PHI PHI

This weekend I flew to Phuket to meet up with my parents who’re here for 2 weeks holidays. The hotel sent a car to meet me when I arrived, my first taste of luxury. Very different to when I flew into Udon Thani in the north of Thailand. 3 friends and I arrived at 11.30pm, stepped out of the airport to get a cab, to find the place bereft of public transport. A few passengers looked at us strangely as they got picked up by their families. We bumbled around trying to find a cab, and then they started turning off the lights and locking up the airport. In broken Thai we managed to accosted a security guard for help. He called his brother who came and gave us a lift in the back of his pick-up truck for 100 Baht. Too easy.

Anyway, so I arrived in Phuket. Mum and Dad flew in Saturday morning and we spent the day pottering around the hotel/resort while they got over jet lag.

Sunday we took a boat trip around Phi Phi. Getting over my, ‘oh my God, I’m such a tourist’ feel I had a great day hooning around tropical islands and snorkelling. My favourite fish was neon pink, purple and turquoise. So 1988.

The trip home was one fraught with tension. I was due into Bangkok at 10.45, Australia was due to kick-off against Brazil at 11.00. I knew my airline was regularly 45mins late, that it was a minimum 30mins trip to the pub, and that I could wait 1 hour for a cab at the airport. Mission Impossible was go, the lit fuse was running across the bottom of the screen.

At check the girl said “will be 15 minutes delay”, smiling I said I’ll take that, then noticed that my boarding time was 45 minutes later than expected. “Delay sip-haa?” I asked, “No, haa-sip”. Great, 50 minutes, not 15 minutes.

We arrived into Bangkok at 11.50, my friend had texted me the 0-0 half-time score. I stepped out the airport to see a long queue waiting at the taxi rank, and a few taxi drivers mulling around trying to scab a fair. Normally I don’t go for the scalpers, my sense of justice and all that, but this was a special occasion. Think stealing a loaf of bread to feed the family. “How much?” “500Baht (US$12)” the trip would normally cost 300. “Done, let’s go”.

The roads were clear, the speed topped 140km/hr on the highway, and we only got slowed down on the side streets near the pub by door-deep floodwaters. I made it with 30mins to go, 1-0 down, plenty of excitement left and my Brazilian friend jumping up and down.

AUSTRALIA: 0

BRAZIL: 2

CHANCES OF GOING THROUGH: Still good, bad luck Croatia.

QUESTION: How does a guy called ‘Fred’ get a game for Brazil?

THE KING LOVES FOOTBALL

Well, it’s about as big a King day as you can get. It’s the coronation ceremony, the barge ceremony goes off for proper, and there’s a state ceremony and dinner will over monarchs from all over the planet.

It’s also Australia’s first match at the world cup in 30 years, kick off 8pm against Japan. We’ve got our plans - we’re heading to a beer garden with a cinema screen/projector, we even have alternate destination in case it’s rains. The game’s being shown on Thai domestic TV, as are all matches, nothings on Thai cable.

Bangkok’s quiet all day as it’s a public holiday and most people have gone to the river or away on holiday. Excitement builds amongst my friends and I, before we rendezvous in the beer garden at 7.00. We grab a couple beers, grab a table at the front and are glad to see a few Japanese tables around us – it’s always better to have someone to heckle.

7.50 rolls around, and the TV’s still showing the King’s ceremony. 7.55, still the King. 8.00, still the King, OK panic. At 8 everyday there’s KingTV on one channel – a half hour update of what the royals did that day, this is different, it’s live from the ceremony. We call the waiter over, he flicks through the Thai channels, the ceremony’s on all of them. AAGGHH! 8.15 rolls around, the ceremony looks like it’s got a long way to go.

We bailed out of the beer garden, heading to the Irish pubs 2 train stops away. A policeman stops us entering the skytrain station, all traffic on the road is stopped. They’ve blocked off the area for dignitaries leaving the ceremony, and we’re trapped without access to the pubs. Shit, what to do? Where to go? Come on think?

Got it! The Bus Stop, a girly bar 2 streets away, has cable from Papua New Guinea! We got in 30 mins late to find the game on. Yes! It was even the Australian SBS feed so we got to see the Australian soccer nuts talking about how happy they were to be in the world cup after years of being marginalised by Australia’s other sports.

We’re down 1-0, 5 mins left. We equalise, yelling! We take the lead, jumping up and down! We score again, pandemonium!

If only I didn’t have an exam tomorrow I’d be getting in a round of shots.

AUSTRALIA: 3

JAPAN: 1

KING WEEKEND

Yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of the Thai King's coronation, and the town's been going King-crazy for a week. The royal colour is yellow (a very vivid yellow), as the king was born on a Monday and Monday's colour is yellow - so yesterday everyone (literally everyone) was wearing a vivid yellow T-shirt. There's normally 10% of the population walking around in one, but yesterday (and this weekend) it was a yellow sea. I asked a Thai colleague what colour the princess is ‘purple’ in a heartbeat, what about the prince ‘don’t care’ with venom. No one likes the playboy Prince, everyone loves the hard working, caring Princess. A few years ago the princess was elevated to the ‘crown’ status so that she can contest her elder brother for the crown, as that’s what the people want and the king obviously recognises the greater quality of his daughter.

The key ceremony over the weekend was the royal barge ceremony – basically the King floating down the river on one of the seven royal barges, all the barges are sailed as well. Friday was the practice run, Monday the full ceremony. Friday was also the anniversary day, and Fri-Tue were public holidays.

