Herbie's Hello tour through SEAsia

Sin Chaow...Sue-iss Duh-ay...Sue-asty kop...Salam...Sabadii

I practice on little kids first, their the easiest, they respond positively to anything a funny looking white guy with long hairs growin outta his face says. After I work up my confidence I try it out with older people, if they smile then it really doesnt tell me much about my pronunciation, when they reply (with something i understand) then its stellar, usually with a bright surprised smile on their face, people are so easily turned to giggle around here.

After a while let loose and I am saying it to damn near everybody, teens, women, cops, food workers, westerners, security guards(they welcome anything new to cut the boredom), etc.

Driving, sitting, eating, walking, if anybody makes eye contact then it is ON, if they dont make eye contact then it is still on, then they make eye contact, then its really ON!

Sometimes they stop, and im pretty sure they are askin me if I speak the language. To which I respond with "pokito" (spanish) or "lek lek" (Thai) along with the hand gesture using my index and thumb to show a little.

I also make a point to learn the "cheers" for each of the places (all in the name of research (bhhuuuurp):)

Mo Hi Bha, YO!

Jul kaew Moy

Chook-tee

Sin Chaow...Sue-iss Duh-ay...Sue-asty kop...Salam...Sabadii

Lemme tell ya a little sumpthin bout Nam

First stop, Sapa! (after Dien Bien Phu)

All the tribe women knew better English then any of the restaurant or hotel workers. They were of course hawking tours of their villages, had a interesting spin on it though, they would give you a cotton bracelet so they knew they spoke to you before, not sure if there is a whole system of territory with certain colors or patterns designated to a specific tribe or tribal lady, +10 for inventiveness! Great French feel to the architecture and fooooooood, pastries galooor-eous :) And the views where freaking amazing with all the rice fields on the mountains, B-A-U-TIFUL!

Hanoi didn't impress me much, although I didn't give it much of a chance. Only stayed one night because travel mates wanted to get going to Halong bay and the heat of the city kept me from disagreement.

Halong bay was freakin amazing, look at the pics, not much more can be said...

Except that it was crazy how even while in the water, those damn women still tried selling you stuff, more funny then bothersome, especially with the amazing pineapple and mangostein and dragon fruits they where touting.

The north is def more pushy in selling and ripping you off though, i talked to an old Swedish guy who has been through V-Nam for many years and he says its because of it being more strict in its Communist practice and thus not having any incentive to rip people off without getting a reward, just recently the rules have been laxed so it is of some profit to the individual. The south, on the other hand, has been ripping people off for ages, so he believes that they have settled into a balance between cost/benefit, where they still do it but it isn't as often or forceful. It might hit harder if we where talking about more then an extra dollar :) But its not so much about the money, more the feeling of getting taken advantage of, or not being treated as an equal, and it doesn't help when as soon as you fork over the cash they start to snicker with delight.

For whatever reason I have met more cool people, and just people in general, in Nam. Thinking it might be because fewer people speak english and, esp in the north, they are less friendly, so maybe people are looking for a reprieve. Nha Trang is a great place to party, drink Bia Hoi (about 1.50/pitcher of San Miguel), watch the world cup with people from all over the world, kite surf!!!, paragliding, sun bathe, swim, there is a sweet water/amusement park on an island close by connected by cable car, (moderately) cheap hostels, cheap sea food (but only certain times of day, you can only get certain things at specific times(?!)), scuba diving, snorkeling, etc etc etc...

The museums where a nice break from all the food, although very bias!

Went to the war remanence museum to find very graphic photos of the war. It was unabashedly showing how badly the north Vietnamese where treated with no indication of anyone but Americans doing the
deed. Picture after picture after graph after propaganda poster it told how the US was the opposition, with no mention about the south Vietnamese' struggle for democracy ever since the country was divided in 1948 after the French where defeated in Dien Bien Phu.

Charts and pictures describing the US with an emphases on how many women and children where killed. Then, later in the same museum, and more so in the women's museum, women and children where congratulated for their efforts in the war (whhhaaaa???????). They showed children holding guns along side their parents on propaganda posters and reprinted T-shirts. All for Uncle Ho and his catch-22.

