JSV's Place

Chatuchak Weekend Market

2012-01-25T01:02:00.000+07:00

During my last week in Bangkok after Myanmar, my friend Aong took me to the famous Chatuchak Market in the north side of the city. I had never been there before and we went on Sunday morning.
This place has everything for sale. Food, clothes, souvenirs at great prices. Some stuff is just junk and some stuff is quality.
But people watching was probably the most interesting thing.

A little guy playing a bamboo flute hoping to get donations:

Hats:

Signs:

Fruit:

Restaurants:

Drinks:

Clothes:

More hats:

Tasteful, high fashion clothes:

And a rabbit in a skirt:

Inle Lake

2012-01-20T11:03:00.049+07:00

Our next 2 days were spent literally ON Inle Lake which at 3200ft of altitude on the Shan plataeau east of the central plain. It is 13.5 miles long and 7 miles wide and the weather was delightful at that altiude with cooler temperatures and lower humidity. Had to wear a light jacket in the morning.
Above is a view from my hotel bungalow porch which was built on stilts over the lake. The Shan are one of the several ethnic groups that live on the periphery of the Burmese central plain. These groups have been in conflict with the majority Burmar central government for centuries. The Shan are very clean and there was no trash that I saw anywhere in the area.

The people exist on fishing, agriculture and handicraft manufacturing. And now tourism is expanding. The shoreline is dotted with stilt-house villages and mountains are nearby.

We spent the 2 days motoring by long boat from village to village visiting craft shops and pagodas and just setting and taking in the beauty.

My hotel on the lake:

One of the renowned leg rowers of Inle Lake:

They do this so they can row and move the boat and also have an arm free for fishing.

Some examples of houses on the Lake:

They create floating gardens for cultivation of tomatoes, peanuts, and beans. They do this by taking blocks of mud in 4-5ft depths place them together to form a floating length of fertile soil on which they plant the crops. They secure the garden to a spot by using long bamboo sticks to stick thru the garden into the lake bottom so they don't float away.

Sunset the first nite from my hotel bungalow balcony:

The second day at the lake we motored across to the western shore and visited the village of Indaing.
To get there our boat had to wind it's way thru narrow channels between the floating gardens.

The village had a field of old stupas and temples:

An assortment of people and characters:

And many handicraft artists:

The next morning I flew back to Yangon for half a day looking at the Royal Barge which doubles as a restaurant and showplace; the main market (where my guide lost me in the maze of stuff); and a street market in Indian town.

That evening I had dinner at a wonderful French restaurant in Yangon and flew back to Bangkok the next morning.

Mandalay

2012-01-20T02:00:00.001+07:00

After Bagan we made the short flight to Mandalay on our Airline, Air KBZ, or Air Kanbawza. This is a local airline started by a banking company about 18 months ago and they have a "fleet" of 2 airplanes.
They were on time or early on all 4 flights, delivered luggage without a hitch and had only one bouncy landing.
Mandalay is the area of several former capitals of The Burmar people and the home of the last capital before the British annexed Burma to India in 1886 and moved the capital to Rangoon.
The area around the city is very nice with several beautiful sites, but the city itself is noisy, dirty and has only one traffic light and intermittent electrical service. It is at the terminus of the road to China and is slowly converting to a Chinese city as businessmen from China have moved in. Because of the Western economic sanctions China has wide open opportunities there.

The photo above is that of U-Bein's Bridge at sunset. It is the longest teak wood bridge at 1300 yards in length as it crosses Taungthaman Lake southwest of the city. It is a popular tourist photo op but is a critical path for locals to use on their way around the area.

We also visited the site of a former capital- Ava- that sat on an island between the great Ayerwaddy river and a smaller river. There are only pieces of the city wall still intact, and a few remnants of the palace including a watchtower that is leaning precariously.
We were taken by horse cart around the island to see the scenes...stupas and rice paddies

There were monasteries such as this brick and stucco example:

and this magnificent wooden monastery:

And another Pagoda complex we visited:

This is where we had lunch the first day; a classy place set out in the middle of the fields next to the river:

Our next stop after lunch was the religious center of Sagaing Hill which has numerous monasteries, stupas and shrines. As well as meditation centers and even a Hospital for only monks and nuns.

A shrine with 42 Buddhas lined up:

A nun studying Buddhist scriptures:

The second day we took an early morning boat about 1 hour up the Ayerwaddy River to Mingun. Where there is the world's second largest intact and working bronze bell. An unfinished and partially collapsed pagoda that was intended to be the world's largest pagoda and then an unusually designed white pagoda.
The boatman pushes away from shore to start the journey:

As the sun rose:

The Bell:

The white pagoda, Hsinbyume:

The unfinished and crumbling Mingun Pagoda.

More proof I was on the trip...after climbing up to the top of the Mingun Pagoda:

View of the Ayerwaddy River from the top of the Pagoda

A monk sitting on top....I think he was posing for tourists to snap a photo:

We ended the 2nd day on Mandalay Hill to watch another sunset.

Bagan..Stupas, Temples and Pagadas Galore

2012-01-17T16:40:00.001+07:00

On the Bagan plain in central Myanmar there are around 4,000 temples in a 26 square mile area from the 11th and 12th centuries. Everywhere one looks there is some structure..some in good shape, others crumbling. We spent the next 2 days there.
This area was the center of a great civilization based on the adoption of the Theravada type of Buddhism which created a religious fervor that resulted in this proliferation of monuments. This lasted for 2 1/2 centuries until the Mongols stormed out of the north in the mid 13th century and eliminated the dynasty.
The size of the stupas and temples is quite varied from very grand to small. Many have interiors decorated with Buddhas and mural paintings many which have stayed in very good shape over the last 900 to 1,000 years. A great earthquake in 1975 caused damage to some of these structures.

A video will help give you an idea of the scope of this site:

Some pictures of well preserved interiors:

We happened to be in Bagan on the last weekend of the annual Pagoda Festival so there were folks there from many of the region's villages including Monks for a special offering event.

A market was set up and many families were in town:

Did I tell you about the white stuff on the faces of most everyone in Myanmar? It is made from tree sap and is believed to be very good for the skin. Prevents sun damage, softens and moisturizes, and seems to be a form of playful decoration.

Making the skin cream:

Mt. Kyaikhtiyo, Bago and the Golden Rock

2012-01-16T18:05:00.001+07:00

The next 2 days we stayed around Yangon but went to see the Golden Rock, another religious site about 3 hours drive by car, truck and hike from Yangon. We drove to the "base camp" area at Kinpun where we are crowded onto the back an open bus/truck on benches that are very uncomfortable wooden boards.

These vehicle took us up an 11km very bumpy, narrow , mostly paved road, to a staging area from which we must hike a 4km, steep track that rises 1600 feet to the top. This trek takes about an hour.
You have the choice of riding up in a sedan chair carried by 4 local men for about $10, but that's embarassing so I trudged up. However I must have looked rather tentative as 4 guys followed me up with an empty chair waiting for me to give in. I prevailed as we got to our hotel:

That's our porter with our overnite packs in the basket.

On the top is a broad plaza with some monasteries, many vendors with kiosks selling almost everything to thousands of folks who come here. There are also some hotels and restaurant/bars. Many families set up housekeeping and stay overnite at the plaza.

The main attraction. as you can see from the first photo, is a rock with a small stupa on top that is poised precariously on a promontory at the end of the plaza. The rock has been painted gold and the stupa has gold leaf covering it.

The sunset was magnificent:

We stayed overnite and reversed the process the next morning. A hike down that took half the time of the previous day; a harrowing ride to base camp in the truck that was careening down the narrow bumpy road. Here are some of the people we saw on the walks up and down and at the shrine:

After we got down we made a stop on the way back to Yangon in Bago, a former capital, to see the 1,000 year old Shwemawdaw Pagoda which is 376 ft high. It has been added to and rebuilt several times over its lifespan as wear and tear and earthquakes have taken their toll.

Yangon, Myanmar and the Schwedagon Pagoda

2012-01-15T22:14:00.002+07:00

I am back in Bangkok with good internet access at my hotel, so let me tell you about my tour of Myanmar.

On Wednesday January 4 I flew to Yangon, formerly Rangoon, which was the Brtish colonial capital of Burma (the British name for the country). We visited downtown and lunch after being picked up at the airport by my guide- I took a guided tour of the country because of wanting to steer clear of political problems and the primitive nature of the infrastructure. Many of the buildings are in the colonial style.

