i got around the firewall!
just wanted to post that, cant write much because im at work now. but getting around the firewall makes me feel powerful. probably the same feeling that people get after they buy a hummer?!?!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia.
We spent the day trouncing through temples with our guide. The group is an interesting mix of folks from New Orleans and myself. Our guide has lost both of his parents and takes care of his younger brothers on his own. He is the breadwinner at 24. Many in Cambodia would consider him lucky. As much as I want to write about how stunning and awe inspring the temples in Siem Reap are, I think wikipedia Angkor Wat does just as good as a job as anything. What I would rather write about is the juxtaposition between living in an emerging economy like China and in a super city such as Beijing and yet completely forgetting how the other half lives. Cambodia was a wake up call for me, as much as China is poor and corrupt and has its problems, its easy to forget, even in a place like Beijing about Cambodia. I suppose Cambodia represents more than itself for me in the sense that everything I took from it was raw. Its a rough country where billboards highlight the need for people to stop using arms, where child trafficking across its borders is eerily too common and 80% of the country's teachers have roughly a 3rd grade education. While the temples and the history of Siem Reap were exciting to see for the traveler, I think what I took back most from the trip was the recurring 'action-fact' that we have a lot more work to do in this century in order to really improve the lives of the lot of us. Unfortunately, in a place like Cambodia, all the money and effort we devote to that improvement is squashed by the enormous graft that permeates Cambodian society.
Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia.
We spent the day trouncing through temples with our guide. The group is an interesting mix of folks from New Orleans and myself. Our guide has lost both of his parents and takes care of his younger brothers on his own. He is the breadwinner at 24. Many in Cambodia would consider him lucky. As much as I want to write about how stunning and awe inspring the temples in Siem Reap are, I think wikipedia Angkor Wat does just as good as a job as anything. What I would rather write about is the juxtaposition between living in an emerging economy like China and in a super city such as Beijing and yet completely forgetting how the other half lives. Cambodia was a wake up call for me, as much as China is poor and corrupt and has its problems, its easy to forget, even in a place like Beijing about Cambodia. I suppose Cambodia represents more than itself for me in the sense that everything I took from it was raw. Its a rough country where billboards highlight the need for people to stop using arms, where child trafficking across its borders is eerily too common and 80% of the country's teachers have roughly a 3rd grade education. While the temples and the history of Siem Reap were exciting to see for the traveler, I think what I took back most from the trip was the recurring 'action-fact' that we have a lot more work to do in this century in order to really improve the lives of the lot of us. Unfortunately, in a place like Cambodia, all the money and effort we devote to that improvement is squashed by the enormous graft that permeates Cambodian society.
Thursday April 16, 2009
I set off early on a bus for Siem Reap. We were packed in very tightly all of us, I being the only foreigner. I shared my seat with a father and his 4 kids, he had to be no older than 17 or 18. The kids started ripping out pages of my Economist as soon as they saw the shiny cover. I didn’t mind. We stopped along the way for snacks but all there seemed to be was deep fried pigeon and some strange boney soup. So I sat in the sun and watched the Cambodian highway go by. Cambodia has no ‘highways’ in the American sense. Just 2 lane roads that are paved most of the way. Roadside stalls seem to litter the landscape, many selling motor oil in old plastic bottles. Most people here travel by motorcycle, often you will see entire families-up to 7 people-on the back of one bike. We finally arrived in Siem Reap and I took a tuk tuk to the hotel where I would meet Paulette. A tuk tuk in Cambodia is a motorcycle that pulls a covered cart that people ride inside of. The hotel was posh, very posh and completely deserted. Due to the economic downturn and the political crises going on in Thailand, tourism in Siem Reap and to Angkor Wat has taken a huge dive. I was the only guest there until Paulette and her friends arrived later that night. I went to the pool, vegged out and then hired a tuk tuk to take me to a temple where people were celebrating the Khmer New Year which happened to fall on this day. We drove for an eternity, through Siem Reap and into the countryside. The Cambodian landscape is something I’ve never seen before, it’s a vast plain that is dotted with palms, gumtrees and other indigenous fauna. You can see Spartan hills in the distance, but for the most part it looks like one giant rice paddy. Most of the houses are raised in order to avoid wild animals from roaming inside and many of the cooking is done outdoors. Cows and roosters were abundant and had the right away for traffic. When we arrived at the temple-Bakhung-there was a huge celebration going on. People were cheerful and dancing everywhere, eating foods from vendors before crossing a moat into this ancient temple complex. My tuk tuk driver and I made our way towards the bridge over the moat but were stopped by guards who said no foreigners could enter the temple that day due to the Khmer New Year festivities. I didn’t mind, I found the whole thing to be quite exotic already and enjoyed seeing what Cambodians do to have fun. For example, they have a huge corral where teenagers dance to Cambodian hip hop and they love Carnival rides. Cock fighting is popular, albeit illegal and making handicrafts seemed to be fashionable. It was great and quite divine too considering the temple pilgrimage that overshadowed the afternoon. Later that day, I finally met up with Paulette and her friends from New Orleans.
