R 9/26 Brooklyn
F 9/27 Fly to Bangkok, Thailand from JFK
S 9/28 Arrive in Bangkok
U 9/29 Nakon Pathom
-Visit to Chedi at Nakom Pathom
-Visit day market
M 9/30 Damnoen Saduak
-Visit floating market
T 10/01 Ayutthaya
-Wat Yai Chai-mongkol.
-Wat Phra Si Sanphet
-Wat Manhathat
-Wat Phanan Choeng
W 10/02 Surin and Ban Ta Klang
-Basketry Village (Ban Bu Thom)
-Khmer Ruins (Prasat Srikhorapum
and Prasat Chom Pra)
-Silk Weaving Villages (Ban Du King
and Ban Trimun)
-Ban ta Klang, Elephant village
R 10/03 Nakon Rachsima
-Friendship bridge at Nong Khai
F 10/04 Vientiane
-Ban Naxithong
-Ban Ilia
-Victory Tower
-Pha That Luong
-
S 10/05 Bangkok
U 10/06 Fly Back to US
____________________________________________________________
S 9/28 2:00AM
CITY : Bangkok, City of Scams
-Land in Bangkok Airport.
-The women's bathroom door is held
open by the constant stream of people.
-We exchange money at 42.0 Bhat per Dollar
-Airport Tourist office books us at the
Tong Poon Hotel for 1500B/night
The first SCAM : They wanted to charge us
600B for a Taxi to the Hotel, we say
no to the taxi, find our own and save 495B.
-We get a Taxi-Meter outside the airport
-This is now our first taste of Thailand.
-A modern highway system and modern commerical
homes which could be anywhere, USA.
-However, I know that 80% of all the cars in
the *country* are in this one city.
-There are a number of 3 wheeled, motorcycle
modified canopied Tuk-Tuks.
-Our taxi driver casually runs a red light
-Our taxi driver passes another car using the
break down lane. This isn't kansas anymore Toto.
-Since we paid at Airport, check-in is smooth
and flawless. The room is the equivalent of
a modern "best western" type hotel. Complete
with flush toilet, soap, water, shampoo, towels,
TV. We watch a little TV, discuss battle plan. sleep.
-I get only 4 hours sleep that night,
excitement, traffic noise, jet lag, not sure.
U 9/28 7:30AM
CITY : Bangkok, City of Scams
-We shower, the showerhead comes up to my Chin :-)
-We go downstairs for the complimentary
breakfast (our first meal in Thailand) is...
a disappointing sausage, eggs and toast :-(
-The second SCAM : I ask the Conceirge which train
will get me to Damnoen Saduak.
She claims there are no hotels there (outright LIE)
and suggests that we take a day trip there and
spend another night at Tong Poon. I kindly thank
her for the train information. Later the Hotel
Proprietor himself tries to rope us in to the same thing.
-We find a Tuk-tuk to take us to the train station
we are headed to Nakom Pathom and then Damnoen Saduak
-The third SCAM : The Tuk-tuk driver drives us
to a small store where we buy water and film.
He does this for FREE! Then he drops us off at a
Tourist Agency. He claims we can buy train tickets
here (LIE). Curious, I sit down and talk to the agent.
The agent also claims there are no hotels in
Damnoen Saduak (LIE). And graciously offers to get us
a taxi ride to Nakom Pathom for 1500B. I say
no-no-no "Mai Pen Rai". Which means "Never Mind"
Extremely useful Thai phrase.
U 9/28 11:00AM
CITY : Bangkok, City of Scams
-We step outside the agency and there are many taxis
waiting. We pick one. We negotiate a 150B ride to the
train station ("Yak Ja Plai Sat Hani Rot Fai"). Later
Chwon the driver offers to drive us to Nakom Pathom himself
for 600B. We accept
Note : this is 1/3 the price the ticket agent
tried to rope us into!
U 9/28 12:00PM
CITY : Nakom Pathom, Home to the world's Largest Chedi
-We arrive at Nakom Pathom, and tour the Wat
(temple complex). This Chedi is truly an amazing
sight, dwarfing the landscape around it.
This is our first tour of a really unique and novel
thing (wat) in Thailand (we drove by 3 wats on the way
here).
-A chedi houses a physical piece of Siddartha Gautama,
the original philosopher of the Buddhism.
-This chedi was completed in 1860AD.
-One of the first sights we see is a naked boy
about age 4 running next to his mom, apparently
having just taken a shower it is customer to run
through the streets in public naked. At least
this is the impression one gets.
