Thailand Again...

Ok, I've only got three days left on this trip and this is the 1st time I've been able to get to a computer. I have been super busy getting papaerwork together with an immigration attorney for my girlfriend to come to the U.S. and going to see hewr family.

Its been pretty nuts so far, but I'll be able to update with photos once I get back home.

Just a couple updates on what I've been up to...

Monday 11/19 - went to get my girlfriend her passport. Three day wait before she can pick it up. Made the DMV in IL look real bad.

Tuesday 11/20 - saw Casino Royale. Awesome movie. I love the darker James Bond. Also went to have Thai bbq. There were some animal parts that I just couldn't bring myself to eat, no matter how burnt they were.

Wed 11/21 - Went to pick up the passport. Driver took the wrong turn and we took an extra 20 minutes. Did I mention that Bangkok traffic sucks? Real bad. Also went to see the attorney and presented all of our collective information. Have to go back to sign the application and bring several passport sized photos.

Thursday 11/22 - Got the necessary photos. You wouldn't believe the list of things that the photos needed to have including the background color. Welcome to dealing with the US government. Signed the papers for the application and we're on our way to the beginning of a six month process.

Friday 11/23 - Did nothing. I've been battling some type of allergy and the medication is not working.

Saturday 11/24 - Went to Pattaya to see the beach. Its the closest beach to Bangkok at 1.5 hours. The place is still seedy but the sunset was nice. One of my bank cards hasn't functioned on this day. I know exactly what is going on. Fraud division thinks someone has my card even though I've called and told them I was going to be out of the country and was going to have a couple large purchases (attorney fees).

Sunday 11/25 - Back to BKK. Found out the cause of my allergy. My girlfriend's Johnson & Johnson baby lotion. She started putting it on and I sneezed like crazy. Haven't taken the allergy pills since. Tonight we are heading on an overnight bus to Mae Sot.

Monday 11/26 - In Mae Sot at about 5:30 AM. Got to my girlfriends house and realized that my money has fallen out of my pocket (aboout $100) I go back and it is amizingly in between the seat and the wall. I give the bus driver 100 baht (about $2.50) to thank him. In the afternoon we went across the Mae Nam Moei to Mywaddi, Myanmar. We went to a few of the temples there and they were very scenic, but the city is very, very poor.

Tuesday 11/27 - Went to the bank and helped out at the family shop. Didn't really do too much today.

Wednesday 11/28 - Sat around all day. The weather in the North is quite cool at night (I've had two blankets on when I sleep) and it gets fairly warm in the day. We took the late night bus back to Bangkok. I also had my first snake encounter at my girlfriend's parents home. The snake approached and went one way as I went the other. About 10 minutes later, I hear something in the home and its the same damn snake. I yell to my girlfirend that there's a snake in Thai, but I'm saying the word for rat instead of snake. Its a tough word for Westerners to say and finally she comes out of her room as I point to it. I have no idea what kind, and wasn't about to ask. I stayed out of its way and it slithered out the opposite door and her mother chased it away with a pole. I hate snakes.

Thursday 11/29 -Arrived in Bangkok at about 4:30 AM and went to bed. Today we're at the mall and are going to see a movie after eating a ton of Japanese food.

Back Sunday and will update as time allows.

And you thought I only went to Southeast Asia

Alright. It has been way too long for me between updates and I decided to put up photos from one of my favorit cities in the world - Paris, France.

I absolutely love Paris (the city, not the tramped up hotel heiress). I was last there in November of 2002, so almost four years ago. Four years ago, I guess I could speak some passable French. Now, my Thai is a lot better. This was part of my see multiple cities in Europe trip in 2002. I went to Amsterdam for about three days and the remainder of the week in Paris. Due to only having four days to explore, I went the traditional tourist route and saw the usual sites as you'll see below.

Because I went in November, a lot of these shots are taken under grey skies. I actually liked the atmosphere as it was a litte chilly in the air and there was a distinct lack of American tourists which I always like in my travels. I enjoy challenging myself in whichever culture I immerse myself. I've heard dozens upon dozens of times that the French are rude, etc... I call bullshit. Granted my exchanges with most of the Parisians was fairly limited, I found them to be warm and friendly. Especially when you made the effort to observe French culture and made an effort with the language which I feel is key.

Now, since 2002, there have been world events that have changed French opinion of America, but I highly doubt that applies to American tourists out to enjoy such a rich and colorful city and culture.

I took these photos with my old 3.2 megapixel camera which worked pretty well, but I wish I had my current camera and was able to capture more of everyday life in Paris.



