This Is The End....

Hello Everyone! Does anyone check this blog anymore? Sorry for the lack of updates, but toward the end of my trip I got kind of lazy about posting. I've been home for about two weeks, but I decided I needed to include the last part of my trip in order to fully complete the blog. My writing my lack some of the excitement and enthusiasm of the past because I am no longer in a foreign country and my trip has been over for a few weeks. Right now I'm in San Luis Obisbo visiting my brother and continuing my journey as a vagabond.



I'll pick up where I left off in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That place is very very humid and hot. Anytime I stepped outside during the day I would instantly be coated with a layer of sweat and water from the air. Anytime I walked around I would bring multiple 2 liter jugs of water and constantly chug water from them and most of the time I didn't even have to pee, I would just sweat it all out! It was crazy. KL is extremely westernized. Pretty much everyone speaks English because that is the language of instruction for math and science during school. There are McDonald's, Starbucks and 7-11's everywhere. It is a wealthier country than any of the other countries I had been to, so things were a bit more expensive, but still cheap by international standards.

The most interesting thing about Malaysia is the people. The three main ethnic groups are Chinese, Indian and Malay. As I walked around the city, it seemed like I would equally see members of each of these groups. Even though it is a Muslim country, each group is free to practice the religion of there choice and from what I hear, each race has pretty much equal representation in the government. Despite some racial strife a few decades ago, the people of Malaysia all get along with each other quite nice and the country prides itself on that racial harmony.


Everyone that I met was generally pretty friendly and I ran into no trouble being an American in a Muslim country. I feel like the perceived negative reputation that Americans have abroad is severely exaggerated. Before I left, many people told me not to tell anyone I was from the US, to say that I was from California or Canada instead. Yet everywhere I went I told people I was from the US and I didn't get one negative response or dirty look. I think that most people are intelligent enough to separate the citizens of a country from the policies of their government. On the other hand, a lot of people I talked to were trying to sell me shit, so maybe they were just being nice to me because they saw me as a walking ATM machine. If I was a loudmouth asshole wearing an American flag T-shirt and preaching to everyone about how great George Bush is, then I probably would not have got such a positive response.

I stayed in KL for 3 nights and 2 days and one of the days I was pretty sick and could barely eat. Yet during my time there I was able to see the Patronas tower and walk across the skybridge. The Malaysians are very proud of their Patronas tower which held the record as the highest building in the world until recently. It is an amazing structure. The architecture is beautiful and the sheer size of it is breathtaking. After looking at the tower, I walked around the city and checked out the Chinatown area. Like I said before, the city is so modern, it really felt like I was in America. I had my camera on me and I kept looking around for things to take pictures of.... but there really was nothing of interest to take pictures. People say that Malaysia can be boring compared to other less westernized countries in Southeast Asia, and I can see what they mean. The Chinatown was nothing too special and there was a large market with people selling a bunch of crap. Everything was more expensive than Thailand so I couldn't bring myself to buy anything after being spoiled by the cheap Bangkok market prices. During this time I think I got dehydrated even though I was drinking massive quantities of water. I went back to the hotel to rest up and take a nap.

That night, I met up with some Irish and English guys that I had met on the bus from the Airport. Even though the country is Muslim and Muslims do not drink, there still is a significant nightlife catering towards the Chinese population that is not Muslim. The nightlife was fun and I actually met a girl who was Muslim yet had put a significant dent in her bottle of Johnny Walker Whiskey that her and her friends were enjoying. I suppose that some of the younger people may not be as strict in following the rule against drinking. But who knows, maybe she was an anomaly. I had to leave early that night because I did not feel well and suspected that I had a case of travelers Diarrhea. Unfortunately, my suspicions turned out to be correct as I did not get that much sleep that night because I had to get up so often to....uh....take care of some business.

The next day I felt like crap all day and could barely eat. In the afternoon I forced myself to go to this famous bird park that is the largest covered bird park in the world. It was pretty amazing. There were tons of peacocks walking around and all sorts of exotic birds that I would probably never see on my own in the wild. It was really cool because most of the birds were just flying around and walking right in front of the paths, not couped up in a cage like most western zoos I have been to.



The following day, I took a bus to Melaka, Malaysia a town a few hours south of KL which was historically a very important port town for Malays. I was pretty disappointed in Melaka. I thought it was going to be a really rural, ancient feeling town but it was almost as westernized as KL with McDonald's and large shopping malls around every corner. The highlight was a night market in Chinatown that I checked out the first night I was there. It was full of Chinese people and they were all speaking Mandarin. I think I saw one other white person. In the middle of the Market there was this crazy Chinese street performer that was breathing fire and then punching holes in fruit with his fingers. I was sitting in the front row and of course I stood out so he decided to pick on me. He made fun of me a lot, but in a joking funny way and he had me help him with his performance which was cool. He was selling this special Chinese herbal tonic that you pour on your aches and pains which supposedly makes it all better. He sold like 20 bottles in the middle of the performance, I couldn't believe that people actually believed it would work. But then again, I had to remind myself I was half way around the world and people still hold on to their belief in Eastern Medicine. I got a free bottle of the tonic, and who knows, maybe it actually works!

The following day I took a bus to Singapore which only took about 4 hours if my memory serves correctly. I had heard mixed reviews about Singapore, but decided I would like to check it out for myself to see what it is really like.
