-We walk around the outside complex, watch people gong
bells, watch cats and monks. There is a sermon
of some sort over the public address system.
I buy a postcard. We enter the temple (taking off
shoes) and I see people offering the 3 main
offerings to a Buddha image (1) Gold leaf applique
(2) Lotus Blossom (3) Incense and Candle.
There is also a little array of cups and people putting
change in them. The adjoining museum is closed.
We use the public restrooms here, and it is our
first run in with a squat toilet.
-We decide to walk across the street to the market.
Inside, is a matrix of stores, but in the hallways
of this mall are also vendors. The ceiling to this
outdoor mall is canopied with tarpauline. There are
hundreds of vendors here in a 1/4 square mile area.
Vendors selling everything from fruit to lingerie.
-We stop to eat lunch. Lunch costs us 20B (about $0.50)
-I buy a grilled chicken on a stick. Cheap, messy
and tasty. In the US, you would be given a napkin.
They don't believe in napkins in this country.
U 9/28 04:30 PM
CITY : Nakom Pathom, Home to the world's Largest Chedi
-We try to flag down bus 78 to Damnoen Saduak with no luck.
-We are about to hire a taxi, when we come upon a bus
terminal. I talk to some of the locals, and they
wave us onto bus 57 claiming it will go to Damnoen Saduak.
-They are kind enough to find a bus 78, drive in front of
it and pull it over for us.
U 9/28 05:30 PM
CITY : Damnoen Saduak, Home to the Talat Nam
-We arrive and check into the Noknoi "Little Bird" Hotel
this hotel costs us 400B split 3 ways. This night's
stay costs me $3.17 !
-However, the room has a squat toilet, and no separate
shower stall (you just shower in the floor of the
bathroom), it has an anemic A/C, no shampoo, and only
soap. But for $3.17 a night it is a gem.
-cool/cold showers and squat toilets in Cathay.
-I take my first squat dump.
-There are by the way about 4 hotels in Damnoen Saduak.
U 9/28 06:15 PM - 8:00 PM
CITY : Damnoen Saduak, Home to the Talat Nam
-We decide to get dinner, and I ask directions from
the locals ("You Nai Raan Ahaan")
-A young lady gets into a conversation with us
and word associates America with the World Trade
Center.
-We have a wonderful Hot Pot (Fondue) dinner.
While I have had many hot pot dinners before, this
coal based on is unique to me, and the waitress
ends up spending a lot of time cooking the food
for us using this hot pot. With a 25% tip, dinner
still ends up $2.77 a person.
-Bushed, we hit the sack.
-But I get only 4 hours of sleep, due to a loud
A/C system and Dennis and John snoring.
M 9/30 07:48 AM
CITY : Damnoen Saduak, Home to the Talat Nam
-I break open the Guava I bought at Nakom Pathom
it is a sweet grapefruit and even looks like
a (green) grapefruit.
-We head to the Floating Market (Talat Nam).
-Warned not to get on a boat, this will
be a trying experience to avoid being
put on a boat.
-First the hotel tries to get us into a boat.
we kindly refuse. The hotel owner tells us
it is a nice leisurely 2 hour ride to the market.
This is antithetical to what we want, because
a *flood* of tourists invade the market at 9:00AM.
-Next, the tuk-tuk we hire, drives us to a boat
dock. Even though I said in thai "Take me to the
floating market" (Yak Ja Plai Talat Nam).
We kindly refuse. They are annoyingly persistent
for us to get onto a boat.
-Finally, we walk the ramaining 500m to the market.
-What a spectacular sight. There is an outdoor
market along both sides of a canal. The "far side"
is only accessibly by boat, and we notice only touristy
trinkets are sold there, doubtless for those who
got roped into getting on a boat.
-While there every 5 minutes someone asks if I would
like to get on a boat. We kindly refuse each time.
-We see an old lady passing chilis to another boat
with her oar.
-We pay another lady for fried bananas through a
bucket she has attached to a pole.
-We purchase breakfast, and it is wonderful.
-The floating market is also composed of many ladies
in sampan rafts/boats, selling fruit or food.
-We step into a tent to buy postcards and are greeted
by two nice Thai ladies , one of them wonders if Dennis
is female.
-At 9:00 AM Bus-loads of western tourists *flood*
the market. Streams of loud banana-yellow motorboats
roar in bringing scores of tourists. This completely
ruins the charming Talat nam experience, and we are
very grateful that we arrived before 9:00 AM.
-We also try Mangosteen, Rambutan and Durian.
Durians are like an avocado, rich and a desserty taste.
