Out of the Thailand, into the highway

The next leg of the trip was to find a way to Cambodia, and preferably to Siem Reap. I was aiming to avoid the border crossing at Aranya Prathet, mainly because that border is a shade-less wasteland with hundreds of thieves and scammers. Turned out it was the slightly less sketchy option, primarily because it's widely used by Western tourists, so I took the 2-3 hour bus ride down to the border, then a tuk-tuk ride to a place where they scam you into overpaying for a Cambodian visa (though not nearly as bad as they scam you elsewhere on the border, which I knew when I accepted this particular scam). After gathering together with a Brazilian woman and a Hawaiian-German couple, we managed to take a taxi for only $3 more than a fair price--and about $11 less per person than the driver originally asked for.

Bargaining in Southeast Asia is probably the best training I could get before going into Harvard Law: they're rigorous, they know how to read you and you have to know how to read them, and they'll fight you on ever last point they can muster.

After a 3 hour ride over the dirt roads, we arrived safe and sound at a decent guest house in Siem Reap, ready to lounge and read and rest up for the next day's whirlwind around some of the most famous ruins in the world.

Phanom Rung

Last I wrote here, I was on my way to take a tour of Khao Yai. Well the tour was mostly a bust, and a rip-off on several levels, none of which I need to get into here. One highlight (?) though--there was a male elephant in the road that we needed felt we needed to pass. The elephant disagreed. Everytime we got within maybe 30 yards of him, he'd start charging the truck. A motorbike was sort of creeping on his tail, thinking he'd be safe from behind. Wrong. The elephant turned tail so fast on that motorbike--think: the most nimble sumo wrestler you've ever seen--and the guy just barely escaped.

Anyway, I took a bus the next morning to go 3 hours east to the town (read: "town" with air quotes) of Nang Rong, which is the closest place to Phanom Rung Historical Park. I got in around noon and quickly hopped on the back of a moto-taxi--actually wound up hopping on and off of a few, since the first guy broke down halfway up the mountain and I had to hitch it the rest of the way up. In any case, I made it to Prasat Phanom Rung.

This was one of those lose-your-breath kind of places. Partly because it's at a higher altitude and it's a million degrees out and there's no shade...but mostly because of the ruins. Here's a good site with pictures of the place: http://www.sundial.thai-isan-lao.com/phanom_rung.html, and there are also a few good ones on my photo site: http://picasaweb.google.com/almarcus3408/KhaoYaiPhanomRungAndAngkorWat#

The Phanom Rung ones are toward the beginning on there. Anyway, the main ruins in the area are on top of this extinct volcano, with a real stunning view of the rice paddies in the valley below. Before you get to the ruins there is, in typical wat/temple fashion, a gorgeous but sort of arduous approach--a long stone pathway with all sorts of guardian statues, followed by some seriously steep steps. Steep as in, you have to use your hands and feet together to climb up the wall of steps. Once you're up there, the sun and the shadows and the beautiful light orange-red sandstone make a stunning combo. The sculptures on the outside are so well-preserved and very 3-dimensional (as opposed to the carvings at Angkor which, while incredibly detailed and aesthetically amazing, are bas-reliefs in stone and so they are much flatter). The style of the prangs (towers) was a good introduction to Angkorean architecture though. A sort of smaller, though maybe equally beautiful, Angkor Wat. A good appetizer, anyway.

After that, I kept going with my super-unreliable moto-taxi driver---this thing was like the Little Engine that Almost Could---over to Meaung Tam, one of the minor, though still really fun, ruins in the area.

Not only were the ruins awesome, but I was pretty much feeling like a boy-band member minus the talent--like a member of 98 Degrees that isn't Nick Lachey. About 5 different groups of between 3 and 10 girls each kept on grabbing my arm and giggling and getting their pictures taken with me. The boys in the groups had to suffer the humiliation of being the picture-takers haha. Now, allegedly this happens all the time with Thais and farangs (Westerners)--but I was really only getting the 12-16 female crowd. I know my demo, and I accept this.

One more thought--I vastly preferred Phanom Rung to either Khao Yai or Ayuthaya, and I think it was primarily because of the location. The "tourists" at Phanom Rung were almost exclusively Thais, and the town of Nang Rong is pretty far off the typical backpacker trail. Maybe I ran into 15 or 20 Westerners--including those at my guest house--over the course of my two days there.

Out of Bangkok

Yesterday morning I bade good riddance to Bangkok for a while--too much pollution, both of the environmental and Eurotrash variety. I took the train up to Ayuthaya, about an a hour and a half ride from Bangkok. It was the capital of one of the Thai empires about 700 or 800 years ago, but was sacked by the Burmese about 350 years back. The ruins are spectacular, and they sit right in the middle of the city. I rented a bike out for 30 baht (35 baht=$1) and toured the city and the ruins for a few hours. It's a pretty surreal experience to be biking through a modern, if smallish, city and come upon Angkorean prangs and some absolutely beautiful stupas.

Raced back to the hostel at 4 in the afternoon and caught a ride on the edge of a pickup bed with about 20 other ppl, headed to the river for a boat tour. Ayuthaya is an island encircled by a river, and some of the wats and ruins are on the other side. Not a bad way to spend a few hours.

Last night, I went to the night market with a Japanese student named Cage and an ex-Marine named Nicky. If I can help it, I try to only eat in the markets--the food's usually just as good or better, and it's always cheaper...40 baht for a big plate of chicken fried rice or pad thai.