We went to the riverside and took the ferry boat to the other side just for the ambiance...there are no bridges across the Yangon River:

Monks being taken across the river while protecting themselves from the sun:

The rest of the afternoon we spent at the Schwedagon Pagoda. It is one of the few sites that actually lives up to its reputation. It is spectacular with its 60 tons of solid gold of the main stupa glistening in the sunlight as you can see in the first 2 photos of this post. It stands on a hill in the northern section of the city in a 12 acre park filled with monasteries and landscaping. The central shrine is 320 feet tall and there are 4 covered walkways leading up the hill from each direction. The are leading to the very top of the gold stupa is festooned with 1100 diamonds totaling 278 carats and 1300 other jewels- rubies, emeralds. The very top has 3,350 diamonds totalling1800 carats and it crowned by one 76 carat diamond! On the plaza surrounding the main stupa on the top of the hill are over 70 other religious shrines. What is also notable is the atmosphere on the plaza as this is one of the main Buddhist religious sites so there are a variety of visitors- tourists sightseeing and solemn religious pilgrims with their families.
One of the covered walkways leading up the hill:

Some the shrines on the plaza surrounding the main stupa:

We were lucky to have bright clear weather to accentuate the gold.

Myanmar/Burma has Limited Internet

2012-01-12T17:17:00.001+07:00

Internet is absent, intermittent and slow in this country. I have taken hundreds of photos which I will try to uload with commentary as soon as I get good access...which should be in 2-3 days when i reach Bangkok.
In the meantime, you can see some of the photos on my Facebook page: facebook.com/jvangrov

The Erawan Shrine on New Year's Day

2012-01-02T16:53:00.002+07:00

The Erawan Shrine has been discussed by me before but it is located at a corner in the main Shopping area and offerings are supposed to give good fortune. It was quite busy on New Years Day as all the shopping venues were open and people were free from school and work.
It is a mixture of serious worshipers, interested tourists and those selling flowers and joss sticks to those making offerings.

Sellers of wares are lined up on the side walk:

Worshipers offering incense in the form of Joss sticks:

Special favors can be entreated by paying an extra fee for musicians and dancers:

All this is happening at a meeting of 2 busy main streets and 2 lines of the Skytrain swooping overhead. With the smoke, music and people added to the road traffic and the squealing overhead railway this is hardly a quiet interlude.

It is interesting that in much of Southeast Asia they celebrate 3 New Years.

First there is the traditional one at the beginning of the Western calendar year on January 1.

Second in early February (varying with the lunar calendar) there is the Chinese New Year which is usually the busiest commercial and travel week of the year. Even in Las Vegas that is the heaviest gambling week of the year.

Third there is Songkran April 13-15 which is a rollicking festival at the hottest time of the year during which water is thrown on everyone. Young people in pickup trucks with buckets cruise the streets drenching people on the sidewalk and then throwing flower to stick on the wet victims. For most Thai people this is great fun; however many see this as a good time for a trip out of the country.

A Day at the Beach near Pattaya

2011-12-30T08:57:00.001+07:00

A couple of days I went to be very lazy at the beach near Pattaya at Jomtien. I rent a chair under some umbrellas, have a manicure, pedicure, a massage, some drinks and read. It is a nice way to spend a day.
The weather is great! The temperature is in the low 80s with a nice breeze and reasonable humidity

This is my mani-pedi lady. An example why thy call Thailand the "Land of Smiles":

The massage guys and the mani-pedi ladies circulate among the chairs along with folks selling fruit, various foods, watches, cheap jewelry, pirated DVDs and pornography. They easy accept a simple "mai krap" (no thanks) and move on. Not really a bother. The massage guys and mani-pedi lady remiembered me from past years. It's like a pleasant reunion.

They often bring their small children to work with them. Some sleep, some of them play.

The massages can be done in your chair or for a more complete massage you can move to the sandy area behaind the chairs:

The umbrellas serve as protection from the harsh sun for those who want it. In general the Asians prefer not to have dark skin and avoid the sun. The drug stores are full of skin whitening products rather than tanning creams like in the states. They think that the westerners who bake in the sun are are truly deranged.

Moving on to Pattaya for a few days

2011-12-26T19:41:00.001+07:00

Today I went 2 hours southeast of Bangkok to Pattaya, the beach town. Pattaya has evolved over the last few years into a more family friendly resort city. No, the sex sleaze is still there but there is a different kind of peerson traveling there. There are more Asian tourists from China, Japan and Korea. The Russians visiting are not so much the ill-dressed rude, drunk, exploiters of young beauties. There are more sophisticated Russian couples and families. Western...American and British are fewer.
In addition, there is an effort to present a family friendly shopping destination. This is evidenced by a few more 4 and 5 star hotels and several new or remodeled shopping malls.

The ride down to pattaya from Bangkok was a bit different. I used my taxi driver from the airport for the 2 hour drive. Mr Vilai was my assigned taxi driver at the airport queue when I arrived. I noticed his cab was immaculately clean and he was wearing a pressed shirt with epaulettes. As well, he was a careful driver. We were talking about my trip and he offered to take me to Pattaya for 40% of the usual limo price I usually use. It was a good trip with accompaniment by Mr Vilai's personal burned CDs of American country music; not the usual wailing of Thai regional music.
Another interesting thing on the ride was a big effort by authorities and volunteers to discourage drunk driving during the holiday period....at the expressway toll booths they were giving away several bottles of mineral water to each car. "Drink water not alcohol"
We arrived and I went poolside to read in the very lovely weather..low humidity (for Thailand) and temperatures in the high 70's.

The Neighborhood

2011-12-22T09:31:00.000+07:00

The other day I took a walk around the neighborhood. There are 2 parallel large roads, Sathorn and Silom that are very busy with crushing traffic and very noisy and active. They are connected by several quiet side streets. I walked from Sathorn Rd up to Silom Rd on Soi Convent, named for a Catholic orphanage and church on the street hen I walked down Silom Rd and returned to Sathorn Rd via Soi Sala Daeng. Toward the Silom end there are several areas where the local office workers eat their lunches from vendors on the sidewalk. The famous tasty, cheap and ubiquitous "street food."

The people line up to buy their food from the vendors which is very fresh and inexpensive.
It is 99.9% safe and clean since it is sold and consumed quickly and does not sit around.

Then they sit at small tables on small plastic chairs or stools to eat and talk.

Many of the vendors bring their younger children to work with them.

There must not be much daycare in Thailand as this is a very common sight. Often the grandmas accompany the vendors to help watch the kids.

There are quiet areas on these tree lined side streets just away from the hustle and bustle of the the office and business areas.

On one side street/alley seemed to be the home of a an entrepreneurial medical center:

One stop shopping!!

I did go to the Hannukah party with my cousin at the 25th story apartment of her Israeli friends. Friends of hers thru her book club. The building was on the riverside with a great view of one of the bridges spanning the Chao Praya river.

Settling into Bangkok

2011-12-19T16:23:00.000+07:00

Since I've been here in Bangkok so many times, I don't have a lot of new things to photograph. I got here on Thursday morning after a 17 1/2 hr flight in the Premium Economy section of the nonstop THAI Airways flight. I took a short nap that afternoon and went to bed for the nite at a bit later than my normal bedtime since I went out.
I'm staying in a different neighborhood than I have before. I tried a type of accommodation that is common in BKK- a serviced apartment. It's the price of a nice hotel but with separate living area, bedroom and a kitchen; it's for usually longer stays of businessmen. I'll be here 11 days.

I met my Cousin Jean the second day for lunch at a nice French restaurant. I brought her a load of nutritional items and spices from Trader Joe's that she had requested. I transfered the goods to her and we had a nice lunch and visit. She invited me to a Hannukah Party this week that a group of Jewish expatriates are having; I accepted because it might be interesting to see how the Jewish community in Bangkok celebrates. That will be tomorrow.

Getting Ready for New Adventure

2011-12-13T05:35:00.000+07:00

After a quiet summer and fall with "routine" trips to timeshares in Palm Desert and Hawaii I am leaving again for Southeast Asia. I will take the 18 hour nonstop THAI Airways flight from LAX to BKK and stay in Bangkok area for a while.
The highlight of this trip will be a planned 11 days in Myanmar/Burma. In Myanmar internet access is rare and ATMs nonexistent. And credit cards are not accepted. It's like SE Asia 30-40 years ago.
But it is a beautiful place.
So get ready for some photos of the next month.

