Travel advice for those planning a trip to Southeast Asia

1. Packing before you go: once you're done packing, unpack half of your clothes. Laundry generally costs $1/kg. They will wash it and fold it for you. You only need enough clothes to last you for a week, at the most. Clothes are so cheap there you can literally buy tees, socks, and underwear and throw them away as you go. I met people who were actually doing this. You don't need to go that extreme, but I'm just trying to highlight how cheap clothes (and laundry) is in Southeast Asia.
2. You don't need jeans. I wore them once in Hong Kong, and that was it. Maybe you will need nice pants to go clubbing in Hong Kong, Saigon, or Bangkok, but I was able to wear shorts literally to every bar I went to (and I was not out of place). Only bring nice pants or jeans if you are really into clubbing.
3. In theory you could do your entire trip with a good pair of sports sandals. You don't need to bring running shoes, and dress shoes are really unnecessary. If you plan on doing a hardcore trek then hiking books may be a good idea, but most treks can be done in sports sandals. In any event, you can buy any sort of shoe/sandal you may need for really cheap in Asia. Just bring one pair of shoes/sandals with you and buy anything else on arrival.
4. Bring a small (swiss army) knife. Just remember to pack it in your checked luggage.
5. Bring duct tape. Wrap a bunch of it around an old piece of I.D. that you don't need anymore (make sure it doesn't have sensitive information on it in case you lose it). This way it's more compact than if you bring an entire roll.
6. Don't go crazy with the toiletries. You can get pretty much everything for cheaper where you're going. If you have important medicines then buy that at home in case you are worried about counterfeit pharmaceuticals.
7. Buy toilet paper. Keep it in your day-bag. Trust me. Whether at a toilet in a smaller city, or in the middle of nowhere when your bus parks at a rest stop, you cannot rely on every bathroom having toilet paper.
8. Buy your bug spray at home. It's hard to find bug spray in Asia with more than 20% deet (generally it's recommended to have 30% or more deet).
9. If you're buying a new camera, get one that is waterproof and that has a quick shutter speed. There are many pictures I missed out on because it takes a couple seconds for my camera to snap pictures. Also, there are some pictures I don't have yet because I left mine in my bag and relied on travel companions that had waterproof cameras. I may not get those pictures for a few weeks/months, and some I may never get.
10. Sometimes travel agents sell flights for cheaper. I got a flight from Siem Reap to Luang Prubang for $100 less than I could find it online. It never hurts to check... although it's usually cheaper to buy flights online.
11. If you're traveling during low season, never ever books hotels or hostels online. It's possible some places will have no vacancy, but there will always be vacancy somewhere, and you will almost always be able to bargain them down. There is no bargaining when you book online! My experience was that you can bargain a hotel down anywhere from 10-33%. If they don't budge, then just go somewhere else down the street. I would only make an exception if you are arriving somewhere very late at night or early in the morning, and you know you'll be really tired and just need a place to sleep. Always ask to see a room before you start negotiating price. Don't be shy to ask for another room that is more quiet, with a better view, on a higher/lower floor, etc.
    
12. Even meals at proper restaurants can be bargained for sometimes. In Angkor Wat my friend and I got a discount on our lunch that came out to about 20%. The lesson: it never hurts to ask.
13. Bring Immodium. It saved me on numerous occasions.
14. You only need to bring one or two books. Book exchanges and used bookstores proliferate, so it's easy (and often free) to turn one good book into another. Alternatively you can just ask other travelers as you meet them if they have a book they'd like to trade with you.
15. Guide books are overrated. Usually their maps suck, and often the writer hasn't visited everywhere they've written about. For restaurants, just go wherever you see the most locals. If a place has only tourists it's probably more expensive, and not true local fare. If you come across a map that looks really good and costs a couple dollars, it is definitely worth it to buy. The Nancy Chandler map of Bangkok jumps to mind as one example of a really good map. A quick look at hostelbookers.com, www.tripadvisor.com, or even lonelyplanet.com before you visit a city will give you an idea of where to stay, where to eat, and what to do. Personally, I found recommendations of other travelers to be more reliable than guide books.
16. When you see people on the street selling fruit, they will cut it for you when you buy it from them (I realized this fairly quickly, but other people I met were surprised when I told them this - they didn't realize vendors would cut the fruit for you at no additional charge).

That's all I have for now. I'll probably add to this later next time I sit down to blog.

Update (May 2012): I will never get some of my pictures from the Kuang Si Waterfalls near Luang Prubang because my friend lost his camera before he got to send me the pictures. One more reason to have a waterproof camera yourself!

Selected Videos - repost (hyperlinks have now been added)

Ziplining at the Gibbon Experience: HERE


Two monkey's fighting (it's really just the first 20 seconds that's good): HERE

Teaching kids in rural Laos to give props and high five: HERE

Videos are now up!

I put up a bunch of videos today, and will post my favourites direct to the blog. You can find them all on my Youtube channel at:

HERE

All my pictures are now up - here are the links to the albums I posted today.

