I couldn't wait for late noon of this Sunday to arrive. It had not only to do with my enthusiasm about the train ride: it was again so hot... but I guess everyone will be bored by now when the word "heat" appears...
So I took a Tuk-tuk to the station and waited for the train to depart. With open windows I enjoyed then again landscape, rice paddies, mountains and forests, the humid heat streaming in, towns and villages we were passing... I described train rides in Thailand already in one of the first posts, the tour from Bangkok to Nong Khai. This time we started at 14.50 h, so almost five hours we drove in daylight. I simply can't imagine travelling in a closed air-con carriage, with locked and insulated windows, with a temperature probably colder then moderate, as long as there are other possibilities...
We arrived in Bangkok early in the morning, it was dawning, the city wasn't fully awake yet. I hadn't slept a lot, because of course it was noisy with the windows open, but what the hell... I only hope that there are more opportunities for me in the future to ride one of these trains again...
If you would like to get a taste of it, you can find some magnificent books about train travels: Paul Theroux's "The old Patagonia Express", in which he describes his journey from his home town (Boston? Chicago? I don't remember...) down to Patagonia, most of it in trains. A very interesting account of meeting people and getting to know other countries... From the same author is " Riding the Iron Rooster", about travelling through China by train (this one I haven't read yet...). The dutch writer Cees Nooteboom describes a journey by train, in Senegal (or Gambia?), in his wonderful collection of short travel stories "Nootebooms Hotel". There are certainly more books and stories available... But the best still is to do it on his own, isn't it?
lunes, 25 de junio de 2007
domingo, 24 de junio de 2007
Sunday
There's a feeling which I almost forgot in the last three months: the tranquility of Sunday morning... I woke up early, after a very quiet night, to find that outside there was nothing going on. I got out of the guest house at around 8 o'clock and the streets were fairly deserted. It was Sunday, and in Thailand this day has some kind of meaning. I remembered Vietnams frenzy, where there was no rest at any hour, any day, and also in Laos and Cambodia Sunday was to a large extent a normal working day which started quite early...
I walked around a bit, found a restaurant that was open, where I had breakfast. After that I went back to my guest house, sat down in the courtyard and drank a few cappuccinos... it was instant stuff, but I didn't care. The atmosphere was too marvelous to worry about this minor issue... I simply sat there, reading a while, in between trying to catch the ambiance of the awakening quarter, and I have to admit that it wasn't a bad feeling at all. Very often in my life I worked on Sundays, but I always valued the fact that this day generally means some relaxation from the normal week days, less traffic, less people in the streets, a general tranquility floating over the city... after three months without real Sunday (okay, I didn't have to work, was on vacation, but you know what I want to say...) I really enjoyed this sensation again...
I walked around a bit, found a restaurant that was open, where I had breakfast. After that I went back to my guest house, sat down in the courtyard and drank a few cappuccinos... it was instant stuff, but I didn't care. The atmosphere was too marvelous to worry about this minor issue... I simply sat there, reading a while, in between trying to catch the ambiance of the awakening quarter, and I have to admit that it wasn't a bad feeling at all. Very often in my life I worked on Sundays, but I always valued the fact that this day generally means some relaxation from the normal week days, less traffic, less people in the streets, a general tranquility floating over the city... after three months without real Sunday (okay, I didn't have to work, was on vacation, but you know what I want to say...) I really enjoyed this sensation again...
Countdown
The last days...
Saturday morning I crossed the Mekong. Stepping off the boat in Thailand marked the beginning of the last days... In the border town Chiang Khong I jumped on a bus to Chiang Rai, there another one to Chiang Mai was ready to depart, I managed to get on. Back in Thailand... things seem to flow, compared to Laos or Cambodia. I enjoyed it, without meaning to depreciate these other countries...
In Chiang Mai I thought of catching the next overnight train to Bangkok, but had to find out, that almost all these trains only have air-conditioned carriages, which I hate... The only exception being the one at 14.50 h, but for this I was too late. As I wanted to enjoy the trip back to Bangkok, I decided to stay one night in Chiang Mai. This was definitely not enough to catch a glimpse of the city, which in itself is a destination, where many people spend one week or even more. But anyway, you can't see everything in your life...
I found a terrific guest house, which made me forget the forced overnight stop. It was in one of those alleyways, which are so interesting and so much more typical, if one wants to get a glimpse of urban Thailand... and - most important - these alleyways are some really quiet oasis in the big, noisy Thai cities...
Saturday morning I crossed the Mekong. Stepping off the boat in Thailand marked the beginning of the last days... In the border town Chiang Khong I jumped on a bus to Chiang Rai, there another one to Chiang Mai was ready to depart, I managed to get on. Back in Thailand... things seem to flow, compared to Laos or Cambodia. I enjoyed it, without meaning to depreciate these other countries...
In Chiang Mai I thought of catching the next overnight train to Bangkok, but had to find out, that almost all these trains only have air-conditioned carriages, which I hate... The only exception being the one at 14.50 h, but for this I was too late. As I wanted to enjoy the trip back to Bangkok, I decided to stay one night in Chiang Mai. This was definitely not enough to catch a glimpse of the city, which in itself is a destination, where many people spend one week or even more. But anyway, you can't see everything in your life...
I found a terrific guest house, which made me forget the forced overnight stop. It was in one of those alleyways, which are so interesting and so much more typical, if one wants to get a glimpse of urban Thailand... and - most important - these alleyways are some really quiet oasis in the big, noisy Thai cities...
sábado, 23 de junio de 2007
On the Mekong
Two days on a "slowboat" up the Mekong, from Luang Prabang to Huay Xai: I don't know whether this sounds exiting or boring... I guess it's a little bit of both. We departed from Luang Prabang at 8.30 in the morning, and I hardly had gotten any sleep the night before. Don't ask me why... the heat is only one aspect, but probably not the only one. So the first day wasn't really one to remember...
The boat was not very full, it's low season... a dozen locals, half a dozen tourists. We made our way upstream, slowly but steady. The river was running through mountaineous terrain, quite beautiful... as the water level was very low - it's the end of the dry season - there were many shallows, and sometimes I really wondered whether we would pass them or hit the ground. Rocks emerged on all sides, which would be underwater in september or october... As I said before, I was quite tired, so the day dragged on, but all in all it wasn't that bad.
In the evening we arrived in Pak Beng, where we spent the night. Due to the low water level it is impossible to run the river in darkness, but I'm not sure whether there's any traffic at night at all... Pak Beng is another "one-street town" and looks a bit like beamed here from somewhere else, a little bit out of place. It's really in the middle of nowhere, but along this one street one finds almost a dozen of guest houses and even more restaurants. The town owns its "importance" to the fact, that these two-day Mekong trips (in either direction) have become quite popular and apparently through a good part of the year this place is full of foreigners who spend the night there (I think nobody stays for two nights). The town has a couple of hundred inhabitants, maybe little more than one thousand, it is accessible by river and one unpaved road, and has currently no regular electricity supply: generators are humming until 10 o'clock in the evening, when they are turned off and it's incredibly silent then... yet there are two Indian restaurants and one German-Laotian... I wonder how they ended up here...
I slept fairly well that night, although the guest house was not exciting at all, but I felt rested the next morning. Another day on the river, which I enjoyed much more. We passed through narrow valleys, but in the afternoon the landscape opened, becoming wider, with hills and lowlands replacing the steep mountain slopes. One thing didn't change: it remained hot... the motion of the boat produced a nice breeze, but whenever we stopped to take people on board or to let them go off, the heat was immediately around us, making us sweat just by sitting around and doing nothing...
