Vietnam

Alright, I promise this is going to be a good one!!!

Since the last entry I have done a lot of cool stuff, and am really excited to be telling you about it all!!!

But before I get into all that, I would like to start by congratulating Matt Hwalek and his Fiancee Meghan for having a wonderful healthy baby boy. On November 27th, Caiden Mathew Hwalek was born. Congradulations Matt, and good luck entering this new journey they call fatherhood!

Holler Jim Cullen, whoever you are. If you are the guy who thought I was on drugs that morning I was hungover from drinking a bottle of whiskey the night before, then read up!!! Thanks for subscribing to the post bud!

Hit meter is at 8,932 guys.... Lets make 10,000!!!!

This one is a long one. A special holiday edition, because I am sure a lot of you will be sitting around looking for something to do - so here goes.

I left off at Siem Riep, Cambodia, and this entry takes us through Phenom Phen, Cambodia, into the south of Vietnam, and up to Hanoi in the north.

Cities:
Phenom Phen, Cambodia
Ho Chi Minh City (AKA HCMC, AKA Saigon), Vietnam
Nha Trang
Hoi An
Hue
Hanoi

So, after going to Angkor Wat in Siem Riep, me and Kylie (travel buddy from New Zealand), headed out to Phenom Phen. The main draw there is to go see all the remnances of Pol Pot's regime, and all the destruction that occurred to the country under the Khmer Rouge.

The first place we hit up was S-21. This was originally a high school which was later converted for use by the secret police from 1975-79. Tuol Svay Prey High School, later renamed S-21 (security prison 21) was a real shithole in its day. Of the 20,000 prisoners held here during its heyday, only 7 survived.

Conditions were terrible, and as you go through the place you get a real eerie feeling. There are seperate cells where inmates were chained at the legs to the floor, and if they moved, spit, made a noise, etc. were beaten. Upstairs were large rooms where 40 people or so were shackled at the feet next to one another in a large room, and were not allowed to move or would be beaten.

Entrance to Toulslang Gang

Shit is no laughing matter...

Birdie in barbed wire

A lot of different torture techniques were used, and of the seven victims that survived, one was an artist, and painted these pictures.

Weekly (and sometimes daily) prisoners were shipped from here to the killing fields where they were murdered. Most of the time the murder was by bludgeoning in order to save precious bullets that were needed to crush the enemies of the revolution.

At the killing fields there is a really nice memorial for all the victims of the Khmer regime. Inside is 9,000 skulls that were found during excavations of the mass graves at the killing fields. If you take a close look at the skulls, you can see that many have large fractures, or dents (dont know the medical term???) from being bashed to death.

Outside

Inside

On the outside you can see indented areas in the ground where excavations occurred, and signs indicate what is in those areas. Some of the most disturbing is the one grave with 163 bodies who were decapatated, and the one for children and mothers. If you look closely at the ground you will notice that there are areas where the rains have washed away the soil to reveal the clothing of those who have been murdered. Its super eerie.

I have to say that once you go to S-21, and the killing fields you wont be in the happiest of moods. It will leave you feeling disturbed. You know you are fucking around with bad karma by going to those places. It really makes you wonder how normal people can turn into such vicious monsters.

After such a terrible morning, me and Kylie went to a shooting range and shot some machine guns to lift our spirits!!! They had a bunch of options on the menu, and coming from the gun thirsty US of A, I had shot most of their options, so I went for a Russian K57 fully automatic belt fed machine gun. The other option was an M60 (7.62mm US machine gun from the Vietnam era), but they said that it jammed a lot, so I went with the Russian option. For $20 more you can shoot a duck or a chicken. For a couple hundred dollars you can shoot an RPG (rocket), and blow something up or throw a hand grenade. If you pay a bit extra, you can blow up a cow. I really really wanted the RPG, but heard it was cheaper in Vietnam, so I waited. It turns out that its not cheaper, so I really missed out.... Oh well – put it on the list. I hear you can do that kind of stuff in some of the ex-Soviet states that nobody remembers their names.

And then there was this guy who didnt use earplugs, but instead preferred to use empty shell casings as ear protection...

Kylie wasn't so impressed by my half hour lesson on the history of the Klashnikov...

