Hunting Dolphins...and Tourists

Dolphins off the coast of Lovina

I was recently in Bali, and we decided to go early morning dolphin watching.  We got it all set up with a guide, who arrived at the beach in front of our hotel in his boat.  We seemed to be heading out quite a ways, and at times I really wasn't sure that the boat was going to make it.  Nevermind the fact that the boat itself was not in particularly good repair, and the 'captain' couldn't figure out which plank fit into which groove to become stable seats.
It was obvious that we were nearly the area where the pod feeds because there were at least 20 other boats just like ours milling around.  We spent the next hour chasing dolphins - one boat would see them, and then we would all go in that direction, snap some photos, and then wait for the next sighting.  I spent the entire time felling conflicted - I was enjoying seeing the dolphins, but it really felt like dolphin hunting, where the only people who benefit are the locals who are making the money.

One of the many shops along
the path to Gitgit waterfall.

There were quite a few times where I felt this attitude of the locals offering anything and everything to tourists, all in the name of making money.  Of course I met lots of people who were truly kind and friendly, but most of the time it was obvious that the offer was to really made so that they could benefit.  Particularly when hawkers would get mad and sometimes aggressive when I turned them down with a polite "no thank you".  There were a few times when I even got a "why you come to my country and then won't...." give them a good price, look in their shop, whatever.  As we walked to Gitgit waterfall, the path was lined with shops.  Ok...down the main tourist drag in Kuta I understand...but in the middle of the jungle on the way to a waterfall?? And this, I think, is the crux of the problem facing areas that rapidly went from fairly isolated, self-sufficient communities, to large tourist destinations.  Of course they feel like the tourists owe them - they regularly experience power outages and water restrictions so that the big hotels can have air-con and hundreds of flushing toilets.  Rice paddies are being purchased to turn into resorts...and now the locals have lost their tranditional employment AND food source.  Not only do the Balinese need a job to pay for rice, it's expensive because it's being imported, as the island is no longer self-sufficient.    We call this progress?

Chiang Mai Adventures

One Day Adventure Tour

While Sarah was at her meditation course I booked a one-day mixed-bag excursion. We didn't all fit into the back of the truck so I got to ride up front with the driver and our guide, Off. That was only slightly awkward. One of our stops along the way out of town was to pick up Red Bull for my two companions. Guess they weren't joking about being hung over.  An hour later we reached an elephant...I'm not sure what to call it... It was a farm place with an outdoor seating area, kitchen, whatever other buildings, and elephants for riding. The walk down to the "loading stand" had a pair selling bananas for us go feed our elephants. Of course. I rode in the seat with a girl from California, while her boyfriend sat on the neck and the mahout walked behind. We followed a path through the jungle. The antics of our elephant provided much amusement. She would walk a few steps than put her trunk on top of her head, requesting a banana. No banana, no movement. Good thing we had lots of bananas. Towards the end of the ride she decided a detour down the ravine might be fun and stood poised with front foot ready to step down. I'm sure she found our protests amusing, until she was pulled away and back on track by her mahout.

 After lunch we drove up the road to a path that eventually led to a waterfall. It started out pretty tame then turned into a proper hiking trail. After coming down a small ridge we came upon a kitten, just sitting there on the trail. Guess we weren't in the heart of the Thai jungle after all. Soon we reached the waterfall complete with bamboo platforms, and a family with another kitten. They must have been the owners of the 711 beside the waterfall (annoying the photo didn't turn out).

After trekking back we drove up the road to where we would start the white water rafting portion of the day. We are taught the basics by our captains then led to the launch site. While getting ourselves into rafts we watched another group come down the river and spill people as they went over the nearest set of rapids. Our group must have been more competent as we didn't lose anyone, although I think our captain tried. It was incredibly fun, and highly amusing to drift by some local huts, complete with satellite dishes. Yup, heart of the jungle. Instead of being dropped off at the beach, we transferred to bamboo rafts. They were definitely not designed for 7 people, and turned into semi-submersibles. We ended up soaked and only rafted for 2 minutes. I'm pretty sure the whole thing was just to entertain the locals.

Our last stop was a hill tribe village visit, which was not something I wanted to do. The idea of entering people's homes just to gape at them didn't appeal to me at all. As it was, we never actually encountered anyone until the very end where some ladies were dressed in traditional costume, selling souvenirs. Yes, the info about the hill tribes was interesting, but I still don't think we needed to invade their lives.

