Landed back in Singapore last night around 8 after one last night in Bangkok and a week spent in Cambodia. What a journey it's been. I just took a walk around Singapore one last time before saying goodbye to what has become an impromptu home away from home. My flight leaves in 12 hours with an 8 hour pitstop in Hong Kong and 13-15 hours onwards from there to Toronto. To be frank, I'm at a loss for words right now. So much has happened and so many people have come and gone in the last two weeks - it's difficult to stare at this white emptiness and summarize everything in this moment. I'll have a lot of time to scour my memory over the next 36 hours and hopefully I'll be a little more coherent by then.
A possible reason for this brain freeze is probably sleep depravation. That might be a bit dramatic but I haven't slept too much in the last 4 days. Last night I told myself I was gonna get to bed before midnight, try catching up on some sleep. But I had a couple o' drinks with a dude from Columbia and another guy from Romania and before you could say habanero it was 5AM. Lots of amazing tales from those guys about their homelands. Not to mention, around 2AM this wonderfully manic Singaporean on a bicycle joined us. Although he was a rather small man, his hood name was Big Dog. He was feeding the street cats with store bought chow when he saw us talking on the street in front of the hostel and introduced himself. He told us of his gambling addiction and the years he spent in Changi prison, knife scars and all. He played us some Eagles and Tears for Fears on his cell phone, gleefully danced around our table and after an hour he got back on his bike - and out of nowhere brings back a full on curry dinner he bought with his own money. He proceeded to run down the street praising the lord for this chance at redemption. Despite being poor, mentally unstable and a dark past to boot, Big Dog had one of the biggest hearts I'd ever seen. Needless to say, sleep is for the dead here and it was far too interesting to consider going to bed early on my last night in Asia.
Anyways, so much more has happened. I'll have a lot of time at the airport tonight and I'll probably post one last message with regards to Cambodia and the past 2 weeks. Cambodia blew me away completely. I hope to go back there one day. Time to get some food and try to have a nap. Ciao for now.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Mekong River: riding the snake into the heart of darkness
This is the end, beautiful friend, the end. Eternally haunting lyrics once sung by Jim Morrison and the opening ballad of Apocalypse Now, my favourite movie. For those who haven't seen it or read Heart of Darkness, the film follows the search for Colonel Kurtz, a deranged military genius who has vanished beyond the winding depths of the Mekong River during the invasion of Vietnam. Fittingly enough, the Mekong delta will be the beginning of the end for me too, the end of my journey I should say. I am taking a boat from the delta in Vietnam right to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Hopefully I will resist the urge to go native and command my own outfit of psychotic tribesmen but no promises can be made.
In all seriousness, the trip will take 2 days - one night spent in a floating hotel on the Mekong. On Saturday I'll reach the border. Kind of a sketchy operation there apparently. Cambodian border guards are renowned for unabashed corruption and con artistry so I'm psyching myself up for a healthy wallet greasing there. I have to get my tourist visa at the border and when you're on a boat in the middle of the Cambodian jungle you do what the armed guards tell you. Most likely they'll ask for double the actual price of a visa. It's annoying because you absolutely know you're getting the curtains pulled over your eyes but you really have no choice. We're all in the same boat, so to speak.
Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon has been quite the experience in itself. The traffic is downright brutal. It is an achievement to make it from point A to B without having a brush with death. I am not exaggerating. I haven't been hit or anything but crossing the road is an artform, definitely not for the timid. Toronto or even NYC has nothing on Saigon. Imagine 250 motorcycles coming at you, like a cluster of sardines, each missing you by half a foot on either side. Then, picture a taxi driving directly into that cluster horns blazing from the opposite direction like a big whale coming to feast. Everything scatters, chaos, and you're still tiptoeing in the middle of the street. I could go on and on because it's actually quite fascinating to watch but it's something that has to be experienced to truly understand.
I have a lot to say about Vietnam besides the traffic, but again, time is limiting so I'll have to save it for later. I visited the Cu Chi tunnels 2 days ago and that was one of the most sobering experiences I've ever had. Unlike other archaic warzones, most of the area remains exactly as it did 30-40 years ago and the visitor has unprecedented access. Many of the landmines haven't been found so we were strictly told to stay on the trail. It was unreal - I stood there trying to understand what it felt like to be impaled on a bamboo trap tipped with cobra poison or drowned in the endless claustrophobic network of tunnels, or have my lungs incinerated by agent orange, or blown to bits by mortars, grenades, mines, burnt alive by napalm. The horrors are endless and you get the picture. The most humane deaths came from the bullets. It's so hard to believe you're actually standing in the same place where all of these horrible atrocities actually took place. My brain can't even compute the pain that must have been endured by so many so needlessly.