From Phenom Phen, we headed out to Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon in Vietnam. Saigon was renamed when North Vietnam captured the south, and reunited the country in 1975. In honor of their esteemed leader the city was renamed after Uncle Ho. HCMC is a nuthouse. It has something like 6 million motorbikes, and sometimes you will be at an intersection and will see motorbikes going for 5 minutes, nonstop through the intersection with no stopping. Its a sea of motorbikes.

First introduction to HCMC. They love motorbikes so much, they never want to leave them. Not even to sleep!!!

We did kind of a lot in HCMC, and started by going to the Reunification Palace. This was the house of the South Vietnamese president up until the invasion by the north. It has been preserved in its original state, and is cool to see. The offices, and meeting halls were ok, but for me I thought the war planning rooms, and the underground bunkers were the best. Sitting in the map room, I could imagine that bastard Defense Secretary Robert Macnamara, or General Westmoreland giving all their shit statistics and feeding a load of garbage to South Vietnamese president Diem.

There was a bunch of quick escape routes from different areas of the house, and in the basement was a concrete bunker with radio and command equipment. There also was a helicopter that was always on alert in order to fly the president away in an emergency.

Ramdomly, these hollowed out elephants feet were gifts that the president left behind

From there we went to the War Remembrance Museum, which was interesting to see the Vietnamese viewpoint on the war. First of all, they refer to the war as the “American War”, and the way they portray it is that the US came in, and fought this war all by themselves. They would never portray the South Vietnamese as being in bed with the US, let alone fight against the North. They highlight all the VC who fought hard and were successful as “American Killer Heroes” - thats the name of the medals they were given. They then went into the disastrous effects of agent orange, and how the US knew how bad it was but still used it. After that they rubbed in the My Lai Massacre, where US troops murdered 500 innocent civilians, and some of the other unknown massacres that occurred on a smaller scale. Its basically communist slander at the US, and portrays the South Vietnamese as innocent bystanders, while the powerful North through all its determination was able to defeat the US war machine. It didn't talk much about the French occupation, or the battles of Dien Bien Phu, General Giap's massacre at Hue, or the Chinese occupation either. Strictly US bashing, and I can understand why. The US raped and pillaged South East Asia, and they have every reason to be pissed at us. We fucked them hard and I really feel for them.

Wow, shes sexy......... haha - talking about the jet.

I was taught to fear these people...

Piece of a B-52 wing shot down during the 1972 christmas bombings

When I was there, they had an exhibition on some of the prisons in South Vietnam, but of particular interest was this 18th century guillotine used by the French on some 200 prisoners during their occupation. Creepie!!!

From HCMC, I went on a day trip to Cu Chi Tunnels. In the Cu Chi district of South Vietnam, they were the staging point for operations within the Saigon area during 1968 Tet Offensive. They are a massive tunnel complex that was used by the VC (South Vietnamese communist sympathizers who fought against the US). There were armament bunkers, bomb shelters, a hospital, kitchens, etc. all underground, hidden from sight. The US soldiers who operated in the Cu Chi area were under constant observation from hidden posts that were the most clever of designs. If the soldiers were able to make it around the area without coming under attack, then they had to make it through all the hidden traps that were in the area. A majority came from pungee sticks (sharpened bamboo spikes hidden below false ground). The people who worked there showed the 30 or so different ways that a pungee stick trap could be made, and what it would do to you if you got caught in it.

I heart VC!

Of course hanging out on the end of a tank barrel makes sense!!! Why Not!!! Give me a beer!!!

When I was younger, I was so inspired by the Cu Chi tunnels that I made a small underground room in my backyard with a similar construction to the VC just like this one.

Before

After

From HCMC, we went to Nha Trang which is a nice beach town. Unfortunately, when we were there we had nothing but cloudy weather but it was still good nonetheless.

I was so proud that I was able to become a millionaire!!!

Me with one million dongs...... (not what your thinking sicko – their currency is Vietnamese Dong)

And then Kylie laughing at me because its really only worth like $50.

It was in Nha Trang that I had my first encounter with snake wine. When I was working in Binghamton, we had a guy from Vietnam in our department, and after he got back from a three week vacation there he told us about snake wine, and I was hooked. I knew I needed to have some. Snake wine isnt that complicated, and is basically wine that has a big ass snake in it. There are a lot of variations on it though. I have seen snake wine with birds, geckos, snakes, starfish, alligators, etc. in it. So when I found it in a restaurant for the first time I gave it a go.

Before

After

Other snake wines I found along my journey

Then we went to this cool monastery.