Videos to come later today (or tomorrow).

Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and final day in Hong Kong: Click HERE

Slow-boat up the Mekong River and The Gibbon Experience: Click HERE

Cambodia: Click HERE

Hong Kong plus the rest of Vietnam: Click HERE

Why I am done with soccer.

As many of you know, I went to the World Cup four years in ago in Germany. There I was lucky enough to see the host country play against Portugal in the consolation game. Along with seeing the Ottawa Senators play in the Stanley Cup finals, it was the most thrilling sports event I have ever attended. Darcy, Mike, and I happened to have seats next to a group of guys that were quite possibly the loudest fans in the entire stadium. With each of Germany's three goals, the stadium erupted in pandemonium the likes of which I have never before or since seen.

I couldn't help but get caught up in the storm, and I traveled to Berlin to watch the World Cup final with great anticipation. We were not let down! Along with hundreds of thousands of fans, we watched the final on a closed down street in central Berlin, where several pairs of back-to-back screens had been erected.

It was one of the funnest nights in Europe out of the two months I spent there. When Zidane head butted the Italian defender, you could hear a pin drop for about two seconds while everyone was processing what had just occurred. Then the following minute was absolute madness, with French and Italian fans shouting at each other, while the Germans and other unaffiliated fans such as ourselves were just going crazy because we couldn't believe what our eyes had just seen.

Needless to say, when World Cup 2010 came upon us, I cared. I watched several games, and in particular enjoyed the Brazil/Netherlands game. However, the finals left me with such a horrible taste in my mouth, I have decided that I have little respect left for the sport.

First and foremost, I am a hockey player. Hockey is full of unwritten rules. In hockey, one of the worst things you can do is dive (i.e. faking an injury). Even if someone genuinely slashes or check's you hard, and you fall down when you could have stayed up, it is frowned upon. I take pride that I do everything I can to stay on my feet.

Maybe twice a season someone will hit me lightly and I genuinely lose my balance and fall to the ice. I'm actually embarrassed when that happens because it makes it seem as if I'm not strong on my skates. I'm no exception - all my friends get embarrassed too on the rare occasion this happens. Hockey players take pride in being strong on their skates and staying up on their feet.

Generally hockey games pass without any dives, but sometimes if the other team is particularly dishonest they will dive five or six times during the game and attract a couple penalties. In my three years playing hockey for Osgoode there is only one team that sticks out in my memory as being particularly prone to diving (fortunately we beat them in the finals).

Anyway, back to European Football - as I sat there watching the final I couldn't help but notice the ridiculous faces the players made whenever anyone made contact with another player. They looked as if they had been shot by a sniper. The Spanish were particularly guilty of this offence, diving or embellishing injuries at a rate two or three times that of the Dutch. Needless to say, I very quickly started rooting for the more honourable Dutch team.

When Spain won, I felt as if they had been rewarded for their bad sportsmanship. They decided they would literally do anything to win, including faking/embellishing an obscene number of injuries. Given how many times I saw Spanish players grimace after being tackled by Dutch defenders, I'm surprised they had enough healthy players to finish the game!

I am interested to hear what more knowledgeable soccer fans thought of the match. While in Asia I spoke to several Europeans about how disappointed I was with all the diving, and literally everyone agreed with me that it was the biggest problem facing the sport. It seems as if it's almost a prisoners dilemma situation (although instead of a one-off situation, there are many trials). It's possible that neither side likes the diving, but they feel that if they don't dive they lose an advantage to the other team.

I did miss parts of the game for bathroom breaks, but while I was watching I don't think I saw one yellow card handed out for diving. At most I saw one. The National Hockey League in North America has suspended players for diving after reviewing game film in the past. I think it's time for FIFA to consider adopting a rule allowing them to do the same.

If they adopt such a rule, and actually apply it, maybe soccer will be able to fix this problem and win the loyalty of people such as myself.

Final post from Asia

My plane boards in an hour... I'm still going to write a few more posts when I get home though. There are some videos and pics I want to post, and then some final thoughts on the trip as a whole, in addition to further thoughts on each country I've visited. So check back in a couple days.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

Good News

As I was about to go to bed after returning from my last night out in Asia (it's almost 3am here), I decided to check my Email on my phone. I noticed a message from the Law Society, but I couldn't open it!

I convinced the staff at the front desk to open the computer room for me so I could check that message. I opened the message with baited breath, and was relieved/excited to find out that I passed both my bar exams!

BKK --> HKG --> YYZ --> YOW

In a few hours I leave for Hong Kong. Then tomorrow I catch a flight back home to Ottawa (via Toronto). I'm very much looking forward to returning home, but am also sad that my trip is almost over...

Inspiration comes in funny places

Last night, after failing to get onto the Metro (due to my refusal to wear my soaking wet t-shirt) I was fortunate enough to find a motorbike driver to take me home for 120 baht (30 baht less than before I tried getting on the metro). Since it was rush hour, and the traffic was at a crawl, I was happy to get a motorbike instead of a tuk-tuk or taxi.