Mangosteens have a orangey taste and Rambutans
taste like Lychees.
-I buy a Teak wooden card case. This is my first
real bargaining for merchandise experience.
I am hesitant at first to buy something, but she
persists in saying "give me a starting price"
The box is 450B ($10.71), it is easily worth
two times that value if you tried to buy it in
the US. So I say 350, and she says 400B. Deal done.
-Next I run across a cute little jade elephant.
The lady demonstrates that a lighter has no effect on it.
I however, didn't think it was worth 400B. So I said
no in Thai (mai). She said give me a starting price.
mai. give me a starting price. mai. Then she picked up
a calculator and punched in 350. mai. Then 200B.
Wow! ok, this this is worth $4.76USD. I had no intention
to get into any sort of bargaining with her, but ended
up "bargaining" for an amazing price. If I had given
an initial price of 1, and she split the difference
I would have ended up worse at 226B!
-by 10AM I ask the tuk-tuk drive to take us to our
hotel (Yak Ja Plai Noknoi Rang Ram).
-John writes some e-mail at thairagnarok.com cybercafe.
-at 10:49AM we take bus 78 to Thonburi, Bangkok.
-12:54PM we arrive in Bangkok , take a taxi to the train station
again, the taxi driver tries to get us use his
services by driving all the way to Ayutthaya. We decline.
-We have an interesting conversation with the taxi person.
Saddam "K-Z (crazy)". He also word associates America
with World Trace Center. "Bomb-bomb".
same-same. "Thai King #1, No Bomb-bomb."
We inform him that we are going to Laos eventually. "Lao #5".
We learn that Toyota, Honda and Misubishi are top car sellers.
-2:00 PM We arrive at Huamapong Rail Station and take the
train to Ayutthaya.
-Onboard, I meet two deaf people signing in Thai Sign Language.
I sign to them using A.S.L., but they don't understand me.
I get the idea to mouth words in Thai that I know and
make the corresponding ASL sign. Then I get the idea to
use my phrase book. My phrase book has the written Thai,
I show them the ASL sign, and they show me the Thai sign.
Now we're communicating! John is getting in on the action too.
The rest of the train ride zips by, as I am trying to
frantically cram in Thai Signing. They are Kitan and Vitar.
-Our train arrives at 3:38 in Ayutthaya
M 9/30 04:45 PM
CITY : Ayutthaya, City from another Time.
-"Those were different times..."
-Ayuthaya was Siam (Thailands) capital after the
Sukothai period from 1350-1767. For a while during
its 416 year reign it is the greatest city in
Asia. It was sacked and torched by Burmese raiders
and the capital moved to Bangkok, a more defensible
location.
-We meet a very friendly driver at the train station, Noi.
He offers to chauffeur us around the next day, we accept.
-He also acts as an interpreter for us, and finds us
a suitable hotel, the Cathay Hotel.
It has a dead lizard on the ground and a live one
on the ceiling.
-cool/cold showers and squat toilets in Cathay.
-5:40-6:40 PM Pae Krung Kao Floating Restaurant.
we walk to this restaurant, a bit of a trek.
we have to ask a couple people along the way to make sure
we haven't passed it yet.
-7:48PM back at cathay hotel from tuk-tuk.
-That night I get only 4 hours sleep, The live lizard
chirps me awake and about every 30-40 minutes chirps
again. It is a very strange sound. Like a mutant bird
or weak fire siren.
T 10/01 06:20 AM
CITY : Ayutthaya, City from another Time.
-Wake up, I walk out, and see the Hotel
attendant sleeping head on the counter.
That's dedication! Human Labor is of very little value
in Thailand, only goods and material things seem
to command value.
-I see monks receiving their morning alms.
in Thai Theraveda Hinayana (Greater vessel) Buddhism
the monk is not supposed to own anything but
his robes and his alms bowl. In their view, Material
things cause mental attachment, which can in turn
have the potential to cause anguish.
-A very small local market is where be pick up
breakfast for $0.92 (39B). I am able to interact with
the vendor by speaking entirely in Thai.
-We meet our first 2 beggars. They approch silently.
two older ladies perhaps in their 50's or 60's.
They have their hands in the traditional Thai Wai
greeting (as in a prayer hands position). We give
them money they move on.
-We meet Noi our driver at 8:00AM
T 10/01 08:41 PM
CITY : Ayutthaya, City from another Time.
-Wat Yai Chai-Mongkol.
Built in 1367 by King U-Thong. The ceylonese
pa Kaeo sect. The temple of supreme meditation.
