Wanderlust Heaven!

Sorry that this is a bit late – have been kept more than busy in San Francisco by my buddy’s wedding and my major domo role in that.  Let’s back up a bit and get back to sunny days along the Mekong River and inland Cambodia, when I was far less frantic and completely in the business of seeing the world…

As mentioned in my previous posting, Phnom Penh had a lot more going for it than I ever imagined.  The Khmer Rouge were kicked out almost 30 years ago, so the city’s had a chance to rebuild.  But the civil war really didn’t conclude till 1998 or so – when Pol Pot died – so you could say that Cambodia and Phnom Penh weren’t in the clear till then. 

I think that one of the drivers of PP’s revitalization has been the presence of NGO staff.  I say that with some hesitation, having seen first-hand how UN and other foreign personnel can do as much harm as good with their bumbling interventions.  For a real screed on this line of thinking, pick up a copy of Paul Theroux’s Dark Star Safari – it’s a great read regardless.  My point is that the presence of foreigners has created a semi-cosmopolitan scene in PP, one that’s still more muted than what you see in Bangkok, for instance, where entire sections of the city seem to be foreigner ghettos, no Thais in sight.  PP seems to have a pretty good mix of peoples right now and you can find what you’re looking for…unless you’re some sort of deviant.  Then again, that’s probably no bar either.

I promised you a few photos of Phnom Penh, here they are:

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek Killing Fields – torture room, monument with thousands of skulls, graphic signs in Killing Fields, bits of clothing and bones from murdered victims, nearby smiling children – quite a contrast vs. the deathly feeling of the place:

Royal Palace/Grounds:

Main/Central Market – apparently one of the world’s largest ‘ziggurats’:

Train Station/Boulevard:

Vietnamese-Cambodian Friendship Memorial – the locals actually can’t stand the Vietnamese, but the governments are friendly…

After PP I moved on to Siem Reap and the Angkor Wat area.  The bus ride there was perfectly comfortable – 5 or so hours, air-con bliss, bus not overflowing with passengers.  Was met at the depot in Siem Reap by a driver from my guesthouse and whisked right there.  I stayed at the Two Dragons guesthouse, the owner of which writes the renowned Tales of Asia blog/website and is a font of knowledge for Cambodia/SE Asia.  This fellow, Gordon, was unfortunately away when I was in Siem Reap, but I still enjoyed his establishment. 

Had planned on 3 days of sight-seeing at the numerous Angkor temples nearby.  Needed a bit of exercise – have gotten a little soft lately.  Decided to rent a bike for day 1 and see how that went.  In the morning, it was all good.  Biked up to Angkor Wat, that was about 6 km from town.  I’d been there once, briefly, years ago, but was still spellbound by the sight of this place, the world’s largest religious edifice (I’m not including the Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Arkansas).  Walked around the grounds for 45 minutes or so – that was plenty.  I must admit to struggling in my efforts to ddescribe and rate a place like Angkor Wat – it’s certainly spectacular and iconic…but I’ve had the fortune to also visit places like the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and a few other global hotspots, and I can’t truly say that Angkor Wat is any more impressive than those.  This may be a case of comparing apples and oranges…or perhaps I shouldn’t bother with this superficial sort of thinking and should simply appreciate each site for what it is.  I certainly think it would be next to impossible to put up something like Angkor Wat today – even in a low-cost labor place like Cambodia.  Here’s a shot of Angkor Wat, with more to follow later in this posting:

Got back on the bike – not a very good model, unfortunately, and biked around the rest of the ‘Mini Circuit.’  Angkor Thom was next up – by now it was close to noontime and getting very hot.  Stopped for some fresh pineapple – the vendors were quite energetic and it was all I could do to evade them during the course of the day.  Angkor Thom is spread out – the most impressive aspect is a temple called the Bayon, which has hundreds of gargoyle heads and is a bizarre jumble of stone and carvings.  A few shots for your perusal:

Spent a few more hours biking around the Mini Circuit.  I won’t get into all the temples and details here, I’m feeling lazy and there’s just so much out there that I’d counsel you to check it out online or in a guidebook.  Some people spend years hanging around the temples and I could see why.