While the cars were moving along at a crawl, we were weaving in and out of traffic at quite fast speeds. I did my best to keep my shoulders tight, because mine were more broad than me drivers, and I was worried we could clip a mirror of a car! This wasn't the first time I was sure it would happen, but the motorbike drivers seem to know what they're doing. Also, in Bangkok (as opposed to every other city I've been in) the motorbike taxi's seem to be licensed, since they all wear bright vests that are green or orange.

In any event, I came up with a business idea while holding on for dear life on the back of the bike:

Motorbike taxi's in North America.

In most major North American cities, traffic is atrocious. In recent months I have been to Toronto, New York, and Chicago, and none of them were fun to navigate during rush hour in a car. There are also very few motorcycles and scooters (i.e. motorbikes). The idea would be to offer rides to executives, business owners, professionals, etc. that need to get from one place to another quickly. Many U.S. states have laws explicitly permitting two wheel vehicles to pass between to cars on a road. I'm not sure about Canada though. In places where such a law is in place, a motorbike taxi could get someone from A to B much quicker in rush hour traffic. I think people would be willing to pay a premium for such a service if they were really in a rush.

This just came to me last night, so it's not fleshed out at all. Ideas to improve upon (or challenge) the idea are welcome.

Vietnam Loves...

The following is a guest post from the three lovely English girls Steve and I traveled around with in South Vietnam (and Cambodia in my case). During their time in Vietnam they made a list of all the things "Vietnam Loves". Steve and I might add our own later...

-powercuts (this was not unusual, especially after a rainstorm, but i wasn't surprised due to the way the electric wires were so unordered on the streets)

- about a million people on one motorbike (slight exaggeration, but that also includes any peculiar item they need to move from A to B)

- waking up really early (and doing tai chi wherever possible)

- bringing the appetizer and meal at the same time & bringing the food out at different times (they served it whenever it was ready!)

- "same same but different" (quote for all of south east asia)

- matching trouser and top combinations (the women more than the men, there were a lot of matching outfits, generally a very colourful and decorative patterns)

- face masks (the kind they were on motorbikes, we figured it was to stop the inhaling of fumes)

- beeping their horn (A LOT, they like to make a lot of noise)

- keeping children up late (we noticed this a lot, children eating food at around 10pm or playing out in the street at dark, we wondered what time they finally got to sleep?)

- grouping their shops together (streets seemed to be categorised, shoes, painting, jewelery, food, etc)

- faffing around (taking ages to do something. especially when it came to transport or sorting something out, they left you waiting and for what it seemed they weren't doing anything constructive)

- hammocks (in tuk tuks, by the side of the road, anywhere they could be assembled)

- street food (they love it)

- squatting (it is their preferred way to sit, I figure they are petite people - it is a lot easier for them to do it for a long period of time compared to their western counterparts)

- riding a motorbike on the pavement (when the roads get too busy, some clever Vietnamese like to take over the pavement to avoid the traffic!)

Chiang Mai photo's

Crossing the Laos/Thai border on a ferry

Dear Lonely Planet...

Your maps are absolutely horrible. In fact, they are beyond horrible. I think a more apt word to describe them is "useless". Not a single map in my guidebook has all the street names in it. Maybe ten or twenty percent of the streets have names on them in most of the maps I have. How am I supposed to navigate a city with such a map?

Asia is NOT Europe. In Europe every hostel, guesthouse, and hotel has beautiful maps to give out for free. They are either provided by the local government, or a company that makes money by selling advertisements on the map. Unfortunately, Southeast Asia is a little behind, and many cities lack good, free maps. That's one reason people buy guidebooks! Nothing is worse than arriving to a city tired or hungry, and not being able to find the restaurant or guesthouse you are looking for.

Last night, when I was trying to hire a motorbike taxi to my hostel (which is two streets north of the most touristy street in the entire city of Bangkok), even the motorbike taxi drivers had a hard time figuring out where my hostel was! Dear Lonely Planet - when local taxi drivers can't figure out how to get somewhere on one of your maps, it means it's time to invest in upgrading them.

To my fellow (and future) world travelers, I have this advice: until Lonely Planet upgrades it's maps, do yourself a favour and buy your guide from the "Rough Guide" line of books instead. I met a couple people with "The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia", and all their maps had every single street named. It made navigation much less stressful. Let's Go has maps just as crappy as Lonely Planet, so I would skip their book as well. In truth, when it comes to getting recommendations the most important thing is where to stay. That is because once you're there, you'll meet other travelers that will probably give you better advice about restaurants and attractions than any guidebook.

No shirt, no service (aka my day in Bangkok)

Yesterday, for my one and only day in Bangkok I decided to meet up with someone I had met earlier in Luang Prubang. We started off in Chinatown, but unfortunately the corner of Chinatown we started in was the industrial one. All the store front were machine shops, auto mechanics, etc. It's like this in Asia - it's as if there are few or no zoning laws. You have these storefronts near the centre of the city that are more industrial than anything else. All the big cities I've been to (i.e. Hanoi, Saigon, etc.) are the same. Hong Kong wasn't much in this way though.