On the Friday 800,000 Thais went to the river to watch the rehearsal, and similar numbers on Monday. Tears of love flowed everywhere, people were there all day, hoping to catch a glimpse of the King.

I’ve never seen devotion like it. He’s revered, but not seen as a God, more as the most wonderful person to the power of infinity. Throughout Bangkok there’s pictures of the King, many skyscrapers have multistorey pictures. They’re put up by choice, as a sign of the affection of the people and the company owners. My Thai teacher was so excited to tell us that her foreign boss had agreed to let the staff wear the yellow shirts on every Monday that she could barely contain herself. There’s absolutely no reservations, consternations or cynicism in their love for the King.

The King’s a constitutional monarch, but rules the hearts. Earlier this year, during Thailand’s political crisis, there were many pleas for him to step in and appoint the prime minister, an act that’s barely constitutional. He was able to see the bigger picture and declined, turning the issue back to the electoral and constitutional court. That respect for the democracy of his nation is something that politicians the world over could learn from.

THAI MEETING

I went to my first completely and properly Thai meeting today. It was between two government departments, with the department heads leading (what circles I move in these days!), discussing disaster stuff.

It was brilliant to see an ‘Asian meeting’ in effect. My management textbooks (blurgh) had been telling me for years that ‘Asian meetings’ will talk around the topic, be very positive about everything, and try to reach consensus. And, dang it, they’re right. There was a four point agenda, and everyone, and I mean all 25 attendees said something about them, and said nice things about the other people’s statements. There wasn’t any ‘discussion’ in the western way, debate and critiquing of each others’ point of view. Instead, if they held a different point of view second speaker would just state their opinion without denigrating the others. Consensus arose by adding all those points together. After the meeting closed, as everyone was leading the leaders vocalised that consensus, and a decision was made.

Very different to a ‘Western meeting’ in which each agenda item and idea would be discussed and debated in order, decisions made along the way and then action points assigned.

Encouragingly I was able to follow bits and pieces - or more accurately, I picked up words I knew as we went along that allowed me to get the gist

I’ve also noticed that since I’ve been here I’m talking in stereotypes a lot more. Most of our discussions focus on national, regional and international topics and the only way to be able to do that is to use a generalisation ‘Asians think like this…’ ‘Indians see it that way…’, otherwise you get bogged down in caveats and can’t talk about issues. I think that’s OK, as long as you remember that they’re only rules of thumb, need to be constantly re-evaluated and updated, and that you don’t apply them to an individual. There’s a big difference between saying ‘Thai’s like to have fun at work and talk to their friends rather than concentrating on work’ and ‘Thai’s like to talk to their friends at work, therefore as you’re Thai you are lazy’.

THE RAINY SEASON

After a month of 37oC and 75% humidity the rainy season really broke three days ago, with rain, thunder and lightning that’s remarkable.

Tonight the rain came while I was eating in a restaurant around the corner from my house. When a pretty girl and her mum left, the debonair young waiter carried a garden umbrella, keeping them shelter while he got wet, until they reached the train station. Water had flooded the sidewalk leaving only a small strip or dry land, so while the women kept their feet dry he ruined his shoes. Chivalry is not dead. When I left, a restaurant scullion came out and offered to escort me under a foldout umbrella. I know my place.

At Phaya Thai Court, after just 30mins of rain the entire forecourt, covering 100m2 was 3 inches deep in water. Things look grave, as the pool is filling to a point that it threatens to flow over. I have a 6inch clearance to my front door, and I’m hoping its enough. I’ve moved everything off the floor though, there’s that much rain.

The thunder, why still a little away from being overhead sounded like an artillery battery being set off. Not a modern battery, more like Napoleonic cannons that when in time broke sound, and when out of time rolled on for 30 seconds. As the storm passed overhead the sound was like standing in a broom closet while a giant slammed the heavy door closed, hard.

The lightning is so bright and low that you could see everything if only your eyes weren’t closed.

VIENTIANE

Another weekend, another trip. Or so it feels at the moment anyway. We’re about to head into the wet season, and though it’ll be good to get away from the heat (regularly 37oC and 70% humidity) it’ll curtail travelling a bit.

Though just across the Mekong, Vientiane and Lao are light years from Thailand. One simple bridge breaks shopping malls, cinemas and Westernisation from low-rise buildings and pot-holes. Lao is well and truly developing, even its tiny capital is under-developed.

I wouldn’t say it’s pretty, though the plethora of palm trees throughout the town is refreshing, especially after cement-city Bangkok. There’s not a lot to do, but surprisingly access to Western food is actually easier in Lao as they’re not subject to the hugh tax rates faced in Thailand. The ham and cheese croissant I had was the best thing I’d tasted EVER, not having had decent bread or pastry since Christmas. And for the record, yours truly reigned supreme at the bowling alley – the only thing to do on a Friday night according to my friends who’re working in Vientiane. Vientiane’s slow, in a country town kind of way, so I went with the flow sleeping in late, strolling around and sitting in cafés.

Getting into Lao we got stuck at the border for 2 hours as the guy in the booth only knew how to type with one finger, and had to have a think between each letter. I guess that’s what you get when the pay level’s US$40 per month.

On the river is the new secretariat building for the Mekong River Commission – an inter-governmental institution to protect and develop the Mekong River region. It’s a massive institution, well funded and a key political agency in the region. It’s new head-quarters look like a five star hotel, a very responsible use of their resources I’m sure.