In the evening we finally arrived in Huay Xai, the border town, with Thailand being on the other side of the river. It was too late to cross, so I had to stay in Laos one more day. Again the guest house wasn't really great, but as it was for only one night, I didn't care too much.
Huay Xai is a little bigger and becoming slowly but steady important, as a road is being constructed to connect Thailand with China. Yet as I wondered through the streets, I didn't like it , somehow... I had seen more interesting river towns...
I haven't made up my mind whether I would make this two-day trip again. Maybe it would be different entering Laos through Huay Xai and going from there to Luang Prabang, the more common direction. I myself was on my way back, a little bit tired and worn out. I guess I shouldn't think too much about it. It was quite nice, travelling on the Mekong slowly through north-western Laos, passing villages, fishermen, herds of water buffaloes, children playing on the river banks...
how many opportunities are there in life to see all this?
The boat was not very full, it's low season... a dozen locals, half a dozen tourists. We made our way upstream, slowly but steady. The river was running through mountaineous terrain, quite beautiful... as the water level was very low - it's the end of the dry season - there were many shallows, and sometimes I really wondered whether we would pass them or hit the ground. Rocks emerged on all sides, which would be underwater in september or october... As I said before, I was quite tired, so the day dragged on, but all in all it wasn't that bad.
In the evening we arrived in Pak Beng, where we spent the night. Due to the low water level it is impossible to run the river in darkness, but I'm not sure whether there's any traffic at night at all... Pak Beng is another "one-street town" and looks a bit like beamed here from somewhere else, a little bit out of place. It's really in the middle of nowhere, but along this one street one finds almost a dozen of guest houses and even more restaurants. The town owns its "importance" to the fact, that these two-day Mekong trips (in either direction) have become quite popular and apparently through a good part of the year this place is full of foreigners who spend the night there (I think nobody stays for two nights). The town has a couple of hundred inhabitants, maybe little more than one thousand, it is accessible by river and one unpaved road, and has currently no regular electricity supply: generators are humming until 10 o'clock in the evening, when they are turned off and it's incredibly silent then... yet there are two Indian restaurants and one German-Laotian... I wonder how they ended up here...
I slept fairly well that night, although the guest house was not exciting at all, but I felt rested the next morning. Another day on the river, which I enjoyed much more. We passed through narrow valleys, but in the afternoon the landscape opened, becoming wider, with hills and lowlands replacing the steep mountain slopes. One thing didn't change: it remained hot... the motion of the boat produced a nice breeze, but whenever we stopped to take people on board or to let them go off, the heat was immediately around us, making us sweat just by sitting around and doing nothing...
In the evening we finally arrived in Huay Xai, the border town, with Thailand being on the other side of the river. It was too late to cross, so I had to stay in Laos one more day. Again the guest house wasn't really great, but as it was for only one night, I didn't care too much.
Huay Xai is a little bigger and becoming slowly but steady important, as a road is being constructed to connect Thailand with China. Yet as I wondered through the streets, I didn't like it , somehow... I had seen more interesting river towns...
I haven't made up my mind whether I would make this two-day trip again. Maybe it would be different entering Laos through Huay Xai and going from there to Luang Prabang, the more common direction. I myself was on my way back, a little bit tired and worn out. I guess I shouldn't think too much about it. It was quite nice, travelling on the Mekong slowly through north-western Laos, passing villages, fishermen, herds of water buffaloes, children playing on the river banks...
how many opportunities are there in life to see all this?
miércoles, 20 de junio de 2007
No smoking !
Two strange words for SE Asia, with the exception of a small city in Northern Laos: Luang Prabang.
A couple of weeks ago the local authorities issued a ban on smoking in all public areas. The background: Luang Prabang is a "World Heritage Site", and I must admit that this local law fits it quite well...
Situated on the bank of the Mekong, Luang Prabang is a definite must-see in SE Asia: a wonderful mixture of French colonial architecture, Buddhist pagodas and monasteries, quiet alleyways, river life, exuberant green vegetation... all surrounded by a very tranquil ambiance and a relaxing and refreshing atmosphere..
To learn more about this magnificent small city, please employ your search engine... you will find plenty of information on the internet. As I had explained in the former post, the first days I was not too active due to a state of tiredness, which still was hovering above me. It also took away some of my fantasy, indispensable to write some interesting, maybe even entertaining posts...
The next news you will hear in three or four days, when I'm definitely on my way back... tomorrow I'll go on a two-day river journey, up the Mekong: Luang Prabang - Pak Beng - Huay Xai. From there I'll cross into Thailand, starting the final lap which will lead to Bangkok... back to reality, slowly but steady...
A couple of weeks ago the local authorities issued a ban on smoking in all public areas. The background: Luang Prabang is a "World Heritage Site", and I must admit that this local law fits it quite well...
Situated on the bank of the Mekong, Luang Prabang is a definite must-see in SE Asia: a wonderful mixture of French colonial architecture, Buddhist pagodas and monasteries, quiet alleyways, river life, exuberant green vegetation... all surrounded by a very tranquil ambiance and a relaxing and refreshing atmosphere..
To learn more about this magnificent small city, please employ your search engine... you will find plenty of information on the internet. As I had explained in the former post, the first days I was not too active due to a state of tiredness, which still was hovering above me. It also took away some of my fantasy, indispensable to write some interesting, maybe even entertaining posts...
The next news you will hear in three or four days, when I'm definitely on my way back... tomorrow I'll go on a two-day river journey, up the Mekong: Luang Prabang - Pak Beng - Huay Xai. From there I'll cross into Thailand, starting the final lap which will lead to Bangkok... back to reality, slowly but steady...
Tired
Maybe some noticed it... the number of posts decreased in the last weeks. Partly because I was in some more remote places, with internet access being quite expensive or not available at all... but also because I felt an increasing fatigue...
I guess it was due to the continuously high temperatures over the last weeks or months and a lack of sleep, which accompanied me for a very long time already... maybe also due to a certain dehydration, because I tend to underestimate the necessary amount of liquids I should drink... all of which again was probably leading to a debilitation of my immune system. I had developped some kind of light diarrhea, nothing serious at all, but also contributing to my general state of tiredness. It's hard to describe: I wasn't sick and didn't feel so, but I also didn't feel very fit... I simply felt tired...
So what to do? Trying to get some sleep, to rest as much as possible, to find the necessary energy again for the last weeks... sounds easy, doesn't it? If it only would be that easy...
Still, the most important thing: trying to look at it as something normal... as long as it wouldn't go on too long...
I guess it was due to the continuously high temperatures over the last weeks or months and a lack of sleep, which accompanied me for a very long time already... maybe also due to a certain dehydration, because I tend to underestimate the necessary amount of liquids I should drink... all of which again was probably leading to a debilitation of my immune system. I had developped some kind of light diarrhea, nothing serious at all, but also contributing to my general state of tiredness. It's hard to describe: I wasn't sick and didn't feel so, but I also didn't feel very fit... I simply felt tired...
So what to do? Trying to get some sleep, to rest as much as possible, to find the necessary energy again for the last weeks... sounds easy, doesn't it? If it only would be that easy...
Still, the most important thing: trying to look at it as something normal... as long as it wouldn't go on too long...
sábado, 16 de junio de 2007
Phonsavan
As I thought to need some better photos for the story about UXO, I had decided to make another stopover in Phonsavan. The last time the end of my visa simply forced me to leave, although I only would have needed two or three days more. In Vang Vieng I had teamed up with David, an Englishman living in Singapor. Quite interesting to learn about this part of the world. I actually met a lot of people living in Singapor, and they all had different backgrounds and roots, Chinese, Malaian, Indonesian, European... and this all makes me wish to visit this city one day...
