Winding Down

I've been in the wonderful city of Ho Chi Minh (aka Saigon) since late Sunday Night and I have been having such a wonderful time! A great friend, Sean, an American Expat musician, has called Saigon his home for the past two years and we've been adventuring around Che Guevera style on the back of his moto. My time in Saigon has been great, not only because the city is great to wander about, the people are kind and warm, but the company of Sean has been absolutely spectacular. As far as the hospitality and the company, I truly could not have of asked for better. I am very fortunate.

I have been uploading pictures as I get a chance... I will eventually go through them and give them proper descriptions and organize them so they are all easier to digest. I have filled up a 2GB memory card that I left home with and have purchased a 4GB card to keep the pictures flowing. I have learned that just taking pictures and organizing them properly on Flickr is infinitely better than me trying to translate my experiences into clumsy words that would never capture the feel or the emotion of the moment.

Tomorrow, I will head to Laos for a couple of days. I'll probably try to hit up some day trips before heading back to Bangkok where I will be catching my flight back home on the evening of September 1st.

As it comes to all things, my little adventure in South East Asia is coming to an end. With all of the ups and downs, this trip has been absolutely amazing, and I do not regret anything about it. I know the things I've gone through both internally and externally has changed me in ways I have yet to discover. And while things were always in a constant state of flux, I rarely new where I was going to end up next, it has all been part of the package of the unforgettable experience.

I will be home in no time, I miss you all, though I am also sad that my adventure is over. I look forward to great adventures back home.

Day 20...I think...

Angkor Wat and Siem Reap was amazing. I showed up at the ruins just before sunrise to see the splendor that is Angkor Wat with the first rays of sun reflecting off of it... but... unfortunate for me, It was a cloudy morning and the beautiful scenery I have heard about like a legend will remain that way for me, or at least until next time I visit the temples of Angkor Wat.

I am now in Phnom Pehn after a pretty hefty six hour bus ride from Siem Reap. I went to the National Museum here where they have a very large collection of Angkor time period sculptures and art. It was very cool, albeit smaller than I had imagined.

I have over 800 pictures on my camera so far and the memory card is almost full. Depending on how things go, I may find myself picking up another memory card along the way. I will start to upload the pictures onto Flickr soon, though I am having a hard time finding a very fast connection in PP.

Day 17!

Whew! Made my way to Siem Reap in Cambodia...and I am really liking the vibe of this little city. I think that this is just the thing I needed...

I've been struggling a lot with my decision to leave, lots of mixed emotions and thoughts... "did i do the right thing" thoughts and feelings of guilt for different reasons. When I did make the decision, I did it with a sort of Buddhist inspired frame of mind, that life is here for our enjoyment sort of mindset... and I keep trying to go back to it. Anyway, arriving here I think has made things a little bit more solid for me...and I do not feel as if i have to work hard at enjoying myself

Ko Tao was a wonderful little day trip! I never thought about how wonderful and tranquil it is to swim amongst hundreds of beautiful tropical fish in crystal clear waters. From the moment I hit the water with the snorkeling gear, I was surrounded by various species of fish that seemed to swim and dance just to show me their beautiful colors. And the coral! Oh, the gorgeous coral...I really do wish I had a waterproof casing for my camera so that I could share the beauty of it all, as my words would never do it justice!

I know some folks were interested in hearing more about the trekking trip that I took before leaving Chiang Rai. Here are some notes that i scribbled down on my little journall.

8/14/08

• Met at 10am at the travel agency in downtown Chiang Rai
• Ride of back of pickup truck to riverside dock at the Kok River
• Long boat ride west on the Kok river
• Dropped off at a Karen village where there was an elephant ride around a little town built on tourism for the elephant rides
• Hopped back onto boat and crossed to the opposite side of the river
• Hopped back onto the back of a pickup truck that took us to a tiny little restaurant for lunch; operated from someone's house, we were served a bowl of fried rice and introduced ourselves to an Italian couple doing the first two days of the trek with us.
• Hiked for several hours, stopped 2-3 times at various little "rest stops" where our tour guide would cut up fresh fruits from around the area. Hiked through various rivers, thick jungle and lots of gorgeous rice fields.
• At the end of the hike for the first day, we made our way up to the top of Doi Maetang. At the top there is a Lahu village. At the village we showered and a great Lahu family made us dinner of rice, noodle soup, vegetable w/ chicken and eggs w/ garlic and pork.
• After dinner, many villagers showed up at our hut where they offered us a "four hand" traditional Thai massage for 100 baht!
• Our guide gave us a quick little intro to Buddhism
• Slept on mats on the floor within comfort of mosquito nets at the home of the kind family that also made us dinner.