The vendor community comprises loads of kids who evidently support their families.  The kids are relentless, but cute – and they’ve all memorized the capitals of major countries and some US states.  When you walk by they ask you your country, rattle off the capital, then act like you owe them a purchase to restore global equilibrium.  I forced a few to dig deep and come up with some obscure capitals (Madagascar – Antananarivo), some of which were understandably beyond them.  Not many visitors from Madagascar…

The bike…it had seemed a good idea at the time, but by 2 p.m. or so I was dragging.  The seat was rock-hard…the gears didn’t work well and I was either in low gear, pedaling like mad to get a little bit of speed, or in a high gear and struggling to get my feet around.  And it was damn hot.  I must have bought 15 half-liters of water from vendors, at a buck a pop.  It would have been cheaper to hire a tuk-tuk for the entire day at that price.  I originally intended to bike the route for the exercise and also the freedom of being solo, with no driver hanging around or shunting me over to his cousin’s noodle shop.  But as the hours and kilometers accumulated, I realized that my 40-year-old body was reaching its limits and that day 2 would feature me in the backseat of a tuk-tuk, seeing the temples just like the old geezers I mocked on day 1.  So it goes…

Managed to get back to the guesthouse, after having contemplated loading the bike in the back of a tuk-tuk at Angkor Wat.  Dropped off the bike and found a driver for the next morning.    

Reflected on the day of temple-touring.  It was more than obvious that having Angkor Wat et al is a massive boon for Cambodia.  Not many tourists would bother to visit the country if it weren’t there…you’d just have a few grubby backpackers looking for powerful dope and hanging around the wats.  Between the tuk-tuk drivers, the bartenders, guesthouse employees, etc. Cambodia is likely to do pretty well and continue growing and putting the horror years in its rearview mirror.  Might be an argument in favor of large-scale capital projects, a la the Parisian monuments from the Mitterand years.  Sure, they cost a ton of money that might be put to better short-term use…but hey, one day Paris might be a ruin like Angkor Wat and people still living in ‘France’ or whatever the area might be called can guide visitors around the remains of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, etc.  If it were up to Hitler, those Paris tours would be going on right about now…

Next morning got up and did the ‘Grand Circuit’ with my tuk-tuk driver Set.  He was a good guy – from Siem Reap, knowledgeable about the temples and stories.  Spent the entire day going around temples like Preah Khan, walking up the steep steps and checking out the carvings, many of which were intricate and reminiscent of those I’ve seen in Indian and Nepalese temples.  And I have to say that I was in much better shape at the end of the day as a result of hiring the tuk-tuk.  I was still tired, but neither sore nor spent. 

Recalled a morning many years ago when I got up at our house in Framingham, went downstairs, and got the Boston Globe newspaper from the front porch.  The headline that morning – I think it was December 26, 1979 – was around the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, an excursion which soon ousted the Khmer Rouge.  I had just started reading the newspaper, the reason being that it was Larry Bird’s first year with the Boston Celtics basketball club and I was already a huge fan.  So each morning I’d look to see how the team, and Larry, did, and for some reason that front-page headline stuck with me.  It’s possible that it’s a ‘recovered memory,’ i.e. conjured up and not real.  But I think it’s accurate.  I didn’t think much of it at the time…I would have been 12 years old and not that politically aware.  But perhaps it remained in the back of my mind and was waiting all the while for me to visit the scene and call it forth to be probed.

Didn’t do much that night – walked around ‘Pub Street’ in Siem Reap, ate some Khmer food (rather tasty), had a couple of beers.  Wanted to see Angkor Wat at sunrise the next day, which required a 4:30 a.m. wakeup.  Ugh.  Decided to do it, so turned in early.

Set was waiting for me outside at 4:30.  Well, he was waiting in his tuk-tuk, asleep in the back.  I got him up and off we went.  I was just about the first person to get there, but the sun didn’t really come up till around 5:30 a.m. and by that point there were scores of tourists.  Thankfully it was low season, otherwise there would have been hundreds.  Got some nice shots and here’s a few to show you how it was:

We then moved on to a couple other temples that are relatively far away – Banteay Srey and Banteay Samrey, both of which are nice to stroll around.  We wound things up with a visit to the Landmine Museum, run by a Cambodian fellow named Aki Ra who was a child soldier in the civil war and layed quite a few mines.  Now he spends his time removing them.  God’s work, to be sure. 