On the Sunday a friend and I went out to see a Rocket Festival. To inspire the gods to start the rainy season, the people build home made rockets and set them off. They used to do it in town until a school burnt down a few years ago, so now the festivals go on in the rice paddy. We were the only Farangs around and were much ogled by the children though we quickly lost our star status when the larger rockets came out. Everyone from young children to old women were setting of rockets of various stages. A procession brought the largest rockets out to the crowd, there was a bit of a sing, and then they were put aside until later in the evening. Most of the rockets went off, though not always straight, with only one exploding on the launch pad. Given then number of people, and children, with explosives I was surprised not to notice anyone missing fingers.

SUKOTHAI

6 of us boarded a mini-bus to head to Thailand’s (other) ancient capital Sukothai this weekend. Yes, there are two dating from different periods, and different defeats. Sukothai was sacked by the Burmese, Ayuttaya by the Khmer (I think).

Sukothai looks a lot like Ayuttaya – ruined Wats – but is about 6 hours drive from Bangkok rather than 1.5 hours. I’m sure a Thai historian could provide an in depth analysis of the difference, other than location, but that’s about all I could spot. That said, it was good to get out of town and riding around the heritage parks on rented bicycles was certainly a welcome change.

The other two guys coming along, both former Russians (one’s now from Turkmenistan, the other Azerbaijan) turned up to the minivan drunk. At 7am. They opened their first beer as the van pulled out of the car park and stayed drunk for 48 hours on top of the 24 hours prior to the trip, not even seeing a temple. It was quite an effort really, the rest of us kept waiting for them to fall over. Or at least for the chief protagonist to stop talking and his offsider to stop giggling. It didn’t happen, and I think they had a good trip.

THAI BAR

After two failed attempts to find the Raintree Café, third time was a charm. I can’t say it was really my fault – it is down a side Soi. I probably should have seen the big blue sign hanging over the main street though.

Anyway, finally found it – and it’s great. In the 70’s, when Thailand was run by military dictatorship students rebelled musically creating a Thai folk-protest song fusing the Dylan tradition with Thai concepts and instruments. Basically protest songs that also proclaim how great it is to be Thai, even if the despots are in power. The movement was known as Phreng Phua Chiwit - ‘Songs For Life’. The bar is a carry over from that period, with SFL playing every night.

A good friend and I got there in time to see a 5 piece act playing. There bar’s fully wood lined, with any number of bullsheads hanging on the wall amongst other ‘memorabilia’ (ie junk). The place is dominated by Thai’s – drunk, smiling and enjoying the music – who’re not at all put-off, influenced or interested by a couple of Farangs hanging out in one of the booths. We rolled out at stumps, and I felt like I’d found a bar that I really fit into in Thailand.

Thai History from the 70’s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Thailand_since_1973

Phreng Phua Chiwit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Thailand#Pleng_phua_cheewit

SONG KRAN

Happy Song Kran!

It’s Thai New Year (Easter doesn’t exist), and what better way to celebrate than a 4-day weekend? How about splashing EVERYONE with water.

For three days there’s been gangs set up on street corners, and roaming utes full of people with buckets of water and water-pistols targeting anyone and everything that comes within range. There’s music playing all over the streets, and a fair few bottles of Chang beer have been consumed. It’s all in good fun, and even the girl soaked head-to-toe with her make-up running is smiling.

There’s also a special ‘Song Kran Goo’ that people are smearing on each others’ faces. It feels like hair-gel, but turns into a powder after a couple of minutes. The city and skytrain are full of people with wet clothes and goo smeared all over them.

A favourite target for the water crews seems to be the numerous motorbike taxis, no wonder the road toll spikes at this time of year. I saw a 7-year-old dropping bucket loads of water off an overpass aiming for the bikes as they zoomed underneath. Mum and dad looked on proudly. There are cars all over Bangkok covered in goo. The tuk-tuk drivers seem to be in on it too, slowing down as they pass the water gangs to allow their passengers to be splashed (or maybe to avoid a major accident, who knows?).

Everyone’s smiling, and that’s what’s important.

SOAKINGS: 1

MILD WETTINGS: 2

PENANG

A friend and I availed ourselves of the wondrous AirAsia’s service this weekend and took a trip to Penang. If you time it right, you can fly to many places in Asia for less that AU$100, and we did, so we did.

Penang’s one messed up city. There’s massive colonial building in good shape, in bad shape, slum areas, huge new hotels, old hotels in need of some paint, and every gradation of residential housing in between. Exactly why there are new hotels I don’t understand, as it seems to be a backpacker place if anything on the tourist route.

There are three major ethnic groups – Malay, Chinese and India, though from the museum’s info it seems like everyone was here at some point due to British trade in the region. The Indian quarter of town is all colourful building and cooking everywhere. We ate nearly entirely Indian as its one of our few chances eat good Indian (I’m a bit over rice and noodles).

Georgetown (the major city) itself doesn’t have that much to see – we went up the hill to look at the view and wandered around to check out what there was, but its good for a change.

On the Sunday we went to Langkawi, an island about 3 hours away, as we discovered after being advised by guidebooks and travel agents its only 2 hours.

The first beach we went to was pure white sands, blue waters and limestone islets within touching distance, backed by rainforest-covered hills. Paradise, we could have stayed there all day except for the jellyfish. We drove around to four more beaches that day, but none were as beautiful as the first.

The last beach had a campsite right up on it, in which about 10 Muslim families had come for holiday. The kids played on the beach, all in full-length clothing and the girls in hijab. They must have been so hot and just dying to get in the water, but there didn’t seem to be any complaint and they all ran around the beach playing games, hide-and-seek maybe.

