http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2158818&l=6d22a&id=10211609
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2162431&l=83fe3&id=10211609
Monday, May 28, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Splendid Cambodia (Megan)
Cambodia is truly a place that changes you forever. You really can’t help it, once you have seen this country you are changed. I started out my trip in Phnom Pehn, the area where most of the Khmer Rouge genocides took place. Visiting the killing fields was surreal and frightening. So many educated people were taken away from this country for ill-founded reasons. Although the genocides were very recent and still affect each of the people, the Cambodians do not learn about the Khmer Rouge in their schools. The sight of many of the mass killings is right at the edge of this large city, and yet the government was able to keep the location a secret. People are understandably worried about knowing too much. The Teoul Sleng museum was a former school which was turned into a prison, where people were tortured and questioned about their allegiances. No answer could guarantee safety for the people. The conditions of the prison were unexplainable, horrible, and eerie. There are still many people who do not know whether or not their family members are still alive. To counter our experience at the killing feilds, I found an Asian circus to attend, with acrobatics, breakdancers, and magic. Quite an amusing show. The effects of the rule of the Khmer Rouge can be felt all the way to the north of Cambodia, in Siem Reap. This town is earning many profits, however, from tourists who come to visit the amazing and breathtaking Angkor Wat temples. Actually, the killing field museum and the entire Angkor Wat complex were sold off by the Cambodian government. Cambodia is still one of the poorest countries in the world. I have been admiring the many temples of Angkor Wat and learning all about the amazing history of this place. I also had the chance to do some volunteering at a local school here. The number of Cambodians under the age of 15 is 40% of the population. With the huge number of kids needing school, the government has a difficult time funding the schools. We drove about an hour towards Thailand (there is one road and it is dirt and crumbling) out to the rural school. Pip is the English teacher for the school and has a tremendously difficult time getting anything done for the kids: the teachers show up infrequently, nobody shows up if it’s raining, she cannot speak English with any of the staff, even the English teacher, and there are NO supplies, save for the notebooks and pencils (we were so happy that we thought to buy some to bring). This is made harder by the lack of importance placed on education and the dangerous nature of the country for educated people if the Khmer Rouge incident were to be repeated. Nevertheless, the children were eager to learn (and Pip was excited to have some help with her class of 60 children!). It was really amazing to see how the school functioned. Today I went to one of the temples further from town by motorbike. It was the most amazing countryside; water buffalo, Cambodian women with giant bundles of sticks attached to their bikes, a rundown house which was converted into an arcade with antique video games, huge patchwork umbrellas, generators to power towns and batteries to power the lights (which are used to light a piece of plastic placed outside used to catch locusts, which are then sold on the side of the street), pigs tied to the back of motorbikes. As far as driving goes, there are no rules. Countless times I have seen crowds of people piled atop a van roof or hanging onto the side. You really never know what you are going to come across, today we stopped to hang with some little kids who were swimming in the polluted river and were invited into a wedding party, where they were serving Khmer cuisine and all of the women were dressed up in the loveliest dresses, with Cambodian pop music blasting full volume in the background.. I have grown amazingly fond of Cambodia and its people. While it can be hard to break the barrier that often exists between outsiders and locals, many people have warmed up and really showed me the beauty of this country.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Oh my! (Jordan)
Hey friends and family,
I haven’t written anything since Southern Thailand, and so much has happened since. Three countries have happened, in fact, and you all deserve an update. After our 5 day retreat at The Sanctuary on Ko Phangan, we headed on a treacherous journey to the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. So the travel day went something like this: we left The Sanctuary at 11am and took a long boat to the main part of the island, then we booked the 8:30pm night ferry (so we had to wait ALL day), then we slept in a boat crossing the 100km between the island and the main land of Thailand. In the morning we woke up and over the course of the next 18 hours we were in about 3 cars, one van, and finally a bus which took us across the border, into Malaysia, and dropped us in downtown KL at 1am. We found a hostel in China Town and crashed.
Excited to be in a new country, we woke up and explored KL. The population in Malaysia is fascinating. It is about 50% Muslim and 50% Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, Christian, etc. Ethnically speaking there are Indians, Chinese, Malay, and a small percentage of white (Dutch, Portuguese and Ex-pat). Walking down the street in a single block you can see all these different cultures, religions and races. The best part is they are all co-existing extremely peacefully and functioning together as a whole. The other good part about this is that most everyone uses English to communicate cross-culturally. So we were smooth sailing with the ever intimidating language barrier problem when traveling.
