Bangkok 1

Ben paying the proper respect to Thailand's very special Ronald McDonald.

Two of the temples seen from the ferry (basically a bus) that takes you down the river through Bangkok. A great way to see the city!

Bears in front of Art Center in downtown Bangkok

A Japanese band(possibly) we encountered playing in between the Siam Plaza and Siam Paragon, two of the largest malls in central Bangkok. They were horrible and funny at the same time! epic.

The world famous Robot Building of btown.

the recently burned down/bombed Zen center. An eerie site in the heart of the shopping district. about 100m from Ronald McDonald.

MBK center, a huge mall right across the street from Siam Center and just blocks from the burned down Zen center. Inside is a mix between the classic asian fake goods market and the modern shopping mall. There are thousands of different stands/stores inside. Which is strange, because it looks just like your average mall.... the stores are just tiny! The department stores are actually markets of

Koh Pha Ngan

Hey Out There!
We have officially made it to Koh Pha Ngan (or Phangan) on the east coast of Southern Thailand. This island is most famous for being sandwhiched in between koh samui(resort central) and Koh Tao(scuba central), and also for its once a month beach bash celebrating the full moon. Well, tonight is the full moon, but because of the Buddha's birthday party today, the bash has been postponed until the 28th.
We left Koh Tao yesterday morning after spending a couple of days there. It was really beautiful, with giant boulders stacked all over the edges of the beaches and in the water, but unfortunately had more of an exclusive resort vibe, everything being overpriced, even at the ubiquitous 7-11.

The boat ride here was crazy!!!! A slightly stormy sky, and restless water turned our ferry ride in to a harrowing experience. At one point I was slightly worried we might actually be in a bit of trouble.... The waves were huge! and crashing all around and over us... Although in retrospect the weather wasnt that bad, so i'm sure the boat goes through worse. Either way, everyone on the boat was looking horrible, almost no one seemed unphased. People were throwing up everywhere, and amazingly, I was not one of them! I just bumped my ipod up to an obscene volume, and listened to the funniest rap music i could find, hoping to distract myself with an onslaught of 3minute tunes. Jin even managed to sleep for an hour or so. Regardless, we made it here, and it is quite nice. The island, being in between two much more famous and exclusive islands, is home to many locals, and has a more undeveloped and chill vibe, a bit more welcoming to backpackers who dont have the advantage of spending the more valuable euro or british pound.

We booked our resort in advance of coming to the island, as all the hostels on hostel world and hostels.com were booked or going for around 25 dollars a night for a not so special bungalow. we managed to get a bungalow at a legitimate resort for 300 baht a night, or $9.25. We reserved it at a travel agency in Koh Tao, fearing the worst when we arrived. When we got to the resort, we were quite impressed! Our bungalow is just a stones throw from the ocean, and it is a very nice and upscale little concrete building with a king sized bed, mosquito net, a big, nice bathroom, a big front porch, and tons of (glass!) windows! basically our bungalow from koh chang on steroids! We aer a bit cut off from the world, but the restaurant there isnt bad, nor too expensive, and we have our own beach and a beautiful infinity pool overlooking the ocean. Hammocks abound, and there are tons of nice dogs and cats, little paths to explore, and chill people to talk to! So, we are basically on full vacation mode this week, just kicking back, reading and taking it easy, staring at the ocean, etc!

The computer is now officially broken, so we may try to buy one in Surat Thani, or possibly go back up to BKK on our way to Chiang Mai, or somewhere else. We have now booked flights from Phuket to Jakarta, Indonesia on the 22nd of August for 100 bucks each, so we have a solid 3.5 weeks left here in the land of Thai. We might go down to the far south, near the Malay border, may head back to Bangkok and Koh Chang, or might head up to Chiang Mai, Pai, or even Burma to spend some of our remaining time before our flight. All is well(besides the comp), and we have tons of good books, and are now fully loaded on snacks for our very cut off resort retreat!

Today, we woke up and read for a while, then headed 20m to our restaurant where I had a giant cheeseburger(in paradise) and Jin had her favorite noodle soup. We braved the steep .5-1km driveway to the main road, and then went on an hour long walk up and down the hills of the island circling artery. We made it to 7-11, and bought all that was needed for the next five days. Tons of cookies, chocolate, bread, milk, chips, apples(our first in a long long time, usually they are totally overpriced in thailand, roughly 1 apple is the same as a pineapple normally!), and a soccer ball looking hand held drink cooler for the full moon party! So we are in the middle of heading back to the resort now, but decided to pit stop here and use the expensive 2 dollar an hour internet at the town, instead of the 4 dollar an hour internet back at the resort!