On our way back from Langkawi night fell and an almighty storm rolled in. We watched it roll from the horizon towards us, blackening as it did. The sky was dark long before the sun went down. The water turned a deep charcoal grey, and the horizon receded in upon us the closer the storm came and took on a hard black edge. The storm spread its canopy over our boat, but dropped ran further away. We watched the lightning for two hours as it lit up the contours of the clouds in an infinite variety of ways.

We stopped at the Snake Temple on the way to the airport – a Buddhist temple with a live collection of vipers. The collection amounted to 4, but they are venomous and free to roam the temple, though their version of roaming seemed to involve a lot of sitting next to candles. You can pay to have one put on your head and a photo taken, but I chose to pass on that wonderful experience.

MEETING ROYALTY

Today the princess of Thailand opened a ceremony that I attended. She arrived with a full entourage in tow to view the exhibition, and every member of staff, several hundred people, came out to see her. As she moved the crowds melted away in front of her with many bows to let her pass.

She took a keen interest in what was going on, taking copious notes and asking lots of questions. For the final ceremony I got to stand about 3m’s away as she metaphorically cut the ribbon. Then she boarded a trolley car and was gone. All the Thai staff were ecstatic, and relieved that things had gone well.

ROYALTY COUNT: 2 – I saw the King of Cambodia drive past in his car waving.\

OTHER FAMOUS PEOPLE SEEN (LIFETIME): Guy Pearce – in international customs; Nelson Mandela – outside a hotel in Cardiff; Conor Oberst – he signed my concert ticket stub

POOL EMPTY

It’s hot, so hot, so so very hot.

So the pool decides to leak. And to need repairing. For two weeks, 15 hours a day, seven days a week 7 Thai workmen have been trying to fix it. I woke up on Sunday afternoon, it’s stinking hot, instead of a pool full of water I’ve a pool full of workmen. And one of them’s using an angle grinder. There is no God.

Work faster damn it, I don’t care if it’s a public holiday.

BKK BLUES

The Bangkok Blues Festival came to town for 3 days this weekend, and played to a packed house. Sure, the house held about 30 people, but it was packed. I headed along for 2 nights, saw some good bands and had a really good time. It was just brilliant to see some live music again, at last. It’s the key social thing I’m missing from home, and it was good to get a refresh.

BROKEN FINGER, WHAT A CATCH

Playing cricket on Saturday I took my second screamer of the season (still no runs though), and came up with blood coming from the end of my ring finger. As the game was close, and being the hero that I am, I played on till close and the found some ice.

A couple hours later, in the pub, while my finger still continued to gently bleed I decided it was probably time to head off to the hospital. The new, private Bumrungrad Hospital had me with a doctor in 15 mins, and x-rayed in 20mins. The Doc decided it was time to get the pliers out, and after 4 shots of local anaesthetic I was ready.

With my eyes firmly shut, he began to cutaway the nail.

“You can open your eyes to see.” He said

“No, that’s OK, really.”

“You can see, then tell your friends. Look.”

“No thanks buddy, unless you want me to feint.” In one of those quirks, the sight of my own blood makes me feel like passing out. Other people’s is OK.

Last time I had to go to a doctor with a bad hand was in Barcelona, when one of my fingers became infected. The most beautiful woman in the world was working as the triage doctor, who referred me back to another doctor. He came in and said, “You have left it too late.” As visions of meat cleavers flashed through my mind, I hoped it was a language issue. It was.

Now I’m stuck with this big stupid metal thing on my finger for a couple of weeks until better.

PICTURES ADDED, BACK TO ANGKOR ENTRY

I've finally managed to make the computer do what I want, so pictures have been added going back to my trip to Angkor Wat.

EAST TIMOR

Dili’s a city of palm trees and burnt out buildings, or rather building repaired but still looking burnt out. The schools in particular look like they were burnt just yesterday, but through the glassless windows students’ heads are bent over books. Mountains rise vertically up from Dili, and clouds pile apparently from sea level.

Small children abound everywhere, and when they get to secondary school age they seem to gather in groups on street corners or in the river bed to play bare-foot soccer on the tough pebbles. People are everywhere on the street, with limited schooling and 20% unemployment there’s nothing else to be doing, but in no way did it feel sinister as in Cambodia. Rather they were just watching, and were more than happy to engage in a conversation. My colleague and I tried, via mime mostly, to ask which palm leaves were used in the traditional huts. I think the Timorese translated it as “Are these palm-leaf huts made of palm leaves?”, which brought them amusement at least.

On our second day in Timor L’Este we travelled up the main mountain behind the city to Alieu. The mountain completely lived up to its seemingly vertical appearance from the ground by being actually vertical (or nearly) along the edges the road wound around. Looking down we saw green hills, small villages of single-room huts, the massive new presidential palace, Dili covered in a smoke-haze from the wood cooking and waste disposal, the grey waters, nearby islands, and stacks of clouds in many shades of grey.

We visited a number of small villages to ask about their shelter situation, always careful to talk to the chief first (thanks Tim), saw a traditional spirit house, and learnt about the ingenuity that poor people can show to make their lives a little better. The hills around us were so verdant abounded with fertility. Anything could be dropped into the ground and grow, yet there seemed to be little development of anything more than subsistence farming. The Indonesian destruction seems to have had a large hand in that by removing any security in land tenure for now. These people have spent 6 years just trying to get back to where they were before the vindictive bastards destroyed everything as one last fuck you to the Timorese.

