Siem Reap

One of my favorite cities on my last trip was Siem Reap, Cambodia and that is why I am back here. What makes Siem Reap famous is the Angkor Wat temple complex which originated in 802 AD and was the seat of power for the area until 1431 when Thailand conquered the area. Interestingly, this was long before Christopher Columbus was even born. Visiting the ruins is a tiring and expensive adventure, so I may not go this time, having visited earlier this year. Instead, I plan to sample as many of the delicious and cheap restaurants and laze by the river which runs through the center of town. I also plan to take a cooking class while I am here. My hotel is comfy, central, air con, with a balcony overlooking the river and is only $10 per night. I may never leave.

Two Classics

This being the last day before my 14 day Thailand visa expires I decided to revisit the classic Oriental Hotel and from there take the public ferry up the Chao Praya River to see the city from water level. Classic though it is The Oriental has lost a lot of the original charm and now looks like any 5 star hotel anywhere. There is too much glass and marble and not enough teak and open windows which is what the Oriental was when I first saw it years ago. Well, that was classic number one.



The other classic was an encounter on the street not far from the Oriental. In case you are unaware Bangkok is no city for prudes. To put it politely working girls of all sorts are abundant. Today I was amused to hear the old classic, "Me love you long time," but with a twist. This poor unlovely girl offered to love me long time for 20 baht. That is less than one dollar and although it was a bargain, I decided I would rather have an ice coffee. I am sure I made the right decision.



I leave by mini van for Siem Reap tomorrow morning. My pickup is 7 AM and arrival at the border is around 11 AM. I expect to be in Siem Reap mid afternoon.

Final Day in Surin

I was taking a nap in my hotel Sunday afternoon after the elephant show and I was wakened by the trumpeting. I looked out of my hotel window at the plaza in front of the train station and I saw this wonderful scene.

A lady prepares to launch an offering to her ancestors.

This is a paper lantern that is also used in the loy ka tong celebration and it is amazingly simple and beautiful.

I spent my final day in Surin attending the aforementioned festival in the morning and the evening at another celebration called loy ka tang. For loy ka tang the Buddhists light candles and float them down the river or set off burning paper lanterns which ascend like a hot air balloon. This is done to honor ancestors and I would have made my offering had I not suspected that my father would probably not think it such a good idea to participate. Those of you who are reading this and who knew Jimmie Hanahan well will agree, no doubt. It was a beautiful event with candles floating on the water and burning lanterns rising from the shore.

I am now in Pattaya, Thailand for a little beach time. This is where I went to the hospital for a hip injury on my last trip. I was happy to walk past Pattaya Memorial Hospital earlier today and not have to stay there. I have only a 14 day visa for Thailand this time which means I have to leave here by next Monday. I will go to Bangkok in a couple of days and from there I plan to head over to Cambodia.

A Really Big Show

Classical Thai Dancing

They are just so cute and lovable.

This morning I went to the elephant round up which was the culmination of the weekend. What a show it was including a grand procession, classical Thai dancing, amazing elephant stunts and a reenactment of a 16th century battle between Thailand and Burma. The show was definitely one of the highlights of my trip and well worth the effort of getting here to Surin.

Elephants Elephants Elephants

Teacher and class who interviewed me. What is your name? Where are you from? Do you like Thailand? Do you like Thai food? etc. What a great learning experience this teacher devised!

Crossing the finish line with my bag of rice

Procession of elephants

Here come the elephants!

I have never seen so many elephants, more than 300 they say. They are all sizes from really cute looking babies to enormous powerhouses. It is really thrilling to be so close but a bit frightening too. I did see a minor incident when an elephant got irked with a handler and grabbed the handler with his trunk and threw him to the ground, but there seemed to be no harm done. There are warnings not to excite the elephants with flashes or surprise approaches. I am careful and most of the time keep my distance.

