Yesterday we went to the train museum and a planetarium. An indian astronaut has been in space as part of a joint USSR India mission. Though the planetarium show was an intro to our solar system 101.
Today we went to an american diner style restaurant for brunch, then walked around in a nice park, checked out a couple tea stores and are now waiting to take a taxi to the airport.
Actually I am supposed to be online to double check the flight times. I should get on that soon :)
Friday, September 19, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
typhoid or a flu
I've been sick the last couple days.
I had a fever and a cough. I looked it up in our guide book and narrowed it down to either a bit of a flu or typhoid. Probably just the flu. The lonely planet also said that 25% of visitors to India get some sort of respitory illness from their visit - so I am just that lucky.
Anyway I'm feeling much better now, though my body gave me a couple cold sores as souveniers. So thanks to that I am temporarily less good looking :)
I don't know why, but the touts in Jaipur were super aggressive. After a couple were getting a bit -lacivious- I had to become a bit -vociferous-. But it didn't count as a melt down.
But today we took a bus to Delhi and so far it has been pretty good. Broad sidewalks, grassy medians, tuktuks with meters and the tout possee here so far has been pretty laid back.
We are both pretty much "done" with India. After travelling for the last 2 and a half months, the heat and the layer of tout harrassment we get - we are out of energy to really engage or sightsee much for the last few days here. Plus it's raining.
We have met alot of great and interesting Indians while here though.
The first guy we met was Raj, an NRI (non resident indian) living out of london who gave us a free cab ride and shared with us his thoughts on India and the (communist) west bengal govt of Kolkata.
We met a few boys on our first train trip to Veranasi. There was a group of 4 of them sitting on our bunk area. One boy was moving across the country, closer to Kashmir, as his father was in the military and was being transferred. The three other boys were just hanging out to say goodbye. After they left we talked a couple times to the boy who was moving up north.
In our bunk appeared 3 coworkers who worked for the railways. One guy was a real talker and he kept talking and talking to us - you could see his co-workers feeling a bit uncomfortable. One of the co-workers also worked as a spiritual advisor to people designing their homes to maximize the energy flows by, among other things, keeping rooms aligned to magnetic north in one direction and the rotation of the earth in the other direction. The real talker didn't really buy his friends consultancy business so it ended up being a heated discussion.
Just before arriving to Veranasi the train was filled by boys on their way to school in Veranasi. There we were surrounded by about 10 boys in our area. It was cramped at first but we had some good conversations, especially with one charmer named VeeJay who said he was dating about 50% of the girls in his class.
On a trip to Abu Rd Station we met three business people (one man who owns a cotton seed oil refinery) and talked to them about indian culture (drinking vs non drinking) and religion (jainism vs hinduism) and feminism (indian vs western families).
On a bus trip to Udaipur we met the son of a brigadier doctor and had some good conversations about India vs China, nuclear power and religion (Hinduism vs Sikkism).
On the train trip to Jaipur we met a retired man, his wife and the mother in law of his son who were also travelling around India. They were from the south and they had one daughter and one son working in IT in Canada. I tried to make a joke to ask who was making the father in law's dosas while they were travelling. The answer: "the cook". Doh.
So travelling on public transit has been quite rewarding. You get time to spend with people that have at least a little in common with you (they are going the same way).
I had a fever and a cough. I looked it up in our guide book and narrowed it down to either a bit of a flu or typhoid. Probably just the flu. The lonely planet also said that 25% of visitors to India get some sort of respitory illness from their visit - so I am just that lucky.
Anyway I'm feeling much better now, though my body gave me a couple cold sores as souveniers. So thanks to that I am temporarily less good looking :)
I don't know why, but the touts in Jaipur were super aggressive. After a couple were getting a bit -lacivious- I had to become a bit -vociferous-. But it didn't count as a melt down.
But today we took a bus to Delhi and so far it has been pretty good. Broad sidewalks, grassy medians, tuktuks with meters and the tout possee here so far has been pretty laid back.
We are both pretty much "done" with India. After travelling for the last 2 and a half months, the heat and the layer of tout harrassment we get - we are out of energy to really engage or sightsee much for the last few days here. Plus it's raining.
We have met alot of great and interesting Indians while here though.
The first guy we met was Raj, an NRI (non resident indian) living out of london who gave us a free cab ride and shared with us his thoughts on India and the (communist) west bengal govt of Kolkata.
We met a few boys on our first train trip to Veranasi. There was a group of 4 of them sitting on our bunk area. One boy was moving across the country, closer to Kashmir, as his father was in the military and was being transferred. The three other boys were just hanging out to say goodbye. After they left we talked a couple times to the boy who was moving up north.
In our bunk appeared 3 coworkers who worked for the railways. One guy was a real talker and he kept talking and talking to us - you could see his co-workers feeling a bit uncomfortable. One of the co-workers also worked as a spiritual advisor to people designing their homes to maximize the energy flows by, among other things, keeping rooms aligned to magnetic north in one direction and the rotation of the earth in the other direction. The real talker didn't really buy his friends consultancy business so it ended up being a heated discussion.
Just before arriving to Veranasi the train was filled by boys on their way to school in Veranasi. There we were surrounded by about 10 boys in our area. It was cramped at first but we had some good conversations, especially with one charmer named VeeJay who said he was dating about 50% of the girls in his class.
On a trip to Abu Rd Station we met three business people (one man who owns a cotton seed oil refinery) and talked to them about indian culture (drinking vs non drinking) and religion (jainism vs hinduism) and feminism (indian vs western families).
On a bus trip to Udaipur we met the son of a brigadier doctor and had some good conversations about India vs China, nuclear power and religion (Hinduism vs Sikkism).
On the train trip to Jaipur we met a retired man, his wife and the mother in law of his son who were also travelling around India. They were from the south and they had one daughter and one son working in IT in Canada. I tried to make a joke to ask who was making the father in law's dosas while they were travelling. The answer: "the cook". Doh.
So travelling on public transit has been quite rewarding. You get time to spend with people that have at least a little in common with you (they are going the same way).
Thursday, September 11, 2008
in Bombay Today
Kim and I are now in Bombay. Bombay is the Bollywood capital of India so we had to go see a Bollywood movie.
The movie we saw was called Singh is Kinng. We really enjoyed it even though it was all in Hindi with a couple English words thrown in.
From what we could tell, a village idiot like an inspector Clouseau or a Mr Magoo accidentally becomes the gangster boss, helps out an old lady who, as it turns out happens to be the mother of a girl he fell in love with, teaches the real gangster some lessons about his friends, and they get married in the end.
The production values were really good with scenes shot in India, Egypt and Australia. Some water stunts, car chases, music choreography and a Snoop Dogg cameo were more than we expected.
Tomorrow we are heading up north to Rajasthan which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful areas in India.
The movie we saw was called Singh is Kinng. We really enjoyed it even though it was all in Hindi with a couple English words thrown in.
From what we could tell, a village idiot like an inspector Clouseau or a Mr Magoo accidentally becomes the gangster boss, helps out an old lady who, as it turns out happens to be the mother of a girl he fell in love with, teaches the real gangster some lessons about his friends, and they get married in the end.
The production values were really good with scenes shot in India, Egypt and Australia. Some water stunts, car chases, music choreography and a Snoop Dogg cameo were more than we expected.
Tomorrow we are heading up north to Rajasthan which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful areas in India.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Agra and the Taj
So we did get to Agra eventually. We had a little bump getting accommodation because the first place we went to wanted 600 rupees, which is a bit high - but they wouldn't go down any. Fortunately the place next door had equivalent rooms and offered them for 400 rupees without any negotiation required.
Sometimes we are pretty good at negotiating prices. At one place the owner jokingly waved his finger at us and said that we were not Canadian/American but Indian. Especially Kim. Kim is more Indian than me. I tend to give in earlier than she does.
After a bit of lunch we headed straight to the Taj. It's really impressive. By impressive I really mean impactful. When you first see it, it causes a bit of a emotional pause - a little wow. Then you forget about it as you get close and check it out. But then when you look back at it again, you get that same little wow.
Sometimes we are pretty good at negotiating prices. At one place the owner jokingly waved his finger at us and said that we were not Canadian/American but Indian. Especially Kim. Kim is more Indian than me. I tend to give in earlier than she does.
After a bit of lunch we headed straight to the Taj. It's really impressive. By impressive I really mean impactful. When you first see it, it causes a bit of a emotional pause - a little wow. Then you forget about it as you get close and check it out. But then when you look back at it again, you get that same little wow.
sahaja yoga
So our train wasn't actually 5 hours late. It ended up being 8.5 hours late. "That's India"
On our first day in India we met a English guy - but Indian by birth - named Raj who really liked to use the phrase "that's India" for things. For example, In Calcutta the metro line doesn't start running until 2pm. I asked him why? And his answer was "That's India". So the 8 hour late train didn't really phase anyone.
But while waiting we (mostly Kim) were approached by a religious group who had just attended a conference and offered to give Kim some Mandi/Henna tattoo. While Kim was getting a tattoo their leader explained to me their beliefs. The details are on their website at www.sahajayoga.com. The gist is that there are 7 energy centres in our body and that cosmic rays come down through these energy centres and break off in a prismatic way to charge the other centres. To reach enlightenment you need to remove the barriers to and within these energy centres. The sacrum is the most sacred of the centres and represents innocence and is/was the most pure at birth.
The cosmic rays are not necessarily cosmic rays, but because the highest known energy is cosmic, they call them cosmic rays.
It was an interesting discussion. They were going to teach us sahaja meditation if they could find a dark and quiet room but the could not. Which is ok by us anyway - I'm not the type to go or let Kim go into a dark and quiet room with strangers.
On our first day in India we met a English guy - but Indian by birth - named Raj who really liked to use the phrase "that's India" for things. For example, In Calcutta the metro line doesn't start running until 2pm. I asked him why? And his answer was "That's India". So the 8 hour late train didn't really phase anyone.
But while waiting we (mostly Kim) were approached by a religious group who had just attended a conference and offered to give Kim some Mandi/Henna tattoo. While Kim was getting a tattoo their leader explained to me their beliefs. The details are on their website at www.sahajayoga.com. The gist is that there are 7 energy centres in our body and that cosmic rays come down through these energy centres and break off in a prismatic way to charge the other centres. To reach enlightenment you need to remove the barriers to and within these energy centres. The sacrum is the most sacred of the centres and represents innocence and is/was the most pure at birth.
The cosmic rays are not necessarily cosmic rays, but because the highest known energy is cosmic, they call them cosmic rays.
It was an interesting discussion. They were going to teach us sahaja meditation if they could find a dark and quiet room but the could not. Which is ok by us anyway - I'm not the type to go or let Kim go into a dark and quiet room with strangers.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
in a dusty internet cafe
The train to Agra - where the Taj Mahal is - is 5 hours late. So Kim and I are in a tiny dusty internet cafe near the trainstation in Gorakhpur. The room is the size of a wide hallway decorated with a Hindu poster, a small Hindu shrine.
Of the Hindu characters we both like Ganesh. The one that looks like an elephant. Ganesh used to have a human head, but there was a misunderstanding: Ganesh's father went on a trip and when he got back he did not realize that the man sleeping in his wife's bed was his more grown up son, so he took his son's head off. After realizing his mistake he put the nearest head he could find back on his son's body.
But since very Hindu Vernanasi, we have been visiting Buddhist sites.
First, near Veranasi is a relaxing place called Sarnath which is where Buddha gave his first sermon. Hence they call it the "birthplace of Buddhism". There are buddhist ruins there that marked the spot. It is also a very nice place to hang out, away from the Veranasi crush.
Second, further away - a 4 hour train trip and 2 hour taxi - is Karnath which is where Buddha died. There is a stupa marking where he was cremated and a famous 'resting buddha' statue that was recovered. Also there are Thai, Cambodian, Sri Lanka, Japanese and Vietnemese temples and monasteries there.
Kim and I stayed in the Vietnemese (buddist) monastery.
This is the first time either of us has stayed in a monastery, so we weren't sure if there were any rules or expected behaviours. A monk first showed us to the Buddha shrine, we took our shoes off - but didn't do much else. He then asked if we were looking for a place to stay and we said yes. Then a guy showed us our room and said it would be 300 rupees.