Because the comp is down, we wont be putting any pics up for the next week. if anyone wants to check out our resort, Haad Gruad Resort, here is the website, http://haadgruadresort.com/
if you go to the "facilities and services" link on the top, and then head to the bottom right picture(image 14 of 14), you can see our bungalow, or the one next to ours on the top of the picture... they look the same.
anyways, i have to go, our hour is up!
Peace and Love
ben and Jin

Koh Chang 2

Party at Himmel. Nobody came to this bar 6 out of 7 nights out of the week. The one night of the week that they had a free bbq, and free buckets of the local Thai Rum, Sang Som, it was the funnest bar in Lonely Beach. The free buckets only lasted from 9:30 to 9:40, and 12-12:10, but it was just enough! Buckets are the biggest thing in SE Asia.... basically a sandcastle building size bucket of a mixed drink! Usually around 5 to 10 bucks, depending on what you drink. This is our supposedly crazy DJ, G, AKA mini Jerry Garcia

This is the U shaped dirt road to our bungalow that Himmel, Stone Free, Ting Tong, OM Bar, and most of the other bars and restaurants in town were located. This U shaped road was the main party place at Lonely Beach, and the only other street in town besides the main, island circling road!

We found an empty field that perhaps was a pomelo orchard in the past. There are still some pomelo trees scattered around by the road. They were the best pomelos ever! We kept going back there to get more:)

Koh Chang

>

Sunset on the beach

Stone Free--our favorite restaurant/bar

One of the beaches on Koh Chang

Ben's favorite activity by the stream right outside of our bungalow

A coconut fell right in to the stream in front of our bungalow while we were reading on the porch. Ben tried to smash it on a rock, but failed. We got the lady who ran our hotel to open it.

 

Ben's Summer Reading List

So far this trip, one of my greatest accomplishment's has been that I was able to read. Yes, the road to literacy has been quite the journey for me, but after struggling through my ABC's and eventually mastering the paragraph system, I am now a full fledged reader!

I have been picking up pace recently, aided by the massive chilling effort undertaken in Koh Chang. I am currently reading a book by an NPR journalist called, The Geography of Bliss. The book is really fun, and me and the author seem to have at least a little in common, so it is pretty breezy. The book is actually the reason that I first heard of the country of Bhutan, when during an NPR interview the author was discussing the book, some of the countries, and most interestingly(to me), the country of Bhutan and their happiness index. I forgot all about the book, and the author, but when I saw it on a table of a street vendor selling random books, I thought it looked interesting, and figured out that it was the author of the book i'd heard on NPR so long ago....etc. Plus it has a borders label on it, so I like imagining that it was bought on Germantown Ave last year at their going out of busines sale! Also, be sure to check out the SUPER cute Lulu pictures that have been added by Jin below(in the past post!)

Without further adieu....

BENS SUMMER READING LIST 2010
Snuff-by Palahniuk
Adrift-Callahan
The Old Man and the Sea-Hemingway
King Solomon's Mines
1984-Orwell
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea-Verne
Still Life With Woodpecker-Robbins
Cat's Cradle-Vonnegut
Marching Powder
The Dirt-Motley Crue
Twilight
The Dharma Bums-Kerouac
Shoeless Joe-Kinsella
A Swiftly Tilting Planet-L'Engle
The Greatest Salesman in the World-Mandingo
The Rum Diary-Thompson
The Alligator Report-Kinsella
Jitterbug Perfume-Robbins
On a Move-The Story of Mumia Abu Jamal-by Bisson
The Alchemist-Coelho
Siddhartha-Hesse
A Short History of Nearly Everything-Bryson
Annapurna-Herzog
The Sheltering Sky-Bowles
Da Vinci Code