I'm still alive but not snapping photos

2011-05-27T23:52:00.000+07:00

Since my last post I have been skiing at Snowbird Utah; spent 8 days in Hawaii at Ko Olina and gone to Palm Desert to play golf for a week; will go back to Palm Desert next week for more sun and golf.

But I've been extremely lazy and not taken any photos. And my blog needs photos to have meaning. Therefore no posts. Maybe next week, I'll try to take photos in the desert.

Everybody behave in the meantime!

Return to USA Tomorrow

2011-01-24T17:20:00.001+07:00

As usual, I have finished my trip in Pattaya, Thailand at the Marriott here with its lovely pool area and the local beaches nearby and the crazy nitelife. The view from my hotel room here:

For some reason the hotel is filled with many US Marines. I think they are having some sort of military exercise here in the Pattaya area. Some are from the Camp Pendleton/San Diego area. I was not allowed to be told what sort of mission they are trying to accomplish here, but their desert camouflage uniforms look very conspicuous so I don't htink it is a secret.

More Thai kids. These guys are at the fish tanks in which you can dangle your feet and the little fish will nibble away at the dead skin on your feet. Felt to be good for the health of your feet.

Back in Bangkok; Jim Thompson House

2011-01-18T10:55:00.001+07:00

I'm back in Bangkok for several days. Back at the Renaissance Hotel. View from my room is above. The weather has been extraordinarily pleasant: low humidity (for Bangkok) temperatures in the high range of mid 80's (F) and in the upper 60's at nite. The poor Thai people are complaining that it is "cold" and wearing jackets and scarves. I think it is pleasant...just wearing long pants at nite.

Jim Thompson House is a landmark tourist stop is Bangkok that has eluded me during my previous visits. Jim Thompson was a CIA agent during World War 2 that was assigned to Asia near the end. He ended up moving to Thailand and revived the silk hand weaving industry. He promoted the industry and conceived designs. He built his house in 1959 in traditional Thai design...on a quiet side street next to a klong (canal).
It is a quiet interlude in the middle of this busy city.

The canal:

A fish pond next to the restaurant at the House:

Thai Kids

2011-01-14T19:45:00.001+07:00

It is very common for younger children to accompany their mom to her workplace as I guess cheap day care is hard to find here. They are usually roaming around the workplace area especially when it is on the streets where a lot of commerce is transacted...selling prepared food, selling fresh groceries, selling souvenirs and stuff to passersby. As a former pediatrician, I can't resist these little munchkins.
I like to try to take pictures of some of then as they very cute and interactive:

Excursion to the Similan Islands

2011-01-13T15:51:00.001+07:00

My last day on Phuket was filled with a daylong trip to the Similan Islands National Park. These islands are a 1 hour and 30 minute ride by speedboat from the northern tip of Phuket Island...and I do mean "speedboat" outfitted with three 225 horsepower Honda outboard motors. It was a surprisingly smooth journey on a smooth sea. The water is clear and beautiful with extraordinary varieties of fish and coral; they are reputed to be one of the premier scuba diving spots in the world. We spent time lounging on a couple of lovely beaches and snorkeling in a couple of different spots.

The weather was cloudy and we passed thru a rain squall on the way out to the islands:

But when we got to the islands the squall was over and we 1st stopped at a beach:

The snorkeling was magnificent. I saw the most fish and the most varieties of fish species any where I have snorkeled. And the amount and variety of coral was the best I have seen.

On the island where we had lunch there was a tranquil prayer house:

It was a long day but well worth it. Tomorrow I return to Bangkok.

Patong Beach, Phuket

2011-01-09T10:45:00.000+07:00

After a week at the isolated luxury of the Marriott complex at Mai Khao beach at the northern of the island, I moved down to the Courtyard by Marriott (using some Reward points) at the island's biggest tourist area at Patong City.
This place is not at all isolated. It is a beautiful sweep of a bay and white sandy beach that has groups of hotels, restaurants, clubs, dance clubs, bars...straight, gay and Katoey(ladyboy) areas. One must pick a hotel carefully as noise can continue to 5 am at some of the clubs. There a large number of Europeans escaping winter from Scandinavia, Germany, the UK, and Russia that come here for R&R. Of course, Australians are here as they find anywhere that is fun. And there are many Chinese, Japanese and Korean tourists too.
The water and beach are delightful with warm, clear, calm, clean water, and beautiful sand with opportunities for boat rides, jet ski rentals, parachute flights attached to speed boats or sleeping in a cheap rented beach chair with umbrella.

Khao Sok National Park

2011-01-06T09:51:00.000+07:00

Yesterday I took a day long excursion to Khao Sok National Park which is 2 hours north of Phuket Island in Surat Thani province. It is a beautiful area of jungle/rainforest that is dotted with pinnacles of limestone karsts, slow flowing rivers, and many animals.
Upon arrival we took an hour and half float trip in one of the rivers in inflatable canoes. We floated from one beautiful scene to another.

We had a very good Thai lunch which was followed in the afternoon by a visit to areas with voracious fish to feed and playful monkeys. It started raining (not unexpected in a rainforest!) when we were ready for an elephant trek so we donned ponchos and get soaked in rain and perspiration...no photos since the camera would have got ruined.

After this we got back into our bust to return to the resort. The interior of the bus was decorated in typical south Asian fashion:

Cozy, eh? Not easy to sleep on the way back with such bright decor.

On to Phuket Island, Mai Khao Beach

2011-01-02T08:33:00.001+07:00

Friday I moved on to Phuket Island a major resort area on the southern coast of the Andaman Sea. I stayed at the Marriott Phuket Beach Club which is in the collection of timeshare properties of the Marriott Vacation Club International. This one shares the area with a luxurious JW Marriott and the features nd amenities are interchangeable.

As you can see from the above photo of the reflecting pool at the JW the grounds are beautiful.

One of the 3 swimming pools on the grounds:

One of the lawns near a swimming pool:

The view from my balcony:

A couple of views of the beach:

If you look carefully you can see that there is a rather steep approach down to the waterline at this beach....maybe 10 feet up to the ground level where the hotel lay. This is what saved the hotel during the Great Tsunami of 6 years ago. Sea water and some debris reached the swimming pools but the buildings were protected by their setback from the water's edge and the slope you can see above. The hotel actually was used as headquarters for the rescue and relief effort on the northern part of the island.

This is one of 4 resorts on 10 mile long beach that is relatively protected from development because it is a marine turtle nesting ground. I'll have a week here before I move down to the over-developed Patong Beach for 5 days at the Courtyard by Marriott in Patong City.

Ratchaprasong...the commercial "downtown" of Bangkok

2010-12-31T18:28:00.000+07:00

Ratchaprasong is the area in central Bangkok that has numerous shopping areas including several fantastic multistory shopping malls; several of the best hotels and a complex variety of transportation modes.

Above is a view of the Erawan Shrine from the Skywalk above the street level.

Traffic an be very dense and slow in this area as shoppers, tourists and business people swarm to this area

This photo shows the 4 levels of transportation that moves people around this area.
The first level is the street level with autos on roads and walkers and food vendors on the sidewalks.
The second level is the Skywalk which is an elevated sidewalks that wind between the Siam Paragon, Central World, MBK and Siam center shopping malls as well as office buildings.
The 3rd and 4th levels are the BTS Skytrain tracks...an elevated rail system similar to a subway, but 3-5 stories above the street!

There are vendors and multiple beggars on the Skywalk. This one of the several children at his post looking vulnerable and asking for coins to be tossed in his cup. The parents come around at regular intervals to secure the bounty. After I took this photo, there was no way he would let me go without a contribution waving his cup at me..I gave him 5 Baht (about 17 cents)

A very peculiar thing was the New Year's Countdown Bunnies that dotted the area. They are used for entertainment with musicians appearing with them and passersby take each other's photos standing next to them. Digital clocks countdown the time left until the new year...with Australian time usually appearing becuse it is the first major country to pass into the new year.

I go to Phuket Island on Friday to celebrate the New Year.