Unfortunately there was a power outage which meant that we had to go to bed at 6:30pm. I slept well and had lots of crazy dreams. In the morning we were woken up around 6ish by little monk boys quietly chanting and ringing a bell while walking clockwise around a statue outside of our window.
So we've seen two of the four Buddhist pilgrimage sites: Sarnath and Karnath. The other two are: Bodhgaya which is further east and is difficult to access because of the flooding from Nepal; and Lumbini which is in Nepal.
We briefly considered going to Nepal to check out Lumbini and Kathmandu, but the timing was tight because of the time we have and because Kim's Indian visa was single entry so we would have to apply and get another one from Nepal.
But we do think we have time to go to Bombay. Which is meaningful to me because of Gonzo in the first Muppet Movie.
Of the Hindu characters we both like Ganesh. The one that looks like an elephant. Ganesh used to have a human head, but there was a misunderstanding: Ganesh's father went on a trip and when he got back he did not realize that the man sleeping in his wife's bed was his more grown up son, so he took his son's head off. After realizing his mistake he put the nearest head he could find back on his son's body.
But since very Hindu Vernanasi, we have been visiting Buddhist sites.
First, near Veranasi is a relaxing place called Sarnath which is where Buddha gave his first sermon. Hence they call it the "birthplace of Buddhism". There are buddhist ruins there that marked the spot. It is also a very nice place to hang out, away from the Veranasi crush.
Second, further away - a 4 hour train trip and 2 hour taxi - is Karnath which is where Buddha died. There is a stupa marking where he was cremated and a famous 'resting buddha' statue that was recovered. Also there are Thai, Cambodian, Sri Lanka, Japanese and Vietnemese temples and monasteries there.
Kim and I stayed in the Vietnemese (buddist) monastery.
This is the first time either of us has stayed in a monastery, so we weren't sure if there were any rules or expected behaviours. A monk first showed us to the Buddha shrine, we took our shoes off - but didn't do much else. He then asked if we were looking for a place to stay and we said yes. Then a guy showed us our room and said it would be 300 rupees.
Unfortunately there was a power outage which meant that we had to go to bed at 6:30pm. I slept well and had lots of crazy dreams. In the morning we were woken up around 6ish by little monk boys quietly chanting and ringing a bell while walking clockwise around a statue outside of our window.
So we've seen two of the four Buddhist pilgrimage sites: Sarnath and Karnath. The other two are: Bodhgaya which is further east and is difficult to access because of the flooding from Nepal; and Lumbini which is in Nepal.
We briefly considered going to Nepal to check out Lumbini and Kathmandu, but the timing was tight because of the time we have and because Kim's Indian visa was single entry so we would have to apply and get another one from Nepal.
But we do think we have time to go to Bombay. Which is meaningful to me because of Gonzo in the first Muppet Movie.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
in Varanasi now
We took the overnight train and arrived in Varanasi this morning. It's still hot here. As hot as Calcutta.
We are staying in the old city. The old city is like the medinas of Morocco (e.g. Fes) or Jerusalem, where all the buildings are connected along winding paths up and down through the city. We have also heard the Muslim call to prayer being played, so that is also reminiscent of those other old cities.
The other attribute of these types of cities is that we always get lost in them. Touts use this to help "guide" us to our hotel - by guide I mean walk in front of us and try to get into the hotel before us to claim a commission.
Today we visited the main burning ghat where bodies get cremated and their ashes put into the Ganges river. There were about 4 bodies being burned and we could see a queue of 3 or 4 bodies waiting to go up there. I also found out today that by the burning ghat is a building of people waiting to die --- so this addresses my earlier question about whether or not Hindus want to die or just be cremated in Varanasi - I think the answer is both.
Regarding the burnings, I couldn't see much in the fire but did Kim see a leg.
We are both feeling a bit run down by the constant touts. It is also apparently dangerous to be out at night here so we'll be hiding out in our hotel.
We are staying in the old city. The old city is like the medinas of Morocco (e.g. Fes) or Jerusalem, where all the buildings are connected along winding paths up and down through the city. We have also heard the Muslim call to prayer being played, so that is also reminiscent of those other old cities.
The other attribute of these types of cities is that we always get lost in them. Touts use this to help "guide" us to our hotel - by guide I mean walk in front of us and try to get into the hotel before us to claim a commission.
Today we visited the main burning ghat where bodies get cremated and their ashes put into the Ganges river. There were about 4 bodies being burned and we could see a queue of 3 or 4 bodies waiting to go up there. I also found out today that by the burning ghat is a building of people waiting to die --- so this addresses my earlier question about whether or not Hindus want to die or just be cremated in Varanasi - I think the answer is both.
Regarding the burnings, I couldn't see much in the fire but did Kim see a leg.
We are both feeling a bit run down by the constant touts. It is also apparently dangerous to be out at night here so we'll be hiding out in our hotel.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Going to Varanasi tonight
Kim and I are taking an overnight train to Varanasi tonight.
Varanasi is important to the Hindu relgion. Hindus, like Buddhists, belive in re-incarnation where after you die, you move into a different circles (based on your performance in your last circle), the goal is to eventually get to to the point of reaching enlightenment - at least this is how Buddhism works - and once you have reached this point you are done - the suffering ends - you stop re-incarnating.
Anyway, the reason that Varanasi is important is that it is a kind of re-incarnation loop hole. If you can die in Varanasi you get to skip to the end of the re-incarnation cycle.
So Varanasi is famous for some of it's crematorium ghats (stairs by the Ganges), where bodies are cremated as well as for it's purification ghats.
That said, with Hindus, I'm not sure if you actually have to die in Varanasi or if you have to be cremated there to finish re-incarnation.
Not really related, or possibly directly related to re-incarnation, there are lots of vegetarian restaurants in India.
Varanasi is important to the Hindu relgion. Hindus, like Buddhists, belive in re-incarnation where after you die, you move into a different circles (based on your performance in your last circle), the goal is to eventually get to to the point of reaching enlightenment - at least this is how Buddhism works - and once you have reached this point you are done - the suffering ends - you stop re-incarnating.
Anyway, the reason that Varanasi is important is that it is a kind of re-incarnation loop hole. If you can die in Varanasi you get to skip to the end of the re-incarnation cycle.
So Varanasi is famous for some of it's crematorium ghats (stairs by the Ganges), where bodies are cremated as well as for it's purification ghats.
That said, with Hindus, I'm not sure if you actually have to die in Varanasi or if you have to be cremated there to finish re-incarnation.
Not really related, or possibly directly related to re-incarnation, there are lots of vegetarian restaurants in India.
Calcutta traffic report
Today in Calcutta...
Calcutta has too many people, too many constant horns, too much dirt.
Everywhere you look are crowds of people. Crowds of vehicles.
Here there is so much people and vehicle traffic: I can't imagine they are actually going anywhere - they are all just moving around to fill the spaces in the traffic - to split off and to form new crowds.
Calcutta has too many people, too many constant horns, too much dirt.
Everywhere you look are crowds of people. Crowds of vehicles.
Here there is so much people and vehicle traffic: I can't imagine they are actually going anywhere - they are all just moving around to fill the spaces in the traffic - to split off and to form new crowds.
Destitution
So, yesterday I posted that the beggars I had seen weren't desperate and dying. But this wasn't meant to judge, I had meant to counter the image I had of Calcutta.
Anyway, yesterday, we were on a block lined with destitute people sitting on the sidewalks the whole way down. On one sidewalk there was a mother and father sleeping under a tarp, while their 4 year oldish naked son was playing on the traffic side of a steel barrier. Here the whole family was destitute. Here there is another level of poverty.
Anyway, yesterday, we were on a block lined with destitute people sitting on the sidewalks the whole way down. On one sidewalk there was a mother and father sleeping under a tarp, while their 4 year oldish naked son was playing on the traffic side of a steel barrier. Here the whole family was destitute. Here there is another level of poverty.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Hello from Calcutta
Kim and I arrived today into Calcutta. Not that it's called that anymore, it is now called Kolkata which keeps the english pronounciation more correct.
It took the cab driver over an hour to get to our hotel 22kms away. The cab was prepaid, so the message here is that there is alot of traffic to deal with.
There are cows occasionally on the side of the road. So there are sacred cows here.
The air is really polluted. Tastes a bit like Cairo in that sense. Because we both had to get up early this morning for the plane we are both wearing glasses instead of contact lenses - which I think might be a good thing because otherwise it would probably be stinging our eyes.
We have seen some poverty here, but not like you might imagine - if you are like me you might imagined that Calcutta meant crowds of beggars desparate and dieing. But we haven't seen that. There are some beggars on the street and also some just poor people sleeping or keeping to themselves on the street. One boy followed me around and started touching my pocket that held my camera. I ended up slapping his hand away - It was more reactive than I would have wanted to be.
We have also seen Indian yuppies or Indian yuppies in training (puppies?). We were just in a coffee shop drinking iced lattes and iced tea and there was an excited table of Indians argueing/working together on what sounded like a group business school project.
I didn't notice this at the time, but they were all speaking English. But I did notice at the time that when speaking English, they have the same Indian accent Indian people have at home. I suppose that the accent is portable is obvious, but from that I felt a connection to the Indians who live here and the Indians I know at home.
I don't think we will spend much time in Calcutta (Kolcata). Maybe we will try and find tigers outside of the town somewhere.
It took the cab driver over an hour to get to our hotel 22kms away. The cab was prepaid, so the message here is that there is alot of traffic to deal with.
There are cows occasionally on the side of the road. So there are sacred cows here.
The air is really polluted. Tastes a bit like Cairo in that sense. Because we both had to get up early this morning for the plane we are both wearing glasses instead of contact lenses - which I think might be a good thing because otherwise it would probably be stinging our eyes.
We have seen some poverty here, but not like you might imagine - if you are like me you might imagined that Calcutta meant crowds of beggars desparate and dieing. But we haven't seen that. There are some beggars on the street and also some just poor people sleeping or keeping to themselves on the street. One boy followed me around and started touching my pocket that held my camera. I ended up slapping his hand away - It was more reactive than I would have wanted to be.
We have also seen Indian yuppies or Indian yuppies in training (puppies?). We were just in a coffee shop drinking iced lattes and iced tea and there was an excited table of Indians argueing/working together on what sounded like a group business school project.
I didn't notice this at the time, but they were all speaking English. But I did notice at the time that when speaking English, they have the same Indian accent Indian people have at home. I suppose that the accent is portable is obvious, but from that I felt a connection to the Indians who live here and the Indians I know at home.
I don't think we will spend much time in Calcutta (Kolcata). Maybe we will try and find tigers outside of the town somewhere.
More Laos
In Luang Prabang we rented a couple bicycles and rode to a waterfall. We didn't get to the waterfall we were looking for, but did end up in a small village type area which was pretty cool.
We kept running into Darren and Jody from England there, so we travelled with them to Vang Vieng. Actually, on the flight to Luang Prabang, they were sitting next to us on the airport bus, then coincidentally were sitting behind us on the airplane and then we saw them two or three more times in the village and then coincidentally their seats on their bus down to Vang Vieng was again right behind ours. So really we were travelling with them without having to do anything.
Vang Vieng is famous for inner tubing down the river. You rent an innertube and then float down the river. As you float down the river, you float by many many bars playing techno and using poles and ropes to pull the tubers in. Many bars have swings or ziplines to throw you into the river. One bar had Mud volleyball/mud wrestling.
Kim suffered an injury while mud wrestling, so to be safe we took her to the French embassy in Vientiene to have Monsieur Docteur check it out.
Kim's injury is minor - But we saw lots of people on crutches and with broken arms etc coming out of Vang Vieng. Monsieur Docteur told Kim that she was the third person he saw from Vang Vieng the day she was there.
So Vang Vieng is super fun, but also stupid fun.
We kept running into Darren and Jody from England there, so we travelled with them to Vang Vieng. Actually, on the flight to Luang Prabang, they were sitting next to us on the airport bus, then coincidentally were sitting behind us on the airplane and then we saw them two or three more times in the village and then coincidentally their seats on their bus down to Vang Vieng was again right behind ours. So really we were travelling with them without having to do anything.
Vang Vieng is famous for inner tubing down the river. You rent an innertube and then float down the river. As you float down the river, you float by many many bars playing techno and using poles and ropes to pull the tubers in. Many bars have swings or ziplines to throw you into the river. One bar had Mud volleyball/mud wrestling.