Anyway, we hopped on the metro and went to the park. At first you think this is an ordinary park, even with a nice lake and all, and then it happens. You see a large four foot long lizard! There is hundreds of them just swimming and strolling around the park. They are not behind a fence, and as far as I can tell there is nothing technically stopping them from walking right out of the park!

Now I knew to expect this, because my friend told me the novelty of the lizards is why I might enjoy the park. She was right!

All of the sudden we saw some storm clouds in the distance so we decided to go find somewhere to have dinner. I have never seen darkness descend on a city so fast. The clouds moved so quickly, that within a couple minutes they went from being at the edge of my field of vision to right on top of us. Needless to say, I got absolutely soaked by the time we found a restaurant. After a delicious dinner, my friend had to go back to her apartment to make a phone call back home to North America, and I wanted to go back to my hostel to get into dry clothes.

After talking to three motorbike drivers, I finally found one willing to go to my hostel (we were kind of far). He wanted more than I was willing to pay though, so I decided to take the metro closer to my destination and find a motorbike taxi there (even though it ended just two stops in the direction I was going).

Well, they wouldn't let me on the subway! First I went through security (to get on the subway in Bangkok you must pass through a metal detector), and thought I was OK after I explained my disdain of wearing wet t-shirts, holding up my soaked t-shirt for effect. Then I saw another security staff, who asked me to stay put while she called over another person. He in turn called over someone else, and I tried to explain to them that while I had a shirt, I really don't like wearing wet t-shirts (honestly, I really don't. The metro in Bangkok is air-conditioned, which sucks if you're wearing wet clothes). I told them I didn't want to cause trouble, and that I would rather take a taxi if I had to wear my shirt. They agreed I should take a taxi, so I did (more on that later).

Apologies for the picture formatting... I rotated it on my computer, but when I uploaded the picture it wasn't rotated upright anymore...

Goodbye Chiang Mai, Hello Bangkok!

This afternoon I am taking a 14 hour sleeper train to Bangkok. I really didn't do much in Chiang Mai, but in truth that is exactly what I needed. Still though, I have a few details from the last couple days to share:

The old city of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a hundreds year old moat/wall combination. It's kind of cool because inside the old city you have the stark contrasts of ancient temples and modern buildings and streets.

Last night I ate dinner at a restaurant that claims to have "the second best pizza in Chiang Mai". I decided to try it. It was maybe the 3rd dinner I've eaten alone since the paths of Steve and I diverged in Saigon over two weeks ago. Immediately after paying my bill, I spotted a classmate of mine from Osgoode on the street! I knew she was in Southeast Asia, and Steve had actually run into her in Hong Kong before my arrival. She was travelling with a group of people that were all either Queen's alumni, or recent grads of Osgoode or UofT law. So I had common friends with everyone in the group.

They were on their way to watch Muay Thai boxing, so I decided to join them. Some of the fights were definitely entertaining, but we couldn't help but wonder how old the boxers were in the first two matches we watched (they looked like they were maybe 16 years old). Since they were in the 45 kilo weight class (i.e. 100 pounds) it was hard to judge their age.

Today has been more of a relaxed day. I booked my flight from Bangkok to HK, and I signed up for a vegetarian Thai cooking class in Bangkok tomorrow. It has good reviews on Trip Advisor, so I'm looking forward to it! It's a morning class, so it will leave me with the afternoon to walk around Bangkok. I fly to HK on Friday, so I'm really just in bangkok for abour 30 hours all together.

A Thai Hotel with Hebrew Speaking Staff!?!?

During the Gibbon Experience, I talked to the rest of my group and learned that ten of us were going to Chiang Mai after the trek was over. Basically, enough people to fill our own van. A couple people had already booked their travel, and two others decided they were more comfortable also booking their travel on the Laos side. Myself and the others figured we had more bargaining power on the Thai side, dealing directly with the drivers.

The first wrench in my plans was discovering that the bank across the street from the Gibbon Experience closes every day at 3:30! Could you imagine any bank holding those sorts of hours in Canada? Anyway, another bank was open late (meaning it closed at 4:30), so I was in luck. I changed my remaining kip to Bat (the Thai currency), and was on my way. The 6 of us were able to negotiate a price of 150 Bat per person on the Thai side of the river, but we had to wait for them to fill the remaining 4 seats. It was a good decision, because we paid less than half what the people that booked on the Laos side paid.

I was in for a pleasant surprise, because the four additional passengers turned out to be Israeli! It gave me a chance to work on my (very) rusty hebrew. Unbeknowest to me, the next day (which was to begin at nightfall, since the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar) was Tisha B'av. It's possibly the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. So many bad things happened on this day that quite some time ago it was declared to be a fasting day (although I don't observe this fast). Three of the four in the group were fasting, so we stopped at a gas station right before sundown for them to get some snacks.