In the late afternoon we had a meeting with the national disaster department. We began to explain why we were there, but were met with glazed looks, especially from the ‘UN special advisor’. After a couple of minutes she cut us off “I’m sorry, we’ve just come from a meeting in which we’ve been advised of a pending cyclone. I’ve got to, um…I’ve got to send an email!” We (from a disaster organisation) offered our help, which was studiously ignored. She left with a strong scent of panic trailing her, and the others followed too. Great, a disaster’s coming and those supposed to be dealing with it are in a state of panic.

The rest of our stay was full of meetings and checking out Dili. On our last night we took a drive around the bay to look back at Dili. Clouds seemed to come right down to the ocean, the light coming through was stained blue, bluer than I’ve ever seen. I’ll post some photos which look like they’ve been blue-stained, but that’s how it really was.

I left Dili wanting to come back. It felt like a place so close to coming good, in which a little help applied to the right places could really make a difference.

BALI, BLOODY TERRORISTS

Work’s taking me away to East Timor on an information gathering/report writing task. I’m supposed to investigate the post-emergency housing situation in East Timor – a topic on which I’m obviously an expert, yeh right. Anyway, it’s a trip away and a chance to see East Timor. Due to logistics I had to stop in Indonesia for a night either way – Bali on the way there, Jakarta on the way back.

We arrived in Jakarta first and had to get our visa. I presented my passport to the young looking official with spiked hair and bad facial hair. A Japanese tourist came back, pushed his passport back at the official and said “Why you give me 7 day, I paid for 30 day visa?” in a probably unitentially forceful tone.

The immigration guy flicked through passport, passed many visas. He slammed down the passport on the desk. “Can’t you read that visa Motherfucker!” he yelled. The Japanese guy picked up his passport, a short delay before he realised what he’d been called, and then he glared at the official. The young guy stood up, aggressively left the office ready to fight the Japanese. The other official jumped up, grabbed the young guy and told the Japanese to get going.

The young guy still had my passport on my desk, so I waited, not sure what to do. He came back, finished processing my visa and with hands shaking with anger stuck the visa label in, and I was off so quickly.

Arriving in the early evening my colleagues and I went for a walk around Bali/Denpasar city to get the lie of the land. We talked down the main strip, which is so heavily tourist-ised that it feels like every other tourist place on the planet, complete with the same brand name stores, same brand name knock-offs, and same tourist souveniour crap to buy.

We passed the monument commemorating the bombings where the Sari club used to be. I stopped, was quiet, and then moved on in the rain. I'd spoken to an Australian lady who had been living in Bali for 15 years on a plane the week before. We'd chatted nicely about lots of stuff, work, life in Bali, then touched on how things have changed. "I wish they'd kill all the terrorists" she said with seething vitriol. She'd been in the club when it was bombed. Everything had changed for her, she saw the world differently. I couldn't argue with her, and for her there was no room for mercy. I guess having met her brought the place to me stronger.

My colleague wanted to find a bar, TJ’s, that he’d been to on his last trip so we trudged around trying to locate it. Every few street corners we asked a local, and there were plenty of them sitting around, which way. After a dozen set of instructions, and by now winding through out third back alley, I asked my colleague when he’d been to the bar. “Sixteen years ago”. We eventually found it, and apparently it hadn’t changed a bit.

The waiter told a depressing story of a people still struggling to make ends meet after the bombing in 2002. Tourists hadn’t returned, and what we thought was a quiet night was actually the norm. People were losing their jobs or were having their shifts reduced, but there were no other jobs to move onto. They couldn’t leave, as “this is our home”, and besides no other country would let them move anyway. His wife had just lost her job, and they hoped to be able to keep their kids, aged 7 and 5, in school, but he wasn’t sure they’d be able to.

CLAIRE LEAVING

Claire left tonight. We caught a cab to the airport, got stuck on the highway for a hour getting into the drop off. Queues were outrageous, we spent 2 hours in checking in. Claire had to go quickly though passport control to make the plane. There was no sit, relax, think, talk before it was time to go. Just a big hug, and tears...

…It’s been nearly 2 weeks since she left now. It’s sad coming home to an empty apartment. Funny how the air conditioner now seems to be able to chill off the room, as it couldn’t while she was here. I’m glad of my busy trip away, and generally getting busy at work, to provide distractions. It makes me want to go home. We’ll see. I hope things will settle down again. We’ll see.

TONIC WATER

Bangkok has officially run out of tonic water. I think there’s been a terrorist attack on the processing plant, or something like that. Damn that Bin Laden…

Looks like Gin & Soda from here on in.

PHNOM PENH, POVERTY & DESPERATION

We checked into a hotel recommended by the Lonely Planet and then headed out around the town. The much talked of market turned out to sell nothing but garbage, the heat was oppressive, traffic bad, and moto-taxi drivers worse so we headed back to the hotel. It was then that we noticed that the room was hot, smelly and the bed was revolting. Put off we headed for a drink, it was only 5pm. By 7.30 we decided we couldn’t stay in the hotel that night, and that there wouldn’t be time to go to Sikhanouville as it would have meant 2 days travelling for 1 day on the beach, and we weren’t sure it was going to be a nice beach anyway.

The flights changed easily, and we managed to find a very nice hotel, though it was well outside our budget. We’d decided that we needed a refuge from Phnom Penh.