And so it's deeper into the jungle from here, to the land of the Killing Fields. What truly brings me to these places? Understanding? Awareness? Morbid curiousity? It's difficult understanding my place as a tourist who actually pays money to see these displays of human savagery. It is truly the dark side of human history, but it is a history that is so incredibly foreign to me. It's ironic though, if these forgotten countries didn't have these gruesome and haunting reminders scattered about the wasted countrysides there wouldn't be much to see. But, maybe there would be if these horrible events didn't happen. So, they have to exploit it because it's all there is, and because they know some of us will buy it. But, I think there's a level of humanity beyond paying to see a spectacle. Sure there is some morbid fascination involved, otherwise, why go? But why bury the past or deny the truth by pretending these places don't exist. For me, it's something that must be acknowledged as a human being because this depravity is embedded within evolution, it's real, and in order to grow as a species it must be displayed. Unfortunately, "never again" is just old hat, stale cliche now, so who knows how effective the message really is. Next to living through a war or genocide - putting yourself in the place of those poor souls changes you. I'm not trying to be self righteous and I would totally understand why this wouldn't be everyone's favourite family getaway (although there was a couple with newlyborn baby present at Cu Chi amidst sounds of people firing off AK47's at the gunrange out front, yeah). I'm just trying to understand why I'm here, exactly.
Okay, enough of that. I have to pack for tomorrow and this will be my last transmission for a few days before I reach the mean streets of Phnom Penh. As much as it sounds just like a bowl of ripe ol' banana fun it is very safe these days. Everyone's doin' it! See you in Cambodia.
In all seriousness, the trip will take 2 days - one night spent in a floating hotel on the Mekong. On Saturday I'll reach the border. Kind of a sketchy operation there apparently. Cambodian border guards are renowned for unabashed corruption and con artistry so I'm psyching myself up for a healthy wallet greasing there. I have to get my tourist visa at the border and when you're on a boat in the middle of the Cambodian jungle you do what the armed guards tell you. Most likely they'll ask for double the actual price of a visa. It's annoying because you absolutely know you're getting the curtains pulled over your eyes but you really have no choice. We're all in the same boat, so to speak.
Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon has been quite the experience in itself. The traffic is downright brutal. It is an achievement to make it from point A to B without having a brush with death. I am not exaggerating. I haven't been hit or anything but crossing the road is an artform, definitely not for the timid. Toronto or even NYC has nothing on Saigon. Imagine 250 motorcycles coming at you, like a cluster of sardines, each missing you by half a foot on either side. Then, picture a taxi driving directly into that cluster horns blazing from the opposite direction like a big whale coming to feast. Everything scatters, chaos, and you're still tiptoeing in the middle of the street. I could go on and on because it's actually quite fascinating to watch but it's something that has to be experienced to truly understand.
I have a lot to say about Vietnam besides the traffic, but again, time is limiting so I'll have to save it for later. I visited the Cu Chi tunnels 2 days ago and that was one of the most sobering experiences I've ever had. Unlike other archaic warzones, most of the area remains exactly as it did 30-40 years ago and the visitor has unprecedented access. Many of the landmines haven't been found so we were strictly told to stay on the trail. It was unreal - I stood there trying to understand what it felt like to be impaled on a bamboo trap tipped with cobra poison or drowned in the endless claustrophobic network of tunnels, or have my lungs incinerated by agent orange, or blown to bits by mortars, grenades, mines, burnt alive by napalm. The horrors are endless and you get the picture. The most humane deaths came from the bullets. It's so hard to believe you're actually standing in the same place where all of these horrible atrocities actually took place. My brain can't even compute the pain that must have been endured by so many so needlessly.