-09:28AM Wat Panan Choeng
built 1344AD, it houses Thailand's largest Buddha
image. The last Lord Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama
is held as a holy image. From his teachings (Dharma),
form the basis of Buddhism.
-09:28 AM Wat Si Sanphet
The royal palace was located herer from the reign of
King Ramathibodi I (1350AD) to the reign of King
Sam Phraya (1448AD).
-10:25 AM A group of students come up to us and
ask us questions and record our answers on a tape
recorder. "What's our name? where are we from?
is this our first visit to Ayutthaya? Will we come
back? What do you think of the thai people?"
-10:41 AM Wat Manhathat
has a Bodhi tree with a Buddha image within its roots.
-11:06 AM Wat Ratchaburana
In 1424 King Intharachathirat and his 2 rivaling sons
killed each other and are buried here.
-11:42 AM Check out from Cathay hotel. Noi drives us to
the train station. He has been very patient with
us, and waited while we went around to each temple.
His total charge was $15.23 (640B) for half his day.
-12:40 PM We have lunch across from the train
station. Our next destination is Surin, Pirom's
guesthouse. We try to call Mr. Pirom himself because
the tourbook says he is a guide and we want to know if
there are openings still. But the telephone at the
restaurant is a shared line with the family, so
we go to the train station.
-The 7 hour train ride to Surin $1.5 (63B)
T 10/01 01:15 PM
CITY : Train / North East Countryside.
-The seven hour train ride is a little tiring
as it is extremely difficult to sleep on the
train. The seats are short, and grouped
facing each other in 4's. My head touches
another person's behind me as I try to sleep.
Strangers are friendly.
-We pass 2 corn fields, many rice patties (Thailand
is the world's largest rice exporter), 2 horse
farms, we see live chickens, water buffalo
-many metal shanti shacks abutted against modern
homes (this wouldn't happen in america).
-In all of thailand we see very little litter,
no graffiti, we witness not a single crime,
the Thai people are very well behaved compared
to Americans.
-Given that there are very few trash cans and the
nearly total absence of ground litter indicates
the people patiently hold onto trash until
they come to a container. At times we had to
hold onto plastic bags, bottle, styrofoam
for an hour or more.
The Wats (temples) are immaculate. Most of
their Buses are immaculate as well.
-On board the train vendors sell food, another
example of the low value of labor.
For these vendors selling food on train is
their livelihood. Vendors sell corn, drinks,
fruit, grubs, rice dishes, grilled chicken...
-We buy lunch on the train. We have a strange
apple looking fruit which is bitter, and comes
with a brown sweet crystalline powder. Tasty.
-Their trains run with almost perfect timing.
Over our seven hour journey, making many stops
the train only slips 2 minutes!
-Each railway station is not just immaculate,
but decorated with taste. Each station has
its own personality. Benches, and plants
give each station a sense of place and colors
lend each station a different style.
make each stop a lively table topic.
-As we will see the Thai people are well grounded,
and in touch with their land, each other, and
living things. The influence of Buddhism
with its respect for all living things can
is palpable.
-There is however quite a bit of noise pollution
everywhere we went 2 cycle scooters and motorcycles
produced a tremendous amount of noise.
For a Thai who, on average makes $1700/year
a car costing on average $13,000 is expensive,
much more affordable is a scooter costing about 40000B.
T 10/01 09:00 PM
CITY : Surin
-We arrive at Pirom's Guesthouse.
Pirom and his wife Awree have accommodations left
and we get 2 rooms with double beds, each room
costs $3.57 (150B). There is a shared bathroom
and the small wooden slated bedroom is clean and
simple. Simple, functional, and minimal will be
an recurring theme throughout our trip. This is
evinced in Thai manner, action, decor, things they
own.
-There is a nosquito net which I deploy.
-9:16 PM we sleep.
-I get very little sleep again.
-2:52 AM Roosters wake me up. There are 4 roosters.
in unison or individually, about every 15 minutes
on is crowing until dawn.
-4:00 AM a group of 10 dogs have some kind of
fight.
-In general, noise pervades easily through my
room from Scooters, Roosters, Lizard chirping,
Dogs, birds, motorcycles, ...
-5:38AM I hear Buddhist chanting over some
sort of public announcement system.
W 10/02 06:09 AM
CITY : Surin
-I have been awake for 3 hours already, but decide
to get up from bed.
-John and Dennis are still asleep.
I walk about a block to the morning market.
-This market is a vast sprawling collection of
open air stalls and a throng of people are here
already.
