2002-07-27 Bangkok again

Well, I guess the last message wasn't too clear. The internet was expensive there, so I was too brief. I got a 3 day pass to the temples at Angkor and bicycled to them 2 days and rented a motorbike the last day. The temples are rather spectacular, and cover vast amounts of territory. Some still have jungle trees growing out of them, but most have been cleared and renovated to some extent or are in the process of renovation. I liked the Bayon particularly with its huge faces on towers all over. I didn't like the rules requiring an expensive pass that had to be used on consecutive days. Especially when I was somewhat sick for some of the time. (Intestinal distress combined with dehydration and overheating I think). The last day I left in the rain about 5:30 and missed a beautiful rainbow just at sunset. Oh well. In fact it poured on me every day for at least a little bit.

Now I am in Bangkok, The trip from Siem Reap to BKK was a pain. they said be ready at 6:30, but I wasn't picked up 'til after 7, then we didn't leave town 'til about 8:30 with every seat full of people or luggage or both and 2 extra people standing in the doorway (one of whom kept stepping on my toes). It was a long bumpy dusty ride with no a/c (so open dusty windows). At first you sweat, then the dust sticks to it, and soon you are somewhat muddy). Then after waiting ages in the slow line at the border, finally we got wedged into a minibus for the trip to BKK. At least the roads were smooth and the a/c sort of worked.

I shall head down to Krabi tonight to spend some more time there climbing and not moving constantly. Hopefully it is low enough season for cheap rooms yet with enough people to find partners.

2002-07-27 Bangkok

I am in BKK again for a day. then back down to Krabi to climb for a bit and rest my butt from travelling. It is frustrating to keep moving so that you never really figure out what is the cheap local produce and that sort of thing. Still, lots of cool stuff to see. The Angkor temples were very impressive, but expensive too, and my insides weren't happy with me some of the time I was there. It looks like the end of rambutan season here. I don't know what is next. I want to get a little hot pot and try to at least cook my own noodles and maybe rice when I am in Krabi. It would save me from having to buy guest house food all the time.

2002-07-25 Templed out in Cambodia

Still alive in Cambodia. I am templed out though. they have 20$/day or 3 days for 40$, so I did the latter. Of course I got sick. oh well. Lots of cool carvings and temples and some cool trees growing on them and big faces and stuff. Today I slept in and walked about and am e-mailing, but it is expensive, so it will be brief. I have seen some cool herps. Frogs, snakes and lizards here. Maybe to Bangkok tomorrow. I tried to get to work offline and then log in briefly, but they didn't understand. I am approaching my 10 minutes.

2002-07-20 Phnom Penh

I am in Phnom Penh right now. e-mail is rather expensive here compared to Vietnam. oh well, actually everything but my dive room seems to be more expensive here. P P is dirty. lots of mud and trash everywhere. Lots of streets look like dirt roads, but then you see a patch of pavement. Considering what this place has been through though... went to S-21 torture museum yesterday and the killing fields today. What a screwed up "revolution". Actually not too much to see at the latter. Sort of weird with the sound of kids playing in a daycare or school drifting over. They are showing "the killing fields" at a guesthouse tonight, so I shall eat dinner there and watch it. Tomorrow to Siem Riep via butt breaking bus (much cheaper though than the boat, and faster than the train which in the 30's took 5 hours, but now takes over 15). In general the roads are atrocious here, but a lot seem to be under construction, so in a few years it may be better.

Today I bought some old coins at a market. I am not sure if they are genuine (well, some are I think), but they have heaps of old silver dollars that just don't look right (and they are only 2 different years). So I stayed away from them.

The border crossing from Vietnam was uneventful. Wait a while to get the passport stamped in VN, walk across the no-man's land, and fill out some forms and get stamped into Cambodia. Then wait and wait for the bus. I didn't get hit up for money for the stamp, but I did see someone else slip some money over with his passport, so maybe I just didn't know, and they didn't ask me. guess that is all for now. I guess I'll check out Angkor next.