A few notes....
Favorites: Adrift is an awesome book, and I'd highly recommend it to anybody, especially if they are in to Non Fiction or adventure stories, boating, etc... It's an amazing story of the only person ever to survive over 30 days alone on an inflatable life raft.
King Solomon's Mines: I found this and 20000 Leagues at a huge bookstore in Chongqing for 2.75 each as part of the Wordsworth Classics series. They are really inexpensive classics that are pretty easy to find. Anyways, being in to the whole rock thing, i figured i should read this.... and what a story! Its really a classic adventure story, and was way better than i expected it to be. quite easy to follow along and enjoy despite how long ago it was written.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: i was doubting how much I loved this book, although I did like it, until the last paragraph... Might be the best last page i've read all summer.I love the finality and the classic strong ending of the story, So cool!
Still Life With Woodpecker: one of my top ten favorites ever. Thanks to my friend Erin for giving me this book a few years ago, she definitely nailed my taste in books. This has got to be Robbins best, if anyone disagrees, let me know and i'll read that one. Jitterbug was a huge let down afterwards, although still good.... I like the story in retrospect, more than i liked actually reading it.... and I like it even more after DaVinci Code
Marching Powder; a really cool book about the prison in La Paz that I visited.
The Dirt: a great rock and roll book. I don't want to read any more rock stories for a while, because they dont wont compare to this one. I also enjoyed reading all of their perspectives in one book, way cooler than hearing one jerk rambling on....4 jerks is much better
The Dharma Bums:I should of read this when i was 14. Another one of the best books i've ever read. Anyone that wants to be cool, or chill,etc should be required to read this before they are allowed to be down. This has got to be one of the best descriptions of a time and place that I have ever read. I really felt like I was living in the 50s/60s back in Berkeley. The descriptions of their hikes, gear shopping, their little houses on the hill in Berk really brought me back home, and gave me the best description of that era, their mindset, etc that I have ever encountered. Those guys were the real hippies, and I am eternally greatful to Kerouac for allowing me to glimpse that time and space in such a comprehensive and lifelike format. My highest praises
Shoeless Joe and The Alligator Report: I found Shoeless Joe at a bookstore for 1.50 in Hanoi, and as books are sometimes really expensive, and trades work out well, i bought it as an easy read and to add to my trading supply. It was pretty good, very different from the movie, Field of dreams, and better in many ways. I also kind of like the feel of Kinsella, he seems like a cool guy. This was confirmed when I found The Alligator Report on a bookshelf of our hostel in Phnom Penh. The book is dedicated to Richard Brautigan, which I took as a sign I should read it. I did, and it wasnt too bad, although short stories aren't really my cup of tea. Nevertheless, it only took me about 3 hours of a hot day sitting under the fan of our ghetto hostel and drinking coffee, so that was cool.
A Swiftly Tilting Planet: we found this book for 1 dollar in Laos. It had no cover, but I thought it would be a good book for Jin. I also remembered the copy sitting on my bookshelf at home next to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I had never read it, despite my moms subtle hints to do so. It was ok, but fantasy isn't really my thing. Jin liked it much more than me.
The Rum Diary: An amazing book. Totally not what I expected from Hunter S. Thompson. This book really brought you in to the time and place of 1950s ish Puerto Rico. I loved the melancholy mood of the book, the downward spiral encountered by the hero, and Thompsons flawless story telling. I loved this book. I'd highly recommend it to anyone, and I was shocked to find out that it wasn't published till just recently. I'd also recommend reading it before the Johnny Depp film comes out soon.
The Alchemist: not bad. usually i dont like super popular stuff, but this was a great story. he is clearly a Siddhartha fan, which is clearly confirmed by his introduction to the British copy of Siddhartha we found.
Annapurna: this has got to be one of the best adventure books(non fiction) ever written. sorta like a true dharma bums, but a lot more hardcore. It was amazing hearing the story of how people climbed mountains in the 1950s, as well as the account of their visit to Nepal, Tibet, etc.
The Sheltering Sky: A really cool book, but I felt like I was missing something. I cant wait to reread this someday and hopefully dive a little deeper in to the story. very heavy. i'm neither a fan nor a detractor. I do not deny this books power.

Lulu the wonderdog

We are now back in Bangkok. It was sad leaving Koh Chang after 17 nights, but once I realized that all my stuff was starting to grow mold, it was a little easier.

Koh Chang was amazing. We chilled, drank coffee, chilled more, sat on the beach, went for walks, rented scooters, and did all kinds of other mellow things!

I was especially sad to leave our new found friend, Lulu, the black furry dog from Ice beach Bungalows, but we will always have the memories(esp of her smell!) Me and Jin semi adopted her, and she loved us, always followed us back to our bungalow, and even managed to climb the small leaning ladder up to our porch to chill with us. She'd stay there all night while we slept, and be waiting for us in the morning when we got up. Then when we'd go out for food, she would follow us up the path to her owners house, and wait there for us until we came back, or go for a walk in the creek, either to get some water, or work her way up to the garbage pile waiting for collection at the main road. She was so sweet, and really loved me and Jin. Her super furry hair had a few dreadlocks, which we cut off(i know, not very phish tour esque), and we even got her a comb. She loved when we brushed her, and she'd always sit down and smile while we combed out her thick hair.