-I see hornet grubs, live fish, crabs, live chickens (with
their feet tied together), live prawns (small, translucent
multilegged), all manner of fruits, clothes, trinkets, and
food being sold.
-At the time I didn't know how to say "Gway Teow" noodle
which I have a craving for. There are 4 types
"Ba Mee", "Sin Mee", "Sin Lake", "Sin Yeiah"
Didn't look like any vendor had them anyway.
W 10/02 09:00 AM
CITY : Surin
-Pirom, the first person who speak fluent english and thai
that we meet in very informed and can answer our
questions:
-Thailand has 60m people , 10% are government workers.
area of 80000 km^2
-There are very few doctors as most go to the US
-In the past 10 years Thailand has shifted quite a
bit from Agriculture to Industry. The northeast
(where Surin is located), is the breadbasket of Thailand.
-Thailand is split into 5 regions (1) Central
(2) North Thailand (3) South (4) East (5) Northeast.
-80% of the agriculture is Rice and Thailand
is the world's largest exporter of it.
-August is the growing month, November the harvest
season.
-Farmers are rather poor and need to suppliment
their income by going into the city to work.
Farmers make 100-200B per day ($2.38-$4.76)
which depends on crop yield and is paid only
once a year!
-Children learn to basket weave at an early
age and don't ask their parents for money
as they can make their own money by making and
selling baskets.
-Rattan basket go for 100-1000B depending on
the type of furniture made. Rattan is imported
-It takes about one day to weave a basket.
-The Khmer empire predates Thai history.
The 3 main Thai periods are (1) Sukothai
(2) Ayutthaya 1350-1767 and (3) Bangkok (220yrs)
-The mon kingdom came from India and settle
near modern Phuket.
-The 2 major language groups are Khmer-Mon and
Thai-Laos.
-Minayana Buddhism is predominant in Tibet
Hinayana in Sri Lanka
-The Khmer empire which occupied most of Siam (Thailand)
fell because
(1) Lavish waste of resources on government
projects which seemed to serve no purpose.
(sound familiar?)
(2) Military overreach, being a powerful state
it felt the need to make trouble outside its
borders. (sound familiar?)
-The Hindu religion was the predominant religion
prior to Buddhism, it fell to the wayside because:
(1) The caste system
(2) Living sacrifice
-In 1238 Ayutthaya and Sukothai existed independently
In 1350 Ayutthaya conquered Sukothai
Eventually Ayutthaya took over modern Cambodia and Laos.
-Buddhism , a pragmatic and sensible philosophy
was introduced around 1300 by Monk to the second
Sukothai king. It preached frugality, simple meals,
study, meditation, shunned materialism, and stressed
compassion for living things.
-Theraveda Buddhism (Hinayana) Buddhism is practiced today
in Thailand.
-In 1432 Ayutthaya conquered the Khmer empire.
-In 1880 King Rama V played the French against the British
and managed to remain a free state. However, much land
was conceded to each superpower.
-A small Modern Thai home approximately 800 ft^2 is 300,000B
-A Two story Modern Thai home ~3000 ft^2 on a large piece of
land runs 1,000,000B
-Pirom then drives to :
-Basketry Village (Ban Bu Thom)
-Khmer Ruins (Prasat Srikhorapum
and Prasat Chom Pra)
-Silk Weaving Villages (Ban Du King
and Ban Trimun)
-Ban ta Klang, Elephant village
-As Pirom drives we notice :
-along dirt pot-holed roads, rough roads.
-we see water buffalo grazing
-people working the rice patties
-makeshift tractor wagons doubtless used for harvest
-in the elephant village we get to feed two baby
elephants bananas. Baby Elephants honk like a car
horn. Their snout is basically a food shovel.
Highly intelligent, when the trainer said
"Cop Koon Crap" (Thai for Thank you), the Elephant
bowed its head, thanking us for the bananas.
-At the silk village we see how a silk cloth is made
starting with the silk worm in big platters,
to the coccoons which are spun in twigs, to
thread teasing from boiling coccoons, to thread
tieing (and later dieing), and finally to the loom.
-We get eat a silk worm coccoon, it takes like corn.
-About half of the traffic is scooters or motorcycles.
-Health centers are located in each village manned
by one nurse. Doctors are in short supply.
-During lunch with Pirom, (made by aree his wife)
we get to feed roosters, hens and chicks.
-At Age 20 the craft of silk weaving is learned.
-We take cool/cold showers and squat toilets in Surin.
-Everywhere we go we are greeted by children shouting
"Hello! Hello!" clearly they are accustomed to
western tourists.