2002-07-17 Saigon II

2 days ago I went to get my Cambodian Visa. I also went to the jade pagoda (a very fancy Chinese style temple with heaps of gilt statues) and then the zoo (not too inspiring, but nice trees, and the baby monkeys could slip through the bars of their cage to explore outside). The reptiles were rather disappointing. Mostly crocodilians, lizards, and turtles. Also the history museum which had a bizarre mix of historical stuff from crude stone tools through bronze age stuff, things heisted from Angkor Wat and some Cham sites, and more recently a mummy from the early 1800s, and fancy emperor clothing and a collection of pottery. Rather random. Also a collection of Cannons.

Yesterday I went to see the tunnels at Cu Chi. Actually I think that B-52 carpet bombing finally obliterated most of these, and the ones we went into were either re-creations or just a tiny bit remaining. A bit disappointing as I wanted to get to explore multiple levels etc. etc. None of that was to be had. The movie they showed was pretty propagandic. I am not sure if they realize that saying how heroic all the women, children, and old people fighting were, and then in the next bit saying how awful the americans were for trying to kill the women, children and old people seem a bit hypocritical. (not that it was a nice thing to do...). And also lauding all the people who got "hero for killing americans" medals. Today I went to the military museum (formerly american and french war crimes museum) and the Ho chi Minh City museum. I sure don't respond well to propaganda. It just makes me cynical and want to defend the other side (at least when it is laid on this thick). Not that the Americans were being particularly nice at the time. But the majority of the anti war protests were to get the US to stop, not in support of the "valiant freedom fighters" who seemed busy committing thier own atrocities. They sure took a dim view of the "valiant freedom fighters" (my words) after 1975. They also seemed to have a hard time making the US weapons out to be terrible (admittedly some were, and spraying chemicals wasn't too nice), and then turning around and describing the NVA weapons and the captured US weapons as wonderful tools for freedom. The most powerful part was a collection of photographs from photographers who had died during the war. Mostly correspondents from the west and North Vietnamese. Sort of gimmicky to only have photographers who died, but it allowed them to use pictures from the "last roll of film" and that sort of stuff. Definitely some interesting stories there, and it seemed that it was put together to travel in the west (possibly by western folks), so the propaganda mostly wasn't too thick.

The HCMC museum was a little less thick. It was in a fancy old French building (built to be a museum). A couple was busy taking wedding photos on the grand staircase, out front with an old car, etc. etc. This had a little bit on geology, prehistory, and history of the city, as well as lots of stuff from various cadres meeting places etc. (like the desk used to write various pro commie propaganda). Also a lot of cool pictures from around the turn of the last century. Also I looked at Notre Dame, the fancy old post office, an plenty of other stuff. The city definitely has a bit more of a modern feel, with lots of high rises, more motorised traffic (but some traffic lights too), and less ornamentation on a lot of the hastily built buildings (more like Bangkok in that respect than Hanoi).

Every afternoon or evening we have gotten some monsoonal rain. Tomorrow I head to Cambodia. I don't know what the e-mail situation there is.

2002-07-14 Dalat and Saigon

I took a bus to Dalat. It seems that Dalat is in a very picturesque area, but the town itself didn't impress, and unlike Sapa, there were not great views down every street and from every window that was a few floors up. There was a little eiffel tower though. On the way we passed through some land that could easily have been northern Mexico. Lots of dust and prickly pears and little earthen houses. the people would have to lose the pointy hats to fit in though.

The most interesting thing in Dalat was the "crazy woman house" this woman is an architect and is building a bunch of cool organic looking buildings with staircases and walkways around them. They look vaguely like some sort of alice in wonderland baobab trees turned into houses. I liked it. Also a cool 3d bird cage and some animal shapes too. It appeared to be made out of cement on rebar and metal mesh.

I also went to the market where I got a heap of fruit and ice cream for 3000 VND. I pretty much indicated I wanted one of what they had. I liked it all except for the avocado which seemed a bit odd with ice cream. I also had some very gelatinous masses (they were some sort of rice thing?) that looked like jellyfish from a stall. I talked to one woman who said she did laundry for servicemen during the war. She said that she was from a hill tribe, and the police ran her off during the day from the market in Dalat. Then I walked back to the hotel for a long hot shower (it is cool in Dalat) in my noisy hotel room.