Arrival in Bangkok

2010-12-29T08:47:00.000+07:00

After 29 hours of travel from my home in San diego to my Hotal in Bangkok, I arrived at 130am. I went to sleep for 4 hours and awoke with the sun on Monday morning. The weather was good with sun, temperature in the day of about 87F and cooling breezes with reasonable humidity. I took a walk around the hotel area in the Ratchaprasong area of central Bangkok. Nearbby in the center of the commercial district was a spritual oasis called the Erawan Shrine. I took a few photos of the people praying and dancing ladies in traditional costume.

Monday I met my friend Aong for lunch at a Thai restaurant and got the SIM card for my phone that he had purchased for me. I resed late in the afternoon and went out for dinner and some nightlife.
On Tuesday I met my cousin, Jean Walzer for lunch at a small Italian restaurant and we talked. After lunch we walked over to her attorney's office to chat with him and pick up her mail. She doesn't trust the Thai postal service in her neighborhood so she has it delivered to her attorney's office. She has lived in Bangkok for 11 or 12 years...originally teaching English writing at a University and then retired about 5 years ago to live in Bangkok.
I have got my brain acclimated quickly to the new time zone.

Returning to Thailand

2010-12-25T00:19:00.000+07:00

Tomorrow morning I embark on a 29 hour journey from my home in Del Mar, CA to my hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. I will fly United Airlines this year thru San Francisco and Tokyo with confirmed upgrades to business class on the first two legs but waitlisted on the third leg. I have 2 hour layovers scheduled in both San Francisco and Tokyo. Hopefully this will go with out complications and I will arrive at Bangkok airport as scheduled at 1145pm Sunday nite.
Return to this space for further entries to my blog.......

Trip to the North Shore of Kauai

2010-09-18T00:04:00.000+07:00

Yesterday we took a drive up to the north side of the island which is quite scenic. Above is one of the views from the Kilauea Lighthouse looking toward the east side of the Napali Coast.

Below are 2 more views from the lighthouse. The lighthouse is the northern most point on the island.

Along the entire north side are many beaches and coves, some of which are very beautiful. They are also not very crowded.

Just before the start of the Napali Coast is the Hanalei river valley which leads into Hanalei Bay

After the Bay are more secluded beaches until you get to the end of the road at the start of a 11 mile hiking trail

After we returned to our place on the south side of the island, I spent the late afternoon/early evening reading by the beach and observing some of the people there in the lovely light at that time of the day:

Kauai, Hawaii

2010-09-17T00:53:00.000+07:00

This week I am at a 2 bedroom Marriott timeshare condo on Poipu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii with a friend. It's a lazy week of sun, swimming, and eating. I'm not playing golf this week for 2 reasons: one is my sore right elbow and the other is the fact that the 2 golf courses at Poipu are being renovated or aerified.

On Tueday we went on a motorized raft trip to see the beautiful Napali coast. On the trip we went snorkeling for an hour, spent an hour at a secluded State beach and archeologic site. The sea was ride was rather choppy causing soreness of butt, arms and legs from the effort of hanging on to stay on the raft.

We also went to a Luau last nite and managed to eat much more than was necessary for sustenance.

This is is a photo of Poipu State Beach that it right in front of the Marriott:

Today we will probably drive around to Hanalei on the north side of the island..

Hangzhou- West Lake

2010-05-02T04:59:00.000+07:00

April 21, Wednesday

Today I arranged a day trip to Hangzhou, a city of 4.5 million people about 100km southwest of Shanghai because it is the home of the storied West Lake which is reputed to be one of the most beautiful places in China.
We lucked out because even though rain was predicted for the whole day, we just had some high clouds without any rain......I suppose the fact that I took 2 umbrellas with me had no bearing on this...or did it?

It was a 2 1/2 hour ride each way on a small tour bus from Shanghai for me and the 6 other tourists. Returning we had to pass thru the tight security on the freeway leading into Shanghai as the 2010 Expo world's fair opening was one week away. Also we had a rest stop on the freeway which had the most beautiful urinal I have ever used; one stepped onto a steel grating and you peed onto a glass wall with water running down which flowed under your feet...behind the glass wall was a beautiful landscaped area of flowers and plants. Of course I did not have my camera with me there and would have felt silly returning to the bus for it and thus delaying our journey.

Here are some of the beautiful scenes we observed at West Lake:

On the way back to Shanghai we stopped at a green tea plantation:

Shanghai

2010-05-02T00:24:00.000+07:00

April 18, Sunday

Shanghai is one of the most extraordinary cities in the world. It has a population of over 15 million people and a short but vibrant history. It was a small fishing village until after the Opium Wars it was established as one of the Treaty Ports in the mid 19th century. It grew under the influence of the British, French, American and German Concessions to become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Asia by the 1930s. It was known as the Paris of the East with a wild reputation of parties, prostitutes, jazz until the Japanese took over in 1938. When the communists won the Civil War in 1949, Shanghai fell into a poor state as it was ignored by the Central Government. In the mid-1980s, the government decided to resurrect Shanghai and poured resources into it. It quickly regained its former status and now is one of the most vibrant, sophisticated cities in the world. It is the financial capital of China; it is the fashion capital of China; it probably has the finest creative architecture in the world.
The buildings on either shore of the Huangpu River demonstrate the architectural diversity.

There is the "Bund" which is the traditional European west riverfront with buildings from the Concession heyday of the late 19th to early 20th centuries:

The Bund at nite:

Along the east riverfront is Pudong:

at nite:

Two of the 5 tallest buildings in the world:

These buildings have video advertising constantly running:

And Pudong was nothing but swamps and farms before 1990 !!!!!! All this was built in the last 20 years!!

As you can see the city literally comes alive at nite with some of the most extraordinary lighting.

This is the view from my hotel room window:

I spent 5 days in Shanghai. The weather was not good as we had rain, fog and clouds 3-4 of those days. But at nite it is amazing.
I spent part of 2 rainy days in the French Concession. It is the area that has best maintained its character from the early part of the last century. It has lovely, quiet tree lined streets with old residences and villas that have been turned into restaurants and shops. I went to an interesting Yunnan restaurant that was wonderful and an Italian restaurant that had the best spaghetti bolognese that I have eaten.
The Concessions are an interesting part of Chinese history. The Qing Dynasty by the 19th Century was weak and corrupt so it was beaten handily in the Opium Wars and forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Nanjing in 1842. This allowed the Western powers to set up "concessions" in several coastal cities and cities in the interior on the Yangtze River (such as Wuhan). Hong Kong was also ceded to Great Britain in this Treaty.
The concessions established areas that were independent of Chinese rule and were subject to the laws of the foreign country; some also set up separate electric and sewage systems as well as police. An actual piece of the foreign country in the midst of a Chinese territory!

Nanjing

2010-04-30T23:13:00.000+07:00

April 17, Saturday

Today we sailed into Nanjing, a mid-sized city for China with 5 million people, which was the capital of China for 10 different Imperial Dynasties and also for the Republic of China after the 1911 overthrow of the last Emperor. The captital was moved to Beijing in 1949 when the Communists won the civil war from the Nationalists.

In the morning we had an excursion to the Purple Mountain Park which has the elaborate Mausoleum of Dr Sun Yat Sen, the leader of the 1911 Revolution. It is a beautiful park: large with extensive landscaping . The Mausoleum is very impressive at the top of a 392 step climb.The park was full of people, foreign tourists and Chinese.

In the afternoon I left our group as they returned to the boat for lunch and was picked up the family of a a good friend in San Diego. They took me to a grand lunch in the old part of the city in a private room of a restaurant…..they just kept bringing food- most of which was not identified. Only the 14yo son spoke English and did not know the English names for most of the foods…. He was able to explain to me that I had eaten duck blood soup (after I ate most of it). We also had a dancing girl do some traditional Chinese dances while we ate.

We also visited the Fuzi Temple and shopping/restaurant mall surrounding it….lots of local families were enjoying the fine weather there.

We also visited the grand Zhongua Gate in the impressive city wall built during the Ming Dynasty.

I was brought back to the boat and we set sail for Shanghai late in the afternoon.