Since you can't brush your teeth while fasting, they brushed their teeth right there in the parking lot of the gas station! The other people on the bus (and some of the local Thai's) gave them weird looks... I was really the only person that understood why they were doing such a seemingly random/weird thing.

The Israeli's already had accommodation in Chiang Mai, so that's where the van dropped us off. When I got there the first thing I noticed was that all the signs were in Hebrew (but only a couple had any English on them). Apparently the hotel is owned by an Israeli, and some of the local Thai staff have learned to speak Hebrew... the result is that it's very popular with Israeli's. I would say three quarters of the travelers in the lobby were from Israel. There were families, backpackers, couples - really the whole cross section.

The hotel and guesthouse were a little pricey for me, since I was by myself, so I ended up walking down the street and got my own room for less than half the asking price at the other place. I had my own bathroom with a hot shower, and it was clean, so I was happy with it. Nonetheless, seeing that hotel was a really cool experience. Steve would have loved it!

Really though, I am writing about this story because I want to talk about how friendly the Israeli's I have met in my travels have tended to be. Almost all of them ask "have you been to Israel?" When I tell them it has been five years since my last visit, they immediately encourage me to visit Israel on my next trip. This is the opposite of me... I usually tell other westerners there are a number of places they should visit before coming to Canada. I love Canada, but I think it's expensive for a backpacker, and culturally too similar to the UK/USA/Australia/NZ/etc.

Some of the Israeli's have even offered to show me around their home town on my next visit. These encounters have been a much treasured aspect of my trip.

This was the view from my tree-top guesthouse at the Gibbon Experience!

Living on under a dollar per day

While having dinner (after I took some time to walk around the hill-tribe village we were staying in) I asked my guides how much the average family income was for farmers, and for those with livestock (i.e. pigs, chickens, roosters, turkey's, etc.)

They told me a family with livestock generally earns four or five million kip (i.e. 500-620 Canadian dollars). A family the just farms earns two or three million kip. That means the poorer families in the village are running on under a dollar a day, and the better off families are mostly under two dollars a day.

This surprised me, because the people generally seemed to be in such great spirits. There was a marked difference between the people I met here and those I met in Sudan (at least those in the internally displaced persons camp I visited). I have a few ideas as to why this is (starting with the obvious fact that Laos has a much more benevolent government than the Sudanese).

Unfortunately I don't have time to get much more in depth at the moment, but I wrote down some thoughts on paper during the riverboat journey I just took, and will post them when I get back from the Gibbon Experience.

Luang Prubang + Kuang Si Waterfalls - photo's

You can find them HERE

Pictures from two day trek in Laos

You can find them HERE

Luang Prubang - beautiful and relaxed

After sleeping in (since I was up late watching the world cup), I spent the day walking around and organizing the next leg of my travels.

For breakfast, all I wanted was a crepe! I had noticed a lot of restaurants on the main strip serving crepes, and figured it would be easy to find a cafe by the Mekong River serving them. I figured "what could be better than a banana crepe with chocolate ice cream by the side of one of the world's great rivers?"

Well fate was not with me, since I went to ten different riverside cafe's, all of which only had "pancakes". I eventually got my crepe, but had to settle for less spectacular surroundings. I ended up having a neat, albeit different experience than I expected. In Southeast Asia all shopkeepers and restaurant owners have there homes either beneath or above the storefront. Accordingly, for the less upscale options, if you use the toilet, it is almost always the family's bathroom for their home. In this case it was a washroom with a shower and a hole in the ground (basically a porcelain covered hole). I actually liked getting to see what sort of position the average urban Laos person is in.

After breakfast I went to book a trek. I went into a couple places and ended up settling on a two day hiking and kayaking trip. There was a group of five Welsh people in the office at the same time as me, and I liked the idea of knowing the people I was trekking with ahead of time (they were very friendly/outgoing). In my effort to get a better price I actually walked out of the office while they were signing there forms, but I saw them on the street later and they told me they weren't able to get a discount further than what had been agreed to while I was there. Since my walking out (which usually works) had no effect, I decided to go back and book with that specific company. The terrain here is full of hills and mountains, so I'm looking forward to the challenge. For me I'm guessing the kayaking part won't be too difficult.

For sunset I hiked up a hill in the middle of the city with a small temple on top. Unfortunately the sun had just set behind the mountains, but it made for quite a beautiful view.

Thoughts on Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

First I will share my impression of Siem Reap - the city near Angkor. It does not take long to notice the signs of a quickly growing city. First is that many of the more popular hotels and guest houses have multiple properties. Second is the number of brand new gas stations. There were about four gas stations on the main road to Angkor. None of them looked older than two years (and that's pushing it). One can only imagine what the city looked like 30 years ago, but then one is reminded that 30 years ago was a short time after the reign of the Khmer Rouge, when every city in Cambodia was emptied in a matter of days (with people forced to work the land in rural areas, essentially living a life not much different than a slave).