Kim suffered an injury while mud wrestling, so to be safe we took her to the French embassy in Vientiene to have Monsieur Docteur check it out.
Kim's injury is minor - But we saw lots of people on crutches and with broken arms etc coming out of Vang Vieng. Monsieur Docteur told Kim that she was the third person he saw from Vang Vieng the day she was there.
So Vang Vieng is super fun, but also stupid fun.
Monday, August 25, 2008
in Laos
Kim and I arrived here yesterday by plane. One weird thing about the plane trip is that occasionally tiny bits of ice would fall on me from somewhere above.
Luang Prabang is a small town and very laid back compared to the cities we visited in Vietnam. Sometimes, even, there are no cars on the road!
We booked a couple bus tickets and will be going to Vang Viet tomorrow.
Luang Prabang is a small town and very laid back compared to the cities we visited in Vietnam. Sometimes, even, there are no cars on the road!
We booked a couple bus tickets and will be going to Vang Viet tomorrow.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Hanoi
We've been in Hanoi now for a couple days.
The 31 hour train trip was ok. At one point there was a big thump - big enough so that a water bottle fell and hit Kim waking her up. Then after about 5 min the train stopped completely and there was a very long announcement in Vietnemese. We were sharing our compartment with two and a half - one was a toddler - but they did not speak English so could not tell us what happened. The lady under my bunk made a chopping motion on her neck so I interpreted that to mean either a suicide, or that the engine on the train had been killed.
Later another Vietnamese guy came and visited the guy under Kim's bunk who told us that the train hit and killed a motorcyclist and dragged him for awhile. That was too bad.
The visitor also wanted me to give him my ticket after I was done using it. I agreed, but didn't know why he wanted my ticket. I figured it was some kind of fraud and, later, thought I should have said "no, unless you can tell me why".
When leaving the station, the attendants punched his ticket but were careful to actually take our ticket. Our guy wasn't happy but I wasn't going to go and insist that the attendents give me my expired ticket so I could give it to a stranger. So there was some sort of scam there.
We got into a taxi from the station because we had our big backpacks. However the cabby went around the old city lake - we knew our hotel was between the station and the lake and not requiring a scenic tour around the lake. Plus Kim was watching the meter and it was clicking Kilometers inconsistenly (popping) at maybe at a rate of 5x the actual distance. Ie we would go 20 meters and it clicked 100 meters. So forced the cab to stop confronted the driver and gave him 50,000 dong instead of the 74,000 on the cab.
Since that incident we have got into some good cabs and another one that required a confrontation and early exit (this time I only gave the guy 20,000 dongs instead of the 54,000 and climbing). Fortunately we have found that the little cabs seem to all have doctored meters, while a couple companies (minh linh - white cabs with green lettering and hanoi taxi) have reliable meters. So if we look for a cab, we usually wait for a white one with green lettering. In a white and green cab I think the cost from the station to our hotel the first night would have been 15,000 dong. So in the end my giving the original scammer 50,000 dong was pretty generous.
We had a pretty busy day yesterday visiting the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum complex, the Hoa Lo Prison museum and a water puppet show.
Ho Chi Minh specifically requested a cremation, but he is a national hero so after his death they locked him away in a huge monument to his life.
The Hoa Lo Prison (aka Hanoi Hilton) is the same prison that John McCain stayed at during the Vietnemese war. The story of the museum was more about how the French colonists had tortured and violated the revolution's comrades before and during Vietnam's independence struggle in the 50s. Regarding the American's held there in the 60s and 70s, they portrayed that the exact same prison had turned into more as a summer camp with volleyball tournaments and sing alongs. The displays show one side of the story, but at least that side of the story makes us want to know the other side of the story.
The water puppet show was really cool. The had these wooden puppets and would use a bamboo screen and a pool of water to hide the puppets and then tell little stories. Some of the scenes were pretty cute with a little guy swimming after a fish, then doing a backstroke. You had to be there. It's funny to watch a puppet doing a backstroke in the water. There was also a scene where two birds, possibly phoenixes, got together and then an egg popps out of the water, then they get together around the egg and then a baby bird pops out.
Today we took a white and green cab to the Van Mieu temple of literature (the country's first university and then went to a fair trade store called Craft Link. For lunch we took a white and greed to this crazy hofbrauhaus.
Tomorrow we are going on a two day kayak and mountain bike tour in Ha Long Bay. A pretty place near to Hanoi and the ocean (the bay).
The 31 hour train trip was ok. At one point there was a big thump - big enough so that a water bottle fell and hit Kim waking her up. Then after about 5 min the train stopped completely and there was a very long announcement in Vietnemese. We were sharing our compartment with two and a half - one was a toddler - but they did not speak English so could not tell us what happened. The lady under my bunk made a chopping motion on her neck so I interpreted that to mean either a suicide, or that the engine on the train had been killed.
Later another Vietnamese guy came and visited the guy under Kim's bunk who told us that the train hit and killed a motorcyclist and dragged him for awhile. That was too bad.
The visitor also wanted me to give him my ticket after I was done using it. I agreed, but didn't know why he wanted my ticket. I figured it was some kind of fraud and, later, thought I should have said "no, unless you can tell me why".
When leaving the station, the attendants punched his ticket but were careful to actually take our ticket. Our guy wasn't happy but I wasn't going to go and insist that the attendents give me my expired ticket so I could give it to a stranger. So there was some sort of scam there.
We got into a taxi from the station because we had our big backpacks. However the cabby went around the old city lake - we knew our hotel was between the station and the lake and not requiring a scenic tour around the lake. Plus Kim was watching the meter and it was clicking Kilometers inconsistenly (popping) at maybe at a rate of 5x the actual distance. Ie we would go 20 meters and it clicked 100 meters. So forced the cab to stop confronted the driver and gave him 50,000 dong instead of the 74,000 on the cab.
Since that incident we have got into some good cabs and another one that required a confrontation and early exit (this time I only gave the guy 20,000 dongs instead of the 54,000 and climbing). Fortunately we have found that the little cabs seem to all have doctored meters, while a couple companies (minh linh - white cabs with green lettering and hanoi taxi) have reliable meters. So if we look for a cab, we usually wait for a white one with green lettering. In a white and green cab I think the cost from the station to our hotel the first night would have been 15,000 dong. So in the end my giving the original scammer 50,000 dong was pretty generous.
We had a pretty busy day yesterday visiting the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum complex, the Hoa Lo Prison museum and a water puppet show.
Ho Chi Minh specifically requested a cremation, but he is a national hero so after his death they locked him away in a huge monument to his life.
The Hoa Lo Prison (aka Hanoi Hilton) is the same prison that John McCain stayed at during the Vietnemese war. The story of the museum was more about how the French colonists had tortured and violated the revolution's comrades before and during Vietnam's independence struggle in the 50s. Regarding the American's held there in the 60s and 70s, they portrayed that the exact same prison had turned into more as a summer camp with volleyball tournaments and sing alongs. The displays show one side of the story, but at least that side of the story makes us want to know the other side of the story.
The water puppet show was really cool. The had these wooden puppets and would use a bamboo screen and a pool of water to hide the puppets and then tell little stories. Some of the scenes were pretty cute with a little guy swimming after a fish, then doing a backstroke. You had to be there. It's funny to watch a puppet doing a backstroke in the water. There was also a scene where two birds, possibly phoenixes, got together and then an egg popps out of the water, then they get together around the egg and then a baby bird pops out.
Today we took a white and green cab to the Van Mieu temple of literature (the country's first university and then went to a fair trade store called Craft Link. For lunch we took a white and greed to this crazy hofbrauhaus.
Tomorrow we are going on a two day kayak and mountain bike tour in Ha Long Bay. A pretty place near to Hanoi and the ocean (the bay).
Monday, August 18, 2008
Downpours in Saigon
It's raining alot here today. My clothes aren't just damp wet, they are wring it out for a litre of water wet.
We are thinking of taking a train up to Hanoi. Originally we were going to stop in Hoi An and Nha Trang - both beachy - but if it's so wet, it doesn't make sense. Plus we already did alot of beachy in phuket and sihanoukville.
So we are heading, through the rain, now to see if we can book some sleeper bearths in the overnight train up there.
We are thinking of taking a train up to Hanoi. Originally we were going to stop in Hoi An and Nha Trang - both beachy - but if it's so wet, it doesn't make sense. Plus we already did alot of beachy in phuket and sihanoukville.
So we are heading, through the rain, now to see if we can book some sleeper bearths in the overnight train up there.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Beef Lok Lak, Pho and Pad thai
Yesterday I had a beef lok lak in Cambodia. Lok Lak is small chunks of beef in a ginger gravy with a pot of black pepper sauce. The sauce was awesome. Cambodia has a famous Kampot black pepper that grows in the Kampot province. It's part of their "pepper culture".
Today we had some Pho in HCMC and it was good. To me it was less beefy, less salty or possibly msg than at home. For herbs there was the regular basil leaves and another herb that looked a bit like dandelion. Overall the soup was a cleaner or clearer than I've had back home.
But food will depend on which restaurant you go to... What pho tastes like in Vietnam is like asking what sushi tastes like in Vancouver. There are trends and that is interesting but the different cooks will have some influence.
For example, in Thailand I had the best pad thai I've ever had. It was at a restaurant called Lin Pin in Bangkok. I don't really like Pad Thai, but this one was really good - there was this aweseome crunchyness to the peanuts, which when I looked further I realized wasn't the peanuts but some dried shrimp. The bean sprouts were meatier, the basil that came with the meal was a full on handful of basil (like if you bought 2 or 3 of those fresh basil packs from Safeway and just threw it down on the plate.
I (and Kim too) also had the worst Pad Thai - we got it from the Bangkok airport. It smelled too fishy. When we landed in Phuket Kim barfed. Then she barfed again into my fleese jacket in the car on the way to the hotel. So after picking out the barfy pad thai that absorbed into my fleece - we stopped having Pad Thai.
Today we had some Pho in HCMC and it was good. To me it was less beefy, less salty or possibly msg than at home. For herbs there was the regular basil leaves and another herb that looked a bit like dandelion. Overall the soup was a cleaner or clearer than I've had back home.
But food will depend on which restaurant you go to... What pho tastes like in Vietnam is like asking what sushi tastes like in Vancouver. There are trends and that is interesting but the different cooks will have some influence.
For example, in Thailand I had the best pad thai I've ever had. It was at a restaurant called Lin Pin in Bangkok. I don't really like Pad Thai, but this one was really good - there was this aweseome crunchyness to the peanuts, which when I looked further I realized wasn't the peanuts but some dried shrimp. The bean sprouts were meatier, the basil that came with the meal was a full on handful of basil (like if you bought 2 or 3 of those fresh basil packs from Safeway and just threw it down on the plate.
I (and Kim too) also had the worst Pad Thai - we got it from the Bangkok airport. It smelled too fishy. When we landed in Phuket Kim barfed. Then she barfed again into my fleese jacket in the car on the way to the hotel. So after picking out the barfy pad thai that absorbed into my fleece - we stopped having Pad Thai.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
going to Vietnam tomorrow
Tomorrow we are heading to Vietnam. We are going to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon, aka Hochy, aka HCMC).
It will be a long 12hr Cambodian karaoke ride back up to Phenom Phen and then back down to HCMC. Customs and relations between Vietnam and Cambodia are way more positive than Thai-Cambodian, so the border should be easy.
It's always fun to see a new country so that should be exiting tomorrow.
It will be a long 12hr Cambodian karaoke ride back up to Phenom Phen and then back down to HCMC. Customs and relations between Vietnam and Cambodia are way more positive than Thai-Cambodian, so the border should be easy.
It's always fun to see a new country so that should be exiting tomorrow.
Overnight in a hut on the beach
Last night we stayed on "Bamboo Island" aka Koh Russei. It is a remotish island that you need to take a ferry to.
My dream was that it would be really cool to stay in a remote beach, in a neat deserted island shack on the beach somewhere. Doesn't that sound cool?
The beach >was< remote - there were just maybe 10 cabins (maybe 4 couples), two bars and some farms. And our shack was pretty neat, airy even.
Unfortunately for me and my sunburn induced desire to go to sleep early, that night, a Friday, was a party night at one of the bars and I think everyone (Cambodian farmers included) on the island came out to party.