This morning I took a train 2 hours east to Pak Chong, about 20 km from Khao Yai National Park. Unfortunately I didn't get in until 2 (train was late), so I'm stuck at the hostel until tomorrow morning--big day-long tour and such in the morning.

Bangkok Dangerous

Around noon on Sunday, I got into Bangkok and went straight to that den of iniquity and backpackerdom (although, compared to Bangkok's real dens of iniquity...hahaha) called Khao San Rd. Took a quick tuk-tuk ride out to Chatuchak Weekend Market with a few other travelers, then spent the rest of the day eating and browsing around the area. Next day I went to the Grand Palace and the Wat of the Emerald (read: Jade) Buddha. I'd been there last time I was in Thailand, so it wasn't totally new territory for me. I decided to go again because, the previous time, it was the 10,001st wat complex that I'd seen--in other words, I'd seen lots of amazing wats, and this was just another one...not that impressive at the time. Put simply: I'm glad I went again. Took a quick tuk-tuk ride over to a little side street where they hand-make monks' alms bowls, and then walked to the Golden Dome wat--some historical significance to the thing, but I was more impressed with the trees and the serenity in the middle of smelly, noisy Bangkok.

I finished off my night with a Thai massage, followed by a guest house-restaurant meal, reading my book for a few hours at the table, and enjoying my $1 watermelon shake and $1.50 pad thai.

A few other thoughts...

Crossing the street in Bangkok is one of the scariest everyday experiences I know of. Imagine crossing I-95, with a ton of motorcycles, cyclists, tuk-tuk drivers, buses, and absolutely no lanes. Now widen the highway a bit.

I know the guidebooks hate tuk-tuks, but man I think they are one of the foundational Bangkok experiences. Yea you can't listen to the drivers when they say things are closed, and they will absolutely do their best to scam you and harass you. But if you go in knowing those things and you let them know that you know, then you can really enjoy yourself on one of those things. (A tuk-tuk is a motorized pedicab--ubiquitous in this country, especially the cities.) They are Bangkok's answer to Thunder Mountain, minus the safety constraints. With Thunder Mountain, you look at the ride itself and you think, "Well, a few minor thrills, but nothing too bad. Looks fun." Same deal for a motorized pedicab-ride around town, until you loosen the axles and get rid of traffic laws, the sanity of the operator, etc.

If you go to Thailand, get a Thai massage. They cost you maybe $6 or $7 for an hour. Parts of it hurt like hell, parts of it are uncomfortable--for instance, when the nice old lady massages and stretches your groin muscle--but you will leave walking on air.

Hong Kong

It's been just over a week since I left the US now, and this is my first real chance to sit and collect my thoughts, i.e. I'm sort of stuck at the guest house for the rest of the day + internet use is free. Here's the basic rundown so far....(and btw, my memory card fried, so no pictures yet...grrr...)



Landed in Hong Kong pretty late in the evening on January 14th after a solid 16 hour flight from New York. I have to say, it wasn't a bad 16 hours. They feed you really well, and you can't beat the in-flight TV and movies. I took the opportunity to watch Wall-E, which is a quality flick, but there was one minorly disturbing thought that I couldn't get away from: why was I a little bit attracted to the lady robot, Eve? Not that I wanted to sleep with her or anything, but I mean, if I were going to make it with one of the two robots, there's no question in my mind that Wall-E would be on the sidelines.



I went to the cheapest place I knew of, which is this half-tenement, half-super skeezy shopping area, and 100% fire hazard. After wading my way through solidly 25,000 Indian touts (I don't want your food, I don't need a guest house, and no I don't want any of your Gdamned tailored suits) to get to the elevator, went to the 7th floor where I had my room and private bathroom. Actually, "room" would be overstating the case. It was maybe 6' x 3', and the "bathroom" was no more than 7 sq. ft., including the cold shower. An engineering feat, really. Chungking Mansions--the name of this place--reminded me pretty closely of the bar scene in Star Wars. That's really the only descriptor that comes to mind.

The next morning...or afternoon...or night...or whichever my body thought it was, I got my bearings on Hong Kong Island, wandered around Central and Soho, took the Star Ferry back and forth a bit for the view, had outstanding dim sum at the city hall, etc. That afternoon, I went to meet the head of the UNC alumni club in HK--a British Morehead '94 named Alex MacMillan. Met him at an art gallery where there was this private event, some presentation put on by this boutique hotel marketing firm. Beautiful hotels in their group, but it was a bit difficult for me to watch---the most expensive, souped-up hotels that jetsetters and businessmen and no doubt beautiful well-dressed people go to....and here I am, the dirty kid staying in Chungking. Felt like a fish on a cactus. In any case, Alex was a heck of a nice guy, treated me to dinner at a nice British place in Soho (escalators take you up the hill...neat-o) and we had a great long chat.

The next two days were an exercise in killing time. HK is great, but nothing--nothing--costs less than $10-15. Any way, I managed to take the Victoria Peak Tram up to the highest point in HK for some beautiful views, and hit up a few markets and museums. Also, went to Shabbos evening services at the Ohel Leah Synagogue, where a Mr. Ellis took me with his young daughter home for dinner (the rest of the family were at home). Nice American family, though really all the kids were raised in HK.

Sunday morning was an early one, getting up at 5 to catch a bus for the airport, and it was off to Bangkok.