Made a donation and we then sped home.  Reached the guesthouse by 10 a.m.  Had had more than enough of the temples – ‘temple fatigue’ had set in.  As I entered the guesthouse, it started to pour, and I tramped upstairs to my room to take a nice long nap, with the raging storm serving as a pleasant backdrop of sound…

Went back to Pub Street that night.  Spent a fair bit of time catching up on emails – am getting so many these days.  Needed to start getting my act together for the wedding in San Francisco – my name was attached to a slew of preparatory duties.  After being a self-centered bum for so many months, I’d soon need to put on a tux and act respectable (and responsible).  Hmmmm……..

Was still a bit weary, so started heading back.  At the end of Pub Street a group of local guys was milling around.  One of them was showing them something metallic – as I walked by I saw that it was a fairly large revolver.  Right – this was still Cambodia.  I kept my head down and kept walking, and was soon out of there. 

Next morning had to again get up at an awful hour, as I wanted to take a boat to Battambang, Cambodia’s second-largest city.  I had heard that the PP-Siem Reap boat was a rip-off – US$25 and 6-7 hours of travel, vs. US$5 and 5 hours for the bus.  I had opted for the latter…but I generally like boat travel and wanted to see the Tonle Lake, which is apparently Asia’s largest freshwater body of water.  So I signed up for the boat ride to Battambang, having heard that it was pretty good and not that long of a trip. 

Tonle Lake was cool – lots of little villages on stilts out over the lake, reminded me of Inle Lake in Burma.  There was a floating Christian church, a pharmacy, restaurants, etc.  But for all that, the boat ride wasn’t great.  For one, because it was still early in the rainy season, with the riverways quite low, the ride took 7-8 hours – whereas when there’s more water, it can take only 3-4.  The last 3-4 hours were brutal – hot as hell, and we got stuck many times on the Sangker River, which runs to and through Battambang.  Seems the river weeds get stuck on the propeller, and sometimes the boat’s hull gets stuck in the mud, so the crew is busy and there’s not much forward progress.  I was sitting with some fun people, including the vivacious Sarah from Toronto – but was still fried by the time we got there.

It’s funny…just the day before I was celebrating the relative lack of rain.  My plans hadn’t gone off-course due to the weather – always a danger in rainy season.  But the boat ride to Battambang would have been far more enjoyable if the river was higher.  You’ve gotta look at all sides of the situation before coming to a final verdict, methinks…

Battambang proved to be a pleasant city.  Very sleepy…classic old French buildings along the river and in town.  I think that 90% of the boat passengers checked into the same hotel, the Hotel Chhaya, which advertises heavily and has a van waiting for the boat to arrive.  The hotel was perfectly fine – clean, aircon, even a couple bars of soap. And, importantly, I was able to score a seat in a shared taxi the next morning to the Thai border – I needed to return to Bangkok the next day, as the following day I was flying to San Francisco.  Are you still with me?

My head was killing me when I reached the hotel.  I dumped my bags, went to get a bowl of noodle curry with some new acquaintances, then walked around for a half hour.  Then I started to truly feel the pain from the boat trip and took a delicious 2-hour nap in my room.  One of the very best naps I’ve ever had…I could have gone for another 5 hours, but wanted to see a bit more of the town before departing.

Cleared up a few emails, and renewed my travel insurance policy.  Pretty good deal – US$226 for 6 months.  Walked over to a restaurant/cooking school called, naturally, Smokin’ Pot.  Sat next to a couple Danes who were on my boat earlier.  They work for the Danish government, and are 30/40-somethings like myself.  We joked about the propensity of some Asians to think that all white people look the same – white people, of course, are always mixing up Asian faces and claiming ‘they all look alike.’ 

Visited the Riverside Bar for a couple beers.  It was pretty dead (it was a Sunday night), and the bugs were driving me mad.  Got out of there and walked back to the hotel.  Battambang is so mellow and modest that you can see the stars in the sky at night, it’s like being in the middle of nowhere.  Kind of liked that.

Returned to my aircon room for some more sleep.  Before turning in, read a local magazine – there was a very funny article about ‘Hebonics,’ a form of English used by older Jewish people which involves a high quotient of complaining and looking at the dark side of things.  A true speaker of Hebonics might reply to the question ‘How are you?’ with ‘What, with this foot of mine?’  Or, if someone mentions that it’s a nice sunny day, the typical Hebonics reply might be, ‘Yeah, it’s nice, if you want to get melanoma.’  Not the sort of article you expect to find in a Cambodian publication.  I saved it, let me know if you want to read it.