The two days in Phonsavan were little spectacular, but worth the detour. I managed to meet again some of "my English-students"... As they were on vacation, they agreed to guide us through some H'mong-villages. Tommy and Duong themselves are H'mong, so the communication with the villagers was no problem, although the main part consisted in asking permission to enter their yards to take some photos of war scrap, used as fences, flower pots, and more...
One evening we went to the English-school (it's a private school, so no vacations), they all were surprised and happy to see me again...
Although I was not completely satisfied with the scope of photos I could take, I decided to leave after two days. Several reasons, one of them that the clock was running faster and faster and the date of my return flight getting closer and closer...
The two days in Phonsavan were little spectacular, but worth the detour. I managed to meet again some of "my English-students"... As they were on vacation, they agreed to guide us through some H'mong-villages. Tommy and Duong themselves are H'mong, so the communication with the villagers was no problem, although the main part consisted in asking permission to enter their yards to take some photos of war scrap, used as fences, flower pots, and more...
One evening we went to the English-school (it's a private school, so no vacations), they all were surprised and happy to see me again...
Although I was not completely satisfied with the scope of photos I could take, I decided to leave after two days. Several reasons, one of them that the clock was running faster and faster and the date of my return flight getting closer and closer...
Vang Vieng
I made a one-day stopover in Vientiane, because I wanted to buy a book or two. Here also it was mainly hot and the city made a "dead" impression. Not many people were on the streets, a few times the wind was blowing clouds of dust around. In the evening I ended up again in these two blocks which are in my opinion the most "authentic" in Vientiane's center, Chao Anou Road and the night market. After a dreary and sweaty day I liked the city again...
Early sunday morning (10\07) I took a bus to Vang Vieng. I didn't hear a lot of positive things about a part of this town, but more so concerning the landscape. Both turned out to be true. Vang Vieng lies at the bank of a river and is surrounded by magnificent limestone mountains with many caves, which are easily accessible. You can do some hiking there, climbing, rafting, and more. This turned Vang Viengs center (it's a very small town) in the course of the years into an endless row of guest houses, restaurants and the usual "travel agencies", who all offer exactly the same. It's like a light version of Bangkoks Khao San Road. Fortunately there are some guest houses on the other side of the river. In one of them I got my own little bungalow, next to a creek, and from its small veranda views over fields and some mountains. It was one of the best places I ever stayed on this journey. Butterflies everywhere, birds, lizards, one or the other mean looking spider, and besides that almost complete silence... I could have stayed there one week without problems, but as I mentioned in another post, the expiry date of this journey is getting closer...
This ambience did of course not incite to move around a lot, more so as the weather remained hot. Yet I managed to climb into a cave and to "explore" the surrounding area on bicycle. One afternoon a gorgeous rainstorm swept over the valley, I sat on the veranda and enjoyed the force of nature. There was only one flaw: it didn't really make the temperatures descend...
Early sunday morning (10\07) I took a bus to Vang Vieng. I didn't hear a lot of positive things about a part of this town, but more so concerning the landscape. Both turned out to be true. Vang Vieng lies at the bank of a river and is surrounded by magnificent limestone mountains with many caves, which are easily accessible. You can do some hiking there, climbing, rafting, and more. This turned Vang Viengs center (it's a very small town) in the course of the years into an endless row of guest houses, restaurants and the usual "travel agencies", who all offer exactly the same. It's like a light version of Bangkoks Khao San Road. Fortunately there are some guest houses on the other side of the river. In one of them I got my own little bungalow, next to a creek, and from its small veranda views over fields and some mountains. It was one of the best places I ever stayed on this journey. Butterflies everywhere, birds, lizards, one or the other mean looking spider, and besides that almost complete silence... I could have stayed there one week without problems, but as I mentioned in another post, the expiry date of this journey is getting closer...
This ambience did of course not incite to move around a lot, more so as the weather remained hot. Yet I managed to climb into a cave and to "explore" the surrounding area on bicycle. One afternoon a gorgeous rainstorm swept over the valley, I sat on the veranda and enjoyed the force of nature. There was only one flaw: it didn't really make the temperatures descend...
Air Con
I took the night bus from Pakse to Vientiane, because my time is running out slowly but steady. Again a not so nice surprise: the air condition was turned up so incredibly high, that means the temperatur so incredibly low, that everyone was freezing. It must have been something like 18 degrees inside the bus, maybe even less. Outside 33, 35... In central and northern Europe fogging of the inside of windows is a common phenomenon: cold outside, warm inside, in a car, for example. Here it was the other way around: the windows were partly fogged on the outside... I've never seen that before, and hopefully it will be the last time in my life...
I know that in hot countries cool temperatures are something desirable and often a luxury, the same as warm temperatures for northern Europeans. But I never understand the attitude of turning down the temperatures to such an extent that it makes people feel uncomfortable or even get sick. Maybe I don't have to understand it... In Spain this brainless behaviour is more normality than exeption, and I just hate it. Apparently it's a universal behaviour...
I know that in hot countries cool temperatures are something desirable and often a luxury, the same as warm temperatures for northern Europeans. But I never understand the attitude of turning down the temperatures to such an extent that it makes people feel uncomfortable or even get sick. Maybe I don't have to understand it... In Spain this brainless behaviour is more normality than exeption, and I just hate it. Apparently it's a universal behaviour...
jueves, 14 de junio de 2007
Real heat
It's at the edge between dry and rainy season, but the rains are not very frequent at the moment. That means that all still have to suffer, because it is still hot. In Cambodia it was sometimes almost unbearable around noon. In Champasak the temperature reached some 42, 43 degrees during the day, I don't even want to know it exactly, together with a very high humidity. At 9 o'clock in the morning the sun is already burning relentlessly, and some hours later there's not much one can do than to wait for the "cooler" afternoon hours to arrive. Hardly anybody can be seen on the street, the fields are deserted, everyone is looking for shadow... even at 4 o'clock in the afternoon it requires some efforts to start moving again...
The nights are also very warm, I don't manage to sleep well for quite a long time now, and I feel like it, being somehow tired almost constantly. That's not what I really was looking for when I went on this journey, but I can't change it... I must admit that I simply didn't expect it to be that hot... next time I'll know...
The nights are also very warm, I don't manage to sleep well for quite a long time now, and I feel like it, being somehow tired almost constantly. That's not what I really was looking for when I went on this journey, but I can't change it... I must admit that I simply didn't expect it to be that hot... next time I'll know...
Champasak
Back in Laos... finally...
The journey from Stung Treng was as uncomplicated as it could be. We just had to hop on a minibus which brought us to the border. On the other side another bus waited to pick us up. The border is in the middle of nowhere. A few shacks where the passport controls are carried out, and some more shacks and houses where the people, who work there, live and probably are bored, because it's really the middle of nowhere...
I then stayed two days in Champasak, a very small town in southern Laos, on the western side of the Mekong. It's described as a "lazy one-street town", and that's what it basically is... a scenic ferry crossing, and then houses lined up several kilometers along the only street. Close to Champasak is Wat Phu, some Khmer ruins, they are the reason why most people make a short stopover here. The ruins are quite nice, on a hill overlooking the region, and the view is truly fantastic. I have to add that the Champasak region has been declared a "world heritage site", and this not only because of Wat Phu.
The best thing one can do is to rent a bicycle (almost all guesthouses offer it) and take off into the countryside. There are a lot of water canals and along these canals some fairly decent dirt tracks, where one can drive on bicycles for endless kilometers, at least in the dry season. Now, after the first rainfalls, the fields were full of people working there. The rice already had been or just was being planted, and many paddies shone in this very special green which only rice plants have to offer. I went out there either early in the morning or late afternoon, because the rest of the day it was incredibly hot. Especially the afternoon sun made the fields appear in such a stunning and beautiful light that it is almost impossible to describe.
