tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65509183065461925832024-03-13T23:29:50.865+07:00Adventures of an Introverted TravelerFollow along as I explore the world...
Feel free to email comments and suggestions, I try to respond to everything. rtumin@gmail.comtesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.comBlogger176125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-58201206646245958932019-01-08T23:10:00.003+07:002019-01-08T23:10:24.411+07:00NepalI am not sure how anyone ever describes the sheer beauty that is the country of Nepal. I think that I have waited over a year to write this blog post shows just how complex of a topic the entire country can be, and my lack of ability in the written word will probably not shed any new light upon a country that might be best explained as existing in some sort of limbo. A mixture of old meets new, recent revolution meets a desire to modernize. A countryside that still has girls who are menstruating live in separate quarters (which is a practice that they are trying to do away with, thankfully), and an urban capacity that is complete with coffeehouses and upscale shopping. Nepal is a practice in trying to understand that these two different facets of culture and life can exist together, though they will struggle deeply at times to rationalize the behavior of the other. During our time there, there were constant reminders of the recent civil war, people younger than myself talking about how they were involved, and bullet holes still in the walls of the palace, where many of the monarchy met their end. Nepal still has old villages where children get numbers for names (first son, second daughter, etc.), and many of the history is a combination of lore and legend mixed with small facts to the point where you are not sure what is real and what is a tall tale. Yetis are real. There are hidden places of power. People can speak to their ancestors. There are gurus and sages living deep in the mountain caves. Travelers on the trail can be spirits. Anything is possible in Nepal. The one common that you will see in the city and deep in the countryside, besides the ever-present animals and <i>dal </i>(a dish of beans that is the staple of every meal), is the tagging spray painted in English saying "Buddha was born here". If there is one thing that all of Nepal, the countryside and the cities can agree on, it is that Buddha took his first steps in that country, and they are proud of their heritage in this religion. <br />
We landed in Kathmandu in the very early hours of the morning, or maybe it was late at night, but needless to say the city was pretty much just dirt roads and dogs roaming around. I honestly was having many second thoughts, as we got off the plane and eventually made our way to the hotel. I think it was a mixture of seeing nothing but dirt and dogs that really threw me off. I am not sure what I was expecting, but perhaps I was just tired. After checking in and getting the promise that the hotel manager would turn on a little hot water for us, we slept and then went in search of our trekking permit. The trekking permit is a required piece of paper that allows you into the back-country of Nepal, and while some people are against the idea of paying to enter these areas, I think it is a great idea to help control the flow of people and to manage some very sensitive and dangerous areas. <br />
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I think that it can be a little hard to picture Kathmandu, but this photo, for me at least said quite a bit. Cows, dogs, birds, and people all exist in a fashion that seems chaotic but somehow works. Of course, cows are sacred in the country, and harming one actually comes with jail time, so they just roam and do whatever they please. I found this out much to my surprise a few times on the trip. Nothing wakes you up like turning down an alley and coming face to face with three large bulls, or not being able to enter a rural town until an extremely ill-tempered cow wandered off to bother a different group of people. <br />
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Kathmandu had been devastated by an earthquake that hit only a few years prior, and everyone had lost loved ones. For the most part, the buildings were all learning at angles that seemed to be anything but vertical, and most of them had some sort of support beams put in place. Alleys snaked through, under, and around these buildings, and you could find yourself seeing new and different things in every part of the city. In fact, as we found out later, one of the coolest electronics areas in the city was accessed by going into the small door, near a fountain, under some low hanging debris, around a dark passage way, and then suddenly finding yourself in an area that sold electronics. After we were guided to it the first time, it took us an hour to find it to show our friends the second time. I am still not sure if it was real or some weird dream brought on by dehydration.<br />
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With permits secured and bus passage booked, in a few days we set out for the Annapurna region. We had backpacks, and were all set to walk in one large loop, planning to take about two weeks, and covering about 140km. We were planning on reaching a maximum altitude of about 5,416 meters (about 17,769 feet), with an extreme chance of running into many problems including altitude issues (the percentage of oxygen at that altitude is only about half of what you will experience at sea level, with our altitude bordering between very high and extreme when compared to how much oxygen people need to survive). There were also many risks such as landslides, cold weather, and just anything else that might go wrong when faced with being days of hiking away from medical care. <br />
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The natural beauty of the Annapurna region made it hard to even think about the risks, though I cannot express how understated the brutality of the hike was in some guidebooks. <br />
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The first few days were a brutal adventure of getting used to the terrain, the altitude, and the weight on our backs. We made some great friends, (one of which we just visited in Poland on our last vacation), and honestly I think that having a few extra people traveling in our group really helped us all push each other to reach the destinations. Honestly there were many times where we thought about giving up. Whatever the guidebooks say, the trail is brutal. This small hill here almost broke us. It may not look bad, but after a long day of hiking, just having to ascend that hill made us want to die. At the top though, our friends were waiting, at some long defunct cabin that sold some tea (before the owner wandered off and left to God-knows-where), and we sat and commiserated on our poor life choices. <br />
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I think there is a certain level of camaraderie in shared pain that made us bond during the course of the trip. We had never met these two people before, but in sharing the same experience, we left with a new family. <br />
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There is so much that can be said about the natural beauty of the areas that we hiked through. What started as leech filled jungles slowly became rolling green fields, then to pine trees, glacial slips, and finally to nothing but rock and cold. <br />
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This was our last photo before our push to the pass. We could not have asked for a better day to make the push. </div>
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This photo was taken maybe... 1-2km from the top of the pass. Honestly at this altitude, we would hike for 50 meters and then need a break. It was brutal. I think that I will forever be grateful to my friend here for joining me on this last portion of the hike. We said it many times after, but I think it needs to be said again, we would not have made it without pushing each other. <br />
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The top was everything we had expected. We tied off the flags we brought to the top, including the extra set that was done as a request for another person, and then after taking in the moment for about a half hour, we set off down the other side. Even in the middle of the warm season, it is not hard to imagine how people die at this altitude. We all had a bit of altitude sickness as we descended. I am glad we actually made it over the top and only had that experience on the way down, as the night before we had to help evacuate a person who had altitude sickness at the base camp. We actually ended up meeting back up with him later and helped him to fill in some of the details of what had happened as the night was a bit of a blur for him. He did however buy me a few drinks for helping that night. The funny thing is that before that night, everyone was making fun of me for carrying about a kilogram of medical supplies, but no one laughed after that night. I guess Boy Scouts really did pay off in the long run. <br />
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This photo was almost the last photo I ever took. I know that I am prone to exaggeration, but even a quick google search will lead to just how dangerous the roads in the mountains are in this region. Ill be honest and say that there were times were we looked at each other and our friends in the bus and really realized that we were inches from dying. The roads were all washed out. At best they were mud and dirt. Rock slides happened all the time. Roads were flooded and impassable. For about 6 -7 hours straight the buss was jumping and bouncing so much that we were flying all over the place. I was thrown about a meter in the air and hit my head against the metal of the roof. It was a long day. We were lucky however, as we later found out that one of the people we had met on the trail died after her bus was forced to let people out to cross a landslide and she and another man were hit with rocks and fell to their death in the river. This is a very common occurrence in this region. I would be lying if we did not decide that we were beyond lucky to only escape bloodied. I can honestly say that we were beyond lucky, and I would never do the bus trip again. <br />
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The last photo is a funeral at one of Hinduisms holy sites in Nepal. We watched for over an hour as the man was slowly returned to the river, and his family attended to his last wishes of being cremated at the sacred place. It was a very calm and quiet moment in a country that seems to be far from both inside the large cities. <br />
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Our last few days were also a bit unexpected. We had gone out with two friends on their motorbikes to see the surrounding area and got stranded. We ended up spending the night in an orphanage in the mountains and then slowly making our way back the next day. I think this was the day that we realized that you might make plans in Nepal, but Nepal always fixes those plans for you. The orphanage was great, and we had fun playing with the kids who wanted to take photos with our cameras and phones. We were treated to some dinner (<i>dal) </i>and were able to bed down for the night. Another life lesson from Nepal is this; if you are going to leave your room, always pack toilet paper and soap. You never know when you are going to be stranded overnight in a place that has neither. This leads to either holding it or learning how to go to the bathroom in a more local style that you wanted to experience. <br />
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Our last day was actually a wonderful experience. Danielle had wanted to experience the women's festival, and with out luck holding out strong, we were randomly invited into a party that was happening in a courtyard near the street. For the price of 2 liters of fanta (never go to a party empty-handed) we ate and danced until we had to go home and pack for our return trip.<br />
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Nepal truly is a land of wonder. It is nothing like the movies. There is no Dr. Strange waiting around the next corner. It is a place of vibrant colors, smells, cultures, and people. I think it is one of the few places that I still think about on almost a daily basis. I would travel there again in a heartbeat. I think it is one of the few places where supernatural and daily life meld together into something that works, people can find happiness in tea, and smiles are genuine. It is not without a myriad of problems, but somehow, Nepal just works. testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Nepal28.394857 84.12400821.256384999999998 73.796859500000011 35.533328999999995 94.4511565tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-9010427901240728192018-11-08T21:32:00.000+07:002018-11-08T21:32:00.327+07:00VietnamI think ever since I watched <u>Apocalypse Now</u> and <u>Good Morning Vietnam</u>
I had a desire to see the complexity of Vietnam. In planning the trip
to Vietnam, I had about 2 PBS documentaries, a handful of textbooks on
the war, and maybe 1 guidebook of accumulated knowledge. Honestly, I
was ill prepared for the reality of modern Vietnam. This is not a
country that is war-torn, but still has war tourism, a country of coffee
shops, malls, and museums a short bus ride away from old tunnel systems
that plagued colonial powers for a century. Communism has morphed into
a surreal capitalism that has all the trappings of other modern
countries while still maintaining a Vietnamese twist. Coffee shops on
the street sell traditional foods but everything is served with some of
the best French bread that I have ever tasted - and yes, I have been to
France. Museums about the war are mostly about American and other
world-powers atrocities, and you can still see the old Soviet style
architecture on many buildings, yet half of the old Hanoi Hilton, (the
prison camp before and during the American-Vietnamese war), has actually
been torn down and turned into a hotel. The irony did not escape me in
the slightest. Vietnam seems to still be torn in a sense; North and
South, Capitalism and Communism, Saigon and Ho Chi Minh City. Ask in
conservative Hanoi about the status of the country and you will get a
far different response from the liberal Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. In
both places, however, you will be hard pressed to not find some amazing
food, ATM machines, uber-like taxi apps, and anything else the modern
person needs. <br />
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"I'm still only in Saigon"<br />
<br />
Anything
in modern Saigon is only a Grab Taxi (or if you are smart and brave) a
Grab Bike away. Never, ever take a car in Saigon. If I was dying I
would rather have someone strap me to the back of a motorcycle than try
and take a car in that city. Sidewalks, alleys, one-way streets,
anything is fair game to drive on in Vietnam. As with most countries in
Southeast Asia, I have started to think that the driving rules are more
of suggestions, and if people could drive on the rooftops, they would
probably try. <br />
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I had long ago had my motorcycle
virginity in Asia taken, and we immediately jumped from day one on the
back of some random person's motorcycle from Grab App. I attempted to
film it, while just gripping with my legs while the driver swerved all
over God-knows-where, and did a pretty good job. <br />
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After wandering a bit around Saigon, our first major trip outside the city was to see Mue Ne, famous for sand dunes, cows (??), and more sand dunes. </div>
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My big request was to visit the old tunnel complexes and crawl through them, which we did. Needless to say, it is claustrophobic to crawl through a N.V.A. tunnel for any distance. I was proud that we made it about 50 yards through the tunnel and then popped up the other side. Wow... Never again. </div>
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Mue Ne is a "beach" town that has a lot of fishing and a lot of sand. The claim to fame is the sand comes in lots of different colors, and apparently there are herds of cows that live on the sand dunes. Danielle appropriately named them "Dune Cows" and has been obsessed with them ever since...</div>