And so it's deeper into the jungle from here, to the land of the Killing Fields. What truly brings me to these places? Understanding? Awareness? Morbid curiousity? It's difficult understanding my place as a tourist who actually pays money to see these displays of human savagery. It is truly the dark side of human history, but it is a history that is so incredibly foreign to me. It's ironic though, if these forgotten countries didn't have these gruesome and haunting reminders scattered about the wasted countrysides there wouldn't be much to see. But, maybe there would be if these horrible events didn't happen. So, they have to exploit it because it's all there is, and because they know some of us will buy it. But, I think there's a level of humanity beyond paying to see a spectacle. Sure there is some morbid fascination involved, otherwise, why go? But why bury the past or deny the truth by pretending these places don't exist. For me, it's something that must be acknowledged as a human being because this depravity is embedded within evolution, it's real, and in order to grow as a species it must be displayed. Unfortunately, "never again" is just old hat, stale cliche now, so who knows how effective the message really is. Next to living through a war or genocide - putting yourself in the place of those poor souls changes you. I'm not trying to be self righteous and I would totally understand why this wouldn't be everyone's favourite family getaway (although there was a couple with newlyborn baby present at Cu Chi amidst sounds of people firing off AK47's at the gunrange out front, yeah). I'm just trying to understand why I'm here, exactly.
Okay, enough of that. I have to pack for tomorrow and this will be my last transmission for a few days before I reach the mean streets of Phnom Penh. As much as it sounds just like a bowl of ripe ol' banana fun it is very safe these days. Everyone's doin' it! See you in Cambodia.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Out of the frying pan, into the fire
Hello folks, it's another sizzling day in Bangkok. I got back from Chiang Mai around 5 AM two mornings ago. I met two friends from Australia and we slept in the Burger King on Khao San Rd. for 6 hours until we were able to check into our hostel across the city. Khao San is stranger than fiction. It is truly the pulse of Bangkok and a stage for the grotesque nature of the human subconscious, a writhing chameleon dream. Once you've walked down the road between 3 and 7 AM you'll never see the world in the same light again. That's all I'll say for now!
I'm waiting for a bus to the Bangkok airport right now. I catch a plane for Saigon, Vietnam in 4 hours. I've heard Saigon is the most chaotic city in SE Asia so I'm trying to prepare myself. I suppose Bangkok's a good primer. My original plan was to take a bus to Siem Reap and see the temples of Angkor but appaently Bangkok Airways is bribing the government to keep the roads in terrible shape so they can retain their monopoly on the one and only flight into Angkor. Thus, the busride there is considered by many as the highway to hell. Instead, I've decided it'll be easier to start in Saigon and work my way back towards Bangkok. I really don't feel that flying everywhere is true backpacking but sometimes your choices are marginal at best. Perhaps if I had a travel companion I'd take the bus just for the hell of it, but being alone as I am, a busride like that would be excruciating at best. 10 strangers packed into a minivan for 20+ hours, 1 or 2 stops, no A/C, dirt roads with craterlike potholes etc. etc. Anyways, it's hard to know if I'm making the right decisions (another reason to travel with another person) but I think this plane ride is justified.
Okay, the bus should be here in 5 minutes so I better run. When I get to Saigon I'll say hi again. Hope everyone is well! Bye for now.
I'm waiting for a bus to the Bangkok airport right now. I catch a plane for Saigon, Vietnam in 4 hours. I've heard Saigon is the most chaotic city in SE Asia so I'm trying to prepare myself. I suppose Bangkok's a good primer. My original plan was to take a bus to Siem Reap and see the temples of Angkor but appaently Bangkok Airways is bribing the government to keep the roads in terrible shape so they can retain their monopoly on the one and only flight into Angkor. Thus, the busride there is considered by many as the highway to hell. Instead, I've decided it'll be easier to start in Saigon and work my way back towards Bangkok. I really don't feel that flying everywhere is true backpacking but sometimes your choices are marginal at best. Perhaps if I had a travel companion I'd take the bus just for the hell of it, but being alone as I am, a busride like that would be excruciating at best. 10 strangers packed into a minivan for 20+ hours, 1 or 2 stops, no A/C, dirt roads with craterlike potholes etc. etc. Anyways, it's hard to know if I'm making the right decisions (another reason to travel with another person) but I think this plane ride is justified.
Okay, the bus should be here in 5 minutes so I better run. When I get to Saigon I'll say hi again. Hope everyone is well! Bye for now.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Trekking in Chiang Mai
It's been a while since my last update but not to worry, I am alive and well. I'm with a few Canadians from BC and two guys from Australia. The group of us just got back yesterday evening from a 3 day trek through the mountains of northern Thailand. We went elephant riding, stayed overnight in bamboo huts with the local tribespeople and had a rather sketchy bamboo rafting experience down the river with our drunk tour guides. Last night we all went to the Chiang Mai market to haggle with more street vendors. It was great fun, though, around 2AM I found myself breaking up a fight with some other westerners who my Canadian "pals" had taken issue with regarding underage Thai prostitutes. It's a long story but cooler heads prevailed.