I set off early on a bus for Siem Reap. We were packed in very tightly all of us, I being the only foreigner. I shared my seat with a father and his 4 kids, he had to be no older than 17 or 18. The kids started ripping out pages of my Economist as soon as they saw the shiny cover. I didn’t mind. We stopped along the way for snacks but all there seemed to be was deep fried pigeon and some strange boney soup. So I sat in the sun and watched the Cambodian highway go by. Cambodia has no ‘highways’ in the American sense. Just 2 lane roads that are paved most of the way. Roadside stalls seem to litter the landscape, many selling motor oil in old plastic bottles. Most people here travel by motorcycle, often you will see entire families-up to 7 people-on the back of one bike. We finally arrived in Siem Reap and I took a tuk tuk to the hotel where I would meet Paulette. A tuk tuk in Cambodia is a motorcycle that pulls a covered cart that people ride inside of. The hotel was posh, very posh and completely deserted. Due to the economic downturn and the political crises going on in Thailand, tourism in Siem Reap and to Angkor Wat has taken a huge dive. I was the only guest there until Paulette and her friends arrived later that night. I went to the pool, vegged out and then hired a tuk tuk to take me to a temple where people were celebrating the Khmer New Year which happened to fall on this day. We drove for an eternity, through Siem Reap and into the countryside. The Cambodian landscape is something I’ve never seen before, it’s a vast plain that is dotted with palms, gumtrees and other indigenous fauna. You can see Spartan hills in the distance, but for the most part it looks like one giant rice paddy. Most of the houses are raised in order to avoid wild animals from roaming inside and many of the cooking is done outdoors. Cows and roosters were abundant and had the right away for traffic. When we arrived at the temple-Bakhung-there was a huge celebration going on. People were cheerful and dancing everywhere, eating foods from vendors before crossing a moat into this ancient temple complex. My tuk tuk driver and I made our way towards the bridge over the moat but were stopped by guards who said no foreigners could enter the temple that day due to the Khmer New Year festivities. I didn’t mind, I found the whole thing to be quite exotic already and enjoyed seeing what Cambodians do to have fun. For example, they have a huge corral where teenagers dance to Cambodian hip hop and they love Carnival rides. Cock fighting is popular, albeit illegal and making handicrafts seemed to be fashionable. It was great and quite divine too considering the temple pilgrimage that overshadowed the afternoon. Later that day, I finally met up with Paulette and her friends from New Orleans.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Bangkok Wednesday April 15, 2009.