Today I took a bus to Saigon. We passed through some decidedly jungly terrain. Lunch was a kilo of rambutans. After procuring a room I walked about eventually ending up near china town before returning to the region of the hotel. Tomorrow's mission is to go to the Cambodian consulate and see about a visa. People have tried to sell me marijuana and women a few times already on the street. So far my response has been "surely that's illegal here".

2002-07-12 Nha Trang

This is now the slowest connection I have ever had. It took well over 10 minutes to read the first e-mail.

The beach here is nice, I climbed a coconut tree and got 4. One leaked when it hit the ground. They are young, so no flesh, just water. One was good, but rather hot water as it had been in the sun. I haven't opened the other 2 yet. I finished my one book, so I need another, but the booksellers are rather overpriced and once you ask them how much they never leave you alone, so I just say "no" to them. Maybe I can trade with another traveler.

I am heading to Dalat tomorrow. Should be cooler up there. Then maybe a day there and on to Saigon to get my Cambodia Visa and then check out the Cu Chi tunnels and some museums before quitting the country.

2002-07-11 Another lazy day

Today was another lazy day, but I feel much better too, so that is nice. I can even breathe through my nose right now and my tonsils seem to be back to their original size and location. I am not coughing up as many throat oysters either. I feel like I am gaining weight too, although maybe just fat. I don't get a lot of excercise, and the food often is rather fried. Maybe I need another run down to Railey beach in Thailand for climbing.

Hrmm. I discovered the 5000 VND yogurt sundae (frozen yogurt, peanuts and chocolate sauce.) Pretty good. Also another lunch of avocado and baguettes this time with lime also. Still pretty hot. I have yet to rent a bicycle here with a comfortable seat. Maybe someday... Heading to Nha Trang this evening (night bus). I hope I get a comfy seat and can sleep. I guess that is the news. Also discovered you can get the 1.5 liter water bottles for 4000 VND (they often ask 10000 and the most egregious was a restaurant that asked $1.50 US. blarg.)

2002-07-10 Cheap avocados

Since Hue I have been sharing a room with Glenn, a Brit living in Australia sometimes. Daniel went to China. Today was a semi lazy day involving buying avocados 5,000 VND/Kilo! and some baguettes and Bicycling to the beach where I mostly read under a palm tree. Unfortunately the coconuts had all been plucked. Swimming in the ocean really set the phlegm to motion. Yowza. Tomorrow I am taking a night bus to Nha trang. Then on to Saigon? I am not sure.

2002-07-09 My Son

Today I tok a tour bus to My Son. This is an area where there were fancy temples from the kingdom of Champa from the 4th through 13th centuries. The first 4 they built in wood though. Then they graduated to brick and stone. Once they also featured gold and silver linings and stuff like that which is not surprisingly long gone. These got pretty heavily bombed in the most recent war here by the USA, including landing sappers from helicopters to take out the biggest temple. A shame. But the VC were probably using them also. I imagine there are pictures from French archaeologists from before the war, but maybe they looked too run down to properly fit the propaganda... There were a few prominent craters, but I only saw 3 so maybe they just are a few left for effect? The temples were pretty run down, and bricks just aren't as impressive as carved stone to me, so it was a bit underwhelming. But there were some cool carved things, and it was in a really nice setting, so not a total waste either. Then back to Hoi An to try out more Cau Lau. A local specialty with thick noodles (the water must come from a well in town) and pork and rice croutons and veggies. I liked the one I had yesterday better, but the one this evening was pretty good too (all different restaurants). This is a nice quiet town, but with some aggressive shop keepers and boat tour operators. There are also some neat old wooden buildings with a heavy chinese influence.

2002-07-08 Hoi An

Well, I am not entirely not sick. Phlegm production is high. I am in Hoi An. Nice little town with lots of old wooden buildings and covered japanese bridge. Heading to the Kingdom of Champa Ruins tomorrow (at My Son).

