February 6, 2006
Hello Folks
Since last I wrote I was in Bangkok for 10 days. Lots of mosquitos in the last place I stayed at and I have mosquito bites all over my arms and body. (Note to self: pick up insect repellant). The last place was a real dump but I booked it through an agency because it was cheap but they had no pictures available to show me (Now I know why!). TAT is the main agency for booking all travel needs but I didn't realize they pad the bill by 70% and stuck me in a dump. Welcome to Asia Kevin!!. Everything is commission over here.
Touts of all ages who speak english will chat you up and ask what you are looking for and then lead you to a commissioned store where they get a little something for bringing you in. I am getting used to their bidet toilet system too since I couldn't figure out why there was hardly any toilet paper available and all toilets come with a hose with a nozzle attached to the wall. At first I thought I was being bad when I used it out of necessity having no toilet paper available until I realized that was why it was there.
I am shocked at the amount of "lady boys" I have spotted in Bangkok. Many travelers have said you can't tell the lady boys from the thai woman but I spot them immediately wondering why there are guys in drag walking the streets of Bangkok. After I got my bus ticket I spotted some delicious looking chicken so I bought it and sat down at an outside eatery when this gender confused freako sat down across from me with arms flinging around like gays do when they over dramatize female movements and this "freako" was trying to start conversation with me as I tried to enjoy my chicken asking me questions like where are you from etc... I was rolling my eyes and looking in the opposite direction trying to give "it" the hint to piss off and finally I just said I didn't understand what he was saying and it took awhile before he/it finally left me alone.
From the street vendors I got a whole catfish on a shishkabob and it was absolutely delicious and the meat basically just slid off the bones. Asian cooking is superb and they can cook anything and make it taste delicious.
After 10 days in Bangkok I left for Siam Reap, Cambodia to see Angkor Wat which was a 12 hour bus ride which was comfortable until we got to the Cambodian border and changed buses where 20 of us packed into a mini van and drove over the pot hole filled dirt road to Siam Reap (Our asses were hurting after that). They have illegal gas stations where they fill up 2 liter bottles with gasoline and my guide told me they pay off the corrupt cops to look the other way. Apparently cops have 2 other jobs and being a cop isn't a full time job and doesn't pay anything (Geez, I wonder why there are corrupt cops??). Our bus stopped at a guest house at 10pm and most of us were too tired to argue or look for another one. In the morning I got a driver who looks exactly like the chinese kid from "Indiana Jones and the temple of doom" called "Short round". So I nicknamed him shortie.
A Swiss traveler who I chatted with the whole bus ride said he wasn't allowed to rent a scooter and I didn't see one traveler riding a scooter but they make you get one with a driver to show you around Angkor Wat and all the other ancient temples in this area. Angkor Wat is just the biggest temple here which is surrounded by a mout and is 1.3 x1.5km but there are many other huge temples in the area and another big one is the Bayan which you have probably seen with all the smiley faces on 4 sides of a tower. I have to admit the temples here are way more impressive than the ones the Mayans built which I visited a few years ago. Half way through our day my driver "shorty" says he has to go to a wedding reception for a couple hours and asks if I want to stay at a temple for a couple hours or go with him to the wedding reception. He said it was all you can eat and all the Angkor beer you can drink and I said............ SURE!!!
The groom greeted me at the door saying "Thank you for coming" and we sat down and started pounding back Cambodian made "Angkor beer". I must have drank 20 beer (only because I was being polite and didn't want to offend anyone sucking back 50 in an hour or so). The food was absolutely delicious and I had the best cooked shrimp I have ever had. Even with chopsticks I got lots down :). They served fried duck and other foods and girls came around topping our beer drinks with ice cubes on a regular basis. I was surprised that many could speak english. My guide book said the average cambodian makes $20US PER MONTH!! Obviously these people made a little more but I put $20US as a gift to the groom and a guy at the hotel said he opened it and was shocked at the huge sum of money I gave him since most people contributed very small amounts (I felt like I drank $30 worth of beer + incredible food so didn't think much of it).
After that shortie and I drove back to Angkor wat very drunk. I stumbled around the site taking random pictures of nothing when three monks dressed in orange robes called up to me to stay where I was and that they were coming up. OK I am pissed out of my tree and these holy men want to talk to me...Great! Anyhow they smile and gesture that their photographer wants to get a shot of them with the big white blond guy. Later on I wanted to find a nice fluffy bush to pass out under but I know my driver would never find me.
Everytime you pass by a concession stand many Cambodian women will cry out "Hey Meeeeeeister! Want some cold driiiiiiiiiink?". Of course they all want you to deal with them and not their competition that is 5 feet away from each other. I saw a couple small elephants being rode around like a car with the driver putting his foot on the elephants ear to get it to slow down (I guess that is the brake).
