger I had was at "Mike's." Not sure if you can see the slogan on the sign, but it reads "Converting Vegetarians Since 1979." I had to patronize that place.) There also is a lot of Italian food. I had Italian a few times and it was pretty good. Of course, most of the menu is made up of Thai food.

Table service is sort of amusing, I guess. Before your butt hits the seat, a server thrusts a menu at you. They then stand (uncomfortably close to the table) and stare until you order. Since the menus are all 10-15 pages long, figuring out what to order can take a minute. If you indicate that you need a little time to decide, the server takes one step back from the table and continues to stare. Once your order is delivered you never see a server again, until you flag someone down for the check. At this point they bring the check and stand at stare at you while you read it and organize your payment. Tipping is neither expected nor inspired. Feels kinda funny.

The night market is an interesting scene. It's like taking Macy's and putting everything in a movable, outdoor stand. You can buy anything you can imagine and the prices are dirt cheap. The market is open every night and the workers are there seven days a week. This was common as I spoke with quite a few Thais who never take a day off. None of these people have ever left Thailand or have any interest. The attitude of "anything I don't have, I don't need" speaks to the wide popularity of Buddhism in this country.

The long strip of bars and restaurants leading to the night market is full of "hostess bars." These are bars where your purchase of an overpriced drink is accompanied by the attention of a young Thai girl. As you walk by, what seems like a hundred girls shout at you and almost physically force you inside. I didn't go into any of these places, but they were all empty, with the exception of a few middle aged (and older) white men sitting with disinterested looking Thai girls.

In fact, Thailand is full of this scene. I can't give a full report on the sex trade here, but it is really unnerving to have a 12 year-old girl, chubby from baby fat, leering at you as she tries to hold your hand and lead you into a massage parlor. While there may be plenty of legitimate realtionships, the number of white men with Asian women out weigh the number of white women with Asian men by 1000 to 1. The age difference is also a constant factor. Granted, Asian women tend maintain a youthful look as they age, but the difference between white men and their companions appears to be 20-30 years.

The areas where prostitution is popular are well known. In Bangkok, the Patpong district is full of bars featuring sex shows. Potpong is not seedy though. Each of these "theaters" has a line of VERY BORED looking Thai women, hanging out, inviting you inside. There are lots of other bars and high end restraurants next door to these and the crowds going in and out are as full of Asian men as white ones.

According to some of the articles I've read, the sex trade is supported primarily by Asian men. You wouldn't know it with the backlash against white "sex-pats." There is a well-known hotel in Bangkok called "The Atlanta" (door pictured here.) It's a 50's style hotel with a very good coffee shop inside. The first two pages of the menu pronounce the philosophy of their establishment. "The Atlanta" doesn't care about profit or customer service mores, they simply will not allow any person they expect is patronizing the sex trade to also patronize their business. You see this attitude on a fairly regular basis travelling around Thailand.

On the more pleasant side of things, the massages here rock! There are parlors everywhere and a really good massage costs $3-$5 per hour. They specialize in Thai massage which is really quite painful. They find nots and pressure points you didn't know you had and work the crap out of them. I actually had to ask one woman to stop for a second as the pain was really intense. The feeling afterward was incredible.

After a week of observing this culture and reading up on my next destinations, I set off for Laos. More on that later.

Trekking in the Himalayas

2005-11-23T18:24:00.000+07:00

I had a vision of the kind of place where I wanted to spend time on this trip. I imagined a tranquil town with a strong cultural backbone. I wanted to hang out in cafes, talk to other travelers and make excurisions to the outlying areas for hiking and sightseeing. I wanted to be forced into not doing much. Enter Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai is a large city by Thai standards. The population is about 165,000 and it has the feel of a college town. There is a strong international influence and lots of young people. Chiang Mai is in Northwestern Thailand, not far from the "Golden Triangle" (the place where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Burma meet.) The elevation is higher than Bangkok and the air has a cool, crispness. The pollution and congestion are minimal, though, since there are no emissions standards anywere in this part of the world, you still occasionally walk into clouds of carbon monoxide.