In Cambodia one of the typical greetings translates to ‘have you eaten rice today?’  I might just start using that wherever I go…

Got up early, again, next morning to head to Bangkok.  I’d miss Cambodia, her sights and people.  Had a grand 10 days in the country and will try to get back there again soon. 

The share taxi works like this:  there are 6 seats, including the driver’s, so 5 passengers pay to squeeze in there.  Most of the taxis are Toyota Camrys – not your typical 6-personal machine.  Back seat passengers pay US$5-6, the solo front passenger pays US$10-12.  I got the front seat and was thrilled about it – the 4 people in back were locals and displayed little sign of being tortured by their predicament, but must have been in some discomfort.  My large frame back there would have meant sorrow for all.  So I sat up front and watched the countryside go by for a couple hours. 

After the fork at Sisophon, the previously good road deterioriated rapidly.  Rumor has it that an airline has actively impeded the scoring/paving of this road so that air travel remains the favored approach.  I tend to believe that rumor…in any event I’d like to know who’s responsible, because the road is a bloody disgrace and I felt like vomiting at periodic intervals until the border.  I doubt it’s to impede Thai Army tanks from coming over the border – the Thai generals are too busy making money from illegal logging, poaching, gem trading, etc.  Oh yeah – and mucking up the country’s politics.

Got to the Thai border at Poipet town.  A real dump – a few casinos for weekend Thai gamblers, that was about it.  Spent my remaining real on gum and water.  At the Cambodia Emigration/exit line I noticed that they were using Logitech webcameras to take photos.  I thought that was sort of interesting…

Walked over to Thailand, cleared Immigration and found a tuk-tuk to take me to Arantha Prathet bus station for the ride to Bangkok.  That all went well and the ride was relaxing and without any drama.  We rode by a serious car accident – one car had its entire front shorn off, the other vehicle was over in a ditch and there looked to be some major injuries.  Didn’t linger, so can’t say for sure. 

Got to Bangkok, took a taxi over to friend Bob’s place in Soi Rang Nam.  I had a room there that night.  Bob was waiting for me outside, felt like I was returning to a home of sorts.  He let me into his room, where I had left some things, and then we parted for a few hours.  I wanted to rotate my stuff and do a few things online.

That took longer than expected…but I managed to head over to the nearby park at 6 p.m. for a run.  Lots of locals were there too, there was an aerobics class of sorts being run and people were blowing off some steam.  I did a few laps, sweating like a water buffalo, and then went back to the apartment to cool off, shower, and find Bob and his new-ish friend Kate.

We had drinks and dinner across the street at the excellent Water Bar.  Then Bob brought us over to the Banyan Tree Hotel, which has a superb roofdeck bar high up, I think it’s the 65^th floor or thereabouts.  Very classy place – got some red wine and cocktails and stayed up there taking photos and shooting the breeze for a couple hours.  A waiter took this photo of the 3 of us:

Had to get up very early, yet again – 4^th day in a row – to fly to the States.  Went back to the apartment and tried to sleep for 3 hours.  It began to rain as soon as I lay down – I found that comforting, as I like the background noise as I sleep, and also because I hadn’t gotten caught in the downpour and felt lucky.  Soon feel asleep, having set both alarms and left the blinds open to let in the early morning sun.

Got up, took a cab to Suvarnabhumi Airport.  Didn’t see my flight on the screen – because there were so many code-shares associated with it that it took a minute for my ANA listing to appear.  Then I saw it, and checked in.  Was feeling very groggy and wasn’t happy that this was to be an economy class flight for me, spoiled brat that I’ve become…

Changed my opinion of this new airport – it’s rather nice.  Lots of coffee shops, and you can get a good croissant, a hearty breakfast, whatever liquor suits you, etc.  But I recalled the hellish line when I had flown in from Tokyo, so will reserve further judgment until I return in a couple weeks.

Began reading a book called Another Quiet American on the flight, which was going to Narita Airport in Japan, where I’d transfer to a flight to San Francisco.  This book was written by an American who went to work in Vietiane, Laos back in 1999.  It covers his often bizarre experiences there working for the national Tourism Authority.  I’ll be in Laos from August 9^th-24^th or so, and was happy to get some insights into that low-key and mellow place.  Managed to finish the book before I reached SF, and gave it to my friend Curtis there.  Highly recommended.