-These villagers are poor, but lead rich family lives.
-Everyone is barefoot
-Nearly everyone is wearing silk. Men wear Sarongs (skirts)
-Their outdoor Kitchen is wall-less. At the rear of the
kitchen grows a garden where the veggies come from.
Live chickens and roosters provide protein. They wander
freely in the village.
-We pass a recycle truck heaped to the brim with recyclables.
-The silkworm plate is covered so flies can't get to them.
the plates are stored in a rack with a coffee pot
with water in it, so that ants can't get to them.
-Kids can earn money by weaving baskets and so don't need
to ask parents for money, they can make money themselves.
-In their culture, Wives are never idle as "downtime" is
spent weaving silk as a dowry during their daughter's
wedding day.
-They are a practical, persevering, patient people.
-After lunch, we see a guy chest deep in muddy water
trawling for fish.
-An announcement or advertisement truck is encountered.
-We ask to use the bathroom of someone's house who runs
a store. At the back of the store is this family's house.
Their living space is immaculate, a simple kitchen is
adjoined by a bathroom. The absence of clutter of
things lends to a pragmatic, crisp and functional interior.
-Most houses have a rice store house where the family's
surplus rice is stored.
-We leave on the Train bound for Nakon Racsima.
It leaves at midnight (12:04AM), and arrives
about 2 hours later at Nakon Racsima.
R 10/03 10:20 AM
CITY : Nakon Racsima (Korat)
-We leave the hotel at 10:20AM.
-We see Wat Selenoi in Korat, this Wat has won
multiple architectural awards. Very classy
looking temple.
-12:20-04:23 PM we travel by Bus to Udon Thani
The bus makes many pitstops. During one of these,
a lady leaves her baby aboard the bus to get food.
Thinks nothing of it, and returns to the bus
about 5-10 minutes later. This would *never*
happen in the US.
-05:00-06:05 PM we travel by bus to Nong Khai
-We discuss how muc national pride the Thai people have.
-Dilapidated rural shantis next to brand new homes.
-Tin roof, old looking homes, run down but
built to last.
-I see a man squatting, waiting for someone.
this seems very odd to a westerner, like myself.
-We eat grubs/larvae. Tastes like popcorn.
-by 8:00 PM we are in Laos.
R 10/03 08:00 PM
CITY : Vientiane , Laos
-We cross the border across the friendship bridge,
fill out paperwork to get a visa into Laos.
-We run across a pack of people from the Netherlands.
-Vientiane looks remarkably like any other Thai
city we've seen. Dingy, Dirty but relatively
western.
-We see a turned over Tuk-tuk, the first accident
that we've seen. Which is remarkable given
how crazy these people drive.
-9:13 PM We are at the Hotel
-9:54 PM Buying water is tough! Because unlike Thailand
I haven't bothered to learn any phrases, so I'm working
directly out of a travel guide which looks extremely
awkward and it is, because between every phrase you want
to say you have to look down at a book.
-I find out it is 250kips to 1 Baht.
-10:55 PM Finish dinner. Also very tough to order.
I manage to say "Chicken" "Soup" and the waitress asks
me rice or sticky rice? There is a englishized menu
surprisingly. I don't even see these much in Thailand!
Restaurant is the Vieng Ninhom No40 Roe Heng Boure 020620995
F 10/04 09:05 AM
CITY : Vientiane , Laos
-9:05 AM Wake up
-10:15 AM to food
-10:30 AM another beggar, this time a middle aged woman
with baby and child. We give her money/coins.
She is also in tradition Wai prayer position, silent,
and kneeling in front of us.
She has a walking stick.
-10:45 AM We eat at the Vieng Ninhom restaurant again.
-At 11:00 AM we meet our guide, Touy ("Tony").
clearly he has had much contact with westerners.
His english is quite good, amd he works with the
Tavanh Travel Service Company.
in Luang Prabang Rd 10, Box 9847 Vientiane
-Touy our tour guide imparts many interesting facts about
Laos :
-Children go to school for 6-8 hours and go for 10 months.
-90% of the people of Laos are in Agriculture
-25000B - 69000B is the cost of a Motorcycle
-We observe 75% of the traffic to be two-wheel vehicles
(and this is later confirmed by the travel guide)
-Gas costs 2966 Kip / liter
-The minister declares things (being a communist country)
and the people snap to.
-The minister has declared an opening to foreign visitors
and tourists in 1994.
-The minister has declared there to be a midnight curfew
-The minister has declared no one shall take photos of
anything governmental or military in nature.