KL is a modern concrete jungle with the famous Petronas Twin Towers being the most globally recognizable land mark. Until the 90s these were the tallest towers in the world (Taiwan has since taken 1st place). The city is full of character. One moment you are strolling through the China Town street market admiring fake Gucci bags, then you stumble upon an elaborate marble mosque, which happens to be across the street from an air-conditioned mega-mall. In the midst of Little India, I felt like I might as well be in New Delhi, and during one of the 5 times per day when Muslim people pray to Allah facing Mecca, I felt as if I might as well be in Saudi Arabia.
Megan took it upon herself to arrange a fantastic home stay with a Malaysian family through the Couch Surfing website. We spent 2 nights with Elma and her kids in a modest local home. Elma was so gracious and took care of us as if we were her daughters, doing our laundry, cooking us noodles and French toast, driving us around to sight see. We all hung out together in the evening watching TV and chatting. Just like home! The frightening thing though, was that Elma and her family were OBSESSED with American television. I mean I watched American Idol in Malaysia. That is bizarre. When Friday arrived we decided that we ought to move to a hostel and check out the Malaysian night life with out having to worry about stumbling into Elma’s home at odd hours in the night. We had a great time partying with other backpackers and locals in China Town. We left KL with nothing but good feelings of hospitality as Corey’s friend who lives in the city treated us to a lovely dinner for our final night.
The next day we hopped on a 2 hour bus to the ancient port city of Melaka. We toured museums and old neighborhoods and learned how the Dutch and Portuguese arrived in the East and starting trading and settling. In between historical sites we spent quality time in the state of the art massage chairs in the strip malls. Melaka held our interest for a mere 2 days and we were ready to jet.
Corey and I took a bus to Singapore, while Megan went to Cambodia to possibly pursue some volunteer opportunities and wait for us to meet her there. I am sooo glad I decided to check out Singapore. What a FANTASTIC city! Staying in Little India gave the city a more intimate and charming feeling. We stayed at the Price of Wales Hostel in a dorm with 4 other girls. The hostel is above a Pub and the bartender, a local Chinese guy totally took us in and showed us a great time in the City. The 1st night we got there he kept the bar open til 4am and didn’t make us pay for a thing. That night we partied with some US Marines who were in transit by ship to Iraq. It was really great to meet these guys and talk to them about the service at this vulnerable awkward time of "war."
The following day I sought out the local Brahma Kumaris center to speak with someone about continuing with the meditation course I started in Bali. The guy I spoke with talked to me for a good hour and a half until I became wary of the organization because he was making it seem extremely cultish, unlike my previous teacher Frank’s take on the practice. I decided to not let this one person’s interpretation scare me off, so I arranged another meeting for the following day. The next lesson I had was with an extremely peaceful, bald headed yogi, who was of course wearing all white. He spent two hours with me, teaching me more about the practice of Raja Yoga Meditation, the powers one can gain from the practice, and gave me tools to continue on my own. It was beautiful and powerful and I am so happy I spent some of my time in Singapore remembering how important my introduction to meditation was in Bali. It is easy to forget the lessons and tools I learned, so in Singapore I was happy to be reintroduced to these.
Back to the previous night in Prince of Wales Pub, nick the bartender ensured that we had a bottomless glass of wine all evening until he was ready to close the bar and take us out. At 1am we arrived at The Ministry of Sound (one of a famous chain of night clubs that started in London). Corey, myself, two girls from Norway, and Nick, got a private area with bottle service! Bottle service!? Are we really still in Asia? Nick treated us to the whole night, which I lasted till around 5am and I was the first to bail!
Another Singaporean activity is to go to what the Loney Planet refers to as "The Plastic Fantastic" Sentosa Island. This man-made island is attatched to a mall in by a monorail. Talk about futuristic! We spent Sunday at Cafe del Mar (there is also one in Ibiza) listening to great music and playing in the fake sand.
Our final night in Sing is defintaley one to write home about. We met a lovely local guy at The Ministry of Sound who is a restaurant manager of an extremely prestigious fine dining establishment (which must remain nameless by request) in the city. We were treated to a dining experience on par with the Flagstaff House. The restaurant is in the middle of the sky scrapers but is inside a renovated 19th century former fire house. We started the evening on the deck with Moet Champagne. Then we moved inside to the air-conditioned porch where we had appetizers and opened a bottle of Chardonnay. We enjoyed Alaskan king crab souffle and scallop carpaccio with cavier. For our entree we had seared ocean trout with squid risotto, and Prawn Scampi. This was an OH MY GOD meal, to say the very least. With enjoyed an elaborate desert platter (with every dessert on the menu to taste) served with a chilled Cabernet. So would say we left Singapore with a major BANG!