Singapore is even more westernized than Malaysia. Most of the people are Chinese, but there is also a significant Indian population. Things are more expensive there, almost comparable to US prices and it is unbearably hot and humid. There are shopping malls everywhere and lots of plants which makes it a very beautiful city. The hostel that I stayed at was by far the best of my trip. There were a lot of cool people there from all over the world and they had a bar right in the lobby of the place! I met a German and a Swede and we explored the city together. There really wasn't anything special to see or do, but i was nice to get the experience of Singapore and see how sharply it contrasts with the rest of Southeast Asia. The next day I went to the world famous Singapore Zoo. They had some great animals and there was dense jungle all around the walkways of the Zoo so it really felt like I was in a rain Forrest. There were no cages for the animals, rather motes which prevented the animals from attacking the guests. This created a really cool atmosphere of proximity to the animals habitat, rather than at regular zoos where there is a giant cage to separate the people from the animals. It was way too hot though, and by the end of the day I was so tired and exhausted.


That evening I went out to the Ministry of Sound with a bunch of people from the hostel. The Ministry of Sound is this world famous nightclub with a bunch of rooms playing different types of music from house, to hip hop, to 70's funk. It was a fun night but also very expensive. I paid 24 Singaporean dollars for two drinks!!!








I'm glad I went to Singapore just to experience it for myself, but I don't think I ever want to go back there unless there is a really good reason for me to go. It is way too hot, too expensive and the people aren't as friendly as other parts of Southeast Asia. From what I hear, Singaporeans only like you if you have a lot of money, they don't care about anything else. I'm sure that's an exaggerated statement and of course you can't typecast an entire population of a country, but I definitely did get that vibe. Another stereotype is that Singaporeans think they're the shit because they became so modernized in such a short period of time. I think they do have a right to be, because the country was created only forty years ago, yet is now one of the richest and most modernized countries in the world. The people I talked to at the ministry of sound were friendly enough as well as most of the people I came into contact with in the city, but it just wasn't the same as the rest of Southeast Asia.


At this point in my adventure, I was very burnt out on traveling. It was fun being on my own for the first week or so, but after that point I started to get a little lonely. I only stayed at each town for 2-3 days and although I met a lot of people, there really wasn't enough time to really get to know anyone or form any meaningful relationships. Plus, I was tired of staying in overcrowded hostels, living out of my backpack and not having any personal space. Therefore, I was looking forward to going back to Bangkok and eventually going home.




The next morning I flew back to Bangkok to meet up with my good friend Charles who has been blessed with the amazing opportunity of landing a job in Bangkok working for the largest alcoholic beverage company in the world, Diageo. A lot of what went down in the next 5 days and 6 nights is not appropriate for this blog since I have some underage readers. But needless to say, we had a fantastic time.





The first night we decided to check out some of the infamous red light districts of Bangkok such as Nana, Soi Cowboy and Patpong. I have heard that these areas have become a lot more touristy and less scandalous in recent years, but I was nonetheless shocked at what I saw. During my previous adventures through Southeast Asia I came across a few hookers here and there, many of whom were undercover hookers who would try and recruit men at touristy bars and clubs. In addition, I was exposed to the red light district of Hua Hin, which I found incredibly disturbing. But those experiences could not prepare me for what Charles and I saw that night. We took a cab to the area and made our way to the heart of Nana. Lining the streets were scantily clad women and ladyboys (guys who have surgically turned themselves into women). Many of the hookers would call out to us as we passed them and even physically get in our way and try to seduce us by telling us how handsome we are and actually grabbing our crotches. The most disturbing part were the ladyboys. Many of them were obviously men judging by the shape of their head and the size of their body. I consider myself a pretty tolerant and non judgemental person, but for some reason the ladyboys haunt me to the depths of my soul. Maybe it has something to do with my own unconscious fear of losing my own manhood and then switching into a girl. But whatever it is, these people really freak me out. Anyway, everywhere we turned we would see old, dirty, white European men with young girls. They would have their arms around each others waist or be holding hands. It was really disturbing. We walked through one of the side streets that was lined with girly bars and young women who were catcalling us and trying to get us into their bar. Charles and I decided to grab a beer at one of the places. After we sat down we were instantly bombarded with with women trying to touch us and talk to us. I chatted with one of the girls and was surprised to discover that she was quite intelligent and spoke excellent English. She told me that she is from Northeastern Thailand and goes back home twice a year to visit her family. Apparently a lot of girls who work in the sex industry are from the country and they earn a pretty decent living to help out there family back home. She seemed so nice and friendly, if I wasn't in a girly bar I would never know that she was a hooker. My experience talking to this girl was totally different than my preconceived notion of all hookers being on drugs and emotionally screwed up. Even though this girl seemed happy about what she was doing, I can't help feel pity for these girls that sell their bodies to make money. And it amazes me how prostitution is accepted there as a legitimate way to earn money for girls. It is one thing to read about prostitution in Bangkok, but to experience it first hand really makes it hit home and humanizes the girls who work in this industry.

The next night we went out to this trendy nightclub with Charles' co-worker. The club consisted of a huge metal tubelike structure and had two levels line with beds on the sides. People would order a bottle of Johnny Walker and then just chill out on the beds and enjoy the atmosphere. That is another thing about Southeast Asia that I forgot to mention. When the locals go out, they rarely drink beer. Instead, they order a bottle of whiskey and drink it over ice with their friends. After spending time there, I think I'm starting to develop a taste for whiskey. It was a pretty cool place and we met a few interesting locals.

































The next day we went to the famous weekend market of Bangkok which is one of the largest markets in the world. They have pretty much everything there from little puppy dogs to firecrackers. It is impossible to cover the entire market in one day, that's how big it is. We had fun wandering around the market and sampling the local food vendors.


