After that it was another slightly awkward ride back to town. As is usually the case, the day was fun because I was with a good group of people, doing things we don’t normally do.

Magical Elephant Tour

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Chiang Mai was to go on an elephant trek. After looking at a few we decided to go with the one being advertised by our hotel as it was also the same one friends had done. The ride out to Baanchang Elephant Park went quickly as there were lots of interesting people to talk to in the van, including an American couple who live in China, who were teachers and are now taking full time Mandarin classes. We had lots to commiserate over and compare. They had their adorable young daughter with them, who later slept through the entire elephant ride.

Mmmm...sugar cane

When we arrived we changed into denim shirts and long shorts, which I later realized was needed to stand up to the roughness of the elephant's skin and hair. We fed the elephants and learned about where each came from. Most worked in illegal logging or for entertainers. Some were friendly, some were skittish. All were lovely, but, not surprisingly, my favorite was the baby, who had been born there. They were chained to posts, and our guide explained that this was for a couple of reasons. First, all of the elephants are from different places, and don't necessarily get along. Also, if they escape, which they sometimes do, they head to the nearest village, eating everything, which annoys the villagers.  Escape is a problem because these are "house" (domesticated) elephants, who come from long lines of domesticated families; they don't know how to survive. I understand this, but still wonder if it's more of a question of survival involving eating crops because there is so little undisturbed jungle left, and people calling that nuisance instead of adaptation.

Next we learned and got to practice the basic commands for riding bareback, including how to get on/off, and going in different directions. And yes, I definitely got to ride the baby. We broke for a delicious lunch then headed out for our ride. I sat in front, as Sarah could see over my head (advantage to our difference in heights). Although I was "driving" really the elephants know which way to go, plus their mahouts are close by. Halfway through we stopped for a break. My elephant tried to steal my water bottle, so I poured water down her trunk (with mahout permission). I thought she would drink it, but instead she sprayed herself, and me, to cool off. We shared the rest of the water while everyone else stayed out of the way. Sarah and I switched spots and we continued to the pond at the bottom of the property. Being on this the back felt a lot more like riding a horse, but was also less stable as it was easier to slide forward when going downhill.

The best part was undoubtedly washing and playing in the pond. There was lots of splashing, and that was just the mahouts. The whole day reminded me of the career I considered  for a long time...I love my job but ahhh...the company of animals...I may need to start volunteering at animal rescue centers during holidays.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chiang Mai

We in arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand in the evening and had our first experience in a sawngthaew, which is basically a truck that has covered seats in the back. If the driver is going in the direction you are then you negotiate a price and hop in the back. Our driver (almost?) hit a motorcyclist, but they got up and kept going so we assumed they were ok. The driver then brought us to the wrong hotel. Luckily I noticed this before getting out and we eventually made it to our destination, Lanna Discovery Guesthouse. Our room had the basic necessities and was fine even if the wireless connection was weak. I never managed to get hot water out of the shower, but Sarah did, so it must have liked her better. Given the outdoor temperature I didn't really mind. The combination of price, an amazingly friendly and helpful proprietoress, lizards scampering along the walls, and friendly cats made it a great place to stay :) Especially as the cats looked like both of our pets back home. Sarah dubbed them Pseudo-Wonder and Pseudo-Stella.

Many people had raved about Chiang Mai, and I liked it well enough, but it was the fourth cute town with markets that I had been to and I would have happily cut off time there to spend more time on an island. However, Sarah's meditation program only ran on Tuesday/Wednesday. We spent 3 days wandering and going to night markets. Had I not just come from Angkor Wat, I think I would have enjoyed stumbling upon temples as we explored.  Firstly, I was a bit "templed out". Also, the temples in Thailand are very colourful and overwhelming. While beautiful, I found I preferred the more serene feeling in Cambodia. I realize the Angkorian temples probably looked quite different when they were modern, but I could only take so much glitter. I also felt much more like an intruder, as these temples are still in use. We also visited the local museum, which was reasonably interesting, but very random. My favourite part was a temporary exhibit, where a lady was doing traditional weaving on a loom. I watched for a while, as it was amazingly complex. I could sort of figure out what she was doing, but only at a very basic level. It was very cool.