8/15/08

• Woke up at 6:15am, other trekkers already up.
• The family made us breakfast of coffee and eggs, toast and fruit (very western...)
• While eating breakfast, many of other Lahu women came by to show us some of their crafts they have for sale. I purchased a little change purse to help support the tribe.
• Began hiking again soon after... trekked through mountain and jungle...saw wild beetles, wild flowers and mushrooms... even got to witness a snake in the middle of consuming a lucky frog that ended up getting away. Hiked through and along a leach infested river (DEET relent keeps leaches away)
• Hiked our way to a small town w/ electricity where we had the choice of eating fried noodles or noodle soup from a little restaurant.
• After lunch, hiked along a road past a Chinese village where Chinese farmers grow tea along the hill side.
• Past the tea farms in the valley is the waterfall (dont recall name). Hiked to the top of the waterfall. Because of the rainy season causing very strong currents, could not really swim,... quick cautious dips for photo ops were made.
• Hiked past the waterfall is the Akha Hill village, the very first bamboo structure seen at the top of the hill is the "bamboobar"which is a small store that sells tribe goods, drinks and serves as a place for trekkers to sleep.
• Italian couple left at this point
• Bamboobar had a small room in the back with simple mats and some mosquito nets.
• For dinner we were served cabbage w/ rice noodles and chicken. Along with pumpkin with ground pork, which, from what I hear, is an Akha specialty.

8/16/08

• Woke up at 6:20, just after sun rise.
• Our tour guide prepared some coffee for us and later the villagers served us breakfast of rice porridge w/ eggs
• Left the village and hiked till we reached a road, followed the road till we reached another small restaurant by the hot spring where we ate green papaya salad and fried chicken for lunch.
• After lunch, walked to the sulfur-smelling hot spring pool where we bathed in the mineral rich water
• Walked back to the restaurant where we met up with another group and were given rides back to town on the back of pick up trucks

Day 15

It's around 10:30pm in Ko Samui, a large tourist island on the south of Thailand. I made it here after taking a bus from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai, then an flew to Bangkok (after waiting standby for three hours) and flew to Ko Samui (flights prob cost 6k Baht). Spent way more money than I wanted.

All sorts of plans are very fluid right now. I spent the majority of the day today just figuring out what I will do. At one point, I had a grand idea of traveling Asia, but as it turns out, I've learned that even South East Asia will get expensive if flights and hostels are not booked well in advance. Now I am sort of piecing together what I can do with the time that I have and without burning up more money than I have. It's a delicate balance between taking advantage of the opportunity that I have and being careful with spending.

As I mentioned, today I spent a good part of the day figuring out what to do, and I have a plan for the next 4-5 days... Tomorrow, I booked a day trip to the nearby island of Ko Tao to do some snorkeling. The following day I have booked a pair of flights that will get me to Siam Reap via Bangkok that also cost me way more than what I wanted to spend (prob over 12k Baht). I will probably spend a day and a half or so in Siam Reap (Cambodia) and I plan on taking a bus (trying to save money via buses) to the capitol of Cambodia, Phnom Penh (aka PP). From there I plan on getting a Visa and making my way to Saigon, Vietnam. From here is where things get fuzzy. I would love to spend a couple of days in Hong Kong, Korea and maybe even Japan, but this would all just be so expensive. I might just make my way into Laos since I hear it's so cheap. The thought of returning home early has also crossed my mind.

So there you have it....there's the makeshift plan I have so far...

Day...14

It's been a while since I have updated everyone... and quite a lot has happened! The first thing worth noting, Is that from the 14th through the 16th of August I took some time off from the orphanage and went on a trekking trip through the mountain jungles of northern Thailand with another volunteer. Once I have a bit more time I will go into details of the different parts of the trek, but for now I would like to get to an important bit of information.

After a lot of thinking, I have come to the decision to leave the orphanage and the organization I have been working with. The reasons are personal and I won't go into details here, nor will I mention the name of the organization in this post as to not sully their name. The children are great and are treated very well and the other volunteers have nothing but a good heart towards the children.

I understand this decision may disappoint some, but I hope that is not the case. I will talk with folks back home about the details as to why I left, but for now I will just keep it to "personal differences". Those who have donated money to me via Chipin for the specific reason for me to come to the orphanage and work, I will gladly refund your money if you feel I have not kept true to my intentions.

So... Once I have made the decision of no longer staying, I was faced with another decision... what now? Do I go back home? If not... where do I go? After some thinking and after talking to family back home, making it out to this side of the world is not something that happens all of the time, and I have made the decision to continue on in my trip and see some other parts of South East Asia... and who knows what else. I will keep an open mind and see where the road will take me and make the best of the remainder of my trip. And don't worry... I will be back home on the same day I was originally scheduled to be home... September 2nd.

I have a lot more pictures I will upload given some time and a high speed internet connection. There are some great pictures of the kids and lots of great pictures of the beautiful places I have been fortunate enough to visit.

Sending out big hugs and kisses back home to all my very supporting friends, family and my second family that's always looking out after me at VQ. I do miss everyone very much!