lulu is going to lose it. she's going to snap, and some poor guy is going to have his head bitten off. but, she's going to at least wait until we get to cambodia. perhaps i should explain.
lulu is cuban-american. her parents came over from cuba, and settled in florida. she has family that still lives there. her cousin was executed, her uncles and grandfather were in political prison, her father was in a labor camp, several other relatives were in camps or executed, all in cuba, all by the communist government. because of che's actions and the precedents he set while in charger of la cabana fortress prison, thousands of people were sentenced to death in cuba, and many more imprisoned.
and there are shirts with che guevara's image everywhere here. EVERYWHERE. we've seen dozens of t-shirts with che on them, worn by dozens of tourists in south-east asia. we've been seeing them since we got down here. and che's image is in laos on stickers on tuktuks, and lulu is about to lose it. but, we have to get to cambodia first.
laos is communist, so, saying anything negative about che would be not good. now we're in vietnam, and che actively and vocally supported northern vietnam during their struggles to make vietnam a communist power. saying anything here would likewise be bad. but, in cambodia, she doesn't need to worry about creating an international incident.
and the first tourist she sees in a shirt with che guevara on it once we reach cambodia is going to all of a sudden wonder why an irate woman is screaming at him, first in english, and then in spanish, while her friend is laughing hysterically, recording the whole thing on her camera, and then trying to calm her down and explain why to the poor tourist.
i will post the video on you tube.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
holy crap, here's where we are now
i hadn't realized that it had been so long since i told you all about what we had been doing. crap. well, i suppose i should get on that.
last you heard, we were in bangkok, still. after we left there, mary, lulu and i all went to ayutthaya. leah came with us, but only spent the day. so, we all went on a tuktuk tour of the ruins around the city. it was a 3 hour tour. i'm mary anne. lulu was unanimously voted the skipper. mary was gilligan. stupid, i know. but we found this hilarious. it was a long train ride from bangkok. the ruins were amazing, and i've already posted photos. our guest house was pretty nice. at one of the places we stopped, i bought a conical hat that is made in the chiang mai style. it's beautiful. the day after we arrived, lulu and mary rented bikes and went off around the town, while i relaxed at the guest house. i don't know if youve ever seen traffic in thailand, but it's pretty intense, and i am bad enough on a bicycle, i don't need heavy traffic on top of it. besides, relaxing was nice. i enjoyed it. after they got back, we sat around, had dinner, and took showers while waiting for the tuktuk to pick us up for the vip bus. in retrospect, taking the tuktuk all the way to chiang mai would have been preferable. this was the bus with the smelly french hippie couple, the two drunk irishmen, and the slutty russian girl. you may have read about the bus in the previous posts with the quotes and the descriptions of notable persons.
in chiang mai, our guest house was nice, but no air con. we didn't mind so much. the people were nice, and we managed to find everything fairly easy. the night market was awesome, there were silver shops galore, the food was great, and we ended up taking a 2 day, overnight trek out to the hills to the north east of the city. we treked up a mountain, stayed at an elephant camp, bathed elephants, rode the elephants, played with the baby elephant, treked a bit more, ate a bunch of jungle fruit, went "white water" rafting (it's the end of dry season, the river was really low, so there wasn't any actual white water like there would be after rainy season), and then i got to pole a bamboo raft down the river a ways. except for the bamboo raft, i have photgraphic eveidence for the whole trip. the day after the trip, lulu and i got tattooes at a local tattoo parlour. (we were totally careful, and did our research. no weird diseases or infections for us!)
the trip from chiang mai, thailand to luang pra bang, laos was interesting. first, a tuktuk to the bus station. then, a minibus (read, mini van) overnight, with a stop at 2:30 am for sleep at a guesthouse near the border. then, at 8:30 am a tuktuk to the river, a small boat across the river, another tuktuk from the small river to the mekong river, and then onto the slow boat going down river. the slow boat left at about 10:30 am, and stopped for the night at about 6:30pm. this is where we met friendly freddy and his girlfriend pat, and also space hogging helga. the seats were wooden benches, with straight backs. not so comfy. we were pretty miserable. but, still better than the fast boat. after the overnight in pak bang, laos, we were back on the boat for the rest of the trip to luang pra bang. we left at about 10 am, and arrived at about 4:30 pm.