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To say it is beautiful is an understatement, a long way out to get there, yes, but beautiful. Thank God we found the cows we were searching for. Pay no mind to the rest of the pretty things, when you travel with Danielle, it really is all about the cows. </div>
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The other advantage to having large amounts of sand is to have the chance to make dune angels along with rolling down said dunes. I think that playing around on sand dunes might have been one of the best sunburns I have ever had, along with the fact that our driver... borrowed? stole? whatever, broke the dune buggy. Then told us we had to get out of there quickly before they figured it out and chased after him. Not the first time traveling I have had someone tell us to get in the car quickly and then have them gun the engine. Probably not the last time either. The entire drive back to town he was keeping an eye behind him, watching for the owner of the dune buggy. I still am not quite sure what happened there. I probably don't ever want to know to be honest. </div>
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Needless to say, after that mishap/adventure/whatever I was not too happy about the driver and his lack of ethics, but he did get us there and back in one piece... which I guess is what I paid him for. </div>
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After Mue Ne we had some more time in Saigon, and met up with a few local couchsurfers who took us around for the evening. As it was Tet (Lunar New Year) Holiday coming up, one of them invited us to her home in the countryside. It was an awesome chance to see a beautiful area, meet her wonderful family, and really have some time outside the city. She is still a very good friend, and it was one of those amazing happenstances that work out so well in traveling. </div>
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The other interesting thing that we got to see while we were in the countryside was the center of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caodaism" target="_blank">Caodaism</a>. Caodaism is a very fascinating religion that really would take many posts to explain in the complexity that it deserves, so please just click the link if you are curious about it. </div>
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I am also not sure if we were just lucky or if it is a normal event, but when we were hiking a mountain that is quite famous in Southern Vietnam, we happened to get invited for lunch at the mountaintop monastery. </div>
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I was also a huge fan of this dog helping the monk with the chanting. I mean, I really think this dog has a future in this...</div>
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We also had the chance to check out the night flower market and just wander around with our friends on the back of their motorcycles. As you can tell, there is never really a point in trying to get around in a car. I just cannot imagine doing it at all. </div>
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After a quick week-and-a-half in the South, we decided to catch a plane to the North. Our original idea was to take the train, but as we were only going to be in the country for about three weeks, we decided that it would be best to fly. After watching a man get hauled off the plane for fighting with someone in the seat behind us (punches and throwing baggage), we finally made it to the north. </div>
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The North is quite a different feel and atmosphere than the South. Honestly I felt like it was closer to being back in China than actually being in Southern Vietnam. Not that it is a good or a bad thing, but the feel of the place is very different than the south. We did the usual Hanoi things - ate our way through town, visited where John McCain and the others were held prisoner - now half torn down to make a hotel of all things - and eventually made our way out to Cat Ba island for what we thought would be a relaxing last few days. </div>
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Hanoi is a beautiful city, with a real mixture of old and new. We did the obligatory viewing of Ho Chi Minh's body, toured the Hanoi Hilton, saw McCain's flight suit on display, and then made our way to the bus and boat to Cat Ba. </div>
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Cat Ba was where we decided to really learn to drive motorcycles. We hit it off with a few other foreigners and then decided to bike around the island. The first two days on Cat Ba were gorgous. We sped around on motorcycles, took in the beauty, and just relaxed. The last full day was full of wanting to die, but I will get to that later. <br />
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Cat Ba had many tunnels during the war, and we found and explored one of them while we were biking. Most of them are open to the public for a small fee, and it was a very cool exploration. </div>
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The last photo, of the cows almost was the last photo of my life. I thought the cows were cute, so I stopped the motorcycle and took a photo. What I did not notice was that across the street in the bushes was a very territorial bull. He charged, and I gunned it just as I felt the snot from his nose hit my arm. I have no idea how I got out of there without getting gored or trampled, but he certainly was not a fan of me. Cute cows though.</div>
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The last full day on Cat Ba was a day of throwing up uncontrollably and wishing we were dead due to food poisoning. I think we were vomiting for upwards of 12 hours straight. I have never felt that bad in my life, and if someone had offered to kill us both, I would have thanked them. I have no idea how I managed to walk the mile round-trip to go buy us both water with electrolytes, but that was more willpower than I have ever used running half-marathons. </div>
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I guess, looking back, Vietnam is a wonderful country, but NEVER eat at the "Green Mango" on Cat Ba island. NEVER. </div>
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testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-43118985120780977132018-11-05T17:25:00.000+07:002018-11-05T17:25:33.616+07:00So Many Unposted AdventuresFirst off, I am sorry, but I have no idea if "unposted" is even a word. If the red underlines that just appeared are any indication, then I am going to guess that I am correct in thinking that it is not a word at all. Oh well, perhaps I just added a new word to the English language. Good for me.<br />
Anyways, it has really been two years since I posted anything of substance, and yes, you can probably read a lot into that. Call it what you will, but I am going to do my best to get back into writing. I have been told by a few people that I ought to keep writing so I can have better stories to tell when I am senile, so perhaps I should just put them down on here. A list of tall-tales if you will.<br />
The last two years have been crazy as far as adventures go. Hiking in the Himalayas, motorcycling in Vietnam, Morocco, dozens of countries all over Europe, and the continual adventure of living in China. <br />
My goal is to slowly catch up during the next few months and try to redevelop my love of writing. I think that it all became too much to try and write things down. I still saved photos, but I found myself dreading having to sit and write. I guess I reverted back to middle school when writing was more of a chore than something I enjoyed. No offense to any teacher reading this, but I am sure you understand as well.<br />
That being said it does feel quite good to hear the sound of the keyboard and see something appear on screen again - even though it is mostly just verbal diarrhea.<br />
I am going to try and go through and do all the adventures that we have had recently in some form of chronological order. <br />
1. Vietnam<br />
2. Nepal<br />
3. Korea<br />
4. Netherlands<br />
5. Spain<br />
6. France<br />
7. Andorra<br />
8. Morocco<br />
9. Portugal<br />
10. Qatar<br />
11. Germany<br />
12. Luxemborg<br />
13. Poland<br />
14. Estonia<br />
15. Latvia<br />
16. Finland<br />
17. Sweden<br />
18. More on France<br />
Seems like I have quite a lot of work to catch up on - which is perhaps why I stopped in the first place. Who knows, maybe this time it will stick?testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-26111190841466210272017-10-16T22:44:00.001+07:002017-10-16T22:44:58.490+07:00It Has Been Too LongI kinda was feeling like I was at the point of no return on this blog. <br />
<br />
I love writing. I am not going to lie to myself and say that I am anywhere decent at it, but I do enjoy it. I am also not going to lie and pretend like it is read by many, however, it is therapeutic. <br />
<br />
I think it has been about a year since I last posted anything. In that time I have been continuing to live in China, visited Vietnam, hiked in Nepal, had a quick stop-over in Korea, and visited my family in California. <br />
<br />
Part of me wonders if I am so far behind now that there is almost no point in trying to catch up? That being said... maybe I can try... testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-50248128273537900142016-09-25T22:00:00.001+07:002016-09-25T22:00:28.525+07:00Hiking Xiang Lu Feng<span style="font-size: large;">I am not 100% sure how many stairs it was to the top of Xiang Lu Feng, and a quick search online did not bring me any closer to that knowledge. Let's just assume it was a lot, like around 1100 to 1200 a lot. That being said it was a great trip up, I absolutely loved the views that the temple at the top provided, and the journey back down was made even better by having people almost walk off of the trail because they saw a random foreigner near them. This is a power I have here. I literally make people stop whatever they are doing just to look at me. I am going to assume it is only because I am so handsome.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The start of the hike lulls you into a sense of ease. You know there is a temple way up at the top, and you know you have to make it there, but it is a covered forest area, there are nice steps, some birds, a few people playing music, etc. Not too bad yet. Nothing to freak out about.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Then you start to go above the treeline and things get brutal. Sun. Heights. Walking. More damn stairs. A dog passes you. It reminds you that you are out of shape. Seriously, it just runs up the path that you want to die on. I am pretty sure that dog looked at each person on the way up, wondering just how much salt it could lick off of our bodies before they got rolled off the trail. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sure, I am being a bit sarcastic, but I was told it would be a quick hike, a short trip. </span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was well worth the trip up, but by no means was it quick or super easy.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The hike up was a bit tough, but the views and rest stops along the way were amazing. The view from the top gave an almost uninterruped 360 degree view around Shaoxing area. I am not sure if there is a taller peak in the area, and it seemed like quite a few people hike the mountain just for the exercise and not for a religious test. The top does have a nice monestary with a lot of monks and visitors praying and chanting, but for the most part it seemed like a journey people were taking just... well... to have a climb on the weekend. There were a lot of kids heading up and down, some middle age and older people carrying up offerings. A few porters were taking up construction material, and even a few random dogs putting all of us humans to shame.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If you end up in Shaoxing, I would certainly add this to a must-do list. It is well worth the half of a day that it takes, just remember to take water, bring 15rmb for the ticket, and take a lot of photos. There is at least one place on the way up to buy more water, but God-only-knows what they are charging. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Honestly, I thought have living 6 floors up with no elevator and doing Wat Thom Suea twice I was the sort of person who could look at the equivalent of 100 flights of stairs and laugh. I am going to drink more water and go back to sleep. Pretty sure the stairs are the ones laughing tonight. You win this round Xiang Lu Feng.</span>testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-42028886893290329382016-09-25T21:27:00.001+07:002016-09-25T21:27:31.336+07:00Wandering around Shaoxing on a Saturday<span style="font-size: large;">Shaoxing, China has a very tranquel and subtle beauty to it that really allows a person to get sucked into the atmosphere of the city and the surrounding area. It really amazes me how I can be in an underground Wal Mart one minute, and watching a boat follow the current of a canal 100 meters away the next. There is something amazing about how China has kept the feel of the old and mixed it in with the new. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I wanted to write a lot about that feeling in this post, but I figure that the pictures can do the talking for me. What I feel like digressing into is the fact that China is and has been nothing like what the news and other "sources" told us it would be like. We have found some incredibly caring and friendly people, who both love their country and culture, but are very curious about talking to someone else about theirs. People who have talked to us about our culture have been overly sensitive so that they do not offend, and even gone as far as asking if certain topics were ok to discuss. I find it quite fascinating that China as a whole is judged based on a few bad apples (such as tourists in other countries or possibly urbanites). I think that we in the west, with our fear of China and communism have really lent to this negativity rather than trying to see China as a nation of many, and I mean many, individuals. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I do have some gripes - the wifi speed could really use an overhaul, and blocking of sites can be a hassle, but hey, not my country and not my rules. I just think it is quite sad that we judge all of china based on our 1950's McCarthy era fears of a Red Menace. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The only thing that I am slowly getting a bit tired of is being stared at everywhere in public. Literally, today I watched two people walk into eachother because they were staring at me. Like... Really? I know I look funny, but do you need to take a selfie with me? Am I that amazing? Doubtful. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So, back to Shaoxing, I freakin' love it. I mean, look at the photos, what is not to love? It is an amazing mixture of 1,000 year old buildings with modern highways.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, here I type, trying to figure out if the photos can even be seen on the 90's era laptop with a terrible graphics card that make them all look like something out of a Van Gogh painting. I will try to be a bit better about posting, however as I am working on a laptop that seems to have the processing speed of an Apple IIe, forgive my spelling mistakes and my formatting issues, as spell check is not a thing... at all. Perhaps one day in the future I can try and fix said issues, but more likely I will just leave them as a stain on the otherwise perfect (hahaha) blog, and keep moving foward. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Speaking of that issue. Just to give you an idea of how hard it is to now add photos onto the blog posts. Here is the process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Take said photo with my iPhone which is not connected to the Chinese mobile network.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. Wait until I get wifi (usually close to dial-up speed) and send said photo to my email account.