So, I'm going back to Bangkok tonight at 6PM. It's another 12 hour busride, yay! It was great fun here and I'm glad I decided to make a stop here. I have to check out in 10 minutes so I better be off. I'll check in again soon!
So, I'm going back to Bangkok tonight at 6PM. It's another 12 hour busride, yay! It was great fun here and I'm glad I decided to make a stop here. I have to check out in 10 minutes so I better be off. I'll check in again soon!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Change of Fate in the Land of Smiles
Big change in plans! After much deliberation I have decided to save Chiang Mai for later. Instead of doing the epic Thai-Laos-Vietnam-Cambodia loop I'm going to fly to Saigon and work my way back to Bangkok through Cambodia. If I have the energy and any money left I'll save Chiang Mai for last. Many factors played into my decision to stay in Bangkok. First, I think new years here will be more exciting. Second, my window of travel through Vietnam is tight and its rather tricky trying to predict when I'll actually cross that border. Third, as glorious as the "Reunification Express" sounds, I've read many blogs about the train from Hanoi to Saigon - none of them flattering. Surely it would be an experience but you spend most of the incredibly long trip travelling overnight in cramped quarters, meaning you don't see much. If I had more time and money I would do it but I think the novelty of that would quickly wear off. Saigon will be enough 'Nam for me and I can't wait for what will be the highlight of the entire trip - Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I've been fascinated since the first time I glanced at it in a National Geographic article when I was just a wee lad. Every other temple I've seen will pale in comparison to the mother of all ancient shrines. Only the pyramids of Giza are waxing the same jive as this sucker.
So, tonight is New Years Eve and it's a full 12 hour difference between here and there. I'll be well into the future by the time your clocks strike midnight. Stupidly enough, I forgot it was New Years and did the tuk tuk terror ride to the Vietnamese embassy only to find out they're closed until Saturday. On the way back I went to Wat Phao and saw the massive reclining Buddha there, made a wish or two. Tomorrow I'm going to the Emerald Palace and the floating market. Tonight I'm just gonna stay here and take in the fireworks. The hotel has an awesome rooftop pool and bar and there is an excellent 360 degree view of the entire city so I'll have a perfect view. I imagine Khao San Rd. will get pretty crazy tonight too. Time to have a shower and purge the stink of Bangkok from my pores. Seriously, this city is downright grimey. I would rather give my future child a hearty Alabama baptism along the shores of Lake Ontario than set foot in the rivers here. Joking, but you get the idea.
2009 was a wild ride. Buddha is smiling on 2010. Miss all of you - Happy New Years folks!
So, tonight is New Years Eve and it's a full 12 hour difference between here and there. I'll be well into the future by the time your clocks strike midnight. Stupidly enough, I forgot it was New Years and did the tuk tuk terror ride to the Vietnamese embassy only to find out they're closed until Saturday. On the way back I went to Wat Phao and saw the massive reclining Buddha there, made a wish or two. Tomorrow I'm going to the Emerald Palace and the floating market. Tonight I'm just gonna stay here and take in the fireworks. The hotel has an awesome rooftop pool and bar and there is an excellent 360 degree view of the entire city so I'll have a perfect view. I imagine Khao San Rd. will get pretty crazy tonight too. Time to have a shower and purge the stink of Bangkok from my pores. Seriously, this city is downright grimey. I would rather give my future child a hearty Alabama baptism along the shores of Lake Ontario than set foot in the rivers here. Joking, but you get the idea.
2009 was a wild ride. Buddha is smiling on 2010. Miss all of you - Happy New Years folks!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Bouncing around in Bangkok
Unfortunately this update will have to be really brief because I'm totally swamped organizing buses, planes, boats, trains and hotels for the next 3 weeks. I'm staying on Khao San Road here in Bangkok and it's easily the most polluted city I've ever been to. What looks like heavy rain clouds is actually a giant floating mess of compressed gas saturating the citysphere. Basically, I spent the majority of this day blasting all over the city by taxi, train, and tuk tuk. The objective - to get a Vietnamese visa from the embassy on the other side of Bangkok. After a taxi, 2 train rides and 2 tuk tuk "adventures" today (the last one taking me to a sapphire dealer and a suit shop before abandoning me at a buddhist temple on the northside - luckily I had a map to walk with), I'm pretty much depleted physically and mentally. I actually really like Bangkok though. Once you get over the constant barrage of swindlers looking to milk your wallet dry you start having a good time. As with all major cities, you have to watch your back, but you also learn to take things with a smile and not be crestfallen when something hits you from left field. There is only so much I am able to control and sometimes the grimey things enrich the experience. Travelling just tests the nerves a bit.