It was one of the most scenic regions I came through on this journey, one of the true highlights. Nothing spectacular, but of a quiet and intense beauty. Most people miss this, because they just visit the ruins and then leave again.
Fortunately I also ended up in a great guest house, with a terrace overlooking the Mekong. I really enjoyed being out there early in the morning, "listening" to the silence, watching a few fishermen on their tiny boats. The same in the evening... it's hard to imagine this silence, but as I explained, one has to cross the Mekong to get here, and after nightfall there is nothing which could be called "traffic"... it's human voices, birds, cidadas and nothing else...
The journey from Stung Treng was as uncomplicated as it could be. We just had to hop on a minibus which brought us to the border. On the other side another bus waited to pick us up. The border is in the middle of nowhere. A few shacks where the passport controls are carried out, and some more shacks and houses where the people, who work there, live and probably are bored, because it's really the middle of nowhere...
I then stayed two days in Champasak, a very small town in southern Laos, on the western side of the Mekong. It's described as a "lazy one-street town", and that's what it basically is... a scenic ferry crossing, and then houses lined up several kilometers along the only street. Close to Champasak is Wat Phu, some Khmer ruins, they are the reason why most people make a short stopover here. The ruins are quite nice, on a hill overlooking the region, and the view is truly fantastic. I have to add that the Champasak region has been declared a "world heritage site", and this not only because of Wat Phu.
The best thing one can do is to rent a bicycle (almost all guesthouses offer it) and take off into the countryside. There are a lot of water canals and along these canals some fairly decent dirt tracks, where one can drive on bicycles for endless kilometers, at least in the dry season. Now, after the first rainfalls, the fields were full of people working there. The rice already had been or just was being planted, and many paddies shone in this very special green which only rice plants have to offer. I went out there either early in the morning or late afternoon, because the rest of the day it was incredibly hot. Especially the afternoon sun made the fields appear in such a stunning and beautiful light that it is almost impossible to describe.
It was one of the most scenic regions I came through on this journey, one of the true highlights. Nothing spectacular, but of a quiet and intense beauty. Most people miss this, because they just visit the ruins and then leave again.
Fortunately I also ended up in a great guest house, with a terrace overlooking the Mekong. I really enjoyed being out there early in the morning, "listening" to the silence, watching a few fishermen on their tiny boats. The same in the evening... it's hard to imagine this silence, but as I explained, one has to cross the Mekong to get here, and after nightfall there is nothing which could be called "traffic"... it's human voices, birds, cidadas and nothing else...
sábado, 9 de junio de 2007
More moments
A continuation of small events...
The monks' prayer
In Chau Doc I was waiting for the boat which would take me to Cambodia. It was about 7 o'clock in the morning and I sat at a table of my guest house's restaurant. On the opposite side of the street monks arrived, men and also women, and started to dress up in their orange suits. I asked a woman of the restaurant what was going on there, and showed my surprise about female monks. She told me that this was quite normal in Vietnam, also women were allowed to spend a certain time in a monastery. Now they gathered in the private house on the other side of the street, because the family had "invited" them. Two family members were mentally ill, and the monks were supposed to pray for their reconvalescense. The family had payed a certain amount of money, you could call it donation, to the monks or their monastery.
The prayer itself lasted about 15 or 20 minutes. It was carried out more or less publicly, in the living room that opens to the street. After having finished, the monks got out of their robes again. One after the other got into a tuk-tuk or cyclo and was brought back to the monastery... Life in the house continued as normal as every day...
Giggling about the foreigner
The evening before, I was walking through the streets of Chau Doc. As I had mentioned already, a quite pleasant little city. I didn't know what I wanted to eat and made several rounds... Finally I decided to sit down at one of the small food stalls on the sidewalks. Apparently very rarely foreigners eat there, because first they stared at me, then all started getting busy to serve me. They had only one dish, it was a noodle soup with tofu and tasted absolutely delicious. While I ate, two girls, maybe 16 or 17, sat down on the next table and watched me. They couldn't get over the fact that a foreigner ate at their "reataurant", yet it was a very friendly and sympathetic curiousity... When I had finished and paid, they all were smiling and waving me good-bye... Unfortunately I would leave the next morning, the soup was really good and I would have liked to eat there again...
Death of a cow
On the way from Khompong Chom to Kratie our bus was driving quite normal. That means that he used the horn to warn the others, motorcycles or cars, or to chase dogs and cows off the road. Slowing down is not necessarily a regular behaviour. To be fair, in Cambodia is it far better than in Vietnam, where the traffic could be called "absolutely crazy".
But finally there came a moment I had long waited for. Close to a small village a cow suddenly started to run across the road (it was not one of these big European cows, but somewhat smaller). The driver tried to brake, but he had no chance, it happened too quick. The bus fully hit the cow, with a speed of maybe 60 or 70 kms/h. It gave a loud dull bang, and the cow was thrown through the air and hurled to the side of the street. The driver slowed down for a second, then he continued...
I actually don't know whether the cow was killed, but I can't imagine that she survived the impact. For the driver it was logical to "run away"... There is no such thing as an insurance in Cambodia that covers this kind of accident. The driver's employer would never pay for the damage, so he himself would be liable... A cow means quite some value in Cambodia, and it might be the equivalent of maybe 3, 4 or 5 months wages which the driver would have to pay. Clear facts, so he simply continued...
The question was how the owner of the cow would deal with it. The best he could do would be probably to sell the meat, yet the bitter end of this story was undoubtedly on his side.
The monks' prayer
In Chau Doc I was waiting for the boat which would take me to Cambodia. It was about 7 o'clock in the morning and I sat at a table of my guest house's restaurant. On the opposite side of the street monks arrived, men and also women, and started to dress up in their orange suits. I asked a woman of the restaurant what was going on there, and showed my surprise about female monks. She told me that this was quite normal in Vietnam, also women were allowed to spend a certain time in a monastery. Now they gathered in the private house on the other side of the street, because the family had "invited" them. Two family members were mentally ill, and the monks were supposed to pray for their reconvalescense. The family had payed a certain amount of money, you could call it donation, to the monks or their monastery.
The prayer itself lasted about 15 or 20 minutes. It was carried out more or less publicly, in the living room that opens to the street. After having finished, the monks got out of their robes again. One after the other got into a tuk-tuk or cyclo and was brought back to the monastery... Life in the house continued as normal as every day...
Giggling about the foreigner
The evening before, I was walking through the streets of Chau Doc. As I had mentioned already, a quite pleasant little city. I didn't know what I wanted to eat and made several rounds... Finally I decided to sit down at one of the small food stalls on the sidewalks. Apparently very rarely foreigners eat there, because first they stared at me, then all started getting busy to serve me. They had only one dish, it was a noodle soup with tofu and tasted absolutely delicious. While I ate, two girls, maybe 16 or 17, sat down on the next table and watched me. They couldn't get over the fact that a foreigner ate at their "reataurant", yet it was a very friendly and sympathetic curiousity... When I had finished and paid, they all were smiling and waving me good-bye... Unfortunately I would leave the next morning, the soup was really good and I would have liked to eat there again...
Death of a cow
On the way from Khompong Chom to Kratie our bus was driving quite normal. That means that he used the horn to warn the others, motorcycles or cars, or to chase dogs and cows off the road. Slowing down is not necessarily a regular behaviour. To be fair, in Cambodia is it far better than in Vietnam, where the traffic could be called "absolutely crazy".
But finally there came a moment I had long waited for. Close to a small village a cow suddenly started to run across the road (it was not one of these big European cows, but somewhat smaller). The driver tried to brake, but he had no chance, it happened too quick. The bus fully hit the cow, with a speed of maybe 60 or 70 kms/h. It gave a loud dull bang, and the cow was thrown through the air and hurled to the side of the street. The driver slowed down for a second, then he continued...