The town, and indeed all of Cambodia, had a desperate, poor edge to it. As you walk the streets you’re constantly yelled at “you need tuk-tuk”, “you want water” etc, and they don’t just take a ‘no’. They come back with another offer, ask if you’re sure, tell you they’ll come back later. There’s countless young children walking the streets trying to sell junk, all speaking perfect English, telling you they’re too poor to go to school, but buying what they’re selling won’t get them sent to school. After refusing one girl she told Claire “You’re pretty. You look like a doll.” No walk is pleasurable. Everything feels like a scam, and it’s all overpriced.

Hotels and restaurants feel dirty. We went to typical restaurant for lunch, and while waiting for our meal to arrive I spotted a rat eating the bread-offering to Buddha in the little shrine in the corner of the restaurant. Claire said they all had rats and we should just eat, she must have been hungry.

I guess I find it hard to say good things about Cambodia, outside of Angkor Wat. I did learn a lot from the boat ride though in terms of the way people can live, and what they choose to buy to improve their lives (1 – Mosquito Net, 2 – Tin Roof, 3 – TV), and highlighted to me that development planning can’t work, especially if you don’t get out of an office.

The people didn’t come across as nice, rather desperate and exploitive. The cities were OK. Oh, nearly forgot, we got to have nice breads and pastries that Thailand doesn’t have.

I guess it was a learning experience, but not an ‘enjoyable’ trip.

PS The Lonely Planet's advice on Cambodia was total garbage
PPS Phnom Penh never looked as good as it does in the photo above

TUOL SLENG & THE KILLING FIELDS

In Phnom Penh we went to see Tuol Sleng and the killing fields – the torture prison and one of the execution fields of the Khmer Rouge. Apparently 12,000 people went into Tuol Sleng in 4 years, men, women, children, old, young, westerners, less than a dozen of them were able to tell the story.

The secondary school-torture facility-museum tells the story of the program, including relatives stories of those taken, recounts by former guards and stories of their return to life, mugshots of those brought to Tuol Sleng, and many of the torture devices used. The silence of the place is striking, some visitors were in tears. Running the program seems so simple, but also completely at random. It didn’t matter if you were in the Khmer Rouge or not, there was no mandated target. More like the Stalin era killings than the holocaust. Not that it really matters.

The Killing Fields, now just a grassy field with depressions labelled “Mass Grave: 706 people”, though they don’t look big enough to hold the numbers on signs, I guess it all depends on the depth. On sign points to a tree saying “Tree used to kill children”, and my mind remembered a painting at Tuol Sleng of soldiers swinging an infant against a tree.

In amongst the pictures of those executed is one of an Australian victim, he looks about 30, curly brown hair, strong jaw, a confident interrogative look in his eye and a big, polka dotted collar. I can only assume he was a foreign correspondent, he has that look. It’s that picture I connected most with, and can only imagine he thought he’d get out of it alive, without being tortured because he was a westerner, a journalist, an observer, but he didn’t.

TRAVEL TO PHOMN PENH

We decided to take a boat down the Tong Le Sap river rather than the 6 hour bus ride to Phomn Pehn.

The day began at 6am when the brand new Landcruiser stopped at the hostel to pick us up for the trip to the boat, the trip was looking comfortable. The driver took us just around the corner and dropped us off at the first minibus imported into Cambodia, and we boarded with the other tourists for the real, 45min, ride to the boat. The bus travelled, very bumpily, along a pot-holed dirt road in the middle of nowhere to the river. The blood red sun came up over empty, water-logged fields that I assumed must have grown rice as we bounced along.

We passed through a tiny town, no more than a single row of huts, clinging to the roadside and it’s inhabitants to existence. Most of the huts were a single room on stilts made of banana-tree fronds. There were no trees insight so the fronds must have been carried there by the residents. Some houses had corrugated iron for roofs, which would help with the rain but I’m not sure about the lightning in the rainy season. Through a few open doors I was able to glance mosquito nets. They must have eked their existence out of the fields around, but I don’t know how. If the road were paved we would have been through the town in a flash.

Before too long we came upon another town of huts, after a little while all the huts had metal roofs, then they were two deep alongside the road. Further along TV antennas began to stick out of most houses, and large TV’s and DVD players could be seen through the open doors. As we drove along, Cambodians tried to sell us food and water through the windows of the car. Then the small market, and finally the river edge. We left the bus and were mobbed by people wanting to sell us bread, cheese, bananas or water for “only $1”. That’s 1 US Dollar – or about 3 the times the price of the same items in Thailand.

The bus driver directed us to a flat bottomed boat, already loaded with 50 tourists, and no toilet insight. “That’s not what the boat looked like in the photo” by brain reacted, afraid of having to spend 6 hours on the cramped boat. “This one?” I asked. “Go to big boat.” Phew.

We took the small boat 30 mins down a small river towards the Tong Le Sap. Along the edges were villages built out onto the water. The school houses floated, as did the basketball court. School children boated to school in their uniforms all around us, small boats containing 4 or 5 primary-aged children, no adults. Most waved, one cried when his uniform got water splashed on it.

Finally we got to the large speed boat that would take us to Phnom Penh. The bags were loaded onto the main boat by the crew, though I kept a keen eye to ensure they went on. We found seats and settled in. “Hey you give me a tip”, said one of the staff. “What?”. “We loaded your bags, you give us tip”. “But I didn’t ask you to, I’d have done it myself.” He just looked at me, didn’t move. Claire somehow conveyed silently to me to just pay. “Fine, here’s dollar”. “No, 1 bag 1 dollar. 2 bags 2 dollar.” “No way, 1 dollar’s enough.” Again, standing, staring. To get rid of him, and out of fear that my our bags would take a swim I gave him another dollar and the scam artist left.