Yesterday the elephant procession occurred in the morning ending with an elephant buffet. The procession was down the length of Surin's main street starting at 0800. First came a marching band and you may guess what they played. Answer is below. After a few dignitaries and beauties on floats came the 2 hour parade of elephants. Sellers hawked sugar cane to feed which the trunk would delicately take from your hand and put into the mouth. If you handed the elephant paper money he would pass it in his trunk up to the handler on his back. I had a few bananas in my backpack. After an elephant probed my pack I decided it would be best to share my bananas. Upon arrival at the end of the route there were long tables set up with sugar cane, pineapples, watermelons and other fruits and veggies which were provided by banks and other businesses and the elephants would line up at a spot and very politely and orderly eat what was in front of them. There seemed to be no aggressive or piggish behaviour.

There was a large crowd gathered at the culmination and an announcer requested that some of the farang (foreigners) come forward to participate in a relay. In the course of the morning I had met a 3 Thai friends who encouraged me to participate so I went forward. The first contest was to swing a gourd between your legs attached to a string to knock a lime past the first goal. Easy once I got the rhythm. Next You had to eat a plate full of fruit, banana, watermelon, etc. Again, not so hard. Then came the balloon blow. You had to blow until the balloon popped and that was HARD. Lastly, was the rice tote in which I had to carry a burlap sack of rice across the finish line. I came in 3rd and won a tee shirt. Hooray! Actually it was a lot of fun and later in the day I was in the market and several food vendors recognized me from the contest. My 15 minutes?

Answer: The band played Henry Mancini's "Baby Elephant Walk" which I think I last heard in 1965. How incongruous can you get?

Back in Business

I have been moving about a good bit lately en route to my present location of Surin, Thailand. I left Vientiane by bus Monday morning and arrives at the surprisingly pleasant town of Udon in north east Thailand a few hours later. What was most interesting about that leg of the trip was crossing the border from Laos to Thailand. In Laos traffic drives on the right as we do. In Thailand traffic is on the left, so there was a criss-cross intersection where vehicles from the south (Thailand) would cross in front of the traffic departing Laos. It was almost like a vehicle ballet and reminded me of an ad that Mazda used to have on television with all the cars doing graceful interweaving maneuvers.

When I got off the bus in Udon I really was unprepared and not even clear as to where I was going, so I took a room near the bus station for the night. That way I could investigate possibilities to go to Surin. While exploring the town I ran across a beautiful air con mall so I spent a good bit of time there . I found a new camera to replace the one I don't like so much. On the top floor of the mall was a Sizzler and I enjoyed a delicious American style meal of meat, a baked potato (first baked potato in months and was it ever so good!) and a fantastic salad from the salad bar.

The following morning I took a 0630 bus on the first of a 2 bus journey to get me to Surin and arrived here mid afternoon. Surin is a quiet provincial capital in eastern Thailand except for the one weekend of the annual elephant roundup. Since guidebooks warned of limited hotels during this time and since I was unable to book a reservation online I got here early and now am happily located in my second hotel here after moving from a lovely but remote guesthouse to a centrally located hotel. There were several elephants roaming the streets last night and this morning was supposed to have been a procession of elephants, but it never seemed to happen. English speakers are not so common here and it is difficult to get info sometimes.

Backtracking a little, I foolishly opened an email from DHL yesterday and infected my computer with a virus. I left my laptop in the shop overnight and now all is well, so I am always happier when I can send and receive messages. Be warned so this does not happen to you.

I think I should return to the street to see what is happening. I would not want to miss any of the festivities. More about the roundup later.

Football ot Tennis

I have been in Laos for a few days now. Being here is such a change from Viet Nam. Here the pace is slower and less aggressive and the traffic calmer and quieter. If Viet Nam is a football game, then Laos is a tennis match. I was interested to learn that the hotel where I am staying in Vientiane was the principle hotel during the war days for journalists and spies. I can envision the likes of James Bond or a young Walter Cronkite roaming the hall outside my door.

