Hong Kong

Thinking back to our trip to Bangkok, I remember thinking this is the land where West and East collide in spectacular fashion. Well, Hong Kong is the land the West consumed and the East is eager to reclaim! I have never seen so many high rise buildings in one place. Nor have I seen so many malls and shops. Around every corner is a Prada, Gucci, Dunhill, Longchamp, Tiffany, D&G, Coach, Valentino... You get the picture... And in-between are every other possible shop you could imagine including door to door malls and gallerias. And I suspect, from what I could see, they are full of people. As I type, it is Sunday night at 10:58 pm and as I look out my 40th story window I can see hundreds of people in the streets, the shops are all open and the neon lights are aglow! Speaking of 40th story, we aren't close to being the tallest building...by a long shot! The main thing reminding me that we are in Asia is the fact that I tower of most of the women and the majority of the men!

I have not fully formed my thoughts on this crazy little island. But I can say with certainty that I am looking forward to getting to know it. Today we wondered around Hong Kong Island, riding the Peak Tram to the top of Victoria Peak, took in the views of the Harbor and the skyline over a late lunch, then road the bus down to Central Pier to take the Star Ferry back to Kowloon and finally enjoyed drinks and dinner while watching the nightly laser light show along the skyline.

The bed is calling me now but I will try to upload photos tomorrow. I until then...

The Witchiest Witch There Ever Was...

My fondest memories of Halloween involve my mother applying rubber warts to my nose, green paint to my cheeks, gray color to my hair and long black plastic nails to my fingers as I would sit practising my best witch's cackle. For years, I choose to be a witch and my mother obliged. I wonder if she ever secretly hoped for me to be a princess or Mini Mouse or anything slightly less dark. There were other costumes, I am sure but none seem to stick so solidly in my memory. I recall a being a Gypsy; dressed in my mother's long white skirt rolled up countless times at the waist and a Hawaiian print shirt tied in a knot with plastic bangles on my wrists and several inches of my mother’s make-up plastered onto my face. I asked my mom what a Gypsy was and she gave me the reply that would become standard. “They are the people who left you on our doorstep as a baby.”  Looking back, I think the Gypsy costume was one of my mom’s last minute wonders, seeing as how my brother was a ghost fashioned out of a white sheet! But it didn’t matter; last minute or ages of planning my mother had a knack for making it happen on the big day. I don’t recall shopping for costumes or discussing options or the lead up to the big day. What I remember is my mom’s warm breathe on my face as she painstakingly applied mascara to my tiny lashes as I giggled uncontrollably. I can see her now stepping back to take me all in before applying a last minute touch of green or black paint.  I also remember her consoling hugs as I cried about the loss of every last one of those black plastic nails.  And then there are the photography sessions with the Kodak Disc that have produced a photographic essay of my transformation, year after year into one of the most believable witch’s to ever walk the trick or treat circuit since Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692.

From the Sky Train in BKK

Bangkok....again!

Found this in my drafts folder... Thought I would share!