2002-07-06 Lousy day

Yesterday wasn't a good day. It started out with a lousy nights not sleep. It was so hot the fan just stirred the air. I tried to get them to turn on the a/c, but to no avail (they later claimed it was on but I didn't turn it on on the inside). this may be so, but I am doubtful, and she certainly didn't make any effort when I pointed at the machine. Then I went on a trip to the perfume pagoda. I let the guest house owner badger me into the "small group" tour which she claimed was much nicer. It was 3 of us, so traveling in the minibus was maybe nicer, but otherwise I was disappointed. Every segment of the trip seemed to be accompanied by a 5-10 minute wait while we were harrangued by people trying to sell stuff. Then the boat ride was sort of uncomfortable (I think that is par for the course). It was a beastly hot and humid day, and I think that the guide opted to not hike up to the "most beautiful cave in vietnam" with a temple in it, and instead we did a shorter hike to a less spectacular temple in a cave. I might be wrong on this, but we definitely didn't do a 2 hour strenuous hike requiring good walking shoes. The food was good though. Then we were supposed to go to a silk factory and get a tour of the stages, instead we got there after the factory was closed (by 30 minutes, how could we have even been close to getting a tour, especially if we actually did a 2 hour strenuous hike). oh well. Then he wanted to take us to some silk shops, which none of us were interested in the least. so we walked a bit and looked at some clackity weaving machines through windows. It looked very industrial revolutionish with the long line of wooden punchcard templates controlling which strings got lifted... cool to see. Then back to Hanoi. Also I lost my hat, I think I left it on a bench during one of the 10 minute waits for the bus. Then I had to pay a heap of money to the guesthouse, and my money supply seemed to be depleted. (I seem to be down about half a million dong (33us$) I guess someone cleverly pilfered it, or I cleverly misplaced it or overpaid somehow.) nevertheless frustrating. Then on to a bus to Hue. I slept almost as well as I had the night before (lousy). They stopped every 3 hours for about 40 minutes just to insure you couldn't really sleep Also the air conditioning was blasting, so it was downright chilly. I didn't want to wear all of my pillow, so I was a bit chilly. Oh well. Today I walked around Hue. Bought a not nearly as nice hat. Saw a war propaganda museum. didn't go into the old citadel because I balked at the much higher price for foreigners. At least in America we usually pretend that everyone is equal. Someone else pointed out that it seems like an admission of inferiority to have to charge foreigners 10X the rate for tickets to things. (Although I guess in Maine and some counties parks run by those administrations are free for residents and not free for everyone else). Still it is frustrating. The sun seems really hot here, but at least there seems to be a bit of a breeze much of the time. Maybe tomorrow I'll rent a bicycle or motorbike and tool about to the emperors' tombs. I am also hoping for a decent bit of sleep for a change.

2002-07-04 Back in Hanoi

Back in Hanoi, it is hot here. E-mail prices have increased 33% in my absence. oh well.

Last Sunday I went to Lau Cai via train. Jodi felt sick in the morning when we got up and so she didn't want to sit in a train all day. This is the slow train to China, except we got off at Lau Cai without crossing the border. 350 Km or so in about 9.5 hours. No speed records there. I think it is desperately cheap for the locals, and us rich foreigners get charged 10X the local rate or so. Lots of rice paddies and a big red muddy river on the way up.

Then we (Daniel and I) took a minibus to Sapa. We wanted to get there by 6 to see the world cup. We just barely made it despite some roadwork and a lot of rain. But the world cup wasn't on because the power was out (no satellite TV?) There was electricity in most hotels though. Eventually we got to see most of the second 1/2. I guess we didn't miss too much. At 1900 M or so elevation it was much cooler at night. AHHH.

The next morning I got up early to walk about. I also was leaving notes for Jodi at the place she said to meet (that didn't exist anymore) and the place it had sort of moved to....

The market was colorful with lots of Hmong and Red Dzao (as far as I could tell). The people here were really into the hard sell. This would sometimes involve draping stuff on you and so on. Not to my liking. In fact it made me drop the "NO Never" walls. The little kids could be the worst claiming you promised to buy from them... But the scenery was spectacular. Very steep hills up to mid 3000 M's very green. With lots of crops including rice terraces down in the valley and forests at the top. In the morning we walked around the park above Sapa. Lots of cool marble rocks (looked like limestone unless it was broken). Also flower gardens and vistas.

