Long way to go

When someone asks if I want to go with them somewhere to do something, the world ADVENTURE flashes in my brain in Indiana Jones script, and I almost automatically say yes. That was the case when I met Delphine, who asked if I wanted to accompany her to Kanchanaburi, and I'm so glad I went.

I didn't realize how nice it would be to get out of Bangkok until I got off the bus. We thought we'd stay one night but upon arrival decided on two; the air was so much nicer: less polluted, less humid, cooler than Bangkok. Plus our guesthouse was so peaceful and cheap, with a nice courtyard (if a bit manicured for my taste), right on the river.

Most of the town's small tourism seems to revolve around World Ward II battles and the River Kwai bridge, which I walked across while whistling. At night they light it up, which is a bit surreal considering its history. I'm told that on Mondays they set off a lot of fireworks to reenact the explosion, but we weren't there for that.

The second day we rented motorbikes and rode 70km to Erawan Waterfall, a seven-tiered set of falls in which I was quite excited to swim. However, the pools were full of those fish that eat dead skin off your feet; I paid (not much) money for that in Chiang Mai, which was strange enough. But those were just my feet, and they were baby fish. The fish in the waterfall were really big and really hungry, attacked my feet within a second of wading in. After much deliberation I finally took the plunge, swimming frantically to keep them away from me. Not exactly the relaxing soak I had planned, but a lovely place to be.

After leaving Kanchanaburi I had one evening in Bangkok, time enough to see one major thing, so I headed to Wat Pho to see the world's largest reclining Buddha. I figured I should do something kind of cultural to balance out the ping pong show.

Wow, I thought I had seen a lot of wats (temples), but this one was amazing, incredibly over the top, so huge and ornate. They also have one of the top schools for Thai massage in the country on premises, so I splurged and got an hour. It was pretty expensive for Thailand standards (12 whole dollars as opposed to the six I'd been paying), but worth it, the best I've had so far.

I rounded out my last night in Bangkok with some noodles from a stall along Rambuttri Soi, and then a few margaritas from one of the tiny watering holes that pop up at night along the side of the road, anything from a few stools and a makeshift counter to a full-on bar in a truck.

And suddenly that was all for Thailand! I can't believe how quickly that month went by. Now I made it to Hong Kong where I'm staying with Jon, an old friend from Wisconsin, and his girlfriend. He's been living here for six years, and already it's been great to catch up, not to mention have someone to show me around instead of figuring out a new city on my own.

Posted by j3s at 05:16 AM | Permalink

Last weekend I hopped a cheap, two hour flight from Bangkok to visit my friends in Singapore. They've been working there as scenic artists for the last four months, painting a roller coaster at a theme park. Once I arrived and settled in at their very nice hotel (loft room! pool! free breakfast with omelette bar! no bugs!), I headed over to visit them at work. It was really neat to see a roller coaster in the process of being built, but more importantly, I love seeing what my friends actually do for work. After that we took a stroll around the theme park, though I didn't feel up for any of the rides.

The thing you notice about Singapore right away is the architecture. It's in constant development, a special type of ostentatious, riding a fine line between interesting and tacky.

It's also ridiculously expensive, feels like New York in price. So Sunday we ate at a hawker center, which was really cheap and good. I've been wanting to go to one since I read a long New Yorker article on them some years ago, so that was fulfilling.

Saturday night we went to a club to see a couple DJs from Detroit; it was exactly what I expected. Cheesy, expensive, sanitized, though upon leaving the streets were lined with people straight up passed out on the sidewalk. They give the death penalty for drugs, but blind drunkenness in public is readily accepted...strange.

I spent a lot of time in pools, too. It's so hot there now, after a few minutes outside all you want to do is swim or sit in the AC. My last night there we went to a rooftop barbecue with some of their coworkers, complete with pool. They made Singapore Slings, which I'd never had; they are delicious, if a bit sugary.

I probably could have used one more day there, there were a few more sights I could have seen, but honestly a weekend was enough. Even with a free place to stay it was quite expensive.