Another thing we enjoyed were the Thai massages. The best way I can think of to describe it is that it's like a combination of massage and yoga, except you don't have to worry about getting the pose right because someone else is manipulating your body. It was great, and at five dollars an hour, a daily indulgence. Another daily treat are the blended fruit juices, usually had at breakfast. I definitely enjoyed the random Western breakfasts and sandwiches. I know this seems like a terrible thing to do in Thailand, but it turns out I really missed these things while living in China.

While in Chiang Mai, I went on two exclusions, one a jungle trek/rafting/mixed bag of activities, and also to an elephant rescue center, but those will get their own post. 

One of the highlights of being in Chiang Mai proper was attending Monk Chat and being on the radio. The temple where Sarah did her meditation core (as well as other temples in the city) hosts Monk Chats on various evenings. It is exactly what if sound like. You go and chat with monks. The idea is for people to learn about Buddhism and the life of the monks, while they get to practice their English. I met up with Sarah after her program and we found ourselves talking to a group off monks, when one asked if we would be willing to go to another room to chat with him. When we got there we realized that it was a radio station. Turns out that Monk Chat is broadcasted across Thailand. So we asked him questions, he answered them and posed some 'life riddles', all on air. Afterward I gave him my email address so we could become Facebook friends. Welcome to the modern world. Afterward we returned to the group. None of the monks we met were Thai, they had all come to Chiang Mai to go to university, and many are graduating soon with BAs. From the sound of it, their schooling is very similar to ours (obvious Western influences there) while the rest of their life is completely different, which I find incredibly interesting.

Overall I liked Chiang Mai, and if I were to go back I would stay somewhere with a garden so I could enjoy being in the jungle on a daily basis.  And possibly have 3-4 fruit drinks a day.

Siem Reap AKA SO glad I went to Cambodia

Siem Reap
Upon entering Siem Reap's beautiful airport I could immediately tell I was going to like it here. Sarah was smart and had an e-visa, however I didn't manage to get a passport-appropriate photo in digital format so I decided to just get my visa upon arrival. This was an unknowingly brilliant plan. The line moved very quickly and I was able to use another one of the printed photos I had and I got a very cool Kingdom of Cambodia visa in my passport. Sarah, the much more prepared on, got only a small stamp saying "evisa" with the inspector's initial. Unfair, I know ;) at this time of year Cambodia is a dry jungle. It was really strange to see tropical forests while being covered in red dust. I found the people to be just as nice as those in Vietnam but definitely less pushy when trying to sell me something than in Saigon. We spent our first night wandering, eating and checking out the night markets and getting cheap massages. I'm starting to sense a pattern here...
We then began a three day tour of the Angkor temples. We decided to hire a tuc tuc driver for all three days. A friend suggested bicycling for part of the tour but it was nice to have someone with us who knew his way around and couple help us choose temples to visit as there was no way we could see all of them. Also, some temples are entered on one side and exited on the other and I can't imagine either bringing a bike with us or having to go back for it. And the breeze was a nice break in-between climbing temples in the sun. When we arrived and were picking up our day passes we ran into a couple of girls from Australia that we had met in Vietnam, and who we ended up having dinner with for all 3 evenings.
The temples were amazing and in various states of ruin. Over the three days we must have seen at least 20 temples (I'd have to back to a map for names). Overall my favorite was Ta Prohm, which is quite ruined and has been reclaimed by the jungle. The trees growing around, through and over the temple were spectacular. I also loved Batneay Srei which is quite a ways north of the main temple areas. It had quite a good tourist info pavilion that was really interesting. However, what made this temple really special was the amount of detail and depth of the carvings, even after hundreds of years. I also liked it's more remote location out in the jungle, without another temple in sight. All of the temples gave me a sense of peace and tranquility. I wonder what will be left standing of our civilization a thousand years from now? The one thing that grated against the tranquility were all of the women and children pestering me to buy something. I had a young girl tell me she was going to cry if I didn't buy postcards from her (I told her that was sad) and experienced 10 women trying to get me to buy water from their cooler even though they all shared a covered seating area. It was just a bit much to take at times, which is what I felt like almost everywhere we went in Saigon.
On our third day we ventured away from the temples to visit the landmine museum that was along the road back from Banteay Srei. This was really interesting and appalling like the War Remnants museum in Saigon. However, the museum also shares its funds and location with a school for children who are victims of landmines or orphans. That is the kind of place I would like to work for part of my life, where you are truly changing lives. The story of the guy who founded the museum was also amazing and inspirational (from child soldier to clearing mines with his bare hands).
Another random thing I did was go for a fish massage with Sarah and the Aussie gals. Which pretty much entails paying a dollar to stick your feet into a tank of small perch and allowing them to nibble your dead skin for 20 minutes. This felt as strange as it sounds. But my feet did come out smoother (if not evenly so).
In the market I also noticed a lot of dresses today I saw in the silk market in Beijing and heard a LOT of mandarin between customers and store keepers...it kind of made me wonder where some of the clothes come from. Either way, they were much cheaper in Siem Reap than Beijing!
I think this is one of those placed that everyone should go to sometime during their life. I would probably go again but armed with more pre-reading and possibly a guide.

