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i’ll jump right into a story. i’ve realized that my last few posts have been pretty ranty and i want to change the tone. because really, the traveling’s been truly awesome and so good to me, and i can honestly say that this has been the best experience of my life. the complaining was probably instigated from being just so tired and agitated from moving about every few days, anxiety that the impending ‘End’ was near, getting too much sun (too much heat and sun exposure make me fussy), and reverting back to the second phase of culture shock – that being the irritated phase.
so to jump right into a story because… well, i’m already nostalgic for the last few months.. it’s hard living in the past tense, but i think if i put these stories down on paper (well, online, as is the case), i’ll be better able to cope and try to do things in the present tense, like find a job and find a place to live!
ok, so to begin, bali then kyoto.
well, i had a pretty good last 2 days in bali as i mentioned in my last post. i was awesome in bargaining for the most part. i bought two nice traditional masks for about $6 altogether, and some other goods. part of it had to due with the fact that i got to the market just before closing when the vendors wanted to get rid of stuff before leaving for the day. the other part had to due with the excessive rain we got on one of the days i was there. the vendors were hoping that if they gave me a good deal, the rain gods would bestow good luck upon them in return! you see, the vast majority of the balinese are hindus (keep in mind that indonesia is predominantly muslim except for bali), and it’s a special division of hinduism only found in bali itself. so a few of the vendors, although displeased with how little they were getting, gave me a great price in hopes of good karma.
oh! also, i did get to meet up with my dutch friend mark again who i was suppose to meet in bali. we apparently had some sort of misunderstanding in our online communication which was partially the reason for his delay. anyway, all in all, i was generally happy with where i was. oh, mark also taught me how to say “no thanks” in indonesian, so that when taxi touts started hassling, i could snap back with “tidak, ga mau.” i love being able to say no in the native tongue!
anyway, we both got back to kuta beach from ubud on our last day together (he also had a flight, to sulawesi, a different island in indonesia, the same day i was flying out), and we got a sweet deal of 10,000 rupiah (less than $1) for the both of us to use the shower and the pool for the afternoon, before our flights at the guesthouse he had stayed at some nights before. at around 6 pm, it was time for us to go to the airport. well, my flight wasn’t till 1 am, but i decided to take the taxi with him, since it would cut costs for the both of us (drivers usually charge more for single passengers). and so after our brief goodbye, i had a 7 hour wait at the outside terminal area of the airport, not realizing i couldn’t just sit at the gate and read my book! the JAL check-in desk wasn’t opening until around 10 pm!
one gripe i have about bali is that they have very few banks, much less legitimate money exchange centers. and when you do exchange money (or have to deal with money in any form), a lot of times they’ll cheat you a couple thousand rupiah by rounding down. at an exchange place at the airport, this money exchanger tried to do the same, and i really had to twist his arm to give me the exact amount – although the second time i needed to exchange money again to pay immigration the mandatory exit fee, i changed my mind and figured it was chump change (and besides there’s no tipping in asia). so, thought what the hell, i’ll let him keep the 2,000 rupiah. (at a different place, the guy actually refused to exchange any money at all because he knew i wanted the exact amount).
freeze for a second here. being back to reality in the states, i’m having serious trouble getting used to tipping again. and bad bud light. and cars actually in real marked lanes and on the right side of the road! okay, had to get that out there. continuing on with the story..
so i finally got to the gate area, and jesu christo, there are cockroacks sneaking about on the seats and i’d catch sight of one every few seconds! i mean, i had seen a cockroach on the window of the money exchange place downstairs that i was taken aback by, but shit, on the seats in the gate area made it difficult for me to sit still. by this point, i had switched into socks and sneakers (which i had only done on treks in the entire 5 months i’ve been away by that point) and put on my long-sleeved flannel – one of only 2 long-sleeved shirts i still had with me, not counting my rain jacket. also, i had no pants, as i had sent my only pair of jeans home before i left seoul. so, i knew kyoto would be interesting (or that I would look interesting in it), because it was going to be 50 or 60 degrees over there, and i was only going to be in my denim short shorts and could expect to get a lot of strange looks. oh well!
i was really excited for my flight on JAL (japan airlines), because i’d heard so many things about how it was a lush airline. but sadly, it wasn’t nearly as nice as my asiana airlines flights to seoul and to bangkok. i mean, that airline was loaded, even on economy. each passenger was provided eye masks, ear plugs, long socks! (for the chilliness in-flight), a pouch for all of that stuff, great service, pretty hosts and hostesses, great food and drinks, and a nice set of good, plastic playing cards for those who requested (haa).
anyway, digression aside, about 7 or 8 hours later, i arrived in osaka kansai. as soon as the plane landed, i was in a ‘touch and go’ state of mind. you know, ‘no time to lose, i only have 12 1/2 hours in japan and i gotta make it worth it!’ so i was literally speedwalking the entire way to the exit, got to 2 different information desks asking ‘okay, i have 12 hours in japan, what can i do?’, studied a few maps, and decided on kyoto an hour and 15 minutes away by the express train.
okay, i’m going to have go to sleep now and continue the story tomorrow. stay tuned…
i am currently in bali, indonesia. i’ve been here for about 4 nights and 5 days, and quite honestly, the first few days (well, nights really) have been absolutely crappy. i mean, AWFUL. yesterday night, i could not stop hating, i mean really HATING, kuta beach, the beach that i’ve been on until today (this afternoon, i have transported myself to ubud, a nice quiet country town a few hours to the north).
what was the problem, you ask? well, kuta beach is extremely, OUTRAGEOUSLY touristy, and is entirely full of couples, holiday-makers and schoolies. schoolies are the slimey aussie kids and 20-somethings who’ve only just finished high school and are just bumming around with a little cash to burn, surfing and clubbing around the area. the afternoons have been fine as the first two full days i learned how to surf for the first time ever, and yesterday, some people i knew and i took some scooters around to the other beaches on the island (this place called dreamland beach was just absolutely glorious – three shades of clear blue and massive killer waves). so, mainly it’s been the evenings and partly the company that haven’t been so great. the people i know are these guys (and some girls who are all right) who i met in ko phi phi and phagnan, thailand and who cause a lot of drama and are kinda crazy. anyway, this plus the club scene, which i absolutely hate hate hate were sources of extreme exasperation and agitation.
a few other things: i was quite paranoid about the security and the police here as this is indonesia and extreme intoxication is not a good state to be in in a country like this (although everyone was pretty much hammered every night and this is bali). and once again, i’m again totally annoyed of the locals street hawkers and the taxi drivers’ touts. there was literally no street, store, or corner i could go on without being hassled or harassed in some way.
this is how a ‘conversation’ normally went on kuta beach (and even in ubud) with the locals and me:
‘konichiwa, nihon mo? japanese? taxi? transport? where are you going?’
