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The Beauty of Bangkok

October 9th, 2008

I only had a half day yesterday in my favorite city, Bangkok, but I made the most of it.  I was headed to Wat Arun which is a really stunning temple on the “other side” of the river.  I have looked across the river at this temple numerous times and now I was determined to get there.  Boarding the ultra-modern sky train to take me to the river’s edge, I thought it fitting that it would take me backwards in time.  The train was full of people headed to work although by time the train gets to the river it is almost empty having emptied most of the cargo a couple of stops before.  As I left the train, I was swimming upstream against the surge of people coming from the river taxi boats who were headed to the train for the center of the work district.  Busy Bangkok, but I knew I was headed for tranquility.

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One More Time

October 9th, 2008

I’m writing from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  My life has become quite a bit more complicated since leaving Thailand in July, but it will take a bit to explain.  I just left Bangkok – still LOVE that city! – headed for Vietnam to start a kayak trip with Explorer’s Corner on Oct 22.  That trip will take us around Halong Bay and then through Laos and Cambodia on the Mekong River ending in Siem Reap for Ankor Wat.  Bangkok was quite shocking having just come from Nairobi.  I had a smile pasted on my face just traveling from the airport due to the wide highway, flying at 120 kph and no potholes.  I’ll need to backup a bit and explain Nairobi in order for you to truly grasp this one.  And to think that Nairobi is a high-flying modern location in Africa!

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21st Century Sista

August 7th, 2008

I typed this one out three weeks ago and just as I was saving on the website, all crashed and I lost it.  That caused me to lose interest in blogging when I was focused on having fun with Pamela.  Besides, this whole story could not be told three weeks ago since Pamela’s run-in with the 21st Century had just begun.  Maybe it could have been told then, but surely I really had not thought things all the way through at that time.  Some of this may be repeat – I am not sure what I wrote in early July and I’m too lazy to go read it (I rarely read a post – quite sure I will be embarrassed about something… maybe everything!).  I’ll go with the idea that the crash and lack of saves were for a good reason and this is the upside result…

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Back in Africa

July 31st, 2008

Well the lack of stories of late is only an indicaton of how much fun we were having in Thailand.  I have lots to say, but no time right now.  Arrived back to Nairobi safely this week.  A little culture shock and shock in general going from the most modern place I have visited (Bangkok) to Nairobi, but all is well.  Indonesia is my next adventure ending with kayak trip in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.  Should get started in late September or so.  USA visa process for Pamela now started.  First adventure was the online form which led to a first interview date not until September 15th.  Yikes!  Especially since it takes forty days to process.  Disappointing, but I knew this dealing with Big Bro would be a test of patience.. something I lack. 

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Burma Bound

July 13th, 2008

We just spent three days in the Kanchanaburi area of Thailand – west of Bangkok.  It was nice to get out and see some 0f the Thai countryside, but it was hard to leave Bangkok which I now consider the best city of my life and one that would be difficult to beat on just every level.  Kanchanaburi is most famous for being the place where an infamous bridge spanning the River Kwai was destroyed.  The story that it has now built a tourism trade is one where the Japanese military constructed a railroad from Burma to Bangkok in order to move supplies to its most far-flung reaches during WWII.  Kanchanaburi is much more than a military story, though.

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Dog Days

July 5th, 2008

When we were in southern Vietnam I made a comment that I was glad to see so many dogs thinking this means the residents must not eat them.  As far as the stories that I knew, people reported not seeing any dogs in places where they are eaten.  Rod said that is not true because some have to be the breeders.  I definitely tried to ignore the issue and we saw no evidence of any dog for food culture.  I lulled myself into believing that Vietnam is not like China and Korea as far as Fido roasts go.  Apparently, northern Vietnam is where the action is at and it did not take us long to stumble over plenty of evidence of what I believe is quite a barbaric and disgusting practice.

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Monkey Balmed

July 2nd, 2008

Rod and I flew north from Hue to Hanoi.  Hanoi is quite different from Saigon as is north Vietnam compared to the south.  Hanoi is a smaller city with very few tall buildings and it has an older feel about it due to the architecture and lack of modernity.  Oddly, we are finding that north Vietnam has many hip coffee cafes, but there is no such creativity for the food establishments.  Of course, it similarly has the million plus motorbikes racing everywhere and basically everything spoken and written is in Vietnamese.  There is a central lake and it appears the same motorbikes go around it non-stop – Vietnam’s Le Mans!  As with Saigon, there is basically no street parking in Hanoi so that every inch of the roads can be used for traffic.  “Sidewalks” is a joke because the sidewalks are used as parking lots for the motorbikes and many businesses flow out of their buildings and onto the sidewalks for display, seating and cooking areas.  The next morning we took a car and a hydrofoil to Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay to try and find one of the rarest primates in the world – the Cat Ba Langur.

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Yakety-Yack There’s a Macaque

June 28th, 2008

On Thursday, we left Saigon and flew to Hue.  Hue looks like a great place beauty and culture-wise, but we were headed for monkeys and we’re not looking for them in cages.  After we struck out in numerous ways for the first inning, Rod and I had our hopes up for a better experience and Phuong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.  This is a park with ten different primate species living in a limestone karst landscape that is full of jagged forest covered peaks, extensive caves and springs.  One thing I always read about Vietnam is that it is a beautiful country and this beauty is truly exceptional at Phong Nha.

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Disappearing Wildlife

June 24th, 2008

I guess I should first explain why I am in Vietnam.  This isn’t my normal visit to see the people and the sights/sites.  I am here with my friend, Rod, from South Africa who has a bird and primate safari business.  This is different than the other trips with Rod, though, because we are on what Rod calls a “recky” which means we are in Vietnam to do some reconnaissance for possible future business for Rod involving primate safaris.  I came along because Rod offered to have me along and I like traveling with Rod and the idea of finding the unknown in Vietnam was appealing.  The deal is that I pay my costs and understand that we may not find anything other than adventure.

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It’s Just a Name

June 23rd, 2008

I am currently in Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam – a city of only 300,000 people and no real purpose for tourists.  Except for a couple of guys looking for some interesting monkeys come tomorrow at 4:30 AM.  I really do not like the name Ho Chi Minh City.  Reminds me of Leningrad or maybe Havana will be called Castroville in the future.  But that is the official name of the old Saigon.  Or is it?  I started to notice the locals calling it Saigon and I asked about it.  They tell me that the north renamed it HCM, but they are in the north and the locals never changed it as far as they are concerned.  Did the people of St Petersburg still use that name?  I would not be surprised if that is true.  So forget anything I said about HCM, I have never heard of such a place.  I crossed the Mekong Delta by air and landed at Saigon.  Unfortunately, the taint of communism cannot be wiped clean so quickly.  Here I am in a bustling country of 90 million free-marketeers, but there are plenty signs of red such as hammer and sickles, old Soviet tanks in the middle of roundabouts and people’s party headquarters.  That red shit just doen’t fade fast enough.  Some memories of Cuba today, but they pass quickly as I watch really busy and smiling people selling anything they can and buzzing around on their motorbikes.  Supposedly 9 million people in Saigon and 2 million motorbikes – WOW!

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