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. Download the photo to my Chromebook which has the fastest connection rate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. Transfer that photo to a jump drive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">5. After it is transferred to a jump drive, load it onto my 90's era dinosaur computer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">6. Upload it to the blog using a mixture of workarounds and other such grey-area techie things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">7. Never be quite certain the photos are even visible as I cannot actually see my blog in this country.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">8. Realize that when China and Google get along better, I will be much happier. Much much happier.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">9. Sadly wish that I had chosen a different blogging platform to run off of than Google Blogger. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">10. Consider starting a new blog on a site that China is ok with so I do not need a work-around. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">11. Give up and go back to step 1.</span> testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-49789286778348857432016-09-24T11:15:00.002+07:002016-09-24T11:15:37.078+07:00Tourism and Shaoxing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">During the last weekend we were able to shoot some photos around the downtown historical area of Shaoxing. I have also been trying very hard to figure out how to upload photos to the blog so that I can add something more than my writing and culture shock to these posts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">While I do not have the system down perfectly yet, the following photos are from around the historical downtown area of Shaoxing, with most of them being taken at a place where most of the ancient caligraphy was done, and the second portion being taken in an older garden in a home. I also tried to take a few around the streets. What amazes me about Shaoxing is not the greenery, which is quite beautiful, but the intricate nature of all the canals that cross the city. All of these canals have small boats that are being paddled by a lone figure in the back using his foot to paddle and oar while steering with same oar or with a small rudder by hand.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I can see why people are so quick to fall in love with this city. While we are still far from being settled, as my Chinese is bordeline pathetic, the city is full of charm and really does beg to be explored. I will try and write more in the next post now that I might have found a more reliable method of uploading and editing.</span> </div>
<br />testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0中国浙江省绍兴市29.995762 120.5861089999999628.231339 118.00432199999996 31.760185 123.16789599999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-59901521736081330052016-09-14T22:23:00.001+07:002016-09-14T22:23:27.624+07:00A Few Notable Changes<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72132"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While there are a lot of different things that could stand out as defining the culture shock of the moving to China experience, I have tried to narrow it down to a few.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72132"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">1. Public toilets...</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72132" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I live in a 6th floor walk up. I always walk up to use the bathroom when it requires any extra amount of time... or sitting. There is something about squatting (and yes, I mean squatting) over a public toilet that makes me really want to wait.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72132" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have gotten into the habit of always carrying some form of toilet paper with me, just to be prepared. Always, and I mean always carry a small amount of soap and toilet paper with you in any public restroom in Southeast Asia. Period. Just do it.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72132" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">2. Eating in public...</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72132" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I no longer want to put my arms on the tables. At any noodle house that I have been to, the custom is to take the things out of the bowl that you have either eaten and want to discard (think of the heads of shrimp or shells on different mollusks). While they do come by and wipe off tables... just... you know.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72132" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">3. Smoking...</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72132" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Perhaps I forgot what it was like to be in the US when smoking was still always allowed in public spaces and restaurants, but wow is it all coming back to me now. It is not uncommon to eat lunch in a noodle shop, see a man finish his meal, take off his shirt and light up a cigarette. Just go ahead and make yourself comfortable why-don't-ya?</span></div><div class="signature" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72172"><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">4. Noise...</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Yelling, honking, music, flashing lights... everything. While most everyone can and will be respectful, it is just different. You just have to remember, it is different and that is just the way it is done. For example, see my earlier blog post about the funeral near our house. The family rented loud speakers and played funeral music for about 3-4 days straight. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There are always fireworks going off somewhere in the area. I think I hear the pops from fireworks about... three to four times a day. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">5. Respect</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have been working at the school now for a little over a week. So far we have had teacher's day and the mid-Autumn festival. While we did work on teacher's day, the local government did give us a bonus of about 200rmb (30USD) and we also got a gift from the school of a few trays of moon cakes. The school really does seem to respect this profession far more than most people respected teachers in the US. <br></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Yes, you might say that people say they respect teachers in the US, but when push comes to shove, good luck getting them to sign a petition or come to a parent night. Here in Asia you have to find ways to politely turn down gifts because of how much more they respect you.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The 30USD also made me laugh because a few years ago, our teacher appreciation gift from our union was an empty bank bag with Hawaii State Teacher Association printed on it. At least here in China they gave me something to put inside the bag. (I still have that bag to remind me just how much HSTA cares...).</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">6. Food</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Buying food might seem like an easy thing, but when you walk into a lot of resteraunts here in China, they might have a live animal staring at you to pick from. Now, this is not just the usual lobster in a tank or a few fish, but snakes, turtles... yeah... anything. You literally play the hand-of-God and select your meal. Needless to say, after trying some cobra-whisky in Cambodia, I am pretty much turned off of snakes for a long time.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Side note - if someone offers you Cobra whisky, always say no. You are not Archer... You cannot ever be Archer. Deal with it like an adult. Just say no.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">7. Door Handles</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So many of the handles over in our area or just the... key. You literally just put the key in the door and turn. The key then locks into place so you can open the door with the key. Honestly, it still confuses me. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">8. The deadly silent mopeds</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The mopeds in our city are all electric. They run perfectly silent. They drive anywhere they want. The last thing I hear before one kills me will be the little beep they make. I am sure that will be the way I die.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">9. Crosswalks</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Crosswalks are basically pedestrian zones, but ones that are more of a target area than anything else. You walk/dodge across them, but the cars still continue to make turns. You as a pedestrian do not ever have a right-of-way here. Cars can and will come from any angle and run you over. I actually think it might be safer to cross the road outside of a crosswalk zone than inside of one. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">10. No internet for almost anything, and the android market place is full of fake apps. Have a Chinese friend download apps for you. Literally everything on the android market place is completely fake. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_72192" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">11. There is always a better deal. Case and point of this would be when we got our cell phones. The plan was 80rmb a month. We did not like that, so they dropped it to 50. You know, because why not? Then we went back and needed to get some cheap phones that connected to the "4g" network. (Notice I used quotation marks). They took another 30rmb a month off of the plan then too. We are now down to paying 20rmb a month for our phone plan. Combined we now pay 6 USD a month for two cell phones, and 4gb of data. Yes, you read that right... 6. I can keep our two phones on for about a year for the cost of one month of service for one phone in the US. Really makes you think...</span></div><div><br></div></div>testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-3017310801993410322016-09-14T21:39:00.001+07:002016-09-14T21:39:42.720+07:00The Medical Exam<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_57717"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_57716" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is almost nothing that I hate more than getting a shot or having my blood drawn. Now, it is nothing about the blood, which does not bother me at all, but having to have a needle in me... There are a lot of words that i would like to use to describe how much I hate having a needle in me, but none of them would be anywhere near correct for something so noble and fine as this blog. I also really do not think that I have any capacity in written English to explain the depth of my hatred. </span></div><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_57717"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_64302" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Needless to say, when I almost passed out in the heat of the Salaya, Thailand hospital, I was hoping it would be the last blood draining I would need for some LONG amount of time. Sadly, I had yet another distinct pleasure of meeting with those vampires that work in hospitals, and getting to have a new experience in China. </span></div><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_57717"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_64304" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Advice for this process in China - take a native speaker with you, and ask them to stand in various lines while you go do other parts of the process. Place holding is a normal thing, and it saves a lot of time. Though we did have to wait about an hour and a half to start the whole process, we managed to get an electro-cardio-gram, blood test, chest x-ray, vision test, ultrasound, and have our height and weight checked in about 45 minutes. Honestly, for the price, it is not bad at all. The key is having someone to wait in the next line for you. Yes, in the US people would get punched for pulling a stunt like that, but here, totally acceptable.</span></div><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_57717"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_64307" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So, we took advantage of it, and managed to clear the whole process in a short time. </span></div><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_57717"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_64300" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While I hope that I can go a long time without having to visit somewhere that decides that my blood is more interesting outside of my body versus inside, I hope that when it has to happen again that it will be with the same efficiency as here in China. </span></div><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_57717"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also, all those tests cost us 72usd. Suck it US healthcare system. </span></div><div></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_64486"><br></div>testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-68031874831289524892016-09-14T21:17:00.001+07:002016-09-14T21:17:47.747+07:00The Transition<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_41876" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The transition from the Kingdom of Thailand to the People's Republic of China has been less smooth than I had hoped for, but overall another great learning experience. While I would love to say that it was made without bruises and tears, at times I think that I have personally felt the strain of starting a new life, in a new place, with a different language and many different customs. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_36744" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I must admit and say that we have met some amazingly nice people and have had the best experience with meeting fellow expats and nationals who have done their utmost to help us move in without any headache. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_36746" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We were picked up from the airport after going through security and immigration during the height of the preparation for the G20. I had anticipated that this would take us hours. We cleared everything in under 30 minutes. I was blown away. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_36748" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Also, after living in Thailand for a year, I was also shocked by the lack of traffic. We drove for about an hour and made it to our new place. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Which is a 6th floor walk-up. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_48651" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Guess we are both going to be skinnier whether we like it or not. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_36977" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Based on just the different buildings that I have had the chance to visit during my short two weeks here, I am starting to think that elevators might not be a thing in this part of the country. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_37856" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sadly, just looks like that is part of the transition. I am proud to say though, that we are both able to climb the stairs with no problems, so I guess our health is not as bad as we thought.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_36750" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The transition period was rough. We moved in the night before a funeral was happening near our neighborhood, so we got Chinese funeral music day-and-night for about three to four days straight. It was clashing of symbols, instrumental, fireworks, etc. It sounded like a bad movie on repeat. Needless to say that whenever the CD or whatever needed to be switched over we gave a silent prayer that it was finally over. It was not. They only took a break from about <a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0">11:30pm</a> until about <a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://1" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1">5:00am</a>. Couple this with the fact that we were sleeping on a futon on the floor of the living room because the air conditioner was not working in the bedroom, and we were a bit... exasperated. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_37862" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We were able to find some great quality local food and took the time to get to know the school area. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_37864" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The air conditioner has since been fixed and life is starting to return to the normal routine of prep for lessons, teach, go for a run, eat some dinner, sleep, etc. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_41878" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Most of the minor repairs in the apartment have been made, and we have had the chance to make a few friends here and there from both the local and expat community.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_39407" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sadly, since facebook and google do not work, it might be a long time before I have the chance to upload photos to the blog... since it is hosted as a google domain. Oh well though, I guess that this is the price of traveling to certain parts of the world. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_41880" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Overall, the transition was quite difficult at first, but we have been quite lucky to have a few people who have gone above and beyond to help us transition easier.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Now, for the list of frustrations:</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">1. The internet here is abysmal. Sometimes it is almost comedic, but when the phone says you are covered by "4g" but you have trouble sending a text message, you start to wonder if perhaps 4g means something quite different.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">2. Wifi is spotty at best. While it is nice that there are a lot of free networks scattered around, it is hard to use most of them because they can be very spotty. God help you if you want to upload a photo or stream a movie. Ain't gonna happen. Now, I know that people will read that and say that these are things that you just don't worry about. You know, go outside and enjoy stuff. Well, when you transition from being a tourist to actually living in a place, these are things you care about. Sorry, I have never met an expat that does not count wifi as a vital part of daily life. Communication is key.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">3. Getting things repaired. The school has been very helpful in the process of getting our apartment fixed up, and all the odds and ends working, but I cannot tell you how many times the man has been up to repair our sink, and god help them if my internet ever decides it wants to work steadily instead of this intermittent fiasco that creates more headaches than it solves. </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">While it may seem like I am complaining about the transition a lot, overall it has been quite a good move and a good experience. We are currently waiting on our boxes from Thailand so that we can add the things that will turn this from a temporary dorm room into somewhat more of a home. God only knows how many boxes I will have to carry up these six flights of stairs...</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Well... 103 stairs... and 103 Stairs down...</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Times that by 8 boxes... </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">206 stairs by 8 boxes... </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">1,648 stairs... </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1473643565453_32344" dir="ltr"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Yeesh, I am not looking forward to that. </span></div>testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-32238663128196500742016-09-03T15:55:00.001+07:002016-09-11T18:28:26.236+07:00The MoveThe level of emotion upon reaching a new home location is directly related to just how little you have slept and just how little the place is what you expected.<div>Sometimes I have to remind myself that I wanted this level of difficulty and this level of hardship. As we lay on the floor of the new apartment, here long before our boxes and other trinkets that make a house into a home, I can honestly say that I long for the simplicity and peace that comes with being stationary. There is a calm in the sedentary life.</div><div>There are half unpacked suitcases waiting and new frustrations that will arise. Cell phones that don't work, wifi that should exist but doesn't, and air a walk up apartment that threatens to make me skinny. I have to remind myself that I wanted to experience, and this is part of it. You cannot wade into the shallow end of the pool of life experience. It is a near-death experience in the deep end or you have to face the fact that you did not try at all. </div><div>Guess it is just time to try and keep my head above water...?</div>testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-5472681768375860922016-08-31T13:42:00.000+07:002016-09-11T18:28:01.383+07:00Tips for moving internationallyYou have decided to become an expat, congratulations. Welcome to a world of not understanding other people, haggling for basic items, and treating life like an adventure.<br>
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It is fun, anxiety inducing, and really forces you to stay on your toes. A week after I moved to Thailand, I was thrilled to death because I had figured out how to ask for ten baht coins and do laundry all on my own - something I had been doing for 15 years at that point. </div>
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You really do learn to celebrate the little things. </div>
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Here is a list of things I wish I had known before I moved to a new country. Some of these might be more "Asia Specific" but I am sure you can take it as a jumping off point...</div>
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1. Bring an original and photo-copy of literally every single document you have. Bank statements, doctors notes, everything. </div>
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I have been asked for the following over the course of the year.</div>
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A. Diploma</div>
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B. Marriage certificate</div>
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C. Bank statement</div>
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D. Health check (each country has things they want to know)</div>
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E. Passport copies</div>
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F. Criminal background check</div>
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G. Resume</div>
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H. Transcript</div>
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Etc. literally everything you have that proves you are... you... should be brought. You think it is hard to get a copy of your diploma a few cities away? Try 10 time zones. </div>
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2. Get every single item notarized, preferably at the consulate or location of origin. Just do it. Don't ask why. </div>
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3. Buy area specific products. Some things like deodorant are very area specific. I sweat, especially in the tropics. The bullshit spray on deodorant does next to nothing. My armpits and the noses of others survive on people taking pity on me and mailing me deodorant. Bring a damn Costco case with you. The same goes with underwear. Just trust me, bring underwear. Lots of it. </div>
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3a. Tampons - my wife said tampons. Adding that. Just trust her on it.</div>
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4. Medicine. Certain meds can be quite difficult to get your hands on, while others are cheap. Get on an expat forum and find out which category yours falls into. </div>
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5. Pack very light. You can buy all that bullshit when you get to your new location. </div>
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6. Depending on your location, consider a suitcase with wheels. Not all infrastructure is created equally. Honestly for travel I like a frame pack because the sidewalks can be quite shitty but that does cause you to appear to be in the 20-something age category.</div>
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7. Cosmetics - Asia is obsessed with skin whiteners. Literally everything will whiten your skin. Bring your own sunscreen as well unless you want to whiten your skin with local brands.</div>
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8. Asia has Asian sized clothes. If you are bigger or taller, bring your own stuff. You won't find your size here.</div>
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9. Leave your ideas of women's liberation, child labor, PETA etc at home. It is different here and you will only insult the people you are "trying to save." </div>
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10. Do not ever get involved or say anything political. You do not have freedom of speech. You opinion does not</div>
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matter and is not needed. No one cares how you do it at home. Leave it there. Don't say stupid political things when you are drunk - learn to take your opinions on matters and bury them down in a place you do tell anyone about. </div>
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Number 10 is a big issues. I have so many people who say that they "get it" when I tell them about how they need to respect certain political and social structures in their speech and writing and them break it five minutes later. It just comes down to not being an idiot and thinking before you speak. If you cannot do either, you really don't belong abroad. Stay home, please. </div>
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These are just a few, but they should make the move easier. Good luck and have fun exploring! </div>
testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-70730978414607625232016-08-11T10:31:00.000+07:002016-08-11T10:31:16.679+07:00Hong Kong Visa RunDue to an internal issue at the school I was working at, I was forced to make a VISA run. For those of you not in the loop as to what this "VISA run" means, the idea is quite simple. First, you have to leave a country, usually for at least a day, and then you come back into said country under a different VISA. I had the opportunity to visit a few friends from college who live in Hong Kong. Up to this point, my understanding of Hong Kong was based on some fictionalized history novels and a few bad action movies, so I was quite new to the whole experience. To say the least, I was quite blown away by the beauty that is Hong Kong.<br />
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Hong Kong must be what photographers dream about when they go off to sleep. When they pray to the Gods of photography (St. Daguerre or what-have-you), they must hope to be reborn in Hong Kong. With the mixture of mountains, the chaos of the streets, the cold blue water, and the skyscrapers all thrown together into the same frame, it is hard to resist snapping a million photos. I tried my best to just stick to a few that I thought turned out well and told the story of my trip. Sadly, I am by no means a good photographer, but if you are looking for someone who actually can take photos and lives in Hong Kong - <a href="https://500px.com/kaeo" target="_blank">check out his work</a>.</div>
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The bus drivers in Hong Kong take the corners so fast that they have their own bar to hold on to. This was right after he almost hit a lady walking across the street. Homie ain't messing around!</div>
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testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Hong Kong22.396428 114.1094970000000321.9265115 113.46405000000003 22.8663445 114.75494400000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-69739072144565752712016-08-06T22:31:00.000+07:002016-08-06T22:33:08.489+07:00The Royal Sword of Cambodia and Eternal BeingsThis story will be a cumulative effort between Richard Tumin and Melissa Murphy in remembering a series of conversations that took place in and around Siem Reap from the 17th to the 21st of July, 2016. <br />
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It is important to note though, before I start writing, that while these stories might seem far-fetched to those in the Western World, that there are many parallels between what I will write and stories in the Judeo-Christian tradition. I am in no way writing these stories to cause discomfort or make fun of anyone, I just feel like they are worth preserving. Before you judge them, take a long and hard look at stories in your own religious tradition and see that there are <i>many </i>similarities. <br />
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Without further warnings and tangents, here is the story as best as we can both remember.<br />
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In the immediate vicinity to Angkor Thom is a pool that is about 20 meters by 20 meters. The pool is covered with lotus, and despite having an outward look of being the typical half bog, half rainwater collection pond, it holds a mystical secret.<br />
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You might know you are in the right area when you both see the pool fitting these dimensions, are in Angkor Thom park, and notice that you suddenly have absolutely no cell phone reception.<br />
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Our story starts with the idea of Eternal Beings. To quickly define these beings is to state that they might living to be 200-1000 years of age, and if they do "die" they rise again a few days later looking different and moving on to other places. Much like the idea of immortality, they are beings who have achieved this status by their good works and deeds. <br />
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To cite a few more numbers, there are precisely seven of these beings in Cambodia. They range in age, but our source was quick to say that his grandparents were two of them, and had reached quite an old age to say the least. Our sources grandparents had been around since the beginning, seen the rise and fall of dynasties, watched colonizers and wars come and go, and managed to just evolve with the times. <br />
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Cambodia and most of Southeast Asia is an interesting mix of mysticism and old religions. The ideas of spirits, vengeful hexing, eternal beings, and other such notions is not something on the fringe of society like it might be in the United States, but something that is very real and very easily explained. Our source is someone who is highly intelligent, and lives in a society with a very complex social structure, that has thousands of years of mystic tradition. <br />
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Ask a person in Thailand if they want to go to Cambodia or Laos, and they will immediately question your sanity - there are ghosts up there. It is not speculation, it is fact. <br />
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Ask a Cambodian and they will agree, the land is <i>alive</i> with spirits. <br />
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Our source, with grandparents older than modern civilization proceeded to tell us about the Royal Sword of Cambodia, is hidden very neatly in Angkor Thom; a complex with hidden catacombs of precious metals (which was confirmed by <i>many</i> sources that we talked to).<br />