I arrived on Tuesday after my 15 hour train trip. I had already scheduled a three day trek in a national park beginning on Wednesday, then leave for Laos on Monday. After walking around the town for five minutes, I knew I had to extend my stay. I'm gald I booked an open-ended trip. My travel dates are flexible, with no charge for changing. I've realized though, that I wasted a lot of money, as booking your travel here is dirt cheap. Another lesson learned, I guess.

We left on our trek early Wednesday morning. Taxi cabs and transport "busses" are both basically covered pick-up trucks. You cram in with 8-10 other people and sit on long benches. I never thought I'd take a trek where I'd get sore from sitting, but the first two hours of our journey consisted of running errands in Chiang Mai. I should have realized this was a harbinger of things to come.

When we finally arrived at a nearby national park, we took a fantastic two-hour hike. At the highest elevations, the terrain was rocky and loaded with evergreens. In the valleys, it was jungle/rainforest. The jungle scenes in "Platoon" or "Apocalypse Now" could have been filmed where we were. The trails were minimal and the hiking was exhilirating. We stopped to go swimming in a waterfall and had a meager lunch.

Our hiking eventually took us to a hilltribe village, where we would spend the night. Many of the hilltribe people of NW Thailand are refugees from politically hostile Burma (or Myanmar, as it's now called.) After meeting a few of the hilltribe people, I found it hard to imagine a regime finding them threatening.

Upon arriving at the village, the hilltribe people had their wares on display. Dozens of beautiful cotton tapestries adorned the dilapidated wood structures that would make for our eating and sitting areas. A very old woman and a bunch of messy little kids approached us by shoving handfulls of bead necklaces and bracelettes in our faces. The "salespeople" made there way around the group, staring at you until you said "no" emphatically. You ended up having to turn each of them away about 10 times. As there were probably 8 people selling stuff, this got a little old.

Part of the selling point of this trip was the promise of learning about the hilltribe culture. Once everyone had turned away the salesforce, the hill people vanished until the next morning, when we were subject to the same routine. One charming hilltribe fellow engaged us in conversations of pantamime and broken English. He led us on parts of our treks and hung around in the evening while we sat by the campfire, but this was the only real interaction we had.

I had been told these types of treks were "exploitive" and reduced the hilltribe people to beggars, dependent on tourists. I object to this characterization as the tourists are clearly the ones being exploited. Everywhere we went we had the opportunity to buy things. We typically followed our inadequate lunches with a quick trek to a tin roofed shack. These shacks, selling Western snacks (chips, oreos, coca-cola,) were out in the middle of nowhere; I'm talking no roads, no nothing. I'm not sure how they got supplies to the stores without an air-drop. It was clear that all of the trekking groups frequented these shacks to support the local economy. This would be fine if we weren't under the impression that all of our meals were included.

Our accomodations consisted of one large barn with two bamboo platforms running the length of the room (see photo.) Paper thin mats and filthy sleeping bags were intended as beds. While bamboo is soft, by wood standards, it doesn't make for a very good night's sleep. The bathrooms were filthy, but portions at dinner were fine (there must not have been a store within walking distance.) On day 1, we arrived at the village around 4pm. There was nothing to do but sit around, stare at the camp fire and buy the beer sold by the villagers. Not a bad way to spend the night, but not exactly "trekking." While our accomodations were rough, the hilltribe people departed in the direction of a large house with power lines and a TV antenna.

I was fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of very cool people on this trip. Our group had 17 people in it. The majority were Europeans, with no more than two people from one country. We also had a Japanese fellow, a couple of Israelis, two Maylasians and me. We all had the same objections to our accomodations, but developed a sense of humor about the whole thing and had great conversations about cultural differences and world events (I'm really tired of apologizing for George Bush. My god do people hate him!)

