Hecca Hanoi

Borrowing a phrase from my new Ozzie (American translation = Australian) friend, Hanoi is the most hectic city I have experienced. I thought the scooters in Taipei were numerous. Here they run rampant. The worst part is that Hanoi doesn't have crosswalks, and the ones they do have are not recognized. You just kind of wade into traffic and walk slowly and steadily so that traffic can swerve around you. Talk about never racking. I've almost been road-kill at least a dozen times.

Crossing the boarder from Laos was an educational experience to say the least. It's rare in this world that someone provides a truely valuable service. I decide to cross the newly opened (2003) international boarder into north-central Vietnam. Of course the infrastructor isn't in place - still - and that's where you get stranded. They've voided your Laos visa and stamped your Vietnam visa and now there is conveniently no way to get to any kind of city or bus station. BUT...there happens to be one car in the whole boarder town and the gentleman that owns it will be more than happy to drive you where you need to go. All for the low, low price of $100 American dollars. He's also quite happy to take cash. Glad I wasn't traveling alone on that day!

UXO

Between 1964 and 1973, the US conducted one of the largest sustained arial bombardments in history, flying 580,344 missions over Laos and dropping two million tons of bombs, costing US$2.2 million a day. Around 30% of the bombs dropped on Laos failed to detonate, leaving the country littered with unexploded ordnance, or UXO. Clearance work is slow and money for this cause is almost non-existant. At the current rate of clearance it will take more than 100 years to make the country safe. Please visit www.mag.org.uk for more information.

My tour of this country found fields littered with craters, and most parts of the hillsides off limits. The Laos people are however quite inventive and have found dozens of practical uses for UXO. Bomb casings, rockets, mortars and fuel tanks have been fashioned into spoons, boats, lamps, fence posts, chairs and house stilts.

Quote

"Travel only with thy equals or thy betters. If there are none, travel alone." -Unknown

This morning in Luang Prabang, Laos I said goodbye to an equal. Tomorrow: I travel alone.

How Now Laos (don't pronounce the 's')

The land of Laos: Situated snugly between Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Throughout its history it has been the most heavily bombed country in the world. My own country financed the majority of those bombadiers over three presidential administrations. Though war was never formally declared here - in fact not even a skirmish was acknowledged in the press - America waged a secret conflict rooting out the Vietcong, Chinese commies and basically any civilian target that got in its way.

Today the country harbors no grudge and welcomes tourists from all nations equally. In fact they even accept the US dollar as one of three prevailing currencies (Thailand Baht and Laos Kip). I was told that the feeling of Laos is what Thailand was ten years ago. While it is indeed very nice, the tourist trail is still warn pretty deep. I have experienced "people movement" here of extreme precision. On the day you decide to set off from Thailand into Laos, you have just chosen your travel companions for the duration of your stay. You load onto a boat with 40 others and set off on a two day river journey down the Mekong. This boat, being somewhat cramped necessitates moving around and bumping into fellow passengers. By the time you get off that boat in Luang Prabang two days later: you've established a tight clique of 12 mates, 19 acquaintances, 2 enemies and 7 friendly faces. As the route runs North to South we will rub elbows with these same people at restaurants, bars, waterfalls, bookstores, and markets every night. In a way it's nice, almost like a makeshift family or tribe cutting through a foreign land. In reality its efficient travel at affordable prices. Whatever level you choose view: Laos is lovely.

Quote

“People were dancing; their hands were raised to the sky, different colours and different races all united by the rhythm. The dance-floor was our temple. This was our congregation,” ... “That’s when I realised, only the music can save our souls.”
-Roger Sanchez (NYC, DJ - Producer)

I Stink

Something is happening to my body composition. I'm not sure if it is because my diet has changed or because I now sweat SO much here. But, if I don't bath and wear deodorant every single day - I am a walking, stinking nightmare. I know I wouldn't want to hug me. Blah.

Cheap Cheap

Where you go? Come here my friend. I have very good deal for you. Take look. Cheap cheap.

Anybody that tells you Thailand is cheap is only telling you the half truth. Sure, things are less expensive here but the problem is that you are then tempted to buy more. Much more. Since entering Thailand I have been spending money like water. That pineapple shake is only fifty cents, well I'll have two then. Those jeans are only $14, again I'll take two. I planned to get a suit made here in Bangkok. Guess how many I ended up with...that's right two! And six tailored shirts to boot!

Tonight I leave the city and head North to Chang Mai and Pai. I plan to spend a few days sightseeing and decompressing. At which point my Thai visa will expire and I will then head into Laos. Have I really been in Thailand for a month already?

Bangkok: The Original Sin City

My words cannot do justice to the bright lights and dark corners that pervade Bangkok. So, for this posting I will defer to the author of a book I recent finished called: The River at the Center of the World by Simon Winchester.

...there are many beautiful girls here. Girls who like foreigners very much... Simply crossing the street is a hormonal assault course. As I marched through the gloom toward the brilliantly lit hotel entrance - flashing neon Welcomes and promises of Untold Charms Within - my sleeve was plucked and my shoulders were rubbed by eight, ten young women, who dashed out from behind parked cars.
The patter was straight from a bad Berlitz course. You are so handsome. Your room number, please. I be your good friend. I very reasonable. My massage is excellent. You have much fun. Stop, kind mister, come here and let us have fuck. Getting rid of these girls was like swatting flys - as one brushed insect broke away, so another zoomed around to get at me on the other side. By the time I reached the hotel building I felt as though I had already had the massage I had been promised.