Checked out a really fun foster home while heading up the Ho Chi Min Hwy.

Some little city in between, down a dirt road, we found a pile of scarred battered and bruised little tikes lookin for fun (and dry pants).
















They where cuuuuraaaaaazzzyyyyy, they where death defying, blater bathing, climbing cat curious, slap happy, hard-core real-deal juveniles with no time to waste. They had scrapes, scratches, marks, scars, fresh layed stitches, cicatrizing wounds and any other trama to the flesh you can find on dictionary.com.
If they find a stick everybody is gettin hit with it
If they get up off the ground somebodies comin crashing down

There is no ratio of worker-to-whippersnapper thats gonna keepem all corralled.
They are full fledged and full hearted, a killer combo which usually leaves them face down, but not for long. Moma aint come runnin for awhile now so they learnt a little quicker to walk it off and jump back in the action. No joke, one of the kids would clench his fists and teeth and start convulsing when he got really excited. They would run at me full steam, diving head first.

THEY DEFINE RECKLESS ABANDON

Anything to feel that soft resistance avoiding their self destruction.

Love you!!!

A douse o Laos w/Laotians

Laos is really beautiful. All the mountains with sectioned off areas of farming on steep patches with little huts to hide from the sun, the huge rocks jetting up from the mighty Mekong, its very lush and mountainous similar to NZ but about one and a half hell of a lot hotter. Its actually not too bad, some cities ive been holds the heat in the concrete so you cant get away from it, day or night. There are no 7-11's like Thailand (where they are EVERYWHERE) so no dependable escape from the heat for a quick breath of freon and no dependable fixed prices to gauge your ripped-offedness.

One noticeable thing is the peoples demeanor. Time after time I see people just sitting and staring blankly. Not quite like the physically tired and thought exhausted stare Ive seen in the western world, they dont snap out of it when they move or when you talk to them, they just continue in slow motion. Its kind of like a patiently waiting for nothing type of thing, they arent really doing anything externally or internally, which isnt so much of a bad thing except it doesnt seem like they are engaged with being there. It probobly has something to do with Laos continuing to be a large part of the golden triangle, it being the poorest of SE Asia, and being so isolated historically through trade and geographically landlocked. Althou, they arn't always so passive with life. A lot of the time they are playing like children regardless of age. Its great to see grandparents, parents and kids playing in the river at afternoon bath time.


Another thing ive noticed is how they treat foreigners, not as much through interest, like Thais, but more judgmental (even more so (x10) in north Vietnam). Ive heard theories that its because of being charged with socialism/communism from China and the Soviet Union. I dont wanna get to deep into all this, mostly because I know so little about it, but its understandable striving toward a classless society, where all is equal, but it seems, currently, to be at the expense of creativity and individuality. I havent seen much creativity and the people seem more judgmental of people who are different, people who look different (aka, having a silly mooostache).

Luang Prabang
When I first got there I noticed alot of butterflies but didnt think too much of it, later, when visiting a silk shop, reading how the silk was harvested I figured it out where they all came from.
Spicy Laos was a hostel I stayed at. Got to meet alota B-packers I hung out with. They also give a discount to a couple people to help out by hanging out with customers and organizing events or trips to bars/dinner/to the night market, etc, because they are fluent in english.The manager speaks very good english and gave talks on basics of Buddhism and on some history of some of SE Asia languages and history of territories .
ie:
The Emerald Buddha (w/bone-of-Buddha inside) was a prized possession in SE Asia that he told us about. I visited alot of the temples where it has stayed but didnt realize the connection till he explained it to us.
The Emerald Buddha has been to India then Burma then Sri Lanka to save it from Burmese civil war, then it was being shipped back to Burma when it was lost at sea and ended up in Cambodia. After Thais captured Ankor Wat in the 13th Century, they took the Statue to the capital, at that time, of Ayutthaya.