our hostel in luang prabang was pretty awesome. we were in a co-ed dorm, and had the back section so we were able to rock out the chinese laundry again. (again, thank you husband for the parachute cord. it was awesome.) while in town, we visited the museum, a few wats, lulu and mary got up early to see the alms giving and the morning market, and i managed to contract some sort of intestinal dificulty. i even had a fever. it was awesome. (i'm better now, and after about a week and a half, things are all back to normal. even pepto bismol didn't help.) the night market in town was awesome, i bought some silver jewelry made by local tribes, a laos skirt, and some pillow covers. we went to the waterfalls, and they were beautiful. i'll check to see if i've posted photos of here, but i don't think so. i'll get on that tomorrow. mary left us after we'd been in town for several days, and lulu and i stayed on a couple more after she left.
after we left luang pra bang, we went to phon savan, where the plain of jars is located. it was amazing. on our tour to the plain, we also went to a scrap yard where the were recycling old exploded ordinance, a couple of villiages where i bought a length of hand woven silk right off the loom for 50,000 kip (about $6 US, and it's the size they use to make the longer wrap around skirt, so about a yard and a half by about a yard), we were invited into a families home and were given lao lao to drink. we had tv in our room at the hotel, so we watched whatever movies they were showing that were in english. so far, it's been our only tv, so don't judge me for watching "the sisterhood of the traveling pants 2".
after phon savan, we went to vang vieng. i stayed on the organic farm, and did a whole heaping helping of nothing. it was glorious, and very nice after all the damn traveling through the laos mountains. damn, those were some twisty roads. lulu stayed in town and met up with her cambodian friend, aki, who was leading a tour group around, and went kayaking and motorbiking with them. we both had fun doing our separate activities. i stayed the last night in town, since we were supposed to leave for vientiane fairly early in the morning. i rode on the back of a motorbike from the farm into town, with my backpack on, holding my purse in front of me, and my conical hat in one arm. i didn't even have to grab onto my driver. i'm so proud of me.
here in vientiane, we've stayed at a fairly nice place, run into several people we met in luang pra bang, lulu went zip lining, i walked around for 6 hours mostly lost, we've eaten a lot, and recuperated. tomorrow afternoon we fly to hanoi, vietnam. we are very excited to get to vietnam, and i'll try to update you more often. i'll try to get pictures up tomorrow before we leave. it's just late, and the place looks like it's about to close.
later!
last you heard, we were in bangkok, still. after we left there, mary, lulu and i all went to ayutthaya. leah came with us, but only spent the day. so, we all went on a tuktuk tour of the ruins around the city. it was a 3 hour tour. i'm mary anne. lulu was unanimously voted the skipper. mary was gilligan. stupid, i know. but we found this hilarious. it was a long train ride from bangkok. the ruins were amazing, and i've already posted photos. our guest house was pretty nice. at one of the places we stopped, i bought a conical hat that is made in the chiang mai style. it's beautiful. the day after we arrived, lulu and mary rented bikes and went off around the town, while i relaxed at the guest house. i don't know if youve ever seen traffic in thailand, but it's pretty intense, and i am bad enough on a bicycle, i don't need heavy traffic on top of it. besides, relaxing was nice. i enjoyed it. after they got back, we sat around, had dinner, and took showers while waiting for the tuktuk to pick us up for the vip bus. in retrospect, taking the tuktuk all the way to chiang mai would have been preferable. this was the bus with the smelly french hippie couple, the two drunk irishmen, and the slutty russian girl. you may have read about the bus in the previous posts with the quotes and the descriptions of notable persons.
in chiang mai, our guest house was nice, but no air con. we didn't mind so much. the people were nice, and we managed to find everything fairly easy. the night market was awesome, there were silver shops galore, the food was great, and we ended up taking a 2 day, overnight trek out to the hills to the north east of the city. we treked up a mountain, stayed at an elephant camp, bathed elephants, rode the elephants, played with the baby elephant, treked a bit more, ate a bunch of jungle fruit, went "white water" rafting (it's the end of dry season, the river was really low, so there wasn't any actual white water like there would be after rainy season), and then i got to pole a bamboo raft down the river a ways. except for the bamboo raft, i have photgraphic eveidence for the whole trip. the day after the trip, lulu and i got tattooes at a local tattoo parlour. (we were totally careful, and did our research. no weird diseases or infections for us!)