When you walk down one of the main streets, the roads are literally lined with empty tuk-tuk's, with their drivers trying to get your business. Further, it is not uncommon for a restaurant to have a couple groups on the patio, and then be empty inside. Despite the signs of a growing city, it was obvious this was not their best time of year. Personally, it worked to my advantage. It meant that when I went to the temples, the crowds, while existent, were definitely manageable. At some places, like the Terrace of the Elephants, and Banteay Srei (which is further afield), I had chunks of the ruins basically to myself to explore. I imagine in the dry season that it is much busier.

Of all the things that stick out about Siem Reap and Angkor, none are quite as striking or obvious as the restorations done to some of the ruins. Apparently the Khmer Rouge decapitated pretty much every statue in Angkor during their reign of terror. While some statues have their original head cemented on, others have completely new ones placed on top of thousand year old bodies. It's nice to see what the statues are supposed to look like, but it takes away from the authenticity of the ruins.

Lastly, on my way back from the temples, we saw some monkeys... we got our driver to pull over so we could get out and take pictures. At one point my friend Carlo got a little close and one of the monkey's chased him! Then a few minutes later the same thing happened to me. Nothing will get your adrenaline pumping like a monkey taking a swipe at you. Everything I know about monkey's is from the Dustin Hoffman movie "Outbreak", so needless to say I kept my distance after the close call I had with the hyper aggressive monkey (I have a video of it wrestling another monkey for a good two or three minutes). I'm just glad I escaped the encounter Ebola free, and with some great pics of the really cute baby monkey.

Luang Prubang and Kuang Si Waterfalls - photo's

Temples of Angkor - photo's... including the monkeys we saw on our way back!

Arrival to Luang Prubrang - apparently Laos has something against Canada...

The flight from Siem Reap was quite cool - at first the landscape beneath you in Cambodia is completely flat... then when I woke from my nap the landscape (now in Laos) was dominated by beautiful mountains covered in green. I made friends with a guy from Quebec City while waiting for my visa (he noticed my Canadian passport), and we got a great deal on a hotel room (a third off the asking price). $5.50 each for a beautiful room with a/c, a TV, towels, etc. Much better than the $4 dorm room at the hostel (it also had no a/c).

The internet is painfully slow here, so I might not be able to post many pictures from the temples in Angkor. Pics may have to wait until Thailand.

Now about Laos and Canada... at the airport they had the various prices for citizens from different countries. Out of every country in the world, Canadians alone had to pay $42 for their visa. No other country had to pay more than $40, while most were $30 or less. Does anyone know why Laos is discriminating against Canadians? Is it particularly hard for them to get Canadian visa's?

The Cambodian "highway"

I think we had to slow down/stop no less then a half dozen times during the drive today. Why did we have to stop? Well, if we didn't we would have hit a cow!

Pnom Penh

After leaving Tuol Sleng we walked over to a Meditaranean restaurant that looked really good in our guide. We decided it was time for a break from Asian food.

Unfortunately it was closed, so we hired a tuk-tuk to take us to the main strip by the river. We gave him the address of an Italian restaurant, and we were off.

After a few minutes, we realized we were going in a loop, and that he had no idea where he was going. We stopped and showed him a map, but that didn't seem to do much good. Eventually he found another Tuk-Tuk driver that helped him get his bearings. To be honest I was not impressed with Pnom Penh's drivers, because the next day my tuk-tuk driver didn't seem to quite know where my travel agency was (although he got there taking a fairly direct route... at least he knew the general area it was in!).

At first my friends and I were upset, but then we actually ended up in a really neat neighbourhood. We were surrounded by embassies, USAID's office, an international high school, and what we could only guess were some of the nicer homes and apartments in Pnom Penh (since everything was behing walls/gates with barbed wire on the top). Getting to contrast that neighbourhood to some of the poorer areas of the city was really cool. Eventually we got there, still only paying him what we had initially agreed to (I think it was $1.50 USD). So we basically had a "free" tour of the embassy distrct of Pnom Penh!

Arrival to Siem Reap (and a lesson about the importance of honesty in business)

Today was a more relaxed day (for the most part). I basically spent the morning updating the blog since I hadn't done a substantive post in some time. Really the only aggravation I had today was booking my flight from Siem Reap to Luang Prubang... neither credit card worked at their store, and I had to try 4 different ATM's before I found one that worked for me.

Although I was supposed to take my trip to Siem Reap in a "VIP" bus complete with a toilet and A/C, they put me in a mini-bus (i.e. a van that seats about 12 or 15). Initially I was not thrilled, but it actually turned out great! I met an Indonesian/Canadian couple, with the man being from London Ontario. He had been living in Asia for about 10 years. He spent four and a half years teaching English in Taiwan and China, and then started a manufacturing business in Southern China.

Initially we just talked about the challenges of doing business in China (with me talking a little bit about the recycling business, but mainly him talking about the manufacturing and import/export business). This turned into a wide ranging conversation about the global economy, corruption in developing and developed countries, how his biggest challenges in business are similar to the greatest challenges I faced at Stand, and other topics that aren't top of mind right now.