Jiuhua Shan

2010-04-30T22:48:00.001+07:00

April 16, Friday

Today we were supposed to go to Huangsan...the Yellow Mountain which is famous for its beauty especially in the mists and clouds that swirl around its peaks. However it is a 2 ½ hour drive from the river each way and fog closed down the river for 3 hours in the early morning so the boat had to anchor. Therefore we did not have time to reach the river port and bus to the Mountain. Instead we went to a mountain that is one hour each way from the river port thus saving 3 hours….it is called Jiuhuasan.
It turned out to be a very good day despite the early disappointment. Firstly, when the fog lifted it turned out to be a beautiful day with a clear blue sky and temperatures in the mid 60’s. Secondly, Jiuhuasan is a delightful place, one of the four most important Buddhist mountains in China; there are several temples as well as monasteries and a Buddhist College. We took a funicular to the viewpoint in the midst of the area for beautiful views of the area.

There were many Buddhist monks of all ages as there is a monastery, a Buddhist college and several temples.

Hubei Province

2010-04-30T02:10:00.001+07:00

April 15, Thursday

Today, we continued sailing thru the agricultural area with a wide, brown river that had banks that were lined with rows and rows of poplar trees. These were planted to help provide soil stabilization of the river bank so floods and boat waves would not damage the river edge. This is the area of the river that has been most prone to deadly and damaging floods before the Three Gorges Dam Project.

Today we awoke to actual sunshine in the morning with fleeting blue sky and orange reflections on the river as the sun rose in the sky.

We sailed down to the city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, which has a population of 8 million people.

The cruise ship is managed very well. We have about 75 passengers on board now for the full trip down river to Shanghai. A group of about 25 departed earlier after we got thru the Three Gorges Dam (Full capacity is about 200). The staff is first class, a combination of experienced western and Chinese individuals in the senior and supervisory positions. There are also a group of young Chinese who are the servers, photographers and housekeeping staff. They are all friendly and efficient and seem to be having a goodtime. They also put on costumes for a couple of after dinner shows:

We stopped in Wuhan for 2 hours and I liked this city as it made a very positive impression. It has wide streets with modern buildings and has an energy about it that is controlled and the people seemed pleasant. It is split into 3 sections by the Han River flowing into the Yangtze from the north: the education section; the industrial section; and the business/financial section. There are 52 universities in the city! The business section has a wide riverside boulevard and park which is lined by trees and European design buildings; this was mainly part of the French and German Concessions of the 19^th and 20^th Centuries similar to the famous Bund in Shanghai.

We spent some time at the Hubei Provincial Museum which houses the artifacts of the tomb of Marquis Yi who was buried 2400 years ago. The tomb was found in 1978. He apparently had everything and everybody he owned buried with him including some huge, heavy iron bells.

Dams

2010-04-30T02:04:00.000+07:00

April 14, Wednesday

After passing thru the locks of the Dam Project, this morning after an early breakfast we got on buses to visit the Dam in the daylight. However as you can see from the photos, the clouds and fog gave us limited views. It was also rather cold and windy with temperatures around 50F. The dam is 190 meters high and 2,100 meters across making it one of the largest damns in the world. It generates more hydroelectric power than any other dam on the planet. The other main reason for its construction is to help control the intermittently deadly flooding that takes place on the Yangtze.
Later that day we passed thru the single lock of the Gezhouba Dam that was placed as a test dam downstream from the Three Gorges Project. So I was able to get some photos of the lock function as we lowered 25 meters in 10 minutes.

We then cruised thru relatively flat lands with a wide and shallow river as we entered a rich agricultural area

The Three Gorges Dam Project

2010-04-27T06:12:00.000+07:00

April 13, Tuesday

Today we started our cruise thru the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. The first of the Gorges is the Qutang, the second is the Wu Gorge, and the third is the Xiling Gorge. They are very beautiful river country and each is beautiful in a different way. The Three Gorges Dam Project has filled to capacity late last year so the Gorges are not as deep as before but are still impressive. Many people have been displaced to new towns that are above the waterline.

Our off-boat excursion this afternoon involved getting into smaller boats to cruise up a Yangtze tributary, the Daning River which has its own gorges…the Lesser Gorges. Then we got into even smaller sampan boats to cruise thru the Mini Gorges of the even smaller Madu River tributary. The tributaries are where the ancient Ba people lived…they are mostly noted for their Hanging Coffins which are placed high above the water level on shear cliffs. We were able to see 2 of them from our small boats….wooden coffins placed in caves.

There were other beautiful scenes along the River as we cruised further downstream on the main course:

We arrived at the Three Gorges Dam Project late at nite and received permission from the Navigation Authority to proceed thru the locks at midnite. It took 4 hours to traverse the 5 sets of locks and to descend 90 meters. The groans and squeaks of the boat and the locks and the rushing water in and out of the lock chambers managed to keep quite a few passengers awake. Also thunder and lightning from a passing weather front also added to the nitetime creepiness.

First Day of Yangtze River Cruise

2010-04-27T06:00:00.000+07:00

April 12, Monday

Today I boarded the River cruise boat, the Victoria Princess at 9am and the boat left the dock at about 1030 with just less than 120 passengers. The boats in the photo above are not our boat; those are coal barges. Shortly after getting settled we had lunch followed by a talk from the River Guide about the course and flow of the Yangtze River which is the 3^rd longest river in the world. It flows from its source in the Himalayas across the high Tibetan Plateau and winds its way for 3964 miles through central China before it empties into the East China Sea just north of Shanghai. It has over 700 tributaries. It’s Chinese name is Chiang Jiang which means “long river”. We will cover the length from Chongqing to Shanghai in 7 days.

We cruised away from Chongqing downstream the whole afternoon. We were delayed getting away from the dock for some reason as the Navigation Authority (The River traffic is monitored like Air Traffic Control to avoid problems going thru the dam locks and to spread out traffic). After dinner we stopped at the “Ghost City” of Fengdu. It is believed that all souls after death must go to Fengdu to be judged there. There are a series of temples on a hill above the old city of Fengdu, requiring 700 steps unless you take a chairlift which allows live tourists to skip 75% of the steps. The old city in now under water about 50 meters since the reservoir behind the Three Gorges Dam is now filled. On the opposite shore of the river a brand new city has been built housing all the displaced residents.

Here are some photos of the temples up on the hill:

Chongqing

2010-04-24T22:04:00.001+07:00

April 11, Sunday

The flight to Chongqing on Air China got delayed for an hour for no definite reason.

The city proper has about 12 million population while the greater Chongqing district has 33 million. It is at the junction of 2 large rivers… the Yangtze and the JiaLing River and is quite hilly. It was the wartime capital of free China during WWII as the government had to move east during the Japanese invasion from 1937 to 1945. Consequently it was bombed over 250 times by Japanese air forces and almost every building was obliterated. In the past 10 years the central government has made developing the Chinese interior a priority so this area has had great amounts of money flow in. It is known as as the City of fog because it has over 100 foggy days each year, possibly because it lies at the junction of 2 great rivers. Nowadays there is undoubtedly a certain amount of air pollution that adds to that toll. In the late Spring to early Autumn it is known as one of the 4 furnaces of China with temperatures above 100 F and extraordinary humidity. Luckily during my time in the area, temperatures were about 60-65 F but the skies were cloudy and fog was present each morning. Consequently the city is dull looking during the day with modern, high rise apartment and office buildings. But at nite the city comes alive with exuberant lighting decorating most of the buildings. The nite before embarkation on the river cruise, I went with a friend who is a native of Chongqing to a Hot Pot restaurant located in a complex retail development on the cliffs high above the Jialing River. “Hot Pot” is the distinctive Chongqing way of eating with raw foods cooked in tableside pots of boiling oil filled with assorted chiles and spices. And then it is dipped in an assortment of sauces and herbs before being eaten. My friend made sure that I had a pot that was on the low to medium spicy side, so I did not kill myself. His was regular spicy which I tried a few times and was not too bad.

Here are some photos of nitetime Chongqing:

This is a shopping/restaurant area that was restored on the cliffside above the Jialing river:

A theatre and performing arts center across the river:

The Chongqing Museum:

To China for 2 weeks

2010-04-24T21:44:00.000+07:00

April 10, Saturday

Yesterday involved 23 hours of travel from my home in San Diego to my hotel here in Shanghai. I flew to Los Angeles, then flew 12 hours to Tokyo and then 3 hours to Shanghai. Got some sleep at the proper time for my new time zone which is 16 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time. This morning I will fly 2 ½ hours to the city of Chongqing.