‘no thanks’
‘yes, transport? where do you need to go?’
‘no. you don’t need to know where i’m going.’
alternatively, it starts like this:
‘(whistles/cat calls) konichiwa. japanese?’
shake my head
‘chinese’
shake my head
‘where are you from?’
don’t answer
‘korean’
‘none of your business.’
every 2 minutes dude! it drives me insane. they ALWAYS all speak to me in japanese. hell, they know way more of it than i speak french now! granted, there are heaps of japanese tourists (probably the most of any asians here, and here in ubud, they’re absolutely everywhere and are apparently the largest group of expats). in thailand and bali, i cannot get away with someone not initially thinking i’m japanese, although a few times, i’ve gotten chinese/taiwanese/singaporean/even malay for being so dark now.
okay. now the surfing. trying to surf was loads of fun. but learning was insanity. not because it was hard and not because i was frustrated, but because of the freaking local surf instructor. he did not really speak english that well, he did not really teach me much of anything other than one basic form, and he could not stop hitting on me – actually to the point of harassing me. 1. he continuous said i looked japanese about 1000 fucking times, after EVERY single surf. 2. he continuously opined that i looked like the other japanese girls he taught how to surf the previous day. 3. he wouldn’t stop talking about how beautiful i was and how i looked like a japanese artist (?!), and 4. he just made me absolutely sick. digusto. awful awful awful.
so basically, the best part of kuta beach was going to the other pristine beaches nearby, flying at about 70 miles an hour on the small hilly windy roads hoping not to get killed in a motorbike crash riding behind this crazy dutch guy named sunny. yeah.
anyway, basically, bali is probably really nice for couples and vacationers, but not for the average backpacker. it’s really a mistake that i’m here. but it’s my own fault. i was supposed to go to melaka, malaysia and singapore, and/or fly to oz or back to bangkok, but decided oz was too expensive and vast to do in a couple of weeks. and again, as i LOVE to think in hindsight, i should’ve gone with my gut instinct and gone back up to chiang mai and pai in northern thailand as i longed for. but ‘course, i didn’t go with my instincts and didn’t really do my homework in advance. also, i was supposed to meet a friend here, but basically, flying all the way to another country that’s not so close is kind of a bad idea to do when plans are made so far in advance and not set in stone. basically, i kinda got ditched but again, i mostly blame myself.
in fact, the day before i left KL for bali, i met an irish guy who was just there, and he sort of forewarned me about what it would be like. i almost, just ALMOST changed my plans and wanted to cancel my ticket and fly back up to bangkok, but i didn’t take the right risk. it’s also low season here, which could be why it sucked too. bali is a big place, and i’m only going to basically 2 places, when most people spend about 2 weeks here with a week in the gili islands alone, which is the ko phagnan of indo but is really quiet right now.
that’s enough complaining. if there are a few lessons i learned from traveling, it’s: DEFINITELY go with your gut instincts even if it means having to take some small risks (like changing plane tickets at the last minute); always get advice from multiple sources and never just one person as you go along; compare notes with others; go where there are hostels or more likely to be a backpacker scene; get the latest lonely planet guide (’cause they really know what they’re talking about – and mine’s 2 years too old); if you meet someone really cool and your gut instinct is that person is really legit; don’t be shy about traveling with them (which i was a few times to do); it’s never a bad thing to go back to a place you’ve already been and liked; don’t trust too many people (which i did a few times too many); and finally, never travel too fast. that i think could be the biggest mistake a traveler makes (even the lonely planet and rough guide say so, which i initially didn’t take seriously!).
hmm, i don’t know if i’ll ever be able to go on a proper vacation or holiday again. i just love the rough lifestyle of backpacking way too much!
anyway, ubud isn’t so bad. it’s picturesque and sort of reminds me of chiang mai. i’m also really digging reading “eat pray love” while i’m here as well, as a third of the book is set in this town. i’ll be able to do plenty of shopping here. indonesia’s quite cheap. the other saving grace is that it’s cheaper to fly out of here to honolulu than bangkok, and i have a stopover in osaka, japan for 12 hours! maybe i’ll try to see some of japan! i don’t know, we’ll see! that would be SAWEEEET though.
wow, this is my first post in a really long time, and for that, i’m sorry! internet’s been exorbitantly pricey and finding a good connection was even harder (this one’s not even that great, but at least it’s free at the official malay tourism office).
SO. i’ve been in malaysia for about 5 days now. i took a long-ass journey (about 18 hours) from ko tao, a beautiful island in thailand, to penang, a crappy island in malaysia; first by boat for about 7 hours, then the rest of the journey by minivan, a random sketchy black sedan, then another minivan. see, the thing about traveling in asia by bus is that sometimes, it’s really only a “bus” with quotation marks – as in you might be taking a really nice coach, or a minivan (or a minibus as they like to call it here), or occasionally, a black sedan. they also generally don’t tell you what the hell is going on, so that when you’re shuffled from vehicle to vehicle, you may tend to get nervous about what in the world is going to happen to you or where you’re really going to end up. when they shuffled me out of the minibus into the black toyota sedan with tinted windows, i kept asking the drivers from both vehicles if they were really taking me all the way to malaysia in this random sedan with random other thai/malay people, and all they could say was “yes yes get in get in,” when really, they didn’t understand a word of what i was asking at all.
shite, i am in the tourism office and i can hear the rain pouring down cats and dogs. (the whole thing about the monsoon season in southeast asia is also a bit iffy. it’s never clear when it begins or ends. i thought it was supposed to have been over in these parts ages ago except for the east coast of the malaysian peninsula.) oh, and it’s thanksgiving today! i had KFC for lunch in honor of the holiday – that was the closest thing i could get to a turkey and something american out here – well, there are a lot of mickey d’s and kfc’s, but i chose the latter to feast on a bird. (i believe i am the only american at my hostel which is a bit saddening.)