In the afternoon we just walked down a road for a few KM. One annoying thing here was there were roadblocks to charge foreigners money (only 5,000VND - about 33 cents, but still annoying to have to pay as everyone else walks and rides by).

Then in the evening I went to look for Jodi. It turns out she felt worse and didn't come up.

The next day we rented motorbikes and tooled about the roads. Lots of nice vistas. One road was really rough though. We were both glad they were rental bikes. Then on to a village where we had to pay to keep them from harming our bikes (I can't imagine anyone else who would have done anything at their village). Then more hard sell... I did buy a bag there. I like the rice paddy terrace landscape though. Lots of nice shades of green.

I was hoping to take a night train back to Hanoi that night, but it didn't work out, so I took a train the next day. I ended up in nicotine class much to my dismay.

This afternoon Jodi flew down to Saigon (Ho Chih Minh City). to go stay at a beach and do nothing for a while. I'll head to the perfume pagoda tomorrow and then take a bus Southwards. First stop Hue.

The cinnamon and ginger (2 different flavors) ice cream is very good. It is hot and humid here too, and I imagine it will only get worse as I head south.

2002-06-28 Hanoi Hilton and Ho Chih Minh

Yesterday we went to see the prisoner of war museum on Hoa Loa street. This is where the French and Japanese kept uppity locals and also where the North Vietnamese kept captured pilots. The French don't seem to have a very good record for prisons in their colonies. Interesting to see the propaganda though. Then we went to see the Ho Chih Minh (HCM) museum but it was closed, so we went to the temple of learning or something like that. It was pretty cool with lots of carved turtles holding up the graduate rosters for a few hundred years starting in 14 something. Also a really cool old pagodaesque wooden building.

This morning we went to see uncle HO. Along with a few thousand others. We had to check our bags and then stand in line where we inched forward and merged with another line going through the metal detectors. Then we went into the airconditioned mausoleum where he was lying in state. rather yellow waxy looking and a bit creepy vampirey. Quite an end for someone who asked to be cremated. Then on to his stilt house which looked like a very nice place to live and to the HCM museum which had some very odd symbolism and glossed over HCM's trips to Europe. Lots of propaganda I am sure, but not a lot of english either. Next we are going to look into taking a train to Sapa in the hill country up north.

2002-06-27 Halong Bay

The trip to Halong bay went well. There was a good group of people, and most everything went well. The only significant downside was rather poor sleeping, especially the first night because the cabin was super hot, and they were running the generator to keep things cool. (I couldn't figure out the logic of that). well, it turns out all the other cabins had fans, except for ours which was closest to the generator, so I tried to sleep on deck. Hard with full moon, partial clouds, some wind, and a bit or rain (that I didn't notice). The kayaking was pretty cool, lots of nifty islands and some cool caves. Good food (often seafood). Swimming and boating with phosphorescence at night...

Now we are back in Hanoi trying to plan the next event. Tapas for dinner last night, beef noodle soup for breakfast (Pho bo).

2002-06-24 Hanoi II

I think it is about the full moon. That means it is no longer bad luck to eat dog (while the moon is waning it is ok). Vinh said snake is better than chicken and dog is better than snake... I saw a carcass in the market today, it looked like a little pig (no head or hair) with a long tail.

Tomorrow early (5 am) we are going to Halong bay. That should be an excellent trip. probably not cold, so not more than an adventure. We will sleep on a boat and sea kayak about. Vinh hooked us up (still rather dear, but should be an excellent trip). So patronize Handspan travels all you tourists.

Today we wandered around a lot of markets and shops. Jodi was looking (unsuccesfully) for a long sleeved jacket sort of thing. It is really funny to read the butchered English on the tags. One had "size: Color: and plice:" on the tag. Unfortunately the price is rarely listed, so that it is hard to just see if something is a really good value, and asking often starts off a bargaining session, often way more than you are interested in. I did manage to get a chopping knife (for coconuts) for 17000 VND down from the original asking price of 40,000 the next stall down. Is that a good deal? who knows, but it works for me.

2002-06-24 Hanoi I

Internet access is pretty cheap here, only 3000 vnd / hour. (or 1/2 hour). so about 20 cents.