And Kylie found her favorite plant in the whole wide world...

And there were these cool Buddhas.

This was my favorite, the sitting Buddha

The next day we had to wait for the bus, and it was cloudy so we took a gondola to an amusement park island and rode these funny shitty Vietnamese rides.

View from amusement island

Nha Trang port

From Nha Trang we headed out to Hoi An, where we literally didnt do anything because we got sick from our food. Hoi An is the best place in the world to get a suit. For as little as $20 you can get a handmade suit to your body size and type in a matter of 24 hours. I would have liked to pick up some joke suits, but I was saving my cash to shoot a rocket so I turned it down.

From Hoi An we headed to Hue, which was the capital of Vietnam from 1800 to 1945. We went to a cool temple there (Thien Mu Pagoda), which is really important for the Vietnamese, is a symbol for the city, and overlooks the water so its really beautiful there.

Then it was off to the Citadel, which was the historic city. With gigantic walls, it was the home of the emperor, and was filled with a secret community of concubines, emporers, and their buddies where they partied it up.

Me and my ten foot cock...

Then the next day I went on a DMZ (demilitarized zone) tour, which was cool, but only if you are a military buff like me. When I was a senior in high school we were asked to write a thesis paper on a topic of choice. The guidelines were that the paper had to be between 7 and 9 pages and the topic had to be approved by the teacher.

I chose the war in Vietnam, and in the end I was told that my paper was the best the teacher had seen in his whole career, and would be used as an example for classes to come, but was chewed out and received an A- for the solely because my 31 page paper didnt fit the length guidelines. Needless to say, I was more educated on the war than most of my Vietnamese tour guides, but it was still good fun.

We started by visiting this monument to women fighters, and those who worked in telecommunications during the war.

From there we went to the Vinh Moc tunnels, which were just north of the DMZ. They were used by the local people to hide and carry on with their lives during long term bombing operations by the US. It was once used to shelter 250 people, and 17 babies were born underground. The tunnels were a bit more spatious than in Cu Chi (they were in the North, so the tunnels were more used as an underground village than to fight the US), and they even had a meeting room/movie theatre.

This was a really nice memorial to the war in the museum

Then I had to get my hands on this Russian AAA gun

This was the conditions the families lived under while above ground B-52s were dropping massive loads all over the place

Cool lantern found underground

Then my favorite part of the tour was to head to Khe Sanh. The famous Marine base was the sight of the four month seige by NVA and VC forces in 1968. With 6,000 combined Marines and ARVN troops vs. a staggering 30,000 NVC and VC the Marines were surrounded, cut off, and had no logistical supply. For four months it was like hell living there, and in the end the VC pulled out sustaining heavy losses on the order of 15,000 troops. The place has a lot of history, and holds a special place in all Marines hearts (next to Chosin, Iwo Jima, Belleau Wood, etc.).

Today, the base has been taken over by coffee plantations, and there is little more than a museum as a reminder of all the shit that went down here.

Various parts of aircraft that were destroyed and left behind

Unexploded ordinance that was retrieved from the nearby areas. Twenty four hour a day large scale bombings by B-52s dessimated the North Vietnamese forces, and have left a lot of damage to the area.

Lone bunker that has been left behind as a reminder

From Hue, we then headed up to Hanoi. The capital of North Vietnam, this place was the center of the communist war machine. With all the Russian munitions coming in through Haiphong harbor, just a few hours away, they were brought in by rail to Hanoi, then down to the south on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Hanoi was really pretty, and I think we unanimously liked it more than any other city in Vietnam. If you ever make it out there, the area to stay in is the old quarter. It has a heavy French influence, and is really amazing. Just a few blocks away is a really nice lake, where you can walk around and see people doing all sorts of crazy exercises.

Night pics of the lake in Hanoi

I was super pumped about it, but I'm not so sure if Kylie was, but the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum was really cool. In the spirit of all good communists (Stalin, Lennin, & Mao), we hit up the mausoleum. Unfortunately, 15 armed soldiers ensure you don't take a picture, but it was something to be seen. I never thought I would be interested in seeing a dude who's been dead for 50 years...

Uncle Ho's resting place

Just next door is the Indochina governmental palace. This is where the French ruled from.

So, I know all this military shit is getting to be a bit much for you all, so I will keep it short. From there, we went to the Hoa Lo prison, also known as the “Hanoi Hilton”, so affectionately known by US airmen who spent countless years rotting there.