Had to change plans/flights in Tokyo.  We landed 30 minutes late…and unbeknownst to me, United had moved up my 2^nd flight 15 minutes.  Had to run at a good clip to make the gate…made it, but worried that my bag didn’t.  There were about 50 minutes between the flights, that’s about the minimum the companies say they need to move bags.  But I didn’t get too anxious about it, and just relaxed en route to SF.

The fellow sitting next to me on the Tokyo-SF flight was a weird little troglodyte.  He’d come up with non-sequiturs every hour or so – ‘Were you surprised by the flavor that sake has?’ and other comments out of the blue.  He finally fell asleep…but later awoke and needed to get out and go to the toilet every hour.  I was in the aisle seat and was repeatedly tortured by him.  Oh well.

Landed in SF.  Well-organized airport.  Got my rental car, drove up to my friend Curtis’s house in Corte Madera, over the Golden Gate bridge (covered in fog, of course) north of the city.  Curtis and I (and Curtis’s wife Pam) met in the NYC Hash House Harriers back in 1996 or so.  They moved to SF not long after that, and I went to their wedding in Laguna Beach, near LA, about 8 years ago.  We’ve stayed in touch and that’s been great – Curtis is a funny guy and probably one of the very best writers I know.  I save his emails as they all have a touch of mad genius to them.

Curtis has a very sweet work gig – he’s a senior editor on the regulatory side for an investment bank, and works from noon-8 or 9 p.m. from home, checking reports.  He was home when I got there – had a beer and caught up for a while.  Then I had to head out and commence a lengthy series of wedding-related activities for buddy Seung’s nuptials.

I’ve known Seung since 1993 – we also met in NYC, courtesy of my b-school friend Ray, who would also be attending the wedding.  I was a groomsman at this wedding, so was deputized to help Seung with about a zillion chores.  First, we set off to San Rafael to get fitted for our tuxes.  No problems there – and it turned out that the clerk was from my hometown of Framingham, Mass.  That was odd.

Dropped Seung off at his house, and headed back to Curtis’s.  Saw an enormous REI outlet nearby – went in for an hour to stock up on traveling goodies.  My Tevas, for example, well, they’re probably hazmat by now.  So got a new pair, as well as a slew of other things.  Checked off that box on my to-do list…

Curtis and I devoured a large pizza, then went over to Mill Valley to the Sweetwater Bar to see a local band called, randomly enough, Smoklahoma.  Highly entertaining, especially after we had a few drinks and prepared our minds to be opened.  The lead singer was channeling the twin spirits of Jerry Garcia and Bob Dylan.  Much better performance than I expected.  Of course, the $12 cover charge meant the bar was set pretty high…

Next day, a few of the wedding participants went to Richardson’s Bay for a couple hours of sea kayaking.  That was good fun – an excellent way to see part of the harbour and the wild-looking pontoon houses built around it.  Our guide was an ex-hippie and kept us entertained with stories about the local residents.  One fellow invented the retractable seatbelt, made a fortune, then squandered it building a house on a hill near Tiburon that started sliding into the sea during a small quake.  Here we are in our 2-man kayaks:

That night, we had Seung’s bachelor party.  Dinner at Three Seasons in the city – very nice Vietnamese food.  I was given ordering responsibilities and that came off fine.  Bar-hopped a bit, then took the gang over to New Century for the requisite gentlemen’s club experience.  And dafagdasgdsv dfhgeargtaEA 3aq5V3Q         V3 52……………

Had to pick up our tuxes the next day, Thursday.   Some final alterations were needed – that was torture.  We were there for 90 minutes.  Then I raced into the city to have lunch in Noe Valley with an old friend, James, from Monitor.  He and his family/in-laws have started a Chinese-language education company and I’m considering investing in it. 

Drove back up north.  Got my stuff from Curtis’s, then checked into the Mill Valley Inn.  Nice little place, in the center of Mill Valley.  Ran into b-school friend Ed at reception.  Chatted a while.  Then had to get ready for the wedding rehearsal session nearby.  That walk-through went fine.  Dinner was afterward, with about 50 people joining us at a local Italian restaurant.  Saw b-school friend Ray there, it was like a mini Darden reunion.  Stayed up fairly late trading stories and jokes with them.  I’d like for our class to have a good showing at next year’s 15^th Darden reunion.