6 A.M. train to Aryanaprathet on the Cambodian border. I’m boarding the old rickety train as the sun wakes up after spending more money on 2 pastries from Dunkin Doughnuts than the price of the ticket. Amazing how prices work themselves out in emerging economies. All the passengers are half awake but my neighbor is chatty so we talk together as then sun rises. He is Thai and going to visit his wife and her family. A jovial man, typical of the Thai style, eager to make friends and share his food and drink with me. He warns me to be careful in Cambodia as there are pickpockets everywhere. The train is a local, it stops at each town, but is surprisingly fast and remarkably clean. No aircon but lots of fans. Hawkers walk up and down the aisles slowly offering mangos, chicken rice, drinks and chewy candies. In between each car the doors remain open so one could essentially jump off at any point, it made for a nice respite from the hard seat. I arrived in Aranyaprathet, said goodbye to my friend and took a tuk tuk (a little motorized rickshaw by design) to the Cambodian border. I had read that this process could be both dangerous, long, and very corrupt. There are fake Cambodian “consulates” set up near the border whose sole process is to issue fake Cambodian visas. I saw one and it looked amazingly official. Right down to the flag, sign and very official government logos everywhere. We zoomed on by, I had gone ahead and gotten my visa in Beijing. Of course, once you get to the border station you can buy a real visa, but there is no instruction telling you not to do so before you get there, that is unless you google this sort of thing. In between Thailand and Cambodia, there is this small strip of land along the river which is essentially without a country. There are giant casinos and warehouse malls there for the gambling and disconcerning discount shopping sort. You walk past these places and then reach the Cambodian border. Same old story here, show em the passport, get your picture taken, get the stamp and walk out. Cambodia hits you right away though; the streets are littered, lots of beggar children and it has the look of disorganization which has so long left the places in which I grew up. Old and new all mixed together, starving kids, unfinished roads and clunky old vehicles that limp along. Yet the people are remarkably strong here. There is a unique grace to the rythym of life here that overtakes you as soon as you enter the country. I paid $10 to share an old Toyota Camry with 6 middle aged women to Battambang-the country’s second largest city and definitely one of those “off the map/Apocolypse Now-y” type of destinations for the adventuresome. We listened to rap music the whole way (Jay-Z, Lily Allen, Kanye) and yelled at kids who were driving their mopeds too slow. The women wore big sunhats, black gloves and chatted the whole way. Khmer is a beautifully harsh language for the Western ear. Especially when it is being screamed at you from the street. “BATTAMBANG, BATTAMBANG……”
The road to BANG was surprisingly smooth and paved the entire way. Since it is Khmer New Year, there are kids all alongside the roadside spraying each other with buckets of water. If you are on a motorcycle, be prepared to get drenched and possibly knocked over by the force of the water. We stopped along the way to get coconut juice (straight out of the fruit) and these unique chicken noodle dumplings which were very sweet. The dumped along the side of the road once we arrived (also I should note that my pack was in my lap the whole ride and I shared the backseat with 4 other people), and I sort of regained my sense of purpose then and there after being taken aback by the trip and the overwhelming sense of place that Cambodia emits, and I walked towards the town to find a hotel I had read about. Battambang is the “real” Cambodia, as opposed to the touristy sort which will be written about later. It was a French outpost and the clock stopped ticking really when they left in the 50s. The town looks like it did back then, with old French buildings and verandas, old cars and ice cream parlors. It’s a timeless place. I wanted to stay in guesthouse managed by an Australian and his Khmer wife since I had read good things about it online, but when I arrived it was all booked up. The town and the guesthouse manager really had the “Apocalypse Now” vibe thing going on, and I couldn’t help but bring it up in conversation. He was an interesting guy and really set the scene for me on how laws, political parties and people work in one of Asia’s most notoriously corrupt states. After an afternoon beer, I walked the town for a few hours. Passing by old French townhouses and markets, the people sort of looked like they were in a daze. It was so hot and everything seemed to feel like it was melting. I had dinner with a South African backpacker I met and went to bed early at another guesthouse where the 12 year-old management tried to get me to take him to dinner with me (it was odd and uncomfortable), I was tired after a long day of traveling.