That evening we met up with some of the locals that we met the night before at another club. All of them were pretty high class Thais, meaning that they were educated and had good enough jobs to get into these expensive clubs that we were at. They all spoke excellent english and were very friendly. It was really fun hanging out with them at this club, we drank together and talked just like they were my friends from back home. Afterwards we went back to Charles new bachelor pad apartment to hang out some more. It was a fun night because we really got to connect with some fun locals. On the way over to Charles' place, one of the girls was telling us how she used to hang out with the son of the owner of some huge company. This guy would go out and party all the time and then start fights with people who he didn't like. He almost beat a guy to death once and then just payed off the cops so they wouldn't press charges. Thailand is crazy like that, if you have enough money you can proably get away with just about anything.

My last day there, I went to this giant mall called MBK which consists of about 10 floors and on each floor there are hundreds of tiny stalls selling every imaginable item. I got a really good deal on a carry on luggage piece and a few DVDs. While at the mall I randomly ran into this lady who cut my hair a few days earlier. It was crazy that we ran into each other because Bangkok has over 1o million people in it. I asked her out to dinner that night because she was pretty friendly and I wanted to hang out with a local. Even though she couldn't speak english very well, we were still able to communicate enough to have a great time together. Whenever she didn't understand a word, she would give me her Thai-English dictionary and I would find the word in english so she could read the Thai version. Our interaction together really embodied a recurring theme of my trip... that it is possible to connect with people on a human level despite barriers in language and culture and that the vast majority of people are friendly kind hearted people.

Hanging out with Charles was a fantastic way to end my trip. At that point I was so tired of being a tourist and traveler, that I just wanted to relax during the day and have fun at night which is exactly what we did. I was having so much fun during those last few days that I really didn't want to go home when the date of my flight rolled around. At the same time I was kind of excited to get back to get started on the next stage of my life and to catch up with friends and family.

It was a very strange transition for me to return back home after being gone for so long. First of all, things are not as exciting or fast paced as being abroad. Second of all, this is the first time in my life that I don't have school or a job to keep me busy and give me something to work for. I also really miss all the attention I got from girls while traveling. In all of the countries I went to besides Singapore, I would get hit on my random girls. "You are very handsome, you have girlfriend? What! Why you no have girlfriend!?!??" they would say. Most of them were probably after my money or wanted me to marry them and take them back to the US, but nonetheless it was great to get all that attention from girls. I would walk around and feel like a god as girls gave me looks and complimented me. I had to return to reality eventually, but it has been a slow adjustment for me to get back into the swing of things.

Overall, I had an amazing experience on my trip. It was not without frustrations and annoyances, though. I have learned that those are a part of traveling and it is not all fun and games. I experienced so many cultures, countries and people that I feel like I'm a richer and wiser person because of it. I'm much more open to trying new things, meeting new people and traveling to foreign lands. Charles is trying to convince me to find a job abroad like him, and it is something I would seriously consider if the opportunity came up. The opportunities are very hard to find and the most common way for an American to work in a foriegn country is to teach english. That is something I'm seriously considering if my current job options do not work out. I'm also sending my resume out to as many international food companies I can find with the hope that one of them will take an interest in me. I got a phone call this morning from a phone number that had way too many digits to be from the US, so there might be some potential there. They didn't leave a message, and I got an email today in a foreign language (Dutch maybe?). But anyway, if anyone knows about any job opportunities, definitely hit me up.

Well that about concludes my blog for the trip....I may continue this blog to update everyone on any interesting things that have been going on in my life, so continue checking out the site if you're interested. Thanks to everyone who actually read this, hope you all enjoyed it!

-Patrick

P.S. Here is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. Look closely at what book I'm reading.

Here I go again on my own....

Hi everyone! I'm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia right now. Its been awhile since my last post, so let me first backtrack to Siem Reap in Cambodia.

The town is filled with tourists, but it wasn't overwhelmingly touristy until we got inside the temple complex and saw the hordes of Korean tourists flooding the gates. The main attraction there is the massive temple of Angkor Wat. We spent about 2 and half days exploring the main temple and numerous other temples in the surrounding areas. One of the temples was actually used to film the movie Tomb Raider. The temples are amazing... mostly because they are so old and still well preserved. There were built approximately 1000 years ago by ancient kings who ruled the lands here. My favorite one was the "Tomb Raider Temple" (I don't remember the actual name), not because of the movie, but because it is surrounded by thick jungle brush and trees which really gives it an authentically ancient feel. Although they are fascinating, the temples got a little boring looking at temples for 3 straight days. Especially since I had seen so many other temples previously on the trip. By this time in the tour I was getting a little burnt out on traveling with the group and was really looking foward to going off on my own.

Besides looking at temples, we went to the Landmine Museum. It is run by a former soldier of the Khmer Rouge who spent his early teens laying out mines in the cambodian jungle to fend off the invading Vietnamese. He was forced into the Khmer Rouge at a very young age, after his parents were taken from their homes and killed. After leaving the Khmer Rouge, this guy started demining areas in rural Cambodia where he previously laid the mines as a young man. He then set up the Landmine Museum to show other people the horrors of landmines and how many unexploded landmines there still are (something ridiculous like 10 million if I remember correctly). Most of the people working there had limbs missing from exploded landmines. The experience really showed me how terrible landmines are...because they continue to kill innocent people years after a war has ended. Later on that day I bought 2 books from a street vendor who had no arms. I was all ready to barter with him and try to get a really good deal, but I saw how he had no arms and thought to myself how tough his life is and how he's just trying to make an honest living. So I ended up taking the price he gave me...it was still a great deal and I actually needed one of the books (Lonely Planet Malaysia).