Service medal awarded to those who served

The “central house”, was the most elaborate jail in indochina, and the French made heavy use of it until 1954. They also had a guillotine here that removed the head of some 200 odd people.

The old layout of the prison until a majority of it was knocked down in 1999 to make room for a 20 story hotel. Who won the war now commies???

The first half of the prison explains how torterous the French were (not at all how almost all the jail staff was Vietnamese), and how the leaders of the revolution were punished here. The second half shows what a good life the US airmen had when being in jail there. They showed the cigarettes, mail, gifts, guitars, etc. that they had. All the pictures were of them smiling, and of the ones who were healthy. They then showed how humanely they were when they gave them first class clothes, and allowed them to return back home at the end of the war. It was a fat load of commie propoganda, but was funny more than anything else.

McCains flight suit and gear. He was shot down flying his Navy A-4 Skyhawk on a bombing mission of an electrical power plant that was really a decoy for a surface to air missile site. He spent the better part of 6 years in the Hanoi Hilton, and no longer can lift his arms above his head because of the abuse he suffered at the hands of the NVA.

These next photos are of of random Hanoi street life...

Cant get away from the rickshaws!!!

Me ghostriding the rickshaw. Told you Id do it!

Cool lantern store

So Kylie went to look for a jumper, and the man who owned the store was smoking this bong looking thing, and I asked if I could smoke with him so I did. I wasn't sure what he was smoking at first, but he was doing it on the street so it couldn't be bad. Anyways, I hit it and immediately the whole block started cracking up at me. They thought it was absolutely hilarious, and we all laughed about it for ages.

Then there was Ha Long Bay.... This place is amazing. You really have to go. Its a series of islands that are just a few hours from Hanoi. The best way to do it is to take a junk. Maybe a piece of junk, if you go for budget, but a junk is one of those ancient asian boats thats really cool looking. Im running short on available text so I will allow the pictures to do the talking...

I would have to say this is maybe one of the best pictures I have ever taken...

Thats all for now. Gotta run. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I will be writing my next post from Iran, so till then...

B

I just want to thank you all for being so patient with me. I have really slacked off when it comes to the blog, but I have been quite busy taking chicken busses, as well as trying to figure out my future. I have been on the road 6 months now, and unfortunately am coming close to the end. I figure I have about another month or so of travel left before I have to make a decision and stick to it with regard to where I want to live.

In the meanwhile I just want to once again thank you all for reading my entries. I know they may seem boring, or just way too long to read sometimes but there is a reason for this. I know that I have been blessed in this world to be given such opportunity, and that I have made the right choices in life to put me in this position. A majority of the people in this world will never be able to experience anything near what I have been able to see and experience on this trip. Chances are that many of you who are reading are in a similar situation because of other commitments (family, significant others, mortgages, jobs, etc...)

Therefore, I feel like I really want to try and have you experience it like I have. More importantly my goal is that after reading my stories, hopefully it will give each and every one of you to go out there and hit the road and explore all the world has to offer.

With all that being said, since the last entry I checked out these places:

- Chiang Mai
- Pai
- Mae Hong Son
- Katchanaburi
- Siem Riep (Cambodia)

Chiang Mai – Chiang Mai is the largest city in the north of Thailand. The ancient city is about 12 hours by train, or 10 hours by bus from Bangkok. The perimeter is a large square formed by large brick walls that are surrounded by a large moat that prevented invaders from getting in, and is easily walked on foot. It takes only about 20 minutes to walk from end to end. The main attraction at Chiang Mai is the temples. Outside of this, it is mainly used as a gateway point to the Golden Triangle (3 way border with Burma, Thailand, and Laos) and to visit the hilltribes of the north. The golden triangle has forever been known as a large transit point for the smuggling of opium, and as an access point for Burmese guerillas to get supplies and medicine. My main goal in visiting Chiang Mai was to motorbike around. When I was in Nepal I met a man who told me for about 4 hours all about this website (www.gt-riders.com) Golden Triangle Riders, who have made maps and have a website all about motorbiking in asia. It was all started by one man who wanted to motorbike in asia 15 years ago and couldn’t find any legitimate information on it. There was no maps, no info on where to go or distances involved. More on this later.