I'm not complaining. It's just not what I had fantasized.
My dream was that it would be really cool to stay in a remote beach, in a neat deserted island shack on the beach somewhere. Doesn't that sound cool?
The beach >was< remote - there were just maybe 10 cabins (maybe 4 couples), two bars and some farms. And our shack was pretty neat, airy even.
Unfortunately for me and my sunburn induced desire to go to sleep early, that night, a Friday, was a party night at one of the bars and I think everyone (Cambodian farmers included) on the island came out to party.
I'm not complaining. It's just not what I had fantasized.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
How to fix a jellyfish stinging
Kim and are currently in Sihanoukville which is a beach town on the southern end of Cambodia.
The big news today is that I got stung by a jellyfish while swimming near the beach.
I don't actually remember if this is the first time that I got stung, but a couple nights ago we watched a documentary on the "National Geographic" channel about two australian scuba divers that survived being stung by a tiny >killer< jellyfish. The male scuba diver was in the hospital in pain for 2 days, while the female diver was in pain for 2 weeks!
I don't know which >kind< of jellyfish stung me - I only recently learned there was a killer kind - so I asked the bartender near the beach if there were jellyfish. He had a Scottish accent so I'm sure he understood the question and he said yes, but none big enough to be worried about. Being a good bartender, he gave me a lime to squirt on it.
The lime didn't make much of a difference.
But anyway, now 5 hours later, it doesn't really sting that much anymore. Which is good because Kim, being a good girlfriend, had offered to pee on it! (Which I think is actually only for certain spiders - not jellyfish.)
The big news today is that I got stung by a jellyfish while swimming near the beach.
I don't actually remember if this is the first time that I got stung, but a couple nights ago we watched a documentary on the "National Geographic" channel about two australian scuba divers that survived being stung by a tiny >killer< jellyfish. The male scuba diver was in the hospital in pain for 2 days, while the female diver was in pain for 2 weeks!
I don't know which >kind< of jellyfish stung me - I only recently learned there was a killer kind - so I asked the bartender near the beach if there were jellyfish. He had a Scottish accent so I'm sure he understood the question and he said yes, but none big enough to be worried about. Being a good bartender, he gave me a lime to squirt on it.
The lime didn't make much of a difference.
But anyway, now 5 hours later, it doesn't really sting that much anymore. Which is good because Kim, being a good girlfriend, had offered to pee on it! (Which I think is actually only for certain spiders - not jellyfish.)
Monday, August 11, 2008
Cambodian food
I did and don't know that much about Cambodia. I knew it used to be a french colony and I've seen a couple war movies that reference it. But alot of what Cambodia is was a mystery to me.
Like when is the last time you went to a Cambodian restaurant?
What do they eat?
Cambodian food has similar foods to Thailand and Viet Nam and Elsewhere.
Like Thailand: You can get a nice chicken or fish curry which tastes alot like the Thai versions with slightly different spices. We had a fish Amok and on a different night a chicken Amok - these Amoks are curries prepared in banana leaves.
Like Vietnam: You can get pho and apparently soups that you make yourself at your table are super popular here. We went for pho last night, but it didn't turn out very well. Kim didn't get a stomach upset from the pho, she just got mental upset when the waiter wouldn't give it to her because it is only served at breakfast!
(That pho is only served as breakfast is still TBD if this will be everywhere.)
Like Elsewhere: We had some nice barbequed spare ribs at a Khmer restaurant.
Cambodia has a couple unique things that I haven't seen elsewhere. We stopped for a quick snack and they had hard boiled eggs. I was going to have one, but Kim warnesed me that there was something "in the egg". Sure enough the girl we were sharing the taxi with was having the hard boiled duck embryos. It's eaten just like a regular hard boiled egg, but dipped in some sort of spice.
I didn't try the egg. Partially because I didn't know my company that well. If I was to start eating it and couldn't keep it down, it would have been worse - I think than to start eating it. My imagination thought that it might feel like eating oysters or wet feathers.
Today, on the bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Phen I tried some roasted banana leaves with rice and banana inside. It was pretty good and filling. Also healthier than the can of pringles we had as well. Kim noticed that some people were eating dried tarantulas as well. I didn't see them on offer - but I might try one - or maybe just a tarantula leg if the chance comes up.
I probably won't try Durian though. It just smells bad so I am not sure the rewards justify opening that curtain.
Like when is the last time you went to a Cambodian restaurant?
What do they eat?
Cambodian food has similar foods to Thailand and Viet Nam and Elsewhere.
Like Thailand: You can get a nice chicken or fish curry which tastes alot like the Thai versions with slightly different spices. We had a fish Amok and on a different night a chicken Amok - these Amoks are curries prepared in banana leaves.
Like Vietnam: You can get pho and apparently soups that you make yourself at your table are super popular here. We went for pho last night, but it didn't turn out very well. Kim didn't get a stomach upset from the pho, she just got mental upset when the waiter wouldn't give it to her because it is only served at breakfast!
(That pho is only served as breakfast is still TBD if this will be everywhere.)
Like Elsewhere: We had some nice barbequed spare ribs at a Khmer restaurant.
Cambodia has a couple unique things that I haven't seen elsewhere. We stopped for a quick snack and they had hard boiled eggs. I was going to have one, but Kim warnesed me that there was something "in the egg". Sure enough the girl we were sharing the taxi with was having the hard boiled duck embryos. It's eaten just like a regular hard boiled egg, but dipped in some sort of spice.
I didn't try the egg. Partially because I didn't know my company that well. If I was to start eating it and couldn't keep it down, it would have been worse - I think than to start eating it. My imagination thought that it might feel like eating oysters or wet feathers.
Today, on the bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Phen I tried some roasted banana leaves with rice and banana inside. It was pretty good and filling. Also healthier than the can of pringles we had as well. Kim noticed that some people were eating dried tarantulas as well. I didn't see them on offer - but I might try one - or maybe just a tarantula leg if the chance comes up.
I probably won't try Durian though. It just smells bad so I am not sure the rewards justify opening that curtain.
angkor vs anchor
How do you spell Angkor? I guess I just did. So that wasn't hard.
But how about pronunciation - To pronounce it, Angkor sounds like Anchor. Pretty boring so far right?
But consider that there are two popular Cambodian beers: Anchor and Angkor! Anchor is a good beer Angkor is not.
How would you order the good beer, if the names sound the same?
Kim and I did some research and after getting the wrong beer once and getting the right beer once the trick is that if you want the good beer you need to ask for >And-Chore< beer and not "Anchor".
More details as we get them.
But how about pronunciation - To pronounce it, Angkor sounds like Anchor. Pretty boring so far right?
But consider that there are two popular Cambodian beers: Anchor and Angkor! Anchor is a good beer Angkor is not.
How would you order the good beer, if the names sound the same?
Kim and I did some research and after getting the wrong beer once and getting the right beer once the trick is that if you want the good beer you need to ask for >And-Chore< beer and not "Anchor".
More details as we get them.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Cycling Ankor Wat
Today was supposed to be a day off. After two days of travel we were going to take today off and then visit Ankor Wat tomorrow.
But I found it hard to not just, you know, go have a look to see what you are going to see. So we borrowed some bikes from the hostel and went up there.
It was supposed to be a 15 min, maybe 1 hour tour. But it ended up being a 4 hour extravaganza as the more we saw, the deeper into the Ankor Wat area we went.
Both the sites and the environment of the sites exceeded expectations. The series of temples are all inside of a well treed park so it was enjoyable to ride our bikes from place to place. Ankor Wat and the other temples were cool to look at and appreciate the heavy stone work - by heavy I mean the full on figures made out of stone - as well as some of the light stone work - like the relief stone carvings showing mostly scenes of Vishnu conquering over demons.
Unfortunately one of the seats on the bikes was not attached to the bike properly so after experimentation we ended up taking turns sitting on the pannier bracket on the rear wheel and riding "cruiser style" on the back of that bike. It was pretty painful considering how much riding we did.
But I found it hard to not just, you know, go have a look to see what you are going to see. So we borrowed some bikes from the hostel and went up there.
It was supposed to be a 15 min, maybe 1 hour tour. But it ended up being a 4 hour extravaganza as the more we saw, the deeper into the Ankor Wat area we went.
Both the sites and the environment of the sites exceeded expectations. The series of temples are all inside of a well treed park so it was enjoyable to ride our bikes from place to place. Ankor Wat and the other temples were cool to look at and appreciate the heavy stone work - by heavy I mean the full on figures made out of stone - as well as some of the light stone work - like the relief stone carvings showing mostly scenes of Vishnu conquering over demons.
Unfortunately one of the seats on the bikes was not attached to the bike properly so after experimentation we ended up taking turns sitting on the pannier bracket on the rear wheel and riding "cruiser style" on the back of that bike. It was pretty painful considering how much riding we did.
Friday, August 08, 2008
In Cambodia
We have been travelling alot in the last couple days. Two full days of travelling is draining... Day one we took a 12 hour bus from Krabi to Bangkok. Day two was a four and a half hour bus to the Cambodia border, lining up to exit Thailand, lining up to get a Cambodian Visa, lining up to get the visa stamped, then a four hour cab ride to Siem Reap.
Siem Reap is where people stay when visiting Angkor Wat. We haven't visited it yet - We might take today off and look at it tomorrow.
Siem Reap is where people stay when visiting Angkor Wat. We haven't visited it yet - We might take today off and look at it tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Done with Phi Phi we are on a stop over in Krabi
We spent the last couple days on Phi Phi Island. It is supposed to have some of the most beautiful beaches in Thailand and I can say it does have some of the most beautiful beaches I have seen. Warm, crystal clear water, sandy beaches, limestone cliffs and lush greenery make it so.
We stayed at the Natural resort there. I had asked the travel agent who helped us book it if it was on the beach and I suppose it sorta was - but not "on on" the beach like I wanted it to be.
Anyway, the beach was super close and I enjoyed that the whole area was secluded by the fact that you needed to take two boats to get there.
There was a little restaurant where I had fresh barbeque squid, a ginger fried fish and a barbequed red snapper. Kim is feeling better so she had mussman curry and sweet and sour chicken. (She still hasn't got back to the hot stuff and won't be touching pad thai anytime soon).
I had bought a cheap snorkel and mask in Phuket, and Kim rented one from the hotel. We used the masks to look around the coral and chase some tropical fish - some reminicient of those in Finding Nemo.
Today we are in Krabi. We are planning on taking a really long 15 hour bus ride to Bangkok tomorrow. Most run over night, but we are going to try and take a day one so we don't have to sleep on the bus. Kim is sitting at the computer next to me trying to figure out where we will stay tomorrow night in Bangkok - maybe somewhere near the bus terminal because we'll need to use the bus again to head out to Cambodia.
We stayed at the Natural resort there. I had asked the travel agent who helped us book it if it was on the beach and I suppose it sorta was - but not "on on" the beach like I wanted it to be.
Anyway, the beach was super close and I enjoyed that the whole area was secluded by the fact that you needed to take two boats to get there.
There was a little restaurant where I had fresh barbeque squid, a ginger fried fish and a barbequed red snapper. Kim is feeling better so she had mussman curry and sweet and sour chicken. (She still hasn't got back to the hot stuff and won't be touching pad thai anytime soon).
I had bought a cheap snorkel and mask in Phuket, and Kim rented one from the hotel. We used the masks to look around the coral and chase some tropical fish - some reminicient of those in Finding Nemo.
Today we are in Krabi. We are planning on taking a really long 15 hour bus ride to Bangkok tomorrow. Most run over night, but we are going to try and take a day one so we don't have to sleep on the bus. Kim is sitting at the computer next to me trying to figure out where we will stay tomorrow night in Bangkok - maybe somewhere near the bus terminal because we'll need to use the bus again to head out to Cambodia.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
a fish called army
We have free internet, but the internet room is hot. So we haven't been posting much.
Yesterday we rented scooters to ride out to the beaches on the other side of the peninsula. We ended up taking a wrong turn, so we checked out Phuket from the top of a look out point. We eventually made it to the beach, more of a fishing pier with a strange looking dog than a beach. But the weather was getting stormy so we headed back to our side of the peninsula.