The funniest thing about Lulu was her eating habits. She especially loved cookies and seaweed flavored crackers. She liked bread sometimes, loved beef, sticky rice and cheese sandwhich crackers... She would definitely not eat pringles, dried fish, fruit, an assorted variety of crackers and coconut cakes, and anything else that we didnt like. If you arent a fan of something, there was a good chance that Lulu definitely wouldn't like it.

We thought about asking to adopt her, which is probably the closest i've come to getting a dog. However, after realizing just how picky she was about food, and how great her life was at the bungalows, I decided she would be better off at Koh Chang... Although her total chillness and complete lack of caring about anything(thunder, intruders(besides cats), would make her an awesome Phish lot dog. So, sadly, Lulu remains at Ice Beach.

Back to BKK. Me and Jin have found ourselves at the Rainbow Guest House and Indian Restaurant near Khao San Road, once again. For 300 baht a night(9 dollars), we got 2 dorm beds in an AC room at the best backpacker neighborhood in town. We just got back last night, Sunday. Today, we spent the day at Pantip Plaza getting Jin's computer fixed! We are happy to say that it is now back in action! At first, we went to the Samsung official repair shop, where the comp sat for a couple hours, before we got an estimate of 5700 baht to fix it... which would replace the whole main board. We could buy a new netbook for around 10,000 baht, so this seemed a bit expensive, especially since it would take at least 3 days. Then we took the comp to some little comp shop in the electronics mall, about 20 feet from the Samsung repair place, and within 3 hours, the computer was fixed for around 60 bucks.... Not too bad? So, now we have the good ol' netbook back in action... and we can now blog(for free) with our wifi at the hostel!

In the next few days, we will be most likely heading down to Ko Pha Ngan(Sp?) down in southern Thailand for the full moon party on the beach! the party takes place every full and half moon and supposedly has between 10 and 50000 people there regularly!!! We will give a full update if we survive! Tomorrow, we are going to the Australia embassy to look in to the chances of me getting a Work and Holiday Visa. Apparently you can work picking fruit in Austalia, and make between 50 and several hundred dollars a day picking fruit, veggies or whatnot. So... we may be making a detour to down under to re up on the funds, party with some kangaroos, and throw a few shrimp on the barby! But first we are thinking of flying to Indonesia to see Bali, some Kimodo dragons, and Borobudur!!! So, we shall see what the future brings.

Koh Chang, Thailand

Hey Out There!

We have been chilling in Koh Chang, a small Thai Island near Cambodia for the past couple of weeks. Not too much going on here. However Jin's computer is now not turning on, and the internet cafes here are expensive, so we havent been online much. Her computer has mysteriously stopped turning on at all, or even showing any lights or anything. Luckily, there are many Samsung repair shops in Bangkok, so we should be able to get it fixed(hopefully!)
We are chilling in an awesome little wood shack, often called a bungalow. the shackalow is built about 6 feet from a little stream that flows down into the ocean, which is about 100m from our little house. Our house has nothing in it but a bed, a mosquito net, a light, and a fan! The best part about it is the front porch, which is large and covered, plus we have some trees overhead, so that makes life a little cooler.
It has been raining most nights, or at least for a few hours each day. It isn't too hot, especially compared to the weather in may or june back in Laos. The rain really cools the air. We really haven't been spending too much time at the beach. We have been reading lots, chilling on our porch with the fan on, watching the river, or reading and chilling at our favorite hang out spot, "stone free", where the coffee comes in big mugs which you brew up yourself using instant coffee and creamer powder for 20 baht(roughly .65 cents.) You can put in as much of the instant coffee as you want, which is a nice change of pace from the weak coffee served in most cafes.