the trip from chiang mai, thailand to luang pra bang, laos was interesting. first, a tuktuk to the bus station. then, a minibus (read, mini van) overnight, with a stop at 2:30 am for sleep at a guesthouse near the border. then, at 8:30 am a tuktuk to the river, a small boat across the river, another tuktuk from the small river to the mekong river, and then onto the slow boat going down river. the slow boat left at about 10:30 am, and stopped for the night at about 6:30pm. this is where we met friendly freddy and his girlfriend pat, and also space hogging helga. the seats were wooden benches, with straight backs. not so comfy. we were pretty miserable. but, still better than the fast boat. after the overnight in pak bang, laos, we were back on the boat for the rest of the trip to luang pra bang. we left at about 10 am, and arrived at about 4:30 pm.
our hostel in luang prabang was pretty awesome. we were in a co-ed dorm, and had the back section so we were able to rock out the chinese laundry again. (again, thank you husband for the parachute cord. it was awesome.) while in town, we visited the museum, a few wats, lulu and mary got up early to see the alms giving and the morning market, and i managed to contract some sort of intestinal dificulty. i even had a fever. it was awesome. (i'm better now, and after about a week and a half, things are all back to normal. even pepto bismol didn't help.) the night market in town was awesome, i bought some silver jewelry made by local tribes, a laos skirt, and some pillow covers. we went to the waterfalls, and they were beautiful. i'll check to see if i've posted photos of here, but i don't think so. i'll get on that tomorrow. mary left us after we'd been in town for several days, and lulu and i stayed on a couple more after she left.
after we left luang pra bang, we went to phon savan, where the plain of jars is located. it was amazing. on our tour to the plain, we also went to a scrap yard where the were recycling old exploded ordinance, a couple of villiages where i bought a length of hand woven silk right off the loom for 50,000 kip (about $6 US, and it's the size they use to make the longer wrap around skirt, so about a yard and a half by about a yard), we were invited into a families home and were given lao lao to drink. we had tv in our room at the hotel, so we watched whatever movies they were showing that were in english. so far, it's been our only tv, so don't judge me for watching "the sisterhood of the traveling pants 2".
after phon savan, we went to vang vieng. i stayed on the organic farm, and did a whole heaping helping of nothing. it was glorious, and very nice after all the damn traveling through the laos mountains. damn, those were some twisty roads. lulu stayed in town and met up with her cambodian friend, aki, who was leading a tour group around, and went kayaking and motorbiking with them. we both had fun doing our separate activities. i stayed the last night in town, since we were supposed to leave for vientiane fairly early in the morning. i rode on the back of a motorbike from the farm into town, with my backpack on, holding my purse in front of me, and my conical hat in one arm. i didn't even have to grab onto my driver. i'm so proud of me.
here in vientiane, we've stayed at a fairly nice place, run into several people we met in luang pra bang, lulu went zip lining, i walked around for 6 hours mostly lost, we've eaten a lot, and recuperated. tomorrow afternoon we fly to hanoi, vietnam. we are very excited to get to vietnam, and i'll try to update you more often. i'll try to get pictures up tomorrow before we leave. it's just late, and the place looks like it's about to close.
later!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
notable persons 1
in a plaza in singapore, bongo betsy and drummin' dan were playing hand drums for change. they traveled around the world to panhandle to music.
on the train from kuala lumpur, malaysia to hat yai, thailand, we met kung fu kevin and grumpy gwenny. kung fu kevin started performing tai chi type moves in front of the door on the platform while we were waiting to reboard the train after clearing customs and immigration. also, he smelled as if he hadn't bathed in about 2 weeks. later, he had his right arm going through the neckline of his shirt, instead of the sleeve. note to men - the one shoulder look works for women, not so much for guys.