anyway, penang was pretty run-down and a bit slummy. i had heard from many other travellers not to go there, but one american guy advised that it was more interesting than langkawi island, so i took his advice and went. but that’s the last time i’m taking advice from an american traveler again! (langkawi, from what i’ve seen of pics from other traveling friends, looks a lot nicer and more like the thai islands.)
anyway, next, i went to the cameron highlands, which was a really beautiful mountainous place. it was a bit chilly, a welcome change from the 80-90 degree weather out here. i got to wear my long-sleeved shirts and sneakers for the first time in a really long time, which was exciting! we (myself and four other english people, 2 of whom i’ve known for a while) stayed at a lodge which had a really chilled out atmosphere. i went on a little hike by myself to a rather miniscule waterfall, then went to some tea plantations – immense corduroy fields of rolling greens.
after 2 nights there, chris, rachel and i went to taman negara, purportedly the oldest rainforest in the world (not sure about that one), and climbed the highest canopy bridge in the world. pretty awesome, but frankly, i was so focused on just walking ahead and not looking down that the experience passed by pretty quickly. chris and i also went on a cave exploration, and that was freakin rad! bats every, crawling through tiny holes on all fours, slipping and sliding on bat droppings, getting bitten by leeches (just outside of the caves), cave millipedes, snakes, the whole works.
but overall, my impression of malaysia hasn’t been all that great so far. maybe if i went to borneo, it’d be different. but as far as peninsular malaysia, it’s definitely a male-dominated society as it’s a muslim nation, and i do feel uncomfortable sometimes in my western summer clothes (tank tops and shorts, skirts or dresses). what’s ironic though is that it’s a pretty wealthy nation. it’s a weird dicotomy… i wanted to go into a mosque today as there was a sign that said it provided headscarves and robes, but it didn’t seem really legit, and there were a ton of men milling around outside just staring at me, so i didn’t feel comfortable stepping into the premises.
oh the other thing about malaysia is that although food and accomodations are cheap, alcohol is NOT. not in the slightest. i believe it’s almost as expensive as the west, if not more so. $3-4 for a can of beer at a 7/11 (and it’s more at a proper bar, like $5), although 350 mls of bad whiskey can be about $4 as well. bars in general are expensive here, which i guess is a good reason to detox. but it definitely makes the traveling scene and the nightlife pretty bland.
then again, thailand was pretty crazy for that. basically, southern thailand, as in the islands (ko phi phi, ko phagnan, and ko tao) was a real drunken mess of a party. i miss it already! i had a real blast, and i really hope that i’ll be able to go back to thailand again sometime in the near future (before i’m 30). it was just so much fun and just so full of people my age (not too many younger or older). all of thailand, lao, vietnam and cambodia were great, really. i miss it so so sooo much already! well, except for the prostitutes and the sex tourism part. nearly every guy traveler i’ve met has definitely slept with at least one prostitute or a local girl who sorta dubbed as a prostitute even if she didn’t ask for money. but it’s more likely that they’ve actually slept with at least one lady (or ladyboy) from each country. yeeahhh. and i’ve only met one guy who’s DEFINITELY been entirely faithful to his girlfriend, and that’s probably only because he was on his way to visiting her in tokyo.) quite honestly, i didn’t find most thai/lao/vietnamese/cambodian women to be attractive, but then again, i’m east asian, so i suppose i feel superior to them (haa, jk…).
anyway, i had briefly considered going back up to chiang mai in northern thailand after the islands before heading south to malaysia, because it’s a wicked place and also a good place to get really nice, cheap souvenirs and clothes (i hadn’t shopped much the first time i was there, thinking i could pick up all of the same good stuff later on in my journey, but i’m now kicking myself for not having gotten tons of stuff there and shipped them home). in hindsight, what i should’ve done was go back to chiang mai right after i got back to bangkok from siem reap, cambodia, before heading down to the islands and just skipped bangkok the second time around. but i guess hindsight is always 20/20 as they say. i do wish that i had spent more time in northern thailand, because i feel like i breezed right through a lot of places because i hadn’t met any cool travelers and was afraid of being alone, or through a lack of knowledge about a place and not knowing what there was all to see. i think i spent 2 1/2 weeks in southern thailand, whereas i only spent 5 nights in northern thailand (not including bangkok, which doesn’t really count and i actually wish i’d spent less time there anyway, both times around). well, i guess there might be a next time – if there is a next time, which i’m definitely hoping for!
i say this as i’m now nearing the end of my travels and i’m already missing all of the places i’ve been. i do feel like a seasoned traveler now though. i definitely feel like if i were to do this trip again in a few years time, i would definitely know where all the good places are and where all to hit up, though i’m sure some things’ll change by then. i suppose i should check out some other countries and continents before heading back here though, huh? perhaps next on the list is europe (since i have all these new european friends i’ve made), australia (same deal), south america, india and north africa.
the other sort of depressing part of this trip right now for me is that except for bali, the last week or two have been sort of anticlimactic, either because the people i’ve met were leaving/going home, ’cause i’ve had to part ways with friends, or go to a place i didn’t really want to go and traveled with a girl who was only fun for about half the time but then pretty annoying for the other half. i’m definitely hoping bali will help end my trip on a good note, with a big bang. it’ll be a bit hard to meet people there as there aren’t any hostels on the island, but if it’s anything like ko phi phi, ko phagnan and ko tao, fun times should be had. i’ll make my own fun times if i have to!
and then it’s on to hawaii for christmas, and back home to the cold ol’ big apple! just in time for new year’s! woo hoo!
sorry for the lack of posts. internet is expensive here in the islands. since bangkok, i’ve been to ko phi phi (it’s truly paradise!), railay near krabi (for climbing), ko phagnan (for the full moon party), and i just got to ko samui this afternoon.
full moon was really all that it was cut out to be. it was basically a ridiculously big rave (my first one ever) – probably upwards of 10,000 people, maybe 15.