The ride, 5.5 hours, was smooth and we spent most of our time below deck trying to sleep with the occasional breath of fresh air on the rooftop. The closer we got to Phnom Penh the more developed the view from the river became. It felt like we’d taken a potted tour of Cambodian economic delivery from banana-leaf huts to metropolitan centre.
At Phnom Penh we were mobbed by taxi drivers who wouldn’t take no for an answer, but after grabbing our bags we made a dash for it to a café and managed to shake them.

OTHER ANGKOR TEMPLES

ANGKOR WAT

Claire and I flew to Cambodia today with a plan to see the Angkor temples, get to Phnom Penh and down to Sikhanouville beach in the south.

We arrived in Siem Reap (the town nearest the temples) late into the evening and received our passports checked and visas issued from a cheery immigration official, before they were then inspected at a second counter 5m’s away by a stone-faced immigration official.

We checked into the Shadow of Angkor hotel, run it seemed by a 12 year old straight out of a “The-Devil’s-Possessed-My-Son” movie. On our second day we approached him to ask about the boat trip to Phnom Penh “Please, sit down, sit” he said in a controlling voice. He waved us to a seat and listened to us, his hands joined, pointing up like a temple just under his chin. I was waiting for him to click his fingers and for goons to grab us – it was as if he’d copied his deportment from Brando in the godfather. Anyway…

The temples were spectacular (very original James), and I’m just going to attach photo’s rather than try to describe them. What got me the most was the combination of size and detail – massive complexes of sandstone and on nearly every surface complex carvings.

We visited Angkor Wat twice (and 8 other temples once) over the two days we were there. On our second trip, a Monday afternoon, we got lucky and spent 3 hours with very few people there. There were a few families of Cambodians around – they’d come to pray (Angkor is still an active spiritual site for them), and while the adults played the children mucked around together. There were also a few groups of teenage boys who’d come to the temple to hang out together and watch girls, they had the same attitude as kids hanging out at the shopping mall back home. Their parents probably thought they were so pious. It was great to be amongst them and see that the temples were just a part, and a functional part, of their everyday life.

Claire and I tuk-tuk’d around the temples after hearing horror stories of broken down temples, and on the second day covered about 100kms getting to a few temples (on of which, Banteay Samre was one of my favourites) that a lot of people don’t go to. As we tooled around we took in a few small towns and saw that there was really a lot of nothing out there. If I had my arm around Claire when a car or truck went passed the passengers would stare at us, which is uncomfortable given trucks carry 10-12 workers in the back are common place. When we sat side-by-side we were ignored.

CHANG MAI

Claire & I headed to Chang Mai for three days to take in the sights of Thailand’s second city. Upon arrival I couldn’t shake the feeling that we’d arrived in Ballarat. Albeit a Ballarat full of Wats, Monks and Song Taew’s (truck taxis).

On the first day we took a tour around the Thai craft factory/shops that thrive in Chang Mai. It seems that most of the ‘Thai craft’ products are made in Chang Mai and then shipped around Thailand, explaining the constant reoccurring nature of some crap products. Anyway, the factories had some really beautiful stuff, and we got to see the craftsmen making traditional Thai silver products which was great for Claire, and you should have seen the look of enrapture meant as she got to go tappa-tappa on a ‘try yourself’ silver pot. I never thought that tapping shapes into a bit of silver could make someone look so happy. After a long time tapping the silver, in which time a queue of other tourists built, we moved on.

On the second day, after a really long sleep in, we headed out to see a couple of the Wats (temples). We flagged down a song taew in town, sitting next to the driver was an elderly monk. I said “please take us to Wat Umong” in Thai, to which the driver looked blank. The monk lent across to him and said “Wat Umooung”, the driver got it and we were on our way. The driver gave me his number to pick us up from Wat Umong, which was about 20mins out of time.

Wat Umong’s main feature is a series of underground tunnels that were used by/to hide a former monk who was a favourite of the king in his time but who went a bit troppo. To save the embarrassment of ‘retiring’ him, the locals built the tunnels for him to walk/preach/rant about in.

I called the song taew driver to come pick us up, to which he replied “I’ll be there in 30mins”. Shit. We sat down to wait, when out of the blue a song taew turned up and the same elderly monk hopped out of it. Saying thanks for our guardian monk we hopped in the truck and were on the way to the main temple, Wat Doi Su Tep.

Wat Doi Su Tep is located on top of the hill over looking Chang Mai. After ascending the hill, through beautiful forest, there’s a 306 step climb to the temple itself. It’s all gold, Buddha and wall paintings. Thankfully we managed to time our arrival between tour buses so it was relatively uncrowded. Legend has it that the local king placed a Buddha relic on top of a white elephant, which then set of under it’s own will to find the site of the new temple. It walked to the top of the hill, and then expired after fulfilling it’s duty. I can just see the town’s folk following it, quietly hoping that it would stop, but dutifully following the will of the elephant. Thanks to that white elephant there’s now a long trip up the hill to the temple, but a very peaceful and beautiful atmosphere surrounding it.

GUARDIAN MONKS: 1, or
MONKS STALKING US: 1

CHANG MAI PHOTOS

CHATTACHUK

For Christmas I took Claire home a number of dresses, necklaces and other pretty things from Chattachuk market. As mum put it last week, “I thought you’d shopped out Thailand for Claire”, but I’ve since learnt I haven’t. We’ve been twice, and come home with sore, burdened arms on both occasions. I think it’s good of Claire to do her best for the local merchants.