-Toyotas and Hyundais are the top cars sold in Laos.
-We are in a stick shift car.
-It takes about $3 USD (30000kip) to register a car
-The Lao-loom is the traditional wedding dress.
some chinese families in Laos use a traditional
western style "princess" wedding dress.
-On big difference is that the Lao people do not
have any "vacation" time. They work year round
5 days a week.
-There is very low crime in Laos.
-Cell phones (touy has one) cost about 70000 kip
per month for 100 minutes.
-Touy is studying english working for a 4year BA degree.
-There is no railway system in Laos at all.
-There are buses, but we only see 2 during our stay
in Laos.
F 10/04 12:00 PM
CITY : Ban Naxithong (Village), Laos
-12:00 PM Ban Naxithong
We consult with the elder of the village and the
"number 2" in command.
-We learn from the elder people work from 8-12 rest
then from 1:30-4:30. They lead a poor, but simple
and easy laid back life.
-They grow rice , cucumbers and other vegetables.
-Half the time the villagers go into the city to
work, and spend the other half working on the farm.
-People are allowed to own their own homes.
-The villagers come to the elder to solve their problems.
-The elder can call upon the Government to help
-the Government provides a subsidy to the village.
-Naxithong is a district.
-The village elder will not let us visit the villagers
directly, however as we drive around we see :
(1) adults working in the rice fields,
(2) their children cannon balling into a muddy river,
(3) the adults fishing in the streams,
(4) water buffalo neck deep cooling off in the rice patties
(5) children playing in a little puddle of water
"trying to catch fish"
-When Dennis has to relieve himself, the village elder
speaks with one of the villagers and we are allowed to
use their home's bathroom. We get a glimpse of their
home. This village is considerablye better off than
the Thai villages of Ban Bu Thom and Ban Du King.
They live sparsely. The house has only 2 rooms.
A family-room-bedroom combination and a kitchen.
Inside their major pieces of furniture consist of
a couch, TV and a wooden cabinet. Outside there
is the skeleton/frame of a bicycle leaning against
the house, a rather new looking scooter. Two feeble
kittens pop out of the back door when Dennis enters
the outhouse. The outhouse appears dirty by western
standards, but relatively average by Thai standards.
F 10/04 01:20 PM
CITY : Ban Ilia (Village), Laos (Pronounced "Ban E-lee")
-This village is even more xenophobic than the last
and we aren't able to do much at all in this village.
-There is a small tattered-roofed market with
muddy dirty aisles. Women have stands selling
fruits and trinkets.
-Across the street is a rather modern looking storefront
selling rattan basketry.
-The tour book says this village produces pottery also.
-The most revealing thing is just driving around on the
way between Ban Naxithong and Ban Ilia. (Observations
notes above).
F 10/04 02:33 PM
CITY : Vientiane, Laos
-After the village visits, Touy takes us to the more
touristy parts of Vientiane...
-Wat That Luong
This is Laos most sacred Buddhist temple. It has
30 prangs (towers) symbolizing the 30 elements of
Buddhism. A picture of this is even on their
currency.
-2:50PM We arrive at Patuxay ("Victory Gate")
This arc-de-triomphe looking archway tower
was built by the Americans. We climb to the top
and see beautiful vistas of the city of Vientiane.
-3:45PM Haw Pha Kaew (pronounced "Haw pa Que")
This temple has two prominent Nagas (snake spirits)
for stair railings. Inside there are many Buddhist
relics and Buddha images. Some dating back 1000 years.
-5:33 We return to the hotel, we rest then hit a
cybercafe and sleep at 10:13PM
S 10/05 06:00 AM
CITY : Vientiane, Laos
-By 7:47AM we are ready to go to the airport.
we eat, and at 8:40 we take a Tuk-tuk to the
airport.
-I think I got 1 , perhaps 2 hours of sleep
that night.
-According to touy this modern airport was built
5 years ago. We are very glad for it, because
it would take us a couple of days to make it
back to bangkok without it.
-9:43AM Inpane Bolihane (Touy) suddenly greets
us and presents us with 3 Laos t-shirts.
S 10/05 12:02 PM
CITY : Bangkok, Thailand
-The short plane ride to Bangkok goes smoothly.
we arrive and spend the next 2 hours getting
a hotel and trying to get Dennis and John plane
tickets to Cambodia/Bangladesh.