On our second day we got into a scooter collision with another scooter. Asian drivers will drive on the opposite side of the road going into oncoming traffic on the shoulder of the road and it is normal here but my driver shortie was in the wrong since you are not technically allowed to do that and some guy swerved to turn and we T-boned him and crashed. The other guy drove a piece of junk scooter so he didn't care about the damage and left. We saw at least 100 orange robed monks marching across the road at Angkor wat and shortie told me it was their once a year fast and meditation time where they spend one full month in solitude with no food. The next day we went out to a far off site where there were not too many tourists and saw some very poor people who lived in bamboo huts with stilts in case of floods. I was shocked at how happy the kids were and everytime they saw me they would smile and wave frantically or say "Hallo!".
Later we went back to Angkor wat site and played with some monkeys. Shortie told me they would bite me if I tried to touch them but I sat still and a few came up to me and one climbed up me like a ladder and sat on my head with a strong grip like a frightened cat then it came down and started biting my finger trying to take a piece off by moving its head but its teeth were too dull (Thank god!). Shortie got a picture of it and then my sunglasses got knocked off my head and the little bugger grabbed them like a rugby ball firmly tucked in its armpits as it made a dash for the jungle. Shortie got them before the little bugger got away and as he did another grabbed his helmet and made a mad dash for the jungle to bring back its prize which was funny to us until we saw he had the keys to the scooter in his little palm and that is when we freaked out and chased the monkey but he dropped it before making it back into the forested area. Some of the monkeys had little babies in their pouch and the babies would jump out to look around and the mother would just hold onto the babies tail to make sure it didn't get very far.
I just finished my 3 day tour of Angkor Wat and surrounding temples and am off to Phnom Penh tomorrow morning for a fun and enjoyable bumpy 9 hour ride (I can't wait!!). I am checking flights with Air Asia which is the airline all the asians use since they are dirt cheap and thinking of heading into Vietnam after getting a visa in Phnom Penh. Shortie told me the Cambodian language is 50% similar to Thai language but 50% different but can understand each other. He told me a lot of Cambodian history and all the kings where it thrived between 700AD and 1400AD when the Thais came in and wiped them out. Very similar time period as the Mayans. Wandered around Siam Reap in the back markets which were disgusting to western standards with flies all over the meat and fish and I saw turtles, ducks and fish for sale.
This internet connection is really slow so I will try to download some pictures over the next week or so.
OK over and out and chat with you all soon.
Kevster
Hello Folks
Since last I wrote I was in Bangkok for 10 days. Lots of mosquitos in the last place I stayed at and I have mosquito bites all over my arms and body. (Note to self: pick up insect repellant). The last place was a real dump but I booked it through an agency because it was cheap but they had no pictures available to show me (Now I know why!). TAT is the main agency for booking all travel needs but I didn't realize they pad the bill by 70% and stuck me in a dump. Welcome to Asia Kevin!!. Everything is commission over here.
Touts of all ages who speak english will chat you up and ask what you are looking for and then lead you to a commissioned store where they get a little something for bringing you in. I am getting used to their bidet toilet system too since I couldn't figure out why there was hardly any toilet paper available and all toilets come with a hose with a nozzle attached to the wall. At first I thought I was being bad when I used it out of necessity having no toilet paper available until I realized that was why it was there.
I am shocked at the amount of "lady boys" I have spotted in Bangkok. Many travelers have said you can't tell the lady boys from the thai woman but I spot them immediately wondering why there are guys in drag walking the streets of Bangkok. After I got my bus ticket I spotted some delicious looking chicken so I bought it and sat down at an outside eatery when this gender confused freako sat down across from me with arms flinging around like gays do when they over dramatize female movements and this "freako" was trying to start conversation with me as I tried to enjoy my chicken asking me questions like where are you from etc... I was rolling my eyes and looking in the opposite direction trying to give "it" the hint to piss off and finally I just said I didn't understand what he was saying and it took awhile before he/it finally left me alone.
From the street vendors I got a whole catfish on a shishkabob and it was absolutely delicious and the meat basically just slid off the bones. Asian cooking is superb and they can cook anything and make it taste delicious.
After 10 days in Bangkok I left for Siam Reap, Cambodia to see Angkor Wat which was a 12 hour bus ride which was comfortable until we got to the Cambodian border and changed buses where 20 of us packed into a mini van and drove over the pot hole filled dirt road to Siam Reap (Our asses were hurting after that). They have illegal gas stations where they fill up 2 liter bottles with gasoline and my guide told me they pay off the corrupt cops to look the other way. Apparently cops have 2 other jobs and being a cop isn't a full time job and doesn't pay anything (Geez, I wonder why there are corrupt cops??). Our bus stopped at a guest house at 10pm and most of us were too tired to argue or look for another one. In the morning I got a driver who looks exactly like the chinese kid from "Indiana Jones and the temple of doom" called "Short round". So I nicknamed him shortie.