6 A.M. train to Aryanaprathet on the Cambodian border. I’m boarding the old rickety train as the sun wakes up after spending more money on 2 pastries from Dunkin Doughnuts than the price of the ticket. Amazing how prices work themselves out in emerging economies. All the passengers are half awake but my neighbor is chatty so we talk together as then sun rises. He is Thai and going to visit his wife and her family. A jovial man, typical of the Thai style, eager to make friends and share his food and drink with me. He warns me to be careful in Cambodia as there are pickpockets everywhere. The train is a local, it stops at each town, but is surprisingly fast and remarkably clean. No aircon but lots of fans. Hawkers walk up and down the aisles slowly offering mangos, chicken rice, drinks and chewy candies. In between each car the doors remain open so one could essentially jump off at any point, it made for a nice respite from the hard seat. I arrived in Aranyaprathet, said goodbye to my friend and took a tuk tuk (a little motorized rickshaw by design) to the Cambodian border. I had read that this process could be both dangerous, long, and very corrupt. There are fake Cambodian “consulates” set up near the border whose sole process is to issue fake Cambodian visas. I saw one and it looked amazingly official. Right down to the flag, sign and very official government logos everywhere. We zoomed on by, I had gone ahead and gotten my visa in Beijing. Of course, once you get to the border station you can buy a real visa, but there is no instruction telling you not to do so before you get there, that is unless you google this sort of thing. In between Thailand and Cambodia, there is this small strip of land along the river which is essentially without a country. There are giant casinos and warehouse malls there for the gambling and disconcerning discount shopping sort. You walk past these places and then reach the Cambodian border. Same old story here, show em the passport, get your picture taken, get the stamp and walk out. Cambodia hits you right away though; the streets are littered, lots of beggar children and it has the look of disorganization which has so long left the places in which I grew up. Old and new all mixed together, starving kids, unfinished roads and clunky old vehicles that limp along. Yet the people are remarkably strong here. There is a unique grace to the rythym of life here that overtakes you as soon as you enter the country. I paid $10 to share an old Toyota Camry with 6 middle aged women to Battambang-the country’s second largest city and definitely one of those “off the map/Apocolypse Now-y” type of destinations for the adventuresome. We listened to rap music the whole way (Jay-Z, Lily Allen, Kanye) and yelled at kids who were driving their mopeds too slow. The women wore big sunhats, black gloves and chatted the whole way. Khmer is a beautifully harsh language for the Western ear. Especially when it is being screamed at you from the street. “BATTAMBANG, BATTAMBANG……”
The road to BANG was surprisingly smooth and paved the entire way. Since it is Khmer New Year, there are kids all alongside the roadside spraying each other with buckets of water. If you are on a motorcycle, be prepared to get drenched and possibly knocked over by the force of the water. We stopped along the way to get coconut juice (straight out of the fruit) and these unique chicken noodle dumplings which were very sweet. The dumped along the side of the road once we arrived (also I should note that my pack was in my lap the whole ride and I shared the backseat with 4 other people), and I sort of regained my sense of purpose then and there after being taken aback by the trip and the overwhelming sense of place that Cambodia emits, and I walked towards the town to find a hotel I had read about. Battambang is the “real” Cambodia, as opposed to the touristy sort which will be written about later. It was a French outpost and the clock stopped ticking really when they left in the 50s. The town looks like it did back then, with old French buildings and verandas, old cars and ice cream parlors. It’s a timeless place. I wanted to stay in guesthouse managed by an Australian and his Khmer wife since I had read good things about it online, but when I arrived it was all booked up. The town and the guesthouse manager really had the “Apocalypse Now” vibe thing going on, and I couldn’t help but bring it up in conversation. He was an interesting guy and really set the scene for me on how laws, political parties and people work in one of Asia’s most notoriously corrupt states. After an afternoon beer, I walked the town for a few hours. Passing by old French townhouses and markets, the people sort of looked like they were in a daze. It was so hot and everything seemed to feel like it was melting. I had dinner with a South African backpacker I met and went to bed early at another guesthouse where the 12 year-old management tried to get me to take him to dinner with me (it was odd and uncomfortable), I was tired after a long day of traveling.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Bangkok Tuesday April 14, 2009
Whats amazing about this trip to Thailand on top of all the other extraordinary things that are happening here, is the fact that the last time I left this country was on extraordinary circumstances. That was 5 years ago, right after the Asian Tsunami of 2004 hit our beach resort in Khao Lak south of Bangkok where we were staying. We were the last flight out of Phuket that morning and I left Bangkok a day later. I was traveling with 2 other friends and both of them wanted to take the morning flight and I was the only one who objected, preferring to depart later to have more time on the beach. Thankfully it was 2 against one and we left early, or else I don’t know what could have become of us. Today I woke up and hit all the big sights via river boat: the Grand Palace (home of the King) with its golden stupas (like a big shrine), its ornate roofs and gigantic steps leading up to the tallest throne I’ve ever seen. The grounds are so unique since each King since the mid 1800’s has left his personal touch on the place. For example, the Kings that ruled in the late 19th and early 20th century built beautiful administrative buildings for government staff that could equally rival any stately building in Brussels, Paris or London. It was so hot though, even in the mid morning and much water was needed. Next I went to Wat Pho which is one of the most famous temples in Bangkok since it is home to the largest sleeping Buddha on the planet. Encased in gold, Buddha is as big as the eye can see and yet still protected from the elements