Then it was moved to Chang Rai where some monks of the Lanna people in northern Thailand hid the statue inside a stucco Buddha figure to mask its significance. It was rediscovered when lightning struck a pagoda, knocking the statue to the ground, cracking the outer casing and revealing the emerald Buddha. The Buddha was moved to Chiang Mai in 1468 where it was kept at Wat Chedi Luang


The little green guy was kept in Chiang Mai until 1552, when it was then taken to Luang Prabang, then the capital of the lao kingdom, and moved to Vientiane a couple years later to the new capital.

In the 16th century a Thai General captured Vientiane and returned the Emerald Buddha to Siam and placed it at its current resting site at Wat Phra Kaew. (The grand palace (Wat Phra Kaew) was too $$ so I didnt go, but thnx Wiki for the pici)

The General later became King Rama I of Thailand, the great (x 6) grand dad of Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), the current king of Thailand.

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After LP I kept heading toward the far north by boat and bus to hit the boarder of Vietnam. Boats where slow, dependable and beautiful. Buses where fast, undependable and beautiful.
They would overload the bus with people and furniture and chickens and luggage and produce,

then take 4x4, unsealed roads with constant construction leaving at 4am to try and minimize the construction delays. Id been traveling with a group of people across the boarder and we planned to leave together the next day on a 10 hour bus ride but i had to stay with the toilet. So they left without me and after meeting up after a day of rest they told me about their 26 hour endurance ride covered with mud from helping push the bus through mud, breaking down in a village for 6 hours (where they lost half of the passangers because they didnt trust the driver after a full day of drinking to continue on), a night "sleeping" in the crowed broken down bus, and finally getting to the final destination 26 hours late. It was kind of a bummer I missed such an adventure, maybe next time. And this type of occurrence is no surprise when the driver is hitting a water bong while driving...

But no problem, it was alot of fun hanging out with the mountain people while waiting. And some amazing views!

Veg Sociaty of Chiang Mai...

I have been studying Thai charictures and from what I can deduce the sign actually says:

Super amazing fantastic Vegetarian society of Chiang Mai!!.!!-!!.!!pm.
(No joke-Jack)

Or at least it should cause it is a damn fine establishment.............................

Fresh squeezed fruits and flower drinks and chloriphil drinks (all w/add your own sugar (or not)), Brown rice(!), steamed spring rolls (the only rolls for spring in my oppinion), deserts, curries and soups and dishes with greens and reds and yellows and mushrooms and mellons and macaroni!(?) Damn good food and next to nothin$ Actually it is nothin if you get a plate of brown rice and only one side!!! (heh, fat chance, even in the name of cash). The mound-o-food to your left was about a dollar, heh, yea, a dollar!

But it doesnt end with the food...............................................................................................................

They have a store attached with meat substitutes like TVP (for those not "in the know" that stands for textured vegetable protein or as i like to call it: totaltubuloso vegi pellets), and these amazing mushrooms that would totally fool the mass majority in a blindless taste test for shredded pork. They also had fresh veggies and fruits and cereals and soy milks and granola and all kinds of groovy stuff. They also had 2nd hand clothing sitting out that i assumed was donated. So I took this perfect opportunity to thin down my wardrobe/backpack.

Whenever I was there about lunch time they would sound a bell at noon. Everybody would stop what they where doing and, from what i could see through my mound of food, they would stop what they where doing to be mindful. It was so damn cool to have a public reminder to come back from getting caught up in thought and steps and ideas and conversations and rules and remebering and labeling and figuring and etc etc etc... To remind you to give yourself a break from all that conceptual stuff, to remind you to relax and enjoy whats there.

Manditory tangent:
Ask yourself what you think suffering is.......................
Ill wait................................................................

Found a great idea in a book Ive been reading, a charicter is asked the same and his answer is...
"Suffering is a hunger" (how appropriate)

A hunger for something, or a hunger to be rid of something. As soon as you tell yourself that this moment is not perfect, suffering arises. Thats not so say nothing should ever be changed and we should always submit to circumstances. Resisting reality is futile, accept what IS, and THEN take steps for change or not. Having a direction doesnt require a hunger/a push from pain. "Good" things can only exist with the relative "bad", its all labeled with concepts but if one focuses on a larger picture they will see that without poo you cant have poinsettias, its all part of a system that is inherently perfect.
..........................................................................................................................................................................
And you even get to do your own dishes!!!