Day 2 consisted of a four hour trek and more swimming. Again, exhilirating hiking and fantastic scenery made the whole thing seem worth it. Our accomodations were basically the same as the night before, just in a different village.

Day 3, we got going late. In fact, we got going late every day and spent a lot of time waiting around. We had a brief trek, followed by very touristy elephant riding and a bamboo rafting trip. Elephant riding is about as comfortable as it looks. The animals are amazing, but they're not really designed for comfort or a smooth ride. I can see why they would make for useful transport in a muddy, mountainous terrain, but as for joyriding, no thanks.

We returned that night tired and dirty. I was glad I opted to pay the extra money for the nice hotel. The rooms were airconditioned, the shower water was hot and the TV had an American movie channel. Total relaxation was ahead!

Overall, I'm glad I took this trip as the hiking was great and the people were tremendous. If the accomodations are going to be rough, that's fine, but let's start hiking before 10 am. If the food is going to be basic, ok, but don't constantly extort money from us. This trip was another example of how tourists are little more than walking dollar signs in this part of the world.

I was excited to get back to Chiang Mai and start the next phase of the trip.

Planes, Trains and Tuk Tuks

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A fifteen hour flight, followed by a two hour layover, followed by a two hour flight sounds like a miserable experience. Actually, it wasn't so bad. Night flying is the way to go. I took off from SFO at 12:10 AM on Tuesday November 8th. Between sleeping, some pretty good food and a few movies, time went quickly.

I arrived in Bangkok feeling rested and excited. Once I made it through customs etc. I took a cab to a hostel I prearranged. (I got ripped off, on the cab that is, but I'll tell more about that later. I expect this to be a consistent theme.)

Big John's Bar, Restaurant and Guest House is fairly non-descript (hence the lack of photos.) It's popular with Aussie backpackers and located on the Eastern end of the city in a happening part of town. I paid 550 baht (about $13) per night for a tiny single person room with a/c and a shared bath. The place was clean, the food was good and the staff was friendly. They had TVs in the restaurant and played American sports. I caught a little NBA but was disappointed when they said they couldn't get the IU-Indianapolis game (I'll just assume the issue was that it was a preseason game and not a regular one.)

I spent the first couple of days walking all over the city. By day 3, something caught up with me. I'm not sure if it was the water, food, heat stroke, jet lag or if I was just plain tired, but I spent the whole day in bed. For the following days, I had no energy and little appetite.

Bangkok is an overwhelming place, but it has a lot going for it. They have a cheap and efficient subway/elevated train system. The temples, palace and national museum are tremendous. They have some of the poshest shopping malls you'll ever visit. However, the poverty, congestion and pollution are incredible. People actually wear masks when they ride motor bikes or walk through busy intersections. Add that to the OPPRESSIVE heat and Bangkok wears you out fast. I know my blood has thinned since living in San Francisco, but the heat and humidity really dominate your existence here. The Thais have acclamated. In fact, most of them don't look they sweat. However, as I exchanged exhausted and sympathetic looks with other white folks, it was obvious all new people struggle (and this is the "cool season"!!!)

The food is truly incredible. There are a million restaurants (I actually ate Italian and it was quite good.) Of course, you have all of the standard American chains, but they also have a few surprising ones. Sizzler is everywhere. So is Swensen's ice cream. Coffee is really popular, in spite of the fact that Bangkok is like one giant sauna.

The street food is where it's at though. Among the pictures here is my first real Pad Thai. I found it wondering through a ghetto off a main drag in Central Bangkok. I had to keep pointing at the chilis and repeating "Thai Spicy!!! Thai Spicy!!!" You rarely know what you're eating. It's hard to get any more specific than "fish" or "chicken."

Most tourists fear street food. I haven't had a problem with it. In fact, after seeing several old restaurants in action, I think having a food stand that moves is probably the most sanitary way of cooking. There are no hard-to-reach corners in a rolling kitchen. At the end of the day, take the food out and spray it down. I saw this over and over and never witnessed a dirty food cart.