The wedding was on Friday afternoon.  Spent the morning having coffee with friends, then did a few things online/phone.  Paid a Dept. of Motor Vehicles fee for my upcoming motorcycle class in Boston.  Called American Airlines and tried, unsuccessfully, to move around some upcoming flights.  Did some emails. 

The wedding loomed.  Put on my tux – felt odd, given my recent attire of Tevas, singlets and shorts.  Walked over to the Outdoor Arts Club, the 100-year-old historic building where the wedding would be held.  Helped get things set up, and then it was time for the big event. 

The wedding itself was lovely – Seung and his bride Lisa made it highly personal, with lots of memories and vows to each other.  The personal touch ran throughout the evening – they had created a photo book with hundreds of old and recent photos of themselves, growing up and together, and it was a cool accompaniment to the ceremony and dinner afterwards.  Don’t tell anyone, but I just might have been taking a few notes…

I had a fine time hanging out with Seung, Lisa and my other friends.  Lots of crazy dancing (I danced Brick House with Lisa’s Mom – neither of us are likely to forget those 5 minutes) and wine consumption.  I felt like a cigarette and bartender Sam rolled me one – I proceeded to get woozy and a bit nauseous from the strength of the tobacco (I think) and had to sit down for 15 minutes.

Next morning there was a farewell brunch at Seung’s/Lisa’s house.  Got in my rental car to drive there, and it wouldn’t start.  Great.  Went instead with Ray and his wife Sally.  Called Avis, and they jump-started the car a couple hours later.  Cars are a real pain in the ass, but when you’re in the USA you pretty much need one…

Seung and Lisa were getting ready for their honeymoon – 3 weeks across Oz and NZ – so we took off around noon.  I felt somewhat good about myself – a couple nights beforehand, at the dinner for out-of-town guests, I had told Seung and Lisa that they needed visas to get into Oz – they weren’t aware of that.  Imagine landing in Kingsford-Smith Sydney Airport and not having a visa – ugh.  So I had alerted them to that requirement and they took care of it online.  And I won $100 from Seung – he had insisted that no visa was required, and he was wrong.  I did live in Sydney for nearly 2 years, you know…

I went with Curtis to return the groomsmens’ tuxes – my final wedding duty.  Then we ate a huge Mexican lunch and went back to his house to relax for a bit.  We had SF Giants tickets and Barry Bonds was 1 homer short of tying Hank Aaron’s alltime record of 755.  Drove to the game – the stadium is just 5 years old and quite nice, a bit like Camden Yards in Bal’mer.  Pretty good game – but Bonds did very little and wasn’t a factor.  In the bottom of the 9^th inning, the Giants were up, trailing 3-2.  A few hits and walks, and the game was tied.  Ray Durham came to the plate – with Bonds on deck.  There was only 1 out – I was praying for Durham to strike out or pop up.  But he hit a game-ending/winning shot to deep center and that was it.  It’s funny – a few weeks earlier I had asked Curtis to get the tix, on the off chance that Bonds would be in line to tie/break the record.  And I was right on with the timing, it’s just that the batter just ahead of Bonds denied me.  And, of course, Bonds didn’t come through during his 4-5 at-bats.  Oh well – it was still a fun night out.  Went over to the Deuce Bar in Mill Valley after that – had a good talk with Curtis about family life and other deep topics.  Then we grabbed a late snack at the infamous Jack-in-the-Box, and turned it.

So now we’re current.  I had breakfast with Curtis & family this morning, then got in my rental, was relieved that it started up, and drove to the SF Airport.  The SF Marathon was earlier this morning, and I had some fears that it would make traffic impassable, but no problem whatsoever.  Got to the airport, got on my flight, and that’s where I’m typing up this entry.  I hope it was worth the delay. 

I’m in the US for another 8-9 days, then back to Bangkok.  I’m there for just a night, then heading to Laos for 2 weeks with friend Harsh, formerly of Monitor.  My posts might be coming at odd intervals over the next few weeks – not too sure if I’ll bring my laptop to Laos (and onward to Vietnam), and not too sure what the Internet cafes are like there.  So bear with me and check in every few days.  Over and out.

Tags: Travel

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