Back on our side, Indian Ocean side, we headed up to Patong and stayed at the beach there. Patong was way busier than the beach near our hotel. The advantage of going to the beach near your hotel is you can leave all your valuables in the hotel - which >has< to be safer than alone on a beach chair. But at Patong, I didn't feel that safe - so our swim was a bit short and we headed back to our hotel a bit earlier than planned. The original plan was to check out the ladyboy show, but I guess we can just do that some other time.
Today we woke to thunderstorms and a short power outage. But really all this meant was that we had a later start to our day.
I got another massage and Kim watched another movie while it rained.
Later we headed down to the beach and played in the ocean. There was a fish about the size of a goldfish that kept hanging around me and my arms - It would not go away. I think it liked my armpit.
Kim asked if he had a name, so I named him "Army".
Yesterday we rented scooters to ride out to the beaches on the other side of the peninsula. We ended up taking a wrong turn, so we checked out Phuket from the top of a look out point. We eventually made it to the beach, more of a fishing pier with a strange looking dog than a beach. But the weather was getting stormy so we headed back to our side of the peninsula.
Back on our side, Indian Ocean side, we headed up to Patong and stayed at the beach there. Patong was way busier than the beach near our hotel. The advantage of going to the beach near your hotel is you can leave all your valuables in the hotel - which >has< to be safer than alone on a beach chair. But at Patong, I didn't feel that safe - so our swim was a bit short and we headed back to our hotel a bit earlier than planned. The original plan was to check out the ladyboy show, but I guess we can just do that some other time.
Today we woke to thunderstorms and a short power outage. But really all this meant was that we had a later start to our day.
I got another massage and Kim watched another movie while it rained.
Later we headed down to the beach and played in the ocean. There was a fish about the size of a goldfish that kept hanging around me and my arms - It would not go away. I think it liked my armpit.
Kim asked if he had a name, so I named him "Army".
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Today we rode an elephant
We took some public buses to the Elephant refuge nearby. We rode an elephant - it was a rough ride.
We didn't get to steer the elephant ourselves - there was a guy up front who would nudge the elephant's ears with his feet, speak to it and occasionally hit it with a stick with a metal point.
We could have paid for a one hour ride, but half an hour was too long anyway (I checked my watch about 3 times on the trek). You can also take care of an elephant for half a day, which looks like fun, but we were happy just to see the elephants.
Tomorrow we are heading to Phuket (poo-get). It is more of a beachy town down south, so we should get some more tans and hopefully less burns.
We didn't get to steer the elephant ourselves - there was a guy up front who would nudge the elephant's ears with his feet, speak to it and occasionally hit it with a stick with a metal point.
We could have paid for a one hour ride, but half an hour was too long anyway (I checked my watch about 3 times on the trek). You can also take care of an elephant for half a day, which looks like fun, but we were happy just to see the elephants.
Tomorrow we are heading to Phuket (poo-get). It is more of a beachy town down south, so we should get some more tans and hopefully less burns.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Currently in Chiang Mai
Currently we are in Chaing Mai and are enjoying it very much. Discount Tuk Tuks, inexpensive massages and restaurants make it even funner.
Today we spent the whole day taking Thai cooking lessons.
Today we spent the whole day taking Thai cooking lessons.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
A couple days in Bangkok
We arrived from Macau, took the bus into town and both our eyes were stinging. We think the stinging is from the air pollution, but fortunately the stinging has stopped.
The first night we checked in and went down to the Patpong night market.
The sidewalks were filled with people getting ready, unloading bags and boxes into their stands. So we were a little early. We were also early for the go-go bars: there the there were empty bars except for small groups of girls putting on makeup.
Yesterday morning we got up and had a full day in Bankgok.
We had breakfast at the hostel, and tried to get a taxi to the Grand Palace downtown. Fortunately there were two taxis outside of the hostel. Unfortunately they refused to use the meter in the taxi and wanted to negotiate a price. We had asked the hostel clerk how much a taxi should cost and she said about 80 baht. The cab drivers wanted 320 baht. Then they wanted 200 baht and finally they wanted 120 baht. We weren't really trying to negotiate, we just wanted them to use the meter, and while repeating that, they just kept lowering the prices. Figuring we might find a more honest taxi we headed up the street.
We went up the block and found a nice guy who suggested we take a tuk tuk for only 20baht to the ferries and take a ferry. For 20 baht, we figured we couldn't go wrong. The tuk tuk was pretty fun - no seatbelts in a crazy bumpy ride. The tuk tuk dropped us off at a ferry terminal but it looked like they only had tours - tours for 750 baht. So it turns out we escaped the negotiated price scheme of the taxi drivers to the overpriced ferry rides. We were only going downtown to the Grand Palace and, as we found out later, a boat downtown costs 17 baht.
At the ferry terminal there were two girls from Denmark who looked like they were trying to catch a ferry as well. They told us that the guys there wouldn't let them get onto a boat without purchasing a tour. So we decided to go and split a cab. And together we did that, and got a ride to downtown for 70 baht (for all 4 of us).
When we arrived at the Grand Palace we were not at the correct entrance, but a guy came and told us that because it was Sunday morning the monks are in in prayer until 2pm, after which the Grand Palace is free. He showed us pictures of his family and pictures of him as a monk and told us to only trust Tuk Tuk drivers in uniform. He gave us some tips where we could take tuk tuks for 20 baht and then come back.
We decided to just have a walk and sure enough the the grand palace was open, so we had a look inside. I had to rent some pants because I was wearing shorts.
The first night we checked in and went down to the Patpong night market.
The sidewalks were filled with people getting ready, unloading bags and boxes into their stands. So we were a little early. We were also early for the go-go bars: there the there were empty bars except for small groups of girls putting on makeup.
Yesterday morning we got up and had a full day in Bankgok.
We had breakfast at the hostel, and tried to get a taxi to the Grand Palace downtown. Fortunately there were two taxis outside of the hostel. Unfortunately they refused to use the meter in the taxi and wanted to negotiate a price. We had asked the hostel clerk how much a taxi should cost and she said about 80 baht. The cab drivers wanted 320 baht. Then they wanted 200 baht and finally they wanted 120 baht. We weren't really trying to negotiate, we just wanted them to use the meter, and while repeating that, they just kept lowering the prices. Figuring we might find a more honest taxi we headed up the street.
We went up the block and found a nice guy who suggested we take a tuk tuk for only 20baht to the ferries and take a ferry. For 20 baht, we figured we couldn't go wrong. The tuk tuk was pretty fun - no seatbelts in a crazy bumpy ride. The tuk tuk dropped us off at a ferry terminal but it looked like they only had tours - tours for 750 baht. So it turns out we escaped the negotiated price scheme of the taxi drivers to the overpriced ferry rides. We were only going downtown to the Grand Palace and, as we found out later, a boat downtown costs 17 baht.
At the ferry terminal there were two girls from Denmark who looked like they were trying to catch a ferry as well. They told us that the guys there wouldn't let them get onto a boat without purchasing a tour. So we decided to go and split a cab. And together we did that, and got a ride to downtown for 70 baht (for all 4 of us).
When we arrived at the Grand Palace we were not at the correct entrance, but a guy came and told us that because it was Sunday morning the monks are in in prayer until 2pm, after which the Grand Palace is free. He showed us pictures of his family and pictures of him as a monk and told us to only trust Tuk Tuk drivers in uniform. He gave us some tips where we could take tuk tuks for 20 baht and then come back.
We decided to just have a walk and sure enough the the grand palace was open, so we had a look inside. I had to rent some pants because I was wearing shorts.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
In Macau
Kim and I arrived yesterday. The line up at customs was insane, it was like a football field full of people lining up at 10 or so counters. It took about an hour to get through - fortunately it was not too hot.
The hotel is extremely big - what can you expect if it has canals running through the second floor. We did make an effort to leave the hotel and check out the town.
The town square looks very European. Lisbon (in Portugal) has these huge squares and there is a small version of that here. Also the architecture of the catholic buildings also looks very Portugese. And yesterday I heard a guy speaking Portugese.
Most signs are in Chinese, Portugese and English. By far though, Macau is a Chinese city.
Back at the Casino/Hotel, Kim won big at Blackjack!
The hotel is extremely big - what can you expect if it has canals running through the second floor. We did make an effort to leave the hotel and check out the town.
The town square looks very European. Lisbon (in Portugal) has these huge squares and there is a small version of that here. Also the architecture of the catholic buildings also looks very Portugese. And yesterday I heard a guy speaking Portugese.
Most signs are in Chinese, Portugese and English. By far though, Macau is a Chinese city.
Back at the Casino/Hotel, Kim won big at Blackjack!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Last couple days in Hong Kong
The last couple days in Hong Kong have been a bit weird. Or too normal. We went to a movie yesterday and a theme park today, so that's too normal.
We have been eating alot of chinese though so that's different. By coincidence we have had lunch twice in a couple posh restaurants. The type of restaurant where they put the napkins down for you, pull your chair for you, give you fine china and two pairs of chopsticks. But despite all the poshyness lunch for two people was only 42 dollars. Actually, that $42 sounds expensive for lunch. But have you ever been at a restaurant trying to recount how much money is still in your wallet because you might be 'in trouble'. These places give you the sense that 'you might be in trouble' so when the cheque comes and it's only $42 then it seems like a really good deal. e.g. One hostess came to my table to ask for my name so she would know how I should be addressed (Mr. Payne).
Anywhoo, we have been through many neighbourhoods in Hong Kong. We were in Mok Kong yesterday which had some really cool markets. Markets with pans of fish, still alive waiting to be bought, turtles stacked in cages, chickens available to be slaughtered, eels wriggling in buckets, frogs stacked in a big box. We didn't touch that, but there was a guy slaughtering and skinning pineapples so we bought one of those.
We also revisited the Tsim Tsia neighbourhood in Kowloon which we didn't like the first night we were there. It wasn't that bad - I think at the time it was an emotional shock and we may have taken one of the more sketchier paths there that night.
Tomorrow we are heading to Macau, which according to the Hong Kong and Macau Lonely Planet, exceeded Las Vegas last year as being the casino central of the world. There are Las Vegas hotels like Wynn, MGM and the Venetian there. We are going to stay at the Venetian because, after reflection, I figured thats where I wanted to go - I think Macau is going to be Hong Kong's vegas and the Venetion is pretty Vegas to me. Before deciding on that hotel, I tried to ask several agents at the ferry terminal which hotel currently has the best deal going - but they couldn't understand what I was asking. What I mean was, I wanted to know which hotel, say, would normally cost $1000 a night that might have a $100 a night special going on. They didn't understand what I was asking. I know it's a complicated question - but I still hoped I could get an answer.
I also had an ambition to take a helicopter from H. We were pretty close actually to booking one, but then I read the fine print.
We have been eating alot of chinese though so that's different. By coincidence we have had lunch twice in a couple posh restaurants. The type of restaurant where they put the napkins down for you, pull your chair for you, give you fine china and two pairs of chopsticks. But despite all the poshyness lunch for two people was only 42 dollars. Actually, that $42 sounds expensive for lunch. But have you ever been at a restaurant trying to recount how much money is still in your wallet because you might be 'in trouble'. These places give you the sense that 'you might be in trouble' so when the cheque comes and it's only $42 then it seems like a really good deal. e.g. One hostess came to my table to ask for my name so she would know how I should be addressed (Mr. Payne).
Anywhoo, we have been through many neighbourhoods in Hong Kong. We were in Mok Kong yesterday which had some really cool markets. Markets with pans of fish, still alive waiting to be bought, turtles stacked in cages, chickens available to be slaughtered, eels wriggling in buckets, frogs stacked in a big box. We didn't touch that, but there was a guy slaughtering and skinning pineapples so we bought one of those.
We also revisited the Tsim Tsia neighbourhood in Kowloon which we didn't like the first night we were there. It wasn't that bad - I think at the time it was an emotional shock and we may have taken one of the more sketchier paths there that night.
Tomorrow we are heading to Macau, which according to the Hong Kong and Macau Lonely Planet, exceeded Las Vegas last year as being the casino central of the world. There are Las Vegas hotels like Wynn, MGM and the Venetian there. We are going to stay at the Venetian because, after reflection, I figured thats where I wanted to go - I think Macau is going to be Hong Kong's vegas and the Venetion is pretty Vegas to me. Before deciding on that hotel, I tried to ask several agents at the ferry terminal which hotel currently has the best deal going - but they couldn't understand what I was asking. What I mean was, I wanted to know which hotel, say, would normally cost $1000 a night that might have a $100 a night special going on. They didn't understand what I was asking. I know it's a complicated question - but I still hoped I could get an answer.