This is St. Augustine in the eigth arrondisment of Paris. The city proper is divided into areas called arrondisements. I foget the total number, but the 8th had such stores as Hermes and Roderer just down the street from my hotel. The building with the red awning on the right had a phenomenal bistro that served a pretty good selection of beers. I went here my first night and never got back in there. Pitty I never got back in there.



This is the view from my hotel window on Boulevard Malsherbes. End of the day with Tour d' Eiffel in the background. I wish I had a good photo from here in the evening. There's a spotlight of some sorts that rotates around the top so when watching the tower, you see a beam of light shooting off of it.



This is the base of some building. The name of it escapes me at this time.



Same with this one. Here's where I really wish I had a camera with more resolution. The Eiffel Tower lit up would have really popped against the darkening sky. Seeing it live however was pretty cool. I've seen and I'm sure you have also seen hundreds upon hundreds of images of the Eiffel Tower, but actually seeing it live you'd probably have the same thought that I did.

"I'm actually standing in front of the Eiffel Tower."

I didn't go to the top of the tower as I'm just not too keen on heights and in the evening that I was there (I got to Paris in the afternoon and with three actual days for the sites I didn't want to go up).



Arc de Triumph. Once of the premier tourist sites in my opinion to see in Paris. To get to the Arc, you have to go down a set of stairs and through a tunnel the runs under the roadway. The Arc is in the center of a traffic circle and from my best recollection, there wasn't a street crossing.

The evening that I was here there was a ceremony taking place and I thought that it could have been Armistice Day, which commemorates the end of World War I, but this was well past the 11th of November. As I walked toward where the ceremony was, I along with others were shuffled inside the Arc and paid a fee inside. I then proceeded up a spiral staircase that led to the top of the monument.

I said earlier that I'm not good with heights. Guess what? Still wasn't and the feeling of vertigo was a lot worse going down the stairs.



This is the view from the top of the Arc de Triumph. You can see a bit of the traffic circle on the foreground.



Notre Dame cathedral taken from a bridge over the river Seine. I guess the cathedral was pretty dramatic. I just wanted to see it and didn't explore it too much. I did however do a lot of walking in Paris. The subway system is second to none in my opinion and if gets you usually within a block or two 0f where you're trying to get, but with the multiple train lines, you will do a bit of walking uinderground as you make your connections.

I didn't really see any of the interior of the cathedral as I figured I'd have already been back to Paris, but I have promised myself that I would get back as soon as I can. Possibly in 2008.



Finally one of the many fountains in Paris. As you can see, not any water flowing. It's November and getting cooler. Yet another reason for me to get back to Paris. Soon.

I'll try and get a new post up a little more often. I have a few photos from the Louvere, Amsterdam, and Barcelona and I'm leaving for Thailand in about 30 days and plan to head into Myanmar for a day trip while I'm there and possibly Phuket to get back to the beach. I only have 14 days this time around, so I have to maximize my time. I'm already getting a headache thinking about it.

Stupid, just stupid

If you've seen the Daily Show video below, I believe that a lot of fear mongering related to travel happens. This CNN article is just another case of rampant stupidity gone wrong. I don't begrudge the TSA for having the job it has to do; however, your job is to make sure that the people getting onto airplanes are not threats to fly. I'm also not going to get outraged over some idiot that thinks that 1st ammendment rights only apply in certain areas, but WTF? I grew up in Wisconsin and was schooled there, but this is quite an embarrassment for the educational system.

A couple years ago, I was flying to see my parents over the holidays and was waiting in line for an early morning flight domestically. I was told after a short wait that I was on the 'no fly list'. About a week before that I was in Southeast Asia for a three wek vacation. I stated this fact to the person at the airline counter, but was just mildly amused at how truly laughable airport security can be. After a quick phone call to who knows where, I was given my boarding pass and allowed on my way.

On a Thailand related note, Suvarnabhumi (�����, pronounced "soo-wanna-poom") airport began fulltime operations yesterday (September 27th) replacing Don Muang airport which had been in operation for 92 years. I'll be arriving there on November 19th and I'm a little excited to see it. The airport is about 19 miles east of Bangkok and still is waiting to have the skytrain linked to it (best reports are that this is still 2 years away), but Bangkok has needed this airport for quite some time and being the hub for Southeast Asia travelers a new modern airport will only help travelers to the area.

Coup in Thailand

This evening in Thailand there has been an attempted coup by the army. Details are sketchy at this time as Thai television stations are not broadcasting live news or programming and live news is speculative at best.

BBC News' story on the events.