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Our story should not start with the making of the sword, nor why it was hidden under the water in that 400 square meter pool, but with the colonization by the French, the subsequent atrocities caused by the United States Army, the following era of death brought about by the international community and the Khmer Rouge, becoming a Viet Nam puppet state, and finally to the modern era.<br />
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In our story the French are the first aggressors, they were the first modern tourists to Angkor Wat and Thom, and like all colonial tourism, they decided that anything that was worth stealing needed to be ferreted back to France. Gold bullion, precious gems, and other such bounties of conquest left Angkor Wat and Thom, and slowly the glory of the area faded but the worldwide knowledge grew.<br />
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Our source starts his story just have this time period. The complex was looted, the world was aligning against any form of communism - real or imagined. <br />
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The United States had started its very own secret war inside Cambodia, working to cut off the supply lines to Viet Nam. Sadly, cutting off these supply lines meant dropping more bombs on rural Cambodia than the United States had used in all of the Second World War. Many people died, many were maimed, almost nothing was achieved besides driving Cambodia deeply into communist hands and causing every person who lived to fear the bombing sorties done by three B-52s flying in a triangle formation. <br />
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It might be fair to say that this is the start of the Cambodian Genocide. This was their tipping point. Without the unfathomable and quasi-secret destruction the us wrought upon Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge would have never rose to power. Of course that is a story for another time though.<br />
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The Royal Sword of Cambodia though has the power to destroy weapons and save the people who truly believe and pray to it for protection. Our source said that as a child, and later a child soldier that he was immune to bullets and bombs (and many times showed various amounts of skin to prove said fact) because of the power of the Sword. <br />
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The way the Royal Sword works is that it has a soul or a spirit per-say, and that is what protects the person. The idea of the Sword is what protects you. The speed in which the protection can reach you is unfathomably fast, and should the Sword know you are worthy, then it will grant protection to you. Much like other forms of insurance, we were told that we could be grandfathered into the protection because our source was also protected. <br />
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He said that he spent many nights running from exploding American bombs, mostly likely through minefields, and later spent many days and nights ferrying grenades to either his father who was paramilitary, or to his mother who was on a different side of the conflict. Needless to say, either parent was never happy that the child was working for the other person on the other side. Like any child soldier - he had no choice and was just a tool in a much larger and greater war. <br />
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The sword continued to protect him throughout the massive genocide that swept the nation, the moving of the Khmer Rouge power structure to the border area near his home, mine fields, the massive death toll from later disease and famine, and pretty much every other atrocity that humans can sling at one-another. Still the sword and his grandparents, two of said Eternal Beings, lived on. <br />
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The sword has not been seen since the time of the french occupation, but can still be felt and be used for protection through the spirit that resides inside of it to this day. <br />
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He says that it rests under the dirt at the bottom of the 20 meter by 20 meter pool, where weapons cannot harm a person and cell phones do not work. <br />
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After he was done with the story, I asked him if he was going to become an Eternal being, or if he was one already. He answered that he honestly did not know - that he lived his life trying to be as good as possible, to make up for any pain he had caused, etc. While his parents died during the disease time in and around the reign of the Khmer Rouge, his grandparents still continue to travel around Cambodia, sleeping at various temples, being hosted by monks, and being keenly aware that they are much, much older than any of the other people around them - save only the five other eternal beings. testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-40093445911451238412016-07-30T09:42:00.000+07:002016-07-30T09:42:58.532+07:00Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Siem Reap, and the Surrounding Area<span style="font-size: large;">Cambodia is a very difficult place to write about for quite a few reasons, not the least of which is the underlying scar that is the very recent genocide. Everyone, and I mean literally every-single-person was impacted by the genocide that killed between 1/4 and 1/3 of the <i>entire</i> population of the country. Everyone you meet in Cambodia has a story, a family member that was killed, a parent lost to the era. There is a figurative shadow still on the land, just below the happy smiling surface of the people who live there - God only knows how they still go about their days.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The temples are beautiful, well beyond compare to anything that I have seen in the area, and the people are very friendly and kind, but when you start to peel back the layers on the surface, you begin to see the people who were most impacted by the war and the refuse of war that was left after the Khmer Rouge, Americans, and other rampaging despots finally left or were removed or otherwise deposed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It is very common to see men, women, and even children shuffling around with less than four limbs, to see them resorting to begging with rubber slippers attached to the stumps of what used to be fully functional legs - until a landmine changed their life.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I thought I would start out the post with this and end it on a happier note. Not sure how it gets happier, but I will certainly try.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For those of us in the first-world, landmines are a thing that Hollywood makes up, and just shows cleanly killing someone. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">They are designed to maim. They are not designed to kill a person, just render them wounded, and usually with a clear focus to take the legs off at the knee. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For most of the landmines in the war-torn regions of the world, where safety regulations are more of a suggestion, there are no records of where the mines are located.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I wish I could say that the US is leading the charge at making regions like this much safer, but we are not. We do give funding to organizations that remove landmines from places like Cambodia, but we also continue to manufacture landmines at an alarming rate. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">While many lives and families have been destroyed by these weapons, there is a silver lining. Each year, less and less children are hurt from the mines still buried in the fields in and around villages. Marking said fields is getting easier, and with the stable political situation in Cambodia, more funding is able to help those who are hurt by leftover ordinance. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">That being said, it is still estimated that there are between four and six million landmines in Cambodia. That is about one landmine for every 3-4 people in the country. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I realize that it is very dark to explain all of this before getting to the fluffy and beautiful photos that are Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Siem Reap, but I really wanted to attempt to show the side of the country that a person might not see on Trip Advisor. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cambodia is a very complex country, and one that should be enjoyed for the sheer beauty that dominates all of the landscape, but not one that should be romanticized. The war is still too fresh and real for almost every single Cambodian over the age of 30.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom are beautiful, and besides the MANY scam artists there, they are beyond comparison. They truly are a wonder of the world. Depending on the time of day, the complex is either devoid of tourists or crawling with people, with most of the tourists coming for sunrise and then bailing until the afternoon. My friend and I had almost the whole complex to ourselves at times when we would just try and miss these peak hours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Pieces of advice for Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Tuk Tuks should be no more than a few dollars.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. <i>EVERYONE</i> will try and scam you. Period. This could be little kids selling things, or "university students" giving tours. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">3. It is very hot. I have lived in Thailand for a year and I still almost melted. If you have not been to the tropics, you cannot imagine this level of heat. Sure, you might have gone to the desert or something during summer, but yeah, trust me, that is nothing. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">4. Take a lot of newer $1 bills. Cambodians prefer US dollars to their own currency. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">5. Sit down in the cool (temperature) temples that ring the Angkor Wat complex. There are never tourists there, and most of the Cambodians we met were more than happy to let us share the shade and just hang around their temples.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">6. Show respect. Yes, there is a dress code, women must cover their shoulders and most of their legs. Deal with it. It is not your country and you should show some level of respect for their culture. I wanted to smack a lady who was arguing with a guard about the fact that she did not want to cover her shoulders when going to the top of Angkor Wat. Assholes like her are what gives everyone a bad name. Cambodians are people, with a very long history and very complex social order. Don't try and impose your way of life on them. They have had enough problems in the recent past, they don't need you to bring your own bullshit as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">7. Realize that these are still active and working religious sites. Enjoy them for that reason. There are monks, show them respect. Don't touch them, but sit back and watch. Some of my favorite moments at the complex were not actually in the tourist areas, but sitting with a group of Cambodians in a shrine way off in the forest watching them have a religious ceremony. Just take your shoes off, smile and go sit way in the back - it will be obvious if you are not wanted, but I would almost guarantee that you will be welcomed with a smile and a gesture to sit. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Cambodia is making amazing strides towards whatever healing can be done from such a horrible recent history. We loved it there. It was amazing to say the least. I can honestly say that I feel both touched and in awe of the complex and vibrant culture that is Cambodia.</span><br />
<br />testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia13.3670968 103.8448134000000213.1198963 103.52208990000003 13.6142973 104.16753690000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-66762524867361414182016-07-16T22:28:00.000+07:002016-07-16T22:28:07.104+07:00The Killing Fields of Cambodia<span style="font-size: large;">I wish I knew the words that could express the deep feeling that exists from the horrific events of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot. When it comes to the Killing Fields and the S21 Prison in and around Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I feel that it might just be best to let the photos speak for themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I usually try to lay off the heavy subjects on this blog. There is enough sadness and horror in the world and I am not one that wants to glorify or perpetuate it. The images below can and will be difficult; just a quick word of warning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I learned a few things today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. The audio tour at both places will cause you to fight back tears for hours straight. Period. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">2. You will see entire bones from human skeletons surfacing after rainstorms around the Killing Fields.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">3. A semi-feral dog can be made into a therapy dog with enough coaxing and squeezing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first stop of the day was the Killing Fields, located about 30 minutes down a somewhat bumpy road heading south of Phnom Penh. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8mOJVj69YRo/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8mOJVj69YRo?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The site is quite unassuming at first. You walk in and see a massive stupa, and even though you know what is inside (skulls and bones of the victims of the Cambodian Genocide), but the area is clean and clear, with some chirping birds and a lot of ants on the ground. After picking up the audio tour, which has to be one of the best audio tours I have ever heard, you just... walk. The tour guides you slowly into the nightmare that was 1975-1979 Cambodia. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By nightmare, I mean something beyond that. One out of every four Cambodians died during this time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I wish I knew how to explain what I saw, but honestly I am emotionally drained.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I did not know that bones still surfaced at the mass grave sites.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I did not know how full pants and shirts from the people who were murdered still washed up in huge amounts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I did not know that a tree was expressly used for killing children, or that the sugar palm fronds were used to cut throats.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There were a lot of things that I did not know, nor would I have ever known. I might wish that I still was unaware of these atrocities, but I am also grateful that I can share in the collective knowledge of the events. I was in a similar mood after visiting Nagasaki, Japan, and I feel that way now. I feel some guilt for not being aware of these events on a more intimate level. I feel a massive amount of sadness for the people who had their lives unjustly taken from them in some of the most horrific ways imaginable. I feel anger that more people are not aware of these events and their <i>personal</i> impact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Everyone has heard of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, but seeing how this country still reels from the horrors that faced it about 40 years ago, just bring it to a light that I never knew was possible. Children now play with dogs near the places where their families were executed a generation prior. School goes on as normal mere meters away from a detention and torture center that still has barbed wire on it and odd stains on the floors and walls.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It says a lot about healing, it says a lot about the resilience of humanity, and it says a lot about the need to remember these events. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Without further feeble attempts of explaining facts that I was horrifically unaware of a mere 12 hours ago, I will stop talking and let the photos speak for themselves. </span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uMPrubzQQkg/V4o8v-5saaI/AAAAAAAANgk/ILgqjYjlnpA9-9R4R717iBAwUrMrlS8cACEw/s1600/13680564_10101889534754196_5106678748344062709_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uMPrubzQQkg/V4o8v-5saaI/AAAAAAAANgk/ILgqjYjlnpA9-9R4R717iBAwUrMrlS8cACEw/s400/13680564_10101889534754196_5106678748344062709_n.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Recently surfaced bones before final interring in the central stupa</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ka7_-_Efyuo/V4o8vzs4waI/AAAAAAAANgk/8u8MayhRExA34_MdWTzWLO_IOtW5tco9wCEw/s1600/13680681_10101889534819066_4752599916885414593_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ka7_-_Efyuo/V4o8vzs4waI/AAAAAAAANgk/8u8MayhRExA34_MdWTzWLO_IOtW5tco9wCEw/s320/13680681_10101889534819066_4752599916885414593_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Clothing surfacing after a rainstorm from a mass grave</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jOzm4aEdrTw/V4o8v4SIrjI/AAAAAAAANgk/bRKl-ZTUmZMign_nNpdJ2FnOMr3U-Tl-wCEw/s1600/13680749_10101889534419866_6688706166585195494_n%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jOzm4aEdrTw/V4o8v4SIrjI/AAAAAAAANgk/bRKl-ZTUmZMign_nNpdJ2FnOMr3U-Tl-wCEw/s320/13680749_10101889534419866_6688706166585195494_n%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The central stupa holding the remains of the victims of the area</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Barbed wire covering the breezeway at the S21 prison</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DPbvJPcREn8/V4o8wb8VW7I/AAAAAAAANgk/F3FjfE7Yd1o0Fkxz5rNplXA21OVtW799ACEw/s1600/13686671_10101889535128446_4540387475773256870_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DPbvJPcREn8/V4o8wb8VW7I/AAAAAAAANgk/F3FjfE7Yd1o0Fkxz5rNplXA21OVtW799ACEw/s320/13686671_10101889535128446_4540387475773256870_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Barbed wire around the prison, much like the day it was liberated.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CWQAR2j0edE/V4o8wjtvBiI/AAAAAAAANgk/krIDcqZPcEgnjZ1eCKd1HzoPj323tXb1gCEw/s1600/13690637_10101889534639426_185417714255408144_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CWQAR2j0edE/V4o8wjtvBiI/AAAAAAAANgk/krIDcqZPcEgnjZ1eCKd1HzoPj323tXb1gCEw/s320/13690637_10101889534639426_185417714255408144_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A bone surfacing after the recent storms</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-id9roxE3heY/V4o8w0nRmCI/AAAAAAAANgk/-eiZsnP6sGM6kJXsrO4L3PGPrvxd6_HfwCEw/s1600/13690666_10101889535208286_4340006737344948590_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-id9roxE3heY/V4o8w0nRmCI/AAAAAAAANgk/-eiZsnP6sGM6kJXsrO4L3PGPrvxd6_HfwCEw/s320/13690666_10101889535208286_4340006737344948590_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The entrance of one of the cell blocks from the S21 prison</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Skulls in the central stupa. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My semi feral therapy dog</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The top of the structure marking where the trucks would leave people for execution</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Skulls of the victims, market by nationality and cause of death.</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xno0wagFXKw/V4o8w_gLIuI/AAAAAAAANgk/pzetYAyeS1wgFzJd4rNY98xLdVppj9m6gCEw/s1600/13699997_10101889534734236_6909127801519434307_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xno0wagFXKw/V4o8w_gLIuI/AAAAAAAANgk/pzetYAyeS1wgFzJd4rNY98xLdVppj9m6gCEw/s320/13699997_10101889534734236_6909127801519434307_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Surfaced pants that had been moved off the ground </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Holes punched through walls in the S21 to allow for the guards to watch more prisoners</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0_Ju-mFLS7U/V4o8yRYz3MI/AAAAAAAANgk/Wbr5ecikTfc7wGUQhHLN6vfd_GkG7w52gCEw/s1600/13716073_10101889534679346_2076663199534027120_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0_Ju-mFLS7U/V4o8yRYz3MI/AAAAAAAANgk/Wbr5ecikTfc7wGUQhHLN6vfd_GkG7w52gCEw/s320/13716073_10101889534679346_2076663199534027120_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ribbons, candy, and toys left on the tree where babies were executed by blunt trauma.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The idea was that to "remove the grass, you also need to pull the roots."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The accusation and extermination of one family member meant the whole family would die.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w-tgvqeqTcY/V4o8ySpH83I/AAAAAAAANgk/iWLKSjlMOZUrkB87VjSuAuoqd2bCCexFgCEw/s1600/13716151_10101889534988726_3713492285870977705_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w-tgvqeqTcY/V4o8ySpH83I/AAAAAAAANgk/iWLKSjlMOZUrkB87VjSuAuoqd2bCCexFgCEw/s320/13716151_10101889534988726_3713492285870977705_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Death caused by hacking with a hoe or machete</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7q2xNn1YlF8/V4o8yWnLKYI/AAAAAAAANgk/yfKT481gUmQtBxJX6Nzz2SHABZH87kFSQCEw/s1600/13718529_10101889535153396_3320498277156957906_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7q2xNn1YlF8/V4o8yWnLKYI/AAAAAAAANgk/yfKT481gUmQtBxJX6Nzz2SHABZH87kFSQCEw/s320/13718529_10101889535153396_3320498277156957906_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The fence at S21 prison</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A skeleton, still waiting to be fully exhumed</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QyqT6YFaSXQ/V4o8zPtT31I/AAAAAAAANgk/AL4NJYZXk4cIp4LEhSAf-nz04Z9HoU_jACEw/s1600/13726594_10101889534524656_9000694817027857742_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QyqT6YFaSXQ/V4o8zPtT31I/AAAAAAAANgk/AL4NJYZXk4cIp4LEhSAf-nz04Z9HoU_jACEw/s320/13726594_10101889534524656_9000694817027857742_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Depressions in the soil from the decomposition and exhumation of human remains</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3nIm83Z25zw/V4o80gPXFlI/AAAAAAAANgk/o0rF_g4GWCMopGgm0OXKCCnlDUdMnZlBQCEw/s1600/13754648_10101889534539626_3003190765014383719_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3nIm83Z25zw/V4o80gPXFlI/AAAAAAAANgk/o0rF_g4GWCMopGgm0OXKCCnlDUdMnZlBQCEw/s320/13754648_10101889534539626_3003190765014383719_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A bone, possibly a femur, that has not been picked up yet by park docents to be cleaned and interned. The rainy season has just started in Cambodia</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OBF6ygf4tRk/V4o80LfJ26I/AAAAAAAANgk/AyV_ODj1cugjD_NQ7-ln5ADx7A4sX7V1wCEw/s1600/13754122_10101889535303096_5533875720543505030_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OBF6ygf4tRk/V4o80LfJ26I/AAAAAAAANgk/AyV_ODj1cugjD_NQ7-ln5ADx7A4sX7V1wCEw/s320/13754122_10101889535303096_5533875720543505030_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The old and new meet in Cambodia. A view from inside the torture chambers of the S21 prison towards central Phnom Penh. The barbed wire and death of the past frames the skyscrapers of the modern era. The two eras only missed each other by 40 years. </span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RFKLb5JoL5g/V4o8zxb_G2I/AAAAAAAANgk/PPM2oLhQlU8E8SKfymo1Iy9C9Mi6TaQEgCEw/s1600/13731563_10101889535063576_590728684020760845_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RFKLb5JoL5g/V4o8zxb_G2I/AAAAAAAANgk/PPM2oLhQlU8E8SKfymo1Iy9C9Mi6TaQEgCEw/s400/13731563_10101889535063576_590728684020760845_n.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The central stupa housing human remains</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Skulls and bones are stacked as high as the eye can see</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Villagers burning prayer offerings for the children who were killed</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dl6AkeUyqLs/V4o81RE2u1I/AAAAAAAANgk/mzA76x4eyZwQMNCVqKEo7x4zP-WwCNMnACEw/s1600/13770414_10101889534629446_8687543347273472747_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dl6AkeUyqLs/V4o81RE2u1I/AAAAAAAANgk/mzA76x4eyZwQMNCVqKEo7x4zP-WwCNMnACEw/s400/13770414_10101889534629446_8687543347273472747_n.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A beautiful day almost masks the depressions in the earth where many people lost their lives</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Xzr-BTQ60g/V4o80zTzGZI/AAAAAAAANgk/V94IvFko9qUl_WUwp4LKYn26DKADYxbYwCEw/s1600/13769453_10101889535043616_325077776617319926_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Xzr-BTQ60g/V4o80zTzGZI/AAAAAAAANgk/V94IvFko9qUl_WUwp4LKYn26DKADYxbYwCEw/s320/13769453_10101889535043616_325077776617319926_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">People killed by blunt force trauma</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LI0Xlmii7n4/V4o8zWats8I/AAAAAAAANgk/rIbH_W7YSG8IZQOZQH9KtdViqhBjuXjAQCEw/s1600/13726701_10101889534474756_621118675386814133_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LI0Xlmii7n4/V4o8zWats8I/AAAAAAAANgk/rIbH_W7YSG8IZQOZQH9KtdViqhBjuXjAQCEw/s320/13726701_10101889534474756_621118675386814133_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A gnarled tree near the point where people would be taken from the trucks and bludgeoned or cut to death</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xVigi6DcIDk/V4o8zJJ6uoI/AAAAAAAANgk/sJ0jGNFtIgYURdf-jBIuFSQSt3K5HMEdwCEw/s1600/13726644_10101889534689326_3450184065746302687_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xVigi6DcIDk/V4o8zJJ6uoI/AAAAAAAANgk/sJ0jGNFtIgYURdf-jBIuFSQSt3K5HMEdwCEw/s320/13726644_10101889534689326_3450184065746302687_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Clothes and unknown objects surfacing after the the rain</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-obZLrOIqCik/V4o807jJy3I/AAAAAAAANgk/90gLjDkDmb8UdQde5Ifhjk2VWzPEAc0qgCEw/s1600/13769339_10101889534903896_8235268202658706706_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-obZLrOIqCik/V4o807jJy3I/AAAAAAAANgk/90gLjDkDmb8UdQde5Ifhjk2VWzPEAc0qgCEw/s320/13769339_10101889534903896_8235268202658706706_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Skulls have a colored dot and a small number on them marking nationality and cause of death as determined by a team of forensic scientists. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A side note: To people who are unfamiliar with South East Asia might find the display of human body parts as being insulting to the memory of these victims, but they are put on display with extreme reverence and it is done in part to "help their souls find peace in the next life"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I guess the simplest way to think of it would be to say, that it is better to remember their lives and use that knowledge to ensure events like this do not happen again.</span></div>
<br />testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Phnom Penh 12000, Cambodia11.5448729 104.8921668000000411.0471024 104.24671980000004 12.0426434 105.53761380000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-29710918665362211632016-07-15T12:54:00.001+07:002016-07-15T12:54:33.313+07:00Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Take Two!<span style="font-size: large;">I am not going to lie, I have a very clear and favorable bias towards Malaysia. I find the culture inspiring, the food beyond delicious, and the people to be some of the nicest that I have interacted with in any country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I decided to bring my friend to Malaysia, just so that she could experience the culture and food of one of my favorite places. I am quite glad that I did. My second time here was just as pleasant as the first, and my trip was far more quirky.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">While I had a few things planned, for the most part the name of the game was to eat as much Indian and Malaysian food that our bodies could handle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We decided after landing that we would make our way via the train to Batu Cave (mostly to see the monkeys hassle tourists). Honestly, Batu Cave is very pretty, but the best part of it is watching packs of monkeys attack the unaware tourists and steal their things. Not going to lie, I had far more fun doing that than anything else that day.</span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RGpEkHp9Qh8/V4hxq7XshaI/AAAAAAAANdA/duRp_1QoO8wAAY7ktjWQyvmRSybLis2tQCLcB/s1600/13592602_10101884507858136_1574996986541976743_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RGpEkHp9Qh8/V4hxq7XshaI/AAAAAAAANdA/duRp_1QoO8wAAY7ktjWQyvmRSybLis2tQCLcB/s320/13592602_10101884507858136_1574996986541976743_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J4CmPLzVOno/V4hx8UsU4LI/AAAAAAAANdU/-wYMbI8-yiIXAz1youBeqNLCli49RwyHwCLcB/s1600/13599906_10101884507813226_4195842271007906733_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J4CmPLzVOno/V4hx8UsU4LI/AAAAAAAANdU/-wYMbI8-yiIXAz1youBeqNLCli49RwyHwCLcB/s320/13599906_10101884507813226_4195842271007906733_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We decided on day two to meet up with an old friend, which turned into lunch at a wonderful Indian restaurant, then on to an aquarium, and finally to see the stand-up comedy in which said friend was taking part. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Needless to say, the day was quite long, but we both agreed that it was one of the best memories of the trip. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lunch was great.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The aquarium was very interesting - especially getting to watch them feed the piranha.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U_Vuox6PXmY/V4eFyZJyoWI/AAAAAAAANc0/fniSG5TWA7omK9_HTfjyp19REmSHb28ZgCEw/s1600/13702353_10101887114654096_1231254420_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U_Vuox6PXmY/V4eFyZJyoWI/AAAAAAAANc0/fniSG5TWA7omK9_HTfjyp19REmSHb28ZgCEw/s320/13702353_10101887114654096_1231254420_o.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FaNyFZ0veIQ/V4eFzIjjMNI/AAAAAAAANc0/XKKhcteZeLE336nYxctzyAMPaXU72-ZnwCEw/s1600/13728503_10101887115242916_493997449_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FaNyFZ0veIQ/V4eFzIjjMNI/AAAAAAAANc0/XKKhcteZeLE336nYxctzyAMPaXU72-ZnwCEw/s320/13728503_10101887115242916_493997449_o.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This lady might have the only "feeding frenzy selfie" in existence...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I saw her setting up for this photo, making sure all the angles were right, and I knew I needed to roast her via my very limited exposure blog. Just... yeah... </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GLeE6aKde1Y/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GLeE6aKde1Y?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The above video is in case you ever wanted to see a school of piranha devour a dead fish at the Aquaria KLCC. I know that is on so many bucket lists - you can thank me later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The comedy show though took the cake, I was so much better that we even expected in our wildest dreams. To put this in perspective, I am usually asleep by about 10pm. I like my sleep, and I HATE staying up late. I was up until 2am that night, laughing so hard I thought I was going to have a seizure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">My friend Prakash was the emcee for the evening, so I really only took videos of him when he was on stage because he has also been a friend of Danielle's for about ten years, but honestly, the stand up performances were comedy gold. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you are ever in Kuala Lumpur, make sure to check out <a href="https://www.facebook.com/1MicStand/" target="_blank">1 Mic Stand</a>. Trust me, best choice you can make in Malaysia. </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0mrLHmyRs3Y/V4eDI4mYjnI/AAAAAAAANcQ/250tk5BT_a06rkL0g_sex_D5dCNxg1_iwCEw/s1600/13709637_10101887100213036_1141160901_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0mrLHmyRs3Y/V4eDI4mYjnI/AAAAAAAANcQ/250tk5BT_a06rkL0g_sex_D5dCNxg1_iwCEw/s320/13709637_10101887100213036_1141160901_o.