I actually don't know whether the cow was killed, but I can't imagine that she survived the impact. For the driver it was logical to "run away"... There is no such thing as an insurance in Cambodia that covers this kind of accident. The driver's employer would never pay for the damage, so he himself would be liable... A cow means quite some value in Cambodia, and it might be the equivalent of maybe 3, 4 or 5 months wages which the driver would have to pay. Clear facts, so he simply continued...
The question was how the owner of the cow would deal with it. The best he could do would be probably to sell the meat, yet the bitter end of this story was undoubtedly on his side.
The rush
It's not one moment, it happens all the time, whenever one's arriving by bus in any city in Vietnam or Cambodia. Dozens of tuk-tuk drivers virtually jump on the bus to get a customer. It's shouting and gesticulating without interruption, you are surrounded by a whole bunch of people who want to drive you to a guest house or hotel. Often they are sort of affiliated with one or the other place and get a commission if they manage to bring you there. You know that it's there business and their way to make money, but often it gets almost annoying, especially in Vietnam. People are very pushy there and you want to be left alone to make up your mind, but no chance... they won't leave you alone... after a few times one gets used to it, tries to understand (it's their job), tries to take it as cool as possible, yet often enough it simply remains tiring... and you dream of being back in Laos, where everything is so much quieter and calmer...
Khmer specialities
In Siem Reap are two restaurants with the following sign outside:
"We don't serve dog, cat, monkey, rat or worms"
Now you might think that this still leaves a lot open, and right, they both have a "snake menu" on their dinner card. I didn't try it, I'm honest...
I also was a coward and walked past the huge plates full of grilled insects, which you can find at every street corner: cicadas, spiders, beegles, whatever you prefer... I thought that they must be coming from some kind of "farm", but was told that most of them are simply collected in the woods where they abound...
Another speciality which I skipped are eggs. You see them in big heaps on plates at every food stall. When you take a closer look, you notice that they are not clean white as we are used to see them: they are covered with larger dark spots. The locals usually eat several of them at once. They cautiously break open the top. When you try to get a glimpse what's inside, you can see that it's not white, but somehow dark. Then they season it with salt or a spicy sauce and start spooning them out. It doesn't look very fancy and I quickly knew what it was because I had read about it before: the eggs are duck eggs, and they are almost fully bred, that means that the duck fledgling inside is almost ready to hatch out. At that stadium they are boiled, as far as I know, and in this state they are a real Khmer delicatesse.
Before you start thinking "what a strange country", I can ensure you that there are still lots of other specialities which can be eaten without any major consideration. Cambodian curries are great, as are a lot of fish dishes...
A few bugs shouldn't deter you from visiting this really interesting country...
"We don't serve dog, cat, monkey, rat or worms"
Now you might think that this still leaves a lot open, and right, they both have a "snake menu" on their dinner card. I didn't try it, I'm honest...
I also was a coward and walked past the huge plates full of grilled insects, which you can find at every street corner: cicadas, spiders, beegles, whatever you prefer... I thought that they must be coming from some kind of "farm", but was told that most of them are simply collected in the woods where they abound...
Another speciality which I skipped are eggs. You see them in big heaps on plates at every food stall. When you take a closer look, you notice that they are not clean white as we are used to see them: they are covered with larger dark spots. The locals usually eat several of them at once. They cautiously break open the top. When you try to get a glimpse what's inside, you can see that it's not white, but somehow dark. Then they season it with salt or a spicy sauce and start spooning them out. It doesn't look very fancy and I quickly knew what it was because I had read about it before: the eggs are duck eggs, and they are almost fully bred, that means that the duck fledgling inside is almost ready to hatch out. At that stadium they are boiled, as far as I know, and in this state they are a real Khmer delicatesse.
Before you start thinking "what a strange country", I can ensure you that there are still lots of other specialities which can be eaten without any major consideration. Cambodian curries are great, as are a lot of fish dishes...
A few bugs shouldn't deter you from visiting this really interesting country...
viernes, 8 de junio de 2007
Stung Treng
Another outpost town, the northernmost point in Cambodia on the way to Laos. I had to spend one night here, as it is not possible to travel in one day from Kratie to Laos. There is no regular traffic, it's mostly a handful of minibuses with tourists running that tour.
Departure in Kratie 1.30 pm, I have to wait, and again it's hot, hot, hot... finally we sit in the small bus which runs to Stung Treng, I'm the only foreigner among a few locals. About three hours on almost empty roads... northern Cambodia is only sparsely populated.
Stung Treng is like Kratie, only smaller. Again, I like the atmosphere... The guesthouse is on a square across from the Mekong, it has a rooftop terrace overlooking the river. Wandering through the dusty streets some people stare at you (it's a common route between Laos and Cambodia, the only crossing actually, but there simply isn't much traffic, and foreigners don't abound here, although they are a common sight).
For a while I linger around at the ferry landing, there's just always something to see. Rivers mean life, motion, activity. Small boats depart to I don't know where, a bigger ferry for a handful of cars crosses every half hour to the other side... I could stay the whole day here... yet dark clouds are approaching, thunder telling of the imminent afternoon rain. Slowly I make my way back to the guesthouse... in vain, as the clouds are passing, raining off somewhere else. Stung Trengs streets remain dusty for at least another day...
Departure in Kratie 1.30 pm, I have to wait, and again it's hot, hot, hot... finally we sit in the small bus which runs to Stung Treng, I'm the only foreigner among a few locals. About three hours on almost empty roads... northern Cambodia is only sparsely populated.
Stung Treng is like Kratie, only smaller. Again, I like the atmosphere... The guesthouse is on a square across from the Mekong, it has a rooftop terrace overlooking the river. Wandering through the dusty streets some people stare at you (it's a common route between Laos and Cambodia, the only crossing actually, but there simply isn't much traffic, and foreigners don't abound here, although they are a common sight).
For a while I linger around at the ferry landing, there's just always something to see. Rivers mean life, motion, activity. Small boats depart to I don't know where, a bigger ferry for a handful of cars crosses every half hour to the other side... I could stay the whole day here... yet dark clouds are approaching, thunder telling of the imminent afternoon rain. Slowly I make my way back to the guesthouse... in vain, as the clouds are passing, raining off somewhere else. Stung Trengs streets remain dusty for at least another day...
Kratie
4.6.
It doesn't look very far on the map, but there was no possibility to make it in one day: the stretch Siem Reap - Kratie. As I knew that before, I took a noon-bus that was leaving Siem Reap, heading east. In the afternoon I arrived in Khompong Thom, where I spend the night. Nothing fancy this city, but its Mekong-location makes it interesting for a stopover, besides that I managed to find a guest house with a room overlooking the river... not bad, eh?
Next morning I continued to Kratie, and this is a town I really enjoyed. It's also a river port, a nice little place to wander around and to get to know Cambodia (which you don't necessarily get to know that well in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap). Travel guides call it an outpost, and that's not a bad word. It's a bit the end of the world, but a really pleasant one... a small town center, just two or three blocks around the market, besides that wide empty streets, sometimes unpaved, lots of palmtrees, dust whirled around by the wind, not a lot of traffic, a very quiet small town. From its jetty longboats depart to other places somewhere along the river... as everyone knows, I'm fascinated by anything connected to big rivers and the sea...
Kratie is one of these towns where a lot of people ask what to do there... in fact, there is a lot to do, often nothing spectacular, but enough to get a glimpse of the country you are travelling in. It reminded me a bit of Savannakhet in Laos... in Kratie there are also lots of old broken down colonial buildings which emanate a fascinating atmoshere of decay.