In the north the most popular deal is to ride an elephant, go on a bamboo raft down the river, and visit the golden triangle. Most people do it on a tour, but you would be waaay better off if you just bought a map from the 7-11 and went on a shitty little scooter motorbike. I never got the opportunity to do so because of a time crunch, but take my word for it – this is the way to go.

When I was in Chiang Mai, I ate up a whole day writing my last blog entry (thank you very much), and then spent the next day checking out all the various temples. Chiang Mai has the highest per capita concentration of temples in all of Thailand. Squeezed within the small city walls are something like 300 temples!!!

Highway to the Danger Zone!!!

Offerings to Buddha: toothpaste, socks, toothbrush, bubble gum, money, a bag of potato chips, pen, chocolate, tiger balm, oh yeah, and don’t forget the toothbrush to go with the toothpaste.

Pai – This place is a real stoner hangout. I think the PC term is “counter culture”, but regardless the whole idea of the place is to kick back and do nothing. Im serious, they have tshirts that are real popular that say “do nothing in Pai” that have a picture of a dude just sitting on a couch somewhere half asleep. Its got a similar vibe to Kathmandu, and just about every restaurant is called gonja café, or rasta bar, or something like that. I had high hopes from everything I heard that Pai was going to be amazing, but for me I wasn’t as into it as I could have been. Just a bit too stonerish for me. I did have an amazing chicken burrito at a place owned by a guy from Jersey City for thanksgiving which was nice.

I took a motorbike out in Pai, and cruised around. For $2.50 a day you can rent a 125cc manual scooter/motorbike and cruise. Pai has really beautiful countryside, and that is where I spent most of my time. I went to an old WWII bridge, Pai Canyon, some hot springs, a cool mountain temple, and to a Chinese village. When I was there I went to a bookstore, and on my way out these Thai guys offered me whiskey so I drank with them. It turns out that the one guy Ten, who owned the bookstore just published his first book and was looking to sell it at the upcoming movie festival in a few days time from when I was there. He was worried because he had to make a quota, but Thai people don’t like to read. The only time they go to the bookstore is to stand in front of it and to take a funny picture like “hahha, look at me – im at the bookstore. Im reading, hahaha” like it’s a big joke to read. Long story short I mistakenly told him that if I worked selling for him that he would no problem make his quota, and I really wanted to help him out, but I had to boogie out and never did it. I think I really let him down. If you are reading this, Ten – I wish you the best of luck buddy!

Pai Canyon – This place was pretty sweet, and had these really weird walkways where everything else around it was eroded.

Cool WWII bridge. Unfortunately I cant tell you more than that.

Funny ferris wheel of sorts powered by people at Chinese village. In typical fashion they had really loud and fast techno playing and girls who had little charms hanging from their mobile phones.

Chinese village

Mae Hong Son (MHS) – I would have to say that of the places I visited in the north, this was my favorite. A bit bigger than Pai, but smaller than Chiang Mai. The town is situated on a really beautiful little pond, with a really sweet Buddhist temple as the centerpiece of the town. They have a really good night market with many handmade goods that come from the local hilltribes. It’s a lot better to buy directly from the person making it rather than in a market in Bangkok where there is 7 other people to pay off, and the profits are mafia controlled. Because of the close geographical location to Burma Mae Hong Son attracts some interesting people. No matter where you go in Thailand you will see older white guys who go for the Thai women (mostly the rejects because they could never score back home), but in Mae Hong Son you don’t see so much the sex tourists or the guys who have legitimate Thai wives, but rather ex-military types. I didn’t figure out what they were doing there until I chatted it up with this guy (I will withhold his identity because he asked me to) who grew up in Riverhead who told me all about the different underground organizations that run out of MHS that funnel supplies, munitions, medicine, intelligence etc. into Burma. They also take care of the hilltribes in Thailand and make sure the ones who are on uncle sams payroll get fair and just treatment for their service to the US DOD intelligence network. Just because of the way I was talking he asked if that was what I was in search for, but I turned him down. Long story short this guy gave me the skinny on Burma, and just about everything that is going on in this long forgotten part of the world.

Also while in MHS I went to a bar where it was just me and another guy, and we started to chat it up. I saw he had a Golden Triangle Riders shirt on, so I asked if he has ever done some of the rides up in the North. It turns out that I stumbled upon the legend!!! This guy in the bar, who was drinking a whole bottle of Ballantines to the head was the originator of Golden Triangle Riders, the original SE Asia motorbike man. Anyways, I went to another bar with him and got absolutely tore down until I met a guy who worked for the Department of Homeland Security and we drank another bottle of whiskey in the street (damn that was a rough night). The INS (no longer the name) is in north Thailand processing paperwork on some 10,000 IDPs (internally displaced peoples) from Burma. Some have served the US as guerilla fighters going back as far as Vietnam working as CIA operatives deep within Lao and Cambodia, and some are in search of a new life.