It is hard to believe we are back in Bangkok and wrapping up our 3 weeks of travel. Seems like yesterday we were wondering through Chinatown in search of our first guesthouse with wide eyes and open mouths trying to take it all in. Now it has been 3 countries, 7 towns, a few villages, 10 hotels/guesthouses and a lifetime of experiences. Our last few days in Phnom Phen were relaxed. We have been moving at a pace that is impossible to maintain for 3 weeks straight and there are only so many temples and makets one can visit...that is clearly CK talking as I could go to markets and temples all day everyday and never get tired! We woke up early yesterday morning and enjoyed ourbreakfast by the pool before heading to the central market. I had told CK the day before that if we found a cricket vender I was going to eat one. As we shopped around, looking at all the same things we have seen at every market we have visited, we happened upon a a lady with 7 baskets of fried delicacies. She had massive cockroaches as well as itty bitty ones, crickets, scorpions the size of my palm, frogs fried whole, and huge grasshoppers. There we stood staring down at the baskets. Surprisingly, they did not look as gross as I had expected (a sure sign that we need to get back to the western world) but not so surprisingly I could notbring myself to eat one. I stood staring and repeating my mantra from the waterfall leap a few weeks ago... I will never stand in this spot again... but nothing. I guess there are just some experiences I am willing to miss!
We finished up at the market and headed out to meet our tuk tuk driver, Mr. Chum. He was one we picked up outside the hotel and not our trusty Rina who Lindsay recommended and who drove us all around PP for 3 days and even hired a boat for us to do a sunset crusie on the Tonle Sap River. Mr. Chum spoke English but I am not sure he understood what the words leaving his mouth meant. We agreed to head to a cafe on the way to the hotel so we could grab an iced coffee... material for another post iced coffee with sweet milk is YUMMY... on the way we turned down a street that was at a dead stand still. Motos, cars, tuk tuks everywhere with children of various sizes running in between. It only took a few moments to realise we were at a school. Most schools here run 2 sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, in order to fit all the children into lessons. Mr. Chum slowly weaved his way through the traffic as we thought "this is a funny road to take to the cafe." It was within a few minutes of hectic congestion and toes being run over (not ours) that we realised that Mr. Chum had taken a detour to pick his daughter up from school! What can you do in these situations but laugh. We have been subjected to many transportation detours during our travels and in comparison this one was not so bad.

Kampot from CK's Prospective

A recent email from CK about our weekend in Kampot...
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> A month or two before we left for our trip, our friend Vim from high school (who Michelle met in Atlanta) put us in touch with her friend who lives in Phnom Penh. Lindsey is originally from Buffalo but moved to PP a few months ago for an adventure and also to teach. After a few email exchanges, Lindsey convinced us that taking a weekend trip down south to Kampot would be a great relaxing break from our hectic travels...looking back now I think it was my favorite part of our trip yet.
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> Lindsey met us at our hotel in PP on Friday night and we all split the cost of a taxi to Kampot. I can't begin to describe how luxurious the ride was when compared to all of recent buses, tuk tuks, etc! The journey took about 2.5 hours consisting of the constant swerving to avoid cows, water buffalo, chickens, children and pigs which has strangely become normal. Street addresses don't really seem to exist in this part of the world, so as we approached Kampot we called the guesthouse and had the taxi driver speak directly to the staff. Directions consisted of turning right at a temple entrance with two lions, following a dirt path to a mosque, driving through the mosque (seriously we almost hit it!), around a few villages (at which point our taxi driver was laughing out loud at how ridiculous the journey was) until finally being met on the road by a dog, which led us the way for another 5 mins down a few more dirt paths to the guesthouse.
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> We arrived at the Ganesha "eco-resort" just after 9pm, just in time to meet with the eccentric German owner and receive our flashlights that would be our primary lighting for the weekend. Lindsey booked us a large Yurt to share, which is essentially a large tent - no bathroom, a/c, or any real walls in sight! The unexpected surprise is that unlike what was listed on their website, we did have electricity - well, enough to power a few lanterns and a single fan (which I made sure got a good workout). We fell asleep under our mosquito nets to the sounds of geckos calling just above our heads.
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> After breakfast the next morning, we noticed a sign saying that the hotel could arrange motorbike rentals for 5 USD a day...I also realized that I finally had an ally in Lindsey, who had also never ridden one but always wanted to. A quick chat with the owner and the next thing we knew three motorbikes were delivered to our yurt. This was followed by me bringing up the fact that none of us had ever even been on one before. No problem, the woman who ran the guesthouse kindly pointed out to me the accelerator, gears, brakes and (most importantly) the horn. After a few shaky initial goings, we were off tearing up the dirt paths.
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> We decided to ride up the the Secret Lake, which not so secretly was the most identifiable landmark on our unnecessarily large tourist map. However as we were riding on the main road through the town of Kampot, I suddenly realized I had no control over my bike - the back end was swerving all over the place. Realizing something was very wrong, I pulled over to the side of the road to find my back tire completely flat! Now I've had flat tires when driving cars before and it usually takes a minute or so to realize somethings not right, this is certainly not the case on a machine with only 2 wheels! However after a call back to the guesthouse and Lindsey somehow communicating with a few nice locals to get on the phone to tell them where we were, a new bike appeared and we were once again off to the lake.
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> The Secret Lake was actually built by the Khmer Rouge some time ago, I'm guessing to help with irrigation for the fields but not entirely sure. We drove around the lake before spotting a couple of thatched roof huts next to the water with hammocks. We stopped, grabbed a couple of "cocas" and laid in the hammocks for the next hour or two just enjoying the scenery. The lake was surrounded by durian plantations, mountains and fields. We thought about taking a dip in the lake (which was recommended) but I was put off by the fact that we'd be swimming alongside cows! We met a few fellow travellers by the lake and were told of a couple nice places around town to go swimming so we jumped back on our bikes and headed to a swimming pool near the town.
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> It was so nice to be able to drive ourselves around for a change and not be dependent on tuk tuk drivers or taxis. The best part by far was the children in the villages that we drove past. As soon as they'd see us they'd scream "HELLO" as loud as they possibly could and wave their hands. This is the extent of their English for the most part, but it was so cute and their smiles were amazing. This was the Cambodia we were looking for! We stopped all along the roads and talked with the locals and children - all were very friendly and happy to say hello, give us directions or simply give a smile. I think that single ride through town made the trip for both Jen and I, absolutely amazing!
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> We spent the rest of the day lounging by a pool before returning to our yurt to watch the sunset while swinging from hammocks again. Probably one of the best days of my life, and we decided to repeat it again the next day before heading back to PP by taxi.
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> Can't wait to share the pictures from this part of our trip - I only hope they capture how amazing this place is. I don't know if we'll ever make it back to this part of the world again, but if we do Kampot will be on top of my list of places to visit. Only next time I want to spend at least a week (if not month) just there, riding a motorbike around town and taking it all in.
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> Sent from my iPod