I’ll spend 2 nites in Chongqing and get on a 100 passenger riverboat Monday morning and spend 6 days cruising down the Yangtze River back to Shanghai. Then I will spend 5 days in Shanghai before I return home. The river cruise should be a nice way to see some of central interior China as well as the Three Gorges Dam.

Out of China Now

2010-04-23T13:19:00.000+07:00

Friday, April 23

I flew from Shanghai to Tokyo airport this morning on my way back to San Diego. I can now access Blogger to post.
I will try to post my photos and commentary in the next 3-4 days and get it up to date.

Ko Olina, Oahu, Hawai'i

2010-03-26T01:52:00.000+07:00

I've been in Hawaii this week at one of my timeshare weeks.
It has been a lazy week here with temperatures around 80 with brisk winds.
I played golf 4 times with various success, scoring twice below 90 and twice above 90.

Quiet Time

2010-02-22T00:19:00.000+07:00

It's been relatively boring since I got back from South East Asia. Just at home watching TV, surfing the internet, watching some rain and vegetating. I did spend my usual Ski Week at Snowbird, Utah during the first week of February at my timeshare condo there. It was my 32nd consecutive year using that timeshare week!

Above is my photo from this year's trip.

Next month I have 9 days in Hawaii planned using my Marriott timeshare at Ko Olina on Oahu for some sun and golf.
Then in April I am going to China for 2 weeks to cruise the Yangtze River for 7 days from Chongqing thru the Three Gorges Dam to Shanghai. Then I will spend 5 days in Shanghai before returning home. Since my blog is blocked in China I will have to wait until I return home to post.

Home

2009-12-24T23:14:00.000+07:00

I'm home now,
Thanks for reading about this trip.

Thailand again

2009-12-17T16:24:00.000+07:00

This is what was waiting on my bed for me when I arrived at the Marriott Pattaya Resort today.
That's a bath towel done up as an elephant! Cute, huh?

This trip is winding down with 3 days in Bangkok and 4 days in Pattaya. Relaxing days and entertaining evenings. No sightseeing.

It will be good to get home after 5 weeks away.

Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels

2009-12-13T16:42:00.000+07:00

Yesterday we took an all day tour by bus to the Cao Dai Temple and the stopped at the Cu Chi Tunnels area. The Cao Dai Temple and religion is a rather surreal, bizarre experience. As you can see The Temple and its decoration makes Baroque look tastefully understated. The religion was started in 1926 and blends Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Of of the 3 saints in the religion is Victor Hugo, the French author of "Les Miserables". The temple is about 100km northwest of Saigon.

We stopped for a couple of hours on the way back to Saigon at the Cu Chi Tunnels. This is an area that has a 200km network of tunnels that was begun in 1948 during the french War and reached their height in the late 1960's. They were in 3 levels, and varied in diameter from 15 inches to 3 feet. VC solders lived down here for months at a time appearing and disappearing to fight and drive their enemies crazy. There were kitchens and an operating room. US soldiers went down in after the VC engaging in hand to hand combat in the darkness and subjected to ingenious and brutal booby traps.

The tunnel openings were very small and well hidden:

There was an expanded tunnel that was built for tourists to experience:

There is a fascinating book by 2 Aussie journalists about this phase of the war called "The Cu Chi Tunnels".
Frightening stuff.

Tomorrow I am going to take it easy at the hotel roof top pool and take a vacation from the vacation. Then on to Thailand Monday for the final week of the trip.

Saigon....Ho Chi Minh City

2009-12-13T16:07:00.000+07:00

Sunday, December 13

Ho Chi Minh City as it has been officially called since shortly after the end of "The American War of Aggression" is still called Saigon by most of the people here. The airport designation in still SGN. It is the largest city in Vietnam with about 8-10 million people. It is robust, busy and has a happy, positive aura about it compared to the serious atmosphere in Hanoi. It is the economic and business center of this county's rapidly expanding economy. Lots of jobs are here which has attracted Vietnamese from all over the country. It is teeming with motorbikes buzzing and swerving around cars and pedestrians while honking incessantly.

Folks wear masks to protect themselves from pollution and women cover their faces, arms and hands to protect the skin.

At lunchtime the sidewalks are full of people eating "pho"- noodle soup with meat or vegetables:

There is a legacy from the 100 years of French colonialism in the many catholic churches one finds around town. This religious legacy contributed to the conflict after the French were driven out in 1954 and the Americans installed a puppet government in the South that was made up of Catholic Vietnamese.

Several times we saw photo sessions of brides and groom on the streets that is apparently part of the ritual of courtship and marriage here.

The former South Vietnamese Presidential Palace was renamed Reunification Palace after the war. It is actually a lovely building architecturally, still modern but airy and open.

The grounds around the Palace are inviting for walks and is one of many examples of open parks throughout the city:

Another visit which was a sobering experience was the War Remnants Museum. It has many pieces of leftover US military hardware and a building which contains different photo exhibits. Much of it is propaganda from the Vietnamese Communist point of view, but interesting see the view of the other side.These exhibits depict atrocities done to the Vietnamese people the French War and then the American War. It is amazing the cruelty that our species can inflict on each other especially when fear of Communism is tinged with racism. Luckily it does have some US anti-war movement representations so I didn't feel like I was the Devil as I walked around.

Mekong River Delta

2009-12-11T21:48:00.000+07:00

Friday, 11 December

Yesterday we took a daylong excursion to the Mekong River Delta which is area that starts about 25km south of Saigon. The Mekong River is one of the longest rivers in the world- it starts in the mountains of Southwest China and flows south into the border of Burma/Myanmar and Thailand, then into Laos and Thialand , further into Cambodia and then into southern Vietnam. When it gets there it fans out into 9 major rivers that flow into the South China Sea with multiple small tributaries and canals lacing the area. It is a major rice growing area in the world.
During the American War (as the Vietnamese refer to it) of 1962 -75 it was a major battle area as the small villages tucked among the waterways proved frustrating to deal with.

We took a bus to My Tho and got on a medium size boat on the main river of the area:

One of the sites along that river:

We got off the on one if the stretches of land between waterways where there are relatively nice and modern houses with full services and narrow roads:

We then got in smaller boat/canoes to navigate smaller and narrower waterways lined with extensive foliage:

One of the local kids:

Entertainment after lunch at one of the villages:

Ang finally more proof that I was on this trip:

FaceBook is Blocked in Vietnam

2009-12-11T16:02:00.000+07:00

In case anyone was looking at my Facebook page and were wondering why there is no action there for the last 10 days, it is because the Vietnamese Government has determined that it is a threat to security and has "asked" all internet providers in the country to ban it.
It is the only site that I regularly use that is blocked. MySpace and some other questionable sites that shall be nameless are not blocked.....so I wonder if Rupert Murdoch(MySpace owner) has arranged this.
On Monday, I will be in Thailand and will be able to sign in again.

Nha Trang

2009-12-10T18:16:00.000+07:00

Thursday, December 10

We spent the last 2 days in Nha Trang around the ocean.
We took a daylong boat tour that involved visiting 4 islands off the coast. There about 100 islands off this area of the coast of varying size. They vary from having 5-star facilities, like at Vinpearl Island, to mid range beaches with cheap restaurants to islands with nothing but rocks and trees.
The trip stopped at an island with a tacky aquarium, for snorkeling, for lunch on the boat and swimming.

The boat:

Swimming after lunch with an in water happy hour:

Swimming at a small beach on an island:

Late afternoon tropical fruits:

The last day in Nha Trang we spent on the beach...rented achairs, ate lunch, read, napped:

We then flew 200 miles down the coast yesterday to Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon, as most people still call it.

Nha Trang, Vietnam

2009-12-06T19:53:00.000+07:00

Sunday, December 6

We moved 300 miles down the coast from Da Nang/Hoi An to Nha Trang which is basically a beach resort near Cam Ranh Bay. It has a mixture of Vietnamese and foreign visitors. There are many mid-level and budget hotels with only a rare world-class resort properties here. The beach is very nice wide sand with strong currents and surf.

This part of south central Vietnam is the center of the Champa Culture. From the 6th to the 18th century, the Champa conflicted with the Viet and Chinese people to the north and the Khmer civilization to the west. Their religion was a combination of Hindu and Buddhist influences. There are many remnants of Champa temples through out the area. This morning we visited one right in the city.