(Not really gonna) Miss Saigon

To be thrifty, see the countryside and generally because it seemed like a cool idea, we booked sleeper beds for the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City train. We left at 6:30am and would arrive 33 hours later. The train station and train itself looked like something out of the depression-era...it felt a little like traveling back in time. It also didn't look remotely like the train advertised on the website. Not that there was anything wrong, it was functional and reasonably clean, it was just annoying given it wasn't that much cheaper than flying and was going to take an actual day and a half. In the end I slept a lot (a moving train will do that) and did get to see some gorgeous countryside. I particularly enjoyed seeing water buffalo work and frolic in the rice paddies. As we got further south it warned up dramatically so that by the time we reached HCMC it was hot and humid. The area we stayed in was similar to Hanoi- small streets, food vendors, a zillion little shops and restaurants and friendly people. The biggest was how busy it was. Even in our neighborhood you could tell we were in a big city. The street vendors were also much more pushy. On the upside more things were open with new year celebrations being mostly over. Still overall I preferred Hanoi and its more laid-back feel. We were also staying in the main part of a hotel so were able to chat and eat with staff and other travelers. We have a very nice room which surprised me when I first saw it, but then never thought about again until we paid more for it then what I was expecting. Really we should have double checked at the beginning. But given the free breakfast and dinner which we ate almost every day it was still a reasonable price. We spent our days wondering around and went to a few museums. We saw the Reunification Palace which was nice, but almost more interesting for the history (there was a free tour in English) than the building itself. We also went to the War Remnants Museum, which we felt was a must-do. It was very sad and made me wonder at just how cruel human beings can be to each other. It was very clearly biased, but the language used was relatively neutral and understandable. I did appreciate the exhibit showcasing photographs collected from journalists from around the world who were in Vietnam at various points during the war.
In the evenings we wandered, went for foot massages and bought fruit from one lady to eat on the way back to the hotel. On the first night we met a couple of girls from Australia and a New Zealand couple they had met that day and had drinks and good conversation at the Crazy Buffalo.
For our last full day we went on a Mekong Delta tour with a guy from Hamilton that we met at the hotel. We ended up getting separated because he was doing the two day tour even though it said day one was the same as the one day tour. We also had to take a bus instead of a boat to -- which was not my prference but we didn't really have a choice given our time constraints. The bus was a bit chaotic at first as multiple buses were going to the various hotels to pick up people. Once we got going it was fairly smooth. When we arrived in -- we transferred to a boat and went through a fairly non-existent floating market (I guess new year celebrations weren't quite over yet) then on to a river side village. We visited a honey farm (which was delicious but too heavy and breakable to put in my pack) and then a shop where they make poprice (like popcorn) coconut candy (which I definitely bought) and rice paper. From there we went farther upriver and stopped in another village where we got on old, rusty, kind of able to break bicycles and rode for about 10 minutes to a large house/restaurant. During lunch our guide brought out a very large python, put him into the hammock nearest me then left allowing us to handle/take pictures with the snake, who had no plans on staying in said hammock. There were enough people around who wanted pictures and to touch the snake that he was never able to escape very far. A young French boy and his older brother were particularly enamored. From there we were rowed down a side river by bare or socked footed ladies (with Vietnamese comical hats for us to wear) back to our main boat. We were taken to a larger town and given some time (20 min) to shop in a crowded, bustling market before making the journey back by bus. The trip back took longer than the way up due to traffic from the Vietnamese returning back to the city after the holiday, although I'm pretty sure the traffic is always that bad. We did manage to get back in time for Sarah to pick up a silk embroidered dress she had made.
We met some great people in Saigon and I appreciated finally being somewhere warm, but I'm not sure I'd go back.