it was great because i basically got to catch up with so many of the people i had traveled or chilled with in the past 2 1/2 months, save for maybe one face that i really wish i could’ve seen. it was one big reunion.
basically, everyone was either really drunk or fucked up on drugs. i was only a little bit of both, but pretty lucid, which was great because i could witness it all and see all these masses of people dance their night away like zombies. (it’s what i imagined spring break would be like, except with more techno/house/electronic music and minus the girls-gone-wild stuff – the europeans and aussies are a lot classier than americans, i guess.) saw some pretty shitty things too, like drunken weirdos and people getting hurt. i guess that’s full moon for ya..
ko samui is quite a different place from it’s sister island ko phagnan. it’s most filled with vacationers rather than tourists, and this actually has made me a bit homesick. i think i’m headed to ko tao next..
i’m considering coming back either before or right after christmas. hmm.
here is a motley collection of thoughts. but first, let me just update you on my location. i’m back in bangkok (after a month and a half of being away), and boy, is it good to be back in a first-world-ish country with street lights, traffic lights, orderly traffic!!! (no darting through whizzing motorbikes!), crosswalks, metered taxis, smooth paved roads, highways, billboards, skyscrapers, 7-elevens (with price tags!), and plush busses that i took for granted and thought were shitty compared to the busses in korea and the states more than a month ago.
my notions are true, it’s been confirmed. thailand IS much cheaper than most of the southeast asian countries, considering it’s 10 times more developed than its neighbors. cambodia and lao were somewhat expensive, as they tried to milk as many dollars off of backpackers and pure tourists alike as was possible. vietnam was actually pretty cheap considering that it’s developing (and having heard that it wasn’t), but that involved sharing rooms with other friends or staying at hostels which were awesome, and eating at a lot of street stalls (great food, mind you). i think i was also totally turned off by the rude hawkers, and the more they said “you buy something lady? you buy from me lady? buy here lady?” or “tuk tuk? tuk tuk? motorbike?” at every turn and step, the more i didn’t feel like buying from them. (literally, you couldn’t walk down a street with a stall, store or tuk tuk/motorbike driver in vietnam without EVERY SINGLE one of them saying at least one of those things. that was the part of that country i was disgusted with. feeling like a walking atm machine.) what wasn’t thifty was that i spent loads on getting clothes tailored (some unnecessary in hindsight) in hoi an, the town known for their tailors.
price comparisons: scarves cost a dollar more in cambodia than in thailand (but i bought 3 silk scarves anyway – probably a dollar or 2 too much, but i didn’t know if they’d have the same variety in thailand). besides, i’d like to think i’m contributing to cambodia’s economy, one of the poorest nations in the world. interesting side note: laos is supposedly poorer than cambodia and it was one of the most heavily bombed countries in the world. however, the people there seemed very content and satisfied living a pastoral lifestyle, which differs from the outlooks of cambodians it seemed, as they were all about money, money, money. i never saw a beggar in lao and very few prostitutes. in cambodia, beggars, amputees, children, and prostitutes asking for money were everywhere. bottles of water and snacks are cheaper here in thailand compared to cambodia also. so are food and fruit shakes (almost by $2) and bracelets too (was quoted $3 for a bracelet in cambodia that’s 60 cents here!).
when i’m by myself, i’m borderline ridiculous in frugality. i’d rather skip a meal or walk for 30 minutes finding a street stall rather than spend $2 or $3 (expensive by SE standards) on a meal at a western restaurant. and i’d rather walk a half-mile with my heavy pack and daypack in the boiling heat under the scorching sun than get ripped off by annoying tuk tuk drivers pestering me with “tuk tuk lady? where are you going?”
that said, i love traveling with other people i’ve met on the road and actually prefer it, although i usually can’t be as thrifty as i want to be (though i was on the same page with most girls). i’ve found that traveling with girls is much much cheaper than traveling with guys. girls are generally overly conscious of their spending, especially if it’s not on clothing and jewelry. we’re cheap with food and accomodations. we’ll skip a meal and shop around multiple stalls rather than settle for the first place we see. yet guys, who i find are actually better traveling companions in terms of conversation and humor and what not, do generally settle. if they’re hungry, they’re hungry, and they’ll go wherever there’s good food. they generally prefer comfort over thrift. they eat 3 square meals a day, if not more. just my observations.
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i arrived in bangkok last night from siem reap, cambodia. i spent 2 (or was it 3?) nights in phnom penh (creepy town), 2 in sihanoukville (a quiet beach town, though still very touristy and lined with bars and cafes with thatched roofs and deck chairs), and 2 more in siem reap. the angkor temples, needless to say, were extremely impressive. but surprisingly, i enjoyed angkor thom and the other temple where tomb raider was filmed (forget the cambodian name) much more than angkor wat itself. it rained when i got to those two temples, and they had a charm and enigma that was far greater than the super touristy, overly commercialized angkor wat. i loved that angkor thom had large contented, smiling heads carved on the temple and tiles of the dancing vishnus (or shivas?). the tomb raider temple, overgrown with trees and accessorized by monkey screeches high up above, were simply surreal. loved it.
after one day at angkor, i walked around the city of siem reap alone the following day, having seen mark, my dutch travel companion of more than a week, off. i was slightly disturbed by cambodia though, and find that i couldn’t think clearly. i don’t know what it was. maybe it was phnom penh, visiting the s-21 prison museum and having had nightmares for a few nights afterwards, or maybe it was all the beggars and desperate people i saw on the streets, or the high tourist prices everywhere. or maybe, even, it was the slow internet connection that i couldn’t bare! or still yet, maybe it was the slight sadness i felt after breaks and goodbyes with friends leaving, traveling elsewhere or on a different schedule and feeling cerebral traveling alone with so much time to myself. but the point is, i really wanted to leave cambodia. and now i kind of regret it! i wish i could’ve done another day at angkor too. well, i suppose it’s a good thing that i’m in want of having seen and done more. you can’t do everything everywhere, i know. and even the days that were a waste were still better than not having done them at all…
but the biggest reason for this regret actually is that i wanted to volunteer in cambodia (which i knew i might’ve wanted to do even before getting there) either at an orphanage, hospital or school. but because of my personal selfishness to get out of the depressive poverty and to meet up with people in bangkok, i left early. i say this now after feeling relief last night at getting back to bangkok (as my first paragraph in this post tells). but now that the consumerism, materialism and commercial mini-culture shock has set in, i’m longing to do something productive. i’m not sure that i can find any good opportunities in thailand. regrets man, they suck.