In its neighbourhood one can find within a very short distance interesting pagodas, Khmer ruins, terrific landscape and the habitat of the only sweetwater dolphins worldwide. I planned to rent a small motorcycle for one day, but had to discover that I was running out of cash... in Cambodia the US-$ is accepted throughout the country (exchange rate 1 $ = 4000 riel), but you run into problems when you have to exchange travellers cheques in smaller towns... it simply might not be possible... So I counted the cash dollars I had left, thought that it would be enough to bring me across the border, and decided to discover the region around Kratie on my next trip... three weeks are simply not enough for this country...
It doesn't look very far on the map, but there was no possibility to make it in one day: the stretch Siem Reap - Kratie. As I knew that before, I took a noon-bus that was leaving Siem Reap, heading east. In the afternoon I arrived in Khompong Thom, where I spend the night. Nothing fancy this city, but its Mekong-location makes it interesting for a stopover, besides that I managed to find a guest house with a room overlooking the river... not bad, eh?
Next morning I continued to Kratie, and this is a town I really enjoyed. It's also a river port, a nice little place to wander around and to get to know Cambodia (which you don't necessarily get to know that well in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap). Travel guides call it an outpost, and that's not a bad word. It's a bit the end of the world, but a really pleasant one... a small town center, just two or three blocks around the market, besides that wide empty streets, sometimes unpaved, lots of palmtrees, dust whirled around by the wind, not a lot of traffic, a very quiet small town. From its jetty longboats depart to other places somewhere along the river... as everyone knows, I'm fascinated by anything connected to big rivers and the sea...
Kratie is one of these towns where a lot of people ask what to do there... in fact, there is a lot to do, often nothing spectacular, but enough to get a glimpse of the country you are travelling in. It reminded me a bit of Savannakhet in Laos... in Kratie there are also lots of old broken down colonial buildings which emanate a fascinating atmoshere of decay.
In its neighbourhood one can find within a very short distance interesting pagodas, Khmer ruins, terrific landscape and the habitat of the only sweetwater dolphins worldwide. I planned to rent a small motorcycle for one day, but had to discover that I was running out of cash... in Cambodia the US-$ is accepted throughout the country (exchange rate 1 $ = 4000 riel), but you run into problems when you have to exchange travellers cheques in smaller towns... it simply might not be possible... So I counted the cash dollars I had left, thought that it would be enough to bring me across the border, and decided to discover the region around Kratie on my next trip... three weeks are simply not enough for this country...
domingo, 3 de junio de 2007
Landmines
If Cambodia should be described with three terms, "Angkor" is a clear choice. One of the two remaining options would definitely be "landmines".
Cambodia is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, due to the Vietnam war which extended into Cambodia, internal fighting, the Khmer Rouge takeover and, after the Vietnamese invasion, the ongoing guerilla war between government forces and the Khmer Rouge. I actually learned, that in Cambodia's east the problem are less mines than UXO - you remember what this is? If not, read one of the Laos posts again... but the consequences are very similar...
Many mines have one clear purpose: they are not designed to kill, but just to rip away legs or arms. The logic behind: dead soldiers or civilians won't cause high costs, they will be buried and sooner or later forgotten. A wounded person, with one or several limbs amputated, is a constant burden to enemy or society. Physically, because he/she can't work fully or not at all and has to be taken care of, mentally, because the continuous sight of amputees is supposed to demoralize the enemy...
Over the years since the wars, some 60000 people have been injured or killed by landmines in Cambodia (the population now is about 14,5 million). Especially in the bigger cities they can't be overseen, people with one leg or none at all, with no hands or arms... some of them begging, as they have no other choice to make a living. In Siem Reap they are "concentrated", because from there to the Thai border are the main mine fields and as a consequence the most casualties...
There are many national and international organisations trying to work on that "issue", either by clearing mine fields (will take about 100 years to make the country mine-free), by assisting land mine survivors, by producing prostethics...
If one is interested in more information, I recommend the following pages to get a closer insight into Cambodia's biggest "problem":
www.angkorad.org , the website of a grassroot-NGO set up by a mine survivor, which has much more to offer than statistics...
www.cambodialandminemuseum.com ,
or go to the websites of "Mines Advisory Group" or "Handicap International".
Cambodia is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, due to the Vietnam war which extended into Cambodia, internal fighting, the Khmer Rouge takeover and, after the Vietnamese invasion, the ongoing guerilla war between government forces and the Khmer Rouge. I actually learned, that in Cambodia's east the problem are less mines than UXO - you remember what this is? If not, read one of the Laos posts again... but the consequences are very similar...
Many mines have one clear purpose: they are not designed to kill, but just to rip away legs or arms. The logic behind: dead soldiers or civilians won't cause high costs, they will be buried and sooner or later forgotten. A wounded person, with one or several limbs amputated, is a constant burden to enemy or society. Physically, because he/she can't work fully or not at all and has to be taken care of, mentally, because the continuous sight of amputees is supposed to demoralize the enemy...
Over the years since the wars, some 60000 people have been injured or killed by landmines in Cambodia (the population now is about 14,5 million). Especially in the bigger cities they can't be overseen, people with one leg or none at all, with no hands or arms... some of them begging, as they have no other choice to make a living. In Siem Reap they are "concentrated", because from there to the Thai border are the main mine fields and as a consequence the most casualties...
There are many national and international organisations trying to work on that "issue", either by clearing mine fields (will take about 100 years to make the country mine-free), by assisting land mine survivors, by producing prostethics...
If one is interested in more information, I recommend the following pages to get a closer insight into Cambodia's biggest "problem":
www.angkorad.org , the website of a grassroot-NGO set up by a mine survivor, which has much more to offer than statistics...
www.cambodialandminemuseum.com ,
or go to the websites of "Mines Advisory Group" or "Handicap International".
A little detour
Siem Reap, 31.5.
I stayed longer in Siem Reap then I had planned. The visit to Angkor took three days, besides that I tried to contact a handful of people to maybe get enough material and photos to make it into a story about the landmines. But it somehow didn't work out...
Siem Reap itself is a town as touristy as one can imagine. With Angkor next to it, you don't have to ask why. It's full of restaurants, boutiques, hotels and guest houses, and whatever tourism demands. I actually was quite tired of it, things with the landmine-story dragged on without a real progress, it was incredibly hot some days, monsoon rains in the afternoon didn't bring much relief, they just flooded the city, but the temperatures didn't really go down...
On the last day I made a very small tour, that compensated for the "hardship". It wasn't difficult at all, I just had to turn left when leaving my guest house, instead of turning right towards the city center. An unpaved street was following the river that flows towards the Tonle Sap lake. It led through the quarters at the outskirts of town, and it was pure Cambodia (you can't say that about a good part of Siem Reap). Every 200 or 300 meters a small bridge was crossing the river, the paved road on the other side leads towards the lake, but I stayed mainly on the unpaved street. There were lots of houses on stilts standing right at the river, canoes everywhere, school children were greeting me, I discovered a small water mill, the river was brown and muddy and full of garbage, and most important of all there wasn't much traffic, just bicycles, some motorcycles and a few pick-ups. Eventually I crossed over to the road and left the city. Driving through wide open land, with lakes and rice paddies on both sides, I didn't care about the sun, which was already hot again (it was maybe 8.30 in the morning). I came to a small village, to the right there was a big temple, to the left the road continued, but without tarmac. It was already now in a bad state, and the rainy season hasn't started yet... I wouldn't like to see it in two or three months...