-We now have a healthy distrust of Travel Agencies,
and we first check the travel guide to see what
prices we should be expecting for hotels close
to the airport because I have a red-eye flight
(the only one that was available to the States).
the book quotes 3000B. We approach a counter
trepidatiously, and surprisingly they quote us
2,900B. We ask what else they have and are given
one at 2,400B. Armed with this information, we
play one travel agency off another, and say
"that agency quoted us 2,400B for a hotel near
the airport, can you do better?". They find for
us Ebina Hotel at 2,100 B. We take is.
-John and Dennis then proceed to get and airplane
quote. They get quoted $290USD. But it gets raised
to $305USD when they want to use a credit card.
Miffed, we go upstairs to the Thai airways counter,
they quote $500USD for the trip. Astonished, we
find a cyber cafe and travelocity prices the
tickets at $420. We head back to the travel counter
and they quote $880 for the two tickets. Dennis
hands them his credit card , the agent swipes the
card, and then claims suddenly I've made a mistake
it will cost you $1000USD. At this point Dennis
cencels the deal. This teaches me a valuable lesson-
have all your airline tickets in order before you
arrive in S.E. Asia.
-2:00 PM We check into Ebina Hotel,
-2:30 PM I continue with the taxi driver (Masai)
to downtown Bangkok.
S 10/05 03:11 PM
CITY : Bangkok, Thailand
-I arrive at Wat Po in downtown Bangkok.
-Arriving in Wat Po I am greeted by a friendly
person who speaks english. And am roped into a
three person SCAM. The first comes up with
some elaborate story why the temple is closed
(the monks are meditating until 5PM , in my case)
then he calls the second person in the scam
over , a tuk-tuk driver. He will almost forcibly
put you onto the tuk-tuk and send you off on your
way to the third person of the scam.
-3:52 After battling a typical traffic jam in
Bangkok where I really just feel like getting out
of the tuk-tuk and walking, I arrive at
Wat Prapirain and meet the 3rd person of the scam.
He confirms the made-up story of person 1.
(the monks are meditating until 5PM , in my case)
But as I talk to this 3rd person who claims to be
temple security, he explains what this "Expo" thing
is, and now I understand. The Expo center sells
jewelry some fake , some real, all marked up at
insane prices. Not extremely put out by this City
of endless scams, I tell person 3 that I am not
interested in buying anything at all, I just want
to see the temples.
-At this point I check my tour book and read the
entry on Wat Saket the final destination of this
scam. The entry for Wat Saket seems very interesting,
because you can climb to the top of this tower and
overlook bangkok.
-Songpong the tuk-tuk driver tells me that he can't
take off just yet, wait 5 minutes. I walk off and
he "secretly" confers with person number 3.
Well, I need film now, so Songpong drives me to
a film store. Then I need to go to the bathroom
so the only place he knows where there is a bathroom
is ... ta-da : the expo center. I get to the expo
center use their facilities, and walk into the
air conditioned, elegant displays of jewelry.
Curious I point to one and say in Thai "How much
for that?" I am quoted 99000 B ($2324USD).
-4:30 PM I arrive at Wat Saket. It turns out this
is one of the best wats in Bangkok. I meet a person
from Malaysia looking lost, and we climb up
to the top. I need someone to help me take photos of
myself anyway and we take photos of each other.
-At the top of Wat Saket I meet a friendly monk.
Sathow Khampom Phongsavanh.
He tells me that he is studying english, and
that most males serve as monks in Thailand
if even for a short time. 95% of the country
is Buddhist. khampom2000@yahoo.com
-Little do I know but this is the beginning of yet
another SCAM. This one is grander, more complex and
apparently very common for people from Bangladesh.
Vanesa invites me to a Circus show. At the end of the
show her boyfriend and his friend want a US sponser
to help them come to America. I decline, but I have
had a great time at the circuis show, which is
quite good.
-I get food from a vendor, return home to Ebina hotel
and by midnight hit the sack for a 3 hour 45 minute
nap before I have to return to the US.
U 10/06 03:45 AM
CITY : Bangkok, Thailand
-There are 2 X-ray counters where I am able
to separate all my film from my luggage and
ask security to pass film separately. Yay!
-The flight back is uneventful,
-I watched "The Secrets of the Divine Ya-Ya
sisterhood" and part of "An only boy".
both Mediocre movies.
-Returning to the US, after the plane lands,
we all gather up our bags and everyone is
milling out waiting to deplane. Suddenly the
announcements comes over the PA to sit down.
We do so, and 3 police officers board.
A plain clothes air marshall points at a chinese
person and asks him to step to the rear of the
plane. We hear "do you understand english"
"leave your bags there", "step to the rear of
the airplane". I don't know anything else.