Let me paint a little picture of where I am now. I am sitting at a computer with a rather slow connection, but not awful. I am in the basement of the guesthouse. It is a restaurant/bar. It used to have a high ceiling, but they took out the floor and dropped it into the crawlspace (I am guessing), and added a 1/2 floor in for a lot of it. just behind my right shoulder the 1/2 floor is cut out and there is a fountain spraying water onto a bas relief sculpure of a tiger in an archway with alternating colored lights shining on it. To my far right at the end of the room is a big projection TV showing a couple ballroom dancing and tangoing with Karaoke lyrics at the bottom. This goes along with the music which is Muzaky schmalzy tunes from the 70's (the sort we used to have to sing in chorus sometimes). out on the street to the left there is a continuous stream of 2 wheeled vehicles and pedestrians although the "music" is too loud to hear the horns usually. Every once in a while a kid stops behind me and reads the screen over my shoulder, or at least looks at it and determines it is English...

Yesterday we moved out of Bangkok and took a taxi to the airport. Then we checked in and waited ages. oh well. They said come 2 hours early. The flight to Hanoi was relatively uneventful. Air France, so things were in Thai and french and maybe vietnamese and occasionally english too. Once we landed we began waiting in lines. Actually they weren't all that slow. But the money changing line was really slow. Oh well. I guess that is what happens when everyone is becoming a millionaire. (1470000 Dong (VND) per 100 $US). Not the greatest exchange rate there though, but saturday afternoon there was a chance everything would be closed until monday morning.

Then we teamed up with another traveler for a taxi into town. Reasuring to drive on the rt side of the road again, but not so good to see a truck flipped off the causeway road and having trucks, motorbikes and cars sort of milling about the lanes and honking seemingly at will.

The old town in Hanoi is much more interesting architecturally than Bangkok. Nearly every building looks different, often with interesting balconies and decorative moldings. There are also lots of trees which makes things look nice. There are relatively few cars and trucks and heaps of motorbikes and scooters and bicycles and pedestrians. I mean heaps. It makes crossing the street rather nerve wracking. The best strategy seems to be to just slowly advance every gap and then let people pass on either side of you. Sort of like frogger except they go around you. We ended up with an A/C room as it was only a dollar more and much larger and cooler and quieter. No window though. It did make for my best nights sleep in a while.

We strolled around the lake of the returned sword and ate dinner at a cafe/restaurant showing turkey beat senegal much to Jodi's dissapointment.

This morning we went to a cafe overlooking the lake for morning coffee then back to the guesthouse for our complimentary breakfast that was rather weak, I had an egg and a baguette that had recently been microwaved and was really chewy. Oh well. Then we walked to a travel guide place (Handspan travel) that was run by Vinh, who had visited a place Jodi once worked in Nepal and knew a bunch of the workers from there (although never met Jodi in Nepal). He wasn't there (he was at the other office), but on the telephone we planned to meet at 3. Then we rented bicycles and tooled over to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Museum. They were just closing (at 11 am). oh well. On to the cultural anthropology museum 6 km out from there, and off my map (and we couldn't find it on Jodi's map). Oh well. we tooled about for a while in the general direction and then asked some people who either had no clue or couldn't understand what we were asking. We looked at a map at a bus stop and Jodi spotted the street it was on (which was on her map, but we didn't notice it). By then the rather lame seat on my bicycle was starting to take it's toll on my backside. The museum had a lot of interesting artifacts and info on various different ethnic and language groups. The videos and sound recordings were often pretty worn though. Lots of clothing and musical instruments. We went through that and then biked back to meet Vinh. We talked a bunch, a lot about people they knew in common that I didn't. Then we (all 3) jumped on his Minsk motorcycle and went off to a bar for fresh beer (well, I didn't have much, it tasted like beer). The peanuts were good though. Vinh spoke excellent English and helped us pronounce a bunch of Vietnamese and answered some cultural questions and mentioned some food we should try while here. Then back to our bicycles. 3 on a motorcycle might seem like a lot, but I have seen 4 adults a bunch, and even saw 5, althoug h 2 were kids. One thing that does make things seem a bit safer is that the traffic tends to move only slightly faster than a one speed bicycle. Maybe 15 mph or so. It is probably more hazardous when it thins a bit and the speed can pick up a bit. Or else when there are intersections with no controls. Then all bets are off. This evening we may try to go to the water puppet theater.