I also had an ambition to take a helicopter from H. We were pretty close actually to booking one, but then I read the fine print.
Monday, July 21, 2008
In Hong Kong
Kim and I got into Hong Kong last night. We flew in from Nagoya, arrived at the airport and took a shuttle and a bus to our hostel in Kowloon. I did my research so we were looking forward to a double room with bath for 3 days. The luxury here is that the room was private, the bathroom was private and the best part - we would be in the same location for 3 days which makes everything easier.
Coming into Kowloon was a bit of a shock. The driver seemed to be going in circles as he zigzagged down the one way streets. It was a free shuttle (or at least free in the sense that it came with the passes we bought) so he wouldn't be doing this to increase our fare.
But we were more shocked by how multi cultural Hong Kong and especially Kowloon is. Remeber we are coming from Japan where we were often the only non-Japanese in sight (not an exaggeration). The first thing we did was walk by a group of about 20 Africans (speaking in their language), then we walked through a gauntlet of East Indians selling watches, then an English beggar who was spewing insults at pretty much everyone (our 'insult' was "oh, ok you are white", so I guess you can go)". Persians, Chinese, Americans, Canadians are here too. Last night we ate near some people from Spain who were incredibly rude. Of course I could be wrong about exactly where these people were coming from, my point is that there are lots of different people. But I guess that's not my only point. I suspect that there is alot of illegal immigration as well.
Our hostel is in the Miramar Mansion on Nathan St. (the hostel is called New Garden Hostel.). But it's not a mansion in the richy rich sense of the word. Maybe it is a mansion in the 'it's big' sense of the word. It was a 'souk' style building, 16 stories high, with maybe 100 rooms on each floor, with a big central open area. You need to picture a building that used to be white, but is now obscured with mold, dripping water, and wires - some with laundry some without. I'm sure I've seen this sort of thing in some modern action movies. Or possibly the idea of the 'projects' might have the same vibe. To add to the image you, you need to add that each floor had only one elevator to service it - so there were often lines, monitored on the main floor by security guards.
Anywhoo, we decided this morning to bail on our booking. I had already paid, but really we weren't going to be comfortable here or enjoy staying. From a security sense the place is a fire trap plus there are enough sketchy characters loitering around the place that it wouldn't be too hard to imagine someone (not in our secured area, but in the general area) being knifed. Not only that, but the beds were really really hard.
We are now happy at the Central Park Hotel. In the matter of hours, tripadvisor.com and a visa card we have gone from a grotty, hope I live through the night place to a nice executive room on the 22nd floor with tinted glass showers, designer bowl sink overlooking the park with a view of the harbour.
Tonight we going to ride a gondola up to the 'peak' which is the highest point in hong kong to have a look at the city. Tomorrow we are going to watch Batman at the
super modern AMC pacific place theatre
Coming into Kowloon was a bit of a shock. The driver seemed to be going in circles as he zigzagged down the one way streets. It was a free shuttle (or at least free in the sense that it came with the passes we bought) so he wouldn't be doing this to increase our fare.
But we were more shocked by how multi cultural Hong Kong and especially Kowloon is. Remeber we are coming from Japan where we were often the only non-Japanese in sight (not an exaggeration). The first thing we did was walk by a group of about 20 Africans (speaking in their language), then we walked through a gauntlet of East Indians selling watches, then an English beggar who was spewing insults at pretty much everyone (our 'insult' was "oh, ok you are white", so I guess you can go)". Persians, Chinese, Americans, Canadians are here too. Last night we ate near some people from Spain who were incredibly rude. Of course I could be wrong about exactly where these people were coming from, my point is that there are lots of different people. But I guess that's not my only point. I suspect that there is alot of illegal immigration as well.
Our hostel is in the Miramar Mansion on Nathan St. (the hostel is called New Garden Hostel.). But it's not a mansion in the richy rich sense of the word. Maybe it is a mansion in the 'it's big' sense of the word. It was a 'souk' style building, 16 stories high, with maybe 100 rooms on each floor, with a big central open area. You need to picture a building that used to be white, but is now obscured with mold, dripping water, and wires - some with laundry some without. I'm sure I've seen this sort of thing in some modern action movies. Or possibly the idea of the 'projects' might have the same vibe. To add to the image you, you need to add that each floor had only one elevator to service it - so there were often lines, monitored on the main floor by security guards.
Anywhoo, we decided this morning to bail on our booking. I had already paid, but really we weren't going to be comfortable here or enjoy staying. From a security sense the place is a fire trap plus there are enough sketchy characters loitering around the place that it wouldn't be too hard to imagine someone (not in our secured area, but in the general area) being knifed. Not only that, but the beds were really really hard.
We are now happy at the Central Park Hotel. In the matter of hours, tripadvisor.com and a visa card we have gone from a grotty, hope I live through the night place to a nice executive room on the 22nd floor with tinted glass showers, designer bowl sink overlooking the park with a view of the harbour.
Tonight we going to ride a gondola up to the 'peak' which is the highest point in hong kong to have a look at the city. Tomorrow we are going to watch Batman at the
super modern AMC pacific place theatre
Saturday, July 19, 2008
at the Nagoya airport...
Kim and I are currently at the Nagoya airport waiting for our plane to Hong Kong. We have about an hour before we board, so I thought I'd update this blog.
I booked the flight from Nagoya because it was cheaper and I figured we would get to see another city before leaving.Actually, until a couple days ago, I had forgotten that I had booked the flight out of Nagoya and thought we were leaving Narita in Tokyo. Not that it mattered much because we checked in time to make sure we went to the right place.
We up super early this morning because I thought we would try and visit the Robot Museum in Nagoya. Unfortunately, when we got there a guy told us that it was closed. I think he meant that it was closed permanantly. Oh well, no robots for me.
I did have sushi for lunch though, and here they did give me wasabi with my sushi (it's been about 50% - whether or not sushi comes with wasabi). The sushi was ok, it had barbequeue eel which for me is hit and miss and today it was a miss.
So we are boarding in about an hour - the things I haven't posted about are Kyoto and Kobe.
Kyoto is the cultural capital of Japan. It is packed with temples, though it is also very urban. If you look at any pictures of Kyoto, they always show the temples so you might get the idea that it is only gardens and temples. Rather it is gardens and temples on the outskirts of a very urban city. Kyoto also has some pedestrian only covered malls which Kim and I both enjoy.
Because Kyoto is super close to Kobe, we decided to take a short trip to Kobe to splurge on a Kobe steak dinner. The kobe beef is super marbled (Have a look at this picture -see how much fat there is!). The whole dinner was prepared in front of us by our own chef. We also bought a bottle of wine which made it all fun. For me, I found it to be too rich to enjoy as a steak. More to be enjoyed in small quantities as a delicacy.
Of the cities we visited (Osaka, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Kobe, Tokyo again, Nagoya) our favourite was Osaka. This is because we had alot of fun on the market street ordering ramen from a machine, getting photos in a photo booth, visiting our first temple and discovering our first Manga Kissa (called Popeye's). The same things exist in all of the other cities, so it's hard to tell if we just liked it more because it was our first time or if the Osaka market streets were more fun.
So, that leaves 30 minutes till we board the plane to Hong Kong. Woo woo!
I booked the flight from Nagoya because it was cheaper and I figured we would get to see another city before leaving.Actually, until a couple days ago, I had forgotten that I had booked the flight out of Nagoya and thought we were leaving Narita in Tokyo. Not that it mattered much because we checked in time to make sure we went to the right place.
We up super early this morning because I thought we would try and visit the Robot Museum in Nagoya. Unfortunately, when we got there a guy told us that it was closed. I think he meant that it was closed permanantly. Oh well, no robots for me.
I did have sushi for lunch though, and here they did give me wasabi with my sushi (it's been about 50% - whether or not sushi comes with wasabi). The sushi was ok, it had barbequeue eel which for me is hit and miss and today it was a miss.
So we are boarding in about an hour - the things I haven't posted about are Kyoto and Kobe.
Kyoto is the cultural capital of Japan. It is packed with temples, though it is also very urban. If you look at any pictures of Kyoto, they always show the temples so you might get the idea that it is only gardens and temples. Rather it is gardens and temples on the outskirts of a very urban city. Kyoto also has some pedestrian only covered malls which Kim and I both enjoy.
Because Kyoto is super close to Kobe, we decided to take a short trip to Kobe to splurge on a Kobe steak dinner. The kobe beef is super marbled (Have a look at this picture -see how much fat there is!). The whole dinner was prepared in front of us by our own chef. We also bought a bottle of wine which made it all fun. For me, I found it to be too rich to enjoy as a steak. More to be enjoyed in small quantities as a delicacy.
Of the cities we visited (Osaka, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Kobe, Tokyo again, Nagoya) our favourite was Osaka. This is because we had alot of fun on the market street ordering ramen from a machine, getting photos in a photo booth, visiting our first temple and discovering our first Manga Kissa (called Popeye's). The same things exist in all of the other cities, so it's hard to tell if we just liked it more because it was our first time or if the Osaka market streets were more fun.
So, that leaves 30 minutes till we board the plane to Hong Kong. Woo woo!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Hiroshima
After Mt. Fuji, Kim and I visited Hiroshima, which is down the south west tip of Japan - so it was a bit hotter than Tokyo or the Mt Fuji area.
Heat has been an ongoing battle or characteristic of our trip. Drinking lots of fluids is made easy by the fact that every block or two has a vending machine selling water, cold drinks and cold coffee. Because Kim was burned we borrowed an umbrella from the hostel/hotel/ryokan that we were staying at. She felt silly at first, but less silly when we counted and 1 in 3 women walk around with umbrellas in the sun there.
Ryokans are japanese style hotels. We have stayed at four or five now and what they have in common is that as soon as you enter the hotel, you must take off your shoes and wear slippers or walk around in socks. The rooms are super small and the main area of the room is covered with a tatami mat. Our bedding is thin mattresses with a duvet on top. The first thing we do when we go into the rooms is try and figure out the airconditioner because usually the rooms are about 32 degrees Celcius inside. Going to the bathroom requires putting on your normal slippers, then switching to bathroom slippers that are kept in the bathroom and then switching back when you are done.
At the ryokan in Hiroshima we met a french girl who was waiting for her brother. There seems to be lots of french tourists in Japan. She came with us a bit to see some of the Hiroshima monuments to the war and the atomic bombing. The trams have automated announcements in Japanese and in English. It is really weird to hear, in the middle of an urban city, an announcement like 'next stop, atomic bomb dome'
The atomic bomb dome is a monument which is the remains of the theatre which was about 600m from the epicentre of the bomb. There are lots and lots of monuments in this area.
There is also a peace memorial museum which shows the before and after impacts of the bomb. Touring the museum, both Kim and I felt a bit sick to the stomach.
Interestingly, the displays suggested that there were more political and scientific reasons for using the bomb than military ones.
On the political side, the displays suggested that the U.S. was looking for more leverage post war vs the Soviets. This leverage was to come from two ways: 1. by demonstrating the weapon and 2. by shutting the Russians out of the victory over the Japanese.
On the scientific side, the displays demonstrated that bombings of Hiroshima were deliberatly curtailed prior to the atomic ones so that the impact of the bomb could be measured. On the other hand several scientists that developed the bomb were specifically against using the bomb. i.e. the Szilard petition
On the military side, there is a wikipedia site which debates the bombings. Citing this site, if 1946 United States Strategic Bombing Survey, and military leaders like Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Nimitz, William D Leahy and others felt it was militarily unnecessary then I think it was militarily unnecessary.
Really, the bomb shouldn't have been used and should have been used first as a negotiation tool. There are references which show this option was considered at the time: e.g. e.g. Memorandum by Ralph A. Bard, Undersecretary of the Navy, to Secretary of War Stimson, June 27, 1945
Heat has been an ongoing battle or characteristic of our trip. Drinking lots of fluids is made easy by the fact that every block or two has a vending machine selling water, cold drinks and cold coffee. Because Kim was burned we borrowed an umbrella from the hostel/hotel/ryokan that we were staying at. She felt silly at first, but less silly when we counted and 1 in 3 women walk around with umbrellas in the sun there.