On one of the nights a few of us attended a cello concert at a local free hospital, put on by the guy who runs the place. He played a few songs and then talked to us about how thousands of poor Cambodians die every year from dengue fever and tuburculosis. They can't even afford basic health services so they must rely on free hospitals like the one that was putting on the show. It was a very moving talk, especially when he showed video of the thousands of sick children and families who were waiting in line to get much needed care. The guy giving the talk went a little too far though, basically blaming the west for all of Cambodia's health problems. He claimed that the US bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam war created conditions for the Khmer Rouge to come to power, and then the Khmer Rouge put people in such horrific conditions which allowed the tuburcolosis disease to proliferate which the people are still suffering from to this day. Nonetheless, I told myself I was so moved, I told myself I would donate blood which apparently helps people with Dengue Fever. Unfortunately it wasn't possible for me to donate in the short time period I was there for, but if I ever go again I'll definitely do it. I'm glad I went to the show to see another side of Cambodia that a lot of tourists probably don't even think about when they take their air conditioned buses to visit Angkor Wat. It puts a lot of things in perspective for me.

After Siem Reap, we drove all the way to Bangkok. Boy, what a long day that was....about 12 hours in a minibus. I was relieved to get back to Bangkok and it was a special moment because we arrived back at the exact same hotel we started from; thus literally completing the Great Indochina Loop. I was definitely ready for the tourgroup to end. If I ever do a tour like this again, (which I plan to), it will only be 2 weeks max. Anything after that is too long and it starts to not be worth it anymore. Although it is great to relax and have everything planned out, its very constricting at the same time. I was sort of going on autopilot and not even thinking about what I was doing. Since going off on my own, I've had to be a lot more proactive about my plans since I'm literally involved in every aspect of my trip. While it is more stressful than being on an organized tour group, its also more rewarding at the same time. Anyway back to my trip...

My last night with the group was in Bangkok. The next morning, I was officially on my own. I was so excited, yet a little nervous at the same time. I had a very loose plan to head down south by train and eventually fly to Malaysia. But I didn't have any of the details worked out, like what time the train left, how much it was, where exactly I go to buy the ticket, where I would stay when I got to my next destination, etc., etc. I went to the train station and luckily enough the train going down the south coast left about 15 minutes after I got there. I took the third class train and the ticket was so cheap! Plus it was filled with locals which is always a fun experience than being around a bunch of tourists.

I got to my destination of Hua Hin about 4 hours later. I chose Hua Hin because it was supposed to be slightly less touristy and a nice quiet beach town. It turned out to be full of hookers and old german people. It was quite sad actually. I was wondering around in the night and everywhere I looked I would see an old white dude with a young Thai girl. It made me ashamed to be a white man. Somehow I ended up in hookerland while I was wondering through the town, and the girls would call at me from the bars. I was so disgusted, I decided right there that I was going to get the hell out of Hua Hin and continue my journey down south. On a positive note, I did meet a few interesting people in my hostel that night. It seems like everyone I meet is going on a trip that is at least 5 months long, some people as many as 11 months. And I thought my 6-7 week trip was long.

I took the third class train to a small town called Prachuap Khiri Khan. I really enjoy taking the train. It is insanely cheap, the scenery is great and it really provides a local Thai experience. I was pretty much the only foreigner on the train and everyone was very nice and even told me when I was close to my destination. Prachuap was a nice, quiet, non-touristy town. Exactly what I was looking for after suffering through the den of whores and geriatric Germans known as Hua Hin. I spent a night there in a crappy (but cheap) hotel and enjoyed the local market while watching Thai's do aerobics to popular techno songs in the park. Another highlight of the town was almost getting mauled to death by a pack of wild monkey's who have made their home at the base of a large hill with a temple on top. The monkeys seemed friendly at first, but when I got about halfway up the staircase to the top of the temple, they surrounded me and started showing me their teeth. I nearly soiled myself but attempted to stay calm and explain to the monkeys that I wasn't going to hurt them. My verbal dexterity must have worked on them some how and eventually they retreated, so I was able to survive another day and continue my journey.

At this point in my trip I was trying to decide where to go next. I wanted to go to one of the famous beach spots for a few days, but I couldn't decide on Krabi or Ko Pha Ngan. They are on opposite coasts, so I didn't really have enough time to do both. I decided to head to Ko Pha Ngan because it was supposed to be hooker free and have a lot of young backpackers. I had heard that there are a lot of children and families in Krabi, so I decided to stay away from there. Ko Pha Ngan is famous for its monthy Full Moon Parties where thousands of people dance on a beach all night and drink buckets of whiskey and red bull. I knew the full moon party was the previous night, but decided to go there anyway thinking it would be laid back after all the crazy partying the night before. I took a 3 hour boatride to the island which was the most bouncy boat I've ever been on. I had to exert an extreme amount of mental focus to not vomit all over the place. Everywhere I looked people were yaking....it was terrible, but fun at the same time because I was on top of the boat with the wind in my face and we were flying. I literally got to the island the morning after the full moon party and everyone I saw looked completely shattered. The town itself is very sandy, dusty and hot. It wasn't exactly the vibe I was looking for because it seemed like everyone was in a group of their friends or a couple. Other than a few friendly Irish guys on the first night, I really didn't meet a lot of people like I thought I would. The best part of my time there was going on a snorkling trip on a half day trip around the island. The snorkling itself was terrible, I couldn't see anything, but it was a lot of fun to see the beauty of the island and beaches. The boat stopped on a few beaches and I played volleyball and football (soccer) with the people on my boat. Of course I managed to get sunburned in a bizarre fashion yet again, my shoulders are burnt and half my chest is burnt. Our "tourguide" was a fun guy, whenever we stopped at a beach he would light up a joint in the back of the boat and smoke it with the english guys who were hanging out back there. Its a pretty laid back-hippy culture on Ko Pha Ngan.