One of my reasons for being in Vientiane is that this week is the celebration of the 450 year anniversary of Vientiane asd the capitol. While the festivites begin tomorrow the big events are not until next weekend and that is when I plan to be in Surin, Thailand for the elephant roundup. I am conflicted over which to choose.

Yesterday I visited the the fantasy like Buddha park. Here there are hundreds of Buddha and other related stautes in a pastoral setting alongside the Mekong River. Since the park is almosty an hour taxi out of the city few tourists make the long trek but it was a most worthwhile afternoon for me. Beside I had a delicious ice coffee in the parks' cafe.

Good Morning, Viet Nam

Today is my last in this wonderful country which I have come to love so much as did Robin Williams character in the film "Good Morning, Vietnam". I arrived here six weeks ago and in that time I have experienced frenetic cities with chaotic and cacaphonous traffic, tranquil countryside with beautiful natural scenery and stimulating beaches, some deserted as far as one can see and others complete with vendors selling sunglasses, beer and tee shirts. I have become a devotee of Vietnamese cuisine: who knew soup (pho) would become one of my favorite breakfasts? The Vietnamese people are some of the kindest, friendliest and most welcoming I have ever met.

I am now in my hotel in Hanoi where I am happy to have reliable internet once again. I returned by sleeper bus from the far north of Viet Nam to Hanoi a couple of days ago. Thinking that I had learned enough about sleeper buses I carefully planned my return booking early and confirming the seat I thought would be best only to arrive at the bus terminal and learn that the scheduled bus was delayed and I would be on a different bus. In the airline business we called this a COE - Change of Equuipment. This was none too comfy either so my track record for sleeper buses is not so good.


In my last hours here in Ha Noi I will revisit the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh which was closed for restoration a few weeks ago. There is an office of American Airlines here and I will go there to buy some onward tickets. I plan to lunch at what has become my fav restaurant in Ha Noi where a delicious prix fixe lunch is about $2.50.

At 5 PM today I will depart for a long journey to Vientiane, Laos. Once again I am traveling by sleeper bus. The schedule is to arrive at the Viet Nam-Lao border at 5 AM. There I will obtain my VOA (visa on arrival) and then continue onward to Vientiane arriving mid afternoon. A friend from my previous trip to Vientiane has reserved a room for me at oone of my favorite hotels from my previous visit to Lao. So now I am out of the hotel for a final few hours in Ha Noi. My next report most likely will be from the PDRL-Pdeople's Democratic Republic of Lao.

The Fantasy Forest

Still enjoying being here in Sapa I went trekking again yesterday to see more minority villages but what was most wonderful about yesterday's excursion was the fantastic forest on the mountains between villages. There was a phantasmagorical element and I half expected to see dwarfs, nymphs, fairies and other elusive creatures darting through the lush dense bamboo stands. I feel like there is some benign magical quality about this place.

A few times since I have been in Asia someone has rubbed my tummy and said "Happy Buddha." I have been on some pretty strenuous hikes and I hope not to be called "Happy Buddha" again.

Last night's love market for which Sapa is known was really nothing special so I went with a friend to the happening-est place we could find which was a disco/karaoke bar. Almost all of the music was Vietnamese but once in a while the DJ would play an English song and the banner on the karaoke screen proclaimed "Ameri-Sing". It still seems odd to me that this country was our enemy so recently. As far as I can tell all has been forgiven.

High in the Mountains

This was the vantage point near the beginning of the 12 km hike to villages surrounding Sapa.
Fellow trekkers---Ed, Phu from Viet Nam, Bernard from Australia, Natalie from San Diego (one of the few Americans I have met) and Laura from Spain

Where the going got rough for these old bones.

Like the Hotel California "what a lovely place" is Sapa. From almost any viewpoint in the town which is situated atop a medium size mountain there are soaring peaks or sweeping valleys. From here you can see southeast Asia's answer to Mount Everest which is called Mount Fanispan.