Ryokans are japanese style hotels. We have stayed at four or five now and what they have in common is that as soon as you enter the hotel, you must take off your shoes and wear slippers or walk around in socks. The rooms are super small and the main area of the room is covered with a tatami mat. Our bedding is thin mattresses with a duvet on top. The first thing we do when we go into the rooms is try and figure out the airconditioner because usually the rooms are about 32 degrees Celcius inside. Going to the bathroom requires putting on your normal slippers, then switching to bathroom slippers that are kept in the bathroom and then switching back when you are done.
At the ryokan in Hiroshima we met a french girl who was waiting for her brother. There seems to be lots of french tourists in Japan. She came with us a bit to see some of the Hiroshima monuments to the war and the atomic bombing. The trams have automated announcements in Japanese and in English. It is really weird to hear, in the middle of an urban city, an announcement like 'next stop, atomic bomb dome'
The atomic bomb dome is a monument which is the remains of the theatre which was about 600m from the epicentre of the bomb. There are lots and lots of monuments in this area.
There is also a peace memorial museum which shows the before and after impacts of the bomb. Touring the museum, both Kim and I felt a bit sick to the stomach.
Interestingly, the displays suggested that there were more political and scientific reasons for using the bomb than military ones.
On the political side, the displays suggested that the U.S. was looking for more leverage post war vs the Soviets. This leverage was to come from two ways: 1. by demonstrating the weapon and 2. by shutting the Russians out of the victory over the Japanese.
On the scientific side, the displays demonstrated that bombings of Hiroshima were deliberatly curtailed prior to the atomic ones so that the impact of the bomb could be measured. On the other hand several scientists that developed the bomb were specifically against using the bomb. i.e. the Szilard petition
On the military side, there is a wikipedia site which debates the bombings. Citing this site, if 1946 United States Strategic Bombing Survey, and military leaders like Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Nimitz, William D Leahy and others felt it was militarily unnecessary then I think it was militarily unnecessary.
Really, the bomb shouldn't have been used and should have been used first as a negotiation tool. There are references which show this option was considered at the time: e.g. e.g. Memorandum by Ralph A. Bard, Undersecretary of the Navy, to Secretary of War Stimson, June 27, 1945
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Mount Fuji
Kim and I visited Mount Fuji - you know the snowcapped mountain that is iconic of Japan.
We took a couple trains there, booked a couple nights in a hostel (we couldnt get a private room so we shared a room with a guy from slovakia and a girl one night, and the slovakian and a guy that came in for only 10 minutes the second night).
I don't know why climbing mountains is so tempting. Its actually quite painful - especially for me - my knees get super sore on the way down. When I climbed Mt Sinai a couple years ago I twisted my ankle so was hobbling around for a week. Not to smart for a traveller as hobbling is both more difficult and sort of embarrassing.
But can you not climb the mountain?
What I mean is --- If you are near a mountain and all the other travellers are doing it, don't you actually >have< to climb the mountain? Like if you get sore knees, really you should not come within 10 miles of a mountain or you will be compelled to climb it... Can you go to the base of Mt Fuji and not suffer for it?
So anyway, we did climb the mountain and we got terribly sunburnt. I took a picture of Kim's sunburn (its on her treemo site). Since that picture our burns have turned into blistered burns (from the sweat trying to escape through burnt skin and is starting to peel). Plus my left knee was sore for two days.
But at least I didn't twist an ankle.
We took a couple trains there, booked a couple nights in a hostel (we couldnt get a private room so we shared a room with a guy from slovakia and a girl one night, and the slovakian and a guy that came in for only 10 minutes the second night).
I don't know why climbing mountains is so tempting. Its actually quite painful - especially for me - my knees get super sore on the way down. When I climbed Mt Sinai a couple years ago I twisted my ankle so was hobbling around for a week. Not to smart for a traveller as hobbling is both more difficult and sort of embarrassing.
But can you not climb the mountain?
What I mean is --- If you are near a mountain and all the other travellers are doing it, don't you actually >have< to climb the mountain? Like if you get sore knees, really you should not come within 10 miles of a mountain or you will be compelled to climb it... Can you go to the base of Mt Fuji and not suffer for it?
So anyway, we did climb the mountain and we got terribly sunburnt. I took a picture of Kim's sunburn (its on her treemo site). Since that picture our burns have turned into blistered burns (from the sweat trying to escape through burnt skin and is starting to peel). Plus my left knee was sore for two days.
But at least I didn't twist an ankle.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
stuff I haven't seen yet.
No, I haven't seen any Sumo wrestlers, DDR dance screens on the side of buildings, Samuris, underpants in vending machines or ninjas.
Yet.
Yet.
sushi comparo
I have only had sushi twice since being here. Kim likes sushi, but has a limit of like 6 pieces, so I'll get more experience later this week.
From my limited experience so far, what I have learned is that sushi restaurants are usually stand alone. In Canada, usually there is a mix of options at the same restaurnts. But here if you are going for sushi, you are in for sushi.
The sushi itself is similar enough to what we have in Vancouver. Based on what I've seen so far, on Nigiri sushi, the rice beds are smaller and rounder than what we have at home. For Maki sushi, the sushi chefs roll them individually using precut seaweed sheets instead of rolling and cutting. There is more wasabi in the sushi than at home, which make sense, because of the 'shocking' discovery that they do not give you wasabi. That's right - no wasabi for you to mix with your sushi. Just soya sauce and the wasabi the chef already put in the sushi.
To continue the Vancouver comparo, there is more variety here. Lots of different octopussy things and other things that I honestly don't know what they are.
I did venture out and had a random one called 'natto', which, was super super hard for me to swallow. The plate came with three pieces, but I was only able to swallow one, flushed down with the water and tea I had left.
Only 2 seconds ago I googled natto and it turns out to be fermented soya beans which is according to wikipedia also popular as breakfast. If I knew that at the time, it would have been better to appreciate. Instead I was left with my imagination who suggested that it might possibly be chunks of regurgitated fish stomachs in a poison brine.
From my limited experience so far, what I have learned is that sushi restaurants are usually stand alone. In Canada, usually there is a mix of options at the same restaurnts. But here if you are going for sushi, you are in for sushi.
The sushi itself is similar enough to what we have in Vancouver. Based on what I've seen so far, on Nigiri sushi, the rice beds are smaller and rounder than what we have at home. For Maki sushi, the sushi chefs roll them individually using precut seaweed sheets instead of rolling and cutting. There is more wasabi in the sushi than at home, which make sense, because of the 'shocking' discovery that they do not give you wasabi. That's right - no wasabi for you to mix with your sushi. Just soya sauce and the wasabi the chef already put in the sushi.
To continue the Vancouver comparo, there is more variety here. Lots of different octopussy things and other things that I honestly don't know what they are.
I did venture out and had a random one called 'natto', which, was super super hard for me to swallow. The plate came with three pieces, but I was only able to swallow one, flushed down with the water and tea I had left.
Only 2 seconds ago I googled natto and it turns out to be fermented soya beans which is according to wikipedia also popular as breakfast. If I knew that at the time, it would have been better to appreciate. Instead I was left with my imagination who suggested that it might possibly be chunks of regurgitated fish stomachs in a poison brine.
Interacting with Japanese
In general, we don't interact with Japanese people that much, outside of purchasing things, because - well - we don't speak Japanese.
But, so far, vagually speaking, they ignore us. Not ignore in a bad way, but I mean, they don't pay any attention to us, unless we talk to them. At which point they are as helpful and polite as can be.
In purchasing things, generally we just point and gesture how many of each we want. This morning I had a 'croque monsieur' and Kim had a bagel, we both had lattes. So we just pointed to my croque and then pointed to me, then Kim did the same for the bagel, and then gave the "2" sign for the lattes. Then they said the price, which we read off of the cash register, handed them the money, took the change and we say some variation of "domo", "domo arigato", or "domo arigato gozea mast".
Today we were looking for a ramen restaurant. Kim likes ramen and yakisoba, fyi. Anyway we went into one place and inside the girl was cleaning the floor. We didn't know how to ask or gesture for when it was open. Then the cook came out to try her luck with us and gestured that they were closed. We pointed to the ramen and said that was what we were looking for. She invited us in. So I suspect they opened the restaurant, just for us for that time to give us ramen. Honestly I don't know. Maybe they were being super nice, maybe they were just confused and were open the whole time, or maybe they just saw that if they gave us some ramen, then the whole confusion would be over.
But, so far, vagually speaking, they ignore us. Not ignore in a bad way, but I mean, they don't pay any attention to us, unless we talk to them. At which point they are as helpful and polite as can be.
In purchasing things, generally we just point and gesture how many of each we want. This morning I had a 'croque monsieur' and Kim had a bagel, we both had lattes. So we just pointed to my croque and then pointed to me, then Kim did the same for the bagel, and then gave the "2" sign for the lattes. Then they said the price, which we read off of the cash register, handed them the money, took the change and we say some variation of "domo", "domo arigato", or "domo arigato gozea mast".
Today we were looking for a ramen restaurant. Kim likes ramen and yakisoba, fyi. Anyway we went into one place and inside the girl was cleaning the floor. We didn't know how to ask or gesture for when it was open. Then the cook came out to try her luck with us and gestured that they were closed. We pointed to the ramen and said that was what we were looking for. She invited us in. So I suspect they opened the restaurant, just for us for that time to give us ramen. Honestly I don't know. Maybe they were being super nice, maybe they were just confused and were open the whole time, or maybe they just saw that if they gave us some ramen, then the whole confusion would be over.
Pachinco parlors and Arcades
There are tons and tons of Arcades and Pachinco parlors. Several sponsored by well known brands like Sega and Taito.
The pachinco seems to be an obsession by lots of Japanese. It doesn't make any sense to us at all. I put in a 100 yen ($1) and Kim tried to play. She turned a knob and there were lots of silver balls bouncing around and eventually, after like 200 balls, we were out of balls and the game was over. I think you can make money playing this, but we didn't.
There are also slot machines and betting machines. There is a table top betting machine about the size of a large pool table where horses on magnets run around the table and people will bet on the races. I would have tried it but I did not understand the writing. Again, I presume you can make money on this.
Video game wise, what is interesting is that the arcades are on multi-levels. With girl games on the lower levels and more 'boy' games on higher levels. By girl games, I mean little photo booths where you can take pictures and paste icons (Kim and I tried this). And there are crane fishing games where you can try and grab teddy bears and drop them into a chute using the crane. By boy games, I mean shooting games, fighting games. Also on these levels are some real-time strategy games and also some 'group soccer games'. By group soccer I mean that there was a whole room dedicated to a single game and about 6 stations where each player had a set of consoles to manage their part.
I keep checking out game places as well as "manga kissa" places. I forget if I mentioned magna kissa already - but they are awesome internet cafes where you can have private massage chairs or a couch, or a flat area, or a regular area, and then have free access to movies, comics and games, drinks and ice cream to play for an hourly rate. Actually I'm sure I have written about this before, but I still like them, even if they aren't 'that far in the future'. By that I mean there aren't moving sidewalks or robots or hover cars. But there are more advanced video games, internet cafes and vending machines.
The pachinco seems to be an obsession by lots of Japanese. It doesn't make any sense to us at all. I put in a 100 yen ($1) and Kim tried to play. She turned a knob and there were lots of silver balls bouncing around and eventually, after like 200 balls, we were out of balls and the game was over. I think you can make money playing this, but we didn't.
There are also slot machines and betting machines. There is a table top betting machine about the size of a large pool table where horses on magnets run around the table and people will bet on the races. I would have tried it but I did not understand the writing. Again, I presume you can make money on this.
Video game wise, what is interesting is that the arcades are on multi-levels. With girl games on the lower levels and more 'boy' games on higher levels. By girl games, I mean little photo booths where you can take pictures and paste icons (Kim and I tried this). And there are crane fishing games where you can try and grab teddy bears and drop them into a chute using the crane. By boy games, I mean shooting games, fighting games. Also on these levels are some real-time strategy games and also some 'group soccer games'. By group soccer I mean that there was a whole room dedicated to a single game and about 6 stations where each player had a set of consoles to manage their part.