Katchanaburi – This place, 3 hours west of Bangkok is pretty sweet. The highlights are The Bridge on The River Kwai, Erawan National Park, and the Tiger Temple. I went to Katchanaburi with a kiwi friend Kylie, who I met in the south of Thailand a couple of weeks earlier. She was working in Bangkok as an English teacher, but wrapped that up before hitting the road with me.

Me and Kylie in Tuk-Tuk around town.

Katchanaburi was the last town in Thailand I was going to check out before hitting the road for Cambodia and Vietnam. That makes my Thailand experience longer than any other country I have been to.

Towns visited:
- Phuket
- Ko Phi Phi
- Krabi
- Ko Tao
- Bangkok
- Chiang Mai
- Pai
- Mae Hong Son
- Katchanaburi

The Bridge on the River Kwai is most famous because of the Hollywood blockbuster by the same name. Unfortunately I have never seen the movie, so I cant say anything about its truthfulness with all that I understand. Regardless, the bridge was built by Japanese prisoners of war during WWII. Its purpose was to connect Burma with Bangkok, and the conditions were so terrible that 17,000 Soldiers, Airmen, Seamen and Marines from England, Australia, US, and Holland died alongside 100,000 captured workers. The conditions of the workers were terrible, and if you go to the museums you can get a good feel for what a miserable life it must have been for the prisoners. The original estimate for how long it would take to build the railroad was 5 years, but with the accelerated pace of the war and the use of a prisoner workforce it was completed in only 18 months.

Thailand was initially neutral during WWII and didn’t want to have to choose sides, but was essentially forced by the Japanese war machine to sign a pact saying that they would not intervene in military affairs, but that Japan would be able to operate freely within its borders. That’s why the Japanese were building a bridge in Thailand.
At night the town puts on a light and sound show during the first week of December every year for all the survivors. It was kind of a joke initially, but then it got better as the story unfolded (in Thai) about the Japanese occupation, the laborers conditions, and eventually the Allied assault on the bridge. At the end was a fireworks show as the original Japanese train crossed the bridge. My favorite part was when a remote control B-25 Mitchell (the original plane used in the allied attacks on the bridge) all lit up with lights flew around shooting fireworks that blew up at the bridge. I don’t know why but I thought that was really cool.

The next day me and Kylie rented a motorbike, and drove all around. First we hit up Erawan National Park, which is most famous for their waterfall. There are 7 major waterfalls, and about 15 little ones which are equally unique. The place is so amazing, that it almost looks fake, but its all natural. The water is pure blue, almost as if the source is a mountain glacier. Its really beautiful, and if you are ever in that part of town you should def hit it up.

On the way back, the strap on my helmet broke, and while going 100km/hr it flew way up in the air and almost hit a chicken truck. When I went to return the bike, the girl was confused at how I could have a helmet that was smashed to pieces, but that the bike was all ok. I think I am the first person ever to crash only the helmet, and not the bike.

The Tiger Temple was expensive ($12 to get in), but worth it. It originally started as a Buddhist temple where people from the town would take wounded baby tigers, and eventually the monks got good at taking care of them and so people brought more and more animals until one day they needed the expertise of western zoologists, and now its more zoo than temple. They have roughly 35 tigers that range from 4 months to full grown adults, leopards, pigs, buffalos, peackocks, huge crazy deer, some crazy fire breathing eagle, etc…

Finally found the chanchito!!!

Me

Buffalo sunning itself

Pterodactyl

Leopard

The thing about the tigers is that you can go and pet the tigers if you are up for it. When you see them for the first time you cannot believe that they are not drugged. They are just lying around, sleeping most of the time, and it just seems so unnatural. After chatting it up with some of the western staff they do their best to convince you that there are no drugs involved and that the only reason the tigers are so tame is because they spend their whole lives around people. At night when they feed it is very dangerous, and they have to be caged. Tigers by nature are nocturnal animals, and I can say that from my experiences in the African savannah from seeing truly wild big cats (Lions, cheetahs, leopards, etc. ) that they really just sleep all day, but even then you cannot predict their behavior, and they still will eat your fucking face off if they feel like it.