My next destination was Phuket, mainly because that is where my plane left for Malaysia. Even though Phuket is really popular, I had heard a lot of negative things about it: mainly that it is so touristy and overdeveloped. I spent an entire day traveling from the Pha Ngan to Phuket. By boat, bus and then another bus. Going in between buses was an interesting experience. We pulled into a temple and immidiately Thai people began yelling at us to follow them according to the sticker we were wearing (everyone was going to different destinations). Some guy pointed at me and I followed him to a street where there were a bunch of other random Thai people wearing yellow shirts and people from my bus. There were buses everywhere and everyone was running around like a chicken with their head cut off. I didn't see my bus and I couldn't get a straight answer from anyone about where my bus was and when it was leaving. I was extremely hungry too, and people who know me well, know that I don't have a lot of patience when I'm hungry. Finally I asked someone who spoke a little english and they told me to get on the back of this random guy's bike. I had no idea where we were going or what the hell was going on. Long story short, I finally got to my bus with plenty of time to spare, but it was definitely a trying experience, something that wouldn't have happened if I was with my tourgroup.

I spent two nights and one day in Phuket. The actual place I was staying was Phuket town which really doesn't have anything going on. All the real action is on Pattong beach, which I spent half a day at. It is filled with tourists, tailors and hawkers. I had very low expectations of it, but was pleasantly surprised. Even though it was packed, the water was beautiful and the 90 baht I spent to get chair and umbrella right along the water was well worth it.

This morning I checked out of my hostel and took the bus to the airport. I was ready to leave Thailand and experience the new country of Malaysia. So far I've noticed that people are extremely friendly and speak the best english I've encountered so far. It is very humid here and there are a lot less motorbikes. I've only been here for a few hours so I really don't have much else to say. My plan is to stay here for 3 nights, then work my way down south to Singapore and spend a day and two nights there before I fly back up to Bangkok to meet my good friend Charles Wright who will no doubt show me a good time. Well, its time to go explore KL a bit, I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about Malaysia the next time I post. Cheers!

Same Same...But Different

Hi everyone! I'm in Phnom Penh, Cambodia at the moment but I haven't updated for nearly a week so I will rewind to where I last left off in Vietnam.















From Hanoi, we took an overnight train to the ancient imperial city of Hue (pronounced "hway"). It is located just south of the the Demilitarized Zone which was the designation between the North and the South during the war. The city is separated by the Perfume River, on one half is the ancient ruins of the Nguyen Dynasty which includes a large palatial citadel and numerous interesting historical remains. The other side is much more urban and modernized. It is not nearly as fast paced as Hanoi, yet it does have the feel of an urban city. I was only there for a day and a half, but it was very memorable. Our group got an amazing motorbike tour of the city and countryside. The country is only a short ride from the main city, but the difference is striking. We drove through vast rice fields and small villages. The countryside is so beautiful and green. We stopped for a break in a small village and I got a chance to talk to a local women who tried to sell me a drink. She was very friendly and I could tell she was very poor so I was happy to buy a coke off of her. She told me that she has never been outside of Hue. A lot of other local people I've talked to have told me the same thing and it makes me realize how lucky I am to come into a foreign country and see so much of it, when so many of the local people can't even afford to travel outside of their hometown.

Another highlight of the tour was visiting a conical hat maker seen here that was born with only one arm because her mother worked out in the fields and used agricultural chemicals on the crops. Her father was killed in the Vietnam War (The American War from the Vietnamese perspective). She has been making conical hats for 30 years and can only make about 3 a day due to her disability. I bought one for 20,000 dong which is a little over a dollar. Once again, it makes me thankful for what I have.

We traveled to a bunker in the country that was close to the famous battle at Hamburger Hill. Apparently it got that name because so many people died in the battle that the hill was rotting with corpses and looked like a hamburger. Being in such a beautiful place with lush plant life and green hills, it was hard to imagine that such horrible things took place there.


This is a picture of a monk setting himself on fire to protest the South Vietnamese president's Anti-buddhist policies. It is on the cover of a Rage Against the Machine Album. The monk who did it was actually trained in the temple that we visited. In the early 60's, he drove to Saigon, got out of his car, doused himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire. It was pretty amazing to see such the actual car from such a famous incident. I don't think that Buddhist teaching actually promotes self immolation as a valid means of protest, rather this monk was acting on his own behalf in an attempt to send a message to the people that discriminating against Buddhists is wrong.