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After my rather late but quite enjoyable night, we took a pretty lazy day the next day. We set out to locate some desired souvenirs at a local market, and then made an attempt to go up KL tower. Needless to say, the cost was damn near insane, and we did not go up. Instead we decided that we had enough luck for one day, and geared up for our last full day in KL, which we decided would be featuring a visit to the KL Bird Park.</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mbRsBjIy6tk/V4eDK9r6KiI/AAAAAAAANcQ/E8IZpiB1Nugtcl3b2hZpJvMdC4EJkW4MQCEw/s1600/13720600_10101887100193076_1318273138_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mbRsBjIy6tk/V4eDK9r6KiI/AAAAAAAANcQ/E8IZpiB1Nugtcl3b2hZpJvMdC4EJkW4MQCEw/s320/13720600_10101887100193076_1318273138_o.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7VOqbeMlc2E/V4eDKuBhD3I/AAAAAAAANcQ/AgB_C2AcSgsrT8hEIsY7U_0VmFakPlARACEw/s1600/13720598_10101887100138186_57224414_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7VOqbeMlc2E/V4eDKuBhD3I/AAAAAAAANcQ/AgB_C2AcSgsrT8hEIsY7U_0VmFakPlARACEw/s320/13720598_10101887100138186_57224414_o.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DJdgYJ845V0/V4eDL1fu3aI/AAAAAAAANcQ/sUwqR7CpBVsr6fhFboUUW6a4ACsl5QU8gCEw/s1600/13730478_10101887100163136_1029963024_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DJdgYJ845V0/V4eDL1fu3aI/AAAAAAAANcQ/sUwqR7CpBVsr6fhFboUUW6a4ACsl5QU8gCEw/s320/13730478_10101887100163136_1029963024_o.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ro6gmDYiMhQ/V4eDFnBPz5I/AAAAAAAANcQ/Xk0T44-HZasxUJVLE9dpex27zkEQTdKpgCEw/s1600/13639622_10101887100133196_1264868530_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ro6gmDYiMhQ/V4eDFnBPz5I/AAAAAAAANcQ/Xk0T44-HZasxUJVLE9dpex27zkEQTdKpgCEw/s320/13639622_10101887100133196_1264868530_o.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We also threw in a quick trip to the National Mosque of Malaysia, and met up with a great guide there who had actually been to Hawaii, and did an amazingly great job explaining modern Malaysian Islam, the architecture of the National Mosque, and answered a lot of questions in a very neutral way. </span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-50Fj1TEyMZg/V4eDJ6kGWUI/AAAAAAAANcQ/_kOIuJgT-_kmSAXNw11tpMWGhnSqCXU6gCEw/s1600/13717905_10101887100218026_1868454571_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-50Fj1TEyMZg/V4eDJ6kGWUI/AAAAAAAANcQ/_kOIuJgT-_kmSAXNw11tpMWGhnSqCXU6gCEw/s320/13717905_10101887100218026_1868454571_o.jpg" width="255" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BBk6osHndZs/V4eFy4i7kFI/AAAAAAAANc0/9oWlRTb_C0sH3KQ1XuG1roCb-Lxd77ehACEw/s1600/13709701_10101887114115176_1788834189_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BBk6osHndZs/V4eFy4i7kFI/AAAAAAAANc0/9oWlRTb_C0sH3KQ1XuG1roCb-Lxd77ehACEw/s320/13709701_10101887114115176_1788834189_o.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, when visiting mosques, it is always best to dress conservatively. My friend and I chose to wear clothing that would be both covering and non-offensive in nature. Part of being a good traveller is knowing the local area and dressing as best as you can to blend and not offend. In places like Malaysia, that does sometime mean wearing head coverings for women, and not wearing shorts that we might consider more fitting for the ultra-hot region. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Also, drug references are usually bad, along with skin-tight short dresses. </span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M9LeVLARuOY/V4eDHJURIyI/AAAAAAAANcQ/hilp4xZK384ZpG0YUvYd_nWiFAViWcBKgCEw/s1600/13692129_10101887099873716_207035503_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M9LeVLARuOY/V4eDHJURIyI/AAAAAAAANcQ/hilp4xZK384ZpG0YUvYd_nWiFAViWcBKgCEw/s320/13692129_10101887099873716_207035503_o.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This photo is taken near the entrance to the national mosque. Pretty sure the girl in the sleeveless, bra-showing, skin tight, very short, pot leaf dress did not get the memo...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am very much not into shaming someone for their choice in clothing or body-type, but there is fashionable, and there is stupid. This lady is just stupid. I really did stand there for a few minutes and thought to myself, "was there any part of her that wondered if she ought to pick a different outfit to visit an Islamic Mosque?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Oh well...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, on to the KL Bird Park.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am not a fan of big birds, small birds, flying birds, etc. They have beady eyes that always look like they are contemplating taking their beaks and using them to violently bring about the end of mankind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.klbirdpark.com/index.cfm" target="_blank">KL bird park</a> is quite cool though. It is acres of open-air sections that just have different birds... everywhere. Honestly, it would be very cool to not only bring a kid or a school group on a field trip, but just to wander around and take photos. You could easily spend a day here, but could rush through it as well in about an hour and a half</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vYQxdDd_3hQ/V4eDHAvOoMI/AAAAAAAANcQ/vweXWMPj1ig1SdUsIG1SbbIYg2uait4DgCEw/s1600/13692203_10101887100003456_1951192022_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vYQxdDd_3hQ/V4eDHAvOoMI/AAAAAAAANcQ/vweXWMPj1ig1SdUsIG1SbbIYg2uait4DgCEw/s320/13692203_10101887100003456_1951192022_o.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We left just as the skies were about to open up again and pour on us, so we took shelter in a museum that SHOULD NOT BE MISSED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES while in Malaysia. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I love museums.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I love museums that have been curated well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I love well organized museums that have cataloging numbers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I could go on and on about my OCD about great museums. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This museum met all of my OCD needs and then some. I was beautiful, there was an amazing mixture of Malaysian and Islamic history. The displays were wonderfully done, the artifacts were impeccably cared for, and the historical narrative was in a very neutral tone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you find yourself in Kuala Lumpur, spend the time and the small amount of Ringit and visit the <a href="http://www.iamm.org.my/" target="_blank">Islamic Arts Museum. </a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Another amazing trip to Malaysia, and I honestly look forward to the next one. Seriously, this has to be one of my favorite countries. </span></div>
testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia3.139003 101.686854999999922.885326 101.36413149999993 3.3926800000000004 102.00957849999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-50007559312141734702016-07-14T19:24:00.002+07:002016-07-14T19:24:36.034+07:00A Starbucks with no water and a Subway with no breadOne of the things that I have learned in Southeast Asia is that it is perfectly normal to walk into a place of business and be calmly told that they do not have a specific item. This once again has happened as in the past few days, I have watched Subway, a chain known for only making sandwiches, turned away customers for a lack of bread, and I am currently sitting in a Starbucks that does not have any water.<br />
Meaning they have absolutely no coffee whatsoever...<br />
These things are normal and honestly you totally get used to the idea that you might be going to a place not carry something that is vital to achieving the purpose of said business. <br />
Oh well.<br />
Still, we met a nice person who worked there and are currently leeching off of the free wifi.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3BY10y04KoM/V4eDKTk9NEI/AAAAAAAANbo/mcX2JzvotcMEZwAx13SMkvDtKlpIgZB3wCLcB/s1600/13720592_10101887099833796_736022561_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3BY10y04KoM/V4eDKTk9NEI/AAAAAAAANbo/mcX2JzvotcMEZwAx13SMkvDtKlpIgZB3wCLcB/s320/13720592_10101887099833796_736022561_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia3.139003 101.686854999999922.885326 101.36413149999993 3.3926800000000004 102.00957849999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-55949324026170753812016-07-09T22:54:00.002+07:002016-07-09T22:54:33.947+07:00Boat trip to Koh Gai (Chicken Island)<span style="font-size: large;">First and foremost, Koh Gai which is directly translated to Chicken Island, has nothing to do with the fowl living on the island (or lack thereof), but more to do with the physical characteristics of the island. I am pretty sure that anyone can and will agree that the island is aptly named based on the following photo I shot today while taking the boat around the far side of the island.</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zCBO1tGO9gQ/V4EbKbEf33I/AAAAAAAANXc/gu0v35w_p60cS3ywAQPKbJFddmvPiqMOgCKgB/s1600/13644291_10101880898715886_590703293_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zCBO1tGO9gQ/V4EbKbEf33I/AAAAAAAANXc/gu0v35w_p60cS3ywAQPKbJFddmvPiqMOgCKgB/s320/13644291_10101880898715886_590703293_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">From just the right angle, the pillar rising over the side of the island looks exactly like a roosting bird. I tried to walk over to the base of it at low tide, but had to give up after reaching a few impassable places and slipping and rendering my foot a bloody mess. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That being said, the island is beautiful, but I do have some advice for anyone thinking of going there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Skip the tours and skip the short-time boat trips. Find a boat, charter it for the day, and enjoy going when and where you want. You can charter a boat for the day for about $60 and then leave at a much earlier time than the other tourists. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Leaving early is VERY important. The island gets insanely crowded, and honestly that pretty much ruins the experience. You want to make sure you leave the various ports around the area by about 7:30am, and then reach the island a few hours before the main rush of tourists. The silence and beauty of the place is very obvious at this point. After about 10am, the island is crawling with tourists of all sorts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The best thing about Koh Gai is that it actually does have food and bathrooms on the island. I would say that it is important to bring some toilet paper, and the park entrance fee is a bit steep at a price of 400 baht, but they do make a pretty good plate of chicken fried rice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Of course I had to order chicken fried rice on Chicken Island, which I am pretty sure does not have a single chicken on the entire landmass.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vUfs387NP7w/V4EbLNH0C6I/AAAAAAAANXo/iO33iQmj1IsNaWsJwL2qCvUfLRAD-nBZQCKgB/s1600/13650434_10101880898511296_1527243088_n%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vUfs387NP7w/V4EbLNH0C6I/AAAAAAAANXo/iO33iQmj1IsNaWsJwL2qCvUfLRAD-nBZQCKgB/s320/13650434_10101880898511296_1527243088_n%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The area was beautiful, and for some reason it was just flooded with butterflies. I tried to take a lot of photos of them, but they were pretty good at avoiding me. I did manage to snap a photo of this one in the bathroom. </span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rpL8OIBc_9k/V4EbKTHJifI/AAAAAAAANX4/WL6lbRpuYE8eTeRLQtCTfR5-BhYV7RdLQCKgB/s1600/13625194_10101880898606106_315940095_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rpL8OIBc_9k/V4EbKTHJifI/AAAAAAAANX4/WL6lbRpuYE8eTeRLQtCTfR5-BhYV7RdLQCKgB/s320/13625194_10101880898606106_315940095_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The best part of chartering a boat is that you can just request that the boat driver take you around to the different islands to just enjoy the views.</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I5SXnINb_5c/V4EbK7O2z7I/AAAAAAAANX4/WiqIFu-mzKkf1sEyvqZZjc0vrVEwGU8yACKgB/s1600/13649429_10101880898526266_111044220_n%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I5SXnINb_5c/V4EbK7O2z7I/AAAAAAAANX4/WiqIFu-mzKkf1sEyvqZZjc0vrVEwGU8yACKgB/s320/13649429_10101880898526266_111044220_n%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fya6zrbg460/V4EbLvalB3I/AAAAAAAANX4/tAkI7nXI26IW7JMg4upIsTUx1ieG4zsjwCKgB/s1600/13652571_10101880898705906_810991455_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fya6zrbg460/V4EbLvalB3I/AAAAAAAANX4/tAkI7nXI26IW7JMg4upIsTUx1ieG4zsjwCKgB/s320/13652571_10101880898705906_810991455_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have never been a fan of just lounging around on an island, but I have to admit, I found a pretty good place to rest my feet today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-adOZohz7dLk/V4EbLjlttsI/AAAAAAAANX4/aIKNcg0Fg-4XuZ8NE_ERRJ0pv4c9QOWpQCKgB/s1600/13652723_10101880898506306_1101472510_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-adOZohz7dLk/V4EbLjlttsI/AAAAAAAANX4/aIKNcg0Fg-4XuZ8NE_ERRJ0pv4c9QOWpQCKgB/s320/13652723_10101880898506306_1101472510_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Should you find yourself in Krabi in need of a good boat captain who has a home port in Krabi town, give this phone number a call. I would highly recommend him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Just" - +66 - 087 - 269 - 8927</span></div>