As some of you may or may not know, my fiance is Thai and lives in Bangkok. She's safe and at home, but as she said this is not good for Thailand.

I had been reading about coup rumors for the past couple days and with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra out of the country the rumors had intensified. There currently in Bangkok is a state of emergency declared (by the Prime Minister) and businesses have been closed.

At this point its wait and see. I'm off to check the Thai ex-pat boards for any news. I'll update if I find anything pertinent.

Update:

On one of the expat boards one of the posters said that on local television, an announcement was made that

"that the army and the police have taken control of things in view of all the uncertainty and arguments going on in the country with the temporary government in place. They will not form a government and they will look after things until the election. (Scheduled for October 15th)and have requested peacefulness and co operation from the population." - from a Thai-visa poster

Update 2:

This Yahoo news story has the most up to date information so far on the coup.

Update 3:

This site has updated information from the start of events today.

High Praise - United Airlines

A rare case of me giving praise to of all industries in the world, the airline industry. I'd like to praise Chicago's hometown airline, United for once again a pleasant customer service experience.

I've flown several airlines over the time I've been traveling. United, American, Continental, Northwest, Midwest Express, America West, Spirit, Southwest, and Delta domestically in the U.S.; United, Iberia and Aer Lingus to Europe; and United, Bangkok Airlines, Thai Airlines, and Vietnam Airlines in Southeast Asia.

It's really easy to say which airlines I liked the best and which ones will never see another dollar of my money. Domestically, I'd choose either United or American and would probably give a nod to Northwest in an absolute pinch, but the rest not a chance. To Europe, I definitely preferred United or Aer Lingus. I actually had a flight attendant wake me out of a dead sleep on an Iberia flight to ask if I wanted to eat.

In Southeast Asia, I really enjoyed flying Bangkok Air and Vietnam Airlines. Bangkok Air is a boutique airline that services a huge number of cities in Thailand, China, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. The majority of the cities served are in Thailand and China, but the planes are on time and the service was stellar. I've only flown them twice, to Siem Reap, Cambodia and from Koh Samui to Bangkok, but I would highly recommend them.

Back to my customer service experience with United Airlines. When I'm about two to three months out from my estimated departure date, I usually start checking airfares. I go direct to the airlines and look at cheap fare consolidators to try and find a deal. I had a couple real compelling deals from a few Asia based air carriers and still decided on United. I decided to go with a known commodity where I've had very few issues. The only issue is people putting their seatback into my lap.

Well, in searching diligently, I noticed a United fare from the consolidators cheaper than the web fare. I decided to give a call to see if I could talk them into giving me the lower fare. I really didn't even get to that as the rep had the lower fare already and explained that sometimes the web fares were higher. Kind of sad since I was well prepared to pay the higher fare. Yes, brand loyalty is foolish and companies like United do get to take advantage of that from customers like myself.

The other pleasant experience was when I called back today. Because I've actually flown a lot on United, I've achieved their "Premier" status with my frequent flier miles and have access to the Economy Plus section that has more leg room.

I wanted to make sure that I had my seats there and gave a call. No problems, they already had my seats set up and knew my preference for the window seat. I know the airlines do take a beating from customers and in the media and some of it is truly justified, but it is nice when things from them in the booking process go off hassle free.

The cluster map on the sidebar is really filling up and I'm really surprised in the number of hits that are coming in from out of the U.S. If you do come back, and I promise to get some more photos up this weekend before the Sunday night Washington Redskins football game, drop a note in the comments section and let me know where exactly you're looking at this infrequently updated blog from. Thanks.

Watch Out

A little fear-mongering from the Daily Show. I know its a couple weeks old, but I was checking out You Tube and just figured out to post a video clip on the blog. Kind of cool. This is moderately travel related, but I do enjoy the examples of fear mongering from CNN. I always get the impression from them that the world is about to end. Not that the bufoonery that attempts to pass for news on Fox News is any better. Honestly, I don't really watch cable tv news. All programs cater to the lowest common denominator for viewers and slog through the muck to present the stories with their spin and agenda. For a non-news program, the Daily show makes a lot more sense.

Angkor Wat - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Built in the early 12th century as a Hindu and later (14th to 15th century) a Buddhist temple, Angkor Wat is the largest religious structure in the world. Angkor was abandoned in the early 15th century and lost to the Cambodian jungle until its discovery by French botanist Henri Mouhot in 1860.