grumpy gwenny was carrying around 60 litre backpack (huge), and was reduced to wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants.
there was also a couple wearing matching striped pants that they had probably bought at a tourist market.
at our guest house in ayutthia, thailand, snarky suzy asked lulu if she would buy an elephant souvenir for her at one of the wats we would be visiting, since suzy hadn't had a chance to get it herself, yet. when lulu refused, suzy gave her a heap of attitude.
another guest there was shirtless shawn. at no point did we ever see him in a shirt.
on the "vip bus" from ayutthiya to chiang mai, drunken danny was sitting in front of us. he had been drinking so much, and was so dehydrated, that his feet were swollen, giving him cankles and sausage toes, and he reeked of booze.
his friend, lusty louie, was sitting across from him, and next to slutty svetlana. they were making out and giggling for the greater portion of the bus ride. you could hear them making out.
also, in the back row with us and right next to lulu since she was in the middle seat, were the french hippie couple. it smelled as if they had never bathed, and lulu swore that his feet were black. they kept invading lulu's seat, and she ended the trip smelling like them on her right side.
on our trip on the slow boat from chiang mai, thailand, to luang pra bang, laos, we encountered a few more people. first was friendly freddy and his laos girlfriend pat. the boat was scheduled to leave at about 10am, and he was already a bit toasty that morning, and kept drinking throughout the day. before we even had a chance to leave, he was misunderstanding instructions about customs and information on the trip. and once we were on the boat, there was an issue with one of the passengers and the purchase of her ticket. it turns out that the travel package she had purchased did not include the ticket on the slow boat. however, she did not appear to have realized this. so, while the nice lady and the girl were trying to figure it out, freddy kept butting in, trying to "fix" it', and made matters worse. we were delayed by about half an hour for this. the next day, he slept most of the trip, and we attribute this to pat. we think she made him not drink the second day, so he mostly slept, looking hungover. god bless pat.
stoned stanley, aka douchy mcdoucherson, was wearing a che guevera shirt the first day, and lulu was in fits over this. (mind you, we'd seen a metric crap ton of che guevera stuff, and since lulu is cuban, and che ordered the torture and murder of thousands of cubans during the revolution, she gets to be a tad irritable over this.) it was one of those "arty"type shirts, too. later he took it off, but did not replace it with anything, merely going shirtless. (he was shirtless a good portion of the next day, too. and when we saw him in the market a couple days later.) also, he and a few others were smoking pot on the front of the boat the first day.
room hogging helga was the german girl on our boat, toting around 55 kilos of stuff. she was sitting on the flat decking near our seat, and had her stuff spread all over, and wouldn't move for the 2 spanish girls who were having trouble finding space (there was no assigned seating, and the boat was fairly full) because she "wanted to sleep later on".
on the train from kuala lumpur, malaysia to hat yai, thailand, we met kung fu kevin and grumpy gwenny. kung fu kevin started performing tai chi type moves in front of the door on the platform while we were waiting to reboard the train after clearing customs and immigration. also, he smelled as if he hadn't bathed in about 2 weeks. later, he had his right arm going through the neckline of his shirt, instead of the sleeve. note to men - the one shoulder look works for women, not so much for guys.
grumpy gwenny was carrying around 60 litre backpack (huge), and was reduced to wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants.
there was also a couple wearing matching striped pants that they had probably bought at a tourist market.
at our guest house in ayutthia, thailand, snarky suzy asked lulu if she would buy an elephant souvenir for her at one of the wats we would be visiting, since suzy hadn't had a chance to get it herself, yet. when lulu refused, suzy gave her a heap of attitude.
another guest there was shirtless shawn. at no point did we ever see him in a shirt.
on the "vip bus" from ayutthiya to chiang mai, drunken danny was sitting in front of us. he had been drinking so much, and was so dehydrated, that his feet were swollen, giving him cankles and sausage toes, and he reeked of booze.
his friend, lusty louie, was sitting across from him, and next to slutty svetlana. they were making out and giggling for the greater portion of the bus ride. you could hear them making out.