Eventually I turned around, the bicycle just wasn't made for this kind of dirt road... very slowly I drove back to Siem Reap, following again the dirt street on the other side of the river, after reaching the city. It was one of these insignificant little trips which I will keep longer in my memory than most of the other days spent in Siem Reap. A little bit I felt like having wasted some time there, but that's how it goes sometimes, and as I said before, this little tour compensated for everything that didn't work out in the last days...
I stayed longer in Siem Reap then I had planned. The visit to Angkor took three days, besides that I tried to contact a handful of people to maybe get enough material and photos to make it into a story about the landmines. But it somehow didn't work out...
Siem Reap itself is a town as touristy as one can imagine. With Angkor next to it, you don't have to ask why. It's full of restaurants, boutiques, hotels and guest houses, and whatever tourism demands. I actually was quite tired of it, things with the landmine-story dragged on without a real progress, it was incredibly hot some days, monsoon rains in the afternoon didn't bring much relief, they just flooded the city, but the temperatures didn't really go down...
On the last day I made a very small tour, that compensated for the "hardship". It wasn't difficult at all, I just had to turn left when leaving my guest house, instead of turning right towards the city center. An unpaved street was following the river that flows towards the Tonle Sap lake. It led through the quarters at the outskirts of town, and it was pure Cambodia (you can't say that about a good part of Siem Reap). Every 200 or 300 meters a small bridge was crossing the river, the paved road on the other side leads towards the lake, but I stayed mainly on the unpaved street. There were lots of houses on stilts standing right at the river, canoes everywhere, school children were greeting me, I discovered a small water mill, the river was brown and muddy and full of garbage, and most important of all there wasn't much traffic, just bicycles, some motorcycles and a few pick-ups. Eventually I crossed over to the road and left the city. Driving through wide open land, with lakes and rice paddies on both sides, I didn't care about the sun, which was already hot again (it was maybe 8.30 in the morning). I came to a small village, to the right there was a big temple, to the left the road continued, but without tarmac. It was already now in a bad state, and the rainy season hasn't started yet... I wouldn't like to see it in two or three months...
Eventually I turned around, the bicycle just wasn't made for this kind of dirt road... very slowly I drove back to Siem Reap, following again the dirt street on the other side of the river, after reaching the city. It was one of these insignificant little trips which I will keep longer in my memory than most of the other days spent in Siem Reap. A little bit I felt like having wasted some time there, but that's how it goes sometimes, and as I said before, this little tour compensated for everything that didn't work out in the last days...
Angkor
If there's one "must-see" in Cambodia, it's Angkor. It's difficult to describe in a few words...
What is called Angkor today, are the remnants of the temples of the city with the same name, the center of the old Khmer empire. Angkor covered at its height I don't know how many square kilometers and about 1 million people were living there. Most of this is gone, as houses, palaces and most other buildings were constructed of wood. Stone was reserved for the temples...
The Khmer god-kings constructed Angkor between the 9th and the 13th century. What is left today, is one of the most impressive and fascinating archaeological sites on this planet. To get more than a glimpse of the temples and take an closer look at the marvels designed and constructed so many centuries ago, one needs easily three days... to discover some more remote sites, scattered all around Siem Reap and other provinces, one could spend a week or two... and there is much more all over Cambodia...
If you would like to get an idea of what Angkor is like, take a look at www.theangkorguide.com, which is still the definite guide and can be downloaded for free. To see some photos, employ your search engine... I didn't find a website I really liked, but then I also didn't spend much time searching...
Sorry to make it that short, but Angkor is too impressive to describe in a few minutes... the best is to try everything to make it there one day...
What is called Angkor today, are the remnants of the temples of the city with the same name, the center of the old Khmer empire. Angkor covered at its height I don't know how many square kilometers and about 1 million people were living there. Most of this is gone, as houses, palaces and most other buildings were constructed of wood. Stone was reserved for the temples...
The Khmer god-kings constructed Angkor between the 9th and the 13th century. What is left today, is one of the most impressive and fascinating archaeological sites on this planet. To get more than a glimpse of the temples and take an closer look at the marvels designed and constructed so many centuries ago, one needs easily three days... to discover some more remote sites, scattered all around Siem Reap and other provinces, one could spend a week or two... and there is much more all over Cambodia...
If you would like to get an idea of what Angkor is like, take a look at www.theangkorguide.com, which is still the definite guide and can be downloaded for free. To see some photos, employ your search engine... I didn't find a website I really liked, but then I also didn't spend much time searching...
Sorry to make it that short, but Angkor is too impressive to describe in a few minutes... the best is to try everything to make it there one day...
miércoles, 30 de mayo de 2007
An evening at Sisowath Quay
Sisowath Quay is the street running parallel to the Tonle river through the center of Phnom Penh. Due to this fact it is one of the tourist spots in the city and full of restaurants, boutiques, internet cafes... There's a lot of life during the day, but it really gets busy in late afternoon, when it also gets cooler. A lot of locals enjoy the atmosphere along the river, it's full of foodstalls, and traffic increases as many young people drive back and forth on their small motorbikes... on the opposite side of the street restaurants start to fill up, and the number of street vendors increases dramatically. A lot of children selling postcards and books, many amputees pushing small carts loaden with books or foodstuff, trying to make a living one way or the other. Quite a few people simply beg... older women and children mainly... Cambodia is still in the process of recovering from almost 30 years of war and genocide, despite the amount of cars it's one of the poorest countries in the world...
The business with tourists seems to be quite lucrative, for everyone, and is well "controlled". As I watched the street life, sitting in a small restaurant, I noticed two women strolling around seemingly without any objective. A lot of kids were passing, maybe 5, 7, 8 years old, all with baskets full of books and postcards, trying to make "business"with the tourists. After a while you are tired and would like to be left alone, but what can you do? Anyway, I quickly found out that the two women were sort of controlling the kids... I asked one of the waiters (he spoke good english) whether my observation was correct, and he confirmed... of course he knew what was going on in the streets. It was clear that the children would sell better because tourists would feel much more sorry for them than for some middle-aged women... that's the way it goes, not only in Cambodia, but here you see children of all ages everywhere, selling whatever they have to tourists. I don't know whether these kids go to school during the day, I think most of them do. Their work is just a normal part of their life and most parents are very aware that their childrens' only chance in this life if is a decent education...
The business with tourists seems to be quite lucrative, for everyone, and is well "controlled". As I watched the street life, sitting in a small restaurant, I noticed two women strolling around seemingly without any objective. A lot of kids were passing, maybe 5, 7, 8 years old, all with baskets full of books and postcards, trying to make "business"with the tourists. After a while you are tired and would like to be left alone, but what can you do? Anyway, I quickly found out that the two women were sort of controlling the kids... I asked one of the waiters (he spoke good english) whether my observation was correct, and he confirmed... of course he knew what was going on in the streets. It was clear that the children would sell better because tourists would feel much more sorry for them than for some middle-aged women... that's the way it goes, not only in Cambodia, but here you see children of all ages everywhere, selling whatever they have to tourists. I don't know whether these kids go to school during the day, I think most of them do. Their work is just a normal part of their life and most parents are very aware that their childrens' only chance in this life if is a decent education...
martes, 22 de mayo de 2007
Moments
Journeys are full of small events and incidents, which pass by almost unnoticed and may soon be forgotten. Still I think, they are the essence of travelling... visiting monuments and museums is what everyone does, be it on an organized tour or as an independent traveller. But the countless short moments of surprises, encounters and occurrances are giving sense to a journey. Some I would not like to forget...
When I was standing on the veranda of my guesthouse in Savannakhet, a man on a bicycle pulled up on the other side of the street. I first could not see what was on the back part of his bike, but I soon understood... Within seconds he was surrounded by younger children and, how to say, children who were not so young any more. After paying I don't know how much, they got three shots with some sort of plastic gun, from a distance of less than a meter. If the gun's arrows would pass through a ring that was mounted behind his seat, they would get a price. The game was accompanied by the laughter, yelling and cheers of everyone around. After a few minutes all had done their shots. The man got on his bicycle, waved his hand and left...