I wasnt much of a cat man up untill a couple of months ago, but how could you deny that face???

Oh shit!!! I killed the tiger!!! Oh wait, its just on elephant tranqs....

This one was a freakin animal. He was probably at least 7 or 8 feet long, and nothing but solid muscle.

From Katchanaburi we headed back to Bangkok where I had to take care of some administrative type stuff, and then we headed out to Cambodia. The bus ride from Bangkok to Siem Riep is about 12 hours, and isn’t too bad, but the border is quite shitty. Poypet has a reputation for being a real shithole, and it certainly lived up to its reputation. The most interesting thing about this travel was to see the difference from the Thai side to the Cambodian side. The difference is immediate.

Cambodia is poor, disorganized, chaotic, a bit more dangerous, and the people have a different philosophy than Thais. Their country has been ravaged for the past 30 years, and for only the past 8 or so years have had their borders opened for what I would consider mass tourism (pretty sure you wouldn’t though). The people have done their best to forget the horrors of the past, and are moving on in search of a better life. There are no real jobs in Cambodia, and it’s a real hard life. There are a lot of beggars everywhere (mostly victims of landmines), and the people are really pushy to beg or sell you anything you can imagine. The countryside is unspoiled, and it was a good experience for me to get back into a shithole. When I went from spending one month in Nepal, to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia it was a surreal experience to be back in civilization with clean streets, ATMs, starbucks, a postal system, safe roads, traffic lights, etc. and I never got back into the filth, grime, and poverty of Asia until Cambodia.

To go quickly into the history of Cambodia, it has been historically the center of the Khmer empire. It is most famous for its massive temples, most notably Angkor Wat which is so important to the nation that it is the centerpiece of the Cambodian flag. As a part of Indochina (the French colonies of Cambodia, Lao, and Vietnam) there is a definite French influence, and a majority of all street signs, restaurant signage, etc is in Khmer (language) as well as French. Baguettes can be found nearly everywhere, and French pastries are sold by just about everybody and their mother on the street.

The most important piece of recent Cambodian history is the reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge which left the country in shambles, and over 2 million Cambodians dead. I will go into depth on this in the next entry when I talk about S-21 and the killing fields.

The general name Angkor Wat is loosely used for all the different temples in the Angkor Wat complex, but really Angkor Wat itself is only one of a series of about 40 or so temples with a 10km radius of Siem Riep. The major sights are Angkor Wat, Hit Ta Prohm, and Angkor Thom which inside is Bayon. It’s a pretty big area that can be covered in anywhere from one day to an entire week, and is best covered by bicycle or tuk-tuk. You can hire a tuk-tuk for $10 a day and the driver will drop you off and wait for you as you cover the temple, and then you move onto the next one. Its makes for a real nonchalant day, and is a lot easier in the heat than peddling the distance.

Angkor Thom – This is a major complex surrounded by a huge moat that has a lot of cool sights. First head to Bayon, then check out the Terrace of Elephants, and the rest of the lot.

Kylie at terrace of elephants

Bayon – 216 faces like this in one of the highlights of any tour of Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat – Built in the 1100s, this is the largest religious building in the world, UNESCO site, and is simply amazing.

Shoutouts…

I really like this one

Hit Ta Prohm – This place is crazy. Its filled with trees that have engulfed the temple and have become one with the stone structure. The archaeologists like it because of the cycle of life it represents as man conquered nature to create, and nature conquered humans to destroy. Countless movies have been filmed here including Tomb Raider because of how awesome it is.

Band of dudes who are landmine victims. All are missing limbs or eyes. My favorite is the guy who plays the leaf. No, that’s not the name of a fancy shmancy instrument. Its just a damn leaf from a plant.

Crazy tree

Random

At sunset you go up to the top of this one temple which has a pretty good view, but the steps up are so steep and narrow, you have to use your arms and legs. Some people who were out of shape struggled.

After hitting up all the temples, we were wore out so we went to an all you can eat buffet and pigged out for the only meal of the day and enjoyed a Cambodian traditional dance show. The dancing is only partially accurate, and is mostly for tourists, but is still cool to see.

That’s all for now. Don’t give up hope on me just yet. I have a couple more entries to go before I finally get my bearings in life and finally figure out what I want to do. Till then, cheers!