The next morning, or rather that night at 4am, Nick took us to the airport to catch our 6am flight to Siem Reap Cambodia. If you could choose one place in the world that is the polar opposite of Singapore, I can say with confidence that it is Cambodia. More on that thought to come!
Ciao and Bessos!
Jordan
I haven’t written anything since Southern Thailand, and so much has happened since. Three countries have happened, in fact, and you all deserve an update. After our 5 day retreat at The Sanctuary on Ko Phangan, we headed on a treacherous journey to the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. So the travel day went something like this: we left The Sanctuary at 11am and took a long boat to the main part of the island, then we booked the 8:30pm night ferry (so we had to wait ALL day), then we slept in a boat crossing the 100km between the island and the main land of Thailand. In the morning we woke up and over the course of the next 18 hours we were in about 3 cars, one van, and finally a bus which took us across the border, into Malaysia, and dropped us in downtown KL at 1am. We found a hostel in China Town and crashed.
Excited to be in a new country, we woke up and explored KL. The population in Malaysia is fascinating. It is about 50% Muslim and 50% Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, Christian, etc. Ethnically speaking there are Indians, Chinese, Malay, and a small percentage of white (Dutch, Portuguese and Ex-pat). Walking down the street in a single block you can see all these different cultures, religions and races. The best part is they are all co-existing extremely peacefully and functioning together as a whole. The other good part about this is that most everyone uses English to communicate cross-culturally. So we were smooth sailing with the ever intimidating language barrier problem when traveling.
KL is a modern concrete jungle with the famous Petronas Twin Towers being the most globally recognizable land mark. Until the 90s these were the tallest towers in the world (Taiwan has since taken 1st place). The city is full of character. One moment you are strolling through the China Town street market admiring fake Gucci bags, then you stumble upon an elaborate marble mosque, which happens to be across the street from an air-conditioned mega-mall. In the midst of Little India, I felt like I might as well be in New Delhi, and during one of the 5 times per day when Muslim people pray to Allah facing Mecca, I felt as if I might as well be in Saudi Arabia.
Megan took it upon herself to arrange a fantastic home stay with a Malaysian family through the Couch Surfing website. We spent 2 nights with Elma and her kids in a modest local home. Elma was so gracious and took care of us as if we were her daughters, doing our laundry, cooking us noodles and French toast, driving us around to sight see. We all hung out together in the evening watching TV and chatting. Just like home! The frightening thing though, was that Elma and her family were OBSESSED with American television. I mean I watched American Idol in Malaysia. That is bizarre. When Friday arrived we decided that we ought to move to a hostel and check out the Malaysian night life with out having to worry about stumbling into Elma’s home at odd hours in the night. We had a great time partying with other backpackers and locals in China Town. We left KL with nothing but good feelings of hospitality as Corey’s friend who lives in the city treated us to a lovely dinner for our final night.
The next day we hopped on a 2 hour bus to the ancient port city of Melaka. We toured museums and old neighborhoods and learned how the Dutch and Portuguese arrived in the East and starting trading and settling. In between historical sites we spent quality time in the state of the art massage chairs in the strip malls. Melaka held our interest for a mere 2 days and we were ready to jet.
Corey and I took a bus to Singapore, while Megan went to Cambodia to possibly pursue some volunteer opportunities and wait for us to meet her there. I am sooo glad I decided to check out Singapore. What a FANTASTIC city! Staying in Little India gave the city a more intimate and charming feeling. We stayed at the Price of Wales Hostel in a dorm with 4 other girls. The hostel is above a Pub and the bartender, a local Chinese guy totally took us in and showed us a great time in the City. The 1st night we got there he kept the bar open til 4am and didn’t make us pay for a thing. That night we partied with some US Marines who were in transit by ship to Iraq. It was really great to meet these guys and talk to them about the service at this vulnerable awkward time of "war."