In Quang Ngai I went to the main road to catch a minibus to Hoi An. When I arrived, there was already one waiting. The minibus was almost full, which meant that they definitely would press in half a dozen more. But they were not grabbing me and pulling me inside, as I expected... Looking at me, a man and a woman were discussing the affair. A tiny man of about 50 years stood next to me. "They don't want to take you, because you are to big...", he explained me in a very good English. First I thought he made a joke, but he - and the others - were serious. They left without me. I didn't have to wait long for the next one, where I got on board without discussions. Since then, in bad moments and a bad mood I call myself "fatty"...
A cloudy day in Hue... I was walking around the old citadel, the Emperor's residence. I did not enter, because admission was quite expensive, and I wanted to enjoy it with sunshine (which never happened...). On my way back, on one of the big bridges, an open lorry came in the opposite direction, two loudspeakers announcing something which must have been heard through half the city. On the cargo space there was something big and grey, the replica of an elephant, as I soon recognized. But strangely the head moved from one side to another... it was a true, living elephant... I don't know what they made publicity for, but I wonder how the poor animal felt on the back of this truck. In my imagination he must have gone mad, having to listen to the blaring loudspeakers close to his head for maybe several hours...
On the Bolaven plateau, close to Tad Lo, I was walking through the forest. Going uphill on a wide path, I suddenly heard some birds singing. It was the most beautiful (bird's) melody I have ever heard. There were eight or nine of them, brown, with a white head. I don't know whether they were fighting over food or a female, or just chasing themselves through the forest. As I approached, they were flying away a few meters, but stayed next to the path. This way it went on for several minutes, until they disappeared finally in the forest, their singing becoming lower and lower.
In Vietnam I met Lisa, a Swiss woman, who had travelled with a digital recorder. She was recording all kinds of voices and noises, and this was what I wished I would have had with me then...
Unfortunately Lisa couldn't present me what she had recorded, because the device got lost, probably stolen, a short while ago...
Saigon was terrible... noisy and rainy, an unpleasant combination. There was not much I liked to do. For some days I just was wandering around the two blocks, where my guesthouse was located. A small store was selling some sweets, drinks, and serving coffee, outside on the sidewalk... a tiny man with a hunchback apparently was the owner, and soon we sort of got to know each other, without speaking each other's language. I sat down on these very small plastic chairs, sipped my coffee and watched the streetlife, which was, in spite of the many guesthouses and tourist restaurants, pure Vietnamese...
I always was the only foreigner there and don't know what the others were expecting in all these touristy restaurants and bars. I found a small corner of Vietnam just a few meters away from my guesthouse, in the middle of this tourist area... and again I was glad that I was travelling alone...
Close to Pakse in southern Laos there's a huge fair trade store, selling Laotian products. It's a beautiful wooden building, very bright with a lot of glass, a veranda and some more areas to sit outside, take a rest, and have a drink. Inside they sell tee, coffee, marmalade, clothes, handicrafts, honey, and I have forgotten what else. The problem is that this store is 8 kms out of town... apparently hardly anyone makes his way out there. When I arrived, the 3 persons at the store were simply sleeping and then kind of surprised that a visitor showed up. I drank two bottles of Laotian palm beer, it was late noon, I was sweating, and the cold beer really tasted terrific. When I wanted to pay, they first had to look around to find enough change, although I gave them a small bill...
I don't know who put this building out there in this no man's land. It's such a pity, such a waste of energy and good intentions... We are in the low season right now, but I think that even in the best months not many people make it out there...
When I was standing on the veranda of my guesthouse in Savannakhet, a man on a bicycle pulled up on the other side of the street. I first could not see what was on the back part of his bike, but I soon understood... Within seconds he was surrounded by younger children and, how to say, children who were not so young any more. After paying I don't know how much, they got three shots with some sort of plastic gun, from a distance of less than a meter. If the gun's arrows would pass through a ring that was mounted behind his seat, they would get a price. The game was accompanied by the laughter, yelling and cheers of everyone around. After a few minutes all had done their shots. The man got on his bicycle, waved his hand and left...
In Quang Ngai I went to the main road to catch a minibus to Hoi An. When I arrived, there was already one waiting. The minibus was almost full, which meant that they definitely would press in half a dozen more. But they were not grabbing me and pulling me inside, as I expected... Looking at me, a man and a woman were discussing the affair. A tiny man of about 50 years stood next to me. "They don't want to take you, because you are to big...", he explained me in a very good English. First I thought he made a joke, but he - and the others - were serious. They left without me. I didn't have to wait long for the next one, where I got on board without discussions. Since then, in bad moments and a bad mood I call myself "fatty"...
A cloudy day in Hue... I was walking around the old citadel, the Emperor's residence. I did not enter, because admission was quite expensive, and I wanted to enjoy it with sunshine (which never happened...). On my way back, on one of the big bridges, an open lorry came in the opposite direction, two loudspeakers announcing something which must have been heard through half the city. On the cargo space there was something big and grey, the replica of an elephant, as I soon recognized. But strangely the head moved from one side to another... it was a true, living elephant... I don't know what they made publicity for, but I wonder how the poor animal felt on the back of this truck. In my imagination he must have gone mad, having to listen to the blaring loudspeakers close to his head for maybe several hours...
On the Bolaven plateau, close to Tad Lo, I was walking through the forest. Going uphill on a wide path, I suddenly heard some birds singing. It was the most beautiful (bird's) melody I have ever heard. There were eight or nine of them, brown, with a white head. I don't know whether they were fighting over food or a female, or just chasing themselves through the forest. As I approached, they were flying away a few meters, but stayed next to the path. This way it went on for several minutes, until they disappeared finally in the forest, their singing becoming lower and lower.
In Vietnam I met Lisa, a Swiss woman, who had travelled with a digital recorder. She was recording all kinds of voices and noises, and this was what I wished I would have had with me then...
Unfortunately Lisa couldn't present me what she had recorded, because the device got lost, probably stolen, a short while ago...
Saigon was terrible... noisy and rainy, an unpleasant combination. There was not much I liked to do. For some days I just was wandering around the two blocks, where my guesthouse was located. A small store was selling some sweets, drinks, and serving coffee, outside on the sidewalk... a tiny man with a hunchback apparently was the owner, and soon we sort of got to know each other, without speaking each other's language. I sat down on these very small plastic chairs, sipped my coffee and watched the streetlife, which was, in spite of the many guesthouses and tourist restaurants, pure Vietnamese...
I always was the only foreigner there and don't know what the others were expecting in all these touristy restaurants and bars. I found a small corner of Vietnam just a few meters away from my guesthouse, in the middle of this tourist area... and again I was glad that I was travelling alone...
Close to Pakse in southern Laos there's a huge fair trade store, selling Laotian products. It's a beautiful wooden building, very bright with a lot of glass, a veranda and some more areas to sit outside, take a rest, and have a drink. Inside they sell tee, coffee, marmalade, clothes, handicrafts, honey, and I have forgotten what else. The problem is that this store is 8 kms out of town... apparently hardly anyone makes his way out there. When I arrived, the 3 persons at the store were simply sleeping and then kind of surprised that a visitor showed up. I drank two bottles of Laotian palm beer, it was late noon, I was sweating, and the cold beer really tasted terrific. When I wanted to pay, they first had to look around to find enough change, although I gave them a small bill...
I don't know who put this building out there in this no man's land. It's such a pity, such a waste of energy and good intentions... We are in the low season right now, but I think that even in the best months not many people make it out there...
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