Even an eco minded pigon eating out of the food waste bowl!!

Even the toilets are eco-minded (thats some kind of deo fungi for the eco funk)

I just pet a rat!!!

Ok, I didnt really "pet" it, it kinda "pet" me, kinda...

So im walkin home, a bit a buzzed, listenin to tunes and dodging all the normal obstacles (ad signs, people, food vendors, kids playing (and YES its after midnight), merchandise, awnings, garbage piles, broken water run off drains, motorbikes, etc, etc...) where the sideWALK is suppost (bitter?) to be. THEN, I decided to take the path between a garbage pile and a water run off drain, partly, so as not to risk stepping a foot nearer then needed in the way of scowling tuk tuk and taxis because i realize what would benefit them most %( . So Im strolling along, with a little pep in my step, been a good night, hung out with some peaceful red shirts, drinkin with some police officers (on duty :), hanging out after walking the sweet sunday market in Chiang Mai (more on that at a later date). So anyway Im boppin along, ok, truth be told, Im dancing my heart out, swingin my hips, pointing this way and that, lip syncing to a slurred version of what SHOULD be the right words, when damn near all of a sudden I feel something with course fur brush against my leg! Wait! I gotta preface this with the understanding that there are cats and dogs everywhere, some limping from being hit by cars, most scratching the infinite itch of flees leaving bumps, bare skin and bone, and they sleep like they are dead, no chasing mailmen dreams for these mangy pups, when they finally get exhausted enough to accept the infinite itch they are OUT. Some are living fat and happy, these ones have established prime locale, ie market scourers, they have the luxury of picking what they eat, and most of them pick everything that slips through greasy fingers so they are living fat and happy. One of them who lives down the street I actually mistook for a pig! No joke, until I saw her furry face and feet. The cats are more behind the scenes, they got all they can handle chasing Geckos, and rats, rats, o yea sorry....

So yea... (where was I going with this?) ...yea so, I'm waltzing through, when out of nowhere/(the pile of garbage) I feel this furry thing brush my ankle, I thought it was a cat so I just picked a foot up and twisted around to see what it was, then it brushed my other ankle, so I'm thinking its just looking for lovin. Let me remind you, this all is taking place in less then a second, which is understandable to the misfortunate many who have fallen prey to my foosball fury. So then, I realize where this thing came from, so I jump high as my height while looking back to confirm my prediction, and off to the drainage hole scurries meaty mouse. Did I mention that Im decently drunk at this point, and its a good thing cause I was then able to shake the inevitable chills that where crawling up my spine from replaying what had happened. It was no mouse at all, it was a full grown, meat n potatoes n khao soi eatin RAT! I was close enough to hear its little squeeks and catch a glimps of its chubby hairless tail.

But, after thinking about it for a second, it wasn't all too bad. He was kinda soft, in a fibrous kinda way, and I think we give those guys a bad rap, he was just grubbing on leftovers when I came waltzing through. I don't really mind the little scavengers cleaning up after us. Which must be a common feeling here cause they let the Cockroaches grow to be monstrous!

OK, I know it was long winded (and mostly fabricated), BUT, would you rather read:
I just got brushed by rat tonight...
The end...(???)

Moral of the long story short:
Don't come between a rat's home, and his diner plate...................

Red shirt update

With a national "bird" like that its no wonder..............

So there are two main parties:
The RED: mainly rural poor and urban working-class red shirts, who support Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister
The YELLOW: who staged their own street protests that led to a 2006 coup ousting Thaksin the then red shirt prime minister

The yellow shirts said a week ago that they would give the government a week to solve the problem and if nothing was done then they said they would take matters into their own hands, launching thier own protest, not ruling out direct confirentation with the red shirts. The yellow shirts could make things alot worse as evidenced by taking over Bangkok international airport with thier own protest. The week is up and the red shirts are not showing any signs of letting up so there is the possability of Yellow shirts taking the streets tonight (Monday, April 26)

A lead red shirt protester was quoted as saying "We don't want to talk to the government because there is nothing to talk about. We cannot agree and the only way is for Abhisit to dissolve the house now." and "We will continue to fight until our victory is achieved." At least 26 people have died since the protests begain over 6 weeks ago

There is actually another protest of the protest, Bangkok businesses have banded together to protest the red shirt protesters, so of course they needed a color for thier shirts, they decided pink would be a good choice. The businesses are fed up with the red shirt rally and the effects it has had on the businesses in Bangkok because of the original protesters attempting to shut down Bangkok to get the attention of the current prime minister and show that the majority is not happy with the yellow party and they want an imediate disolve of government with new elections.