The following day I sought out the local Brahma Kumaris center to speak with someone about continuing with the meditation course I started in Bali. The guy I spoke with talked to me for a good hour and a half until I became wary of the organization because he was making it seem extremely cultish, unlike my previous teacher Frank’s take on the practice. I decided to not let this one person’s interpretation scare me off, so I arranged another meeting for the following day. The next lesson I had was with an extremely peaceful, bald headed yogi, who was of course wearing all white. He spent two hours with me, teaching me more about the practice of Raja Yoga Meditation, the powers one can gain from the practice, and gave me tools to continue on my own. It was beautiful and powerful and I am so happy I spent some of my time in Singapore remembering how important my introduction to meditation was in Bali. It is easy to forget the lessons and tools I learned, so in Singapore I was happy to be reintroduced to these.
Back to the previous night in Prince of Wales Pub, nick the bartender ensured that we had a bottomless glass of wine all evening until he was ready to close the bar and take us out. At 1am we arrived at The Ministry of Sound (one of a famous chain of night clubs that started in London). Corey, myself, two girls from Norway, and Nick, got a private area with bottle service! Bottle service!? Are we really still in Asia? Nick treated us to the whole night, which I lasted till around 5am and I was the first to bail!
Another Singaporean activity is to go to what the Loney Planet refers to as "The Plastic Fantastic" Sentosa Island. This man-made island is attatched to a mall in by a monorail. Talk about futuristic! We spent Sunday at Cafe del Mar (there is also one in Ibiza) listening to great music and playing in the fake sand.
Our final night in Sing is defintaley one to write home about. We met a lovely local guy at The Ministry of Sound who is a restaurant manager of an extremely prestigious fine dining establishment (which must remain nameless by request) in the city. We were treated to a dining experience on par with the Flagstaff House. The restaurant is in the middle of the sky scrapers but is inside a renovated 19th century former fire house. We started the evening on the deck with Moet Champagne. Then we moved inside to the air-conditioned porch where we had appetizers and opened a bottle of Chardonnay. We enjoyed Alaskan king crab souffle and scallop carpaccio with cavier. For our entree we had seared ocean trout with squid risotto, and Prawn Scampi. This was an OH MY GOD meal, to say the very least. With enjoyed an elaborate desert platter (with every dessert on the menu to taste) served with a chilled Cabernet. So would say we left Singapore with a major BANG!
The next morning, or rather that night at 4am, Nick took us to the airport to catch our 6am flight to Siem Reap Cambodia. If you could choose one place in the world that is the polar opposite of Singapore, I can say with confidence that it is Cambodia. More on that thought to come!
Ciao and Bessos!
Jordan
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Picture links
Here are the public links for our pictures from Thailand and Bali:
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156678&l=3824e&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156674&l=6a544&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156672&l=2d35d&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156666&l=6aed4&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156663&l=7e721&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156659&l=52f5d&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156655&l=6a498&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156678&l=3824e&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156674&l=6a544&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156672&l=2d35d&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156666&l=6aed4&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156663&l=7e721&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156659&l=52f5d&id=10213758
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156655&l=6a498&id=10213758
Malaysia Update (Megan)
We are now nearing the end of our Malaysian adventure portion of the trip. I was very surprised by just how developed this country is. Kuala Lumpur and Melaka (2nd biggest city) are hardly distinguishable from cities in the US, apart from the dress and look of the people and the food. This will make my next stop, Cambodia, seem very distant and poverty-stricken. During our visit to Kuala Lumpur we stayed with a family who is also on coachsurfing.com. They were so amazing and it was very interesting to see the inner-workings of a Malay family. The mother, Elma, works for the government and so has plenty of money. We were shocked to walk into the living room and see American Idle on their t.v. set. It is amazing that American t.v. has really taken over so many parts of the world. Elma works for the courts and was telling me about the high occurrence of babies who have been discarded by teenage mothers here. In fact, it is illegal to have a child out of wedlock as well as being illegal to have an abortion. Many teenage mothers are left by their partner and will be punished no matter what they do, leading them to abandon their children at birth. As opposed to many of the other places we have visited, nearly everyone here speaks English. This is due to the strong presence of Indian, Malay, and Chinese people who all live here together and need a common language. It is rare to see two cultures functioning so interconnectedly. It has been a treat to be exposed to so much of the Indian culture, visiting mosques and places of worship and enjoying some very flavorful food. The town that we are in now has been settled by the Dutch and the Portuguese and has a very different look than the rest of Southeast Asia. We have been visiting some very historical museums here, including a museum chronicling the extent to which people have gone for beauty: body scarring, tattooing, lip and ear extensions, footbinding, corsets, and wearing neck jewelry to extend the neck. One of the most interesting aspects of this trip is the ability to compare the neighboring countries. Bali was so spiritual and full of artisans, Thailand has been taken over by backpackers and is very hostile in some areas, and Malaysia is a testament to the possibility of two cultures being able to function harmoniously. The differences are drastic. Not to say that these are complete descriptions, these places have given us huge lessons and revealed themselves in a multitude of ways. Nonetheless, each place is very unique. One thing that has been VERY apparent throughout this continent, however, is the extreme lack of American travelers. We very rarely meet travelers from the US and are also highly scrutinized by those from other countries. While we are more than willing to discuss our disappointment with (and shame of) our current president, we seem to be some of the only people even relating to others in countries such as these. It is disappointing that there are not more people out here exploring. There are really so many amazing things to see and do in every part of the world and we are so lucky to be experiencing it. Love to everyone back home!