also, in the back row with us and right next to lulu since she was in the middle seat, were the french hippie couple. it smelled as if they had never bathed, and lulu swore that his feet were black. they kept invading lulu's seat, and she ended the trip smelling like them on her right side.
on our trip on the slow boat from chiang mai, thailand, to luang pra bang, laos, we encountered a few more people. first was friendly freddy and his laos girlfriend pat. the boat was scheduled to leave at about 10am, and he was already a bit toasty that morning, and kept drinking throughout the day. before we even had a chance to leave, he was misunderstanding instructions about customs and information on the trip. and once we were on the boat, there was an issue with one of the passengers and the purchase of her ticket. it turns out that the travel package she had purchased did not include the ticket on the slow boat. however, she did not appear to have realized this. so, while the nice lady and the girl were trying to figure it out, freddy kept butting in, trying to "fix" it', and made matters worse. we were delayed by about half an hour for this. the next day, he slept most of the trip, and we attribute this to pat. we think she made him not drink the second day, so he mostly slept, looking hungover. god bless pat.
stoned stanley, aka douchy mcdoucherson, was wearing a che guevera shirt the first day, and lulu was in fits over this. (mind you, we'd seen a metric crap ton of che guevera stuff, and since lulu is cuban, and che ordered the torture and murder of thousands of cubans during the revolution, she gets to be a tad irritable over this.) it was one of those "arty"type shirts, too. later he took it off, but did not replace it with anything, merely going shirtless. (he was shirtless a good portion of the next day, too. and when we saw him in the market a couple days later.) also, he and a few others were smoking pot on the front of the boat the first day.
room hogging helga was the german girl on our boat, toting around 55 kilos of stuff. she was sitting on the flat decking near our seat, and had her stuff spread all over, and wouldn't move for the 2 spanish girls who were having trouble finding space (there was no assigned seating, and the boat was fairly full) because she "wanted to sleep later on".
the toilet prayer
hail mary, mother of the digestive tract,
we thank you for the toilet.
and though we hope that it is western style with toilet paper,
we are thankful for a squat toilet with a sprayer.
and may our need for the toilet on public transport be small,
and may the toilets in our hostels and guest houses be clean,
and may we never need to pray to the porcelain god.
amen
we thank you for the toilet.
and though we hope that it is western style with toilet paper,
we are thankful for a squat toilet with a sprayer.
and may our need for the toilet on public transport be small,
and may the toilets in our hostels and guest houses be clean,
and may we never need to pray to the porcelain god.
amen
handy hints 1
in tropical climates, baby powder is your friend.
you should shower more, not less, if you are sweating.
those places you don't think you need baby powder? you do. apply lots. remember, if it works for babies, it works for you.
flowery scents? not your friend in places with lots of bugs.
try not to stand out. if other foreigners are looking at you strange, then locals are probably looking at you strange. and if the locals are not doing something, you probably shouldn't be doing it either.
always pack a clothes line. it doesn't take much space, and you never know when you'll need it.
if you have a chance to email, do it. you don't know when you'll have the next chance.
when mountain biking, leaning back helps to slow you, so you don't have to wear out the brakes so fast.
if you've been sweating for days, don't assume that when your skin starts to itch that it is not from dry skin. it probably is dry skin. sweating that long just keeps it from looking dry.
damp underwear are not as refreshing as they sound.
you should shower more, not less, if you are sweating.
those places you don't think you need baby powder? you do. apply lots. remember, if it works for babies, it works for you.
flowery scents? not your friend in places with lots of bugs.
try not to stand out. if other foreigners are looking at you strange, then locals are probably looking at you strange. and if the locals are not doing something, you probably shouldn't be doing it either.
always pack a clothes line. it doesn't take much space, and you never know when you'll need it.
if you have a chance to email, do it. you don't know when you'll have the next chance.
when mountain biking, leaning back helps to slow you, so you don't have to wear out the brakes so fast.
if you've been sweating for days, don't assume that when your skin starts to itch that it is not from dry skin. it probably is dry skin. sweating that long just keeps it from looking dry.
damp underwear are not as refreshing as they sound.