in a traditional Thai pagoda-esque structure. Since it was Songkran (Thai New Year), there was a large festival going on with people bathing smaller Buddhas in scented water (for many auspicious reasons), traditional foods to try and cultural demonstrations. I enjoyed every second of it, especially spotting the fat Americans in line for the “ancient Thai ice cream.” After Wat Pho, I took another river ferry across the Chao Phraya (which runs through Bangkok) over to Wat Arun which is an ancient temple that mimics the architectural style of Angkor Wat. It was beautiful and situated right along the river. There was traditional Thai dancing going on and more foods to try. The day became so hot though, I decided to get some work done at a café and stay cool. That night, after I had eaten at the 24 Hour Mexican restaurant again (yes, I ate there the night before and it was amazingly authentic-right down to SoCal prices), I returned to my hotel where there was a giant water fight in the street. Thai New Year calls for celebrating the oncoming rainy season so people traditionally celebrated water and it has now turn into this amazing water fight. The streets to the hotel where completely blocked off and I was soaked in a matter of seconds from people with enormous water guns, buckets and hoses. Thankfully my computer stayed dry inside its case. I went out later and got even more wet and covered in a flour paste mixture that people make and then run up to you and rub on your face. I think the Thais really know how to live; great fresh food, lots of massages, many celebrations and a very vibrant culture that doesn’t forget its foundation. Despite the protests and the people who died during them while I slept nearby, the city and its people made the choice to celebrate anyhow, because in Thailand there is never any reason to stop enjoying life. Unfortunately though, the protests over Thaksin will only worsen and the situation is expected to get worse. This will have huge ramifications on the Thai economy and its poor neighbors; Cambodia, Laos, even Myanmar since tourists could stay away. I would come back in a heartbeat though.
Whats amazing about this trip to Thailand on top of all the other extraordinary things that are happening here, is the fact that the last time I left this country was on extraordinary circumstances. That was 5 years ago, right after the Asian Tsunami of 2004 hit our beach resort in Khao Lak south of Bangkok where we were staying. We were the last flight out of Phuket that morning and I left Bangkok a day later. I was traveling with 2 other friends and both of them wanted to take the morning flight and I was the only one who objected, preferring to depart later to have more time on the beach. Thankfully it was 2 against one and we left early, or else I don’t know what could have become of us. Today I woke up and hit all the big sights via river boat: the Grand Palace (home of the King) with its golden stupas (like a big shrine), its ornate roofs and gigantic steps leading up to the tallest throne I’ve ever seen. The grounds are so unique since each King since the mid 1800’s has left his personal touch on the place. For example, the Kings that ruled in the late 19th and early 20th century built beautiful administrative buildings for government staff that could equally rival any stately building in Brussels, Paris or London. It was so hot though, even in the mid morning and much water was needed. Next I went to Wat Pho which is one of the most famous temples in Bangkok since it is home to the largest sleeping Buddha on the planet. Encased in gold, Buddha is as big as the eye can see and yet still protected from the elements in a traditional Thai pagoda-esque structure. Since it was Songkran (Thai New Year), there was a large festival going on with people bathing smaller Buddhas in scented water (for many auspicious reasons), traditional foods to try and cultural demonstrations. I enjoyed every second of it, especially spotting the fat Americans in line for the “ancient Thai ice cream.” After Wat Pho, I took another river ferry across the Chao Phraya (which runs through Bangkok) over to Wat Arun which is an ancient temple that mimics the architectural style of Angkor Wat. It was beautiful and situated right along the river. There was traditional Thai dancing going on and more foods to try. The day became so hot though, I decided to get some work done at a café and stay cool. That night, after I had eaten at the 24 Hour Mexican restaurant again (yes, I ate there the night before and it was amazingly authentic-right down to SoCal prices), I returned to my hotel where there was a giant water fight in the street. Thai New Year calls for celebrating the oncoming rainy season so people traditionally celebrated water and it has now turn into this amazing water fight. The streets to the hotel where completely blocked off and I was soaked in a matter of seconds from people with enormous water guns, buckets and hoses. Thankfully my computer stayed dry inside its case. I went out later and got even more wet and covered in a flour paste mixture that people make and then run up to you and rub on your face. I think the Thais really know how to live; great fresh food, lots of massages, many celebrations and a very vibrant culture that doesn’t forget its foundation. Despite the protests and the people who died during them while I slept nearby, the city and its people made the choice to celebrate anyhow, because in Thailand there is never any reason to stop enjoying life. Unfortunately though, the protests over Thaksin will only worsen and the situation is expected to get worse. This will have huge ramifications on the Thai economy and its poor neighbors; Cambodia, Laos, even Myanmar since tourists could stay away. I would come back in a heartbeat though.
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