I keep checking out game places as well as "manga kissa" places. I forget if I mentioned magna kissa already - but they are awesome internet cafes where you can have private massage chairs or a couch, or a flat area, or a regular area, and then have free access to movies, comics and games, drinks and ice cream to play for an hourly rate. Actually I'm sure I have written about this before, but I still like them, even if they aren't 'that far in the future'. By that I mean there aren't moving sidewalks or robots or hover cars. But there are more advanced video games, internet cafes and vending machines.
Puppy Hotel is not for Puppies
While wandering through some of the pedestrian alleys in Osaka, we saw this hotel down the hill that had lots of little puppy statues on the outside.
A hotel with puppie statues? Yep!
I had heard that in ultra urban areas, people will really pander their pets. I had also heard of pet-coops were people could share the joy and care of a pet - so I wondered if this was one of those places.
Was the hotel for puppies? Nope!
Outside the hotel, there were pictures of the rooms. All modern, people sized rooms. One that showcased a room with a built in hot tub in a gazebo style bathroom. But the most interesting part is that the prices were for either "Rest" or "Stay". Haha. We had found a love hotel. "Rest" is for short love. Stay is for, presumably, long love. And the puppies are, obviously, for puppy love.
Being the curious types we decided to check out the super-deluxe, multi floored, hot-tub in the gazebo, penthouse room. We went in.
There was no one inside the lobby. There was a computer and a touch screen, so I pressed the buttons until I got a piece of paper that came out: "601" and some japanese writing. So we had just made our reservation....
We walked up the stairs and into the room where there was a vending machine. Being Japan - where everything is vending machines (Many ramen restaurants work by you buying a ticket from a vending machine on the outside, and then you hand the people inside the ticket it prints) - the vending machine is presumably where we were to pay.
So we tried to pay. Another thing is that Japanese vending machines (like the subway ones anyway) want money before they awaken. So I put in 1000 yen ($10) and pressed the buttons. The machine then asked for 26700 more yen! What???? $267 more dollars? Ok, this was a bit more than we wanted to pay.
The idea was just to check out the place and the culture not to have secret expensive getaway. $267 was a bit out of our budget. So we were going to leave. $10 was lost but we had the experience.
But the machine: Locked...down...the...doors.
What I mean is that we were completely trapped in this room. There was no way out of the room, and so far no human contact at all. All we had was a locked door and a machine asking for $267 more dollars.
It can be tense when you are locked in a Japanese room with no way out and a machine wanting alot more money than you intended.
We pressed all of the buttons over and over and about 15 minutes later the machine gave us the option to pay $35 dollars. We paid it. The machine unlocked the door.
So, like what did we buy for the now $45 dollars? Was the room ours? Was that it? What were we supposed to do now???
While discussing this, the machine >dutifully< LOCKED...US...IN...AGAIN!
Were we smart to get locked into a room twice? Costing $10, now $45, with a machine hungry for $267?
It might not seem that smart of us to have got locked into this room twice. But we did spend $45 dollars at this point so I >assumed< we must have had bought >something<. We just weren't sure what.
Fortunately at this point the phone in the room rang (I had poked at the phone before, but it didn't make sense before). The voice on the other side said: "You ALREADY PAID". I said, "Yes I paid. We wanted to just buy Rest but the machine wanted $267 dollars".
He said: "just dial 9 in an hour and we'll let you out."
So clearly, now, we realized that it is normal for the machine to lock you in the room, and then you are supposed to pay when you leave and there is a short grace period before it locks you into the room again. This info was not in our guide book.
So, eventually, we called the 9 and got them to let us out. Because this wasn't the normal way, we ended up talking to two maids though the door and one person on the phone to get the door unlocked. They did not know how to do this exactly. The irony to this whole situation is that these systems are specifically setup so that you see 0 people when going into and out of these love nests.
In fact, there are two video displays which show the outside street so you can see who is on the street to decide when to make your discreet exit.
For us, though, on this mission, we did learned new things but got like 1/10 for being "discreet".
A hotel with puppie statues? Yep!
I had heard that in ultra urban areas, people will really pander their pets. I had also heard of pet-coops were people could share the joy and care of a pet - so I wondered if this was one of those places.
Was the hotel for puppies? Nope!
Outside the hotel, there were pictures of the rooms. All modern, people sized rooms. One that showcased a room with a built in hot tub in a gazebo style bathroom. But the most interesting part is that the prices were for either "Rest" or "Stay". Haha. We had found a love hotel. "Rest" is for short love. Stay is for, presumably, long love. And the puppies are, obviously, for puppy love.
Being the curious types we decided to check out the super-deluxe, multi floored, hot-tub in the gazebo, penthouse room. We went in.
There was no one inside the lobby. There was a computer and a touch screen, so I pressed the buttons until I got a piece of paper that came out: "601" and some japanese writing. So we had just made our reservation....
We walked up the stairs and into the room where there was a vending machine. Being Japan - where everything is vending machines (Many ramen restaurants work by you buying a ticket from a vending machine on the outside, and then you hand the people inside the ticket it prints) - the vending machine is presumably where we were to pay.
So we tried to pay. Another thing is that Japanese vending machines (like the subway ones anyway) want money before they awaken. So I put in 1000 yen ($10) and pressed the buttons. The machine then asked for 26700 more yen! What???? $267 more dollars? Ok, this was a bit more than we wanted to pay.
The idea was just to check out the place and the culture not to have secret expensive getaway. $267 was a bit out of our budget. So we were going to leave. $10 was lost but we had the experience.
But the machine: Locked...down...the...doors.
What I mean is that we were completely trapped in this room. There was no way out of the room, and so far no human contact at all. All we had was a locked door and a machine asking for $267 more dollars.
It can be tense when you are locked in a Japanese room with no way out and a machine wanting alot more money than you intended.
We pressed all of the buttons over and over and about 15 minutes later the machine gave us the option to pay $35 dollars. We paid it. The machine unlocked the door.
So, like what did we buy for the now $45 dollars? Was the room ours? Was that it? What were we supposed to do now???
While discussing this, the machine >dutifully< LOCKED...US...IN...AGAIN!
Were we smart to get locked into a room twice? Costing $10, now $45, with a machine hungry for $267?
It might not seem that smart of us to have got locked into this room twice. But we did spend $45 dollars at this point so I >assumed< we must have had bought >something<. We just weren't sure what.
Fortunately at this point the phone in the room rang (I had poked at the phone before, but it didn't make sense before). The voice on the other side said: "You ALREADY PAID". I said, "Yes I paid. We wanted to just buy Rest but the machine wanted $267 dollars".
He said: "just dial 9 in an hour and we'll let you out."
So clearly, now, we realized that it is normal for the machine to lock you in the room, and then you are supposed to pay when you leave and there is a short grace period before it locks you into the room again. This info was not in our guide book.
So, eventually, we called the 9 and got them to let us out. Because this wasn't the normal way, we ended up talking to two maids though the door and one person on the phone to get the door unlocked. They did not know how to do this exactly. The irony to this whole situation is that these systems are specifically setup so that you see 0 people when going into and out of these love nests.
In fact, there are two video displays which show the outside street so you can see who is on the street to decide when to make your discreet exit.
For us, though, on this mission, we did learned new things but got like 1/10 for being "discreet".
Thursday, July 10, 2008
In Tokyo
So we have been in Tokyo now for a couple days. So far it has not been what I expected: It is a big huge city, much like New York or London - which I expected. But I guess I also expected more neon, more futuristic buildings, more futuristic things.
Compared to Osaka, Tokyo has alot more foreigners. In Osaka it was common for Kim and I to be the only gaijin around. In Tokyo there is an established foreigner community, so for example, it did not seem that weird that we went to an Irish pub tended by a real Irish man last night.
The Tokyo metro system is disorganized - there are 3 separate overlapping systems the JR lines, the tokyo metro lines and another other (toijin?) lines which all use different tickets. Its not a big deal, we are getting better at it - I guess the reason I bring it up is that it is something that makes getting around more difficult than it needs to be. For example, we had to buy 3 separate tickets this morning to get to the Indian embassy, where Kim has submitted her passport for a Visa.
Regarding Kim's visa, it should be ready by next friday when we are back in Tokyo.
BTW, Kim is also keeping a blog, featuring pictures at www.kimberlywarnes.com which has stories from her perspective. Also, if you want more pictures than her blog then you can also check out Kims Treemo channel
Compared to Osaka, Tokyo has alot more foreigners. In Osaka it was common for Kim and I to be the only gaijin around. In Tokyo there is an established foreigner community, so for example, it did not seem that weird that we went to an Irish pub tended by a real Irish man last night.
The Tokyo metro system is disorganized - there are 3 separate overlapping systems the JR lines, the tokyo metro lines and another other (toijin?) lines which all use different tickets. Its not a big deal, we are getting better at it - I guess the reason I bring it up is that it is something that makes getting around more difficult than it needs to be. For example, we had to buy 3 separate tickets this morning to get to the Indian embassy, where Kim has submitted her passport for a Visa.
Regarding Kim's visa, it should be ready by next friday when we are back in Tokyo.
BTW, Kim is also keeping a blog, featuring pictures at www.kimberlywarnes.com which has stories from her perspective. Also, if you want more pictures than her blog then you can also check out Kims Treemo channel
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
hello from osaka japan
Kim and I got here last night. First impressions are that it - Osaka anyway - is more industrial and served by tons of rail ways which reminds me of England. For some reason I expected that everything would be super modern and there would be no rust. There is lots of rust. Also, in getting from the Airport to Osaka the train passed through lots of small (backyard sized) rice paddies which was different.
But the weather is much warmer and humid and England - reminds me of central america - We are getting used to being sweaty all the time outside (all indoor locations are air conditioned)
So - so far it is a tropical England.
We managed to make our way using the trains from the airport to get to our hostel and went for dinner last night. We ended up at a japanese restaurant, which I chose because it looked clean and open - but after ordering we realized that it was sort of like a Japanese Denny's. I had a combo meal of pumpkin soup, and meatloaf on rice. Kim had a tastier combo of rice, teriaki fish, fried chicken and miso soup.
Today we got up early (before 7) because we are still a little out of sync with the time difference. We took a train and then a subway downtown (Osaka) and found some of the entertainment districts. Before this, we went to Mr. Donut for a donut and coffee, but after we ended up at a Starbucks because Ms. CoffySnoot wanted another one ;). Since then we walked around and took a picture of a temple, the access was closed so we took a picture from the outside, but the caretaker came by and let us walk around the statues/tombstones. Lots of buddhas and alot of buddhas wearing worn, red, bibs.
We went down the entertainment district and took some pictures in one of those girly picture booths where you can put hearts and other decorations.
So right now, we are both in Popeye's media cafe sitting on massage chairs playing with the internet (Kim is uploading pictures). The media cafe has different kinds of booths for different kinds of uses. Ours has massage chairs, others have just normal chairs, some have a sofa, and some have flat/bed type accomodations. The outer walls are lined with comic books, the air is stale smoke. Because it is still early in the day, there are probably only 5 other people in here.
But the weather is much warmer and humid and England - reminds me of central america - We are getting used to being sweaty all the time outside (all indoor locations are air conditioned)
So - so far it is a tropical England.
We managed to make our way using the trains from the airport to get to our hostel and went for dinner last night. We ended up at a japanese restaurant, which I chose because it looked clean and open - but after ordering we realized that it was sort of like a Japanese Denny's. I had a combo meal of pumpkin soup, and meatloaf on rice. Kim had a tastier combo of rice, teriaki fish, fried chicken and miso soup.
Today we got up early (before 7) because we are still a little out of sync with the time difference. We took a train and then a subway downtown (Osaka) and found some of the entertainment districts. Before this, we went to Mr. Donut for a donut and coffee, but after we ended up at a Starbucks because Ms. CoffySnoot wanted another one ;). Since then we walked around and took a picture of a temple, the access was closed so we took a picture from the outside, but the caretaker came by and let us walk around the statues/tombstones. Lots of buddhas and alot of buddhas wearing worn, red, bibs.
We went down the entertainment district and took some pictures in one of those girly picture booths where you can put hearts and other decorations.
So right now, we are both in Popeye's media cafe sitting on massage chairs playing with the internet (Kim is uploading pictures). The media cafe has different kinds of booths for different kinds of uses. Ours has massage chairs, others have just normal chairs, some have a sofa, and some have flat/bed type accomodations. The outer walls are lined with comic books, the air is stale smoke. Because it is still early in the day, there are probably only 5 other people in here.
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