anyway, after bangkok, i’m headed south to the islands of ko phi phi, krabi (not an island), ko phagnan and ko samui (these last two for the full and half moon party). then after, i think i’ll head to malaysia and indonesia i think, where perhaps i’ll find volunteer work. but if i can afford it and have the time, i’m actually considering going back up to cambodia to fulfill that guilty desire i have… not sure if i will, but it would be nice.
i’m currently in phnom penh, cambodia, headed for sihanoukville tomorrow. good ol’ eli b. brings up a good point in his comment on my last post, so i’ll dedicate this post to my experiences with the locals which i’ve been remiss about as of late.
truth be told, i wasn’t very fond of the vietnamese, although i love thais and laos (i think i mentioned this in a previous post). let me explain why. these are generalizations, but for the most part, the vietnamese are very rude and basically only care for your money. they will talk to you and approach you only to offer you a motorbike or cyclo ride. “motorbike miss? motorbike madam?” are encountered at every corner a thousand times a day. it gets immensely annoying after a while. it’s hard to simply ignore them when they also follow you down the block. (also imagine being a solo girl with a huge pack when you’ve just gotten off a bus and have to look for the right guesthouse or hostel, and you’re basically just being bombarded by a chaotic mass of motorbike drivers thirsting for your money). so you’re either compelled to be rude back at them or pretend they don’t exist.
here’s a solid example of rude behavior in vietnam (also bear in mind that my image of the vietnamese was tainted by the hellish 29-hour bus ride and the incident at the food stall – go back a few posts for that story): you cannot simply browse or window shop in vietnam. if you touch something, the saleswomen will scurry over to you and say “very nice, i give you very good price.” and whether you intended to bargain and buy it or not, if you don’t end up purchasing it, they’ll hastily and roughly snatch the item right out of your hands, turn away with a loud “hmph,” speak loud insults in vietnamese, and turn abruptly to another customer.
in another instance, i bargained really well for myself for some fruit, and the lady just snatched the money right out of my hands because she wasn’t satisfied with how much she was getting. (and another thing is more often than not, you need exact change or they will simply take all the money for themselves.) there are countless, COUNTLESS stories of these things happening in vietnam. also bear in mind that i almost didn’t go to vietnam because of all the bad reviews i’ve heard about the country. many fellow travelers have said they would never go back to vietnam again because of all the brusque and unappetizing attitude of the locals. and this is not taking into account just the general loudness, ill/strangely-mannered behavior of the people there (particularly men, who’ll just whip out their members on the side of the road in more rural areas and just take a piss right in front of you). and YES, i realize that’s part of being immersed in a different culture, and i take all of these sights with a grain of salt and understand that this is how the people here live, but it’s something that’s hard for a lot of westerners to digest – even for any open-minded person.
to be fair, the people in the north were much more abrasive than the southern vietnamese. still, i got the sense that they all only really cared for you money. you essentially feel like a walking atm machine. they don’t care to get to know you at all, which is also a fairly big contrast from the laos and thais. even when we went on a small excursion up a river known as the fairy stream in mui ne, little boys (9 and 14 years old, who really looked more about 6 and 
walked beside our group. but we rarely spoke back to them as we all knew what they intentions were: money. i finally caved a bit and talked briefly to the boys, and they told stories of how their parents had passed away and that they were very poor (but one of the boys had dyed hair – hm, how could he afford that?). at the end of our little trip up the stream, they demanded “MONEY MONEY MONEY!,” and started screaming and throwing huge tantrums. this is my general perception of the vietnamese. they won’t hesitate to cheat you for more money – not in the slightest.
the vietnamese are a hardy people. even their landscape is really rough. they’ve been through a lot for sure, but so have the laos and the cambodians. i’ve only been in cambodia for a day, and i haven’t encountered the same kind of rudeness i did in vietnam. sure, they still want your money here, but they’re never short of a smile back at you. i feel i’ve rarely seen the vietnamese smile other than to make fun of something.
so this is why my posts in vietnam lacked anything much about the people there.
it’s also tricky business being a female traveler in these countries. in lao, my aussie friend and i befriended a 25-year old local guy who worked at the bar we were chilling at, and although he was very friendly, extremely nice and probably totally harmless, he was clearly talking to hit on us and flirt with us, particularly my white aussie friend.
in thailand, i had befriended a few locals through couchsurfing (i think i’ve mentioned this before, but it’s a super awesome networking sight for travelers) and they were great. but the problem i had with them was that i couldn’t ever get them to talk about anything serious. they didn’t really want or care to talk about the real conditions and situation in their country. they also liked to drink LOADSSSSS of alcohol, and i couldn’t keep up with them and really couldn’t handle hanging out with them much more towards the end of my stay in bangkok and chiang mai as they wanted to get drunk literally every night!
so far, here in cambodia, i’ve met one nice 19 year old guy. i sat next to him at a food stall yesterday in the late afternoon, and he just started talking to me. he spoke great english for a guy who didn’t learn the language in school. i learned that he was a car driver (i don’t believe they have real taxis here, so he just picks up anyone who wants a ride for a small fee). that was nice, but we didn’t get very far in our conversation. i think he mentioned something about being poor and still living with his parents (which is very typical here even as adults). still though, this conversation was a nice reprieve from the quite literal animosity i felt in vietnam. i can already tell the cambodians are friendlier than their eastern neighbors.
speaking of cambodia though, it’s definitely a very poor country. i don’t know if it’s supposed to be one of the poorest or not.. however, phnom penh seems to be rapidly developing (with the help of korean construction companies it seems, as i see korean construction, restaurant and store signs everywhere. in fact, it was also like that in saigon. i think korea must be doing a lot of development work in this region). anyway, the biggest difference i notice from cambodia and vietnam or thailand is that although the main road is paved, the side roads are not at all. and although lao was quite poor, it was mostly that the entire country seemed rather underdeveloped and pastoral. i didn’t see so many beggers even in their biggest city of vietiane like i’ve already seen here in phnom penh. for some reason, although lao has been through a lot, the people there always seemed happy. here, i get a slightly mixed sense. i guess the people are still trying to recover from the khmer rouge days.