Where Old and New Collide

It is not unusual to see chickens running about on a side street or a person pushing a wooden hand cart while just around the corner is a shop selling the latest tvs or motos. Saffron clad monks sit in internet cafes or zip thru the streets on the back of a moto. This is the place where old east and new west collide in spectacular fashion. It is almost impossible to capture this phenomenon in photographs for in the very moment you see it it is gone. The chickens duck into open air buildings, the motos zoom past or giant beer trucks obstruct your view of the old man selling mangos and bananas from his wooden cart. I've said it once but it is still true; sensory overload is my current state. It would take years to absorb every sight. However, the smells seem to arrive all at once! As breathtaking and amazing these last few weeks have been I have come to realize that the amount of environmental destruction is equally breath taking. Deforestation, litter, pollution, chemical run off into the rivers; you name it and it is here. In one snap shot you have mountains, streams, and piles of ripe rubbish. People have no descreation in dumping their trash. They pile it next to homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, and they do not seem to mind the pungent smell as it bakes in the sun. They sit eating their meals and their kids run about the mess in barefeet. It is amazing and terrible all in the same moment. Despite this I am still in love with Cambodia and Laos. Countries where worlds collide and ancient culture clings to the people like red dust to the cheeks of the children playing along the roads. I know why people come to visit and never leave.

Real life...

Will be next to impossible to go back to in less than a week. In Kampot we have found a little slice of paradise. Kind people, beautiful surroundings and scores of 'hello' children. Yesterday we rented scooters (against my better judgement) and set off to explore Kampot. First to the not so secret lake and then through the city (I use that term loosely) and finally we found a guest house along the river with amazing views and a refreshing pool. Reluctantly we left the pool to return to our yurt... and a brilliant sunset over the mountains from a hammock swinging gently. How do we go back to real life after this? Back to tube rides and traffic... here traffic is a line of motos carrying brightly dressed girls to weddings or a tuk tuk loaded well past capacity with 5 families as well as their market haul. Real life afforded us this amazing experience but now all I want to do is turn my back on responsibilities, on bills, on work, on real life... I just want to stay here a moment longer. I just want to hear the sweet, vibrant voices yelling hello and waiving maniacly as I zip past on my moto. I want this to be real life please.