Here are some random pictures I took in Hue:

From Hue, we drove over a large mountain pass into the ancient trading town of Hoi An. It is a small, slightly touristy town that is sort of a cross between Luang Prabang and Chiang My. When we first got in, the town looked kind of shitty in rundown and I thought to myself: "why the hell are we staying here for 3 nights?" But once we arrived and walked around in the town I could see why. It has a really nice small town feel and the weather is excellent. It wasn't cold and overcast like Hue. It was warm and only slightly cloudy. The town is close to the beach as well. The local hawkers are aggressive as usual in Vietnam, yet a lot more personable. They all have a funny sense of humor and can speak english really well because they deal with a lot of tourists. One of the main businesses in Hoi An is clothing. There are about 200 different shops that will custom make clothes. A lot of people in my group planned on getting clothes made, but I told myself that I wouldn't do it because my bag was too full. That all changed on the second day when I met a charming young lady about my age. She approached me and asked me all sorts of personal questions like most of the Vietnamese do: Where are you from? How old are you? Are you married? Do you have a girlfriend? I figured she was just trying to sell me something, but as it turned out she was being genuine. I mentioned that I had considered buying a suit and before I knew it she was grabbing me by the hand and leading me across the market to her cousin's shop where I could get an excellent suit made. Before I know it I had picked out two fabrics and was handing over my credit card to get suits custom made. I got 2 suits and three dress shirts for about $175, which is an amazing deal, plus they are custom made for my body. After making my purchase I immediately regretted it since it was so spontaneous and I didn't even know if the suits were going to be high quality or not. But the next day when I tried them on and saw how good they looked on my, I knew I made the right decision.



Since then, I've had a few other funny experiences in Hoi An. After trying on my suit I was in the suave GQ metrosexual mood so I decided to buy myself some nice cologne. As I walked through the market, a lady yelled at me to buy from her and asked me what I was looking for. I told her and she grabs me by the hand and takes me to her friends stall. For the next 20 minutes she tries to help me pick out a cologne as I spray her and myself. I don't like any of the colognes, but end up buying to pairs of boxer shorts that turned out to be too small and some shower gel that I actually needed. After buying all that stuff I walked through the market some more and realized that I needed a haircut. I was considering going to a place near the hotel when a lady started talking to me again, trying to get me to buy some T-shirts. I mentioned to her that I had to get a haircut and she grabs me by the arm and leads me across the market to her friends massage parlor. See a pattern here? The lady there yells at me "My husband will give you haircut, he's very good!" Two seconds later, the husband appears on a motorbike and tells me "Its two minutes away, hop on!" I try to resist, but the Vietnamese are very convincing and the next thing I know I'm riding on the back of this guy's bike across town to some back alley haircut place that he apparently owns. I bartered him down to 40,000 dong for the haircut, but ended up giving him the whole 50,000 because he did a pretty good job.



















All those experiences and interactions with the friendly locals really left me with a good feeling about the entire area. Its really funny how everyone knows everyone and people just lead me around, convincing me to buy stuff.








































In addition to buying clothes that I may or may not actually need, I rented a motorbike again and drove all over the town and countryside. It was so much fun. We had 4 bikes between the 6 of us and we gunned it down the street on the outskirts of town. I was probably only going about 50 mph but it felt a lot faster with the wind in my face. We drove out into the countryside and got to see what Vietnam is really like: 80% of the population lives in small villages and farms for a living. The kids would wave and yell "hello" at us as we went past. The fun day was dampened a bit when my tour guide got arrested and had her bike confiscated for driving down the wrong side of the street, driving without registration and driving without a license. The penalty wasn't that bad, only a few hundred thousand dong, but it scared me enough to call it a day even though I had half a tank of gas still left.

























After spending a few days in beautiful Hoi An, we drove to De Nang and caught a short plane trip to Ho Chi Minh City. On the plane ride I fell asleep and right after we woke up our plane slammed into something and everything shook. I thought I was done for, but then realized we were just landing. It took me about 5 minutes before my heart fully calmed down from that traumatic incident.



Ho Chi Minh City is insane. HCM is extremely hot and humid, kind of like Bangkok. A few minutes after leaving my air conditioned hotel I would be drenched with sweat. There are ten million people in the city and at anytime I would guess nine million of them are driving around on their motorbikes, clogging the roads. I didn't think anything could top Hanoi, but Ho Chi Minh city definitely falls in that category. We were only there for a day in a half but I managed to wander into the biggest traffic jam known to mankind outside of a school right as classes got out. Parents were picking up their kids and it was pure chaos. Even the locals didn't dare venture out into the madness to try and cross the street.



We went to the Museum of War Remnants (formerly the Museum of American War Crimes). It consisted mostly of photographs of the war and surprisingly showed both sides of the conflict. It wasn't very informational, but as they say a picture speaks a thousand words. It was really strange to see all these pictures of the fighting and then read where it took place: Hanoi, Saigon, Hue, De Nang.... all places that I have traveled to on this trip. Like I said before its so hard to fathom that such horrific fighting and violence took place in all of these beautiful and interesting places that I have been to. Another interesting exhibit in the museum was a section on different countries protesting the Vietnam War. There were countries from all over the world displaying displeasure with the war and the US involvement. They even showed actual protests in the US and the incident in Ohio when the National Guard killed four protesters. I'm glad that the US protesters were recognized because it shows that there is an understanding of the distinction between the governmental actions and the beliefs and attitudes of the citizens of the country. It was especially difficult to look at the pictures of the My Lai massacre and the victims of agent orange mutations. But it is good that they were displayed so that people can be reminded of the horrors of war and how it can terribly warp the human spirit to carry out such atrocities. In addition to the War Museum we visited the Cu Chi tunnels. It was an hour and a half out of the way and I wasn't sure if it was worth driving that far to see a few holes in the ground, but it turned out to be well worth it. Our guide was an interesting character who served in the war with the Americans and spent five years in a re-education camp after the war ended. He didn't speak to us, but rather yelled...in a friendly, energetic way that is. I understood about 60% of what he said, but he was still very informative. It was amazing to see this vast network of tunnels and booby traps that the Viet Cong utilized during the war. They created a larger version of the tunnels for tourists to experience, but it was still too cramped, hot and dark for me to venture inside. I can't imagine living in the tunnels for months at a time.


