Ive heard from other backpackers that the red shirts have moved to the main shopping area of Bangkok to slow business and that they got ahold of some grenade launchers and bombed one of the sky trains.

There are investigations underway looking into if the former red shirt prime minister is funding these terrorist activities.

I hung out with some peaceful red shirts the other night, drinking cheap rice wine, shootin the shit with some police officers. They all assured me that Bangkok is the only area being targeted to get attention from the government.

So, allswell in Chiang Mai Mawwwww

WATER FIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Song Kran is amazing
SSsssooooo much waterfightin fun for all ages and origins!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songkran

So much fun in the morning, more Thais and more kids then other times, with all the little Thai kids having a blast (heh) dripping (heh) with enthusiasm and wide awake for the antics to come.

I cant see anybody not loving it!!! It is some GOOD CLEAN FUN, little kids and food vendors everywhere (even more then usual, which is ALOT), and getting little kids to chase me around, so great, o and people driving around drinking and truckloads of people throwing ice cold water, and parade of Buddha statues going through where people throw water scented with ginger and tamarind at the statues, everybody is SOAKED, tuk tuks with loads of people hanging on getting doused, and there are transvestites and cross dressers dancing their gay asses off, it is what i would image like a gay pride parade is as free and nonjudgmental, and so much FUN, you should REALLY come see it at some point in your life!!!

Safety is def an issue though, all of this is happening on the side of a major road, and most all the roads as a matter of fact, kids chasing each other next to the road, water being thrown in the faces of motorcyclists while driving, food vendors with friing vats of hot oil right next to a bucket of water right next to a lady holding her baby, the moat of stangnatin water with kids and tourists swimming and people throwing buckets with a string to refill pistols or throw at others, cars in que at idle with exhaust spewing out and everybody running around sucking it down, people driving with a beer in hand, tuk tuks popping wheelies with people hanging off the back in a crowd full of people, etc etc etc.

BUT, this is part of what makes it so great, its much less regulated but it still works without having all the rules and restrictions like back home in our rigidly standardized and regulated western societies.

A tangent:

It seems like this could have negative effects on people, it seems that people can be bound up too much resulting in the urge for rebellion. Ive noticed westerners getting a kick out of inapropriate actions, doing what we shouldnt do and getting a charge out of it, pushing the envelope, trying the limits of what is appropriate, and its funny. It seems like theres a notion of indomitability, (and ive heard some people say this) "We can do whatever we want, we're in SE Asia!"

I was hanging out with some English peeps and they where talking about getting some motorcyclist to wipe out from throwing water at them, or pushing unsuspecting people into the moat. Just my oppinion, but seems to me that getting surprised by a shot of water is one thing and these are another.

I havent seen that in other cultures, it could be because I dont understand the culture enough to see it, or language barriers.

Just a thought................................................................................................................

Never thought it could happen but im actually starting to get sick of the water fight, its been going on ALL day for about 5 days, its too much, time gets lost, your distracted from everything and your exhausted from the rollercoaster of emotions. squirt, retaliation squirt, laugh, walk, bucket dump, retaliation squirt, laugh, walk, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. For 12 hours. Never thought id say it in this hot hot heat getting cooled down and playing with kids and haveing a blast why would i get sick of it, but i guess even this is best in moderation. The recipients of my suprise attacks also seem much less humored by a large, attemptingly acrobatic westerner on the 4thd day of the water fight marathon when compared to the first.

But I still had some great fun hanging out with people I wouldnt otherwise have interaction with because when it comes to water fightin, words just get in the way..............................................