Two monkey's fighting (it's really just the first 20 seconds that's good): HERE
Showing posts with label Laos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laos. Show all posts
Thursday, July 29, 2010
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
Two monkey's fighting (it's really just the first 20 seconds that's good): HERE
Monday, July 26, 2010
All my pictures are now up - here are the links to the albums I posted today.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, July 12, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
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 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?
Monday, June 21, 2010
Sleeping in a Tree Top Canopy!
I am going to be in Laos next month, and am planning on doing a special eco-tourism trip. It's a couple nights and includes sleeping in a tree top, a couple hundred feet above the ground!
By doing this in addition to a trek to Sappa (Northwest of Hanoi near the Vietnamese/Chinese border) I'm hoping to get off the beaten trail and see some more authentic rural areas.
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