There were many locals there. Some girls preparing for a performance later in the morning:

Musicians to play for them:

Some local kids playing in the area:

We went over to a local market where there was a variety of products from fruits, flowers to various animals butcherd for food:

Hoi An

2009-12-04T19:05:00.000+07:00

Friday, December 4

Hoi An is a friendly small town that depends greatly on tourists. But the locals are quite laid back in that they are not persistent and nagging you to buy something or come to their shop or restaurant. They ask once and then stop...unusual for Asia....or anywhere I guess. They smile easily and seem to genuinely welcome you to their town. It's very walkable.

The weather since I got to Vietnam has been a welcome break from the oppressive humidity in Indonesia. In fact my guide has been "old" since we started...but temps have been in the high 60's to low 80's. It has been cloudy with periods of light rain. Rain is unusual here at this time of the year. However they had a severe typhoon here 2 months ago that resulted in bad flooding.

Yesterday we looked at a 17th century Chinese Temple in town that was very nice.

Attended a music and dance performance:

Fish in a fountain pool at the Chinese Temple:

Today we drove out of town about 40km to visit a small complex of 9th century Champa Temples. These were severely damaged on 1968 by US bombs.

The Champa had an extensive civilization in southern Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam in the 8th to the 13 th centuries.

It was very lush and green in this area, indicating that today's rain must not be too unusual

Tomorrow we will fly another 300 miles down the coast to Nha Trang which is a well developed Resort and Beach Town mostly for the Vietnamese.

Hoi An, Vietnam

2009-12-03T08:58:00.000+07:00

Thursday, Decenber 3

Yesterday we flew down to the Da Nang Airport about 400 miles from Hanoi. From there it is about a 45 minute drive to Hoi An. The drive takes you down a past of beautiful sand dune beaches that have a representative property almost every high end hotel chain in the world being constructed or already built. Hoi An is a small, friendly, quaint town that has a long history as a Japanese port in the 17th century and a Chinese port for trade in the 18th century. The Thu River has deposited enough silt so that the town is no longer on the sea so it no longer serves as a port. It is popular with tourists and has many shops and restaurants.

The river is now a source of commerce with fishing and tourist rides:

Children are friendly and playing in the streets:

Hanoi Today and Reflections on Indonesia

2009-12-01T22:10:00.000+07:00

Tuesday, December 1

Today I arrived in Hanoi to meet my Tour Guide, Tran Van Bay. He was my guide for my trip in northern Vietnam in 2007. This trip I will visit central and southern Vietnam. We will head off to Da Nang and Hoi An tomorrow morning.
Since there are no direct flights from Bali to Hanoi...I guess the Communist Peoples Republic of Vietnam doesn't see the need to allow it's citizens direct access to Bali...I spent the nite near the Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia. I stayed at a Bed & Breakfast run by a retired US Marine and his Malaysian wife. They have a lovely huge home in a modern upscale development about 15 minutes from the airport (which is 40 min from central KL). The roads I saw there were very modern multiple line highways with somewhat sane drivers. I think it would be interesting to visit Malaysia for a few days if it weren't so Muslim.

I thought I would add a few photos from Bali.

This is a scene at the beach near the hotel in Seminyak:

This is a photo by Danny of Del, Moh (my friend from Singapore) and me at a very trendy, beachfront upscale bar and restaurant for lunch called Ku De Ta (pronounced "coup d'etat"):

One evening we went to a Balinese dance ceremony and here are a couple of the dancers:

And here is a sunset at the beach on our last day in Bali:

Bali

2009-11-28T12:27:00.000+07:00

Thursday, November 26, 2009…..Happy Thanksgiving

We are on the island of Bali…many people’s idea of paradise. It is lush island with beautiful beaches that can be used for relaxing, swimming and excellent surfing, snorkeling and scuba dives.

Unlike the rest of Indonesia which is mostly Moslem, Bali’s religion is a mix of Hindu and local animism. The native people are friendly and accommodating. There is a large population of expatriates living full-time or part-time here as well as a major tourist industry.

My friend Danny lived here for 5 years before coming to the USA. One of his friends is Del, who works part-time for the Washington State in mosquito control and lives 6 months of the year near Ubud, Bali in a small village where he leased some land from the village chief and built a small lovely house which he rents out when he is in Washington State during the summer. The location and views of the local rainforest are remarkable.

Ubud is in the center of the island and is an area filled with native and foreign artists...painters, sculptures, fabrics. You can stroll around central Ubud and the surrounding villages to see some lovely creations. It is far from the beaches and the tourist here is respectful and culturally attuned…unlike the trendy resort areas.

Here are some local Balinese teen-agers:

Del’s house:

Bathroom decoration:

Back yard:

Front porch:

View out the bedroom window:

A view of the house from across the valley…you can see how it is located on the top of a piece of land that sticks out into the small river valley:

Decorative figure on wall:

Local rice terraces outside of Ubud:

The Market and Mt Merapi

2009-11-28T07:34:00.000+07:00

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The next day we got up early to go to a local market in Yogyakarta. This is always a good way to get a flavor for the local people and activities. It is common for 2 or 3 generations of a family to be involved in presenting and selling goods

This is a sample of the folks at the market:

As it was clear day after the market we drove about 40 kilometers north of the city to see Mt Merapi. This is a legendary mountain that is an active volcano, last having a major eruption in 1994. There is smoke that continuously escapes from the top. The mountain has religious significance and is thought to be represented in the form of ancient temples at Angkor, Borobodur as the center tall cone structure in the center of these complexes. It is about 9500 ft in altitude

We were quite lucky to time it well so we could get good photos as the clouds that were drifting by obscured the mountain about 45 min after we arrived.

After the viewing of the mountain we went over to a spot that has a trail that goes to a waterfall that is popular:

Borobodur Temple and Raft Trip down the Elo River

2009-11-27T10:46:00.001+07:00

The first day we visited Borobodur Temple outside the city. It is a Buddhist temple built in the 8th Century that is out in the country side surrounded by lush foliage.

After the Temple we had a rafting trip arranged by a friend of Danny's nephew, Putra. We spent 2 hours floating and paddling thru the rain forest down the Elo river which had some fun but tame rapids.

On to Yogyakarta

2009-11-27T07:23:00.001+07:00

Sunday, November 21

We drove on to Yogyakarta that took us on narrow roads thru extensive rice fields that periodically went over numerous rivers..

It is quickly apparent that growing rice is backbreaking work:

Typical narrow road:

The local folks use the abundant water running in the rivers to was trucks and motorbikes; also we see a common way for small children to be transported around :

On the road in West Java: Jakarta to Tasikmalaya

2009-11-24T17:50:00.001+07:00

Saturday, 21 November

It is approximately 300 miles from Jakarta to Yogya by way of roads that are mostly 2 lane and of varying surface quality. Bumpy and narrow and shared by all manner of vehicle: cars, big and little trucks, small vans and large buses, horse drawn carts and motorbikes. So we plan to take 2 days.

The first part of the trip is just escaping the Jakarta sprawl by going south. Soon we see our first volcano in the distance, Mt Salak, before we turn east to climb over the Puncak Pass at 5000ft on a busy highway that climbs thru tea plantations.

Mt. Salak from the toll-road highway:

Danny and nephew Putra at an overlook at Puncak Pass:

We descend from the pass and drive thru lush rainforest punctuated by extensive rice fields and many small towns.

Tea plantations:

One of the highlights of the day came late in the afternoon with a visit to a traditional village called Kampung Naga. This village has tried to maintain itself by keeping to the old traditions of its people, not easy in these days of TV, cell phones, and the internet.

This is a hillside on the edge of the village that contains rice terraces:

This is the river that runs next to the village at the bottom of the valley:

Jakarta

2009-11-23T17:11:00.002+07:00

Friday, 20 November

My day in Jakarta involved meeting Danny’s family. Danny was born and raised in Jakarta and lived in Bali for 5 years before coming to the United States. He lived and went to school in Houston and moved to San Diego about 8 months ago. I met him in San Diego this summer. When I found out that he was going to return to Indonesia for 6 months to visit his family, I figured that this would be a great opportunity to have a local connection for seeing this country. So we figured out a plan where we would spend 6 days on the island of Java..1 day in Jakarta, 2 days driving across West and Central Java to the city of Yogyakarta, the cultural center of Java. He would then join me for the 5 days on Bali that I had already planned.

