wanderlust

Welcome to Bali...Land of the Gods. I have been conspiculously absent the last few days because...well, I was just relaxing. I did not take any pictures in Bali, yet; I have a total of 9 more days here so a lot of opportunity to take photos. I am just relaxing. Tomorrow the exploration starts by way of a rental car.

I must say that so far I find the island and its people charming, almost intoxicating. The Balinese are famous for their peaceful, humble attitudes that make this place so special and, well, the attraction of hordes of tourists. Fortunately, it is not yet high season (school breaks and such do not start until next month), so it is blessedly quiet here.

Expect some amazing images of this island over the next week and a half, at which time I will be headed to China.

Today I travelled from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in southern Vietnam.

My 36 minute Vietnam Airlines flight was very empty - I was one of 25 passengers aboard an Airbus A320. I love state-sponsored businesses; who needs to make money when you have national pride to account for? Vietnam Airlines runs something like 7 flights daily to Siem Reap from Ho Chi Minh City alone, compared to one from Singapore.

Anyway, it was almost the trip that was not to be. I really fell for Cambodia; I was close to changing my travel plans to spend an extra 5 days seeing more of the country. In the end, my ticket was not refundable so I changed it to the last flight of the day, arriving at 7:30pm. This is an important point, I am foreshadowing here.

Now is a good time to tell you that if you choose to travel to Vietnam, make sure your visa is in good order. I thought I was all prepared; I exited the plane, stepped down the stairs (parked away from the terminal), entered the bus - the first to deplane! The bus driver shut the door and drove off leaving...the other 24 passengers stranded. Hmm. Turns out he thought I was a business class passenger. Heh.

So I march into immigration with my documents and hand them over. 5 minutes later, my immigration officer calls over a second, then third, then fourth person to confer. This fourth officer looks at me and smiles and says:

"Your visa no good; you make for arrival in May 22. Today April 22. Cannot enter."

I was...calm, sort of; sorting through options in my head, looking for a way out. I politely suggest that maybe the consulate in San Francisco made a mistake. They shake their head, "no, no mistake. Visa no good for one more month."

I was shuffled off to the senior officer's humble interrogation room. He enters; asks the purpose of my visit and why I am arriving exactly one month before my visa is valid. He leaves the room for 20 minutes. Gulp. I am envisioning a long and possibly unsavory evening ahead as it is now 8:30 and options for escaping to one of a few countries for which I do not need a visa is dwindling.

Officer reenters; laughs. Says, "your visa no good until May. Because you nice, we issue you a new one now; you wait until my senior come back from dinner and he do it for you."

I could see his senior through the door - he was eating dinner at his desk, reading a newspaper. I know because another 20 minutes goes by and that fellow gets up, slowing meanders his way around and into my little room.

He also laughs; says, "what a mistake, to come one month early. Never see that before. Where you from?"

"San Francisco, US."

"AH, my brother live there, he owns a restaurant in San Francisco. You like Vietnamese food?"

"Yes, very much."

"AHHH, good, you have to visit his restaurant [mumbles some name] when you go home. You promise me you visit?"

"YES. LOOKING FORWARD ALREADY SIR."

"This your first trip in Vietnam?"

"Yes sir."

"OK. I get you a new visa because you nice. Without visa then normal thing is to send you away but I make exception."

Phew. I give him $25, he goes away, and comes back with a new visa in my passport. I bow repeatedly, thank him, and go back through immigration. Then I retrieve my luggage and, as I am now the only person in the airport it seems, a surly customs officer decides to take issue and do an inspection. Sigh.

About 20 "what are these for" and 10 "where did you buy this" later he loses interest and just walks away. I assumed he was done and so packed up my things and bolted before another obstacle stood in my way. Am now safely tucked into my hotel and looking forward to visiting mr. senior officer's brother's restaurant mmf duc mmf, or whatever the name is, when I arrive home.

So like I said, coming to Vietnam? Make sure your visa is in order.

I took about 20 pictures of this beautiful Buddha. I have learned that finding an original Buddha intact is difficult among the Angkor temples. First, as many of the temples are of Hindu origins, the Buddhas were not original; they were added later. Over the centuries various elements have gotten to them - wind, rain, sun, theft, destruction.

I was awestruck by this Buddha - although you cannot see it in this picture, he has a very handsome face; there are also traces of gold and jewels left, which is quite rare among the temples.