I learned a lot, and just hope that all the questions I asked him also helped him deepen his understanding of the environment his business is operating in. Of course I also gave him some advice on hiring lawyers: mainly that he can get practically the same legal advice at a law firm in London or Ottawa for half the price he would pay hiring someone in Toronto.

When we arrived to the bus station in Siem Reap, I shared a tuk-tuk into town with him and his partner. The driver said he knew a good hotel, but we asked to be taken to a specific hotel that Lonely Planet recommended. When we arrived at the hotel, I knew something was up since there was no sign with the hotels name. We said "this isn't the Angkor shadow guest house", to which he replied that this hotel was cheaper/newer/better/etc. If he had pushed a little in the ride over and then taken us there, it would have been one thing. But to take us there without warning was simply dishonest. We told him to take us to the other hotel, which he did.

The recommended hotel was too expensive for our tastes, but instead of getting back in the Tuk-Tuk, we decided to walk the half a KM to another recommended hotel (where we negotiated a good price for our rooms). Robbie, the driver offered to take us the 0.5KM for free - he said he just wanted us to hire him to us to the temples the next day (this is $12-15 for him for the entire day). He lost our trust when he took us to the other hotel (which probably offers him a commission), so we decided we would rather walk the 500m and hire a different driver the next day. A good lesson about honesty in business for all you readers! His tricks may work on other travellers, but they did not work on my new friends and I.

Tuol Sleng Prison Camp - Initial Thoughts

The approach to Tuol Sleng is understated. Unlike the approach to Auschwitz-Birkenau, which takes you down a long road surrounded by empty fields, Tuol Sleng is in the middle of a mixed residential/commercial neighbourhood. We weren't even quite sure we were there until our tuk-tuk driver stopped to announce our arrival. Once we were stopped we noticed that the walled compound we were beside did look a little different than other walled off properties we had seen so far in Pnom Penh.

Before it became Cambodia's most notorious torture centre, Tuol Sleng was a school. Accordingly, when you first walk into the courtyard a small part of you thinks "this isn't such a bad place". There is a large, open space surround by three buildings forming a large "U", with a little bit of greenery strewn about.

This impression does not last long though. Almost immediately upon entering the gates a man with a cruelly deformed face approached us, with his hat in hand outstretched, asking us for money. While he couldn't speak English (as far as I could tell), the implication is that he was tortured in Tuol Sleng, or somewhere similar. He only had one eye, and his face was covered with scars and burn marks. This was an appropriate taste of what was to come.

After walking into the courtyard, you notice that the windows all have bars over them, and that one of the buildings is even covered in barbed wire (except for openings where staircases lead into doorways). Then it hits you - even though this place once was a place of happiness and learning, it will forever be defined by the atrocities that took place during the reign of the Khmer Rouge.

When walking along the outside of the second floor of one of the buildings, I noticed a large sign with the 10 rules of Tuol Sleng. It was in English, French, and Khmer, so I am guessing this was made for the museum, and not during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. However, the rules themselves were in place during those dark years. One can't help but wonder if Pol Pot and his cadre were avid readers of George Orwell. The similarities between the Khmer Rouge's approach to torture and those of Big Brother in 1984 are striking. Here they are (taken from WIKIPEDIA)

1. You must answer accordingly to my question. Don’t turn them away.

2. Don’t try to hide the facts by making pretexts this and that, you are strictly prohibited to contest me.

3. Don’t be a fool for you are a chap who dare to thwart the revolution.

4. You must immediately answer my questions without wasting time to reflect.

5. Don’t tell me either about your immoralities or the essence of the revolution.

6. While getting lashes or electrification you must not cry at all.

7. Do nothing, sit still and wait for my orders. If there is no order, keep quiet. When I ask you to do something, you must do it right away without protesting.

8. Don’t make pretext about Kampuchea Krom in order to hide your secret or traitor.

9. If you don’t follow all the above rules, you shall get many many lashes of electric wire.

10. If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharge.

I have further thoughts on Tuol Sleng, but unfortunately they will have to wait until later. I've already been up for three hours and all I've had to eat is some Ritz crackers. My bus for Siem Riep leaves in about an hour, so I want to be able to grab lunch before I leave.

Tuol Sleng Prison Camp - photos

Shooting an AK-47 and M16

During a break in the Cu Chi Tunnel tour you have the option (for a price) to shoot guns at a firing range. Steve and I shared 10 rounds each on an AK-47 and M16 (so we each had 5 shots on each gun). I don't think either of us hit any of the targets, but it was interesting to feel what firing a gun is actually like. The guns are bolted in (for safety) so you have a limited range of motion, but it was still a cool experience.

The range was REALLY loud though. I wouldn't be surprised if most soldiers with long deployments come home hard of hearing (or if they wear earplugs in the battlefield... although I imagine you wouldn't want to dampen any of your senses in a battle).

One wonders where the guns and ammunition come from. I think it's safe to say the guns come from the Vietnam War. Not as sure about the ammunition. This may be naive of me, but I'm hoping all the munitions are also surplus stock from the Vietnam war, and not lining the pockets of some arms dealer.