memorable quotes 1
after telling me the conversation she had with her mother about 'taking care of the poor white girls', lulu says - "i don't think there are any mcdonalds in cambodia. what will you eat?" i respond with - "i guess i'll just have to suffer through the tarantula."
lulu - "it's like a cup of liquified mango!"
me - "no, it IS a cup of liquified mango."
lulu - "i don't go hungry. i'm cuban. if i wanted to go hungry, i'd go to cuba."
me, after an epiphany in kuala lumpur, malaysia - "oh, my god! i'm exotic!"
lulu, in bangkok, after relating about having seen the protesters on tv waving an image of che guevera - "i'm friends everybody. except stinky tourists and the protesters. they're just uneducated about baby powder and communism."
mary, after seeing a bar named shakes - "shakes. that sounds like a bad gogo bar."
i respond with - "with dancers suffering from parkinson's."
lulu, on the 'vip bus' from ayutthia to chiang mai in thailand - "this bus is like a bad jar of habu sake on wheels."
a german tourist to lulu, about a fruit shake she just bought from a street vendor - "is it good?"
lulu - "yeah, it's good."
his dumb friend, mistaking lulu for a local - "what else are they going to say?"
seen on a pamphlet in a buddhist temple, this became our trip mantra - "it's easy to go to heaven, just be good."
lulu - "it's like a cup of liquified mango!"
me - "no, it IS a cup of liquified mango."
lulu - "i don't go hungry. i'm cuban. if i wanted to go hungry, i'd go to cuba."
me, after an epiphany in kuala lumpur, malaysia - "oh, my god! i'm exotic!"
lulu, in bangkok, after relating about having seen the protesters on tv waving an image of che guevera - "i'm friends everybody. except stinky tourists and the protesters. they're just uneducated about baby powder and communism."
mary, after seeing a bar named shakes - "shakes. that sounds like a bad gogo bar."
i respond with - "with dancers suffering from parkinson's."
lulu, on the 'vip bus' from ayutthia to chiang mai in thailand - "this bus is like a bad jar of habu sake on wheels."
a german tourist to lulu, about a fruit shake she just bought from a street vendor - "is it good?"
lulu - "yeah, it's good."
his dumb friend, mistaking lulu for a local - "what else are they going to say?"
seen on a pamphlet in a buddhist temple, this became our trip mantra - "it's easy to go to heaven, just be good."
Friday, May 7, 2010
ayutthaiya, bangkok
the ruins at wat chaiwatthanaram
remaining decorations
the steps leading up to the top
one of the buddhas in the corners of the walls
the ceilings at the wall corners
along the walls
remaining decorations
a broader view
the ruins of the ancient palace
view of the ancient palace
the giant golden buddha at wat phra si samphet
wat maha that
remaining decoration
part of the ruins
view of wat ratchaburana from wat maha that
a mostly intact buddha statue
the sandstone head of a buddha statue that has been overtaken by a bodhi tree, leaving only the head visible
the ruins
lulu and leah in front of the ruins
a golden buddha statue at wat yai chaya mongkol
the large stupa and the white buddhas behind it in the garden
the rows of buddhas around the walls
the large stupa
one of the smaller buildings housing a drum and bell
a reclining buddha covered in a gold cloth
there's a kneeling person for some perspective
an elephant at the theater where we saw the great show
me with a small stone elephant at the theater
at the ferry landing, people were throwing stale bread into he river for the fish. they were swarming in huge schools to fight over the food.
lulu and mary with the celebrants for the anniversary of the king's coronation
the marble temple, wat benchamabopitr
some of the ceilings at the marble temple
one of the many buddhas
the rows of buddhas lining the walls around the marble temple
the marble temple
a golden buddha statue at wat arun
wat arun
a view from the top of the stupa at wat arun
a shot of the side of the stupa
one of the smaller towers
one of the smaller outlying buldings at wat arun
the crowd at the palace, with the king's limo behind everone just left of center
wat arun, from the river
<----i climbed to this level, and were those stairs steep. we're talking 40 degree angle or steeper.
i can't remember what building this is, but you can see it from the river
a chinese temple on the river in bangkok
a tall pagoda
a pretty building
a view of the city from the river
me, mary, lulu, and leah at dinner in bangkok
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