When I went in November of 2004, this is what I wrote about seeing the sunset at Angkor Wat:

The last temple of the day for me was Angkor Wat itself for the sunset. I went into the temple with the sole purpose of seeing the sunset. Two problems: One, after walking up and down countless steps, my body just ached. Two, in order to get the best view, you have to climb a series of steps that are at a 70 degree angle (this is to make worshipers bow as they climb, or fall, I'm still not sure). No problem on number two? Yes, big problem, I'm not so fond of heights. After 20 minutes of getting my hackles up to do this and walking around the numerous stair cases, I made my move and climbed up as fast as I could without looking down. Got to the top and wondered what I was going to do to get down. I saw a set of stairs that had a metal railing installed and a line of about 40 people waiting once I got my photos from the top, so the choice was obvious to me. Funny thing that you wouldn't even be allowed to climb something like this in the states. I was joking with a couple other Americans that were in front of me in line about that; as well as the sphincter tightening that occurred just when you realized that you had to still get down the stairs. I made it down no worse for wear, but won't be going up that today as I explore the Angkor bas reliefs.

I really hope to get back to Angkor Wat and Cambodia in the near future and see how it has changed in two years. I'm sure that there isn't a McDonalds there right now, but it probably isn't too far off.








Like I wrote yesterday, I'm going to try and make the effort to post more often, but with smaller amounts of photos. I have a few hundred just from Cambodia, so I should have enough to get me through a few posts until I go back to Thailand in Novemeber.

Chiang Mai Zoo

Here are some of the photos I took at the Chiang Mai Zoo. I'm not a huge fan of zoos and was less than excited about going. I think animals in captivity are a bit sad and would rather see them in a more natural environment. At the Chiang Mai zoo, the main attraction are the pandas. Aside from nature documentaries, I've never actually seen a wild panda. There were two in this enclosure that was temperature controlled and actually compared to the temps outside, it was real pleasant. Being that this was the main attraction, there was a separate charge to go see these animals, well in a word, sleep. I think the only thing this one panda did was wake up, stretch, relieve itself, and go right back to sleep. I was in the process of taking a photo of my girlfriend when the panda was in the process of relieving itself and decided to delete that photo.

I have a couple other photos of a few of the big cats housed at the zoo, a tiger and a leopard. Both were less than captive subjects for my camera choosing to look the other way and sleep also (how dare they). The last photo is of an animal that wasn't even a permanent resident of the zoo or at least it wasn't in an enclosure or a cage.









This lizard wasn't actually in any exhibit. I came upon it as we were walking back to the van to head out to see one of the handicraft markets outside of Chiang Mai. It is neat how it is mimicing the color of the tree and the greenish post next to the tree.


Its been a while since I've posted and I'll try to get more photos up on a more frequent basis. I've been trying to get out to the gym and run at least three times a week and when I get home, the last thing that I'm thinking about is posting photos as it honestly takes a few minutes to get the photos up on the blog and then moving them all onto one post. I just went through my photos and have a lot that I haven't posted from Cambodia so I might just put a few up every other day or as time permits.

Nam Dtok Mae Sa

There's always a tough balance on this blog for me to decide how much of a description of a place I should give along with the background of location and any historical aspects that I can find. I'm struggling with this post in that there are a lot of photos that I took and really don't need to describe what you are about to see. These are the waterfalls at Mae Sa about 4 miles from Chiang Mai.

When I first went here, I thought that I was only going to see one waterfall, take a few snapshots and would be on my way to go do or see something else in the area. Well, I was quite wrong about that. Here at Nam Dtok Mae Sa, there are a series of 10 waterfalls. On each side of the river, there are steps and a walkway to get you to each of the waterfalls. I was only wearing flipflops, but this could have been better suited for my feet later if I had worn more sensible shoes. Oh well, live and learn.

The one impression that I would like to leave is just a commentary about how different countries are around the world. As my Thai language skills are fairly rudimentary, there are thankfully signs, warning signs in both Thai and English. Now the one thing that these signs do not say is to use your common sense. There are no barriers to keep you from walking out on the rocks and in several places I did just that to secure a better photo. You will also notice that there are a few photos of people playing in the water by several of the falls. Once again, no warnings, just use your common sense. If you get swept away by the current and injure yourself, guess whose fault that would be? If you answered the park, welcome to America. If you answered your own fault, well, then you are at least thinking.

One last admission. There are 10 waterfalls here. I only saw 9 as I was getting pretty tired and sore from climbing over rocks and up stairs. I did the same when I went to see the temples at Angkor. I saw all but a couple. This gives me something to go back to and look forward to seeing. Enjoy the photos.









































Next, I'll be putting up a few photos of my visit to the zoo in Chiang Mai and share a couple stories.