We are in the SW part of the island, near a little strip of sand called "Lonely Beach." It is super duper chill. 60% of the street area is a dirt road that makes a huge 500m U shape off the main island circling road around the coast. There isn't too much to do here besides sit on a really nice beach, swim around, sit on our porch and read, eat at one of the awesome restaurants here, or sit around and read at one of the restaurants. At night, different bars throw parties where they DJ's play till early morning, with free BBQ's, some even giving away rolls, fruit and vegetables, along with the chicken and tofu skewers for free! That bar is called Ting Tong, and they also have a 20 foot projector screen where we watched the World Cup Games, 3 for 2 happy hours(100baht), a reggae band who plays nightly, with 24 hour food. It isn't fabulous or anything, but it is a good place to go hang with people. Our island is very chill, and we are in the most laid back part of it, so we have had the chance to make a few friends, and read a few books.

We have rented scooters a few days and have driven around the island almost entirely... the island's road is a horsheshoe shape, with no connection on the south, so if you want to see the east side of the island, you have to drive all the way up north and around the west coast of the island from our location in the SW.

Anyways, i will write more soon. we are heading back to bangkok on Sat or Sun to fix Jin's computer and get Visas for the next destination....

More To Come

柬埔寨6.11-6.25

一直对于柬埔寨不知道什么态度，所以也不知道怎么开始。
旅游业肯定造就了一批富人，但也看到更多的要饭的。有一个福利机构是筹钱付给来上学的小孩。因为大多数小孩从能说话交流开始就为家庭工作，所以即使义务教育到高中（中国福利都没这么好）还是很多家庭不能支付少了一个劳动力。所以那个机构就付小孩钱来让他们上学。
在吴哥一个寺庙，有一个小孩上来卖我明信片 "one dollar, please buy one, just a dollar"（所有小孩都是这一句），我说不用后，他就开始问我跟他玩。。。一个可能3——4岁的小男孩，因家里需要吧，整天跟着妈妈卖纪念品。其实他们更想有个玩伴。
当然也有不错的家庭，在金边，很多外国语学校（可能我去到学校区域），里面的小孩穿着整洁漂亮，开心的跟朋友聊天。金边有大型商场（在老挝一个都没，越南也不多见），里面很多当地人消费昂贵的冰淇淋。
柬埔寨东西应该很便宜，但可能在餐馆消费的都是游客或是有钱的当地人，很多以美元收费。即使普通的2-3美元一餐，好点的4-5美元一餐（还没去过高档的），想起来也不贵，但日日在外吃加起来15天比在越南近一个月花销还多。
柬埔寨的路边摊有很多大大小小锑锅，里面稀奇古怪的菜（这里菜不讲看相），一道菜可能3.5元，米饭2块，但这里糖像是免费的一样，每道菜都是甜的。就算难得一道里面有辣椒还不错，但都是有糖在里面。吃了几餐就受不了了（不过有一道烧牛肉还不错）。
泰国有些菜也会有点糖，但都没柬埔寨那么多...后来听说有些国家因为食物不足，做菜就会放很多糖来补充能量。
在金边住了最便宜的拆迁区，还在湖边！（虽然湖不怎么样，不能下去游的）很便宜，3美元一晚上。一不小心就休息了4-5天。就看了下国王皇宫啊，国家博物馆，周围市场逛逛。

Ben loves bugs for snacks!
然后去暹粒（Siem Reap），特别之旅游化！难怪能接待几百万游客。我们找到个比较便宜又舒适的旅馆（12美元一晚上，空调、电视，淡季价格），所以休闲的呆了一个星期。
吴哥确实让人震惊。经历这么多磨难还是存活下来，展示当年的风光。



Banteay Srei, my favorate one. Small but best preserved carving.
几百年不同的王朝建立各自的国都，只有寺庙存活下来（寺庙有石头建，皇宫用木材，老百姓用竹子、稻草）。遍布在30平方千米的范围内。

At the top of Angkor wat, no tank top. So Ben borrowed a girl's scarf to reach the top.

Prean Khan

Pre Rup

East Mebon, used to be a mountain temple in the middle of east reservoir. Now east side dried up.

West side of reservoir has some water even in dry season.
在紧凑的3天1晚大概都游完了（当然不是连续的3天，日日4点起来实在受不了）。上了山下了水，人面树丛都晃悠了一圈。
然后考虑还能去哪了。据说海边不错，但交通不便，大致泰国主要就是看海也没必要专门跑柬埔寨的。于是选了马德旺（Battambang）。
原以为这个不大的城市应该更多当地特色。结果是差不多。不过还是尽量找了些事做，比如看春卷皮和这里的鱼干鱼酱是怎么做成的，战争时期的竹筏火车。在这里找到第一本中文书！一个人在东南亚，台湾一记者的东南亚感想，很有意思！