Sunday, May 6, 2007
More Pictures (Jordan)
http://colorado.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155793&l=02038&id=10211609
Some old pics from Australia and more Malaysia!
Some old pics from Australia and more Malaysia!
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
The journey keeps on rolling
Hi friends and family. It has been a few weeks since blogging, but I am finally at a place where I have time to relax and write. I am at The Sanctuary on Ko Phangan off the Southeastern coast of Thailand. This place is a spiritual commune of sorts offering yoga, meditation, Shamanic classes, detoxes, spa treatments and energy workshops. People prance around with glitter in the place of the spiritual third eye and spend lengthy afternoons in hammocks, reading metaphysical books and finding clarity. The food is all vegetarian, organic and delicious. The energy and atmosphere here provides a nice escape from traveling in Asia. The Sanctuary is built right on a small, secluded, beautiful beach. Giant rocks act as part of the interior’s decor as the structure is built right onto them. We share a large room with other soul searchers, sleeping on floor mats with canopied mosquito nets. It is nice to take a few days here to reflect on my traveling of the past few weeks. Here is an excerpt that I wrote in my journal a few days ago:
It’s Monday in Thailand and most of the locals are wearing bright yellow polo shirts with the King’s emblem embroidered on the lapel. The King was born on a Monday and his favorite color is yellow. I am on Ko (meaning Island in Thai) Phi Phi, which sounds like Pee Pee; the ‘h’ is silent. In effort to bring my readers here to Ko Phi Phi with me, I will take you on a short sensual journey through words. My nose is taken for a roller coaster ride as I walk down the tiny car-less streets of the island. First, there’s the scent of burning garbage in the air, then I smell raw seafood that has been out all day with far too little ice. I walk by a fresh fruit shake stand and get a whiff of a freshly cut pineapple which quickly gets over powered by the odorous steam of the stand selling kebabs of mysterious meats. I hear Thai kids laughing as the wheels of their scooters screech around tight corners. I hear Thai massage girls giggling and gossiping in their high pitched, tonal voices. I hear a voice that should sound like a woman’s come out of one of them only to realize that she is a he. I see a giant limestone cliff face sky rocketing out of the sparkling aqua marine water of the Andaman Sea. I see a group of “farang” (a friendly Thai term for white people) watching those same cliffs on a TV screen in a restaurant. They are watching the Leonardo DiCaprio film, “The Beach,” it was filmed right around the corner. I sit on the beach at Ton Sai bay thinking that I am perhaps in the Cancun of Asia as I check out hot bodies and topless Europeans backpackers. I see groups of too tanned tourists sucking down “buckets” of Thai rum, coke, and red bull. I sit in the shade, dripping with sweat, so I step into the sea finding minimal relief. It’s hotter than a bath. The air-conditioned rooms aren’t in my budget so I try to get used to the hot box with an oscillating fan. I danced on the beach under the stars and the half moon last night. But we are all really awaiting the full moon which arrives on May 1st. Everyone is headed to Ko Phangan to partake in the famous monthly rave-like party on the beach. My life feels simple and I laugh at the fact that $25 got me a night in a hotel, a Thai massage, three meals in restaurants, and an evening out drinking. I calculate that Megan and I have shared about 240 meals together on this trip. She laughs and points out that the only other people who have eaten so much together are probably our grandparents. The three month mark is approaching. The vacation, this trip, is actually now a lifestyle. Our backpacks are our apartments and considering the busses and ferries we have taken lately, our minds prove to be our most trusty and reliable mode of transportation. Traveling. Whew!!! Some days are intense; some days are almost just like days at home. I know for sure though, that I won’t be coming home the same as before. Yes, it will still be me, but I will be a little more filled up with the goodness that the world and the universe have to offer.
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