Some other things I have noticed. The street sellers here are amazingly persistent. If you express any interest (for example asking how much they want for something), they will follow you for blocks. I don't know how good their English is, they certainly speak it fairly well, but when I say that they are not willing to sell it at a price I am willing to buy, they just continue to keep trying. (I offered 45000 for a guidebook ($3). he wanted at least 145000, although he first said 300000 I think. The books look new, but I think they might be photocopies or at least seconds. (one had one of the ink colors offset).They are all wrapped in plastic so you can't just look inside.

They also want to sell packs of postcards. I was trying to buy just one postcard, but it didn't work out. I think I'll just find a store eventually that has them, but they don't seem to have a lot of department or grocery stores that list prices (there were a few in Bangkok). Usually there is something that is a lot cheaper in each area, but without listing prices I don't know what that is, and I don't feel like just asking what the prices are for everything. who knows, maybe Lychees are in season and much cheaper than anything else. (like in Bangkok, rambutans were as cheap as 6 Baht/ Kilo - about 15 cents/Kg)

At least I can read the street signs. That helps because they seem to wind all over, and they change names every few blocks too. Also the sun passes nearly directly overhead to confuse navigating around noon.

2002-06-20 Funky Fruit

Jodi hurt her knee playing soccer last week so is somewhat hobbled. We go to Vietnam (Hanoi) tomorrow as long as the visas and tickets work out.

Yesterday for breakfast I went out and bought a pile of funky fruit. There were Lychees and some jack fruit and heaps of stuff I don't know what it was. The coolest looking was snakeskin fruit? Larak or something like that. It really had little scales all over it. inside it was somewhat citrussy tasting around a big seed. Also some little ping pong ball things, mangosteens? something like a big smooth orange, but sort of orange skin fading to custardy texture inside. I didn't get rambutans which I had already eaten. Also there was a pink one with white flesh and little black seeds. (and the only one that was rather flavorless and blah).

Then I went to Wat Arun and Wat Pho and walked through chinatown and to Siam square where I met up with Jodi and we saw "Bad Company" which opened yesterday in Thailand, but the posters said it opened the 21st. It wasn't great, but it was entertaining, and not 100% shoot em up which we feared. I wanted to see Star Wars II, but we couldn' find a theater showing it. The theatre was pretty plush, and only 100Baht for a night show ($2.50).

2002-06-18 Back in Bangkok

I got to Bangkok sometime around sunrise this morning. So the city was sort of waking up. I wandered about a bunch of markets in the morning through 1300. It feels much later though. They have all sorts of interesting things for sale. from live eels to all sorts of animal parts and spices and fruits and vegetables. I also wandered down a street of curbside car repair and a block of plumbing shops. I have tried the lychees and rambutans but haven't braved the durian or jack fruit yet. I don't really like the whole bargaining thing though, and when I am not sure what stuff normally costs anyway or what the signs say (usually), it makes things tough. I usually go for the things that at least have the price in arabic numerals, and then ask if it is for a kilo or whatever. Some stuff is really cheap (6 Baht a kilo for rambutans, (about 15 cents)). They sell all s orts of stuff in plastic bags. Things like cooking oil, fruit shakes (mighty good), and sticky rice. The traffic is rather loud and smelly, but the more interesting markets seem to be away from the streets down little alleys or in squares.

Bangkok feels positively arid compared to the jungle. When I opened up my pack this morning all my clothes felt like they had been dipped in water and wrung out. I soaked my quickdraws in a bucket of water to try to desalinate them and hung my clothes up to dry out (which they seem to have done).

I have talked with some Thai people. One thing that is frustrating is that it seems that about 1/2 of the people you talk to want to sell something or take you somewhere or work you in some way, and the other half are just being nice and want to talk. The problem is how to identify and brush off the first 1/2 without losing the second. I haven't figured that out yet. One interesting character was a temple manager who pointed out a mummified woman who people came to pray to? or in some other way try to get insight into lottery ticket numbers. (I was wondering what all the papers people were selling were, they were lottery tickets). He also explaied about some of the kings and the story behind the pictures on some of the money. The people seem to respect the royal family a lot.