Angkor Wat was originally built as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu in the 1100s by then King Suryavarman. Over the next 900 years, as the kingdom of Cambodia changed, so did Angkor Wat - alternating between a Hindu temple and it's purpose today, a Buddhist temple.

Nobody actually lives in Angkor Wat now; it is protected by UNESCO and is undergoing renovations and restoration work. A lot of monks from Cambodia visit regularly. This group of three of them caught my eye because of their bright orange robes and were happy to practice their English.

I hired a guide (a taxi driver) to show me around to the temples today (Weds.) and the rest of the week. Last night he took me to a local restaurant - a charming outdoors kind of place at the end of a dark street, with lights strung across the large patio.

Not being at all familiar with Cambodian cuisine I put myself in his hands. He ordered us about 4 different dishes. The first arrived - grilled sliced beef with chile peppers and basil. OK, it was about as good as grilled beef can be - tender, juicy. Finish beer #1.

The next course arrived - stewed spicy local farmed frog with basil and whole garlic. Finish beer #2 before taking a bite; helps the prepare the palate for what was actually a tasty morsel of frog.

Third course arrived - now is a good time to mention that this restaurant is dark and so making out the shape and form of the dishes, especially after now 3 beers, was incredibly difficult. I hesitated to ask, but did - my guide, Pon, replied "oh it is a local Cambodian specialty." It was greasy but not too much, slimy but firm, and had a strange game taste. "Local snake, grilled with special sauce," he says after we finish. Down beer #4.

By now the beer is kicking in and life is good. Each dish, accompanied with a beer, tastes better than the last. The final dish arrives - I can see it is small, only a few pieces on the plate. The smell is at once pungent garlicky and sweet. Turns out this is a true delicacy but he tells me he cannot think of the English word for it. "Is it an animal or a plant," I ask hesitantly.

"A little bit both, it is a Cambodian special dish."

I survived intact, no illness setting in yet. It is worth saying that the food was, in sum, fantastic - flavors were fresh and alive, not to mention inexpensive - the total for 7 beers (4 for me, 3 for him) and 4 dishes was USD10. If only I can get out of him what that last bit of food was...

This is the fence of what I was told is an old Hindu temple. Cambodia is 90+% Buddhist today; it has a history of Hinduism (Angkor Wat being a massive example of Hindu architecture). Whether Buddhist or Hindu, this temple is in the middle of Siem Reap along the decaying river. It was not massively gorgeous in sum; but I found the fence lining the street interesting for the repetition.

I told many of you that I do not take pictures of people for three reasons - first, people just do not buy pictures of other people they do not know. Second, especially in Asia, there is a cultural aversion by some to having pictures taken (it steals the soul). Third, I just am not good at it.

I could not resist this little tyke though; she was so adorable, really, and just was begging for her picture to be taken. She is a precious example of what I am finding among Cambodians - general friendliness and curiousity. I also bought one of her mom's mangoes - ooh, wow. Good.

About this photo: I took several of her in this same position. This one turned out the most haunting, I believe, due to her expression. I also believe it turned out to be the most beautiful and poignant; consider what Cambodians have endured during the 1970s.

I flew from Bangkok to Siem Reap in Cambodia this morning. It is a short flight - just over 200 miles, 40 minutes or less. One airline has the monopoly on the route - Bangkok Airways - and charges a nominal THB5575 (~USD157) one-way as a result. Nevertheless, considering the alternative - driving overland at an estimated 10 hours - the cost of the flight seemed a bargain.

Arrival in Siem Reap airport is a step back in time. Upon arrival over palm studded but otherwise mostly barren plains, aircraft are forced to turn around on the runway as there are no taxiways. Consistent with other smaller airports there are no jetways; they just park, swing the door open wide, throw down some stairs and set people off across a bubbling tarmac towards the terminal.

The terminal itself is one large open building with a door each for domestic and international arrivals - you must be careful not to choose the wrong one. The airport sees just a few arrivals in a day and so our arrival set about 40 otherwise immobile people into action. One could imagine the terminal floor plan being used for any number of things - a market, shoe warehouse, a manufacturing facility. In this instance, it houses the visa office (they are issued upon arrival), passport control (two booths and a fold up card table) and the baggage claim, a simple circular conveyor belt that pierces the wall in two places to drop luggage inside the building. That said, this "new" airport is a major leap forward for this small town and is one of the reasons the number of tourists has gone up.