speaking of this, i went to the s-21 museum today, the prison where they used to confine, torture and execute thousands of people during the khmer rouge revolution. really gruesome stuff. it really dampened my afternoon, and i have decided i don’t want to go to the killing fields. i think today was enough.
as far as the war remnants museum in saigon, there was a lot of terrible stuff there as well. america did a lot of horrible things for sure, agent orange, napalm and the whole “burn all, destroy all, kill all” policy. and although there was one exhibit about the american soldiers who died sponsored by some american foundation and another exhibit about the war protests around the world, it was quite one sided, as was the cuchi tunnel tour and the hanoi hilton museum. i suppose it’s all propaganda and that’s just how it is… it got me thinking though, does america have a substantial exhibit or museum dedicated to slavery? i know there are native american museums, but i haven’t yet been to one solely dedicated slavery, and i’m quite curious to see what’s shown and exhibited.
oh, i get stared a lot here! like, a LOT! i got stared at in vietnam (in hanoi and saigon especially) and most thais and laos assumed i was japanese or korean. but MAN, i can’t avoid it here at all! and i’m not even white! i was walking with my dutch friend mark today and i felt that they were staring more at me than at him.
anyway, off i go to take a much needed shower – it’s boiling here! contemplating eating a ‘happy’ pizza tonight. can you guess what that is? hmmm…
So I’m currently in Mui Ne, Vietnam, another beach town (if you can really call it a town, because it’s so small) in the south. To be honest, I wish I’d stayed in Nha Trang a bit longer. This place has better beaches, but there’s essentially no town – there’s only something that resembles a small resort strip.. Nha Trang had a good nightlife (i.e. rowdy, boisterous backpackers’ bars), and some of my travel friends since my slowboat trip in Lao are still there.. In any case, there are two new developments since my last Vietnam update.
The first is that I’m now traveling with a HOTTT (and i mean, excessively super HOTTT) Swedish medical student named Staffan. I met him and his other Swedish friend Anders (actually met this guy first) at the hotel myself and my two English friends (two girls who I’ve also known since my Lao slowboat trip) were staying at. Don’t get any ideas, it’s strictly platonic. But MAN, the first day we were traveling together, I could not look at him in the eye for fear of fainting from his hotness. I’ve been sharing hotel rooms with him along the way too (separate beds, mind you), which does NOT help one bit. It does NOT help that we’re also on the beach all the time. Literally, the first day we were together by ourselves, I think I went into the bathroom just to pace around and think in my head, “Shit, fuck, goddamnit man!” This has made traveling with him a bit difficult, but I think I’m slowly getting over it. At least he’s not super funny, or else, I don’t know what I’d do – I might have shot myself by now. Plus, tomorrow, I think we’re splitting up and going our separate ways. (Parting ways is always so sad, man… That’s the one thing I dislike about traveling!)
Anyway, this first development was made further difficult by a second new development I’ve had. I’ve developed a terrible rash all over my arms and legs. It’s turned out to be a really really bad heat rash (they look like boils really), but for about a half day, Staffan (who, as I said, is a med student) thought it could’ve been scabies. Thankfully, his medical contact back in Sweden thinks it’s not, which is a relief since there are no hospitals in this town. Plus I’m with a hot Swedish guy, and that would suck if I actually had something serious and contagious like scabies. Hopefully, it’ll go away in a few days because it’s terribly unbecoming.
Oh, another scare was that I thought I lost most of my travel pics, but I’m hoping I still have them – it’s a bit uncertain at this point, but I’m not going to freak out about it just this minute and I’ll wait till I get to a bigger town with better computers.. While traveling, you learn that your camera and flash drives are your life, possibly as or more important than your passport. And I don’t mean the physical camera itself, but the pictures in them, because truly, they are priceless.
I think I’m headed to Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow, probably by myself… Most of my travel friends are either still behind me or long ahead of me headed towards home. I presume I’ll be by myself at HCMC, which’ll probably be a source of boredom and loneliness but I’m hoping I won’t be alone for too long and will meet some good people again..
I’m still thinking a lot about home – both the people and places back home, and also what I need/want to do once I’m back. Again, I think I’ll be home in the relatively near future. It’s gonna suck to miss Halloween and possibly Homecoming though. I’d really not prefer to miss Thanksgiving also…
This is an old post from like 2 months ago that I meant to edit, but didn’t have time to. I’m posting it anyway, because I still think it’s insightful about my life in Seoul and the things I went through. Enjoy my broken English, haa.
Below this post is FINALLY a new post about ‘Nam.
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man, i’m so delayed with these updates… i wanted to write earlier in the week, but just couldn’t get myself to write in a way that i was pleased with. (my english is also deteriorating. i’ve been dropping articles and mixing tenses, having to simplify my speech for the students at work. i start a lot of sentences with “first of all” since i’m teaching them how to use transitional phrases in multi-paragraph essays. so sorry about the hasty writing style.) to sum up, my days have been really catatonic – it’s been mostly pleasant the last few weeks, but there were indeed a couple of really hellish days. i’ve gone sightseeing and visited a couple of historic places, and that’s definitely made me a lot happier. i’ve decided stressing out about work is useless. the job shouldn’t be a priority for me. i’m here to enjoy myself and my time here, right? and not just waste my energy at the hakwon all day long.
okay, quick summary of work (i will definitely have to go into more detail about this later, because there are a lot of interesting cultural differences that i’ve been shocked to learn in the school environment):
have i mentioned that the schooling system is insane here? the parents are insane. the kids are insane. the whole system is insane. with some classes, the most poorly behaved ones, i’m essentially a glorified babysitter. i can’t tell if the kids misbehave because they’re taking all of their anger and hatred of the system and their parents out on me, or if they’re simply spoiled kids – i think it’s both.