The market has a ring-road running around it, on which many ‘performers’ busk. They’re usually musical acts, but on this occasion we spotted a couple of young boys who one day may be the stars of a Khatoey act.

THREE STOREY BROTHEL

With one of my good friends in town as well as Claire, I felt it was a good chance to have a look at ‘all-sides’ of Bangkok, so we headed off to one of the sex-tourism areas.

On Soi 5, near Nana BTS station is the ‘Nana Entertainment Complex’. It’s a three storey, courtyard/dead-end street surrounded on all sides by brothels, strip joints, and brothel-bars.

The courtyard, and front of the ground floor is the preserve of bars, in which you could easily meet the women of your night. Fat white men with bum-bags abounded, many with young women paying them attention within minutes. At the table close to where we settled for a drink we saw a man, in an American university t-shirt, playing Connect Four with one of the girls (Connect Four-play), and being rewarded for winning. Back from the front bars and on other floors exist the strip joints, and women with numbers on their bikinis from whom you can place orders.

We stayed for a drink, decided that we’d learnt enough, and left.

AYUTTHAYA AGAIN

Claire and I went up to Ayutthaya (for me, again) so that she could see the ancient capital.

In addition to the ruins I saw last time, we entered Wat Ratchanna that I hadn’t been into before. We climbed the Chedi (central tower thingy), and saw there that it was possible to enter into the central burial chamber. Two storeys down, and underneath a pile of 500 year old bricks with no support, there’s a small chamber with a mosaic in red and black. The kings body was buried here along with treasure and Buddhist artefacts, most of which was looted and the remainder of which are at the nearby museum.

Again we headed to my favourite bar in Thailand, only to find it closed…so we had to go to the bar with LIVE BLUES playing across the road. I love this town! The lead singer, a Thai guy, had the glasses and mullet of the off-sider in Wayne’s World. By the time we got there he was very drunk, having a great time, and dedicating every song to his wife, Frances, who’s birthday it was.

PHATTAYA PICS

Pics to go with the last entry. Damn computers.

PHATTAYA AGAIN

Work took me and Claire to Pattaya the day after her arrival in Thailand. Staying in a $100 a night resort, right on the beach, for nothing was a nice bonus and a great way to start the trip. I think Claire got the best of the deal, as I had to sit in a conference while she sat on the beach. The resort had one of those cool pools on top of a cliff that seem to merge into the ocean. At night we ate in the restaurant and looked out over the gulf of Thailand.

In the evenings we headed to the pool and/or the beach to relax and talk about wonderful nothing. One night we grabbed a couple of drinks from a beach bar and settled into beach-lounges (I know there’s a proper name, but I just can’t nail it now). After the first sip of a G&T the first ‘Fuck you. Get out of my life.’ Shot over our head. Followed quickly by ‘You no good. You do nothing. Go away. Fuck you.’ Surreptitiously we snuck a look over our shoulder to see the Thai manageress of the bar yelling at her old, white falang partner. The tirade went on for 20 minutes before she hit on the epoch of ‘Fuck you, fuck head, fuck off.’

He said something to us in Russian that we ignored and trudged away, only to return 5 minutes later, perhaps realising that only a pair of swimming shorts is not enough property with which to start a new life.

On the last night we decided to take in the local ‘cultural experience’ and went to see a Khatoey (‘ladyboy’) show. The sets and costumes were spectacular, I must admit I couldn’t always tell the difference, and I would have put up with the Thai-Kylie music if only the ladyboy’s had not looked so tired and bored. We made it 10mins before bailing out. On the way home we took an open-truck taxi, which went right through the heart (‘heart’ – probably not an applicable term) of Pattaya’s sex industry which is arrayed around the beach. Fat white old men with young Thai girls abounded, Claire was appalled, and I zoned out.

CLAIRE ARRIVES

Claire flew in today for a four week stay in Thailand. From the moment I picked her up at the airport, she so nervous that I wouldn’t be there on time that she nearly walked into me after leaving customs, things have been great.

By the time I wrote this she’s been here two weeks now and we continue to just potter along in our way together, talking, laughing, silent occasionally. We’ve been to Pattaya, Ayuthaya, she’s seen the sights of Bangkok (entries later), and boy have we shopped. We’re offer to Chang Mai this Wednesday, and then Cambodia for 9 days from Saturday.

I don’t know what more to say about it, other than things have continued as normal, and it’s been great having someone to come home to in the evenings.

DISCOVERING THAILAND

The area I had been living in, Phaya Thai, was a major highway, cement, a few restaurants and a banana-pancake man operating underneath the skytrain statation.

I had noticed a lot of Thai people coming off the skytrain and heading into what looked like a bank at all hours of the day, so being curious I followed them. They were going in the front of the bank carpark, and out the back entrance into a world of street stalls, markets, food, smells, neon colour and thousands of people. I wandered around for ten minutes and didn't see another white person. I felt like I'd gone through the Narnia wardrobe into another world.

Colour moved everywhere, the streets were lined with food stalls, and there wasn’t a single white face to be seen. After 4 months of being here I felt like I’d finally found a little bit of Bangkok that hasn’t been Westernised. (Albeit, 7-11's still found its way in here).

I went back a few days later with friends and had the best meal I’ve had here, all for $2. I’ve been back a few times with different friends and we’ve all had a blast.