So now I'm back in Bangkok. I had planned on just hanging around the city until Friday, when I fly to Hong Kong, but I met a nice French girl at my guesthouse last night and agreed to go to Kanchanaburi with her today. It's a quick (three hour) bus ride, and sounds like a nice little overnight getaway. Plus I remember watching Bridge on the River Kwai with my dad as a kid, so now I get to see the real thing.

Posted by j3s at 04:21 AM | Permalink

I spent three days in Vientiane, the capitol of Laos, which was just the right amount of time. Two would probably have been fine; there wasn't much to see and it wasn't as pastorally post-colonial pleasant as Lunag Prabang.

However, I had a great time. My first morning there I met some older gentlemen, two Aussies and a Canadian who were there to secure some mining contracts. They invited me to dinner that night, and I think it was the best meal I've had since I left NYC. Carpaccio, homemade fresh mozzarella, beautifully prepared duck, wine like velvet. A real treat!

The next day I went sightseeing with Chris while his brother and the Canadian were in meetings with a prime minister or something. We saw several monuments, including a four-sided arch. The highlight for me was Buddha Park, about a 40 minute ride outside of town. It was created about in the late 1960's, full of traditional and post-modern statues. My favorite was a giant round thing you could go inside with three stories representing hell, earth, and heaven, like a 3-D mandala.

Yesterday I took an overnight train back to Bangkok, where I am staying for one night in a cheap guesthouse straight out of The Beach. I'm flying to Singapore tomorrow though, and scouted out a better place to stay when I get back to Bangkok on Monday.

Overall, I really liked Laos. People say it's like Thailand was 15 years ago, though one of the things I like about Thailand is its infrastructure, such a welcome change after India (municipal trash collection! really!). It's supposed to be a lot cheaper outside of the cities I went to; it's an extremely poor country. With that comes some heavy stuff, of course: it's the most heavily bombed country in the world, full of unexploded bombs and a really depressing amount of ongoing slash and burn agriculture.

But the people are very chill, and I loved the French influence, especially over food. Officially it's Laos, P.D.R., but everyone jokes that the acronym refers not to the Communist Party, but Please Don't Rush. Maybe it's the oppressive humidity, but nothing happens quickly there. Except my visit: I just had ten days. I suspect I'll be back to this area again though, I still need to see Cambodia and Vietnam.

Posted by j3s at 09:41 AM | Permalink

Filming the documentary on Thailand was a really great experience. It was a spur-of-the-moment acceptance of an offer to be on the camera crew, and I'm so glad I accepted. Our little band of videographers really felt like a family; by the end of it we were working so well together, trading cameras when they got too heavy to hold in the head (shoulder-mounts, oof!), covering shots, looking out for each other. I was a bit sad when it ended, but the director said I'd be welcome on his next shoot, in Indonesia, sometime in the winter I think. Maybe!

There were six of us: Shai (Thai, driver/guide/interpreter), Pete (Australian, director and narrator), Mies (Dutch, second camera), and Celine and Stephanie (Swiss German, film students/backpackers). The itinerary was packed, we covered so much ground in three days, but I got to see much more than I ever could have on my own, from a different perspective. Some highlights:

An orchid farm, where I saw my first brown (fave color) orchid:

A sanctuary for abused and retired elephants, who were so sweet but very grabby when you started feeding them:

An impromptu lesson on basket weaving:

A cave full of Buddha statues:

Giving a bunch of kids a lift in the back of the truck:

Spending the night with a lovely old couple in a rural hill tribe village:

A beautiful Chinese-influenced beautiful temple:

Visiting a tea plantation and factory:

I don't really like monkeys, but everyone else does:

The Golden Triangle, where we stood in Thailand and could see Burma and Laos:

Meeting a Thai couple getting photographed for their wedding:

The still-being-built White Temple in Chiang Rai, which I will never forget. Never seen anything like it. Too bad you can't take photographs inside, it was filled with paintings of superheroes and political commentary (oil hoses that became snakes that wrapped around the World Trade Center):

Full White Temple photo set here.

Visiting a local hot spring, where all the Thai people cooked eggs in the water, coincidentally on Easter:

Hanging out with the crew at the end of every full day:

The complete photosets are on my site:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Posted by j3s at 08:38 AM | Permalink