but some days, i do sympathize with the kids. if the kids don’t do their homework, are late or are absent, i have to tell the front desk people, who call the parents. often, i hear the next day that they got yelled at by their parents. one really adorable and good student forgot to do his homework one day and begged me not to call his house, or else he wouldn’t be able to come to school on monday (this was a friday). i asked him why, to which he said that he’d be too badly bruised to come to school. um, yeah. another got yelled at for a couple of hours. it’s really pretty insane. then i asked them if they loved their parents and they automatically said yes. i don’t get it. i mean, my parents were pretty strict with me too, but i don’t know. i was shocked and unnerved to hear these things…
i really didn’t realize the whole idea of “saving face” was a big cultural thing here (because it’s pretty subtle), but it is. that’s why so many of the kids don’t participate, because they don’t want to embarass themselves. and here i am, a thoroughly American teacher (who, by the way, doesn’t know any of the pop starts, celebrities, historical figures, or Olympic athletes of korea – EXTREME SHOCK FROM THE STUDENTS, like the whole class gasped in horror and disappointment) trying to teach the class American-style.
but because the kids DO know that i’m American and we’re supposedly easier to manipulate and nicer than Korean teachers, and because they know that i’m one of the younger teachers with less experience, the kids really do try to test my limits. they try to break you (me). really, they do. also, teachers used to get a lot more respect even in the ’80s or ’90s, but with the advent of the internet, cell phone cameras and small video cameras, they haven’t. why? back in the day, teachers used to be able to use corporal punishment. but not anymore… because kids started taking photos of their bruises and whatnot and posting them all over the internet. parents have also begun spoiling their children immensely. and although teaching was considered a respected profession even through the ’90s, it’s less so now…
anyway, where i was going with this is that kids are less fearful and respectful of teachers. plus, i’m a young Korean American. so they talk back and stand up to me even more. i had to kick a kid out of class early last week, but he didn’t even budge. there’s also a way of talking in Korean that’s really rude (opposite of the honorific) and some of them had started using that. i took a kid aside after class earlier this week and he just said right to my face, “i don’t want to talk to you” and turned around and left. this is the shit i’ve been dealing with.
PLUS, so many kids, even the good ones, expect you to get them snacks for class (this is very common). and they’ll ask for things. it’s weird. but yeah, they want you to buy things for them! it’s insane. and they say, well, you’re older so you should buy us things.. this is a cultural thing – older people do really buy lunch for the younger people all the time. for instances, my relatives give me money all too frequently. each week, they give me an allowance of $100! i’ve started refusing, because honestly, it’s nice, but they don’t need to give me money and i feel awkward accepting so much.
the kids make fun of me often, because i can’t speak korean and they will say things in korean to test my comprehension level and what not. they also talk about me among themselves like i’m invisible and can’t hear them. for instance, “the teacher has a small face.” and i responded, “oh really?” as in, “i heard you” but they remain unfazed. or they will talk about weight in front of you. “does Min teacher weigh more than 45 kg?” um yeah…
the maturity level of most kids is SO LOW! i thought a lot of them were in middle school, like 13 or 14 – 15 at the absolute oldest. but a lot of them are 17 or 18. some of the kids are so adorable, but really, they’re devilish. also, the kids, admins, and teachers alike all gossip so much.
oh yeah, i used the word “fucking” in one of my worst classes and got in a little bit trouble for it. yeah.. i was so frustrated and said “this will get you a fucking zero.” the kids immediately told the front desk and some even told their moms. i mean, fucking asshole kids. BUT.
there’s a big but. i’ve dropped two of my classes (those classes with the worst kids), and have a much lighter schedule now, and i love the kids i have in the mornings in the remaining classes i teach. but then, there’s the whole thing of becoming TOO friendly with them. they want my facebook/myspace/cyworld (a korean social network i don’t have), they want to visit me, they want to TAKE ME PLACES like this island called Jeju island (one female student told her mom about me. and now her mom and her both want me to visit her hometown – Jeju Island which is a super nice kinda tropical island that’s a plane ride away. like whattt??). they want to hang out with me. i mean, this is a little overboard. i know other teachers are more lenient in a lot of ways, buying their kids lunch and stuff, but i would never do that. and to hang out with them on weekends? i mean, some of the kids are cool.. but like, this is kinda weird.
sorry about the lack of posts, but it’s hard to find a chunk of time online nowadays. i’m in Vang Vieng, Laos. It’s been SICK (in the good way). but today, i needed a day to myself. it’s hard traveling with a 19 year old aussie girl. she’s definitely still a careless teenager, less mature than the other 20-somethings around, a high schooler, dare i say a child. BUT it’s worked out for the most part, and we’re among other people from our slow-boat journey down the mekong.
anyway, I seem to write when I most feel like not writing. hmm. perhaps next time.
here’s an email i wrote to some friends. sorry if i forgot to add you to the list, or i probably just didn’t have your email and was too lazy to look it up on facebook.
anyway, here’s the email:
hey folks,
i’m now in thailand! it’s feels like a guilty pleasure to be here – i’m enjoying it so much that i feel it’s wrong. i haven’t seen, been near, or heard about the protests, though i hear it’s big news in the states right now.. the media hyping things up as usual? don’t know, but i haven’t felt unsafe other than from the predatory eyes of the old, fat western male sex tourists (more on this later).
most of you have probably read my blog at some point, not sure, but i thought i would write a more personal email, especially because it’s less work to write an informal email rather than a blog post… ok, so this isn’t really brief. LONG essay to ensue.
i’ve been in bangkok since tuesday night. so about a week. (it’s currently monday at 1 pm right now). it’s so easy to lose track of time here – i think i’ve spent most days not knowing or being confused about what day and time it is. it’s kind of like i’ve escaped all responsibilities. in fact, i’m a little afraid for myself. i could easily see myself just staying here for months and not coming back for a while, which isn’t and hasn’t ever been part of the plan. i DO NOT want to become a travel bum, but it’s SO easy to get sucked into this kind of lifestyle. (it’s a vicious cycle, really. the more you postpone coming back, the more delayed you are on catching up on ‘real world’ goals and plans, like jobs and school, and so you’re tempted to stay away even longer…) but i AM considering traveling for more than a month or two. still considering china, india, australia, but now bali, turkey and germany are in the works. we’ll see…
the one thing that sucks about traveling is that you meet new people and make many new friends, but they leave just as quickly as you’ve met them. at least there’s facebook to keep in touch these days. so far, most of the people i’ve met have been amazingly awesome. my god, i love the aussies. even when your first impression of them is only all right, they end up being just so cool. europeans are great too. i think there are loads more of german and aussie backpackers than people from any other country. supposedly, 60% of thailand’s tourists are japanese, but other than on day trips, i haven’t seen too many of them – they must stay in fancy hotels or only travel in groups.. americans and canadians are hit or miss. i’ve met a few, a couple of women and a guy, who are cool. but many of them, especially nearly all of the canadians, suck. but those are just my experiences.