Back to the climbing. For those that have been there or maybe have seen pictures of the climbs, some of the ones I did were Circus Oz (7a multipitch) on the Thaiwand wall. Cockroach ? 2 pitch on the melting wall. Humanality on Tonsai, A bunch of short climbs on Tonsai and Dums kitchen areas, also some at 1 2 3 and Muay Thai walls... I managed to onsight and lead up to 7a, but the 7b climbs I tried shut me down. I need more power and endurance for the steep stuff there.

2002-06-16 Back in Krabi

I am heading towards Bangkok now, but won't get there 'til tomorrow. I climbed a lot the last few weeks, although I would have climbed more had I always had someone to climb with. I think I'll get a hefty knife before I go back so that I can open coconuts more easily. I met up with heaps of people (well, maybe not heaps, but a bunch at least). It is frustrating not being able to cook for myself, but I found a guy selling wrapped up noodles and yellow rice for lunch, so that at least eliminated one restaurant stop. Not that the food is so expensive, but compared to cooking yourself... also the portions are somewhat smaller than I am used to. I think I have been getting by on around 5$ a day while at Railey (really at Hat Tonsai, one beach down). The Monkeys have been howling in the mornings. It really sounds good and jungley. I did a number of multi-pitch climbs which are pretty cool and get you up to some great views. One started with climbing a banyan tree. One disadvantage of multipitch climbs is that you often climb 2 pitches in a row, seconding one and then leading the next. This means that you get hot and sweaty following, and then when you lead you get completely drenched to the point of dripping. It is really really humid. Things that were hanging in my room got mildewy. Somewhat expected with leather shoes, but not for a nylon duffel bag hanging on the wall. The only way to stop it seems to be to hang stuff in the sun or to wash them every few days (and hang them in the sun or directly in front of a fan to dry). sort of a pain when the fan is only on at night. I also discovered it is easiest to wash my shirt in the morning and then put it on wet rather than try to dry it out sometimes.

They have been showing 2 world cup matches a day at most of the bars and restaurants. So often I see the second 1/2 of one at dinner. Some pretty good play. The games are on at a reasonable hour on this side of the world too. The Thais seem to really like watching - and betting- on the games.

The sea water here seems extra salty, and it is warm too. You don't get cold in it at all. Unfortunately the visibility was only a meter or so. I think it improves if you go out further. So I didn't try to rent a mask and do any snorkeling. I'll try to write more tomorrow in BKK where the internet should be cheaper than here.

2002-06-07 at Railey

Quick impressions: the rock is reminiscent of Reimer's ranch in Texas, but much more and taller, and also often off of a beach. The jungle is jungly. It would be fun to collect for the conservatory here. I have seen 2 types of monkeys, a small monitor lizard trying to eat a crab, various fish and birds and sea life. I need a machete for the coconuts which are all over. I found a pretty cheap dive bungalow. The electricity (fan) is only on at night, and the water sometimes gives out in the afternoon (a pain if you are set to come home to a shower). The mosquitos can be ferocious. The weather is mostly hot and muggy with some sun and some rain every day. It can really throw a good downpour here. Soaked to the skin in seconds. About the same volume as standing in a shower. hrmm. some good food, I wish there was more markets sort of stuff here so I could buy fruits reasonably though. this place is pretty touristy. There is a huge building boom getting ready for next winter's "high" season I suppose. Well, the computer is expensive, so I am still alive and doing fine. I shall at least write again by the 18th when I go to Bangkok...

2002-05-30 Arrival in Bangkok

Got to BKK at about 1:30 am. I teamed up with 3 guys from Utah for a taxi minibus to the Koh San road area, then stopped for drinks with a group there, (coconut shake for me) then on to cram into a cheapo room for a few hours. This morning I got up at 7 local time. A quick cold shower and out and about. lots of stalls and shops. That's all for now. Today I tourist. Maybe tomorrow take a night train South. It is definitely not the USA.