Cu Chi Tunnels

One of the most popular things to do while in Saigon is to take a trip north of the city to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This network of tunnels is what allowed the Viet Cong to effectively control a swath of territory that was under 100km from Saigon.

The tour we did was one of the more striking examples of propaganda I have come across on this trip. As a Canadian, I couldn't help but wonder how an American would feel doing the same tour I did (I don't think anyone on my bus was American, so there was no around to ask). I couldn't even fathom how someone would feel if they had a close relative that fought in the Vietnam War.

Before I get ahead of myself, I want to write about how much one has to admire both the craftiness and the persistence of the Viet Cong. They would have lived in these tunnels for decades if that's what they had to do to get the American army out of their country. Living in the tunnels for a couple days may be a neat/novel experience, but I think I would go mad living in those tunnels in such cramped quarters, for weeks at a time.

The Viet Cong dug a network consisting of three levels, and hundreds of kilometres completely by hand. All they had were bamboo dustpans and steel shovels to excavate the tunnels. They thought of everything - a system of filter rooms so that steam and smoke would not give them away while they were cooking, hidden shoots of bamboo going up to the surface to ensure a supply of fresh air, and connecting the tunnels to the Saigon river so that when the Americans tried to flood the tunnels the water simply passed through them into the river.

The tunnels really are a marvel of design and engineering, even more so when you consider that tanks were roaming just metres above them, not to mention the constant bombing raids from American bombers. I guess the clay earth helped make for sturdy tunnels, since I did not see any wood support shafts that most mines seem to have.

Anyway, time to get back to have the tour of the tunnels made me feel. While I admired the resolve of the Viet Cong, I felt that the tour lacked any semblance of balance, and that my guide basically thought the death of an American soldier was a laughing matter. It's one thing to turn the death of one's enemy into a joke when you are producing a piece of fiction, such as in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds (yes, I admit I laughed a few times during that movie). Tarantino did a wonderful job of turning the killing of Nazi's into a joke, while also weaving intensely serious moments into the movie.

While showing us a number of the different traps the Viet Cong set to kill Americans, our guide was basically laughing when he showed us the different mechanisms belonging to each trap.







































Not every American soldier in Vietnam committed war crimes, and not every American soldier
in Vietnam was there on his own free will (although I guess they could have deserted and fled to Canada - an extremely difficult decision for most to make). If my father or grandfather had died from one of those traps, I would have wanted to punch my tour guide. Lucky for me, I basically have no family that were American citizens that far back (please correct me if I'm wrong!).

Nonetheless, I am glad I went. It was a great learning experience, and getting to crawl through the tunnels was really cool. Steve and I decided to go through the 100m tunnel - the second longest one they have for tourists to go through. We would have done the full 140 or so metres, but we didn't see anywhere to keep going once we got to the 100m point. There was a couple from Australia right behind us - the boyfriend was 6"6. I couldn't believe that he fit through!

A country a year for the rest of my life

When I crossed the over the border into Cambodia today, I reach a momentous occasion. I have now been to a country for every year of my life (plus one!). 26 Countries in 25 years. Depending on which Carribean islands count as countries the number may be as high as 28, or even 30.

I figure if I never let the difference between the two get greater than five then I will be doing okay. The only potential problem I see with this is that it may lead to me going to new countries just for the sake of it, when more exciting or meaningful trips are to be had to unexplored parts of countries I've already traveled to.

Steven's Last Night in Town

Two nights ago was the end of an era - with Steve and I going on to different cities our two year run as room-mates came to it's end. We had a great night out to celebrate though, so it was nice for things to end on a positive note.

I offered everyone $20 to straddle it and pose for a picture a la Dr. Strangelove, but unfortunately there were no takers...

Photo's from the war museum in Saigon/HCM City

My First Ever Straight Blade Shave

Yesterday I had some time to kill in Nha Trang before my night bus left for Saigon. Steve had wanted to stay at the beach while I decided to go relax at the hostel. After spending some time there I decided to go for a walk along some streets I had yet to explore.

One thing I've wanted since I got to Vietnam is a proper straight shave from a barber. It costs at least $20 at home and I could never justify the expense. The only encounter I've had with a straight blade razor until yesterday was having my sideburns and the back of my hair trimmed by my old barber in Kingston (Generations, for those Queen's students in the audience - Kristos is the best there is in Kingston!).

I saw a barber in Sapa but he wanted $40,000 dong and I was pressed for time. Well yesterday I stumbled upon a barbershop and immediately went inside and motioned that I wanted a shave. One of the staff showed me a $20,000 dong note to let me know how much it would cost. I decided the price was so low it wasn't even worth bargaining. A proper shave at a barber for one dollar!

I was so happy with the shave and the fact that they were honest, I gave the barber a $10,000 dong tip. Normally you don't tip in Vietnam, but given how him and his colleagues didn't try to go through my bag while I was in such a vulnerable position (i.e. with a sharp blade just above my throat), I decided a tip was in good order.

Here is a picture of my barber and I!