I was happy to be leaving Ho Chi Minh because it is such a dirty, hot and overcrowded town. It was nice to experience it for a day, but that was enough for me. Yesterday we said goodbye to Vietnam and boarded a bus bound for Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I was kind of sad to leave Vietnam because I really enjoyed the people and I was there for almost 10 days so I had grown accustomed to the culture and the language. I know how to say I'm drunk, cheers, rice wine, I am happy, I love it here, hello, goodbye, thank you, too expensive, go away, and you are beautiful. A few more weeks and I would be nearly fluent.




My first impression of Cambodia is that the people are very poor (this picture doesn't really capture that statement, but just take my word for it). There are a lot of beggers living on the streets. There are even families with small children in babies who sleep on the street and look very unhealthy. It is sad to see so much poverty all out in the open but that is a fact of life in a third world country. It is even hotter than HCM and the infrastructure is severely lacking. There are large piles of garbage in the streets and it reeks of raw sewage in certain ares.



Today we travled to the Tuol Sleng Prison here in town. This is the main prison area that the Khmer Rouge used to interrogate, torture and starve more than 17,000 people during their reign of terror between 1975-1979. For those of you that aren't familiar with Cambodian history, the Khmer Rouge was an extremist communist regime that came to power in 1975 and carried out the genocide of nearly 2 million Cambodians in an attempt to rid the country of the educated class and revert the people back to an agrarian farming community of the stone age. During this time, 1 in 5 Cambodians were killed by Khmer Rouge. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the prison was turned into a museum to document the genocide and atrocities that were committed there. It consited of pictures of all the people staring into the camera, moments before their were executed. There were also some very graphic pictures of tortue and mutilation. It was pretty difficult to take all this in, but it was also a really informative experience. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and very thorough. He lost 5 brothers and sisters and his father to the Khmer Rouge, yet he was able to speak with amazing clarity and detachment about this dark period of Cambodian history. Despite his veneer of detachment, I sensed glimpses of torment and rage as he walked us through the prison and spoke in detail about how prisoners were raped, tortured, killed and starved all in the name of a bizarre and horrific idealogy.



After the prison, we went to the Killing Fields, which is the spot where the guards shipped the prisoners to be murdered and then dumped in mass graves. There were still remnents of bone and clothing as we walked through the fields which consisted of large craters were the mass graves were dug up. In the center of the field was a memorial pagoda containing hundreds of skulls found in the fields.

It was an emotionally draining and deppressing day, but I'm glad that I experienced it because it reminds me that horrible things really do happen, but hopefully we can learn from them. Before booking this trip, I had never heard of what happened here and I don't think a lot of other people my age know about it either. But after today I really want to learn more about it, how these people came to power, why they committed these atrocities and what was done to punish them.

Tomorrow we are flying to Siam Reap where the famous Angkor Wat temples are located. The tour is almost over and I still have not figured out what I'm going to do afterwards. I have 2-3 weeks. Originally I planned on staying just in Thailand but now I'm thinking it would be nice to see a few other countries, plus plane tickets within Southeast Asia are usually pretty cheap. I'm thinking maybe Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia or the Philippines, or all of the above. If anyone has any feedback or has travled to those countries, let me know what you think. I appreciate everyone's support and comments...the next time I update I'll probably be back in Bangkok. Talk to you later!

Vietnam...

Greetings from Hanoi, Vietnam. Before I even got to the city, I made the comment that people drive like maniacs in Vietnam. Now that I'm in the city I've realized that the people here trancsend the word "maniac" and have actually created a higher strata of reckless driving that I never thought was possible. The roads are narrow for a city and motorbikes are EVERYWHERE! It is way more chaotic than even Bangkok. Bikes go in every direction with no regard for traffic laws or a western view of common sense. When I first saw it, I was amazed that people don't get killed everyday from collisions. But after observing it for a few days and even experiencing it first hand on the back of a bike, I've realized that there actually is an order to the chaos. There are unwritten laws of the road which govern the flow of the traffic. I suppose people are used to this way of driving, so it's not even a big deal to them. The concept of personal space while you are driving is a foreign notion here. People come within inches of hitting each other or slamming into cars head on. And from what I hear, this is nothing compared to Ho Chi Minh City. Crossing the street is the tricky part. No one pays attention to the little green man telling you to walk, so you pretty much just have to slowly walk out there and people will avoid hitting you...kind of like wading through water, the water will flow around you. Anyway, enough about the crazy traffic here, I'll catch everyone up on when I last left.....

From Ninh Binh, we took a minibus up to Halong Bay. It is a world famous site in Vietnam consisting of huge rock formations all over this bay of water connecting to the ocean. My group got our own boat and we spent the afternoon looking at the rock formations, visiting massive caves and climbing to the top of a hill with a temple. The area is very toursity and there were hundreds of boats around, it was almost like Houseboats, Vietnam style but with less irresponsible college students involved. The scenery was beautiful but the weather was a litte overcast and cloudy. It was a very relaxing time, nonetheless. It was a good opportunity to kick back and take a deep breath before entering into the madness of Hanoi, the Capital of Vietnam.