A Swiss traveler who I chatted with the whole bus ride said he wasn't allowed to rent a scooter and I didn't see one traveler riding a scooter but they make you get one with a driver to show you around Angkor Wat and all the other ancient temples in this area. Angkor Wat is just the biggest temple here which is surrounded by a mout and is 1.3 x1.5km but there are many other huge temples in the area and another big one is the Bayan which you have probably seen with all the smiley faces on 4 sides of a tower. I have to admit the temples here are way more impressive than the ones the Mayans built which I visited a few years ago. Half way through our day my driver "shorty" says he has to go to a wedding reception for a couple hours and asks if I want to stay at a temple for a couple hours or go with him to the wedding reception. He said it was all you can eat and all the Angkor beer you can drink and I said............ SURE!!!
The groom greeted me at the door saying "Thank you for coming" and we sat down and started pounding back Cambodian made "Angkor beer". I must have drank 20 beer (only because I was being polite and didn't want to offend anyone sucking back 50 in an hour or so). The food was absolutely delicious and I had the best cooked shrimp I have ever had. Even with chopsticks I got lots down :). They served fried duck and other foods and girls came around topping our beer drinks with ice cubes on a regular basis. I was surprised that many could speak english. My guide book said the average cambodian makes $20US PER MONTH!! Obviously these people made a little more but I put $20US as a gift to the groom and a guy at the hotel said he opened it and was shocked at the huge sum of money I gave him since most people contributed very small amounts (I felt like I drank $30 worth of beer + incredible food so didn't think much of it).
After that shortie and I drove back to Angkor wat very drunk. I stumbled around the site taking random pictures of nothing when three monks dressed in orange robes called up to me to stay where I was and that they were coming up. OK I am pissed out of my tree and these holy men want to talk to me...Great! Anyhow they smile and gesture that their photographer wants to get a shot of them with the big white blond guy. Later on I wanted to find a nice fluffy bush to pass out under but I know my driver would never find me.
Everytime you pass by a concession stand many Cambodian women will cry out "Hey Meeeeeeister! Want some cold driiiiiiiiiink?". Of course they all want you to deal with them and not their competition that is 5 feet away from each other. I saw a couple small elephants being rode around like a car with the driver putting his foot on the elephants ear to get it to slow down (I guess that is the brake).
On our second day we got into a scooter collision with another scooter. Asian drivers will drive on the opposite side of the road going into oncoming traffic on the shoulder of the road and it is normal here but my driver shortie was in the wrong since you are not technically allowed to do that and some guy swerved to turn and we T-boned him and crashed. The other guy drove a piece of junk scooter so he didn't care about the damage and left. We saw at least 100 orange robed monks marching across the road at Angkor wat and shortie told me it was their once a year fast and meditation time where they spend one full month in solitude with no food. The next day we went out to a far off site where there were not too many tourists and saw some very poor people who lived in bamboo huts with stilts in case of floods. I was shocked at how happy the kids were and everytime they saw me they would smile and wave frantically or say "Hallo!".
Later we went back to Angkor wat site and played with some monkeys. Shortie told me they would bite me if I tried to touch them but I sat still and a few came up to me and one climbed up me like a ladder and sat on my head with a strong grip like a frightened cat then it came down and started biting my finger trying to take a piece off by moving its head but its teeth were too dull (Thank god!). Shortie got a picture of it and then my sunglasses got knocked off my head and the little bugger grabbed them like a rugby ball firmly tucked in its armpits as it made a dash for the jungle. Shortie got them before the little bugger got away and as he did another grabbed his helmet and made a mad dash for the jungle to bring back its prize which was funny to us until we saw he had the keys to the scooter in his little palm and that is when we freaked out and chased the monkey but he dropped it before making it back into the forested area. Some of the monkeys had little babies in their pouch and the babies would jump out to look around and the mother would just hold onto the babies tail to make sure it didn't get very far.
I just finished my 3 day tour of Angkor Wat and surrounding temples and am off to Phnom Penh tomorrow morning for a fun and enjoyable bumpy 9 hour ride (I can't wait!!). I am checking flights with Air Asia which is the airline all the asians use since they are dirt cheap and thinking of heading into Vietnam after getting a visa in Phnom Penh. Shortie told me the Cambodian language is 50% similar to Thai language but 50% different but can understand each other. He told me a lot of Cambodian history and all the kings where it thrived between 700AD and 1400AD when the Thais came in and wiped them out. Very similar time period as the Mayans. Wandered around Siam Reap in the back markets which were disgusting to western standards with flies all over the meat and fish and I saw turtles, ducks and fish for sale.
This internet connection is really slow so I will try to download some pictures over the next week or so.
OK over and out and chat with you all soon.
Kevster
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