Yesterday I joined and organized trekking expedition which was a hike of about 12 km down the valley, alongside the waterway and back up, during which we visited villages of 2 different minorities as the indigenous people are called. We saw the black Hmoung (so called because they wear all black heavily embroidered with colored thread and adorned with silver) and the red Tzai (red head scarves). The agent booking my tour advised it was of medium difficulty and I was confident that I was in shape for it. Well, the other 5 people on the tour were in their 20's and 30's and it was definitely a challenge to keep up. I did pretty well however I struggled as we hiked a narrow path between the terrace of rice fields and the beautiful crystalline stream which waters the paddies. By the end of the hike my shoes were pretty muddy so I left them with one of the many services here which clean and dry shoes overnight. I am pleased they look like new now.

I have another self guided hike planned for today which sounds pretty steep and I will take 2 preparatory Alleve. Going up while more difficult is easier than descending which can be pretty painful in these old knees. The views are supposed to be spectacular.

The day time temperatures are very pleasant and the nights are chilly. As tonight is my last night I hope not to buy any more warm clothes since I do not expect to need them in other places on this trip, however Saturday nights in Sapa are famous for the "love market" where locals come to court villagers from all around. I doubt that I will fall in love and I hope I resist the temptation to add more to my travel wardrobe.

There's Cold in Them There Hills

What a difference a day makes. I left Cat Ba Island at 9AM yesterday and after a series of 5 buses, a ferry and a taxi I got to the destination in Hanoi where I was to pick up my bus ticket onward to Sapa. By the time I got to Hanoi I was pretty disgusted with the arrangements made by my travel agent/hotel receptionist in Cat Ba so I prepared myself for the worst as I journeyed onward. Well, the bus ride to Sapa was so-so, fairly comfortable, not crowded and on schedule. The bus was arranged with 2 reclining side by side seats which were about 5 feet long. Another 12 inches certainly would have made for a far more relaxing ride.

What was most impressive about the trip was the change in climate from Ha Noi which is flat and hot to Sapa which was quite chilly and mountainous. Looking across the valleys around this village brings to mind the opening scene of "The Sound of Music" with all the steeples replaced by pagodas. It is delightful here now that the sun is fully operational, however I may have to visit the market tonight to buy something warmer than a windbreaker.

Cat Ba Island

I just happened to take this picture in Cat Ba because it was just outside my balcony although it could be anywhere in Viet Nam. There are hundreds of electrical and telephone wires strung like this. Must be a repairman's nightmare. On the beach in Cat Ba

Cruising to Cat Ba Island

I am now on Cat Ba island off the coast of Ha Long and Hai Phong sitting in the cafe where I had my breakfast using their internet. My breakfast was pretty ordinary, a cheese omelet, baguette ,coffee and a mango shake. Oh how I missed those delicious fresh fruit shakes after my last trip and how I am enjoying them again. It is difficult to decide whether to have mango, pineapple, banana or watermelon, but mango is probably my fav. I am taking a reprieve from the noodle soup (pho)breakfast which the locals eat.

Traveling here by junk was a little reminiscent of cruising in the islands in the Aegean Sea. The scenery is spectacular and there are island mountains every where. Yesterday I went on an excursion to a beach out of town and the view from afar looking back at Cat Ba town also looked like a Mediterranean island. There are spectacular limestone caves here, the most famous the largest in Asia. Unfortunately my camera could not begin to capture what I saw so you will just have to believe me that it was unforgettable. Stalagmites and stalactites on other formations created natural sculptures of animals and humans if you used your imagination.

Tomorrow I will be picked up at my hotel at 9 AM for a bus-ferry-bus trip to Hanoi where I will have another sleeper bus to the very north of Viet Nam, Sapa. It seems the information about this leg of the journey keeps being modified and I am not 100% confident that I have the correct information from the travel agent who booked it. According to my Vietnamese friend the people in the north are notorious for answering your questions "yes" if that is the answer you want. "Yes" does not necessarily mean it is so.