Asia Pictures And Videos

 Below are links to some 700 + pictures and twelve videos. I apologize for the shots of my thumb, the ground, and utter blackness, but hopefully there aren't too many of those. I hope you find a few images that convey to you the moments of wonder and astonishment, of horror and joy and the undeniable resiliency of the human spirit that I experienced .

Most especially let me thank you for letting me share this journey with you. The encouragement I have received from so many people means a lot to me.

My best wishes to you and your families.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas Day.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com
 



VIDEOS ARE  here


PICTURES (click the text link to see album)

Bangkok

Siem Reap and Temples

Tuol Sleng and The Killing Fields of Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh To Saigon

Saigon To Hanoi

Halong Bay

The Curious Case Of The Missing Contact Lens Case

Image via Wikipedia

Unbelievably my contact lens case is missing. Again. After an epic search of Saigon to replace the one I had left behind in Phnom Penh, I am back to square one. I am utterly convinced that the maid in my hotel in Hanoi threw it out.

I wear contact lenses every day and have for years. It is as integral to me as my toothbrush, which was also thrown out, by the way. That is at least forgivable as it was in a squished cardboard sleeve that could easily be mistaken for garbage.

I can only surmise that whoever is cleaning my room does not know what a contact lens case looks like, nor what it is for, and once again I am reduced to using two water bottle caps to store my contacts in. This is not a big problem, until one needs to travel.

After searching fruitlessly through department and drug stores in Saigon, when I finally stumbled upon an eyeglass store that had what I needed I felt like I had won the lottery. I practically wept with joy at the sight of it and briefly considered forming a cult to worship the lady who sold it to me.

And now after an all too brief and mercurial relationship my contact lens case is gone again.

Rest assured I shall never forget its hourglass figure, or the way the threads of your lid meshed perfectly with your circular torso. I'll always remember how left was white and right was purple, the colour of royalty.

Alas, we'll always have Saigon, no one can take that away from us.

I have accepted the fact that while in Asia there will never be another like you. I have stoically accepted the fact that the best I can do in Indochina is two water bottle caps.

Now I will settle for fashioning a lid on my water bottle caps using scotch tape, but using this retrograde receptacle is the equivalent of dating a crack whore after knowing Marylin in the biblical sense.

Farewell contact lense case, surely you were the wind beneath my wings.

Now does anyone know where I can find some scotch tape in this town?

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

unPHOgettable

Image by °Florian via Flickr

If you are going to travel in Asia, I strongly reccomend that you cast aside your silly fears and plunge in to the gastronomic treasure trove of cheap eats that abound.

There are only three rules:

• Be open and adventurous
• Follow the locals
• The hotel dining room should only be used for breakfast, only because it represents the closest access to coffee

Throw away all pretensions of dining and you will be richly rewarded. If you are prepared to crouch on a miniscule stool on a sidewalk blessings will rain upon you from the culinary gods above. Not only will you swoon at the cavalcade of flavour, you will save a great deal of money and be given unteachable insights into the local culture.

From a bowl of Tom Yam soup consumed inches from Bangkok traffic, to stellar Khmer barbecue eaten as hookers try to sell me their wares, to a bowl of Vietnamese Pho served in the wee smalls of a drunken evening, the dirt cheap gastronomic riches abound with nary a tablecloth in sight.

Recipes perfected through the centuries and served with a pride that MacDonalds and its mass produced bretheren could never comprehend are ubiquitous. And don't even get me started on the orgasmic delicacy that is Vietnamese iced coffee.

I must confess however that I did break form one evening in Phnom Penh and went for a gnosh at The Foreign Correspondants Club. The very name conjures images of late seventies journalists rushing to get that last dispatch out to the telex as Pol Pot's henchmen come marching down the road. The thing is however, that the joint has only been open for about ten years. The branding was brilliant enough to fool a New York times travel writer, causing a retraction to be subsequently printed. Nonetheless, the gorgeous French Colonial building overlooking the river provided a great ambience while I supped on some Osso Buco.

Gotta run, I'm feeling a little peckish.

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Watching The Game

Image via Wikipedia

So after a fruitless search for a contact lens case to replace the one I left behind in Phnom Penh, I throw in the towel and find a small watering hole filled with locals. The place is jammed and I am squeezed into a chair by a wall, using a tiny footstool as my table.

I am the only non Vietnamese person in the joint, which suits me just fine. You don't find places like this from the window of the tour bus. The reason the place is packed is due to a Thailand-Vietnam soccer match, part of an Asian tournament. Of course I am cheering for Vietnam, given my burgeoning respect for the people here and my secret crush on the city of Saigon. Plus the waitresses are devastatingly charming.

Thailand scores in the second half to take a 1-0 lead, and the energy in the bar sinks like a hot air baloon with a very large leak. In the final seconds of regulation Vietnam is awarded a penalty kick, which is successfully executed. The place explodes in bedlam, and I find myself joining the crowd on its feet in celebration. I am glowing with happiness, not for myself, but as an expression of delight at the exuberance around me.

The game ends in a draw, but it feels like a victory. I stumble out into the Saigon night, greeted by a parade of cars and scooters honking and waving flags. For a brief instance I feel like I am back in Toronto during the World Cup.

It may be hard to see sometimes, but there is so much more in this world that bring us together when compared with the few things that keep us apart. I guess its all about perspective.

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Bright Lights, Big City

Image by postaletrice via Flickr

After a few days of self imposed convalesence in Phnom Penh, I am feeling well enough to travel, but not necessarily well. I catch a late morning bus headed into Vietnam, destination Saigon.