speaking of foreigners, there are three types of prices when shopping. there’s the japanese price, the european price, and the american price. japanese price is the highest price. i guess they pay the most of any traveler bc they tend to be the richest tourists. most locals do think i’m japanese, but i’m trying my hardest not to get so ripped off. they quote like 300 to 400% of the actual price, and you try to get it down to like 150 to 200% if you’re good. they respect good bargainers here. i’ve been successful about half the time. it’s actually really fun, and you have to smile and have a good time with it. water is like 7 baht (33 baht to a dollar, so that’s about 20 cents), my hostel is 180 baht a night, food on the street is around 35 baht. clothes are really cheap too – $2 to 5… i really should’ve brought an empty suitcase (or no suitcase at all, and just bought that here too for a quarter of the price you’d pay in the states), and thought to buy an entirely new wardrobe. you want everything you see, because things are just so cool. but i haven’t gotten much yet, since i still have a long way to go, and i’m trying to save the shopping for the very end of my trip.
the thing that’s sort of expensive are cabs, because they will take you for a longer ride to get more money off of you. you also have to say “meter” to have them turn the meter on – otherwise, they’ll just charge you a ridiculous price. it does get frustrating, because even though you’re paying only a dollar or two more sometimes, you know they’re taking advantage of you as a foreigner. plus, it does add up when you’re on a budget.
oh, speaking of people thinking i’m japanese, no one believes i’m american. really. europeans and aussies will mostly understand and nod, and not ask too many questions after that. but none of the thais do, they just don’t get the concept that america is a diverse country. for instance, one woman at this street food stand ask if i was from japan. i said no. then, she goes, china? no. malaysia? no. taiwan? no. singapore? no. hm, thailand??? no!! she literally ran through every single asian country (except korea actually) until finally, she says america? and i said yes. then i add that i’m korean by descent. and then she has that look in her eye that said, “ohhh! of course you’re korean, not american.” or other times, when i say i’m american, they’ll say, “but you look same same.” (they love saying same same.) i’ve had a few situations like this in korea too, and i’m realizing people who haven’t been outside of their own country have a fairly narrow view of what america is like… but i guess you could say the same about us americans too and our views sometimes.
as far as diversity in this country, i’m actually very surprised by how diverse/colorful this place seems, at least compared to super homogeneous korea. there are indian-, arab-, east asian-, and southeast asian-looking people. i don’t think i could ever pass for thai, but it’s suffice to say that there are many different shades of asians here. in korea, i was a darky. really. i was so dark in korea (they love pale skin over there and in most of asia), that i could not find make-up my shade in cosmetic stores. yes, really. there were only 2 shades – pale and very pale. nothing my shade.
oh, one funny side note. in korea, there were some stereotypes about certain foreigners. the americans were obviously the soldiers or english teachers, the russians or blondes were the prostitutes (i think this is a universal one around the world – if you’re blonde, you’ll often get asked if you’re russian, i.e. a prostitute), many of the indians worked at samsung electronics, and the nigerians were the drug dealers. as far as drugs, oh man, the laws in asia are so strict! a friend of a friend of mine (an american guy) in seoul was arrested for dealing some hash (but not much, he was small-time) and now he’s in jail for about 6 months, but who really knows how long. he had no way to get closure on his job or his apartment, which is just sitting barren. there’s no real trial, as he’s simply guilty. my friend himself found out only because he got a call from the bar-owner of this expat bar who told him not to answer any phone calls he didn’t know, because the cops would simply go through this dealer’s cell phone, make calls and arrest anyone for being associated with this guy. needless to say, my friend was really paranoid.. anyway, weed is considered a serious drugs in almost all asian countries (although not india, i hear), but especially in se asia.
now back to being in thailand. being a single asian female traveler is really interesting. i’ve seen a couple of them but not too many. there are a lot of couples here, which i was very surprised to find out. hopefully, i’ll keep meeting lots of good people along the way. being an asian female is REALLY interesting. if i want to talk to or meet another traveler, i feel that i have to go out of my way to befriend them, only because they won’t approach me first thinking that i don’t speak english. also, as mentioned earlier, there are a lot of disgusting older white men. it is fucking disgusting. i get disgusting looks all the time from them. they’re just so gross, dude. i don’t get the sex tourism here.
additionally, there’s a shit ton of infidelity among travelers here to the point of being disturbing. by this i mean that girls and guys who are seemingly single as they’re traveling alone or with friends might actually have significant other back home that they don’t mention until you find out after friending them on facebook! a couple of the girls i’ve gotten to be friends with have hooked up with some guys, and it turns out they all have girlfriends back home. what does one make of this?
back to the sex tourism. the other day, i went to a pingpong show with some friends. have you guys heard of it? i don’t want to describe it in detali at the moment, so you should look it up. but oh man. you see the strippers do all sorts of weird things with their netherregions and pingpongs and darts and coke bottles. crazy shit. dude, there was also sex on stage! ack. but it’s sort of one of those things you have to see when you’re here. go-go bars, pingpong shows, and ladyboy bars.
speaking of unsightly things. there’s a lot of poverty here, a lot of beggars too, which was rare in seoul. other than for tourist purposes, most of the city isn’t very well maintained. the rivers and canals are totally murky brown or dark green. the social services here could probably be better all around..
um, what else. it’s really hot here! high 80s and 90s. i sweat like a dripping faucet from every pore of my body. but the thais, interestingly enough, do not seem to sweat. i don’t know how that works…
anyway, that’s all for now. i would love to hear back from you guys! i’m taking a bus up to chiang mai, thankfully with an aussie friend tomorrow, and from there, i’ll go to laos on the slowboat.. if anyone wants to meet up with me anywhere around the world at any point, let me know! i would seriously consider it.
Min