Good morning Vietnam or the Beginning of Sara and Sarah's SE Asia Tour

One of the perks of my job is the four week holiday during Chinese New Year. Last year my friend and I were talking about traveling. I did the usual "you could come traveling with me" comment, but instead of the usual "I wish" response, she thought we could make it work.
Trying to make travel arrements when the people involved are 15 hours apart was a lot harder than expected, especially when looking at online deals. I did have a super helpful travel agent book some of the flights for me, which was brilliant as I didn't have to do all of the research and his fee was very minor. In the end we had our flights to Hanoi, hotel in Hanoi, and train toeee HCMC booked before Sarah arrived in Dalian. Once we were together we booked the h
otel for HCMC and flight to Cambodia. We are continuing to book as we go. 4 weeks is long enough that I'm glad we have some flexibility.
We left Dalian on Jan. 21st at 3 in the afternoon. It was nice not leaving until later after a super busy week as it gave me time to do things and get organized while fully awake Saturday morning. We ended up flying to, and waiting in Ghangzhou with Rachel and Sui Ki who were going to Australia. While I'm sure we could have navigated the Dalian airport well enough, as usual things went smoother (ie our bags got routed to Vietnam and we got seats together) because we had a Mandarin speaking person on hand.
Due to a 1 hour delay we arrived in Hanoi at about 1:30am. I was super happy to have the hotel pick up waiting for us. Definitely worth the $15, especially given the distance from the airport to the hotel. While I am all for finding my own way around places, I'm starting to really like the idea of airport pick up service. You know the price ahead of time, the driver knows where to go, and you can get a sense of a place before trying to navigate. In the 3 days we have been here we have walked everywhere and I feel like I know the Old Quarter reasonably well.
Our time in Hanoi has overlapped with Chinese New Year. It has been cool to experience the holiday here, especially since a I was in China for it last year. There was a big gathering down at the lake with street food, performers on a stage in the main intersection and fireworks at midnight. Our hotel also hosted a party with traditional food for the guests to try where we met a woman from South Korea with whom we spent the next day with. The downside of visiting during the holiday is that almost everything is closed. Some of the shops opened in the afternoon in Monday, but most things remained closed and will reopen the day we leave. So we have spent our 3 days here wandering and shopping in whatever little places have been open. I really wanted to see the Women's Museum and Temple of Literature, but alas...closed for the holidays.
We were able to get tickets to see a traditional water puppet show. They didn't have second class tickets for the show we wanted so we "splurged" on first class tickets. Which I'm really glad happened because while the theatre wasn't that big I could see much more detail. The live music was just as good as the puppetry. The stories were simple and gave a sense of what life was like on the rice paddies. I can easily picture some guy creating the first puppet and using it to startle his buddy (I have nothing historical to base that on, it's just what I imagine).
We spent most of our time in the Old Quarter, which is a maze of tiny side streets. There is an amazing mix of run down shacks, French colonial buildings and new construction with street vendors thrown in for good measure. There are a million tiny shops and restaurants- you can get silks, antiques, modern electronics, pho, pizza and cappuccino, and visit a temple all on the same block. Near our hotel was St. Joseph's Cathedral. It was huge, beautiful, and a very helpful landmark. We did manage to go inside after mass, and it was gorgeous. The main hall was full of niches that reminded me of Buddhist alters, but featured a saint. The pews looked old, uncomfortable, yet inviting. And the blossoming tree beside the altar was a reminder that we weren't in Europe.
We also visited the temple on an island in the middle of the little lake. It was beautiful and very, very busy. Maybe not such a good idea to try and see it on new years day.
What I loved most about the city s how green it was. There were trees and potted plants everywhere, and I realized how much I miss that about Vancouver. As much as I loved the huge palm trees, my favorite had to be the gnarled, willow like trees that hung over the edge of the lake.
Another thing I noticed was how happy everyone, especially the kids were. The streets were always full of laughter and dancing children. Not something I see enough off in China, or back home. This is definitely a city I would come back too.