It is about a six hour trip, including the border crossing. After clearing the frontier Saigon should only be a few hours down the road. As the bus drones on into the late afternoon, I begin to doze off, wishing I had a Snickers bar.

Suddenly I wake up and the scene around me causes my eyes to bulge out of my head. I must admit that I had not really done a lot of research on Saigon, which is why I was utterly unprepared for the scene that I awoke to.

It is rush hour, and as we navigate our way through the major urban intersections, it is apparent that the scooter/motorbike rules here. At each red light they idle eight across and thirty deep in all directions.

Saigon makes Bangkok feel small and easily out bustles New York. As for quaint little Toronto, you're very cute,  but fuhgetaboutit.

I have developed a system for crossing the clogged streets here, which I call the Pray n' Go. The fact that there will never be a clear path means that you must conquer the crossing a few feet at a time, trying not to be rattled by the traffic as it swirls around you in all directions. During one such crossing in particularly heavy traffic I was becoming very flustered at my inability to get across when I heard a friendly voice say hi to me. It was a man with his wife and young daughter. He held out his hand to me and motioned for me to take it. He led me across the street and gave me one of my sweetest memories of the trip. Those are the kind of people you run into in Vietnam.

Saigon is a truly magnificent gem, and why anyone would bother with tourist addled Bangkok and all its false nicety when they could be here is beyond comprehension. Viva Saigon!

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Phnom Penh Mannix

Image via Wikipedia

After getting back to my hotel from Tuol Sleng, The Killing Fields, and The Grand Palace, I am happy that I was able to accomplish so much on my first day in Cambodia's capital. I lay on my bed and begin to realise that the weird sensations afflicting me are not the product of emotion and sun exposure. Periodically, I have been having odd head rushes, as if the Purple Microdot is about to kick in. Sadly, it never does.

I have a chronic cough, chills, sweats, and my ears are plugged, making communication even more arduous. In addition, every joint in my body aches. Realising that I cannot continue to travel in this state, I confine myself to my bed for a few days, slithering out from the confines of the Jockey Hotel only when necessary.

On one such sojourn I am dining streetside, look out at the very busy Monivong Blvd. As I gnosh away, I am buoyed to see the staff gather for an evening meal. I like places that feed their staff as it says something about the integrity of the ownership, especially in a country this poor.

I request my bill, glance at it and pull out some Riel to settle. Suddenly, an audible gasp rises from the patio. I look up to see a scooter careening off the small median, struggling to regain its balance. About ten feet behind the scooter I see a pedestrian trying to do the same. Clearly she is stunned and injured.

The scooter, having recovered its equilibrium, begins to race off into the night when out of nowhere a Phnom Penh Mannix runs after him and horsetackles driver and scooter, sending both crashing to the ground in a way that puts me in the mind of The Calgary Stampede.

All of this happens in the span of about eight seconds. I commend the young man, his reaction was not considered, but instinctive, reinforcing my notion that most people do the right thing in the unconsidered instance.

A crowd gathers around both involved parties. One women on a scooter has pulled over and appears to have some medical acumen. The women is laid down on the median, and eventually an ambulance arrives. I hope her injuries are no too serious.

Phnom Penh Mannix, you will never read this, and I will never know who you are, but I am humbled by your instinctive decency. Thank you for teaching me.

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Tuol Sleng - S21

Tuol Sleng is a former school in the heart of Phnom Penh. It was later converted to an interrogation and torture chamber. Prisoners would pass through here before being shipped off to The Killing Field.

As I walk through here I find it difficult to maintain my composure. I hear gasps and sobs coming from others around me. The severity of this abomination against the human spirit makes this place by far the worst thing I have ever seen. Perhaps the recentness of the events here gives it more impact.

This happened in my lifetime, I tell myself, shaking my head with disbelief. I avert my gaze from the others around me, fearing even the most minor connection with another human being will send me into some uncontrollable emotional abyss.

Note the juxtoposition of the bed frame used to torture people and the classroom blackboard.

I have no more words.

We, The Pamperazzi

Tonight as I left Khao San Road, I saw two Thai children of about four years old playing happily. Normally, this would be a scene that would bring a twinkle to my eye, but this image was different.

The children were playing with a pile of garbage. I thought briefly about taking a picture, but given that it was late in the evening, a flash would be required, and in addition, I am uncomfortable with the idea of taking such a picture without permission from the parents.

I turned away as my eyes began to well up at the sheer inequity of human existence.

When I had the privilege of seeing Bill Clinton speak this summer, the thing that struck me most was his statement that " if you were given any choice about what to do with your life, you are among an elite one or two percent of all the human beings who have ever walked this planet".

My guess is that those kids I saw tonight are not among that elite percentile.

I wish that I had been able to take that picture so that I could show it to myself and my fellow Canadians when we begin to whine because our petty little desires are not being met.

The more I travel, the more I realise what a petty bunch of self absorbed people many of us are.

So much to be grateful for, yet so little gratitude.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

From The Theoretical To The Real

So in a few weeks I am going to points unknown. Passport? check. Vaccines and meds? check. Plane ticket? check.

One month of my life soaking in as much of the human experience as I can.

From the bloated and fat sex tourists of Bangkok, to the magic of Angkor Wat, the despair of  the Killing Fields and S-21.  Saigon, Phnom Penh, Hanoi, Halong Bay and Hue and god knows what in between.

Its the adventure of a lifetime, and I am so blessed that the stars aligned to give me this opportunity. Hopefully, I'll find the right moment to give back along the journey.

http://goyestoeverything.com