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<br />testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Krabi, Thailand8.0862997 98.9062834999999726.0742126999999995 96.324496499999967 10.098386699999999 101.48807049999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-7935478759227297062016-07-08T22:38:00.001+07:002016-07-08T22:38:13.369+07:00Impromptu Boat Trip in Krabi<span style="font-size: large;">Today was another amazing example of making plans, and then dashing them when a different opportunity comes along. I do owe this entire adventure to Melissa who decided that she wanted to walk into town to just walk around and explore and asked if I wanted to come along. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, we walked...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then we decided to talk to some of the people getting on the boats and got approached by one of the boat captains. The weather was nice, and the idea of just cruising around the tributary seemed quite hard to pass up. So we hopped in the boat with no real clue where we were going, how long we would be gone, etc. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We started by just cruising up the river, an obvious and beautiful choice. We took a few photos of the boats passing, some pretentious posed photos, and other needed things. </span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wdQO4KhgZAY/V3_FYLz3hlI/AAAAAAAANV0/iEHAlkdHCKkHoOUsE-4Mb02jcjgWb-sEQCKgB/s1600/13649503_10101879868979486_1574733093_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wdQO4KhgZAY/V3_FYLz3hlI/AAAAAAAANV0/iEHAlkdHCKkHoOUsE-4Mb02jcjgWb-sEQCKgB/s320/13649503_10101879868979486_1574733093_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then, the boat captain pulls up to to the cliff-side featured in the above photo. This is where the adventure started to turn a bit weird, but quite awesome. While we had no clue what the site was, there were a few obvious advantages to exploring it. It was empty, it was getting dark fast, and there were super creepy stairs leading up to a cave opening. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I mean, how do you turn down an adventure like this? So, after stopping long enough to take notice that we could hear bats, and that we did not have any flashlights, we bounded up the slippery and <i>God only knows what made the stairs take on that look</i> covered stairs. Yeah, I washed my hands when we got back...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The inside is some archaeological site. It seems like it has been in use since prehistoric times, though being used most recently by the Japanese during the Second World War. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The inside was amazingly cool, bats were flying all around the ceiling and you could see movement in the darker areas that were lower as well. The area was somewhat dim, and we used our cell phones for flashlights in places, but talk about an amazing find!</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C1Yrv7o4ma0/V3_FVfnKxDI/AAAAAAAANWM/X82FOPwEPGEG74K86803fPS2pH1gB6WdQCKgB/s1600/13617409_10101879868934576_1829347518_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C1Yrv7o4ma0/V3_FVfnKxDI/AAAAAAAANWM/X82FOPwEPGEG74K86803fPS2pH1gB6WdQCKgB/s320/13617409_10101879868934576_1829347518_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After the trip to the cave, we went over to the nearby boat village and had some fun walking around it as twilight fast faded into night. </span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mLpc0aAYdls/V3_FWEjXLQI/AAAAAAAANWM/Z_DnyllkFfgmLklh98Eco1EDYYuXEF0zgCKgB/s1600/13624647_10101879868864716_195630208_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mLpc0aAYdls/V3_FWEjXLQI/AAAAAAAANWM/Z_DnyllkFfgmLklh98Eco1EDYYuXEF0zgCKgB/s320/13624647_10101879868864716_195630208_n.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This might be the best aspect of traveling. I often find I learn more about an area and see more of what <i>should </i>be seen when I am in-between plans. We had no intention of seeing either one of these places. To be honest, I don't think we knew either one existed. As we walked around the village in the early hours of the evening, we both kept saying over and over that this was exactly what we wanted to see, and never knew it. Sometimes a quick-talking boatman and a casual stroll in the evening can lead to the right adventure.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eQU71arefPc/V3_FWRDnLDI/AAAAAAAANWM/ijM-GibT4fQ_1ijq-8AUDwmFNIPHuBQAACKgB/s1600/13624982_10101879868869706_813910944_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eQU71arefPc/V3_FWRDnLDI/AAAAAAAANWM/ijM-GibT4fQ_1ijq-8AUDwmFNIPHuBQAACKgB/s320/13624982_10101879868869706_813910944_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Krabi, Thailand8.0862997 98.9062834999999726.0742161999999995 96.324496499999967 10.0983832 101.48807049999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-18669219315936041912016-07-08T22:13:00.001+07:002016-07-08T22:13:59.348+07:00Visiting the emerald pool in Krabi, Thailand<span style="font-size: large;">We started out the day with the plan of going to the hot ponds near our hotel area, only to find out that there had been a rather impressive flash-flood in the very recent past. It looked like the water and silt had been over a meter in height as all of the flat surfaces that were about that height or a little higher had debris and such on them. The pools were supposed to be rather clear and at a nice but today they looked a bit like silty mud holes. I am sure they are quite beautiful to laze around in, just not today. Today I am pretty sure there were monsters in that water. We were wise to move on quickly. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">That being said, they did have quite cute dogs in the parking area. I am sure that the sight of packs of dogs seems quite foreign to anyone who is reading this from the United States, but soi dogs are every where around Thailand. (Soi is the term for alley, so they are just known as the local soi dogs in respect to the fact that they are usually just in and around just about every alley). </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">After that bit of a misadventure we made it up to the emerald pool, which has definitely earned that title. The walk in is about 1.5 kilometers, but the sheer beauty of the area makes the distance slip by quickly. The area actually looks a lot like a flooded upland Hawaii, with many ankle-deep streams crisscrossing the jungle floor below the raised walkway. While the cost of entrance is a bit steep for Thai prices, (200 baht per person), the price is well worth it as the area is almost pristine. Sadly, this is not the standard for Thailand, as many people just leave their trash on the ground and no one is responsible for collecting said refuse. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After arriving at the pool about thirty minutes before the main flood of people, we jumped right in and took a swim in some beautiful water. The 200 baht entrance fee was easily worth it just for that moment. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I also saw this awesome family dragging the grandmother into the water. I love the looks on the kids faces as they see their grandmother being hoisted into the pool. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I would highly recommend going to this site to anyone visiting Krabi. While it seems like most tourists go to southern Thailand to visit the islands and party, places like this are a great reminder that there are amazing things to do that don't require boats or copious amounts of alcohol. </span></div>
testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Krabi, Thailand8.0862997 98.9062834999999726.0742161999999995 96.324496499999967 10.0983832 101.48807049999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-59064944529574736932016-07-07T16:48:00.001+07:002016-07-07T16:48:07.392+07:00Wat Tham Suea 2.0<span style="font-size: large;">I have had the chance to hike Wat Tham Suea once before and I distinctly remember saying that I would never go again. That promise lasted less that three months.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As much as my legs are regretting the trip, I am still quite glad I got to go a second time. The monkeys were nice this time, we were one of the first groups of people on the top, and found a new surprise - free wifi on the summit. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I had a great time giving my family a quick tour via video call from the top of a mountain almost half a world away. Quite an amazing achievement for modern technology. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There are still way too many stairs, and the view is still superb. The highlight of the day though, was that we were able to get about three uninterrupted hours of sunshine in the midst of a monsoon. We are still in awe of the luck that we had by dealing with pouring rain all night, and then having the rain start up within about 15 minutes of us reaching the base of the mountain. Maybe today is the day to buy a lottery ticket...</span><br />
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testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Krabi, Thailand8.0862997 98.9062834999999726.0742161999999995 96.324496499999967 10.0983832 101.48807049999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-62775728796400776012016-07-06T18:11:00.002+07:002016-07-06T18:11:35.369+07:00Krabi, Thailand, in the rain<span style="font-size: large;">One of the things that I continually try and learn while I am travelling is the idea that no matter how well you plan out something, nature always can create another plan without any warning, and without any forgiveness. One of the joys of traveling with someone who is like-minded is that when the plans change, you can just evolve and change with them. Krabi and the coasts of Southern Thailand are known for their beautiful coastlines, islands, lush mountains, and as of the past few days, the start of the rainy season. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It seems like the start of the monsoon season has finally reached Southern Thailand, just in time for my planned adventure with my friend Melissa. Today started with a bit of an overcast day and a trip through the airport, and has ended after quite a few impromptu trips, with an incredible rainstorm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The rain has been thundering down for close to three or four hours now, and only growing more and more intense. It has started to remind me of the weather in Hilo, Hawaii, where the smell of the rain would mix with the ocean water and create the very unique stormy scent. The open air sitting area we are in is covered well enough that the neighborhood cat has taken refuge along with the trust-fund backpacker who is complaining about having to make his 90-day visa run while smoking cheap cigarettes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The cat has taken refuge near my chair and continues to meow and clean her very pregnant belly while Melissa has had to move a few times to avoid the drips in the semi-solid roof.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">All-in-all, quite a good day, While it is not the trip that was planned, I don't think I would ever truly complain about being able to sit and listen to the pounding rain while fending off the advances of a very mouthy cat and having to debate between ordering a glass of wine, or enjoying a warm drink of some kind. Today has been an adventure of hurry and wait, one where we enjoyed scenery and then had to run for shelter. We found that 7-11 pop-up umbrellas were quite worthless in the face of the monsoon downpour, and we learned that the wonderful curries of the south really warm the body after coming face-to-face with the haphazardly built umbrellas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the end, I will probably chose the wine, and sit back with a pilfered book from the hotel mini-library, and appease the very mouthy cat. This is of course if I can keep avoiding the dripping spots in the roof, and not get lulled to sleep by the mesmerizing and cathartic Krabi rain.</span></div>
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testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Krabi, Thailand8.0862997 98.9062834999999726.0742161999999995 96.324496499999967 10.0983832 101.48807049999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-66195382462409154812016-04-28T11:19:00.003+07:002016-04-28T11:20:15.760+07:00Songkran in Thailand<span style="font-size: large;">I wish there was some way to describe the absolute chaos that is Songkran. I don't think that I ever could have prepared myself for what I was to see and experience. It just might not even be possible. I was doused in water more times than I can remember, covered in powder, drowned in bubbles, and saw just about every segment of humanity enjoy a few days of uncoordinated and unadulterated chaos.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I tried to videotape the insanity, and was quite grateful that I purchased a waterproof phone case for my phone. I went into the experience thinking I would get hit with a squirt gun a few times, and came away with the knowledge that this is more of a war than a water fight. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I saw people shooting hoses and pressure washers from buildings, the police were involved, hotel employees tackled each-other into pools. No one was immune. You just accepted your fate and realized that if you survived, you would come out a stronger and much damper person. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Songkran is a celebration of the new year, and as it takes place during the hottest month in Thailand, it is a giant water fight. Apparently it is defined as "throwing a sprinkling of water", but when I see the Thai fire department driving a truck down the street and using the hose, I would say it escalated just a tiny bit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was very hard to capture any real photos or video of the event, but if you ever find yourself in Thailand during Songkran, do yourself a favor and join it. you are going to get soaked anyways, so you may as well arm up and join in the fight.</span></div>
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<br />testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Krabi, Thailand8.0862997 98.9062834999999726.0633441999999995 96.31350999999998 10.1092552 101.49905699999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6550918306546192583.post-25089727430153752762016-04-28T10:52:00.001+07:002016-04-28T10:52:28.099+07:00Hiking Wat Thom Suea<span style="font-size: large;">Let me start off this post by stating that no matter how much complaining I might do in the next few paragraphs, the hike was totally worth it. I think that it was wise for me to wait until a few weeks had passed before writing this blog post as it allowed me to forget some of the pain and dizziness of hiking way too many stairs set straight up a mountain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Also, I was able to fight a monkey. More on this later.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, the hike up and the view from the top is beautiful. Sadly, I did not listen to one of the locals that we knew and decided in my infinite wisdom that we should do the hike early in the morning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The stairs are on the east facing side of the mountain. Not a wise move I guess.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The thing about these stairs is that even the most sound person will have vertigo. Mix that with the heat, and the sheer fact that there are more stairs than should ever be in one location, and you pretty much want to die by the time you are near the top. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But again, it is totally worth it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Check out the view from the top:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Getting there is the real pain though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This might have been the last photo that we were together and smiling. Danielle was violently ill that day, and still made it to the top. I am pretty sure that she thought about killing me multiple times though.</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p7tWp6M0AHY/VyGGcIe9jGI/AAAAAAAANF8/zHUomEQ0t1MM3KjHlbCqn8R7Xv9_Pv7wACKgB/s1600/IMG_5929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p7tWp6M0AHY/VyGGcIe9jGI/AAAAAAAANF8/zHUomEQ0t1MM3KjHlbCqn8R7Xv9_Pv7wACKgB/s320/IMG_5929.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By the top, I mean way too many damn stairs. Like, way too many. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The hardest part is not just the stairs, but the fact that they number them all the way it. It is like a conspiracy to remind you just how out-of-shape you are, and just how much more pain there is ahead of you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I mean, who does this? Why? What purpose does it serve besides the obvious one of torture?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">All that being said, the top is beautiful, and there are some very friendly dogs there as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, about the promised monkey fight. We were walking up the stairs and heard some screams and a call for help. We ran around the corner and saw a pack of monkeys attacking a couple and their little girl. By attacking I don't just mean the usual monkey mischief, I mean they were scratching and trying to bite all of them. Needless to say, we jumped into action. We got the family back with us, and grabbed some sticks. Without offending any of my local PETA members, we won the fight and the monkeys left the little girl alone. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am normally not one to condone violence, but when a group of monkeys is trying to bite a girl that is no bigger than they are, I have no problem with swinging a stick at all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">All-in-all, quite an awesome day, got to check two things off of my bucket list.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Hiking Wat Thom Suea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. Get into a fight with a monkey. </span></div>
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<br />testhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10528664634989994946noreply@blogger.com0Krabi, Thailand8.0862997 98.9062834999999726.0633441999999995 96.31350999999998 10.1092552 101.49905699999997