Tomorrow will be a long day. Before I check out at 11:45 I want to visit the Sleeping Buddha temple located just south of this road. After that, back across the city with my bags to the sterile Vietnamese embassy for my visa, ready around 3 they said. Then, kill 4 hours before catching a bus to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand at 8:30 PM. I tried booking a train today on my way back but everything is full so I'll be sleeping on the bus and arriving in CM at 6 in the morning December 31st. The idea is to spend New Years plus a day or two there before taking a bus to the Thai-Laos border where I board a 2 day slowboat ride on the Mekong River to Luang Prabang in Laos. If all goes well, I hope to make it to the wonderful communist sanctuary of Vietnam by January 8th or 9th. I have no idea how this will ride out but it'll be the most adventurous and gruelling part of the trip. I will have an opportunity in Chiang Mai to update with more details. When I get to Vietnam, I'm taking the Reunification Express from Hanoi to Saigon with stops along the way. After Saigon it's off to Phnom Penh and Siem Riep/Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia before winding up in Bangkok again. That is my general itinerary for the next month and quite frankly it's rather daunting, but I'm looking forward to this test. There will be long stretches and sleepless nights but I'm bound to meet some other like minded people and see some beautiful scenery along the way, so that will make it worthwhile I'm sure.
Anyways, I'm drained so I might go out and grab a pineapple shake and a swim on the rooftop pool, then off to bed. I'll update from Chiang Mai in a few days. Until then, have happy New Years everybody!
Tomorrow will be a long day. Before I check out at 11:45 I want to visit the Sleeping Buddha temple located just south of this road. After that, back across the city with my bags to the sterile Vietnamese embassy for my visa, ready around 3 they said. Then, kill 4 hours before catching a bus to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand at 8:30 PM. I tried booking a train today on my way back but everything is full so I'll be sleeping on the bus and arriving in CM at 6 in the morning December 31st. The idea is to spend New Years plus a day or two there before taking a bus to the Thai-Laos border where I board a 2 day slowboat ride on the Mekong River to Luang Prabang in Laos. If all goes well, I hope to make it to the wonderful communist sanctuary of Vietnam by January 8th or 9th. I have no idea how this will ride out but it'll be the most adventurous and gruelling part of the trip. I will have an opportunity in Chiang Mai to update with more details. When I get to Vietnam, I'm taking the Reunification Express from Hanoi to Saigon with stops along the way. After Saigon it's off to Phnom Penh and Siem Riep/Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia before winding up in Bangkok again. That is my general itinerary for the next month and quite frankly it's rather daunting, but I'm looking forward to this test. There will be long stretches and sleepless nights but I'm bound to meet some other like minded people and see some beautiful scenery along the way, so that will make it worthwhile I'm sure.
Anyways, I'm drained so I might go out and grab a pineapple shake and a swim on the rooftop pool, then off to bed. I'll update from Chiang Mai in a few days. Until then, have happy New Years everybody!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
One night in Bangkok makes the hard man humble
Remember that old Murray Head song? Up to this point that song has solely defined the extent of my orientalized perception of Bangkok. Ong Bak was a pretty decent martial arts film too. If you haven't heard the song or seen the film, don't worry, I'm trying to say that I know absolutely nothing about Bangkok. I'm on the island of Samui for the night and going there tomorrow. Anyways, this one will have to be short and sweet. I've got a lot to organize because I leave around 6 AM tomorrow.
Christmas is over now but I wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday and new years! Phangan island was an extraordinary experience and I simply didn't have the time to update these messages. When I get settled in Bangkok I will describe some of the highlights of the week there and some destinations yet to come. Gotta run for now, bye everyone!
Love Paul
Christmas is over now but I wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday and new years! Phangan island was an extraordinary experience and I simply didn't have the time to update these messages. When I get settled in Bangkok I will describe some of the highlights of the week there and some destinations yet to come. Gotta run for now, bye everyone!
Love Paul
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