I'm pleased to report that the food here is not better than the Thai food at the best Thai restaurants in San Francisco. In fact, since our ingredients are so much better (meat isn't tough etc.) the Thai food might be better in the US, at least to a Western palatte. The difference is the feel and authenticity. There are dishes you can't get in the US and the preparations here aren't adapted to Western tastes. They dumb-down the food for foreigners ("Thai-Spicy!!! Thai Spicy!!!") but you can still get the idea.

Let's talk scams, shall we? On day 2 in Bangkok I braved the heat to visit the palace and surrounding temples. I decided to walk most of the way (quite a hike) to see the sights.

After finishing lunch, I was walking down the street and was innocently engaged by a friendly Indonesian walking beside me. We had a brief and polite conversation and he gave me directions to the palace. As he was "showing me the way" we took a quick detour into his friend's suit store. The Indonesian fellow told his friend to give me the best deal possible, bid farewell and went on his way.

I politely sat and talked to the tailor as I wasn't sure of the best way to get out of the situation. He had some fantastic fabrics and would make custom suits for $125 each. I'm talking wool, cashmere, linen, all tailored, 3 fittings. If I actually wore suits, this would be great. I chatted with him for 10 minutes and excused myself.

I hopped a cab from the tailor's and headed to the palace. Again, I was innocently approached by a Thai fellow who had an official looking badge. He asked me how much I'd paid for my cab ride and was visibly upset that I was overcharged (I was overcharged on the ride from the airport too. The nice thing about getting ripped off in Bangkok is that it costs you a dollar or two.)

The Thai fellow told me the place was packed and I should come back. I paid 100 baht (about $2.50) to get to the palace. He then pointed to a tuk-tuk (part motorcycle and part low-ceiling golf cart, see photo) and told me the driver would take me to two other temples and get me back in time to see the palace for 20 baht (50 cents.) That sounded fine with me, so I hopped in.

He drove me to see the largest Buddha in Thailand. Definitely a cool thing to check out. What followed was an hour and a half of my driver taking me to tailors, jewelers and other retail shops to try to get me to buy things. The driver was a very polite kid who made it clear that taking me to these places was how he made money and if I would just go in for 5 minutes, it would really help him.

When you visit a place like Thailand, you are constantly reminded of how (comparatively) wealthy you are. People are very nice on the surface, but everything is intended to get you to spend. As I mentioned above, getting ripped of here is not so expensive, but it becomes tiresome when you constantly feel like a target because of your skin color.

I was so exasperated after this experience, I took off and came back to the temple a couple days later. I'm glad I did. The palace and adjoining temples are stunning. When you go to Washington D.C., London or Madrid, you get a sense of power and authority. In Thailand, you get a sense of beauty and spirituality. The art and architecture are fantastic and you get a feeling of serenity rather than awe.

After another day of wandering and relaxation, I was ready to get out of Bangkok. I had booked my travel by train to Chiang Mai through the government sanctioned travel agency (TAT.) I left at 8 pm from Hua Lamphong station in Central Bangkok. The ride is 15 hours, so I had my first experience on a sleeper train. Not great, but cheap ($20) and reasonably comfortable. I sat across from a guy from L.A., so we passed the time talking about life in California and trying to quell his fears of all things foreign.

When I arrived in Chiang Mai, I found the breath of fresh air I was looking for. More on that later...

First of all...

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After almost two weeks in Thailand, I finally have stories to tell and pictures to share. I hope to update this page on a regular basis, so feel free to check in about once a week and I should have something new for you.

(A caveat: As you will soon learn, I'm not much of a photographer. In fact, I took quite a few photos of my trip to Japan and never developed them. That said, a little patience with my LOFT (Lack Of Ability is what I think that stands for,) is appreciated. Just be glad digital cameras don't allow me to shoot out of focus.