The drive into town, about 20 minutes, yields in-your-face tourism expansion among the shantys; hotels going up as fast as the Khmer can build them, and supporting facilities to accompany. My driver told me that people were moving to Siem Reap from the countryside to build these facilities, bringing along their entire families in the process and setting up camps outside the construction site. They later try for work in the hotel itself once work is completed. I was pleased to find something that I did not see in Bangkok - pedestrian crossings with walk/no walk signals. What progress!

Tomorrow I will visit the much revered Wat Angkor; but first, I spent some time wandering around Siem Reap.

Now, some much awaited photos for your enjoyment.

I was out footing around Bangkok all day - exploring some of its antique stores, downing the spiciest green papaya salad I have EVER encountered and generally acclimating. I left my camera behind to give myself a break.

I showed up back at my hotel and found a note slipped under my door. Edited for length:

"April 18, 2006

Dear Guest,

We wish to inform you that Thailand will be holding the General Elections for Senators on Wednesday, April 19, 2006."

Great! Can I vote? What does this have to do with me?

"Government regulations require that no alcoholic beverages be served from 6:00 p.m. of Tuesday April 18 until 12:00 midnight of Wednesday, April 19, 2006."

It goes on to say that as such, the bars and restaurants will not be serving any alcohol. Some elections - like our last presidential one - are so painful and demoralizing that alcohol is the only way to cope. Guess Thailand likes its voters sober and clear headed when headed to the polls.

This morning I braved Chatuchak Market in Bangkok's north side.

For the uninitiated, the market comes off as dirty and flea-marketlike. However, this is a major weekend market and sells mostly first quality, new items; it also sells fighting cocks, fried bugs of all sorts and all sorts of other food items. I did not spend a lot of time there - it was insanely hot and crowded, and I am jet-lagged on top of it all.

I was amused on the way home to read a sign on the BTS, Bangkok's mass transit rail system. It was positioned above one seat and read:

"Please give this seat to monks." Sure enough, one got on a few stops later and the person sitting in his seat stood up and gave it to him. Classy.

I was greeted this evening by a very friendly TSA agent in the SFO international security area.

First, I refused to remove my shoes - hey, these socks are new, I am not getting them dirty! So I got a "male primary inspection" for that. Then they decided to swab all of my camera equipment for the explosives that I am not carrying. Fine. Go ahead.

I'll give it to her, she was friendly. She even asked a question that made my day - "are you a professional photographer?" I was so happy someone recognized and acknowledged me before my trip even begins! I said, "well, do not know about professional but yes I am a photographer."

She retorts - "do you work for National Geographic?" "no."

She pointed and said, "that guy over there is a professional, he works for National Geographic."

sting. I considered going into the "I am just starting out, have to start somewhere, not everyone can work for National Geographic" thesis but faced the truth - I was too honest.

I have flown dozens of international flights in the last 8 years; Paris, Milan, Hong Kong, Delhi, Singapore, Seoul...so on.

So why is this 24 hr countdown to a simple routing - at least by comparison to my other trips - so nerve wracking? I am flying SFO-Hong Kong-Singapore-Bangkok, a flight I have made before.

I guess what makes this different is my perspective - this is beginning of the trip of a lifetime. The sheer length and itinerary make it memorable; the thought that it will enable my new career as a photographer makes it even more poignant. I have so many expectations and desires for this trip that I can barely fit it all in one mind.

Will it be everything I hoped it would? Keep comin' back here, as my next post will be from Bangkok and I will begin to let you know how it is progressing.

I woke up this morning in an alarmed state of panic - "I overslept, I am late." Then the other side of my brain awakened and I realized that, oh, I am not late for anything. I have nowhere to go.

True there's the week's errant appointment, none of which are today; there is also a long list of "ingredients" for my 4 month trip RTW. So I DO have things to accomplish today.

The first stop on my journey is Bangkok. Maybe you are asking, "why Bangkok?"

Ever heard of Star Alliance award availability? Taking what I could get got me to Bangkok.

I was watching the protests denouncing PM Thaksin in Thailand over the last couple of weeks. Nothing remotely violent but protestors did snarl traffic in Bangkok more than a few times, and that would have made travel difficult.

It is all over now, as Thaksin has resigned.

Tomorrow is the last day of work - this is truly the beginning of my new journey. I am not sure what to feel.

Some options:
A - excitement, new beginnings!
B - nausea, new beginnings!
C - numbness, it is a loss of routine
D - jump up and down I am so excited I cannot stand it