Saturday, June 14, 2003

*... walked all over ...*
today is my final day in siem reap, and it's probably a good thing too, since i'm not so much of a happy camper at the moment. No big deal other than i'm being a whiny tourist; the 3 hour tuk-tuk commute to the temples had me bouncing around worse than a rag doll in a typhoon. And the guy quoted me $3 and charged me $13. Punk. Checking out of the guesthouse might prove to be a challenge too, since i requested an $8 room, and they put me in a $16 one, and i will probably need to argue, which i am not so much in the mood for (by the way, Cambodia is not as inexpensive as one might imagine) After racing around the temples today (I got so tired of them after about 2 hours), I decided to check out the famous Indochine massage methods (y'all know me and massages) and left without that beautiful snow white skin they adore so much. Think: full-body indian-burn. The girl was trampling all over me and jumping up and down on my spine, and hello! a little lubricant would be nice! Now i will fully admit that i am more than a tourist than a traveler, and this place seems to have mainly travelers around... long hair, loose, local-looking clothing, tanned and sandaled and looking just dirty enough to command respect that they have put some miles on their soles. Totally comfortable walking through a group of begging children without putting their hands over their ears (not that I do that... always...). Siem Reap's main attraction is Angkor Park, and everywhere you look on the whole 10 streets it calls "town" there are new and really lavish hotels going up. I fear that in a couple of years there will be a McDonald's down the street, ready to serve. And that would be a shame, really.

The past couple of days have afforded me some really cool mems, and unfortunately they were the kind i couldn't capture on film for one reason or another (like running out of film...) There was the Buddhist priestess who grabbed me by the arm and thrust incense in my hand so i could pray with her, there was hydroplaning in the tuk-tuk during the nightly thunderstorms, there was playing "count the lizards" on the wall with the Brits (only 15 that we could see) which was a nice distraction from my solo "count the bug bites" game (12 that I can see). Soon I will be back at the airport to commence my 24-hours of travel to get back home, and let me just say that I am not as anxious to get back into that tuk-tuk as you might think, if only for the fact that the guy seemingly aims for potholes??
5:38 PM

Friday, June 13, 2003

*... a little stoned ...*
i'm in siem reap, cambodia right now, and am being eaten alive by the many bugs who like to feast on my body. NOT FUN. I still have scars from the mosquito bites i got in Singapore; now i've added at least 5 to the count. Big red nasty looking things. I spend my days here crawling around the ancient ruins of the Angkor Wat complex, a total of 77 square miles of stone buildings, some dated back to the 9th century. It's amazing to see the detail and history and sheer architectural feats (yesterday i climbed up a 45-step stairway that was at a 70 degree angle) of it and my pictures will never do it justice, i'm sure. There are temples and tombs and cities and random monkeys sitting on the side of the road. Yesterday I was at the main Angkor Wat structure, waiting like all the other tourists tfor the sun to go down, and I mentioned to some other random traveler that we looked like a bunch of monkeys hanging out on the ruins. Right then, 3 real monkeys came running by the rooftop, chasing a bird. Fun for monkeys!!
The strange thing about this past week has been the fact that my whitey-white-girl-ness is absolutely adored over here. The people will just stop and reach out to touch my skin, awed by it. In Vietnam, they tried to trade with me, and pinching = not so fun. This is as opposed to people pointing out my fairness, such as a certain bronzed Turkish Boy who used to announce it to people ("Look how pale you are! Look how pale she is!!") Everyone over here smiles and is really friendly, and the locals seem to get the biggest kick out of us tourists trying not to break legs/arms/necks by going up and down these stone ruins. Personally i could do without the constant harranguing ("Lady, you want buy postcard?" "Madam, you need motorbike? Where you going?" "Sir, you want drink, very cold?" Sir?!) and the little kids begging put a bit of a black cloud over things. But you get to meet people too, which is always fun. I find the best way to know a place is to skip the guidebooks and ask the people who have been in town for a few days. Good way to start a convo. And sometimes, like last night, people will just come up and sit down and start talking when they see you solo. Which is how I once again ended up having a few drinks with 2 Brits, this time 2 guys... I seem to attract the British? Consequently, not many Americans around, so I guess I am a novelty to all sorts of people all over the world!
4:47 PM

Thursday, June 12, 2003

*... yes, i AM a crazy American devil ...*
yes, i know most of you are frightened that i have been living on the streets of saigon for the past 2 days after the cockroach incident. But never fear! I'm a fighter, and i also have no problem going up to random strangers and asking them where they are staying. Thankfully such initiative put me in the hands of Hotel 127, a more than friendly little guest house where you can't get through the lobby without them shoving coffee (mmmm... vietnamese coffeeeeee....) or tea or tac xay (like lemonade with a kick) or bananas or bread or spring rolls or noodles soup down your throat. Not that i'm complaining. I spent most of the first afternoon wandering around in "the heat is on in" Saigon, visiting the war remamnents museum and being made a little embarrassed to be American (sorry Katy). The complete bias of the place was almost laughable, but not as laughable as the next day when I took a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels (pronounced koo-chee, which is also amusing to me) and was forced to sit through a video exalting the "American-killer war heroes" and hearing the story of an innocent but heroic school girl who just wanted to save her country from the "crazy American devils", so she rigged her own anti-aircraft missles. Riiiight. After that we crawled around in the tunnels that were built underground. Now I'm not a claustrophobic person, nor am i scared of the dark, but after about 5 minutes in these holes scarcely wider than my shoulders, and about 2 1/2 feet tall and PITCH BLACK, I was begging the guide to get us the hell out of there. An indescribable experience that left me so incredibly thankful that I never have and probably never will be forced into a situation that would necessitate me using tunnels like that. Westerners just wouldn't stand for it. At the tunnel place were also examples of booby traps, enhanced by a terribly descriptive mural showing American GIs stuck in these traps, blood spurting everywhere (nice touch) and, of course, there was the shooting range (what??). The great thing about the tunnels is that you instantly become friends with the other tourists; you really have no choice when your head is inches from their ass as they scootch along in the black and you try not to get left behind. (no pun, really). I spent the rest of the day with 2 lovely British girls, Claire and Kirsty (whose names are probably grossly misspelled, but i promised them i'd put them in here!) and went shopping a bit and met up later for drinks (fellow tunneler Raymond joined us) and reminisced about the days events, including the smooth talker who tried to pick up dirt-laden Kirsty with the line "Did you go to the Cu Chi tunnels? Did you fire any weapons?"