HANOI

Despite the chaos of the road, Hanoi is a very beautiful city. It has the feel of a smaller town because the narrow streets that are lined with trees. There is a lake in the heart of the city which is next to the large market area known as the French Quarter. This area is similar to a Chinatown, with each street selling a specific item such as bags, shirts, shoes, sunglasses, motorcycle parts and just about anything you could think of. When I embarked on the 15 minute walk from the hotel to the french quarter. There's nothing I can do to hide the fact that I'm a tourist, so I just embraced it. With my map in one hand and my camera in the other I ventured out into the foreign land of Hanoi. When I arrived at the french quarter I was struck how aggressive everyone was, especially after being in Laos for 5 days. People see me and instantly start yelling at me to buy shit from them. Anything from fruit to dried fish to hats to books to sweatshirts. At first I had fun with them and even bought some crap that I didn't really want. But after half a day of constantly being harassed, I started to get very annoyed. People will just not leave me alone. To make matters worse I ended up getting lost and then buying a crappy map from some guy on the street for way too much money. I then took a motorbike home and the guy tried to rip me off and ask for 150,000 dong when we agreed on one US dollar (15,000 dong). I knew the guy was kind of shady but I was desperate for a ride. I was disappointed in myself for not trusting my gut and being street smart. These experiences put me in a very negative mood about this place, the entire trip and people in general. I realized that this at that moment it was exactly the halfway point of my tour and that it was a time of reckoning for me. I decided to push on foward and stay positive by forgetting the negative experiences and reminding myself that the majority of the people here are warm and friendly and have a kind heart. With this in mind, I took a relaxing shower followed by a muscle melting massage. I felt great afterwards and much more positive about the city.

Here I am outside of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum wearing my Vietnam flag shirt after viewing the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh himself. The entire experience was absolutely surreal. The wait was about 45 minutes and the security was extremely high. Cameras and bags were absolutely forbidden. We had to go through a metal detector and a pat down before even getting in line. As we got closer to the mausoleum we saw the guards (decked out in their communist military uniform) ordered us to be silent and take off our hats. We filed into the building in complete silence and made our way down a hallway that got darker and darker. Finally we made it to the room of the body. The room was dimly lit, with only the body illuminated. The body was in a rectangular glass case with a stoic gaurd on each corner. The body itself actually looked like Ho Chi Minh. It had the appearance of a wax figure. Covering the entire wall behind Ho Chi Minh was a gigantic Vietnam flag next to a communist flag bearing the famous hammer and sickle. The fact that everyone was silent, that there were four communist gaurds standing absolutely still, the dim lighting and the fact that I was looking at the body of such an historically influential man who has been dead for more than thirty years all contributed to the aburdity of the situation. People here worship Minh like a god. His face is on all the bank notes and statues of the man can be found everywhere. I really don't know much about him or the things he stood for, but he has no doubt had a huge impact on the history of Vietnam. Ironically enough, he requested that to be cremated and have his ashes split up into thirds, one part to be spread in North, Central and South Vietnam. But despite his requests he was immortalized by the people of Vietnam to be forever worhsiped and idolized.

This picture is from the Vietnam Military Museum. It is remains of American fighter planes and tanks that were collected from the war. The fact that America was at war with Vietnam only about thirty years ago remains a constant thought on my mind during my time here. I understand the basics of the war, but I don't feel like I have a firm understanding of how it went down. I'm currently readnig a really interesting book about the war which should help me understand the reasons that it turned out the way it did. Hanoi itself was heavily bombed during the war. It is amazing that this place is now a tourist attraction which millions of American's visit every year. Can anyone imagine Iraq being a tourist destination 30 years from now? For the people who were involved in the war, it is probably even more difficult to accept the fact that Vietnam has opened its doors for Americans. The general consensus that I am getting by talking to the people here is that they try to not dwell on the past, but rather look toward the future. I'm sure all the tourism is helping the Vietnamese economy. I've told many people that I'm American and I haven't received one negative response.

Here I am eating in a traditional Vietnamese restaurant. I like Vietnamese food the best so far. The authentic restaurants are extremely dirty, have shitty plastic chairs that are too small (which makes me feel like I'm in Kindergarten again) and reak of rotting fish. Yet the food is mouthwateringly delicious. I'm becoming a master with chopsticks and I like the way the Vietnamese eat; they hold the bowl up to their mouths and shovel in food at a rapid rate.

There are heaps of ladies like this on the street who carry too baskets with food in them attached to a piece of branch slung over their shoulder. I was taking a picture of the stature in the background today, when the lady just comes up to me and puts the thing on my shoulder and sticks the cap on my head and takes a picture. She then expects me to buy a bushel of banannas for her. I ask her for one single bananna and she gives me three demands 50,000 dong. I give her 5,000 and she frowns and says 50 again. She finally concedes and takes my 5 and gives me a dirty look and walks away. Like I said before, the people are very aggressive here and grab me and yell at me to get my attention. They are usually friendlier than this lady and have a good nature about bartering. Sometimes I'll make my offer so low that they will just start laughing at me or give me an exaggerated sad, pouty look. After buying stuff from one lady, the next day she recognized me and jokingly asked me to buy more shirts. Its usually pretty fun to barter, but like I said before it can get very annoying when people are too agressive. I've learned to just flat out ignore people when they try to get my attention. But if I'm interested in the product I will have fun with the game and I usually enjoy talking to the people.

Well I could babble on for another couple of hours but you can see by the increasingly disorganized style of writing I am getting hungry and the lack of glucose in my body is affecting my cognitive abilities. Therefore I will put post up a bunch of random pictures since the connection here is really fast. Enjoy.