All in all, i am absolutely entranced by the friendliness of Ho Chi Minh, though i do draw the line at the 4 women who decided to throw open the dressing room curtain and examine the shirts i was trying on (despite the fact that at that moment, i wasn't wearing a shirt and they still didn't go away). The people and the food have left me wanting to come back, first time of all the places i've visited so far. Now i am in HCM airport, waiting for my hop over to Siem Reap to check out the Angkor Wat complex for a few days. Let's hope there are no beasties waiting for me in bed again...
11:32 AM

Tuesday, June 10, 2003

*... travel tips from experience ...*
i was going to title this "always an adventure', but i thought that might be getting a little redundant. Don't be fooled, however; this little journey is no exception to the rule. Here are some tips: if you're trying to catch a non-refundable international flight, it's probably not a good idea to pull a JP and show up to the airport 10 minutes before the plane takes off, and you have yet to get your ticket, go through customs, catch the tram to the next terminal, etc etc etc. And no matter what the friendly man at Tokyo station says, there is no way the rapid train takes 30 minutes to get to the airport. It takes 2 hours.
Once you evoke the sympathy of the friendly airline workers who actually run you all the way to the gate this time, where you both are gasping for breath when you find out that your flight has been delayed 3 hours, it's probably a good idea to not appear too pissed off in the middle of your asthma attack. No, no, just settle in and see what kind of free stuff you can get from the airline, and try to figure out how to let the hotel know to come pick you up later. On the flight, try to relax, even if what you were told was going to be a 4-4 1/2 hour flight turns into a 7 hour flight, and even if the man sitting in front of you is completely insane and has caused all of the airline attendants to not want to walk down your side of the aisle b/c he going to ask some inane question or make some impossible request ("I want a hamburger. Bring me 2 hamburgers." I'm sorry sir, we don't have any... "Just bring me 2."...) And even if you do try to sleep, understand that the people flying with you are the most social travelers you have ever encountered, and they really don't know everyone else on the plane, they just act like they do, so noise level is practically screaming.
Once you get to the airport and flash the immigration your winning smile (at least that part was easy), make your way to the airport lobby and feel really special when you see your name on a sign someone is holding. Of course use your discretion when following that man to his shady looking van with no seatbelts and an abundantly used horn (honk horn, cut wheel, pass into oncoming traffic...). Just be happy someone picked you up, despite the fact that he drops you off at a place that has 3 layers of barred gates, is across from a restaurant called "Cat Dung" and has a huge friendly LIVE cockroach waiting for you on the stoop. Get settled into the hotel after refusing the man to let him have your passport, go to your room, take a shower and settle in. Don't mind the bed bug bites or the thing that feels like it was crawling on your leg. It was just the friend of the cockroach, to welcome you to your room. Discover that you actually got the cockroach party suite, and resolve to sleep with the lights on so the cockroaches will think it's daytime. Or pretend to sleep. Wander the streets in the morning, looking for a new place to stay, avoiding getting hit by motorcycles, dodging peddlars who want to put you on their bike, and hope your lungs don't collapse from the horrid pollution. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go find a place to sleep.
2:11 PM

Monday, June 09, 2003

*... ((insert important thing here)) ...*
I didn't know it was actually possible, but I think my brain really is atrophying, and it's starting from memory and working its way out. I be so good at remembering things, at least logistic-wise (ie don't forget to do this, this and this, etc), but now I'm thinking of things and forgetting them the moment I stop thinking about them. I had stuff to tell Darius, Doc, Matt, and my mom, but now can't remember any of them. I'm supposed to leave for Vietnam in 20 minutes, and hope I haven't forgotten anything. Please let me know if you think of something... (maybe gingko balboa, matt?)

by the way, the 2 questions i keep hearing most these days: when are you coming home? and why vietnam? both have the same answer: I DON'T KNOW. I'll bet I did know at one point, but i probably forgot.
12:50 PM

Sunday, June 08, 2003

*... lookin' up / countin' down ...*
Here's a quick overview to satiate your curiousity: tomorrow i go to work to see if i can wrangle some ichi-nen-seis solo, then i go to vietnamvietnamvietnamvietnam, then to cambodiacambodiacambodia, then kansaihanedaniigata (there are 3 trains, 5 planes and 1 bus involved in this particular adventure, and that's not including once i get there) and then workworkworkworkwork and then KRISTY! then back to work and then my birthday and then Okinawa and then more work and then ??? (TBD) and then home, as in on my way into LAX. Whew.
4:58 PM