First we went to the Family Compound in the southern suburbs of this large city. The parents and 7 of the 9 living children live there with their spouses and children… 22 people live in 5 residences. Danny’s twin brother, Eddie, the father and the husband of the oldest sister accompanied us to a thatched roof restaurant on a lake about 45 minutes from the Compound. During this day I got to see a lot of the area…from the crowded, densely populated central Jakarta with its high-rise hotels, office buildings and apartments to the lush suburbs and countryside.

There are photos of the restaurant and the monkeys that are in the lake that beg for food and are very good at catching food thrown to them.

This is a photo of Danny posed surrounded by a poplular asian fruit...Durian:

This a photo that Danny took of me, the father, Eddie the twin brother and Wito the brother in law:

Danny and I will go in Wito’s 1997 Chevy Blazer accompanied by Wito and his son Putra on our trip to Yogya. Putra is a serious student photographer who often works for twin brother Eddie, who is a professional photographer. Danny is a serious amateur phographer so we will have photographic firepower on this trip. Wito works for the Jakarta Airport security.

Just a note on my hotel for the 2 nites in Jakarta. It is the JW Marriott…yes the same one that was bombed about 8 months ago along with the nearby Ritz Carlton. Security is much tighter that boarding an airplane, with 5 security people descending on any car or taxi that tries to enter the front driveway checking the trunk, underneath with mirrors. Then one’s luggage is x-rayed and you go a metal detector on entering the hotel. It is protected by machine gun toting police at the immediate entrance. Here is a photo of me with one of the guards:

Jakarta, Java, Indonesia

2009-11-20T09:54:00.001+07:00

Friday morning, 20 November 2009

After 2 days in Bangkok recovering from the flight over to Asia, yesterday I flew thru a connection in Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta arriving last nite (Photo above from the hotel room). Plan is to stay one day in Jakarta and then take 2 days driving thru the rainforests and volcanoes of central Java and finish with 3 days around the cultural capital of Java around Yogyakarta. Then will fly off to Bali for 5 days. I am getting out my camera today so will try to start posting photos. I will be traveling on Java with my friend Danny from San Diego who is back in his native Indonesia visiting his faily for a few months. We will travel with his brother and nephew in one of their cars.

I arrived in Bangkok at 6 am after 17 1/2 hours in the plane from LAX. My room at the hotel was ready when I arrived at 8am so I could shower and nap.
That first day in Bangkok, I had lunch again with my 82 yo cousin Jean at the Italian restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel. She is doing very well.
I went out that evening so I could go to bed at bedtime in my new time zone.
The second day I met with my friend Aong and his buddies for dinner, a few games of pool and a couple of hours of kareoke at a bar.
Tomorrow we go off into central Java...hopefully decent weather and good photos.

Trip to Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam starts tomorrow

2009-11-15T03:09:00.000+07:00

I will be leaving tomorrow on by annual Big Trip to South East Asia by enduring a 18 hour flight from LAX to Bangkok. This year I will spend about 10 days in Thailand and break new ground by visiting Indonesia (Java for 6 days and Bali for 5 days) and central and southern Vietnam for 12 days.
I will hope to post blog entries on most days with photos. It is probable that I will not have reliable internet access when traveling the backroads of Java for 4 days and for a couple of days on the beaches of Vietnam. So those entries will have to be delayed.
Have a good Holiday Season, everybody.

Again at Ko Olina

2009-09-27T10:27:00.000+07:00

The past week I spent another week at a timeshare in Hawaii; at the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club on Oahu. The scenery is just so beautiful I had to post some photos.
Above is a typical sunset as the resort is on the western shore of Oahu about 25 miles west of Honolulu.
Below is the beach at the resort which is a large man-made lagoon carved out the rocky coast so the surf is safe for families:

Here are a couple of more sunset photos:

One of the mornings we took a catamarran cruise into the ocean where we went dolphin watching and then snorkeled looking at all the fish and coral off shore:

Another day we drove to the North Shore of the island which has some beautiful beaches. Also the surf was up a little bit, so I snapped some photos:

And of course to prove that I was there:

Golf in Palm Desert

2009-06-14T07:26:00.000+07:00

Last week I spent at a timeshare in Palm Desert on a golf course. It is about 2+ hour drive from San Diego over the mountains to the desert. I played golf 4 times in 6 days in very nice weather.

It was in the high 80s to low 90s F the whole week with low humidity and bright sunshine. At my place back in San Diego we had the usual May Gray and June Gloom coastal cloudiness with temps in the mid 60s.

My golf prowess was, as usual, very inconsistent with good shots mixed with terrible shots. The last 2 days I played in the 23rd Annual Doctors Desert Golf Tournament which one of the Cardiologists organizes every year. It is a 4 man team scramble format and my team tied for 1st Place on day one......won $35!

Above was the view from my condo balcony of the 17th Green at Shadow Ridge in the gright daylight.

Below is the shot just after the sun has dipped below the mountains in the evening.

Home tomorrow

2009-04-12T09:47:00.001+07:00

The weather this week has been surprisingly crappy. It's been cloudy and overcast most of this week. Temperatures have been okay..around 80F. It's been fine for playing golf which I did every other day. But it was not good beach or pool weather.
It's the first time in about a dozen trips to Hawaii that the weather hasn't been wonderful.

Above is a photo looking up the western coast of Oahu from Ko Olina.

Below is a photo from my hotel room on the morning of my departure. I moved 3/4 mile up the road to the JW Marriott Ihilani Hotel for my last nite using some Marriott Reward points.

As you can see the sun was out on Easter morning:

Hawaii

2009-04-06T04:49:00.000+07:00

I'm spending a week at a timeshare on Oahu...the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club.
This is a view from the balcony of my room on the first nite:

I plan to play golf 4-5 times during the 8-9 days I'll be here. Also there will be some pool and beach time. I will probably make the 25 mile drive into Honolulu a couple times while I'm here.
The weather is ideal...in the low 80's, sunny.... although a bit windy for golf.

Ski Week at Snowbird, Utah

2009-02-01T07:15:00.000+07:00

I am up at Snowbird, Utah at my timeshare for a week of skiing. I have the timeshare unit the 5th week of every year. I have done this since 1979 so this is the 31st consecutive year.

The above photo was taken from the balcony when the setting sun was shining on the 2 highest peaks at the ski resort.

This photo was taken up on the mountain showing me and the beautiful mountain environment at Snowbird:

This is me in action:
Another photo from the balcony:

On the way Home

2008-12-23T13:15:00.001+07:00

23 December, Tuesday, 1515 Tokyo Time
I'm on the way back to San Diego and in the United Business Class Lounge at Narita Airport.
I have a couple hours until I embark on a 10 hour flight to LAX and then a few hours to catch a hop down to San Diego.Probably another 16 hours until I get home.
The last few days in Pattaya were lazy with beach, pool, beach, pool, lunch, dinner, lunch, dinner.
It was a good trip except for missing the Vietnam sightseeing the first 2 weeks. I'll have to try to return ...maybe in the early Spring to Vietnam for a couple of weeks.

The Trip is Winding Down

2008-12-19T14:49:00.000+07:00

Friday afternoon, December 19

The trip is winding down. I am in Pattaya until I leave at 6:40am on Tuesday from Bangkok. I will have to leave the hotel for the airport at 4:00am since the airport is an hour's drive from Pattaya. So I have decided to post a few assorted photos that were of interest.

First there are 2 signs in "Engrish". Throughout Asia there are attempted English translation of notices in the native language that achieve a strange if not hilarious meaning. There is a fun (for non-Asians) website dedicated to this phenomenon: http://www.engrish.com/

Along the beaches one sees these strange-looking structures:
They are part of the Tsunami Warning System....with sirens and loudspeakers to warn of an approaching tsunami or an event that may trigger one such as an offshore earthquake. There are also signs advising if an eveacuation route to higher, safer ground.

This is a photo of a statue at Wat Po. I thought the stylish hat deserved attention.

The moderate weather has continued throughout the month. But I hear it has been cold and rainy back home in San Diego. I hope I bring good weather home with me.

Phang Nga National Park 2

2008-12-15T09:47:00.000+07:00

During the day in Phang Nga Bay we encountered numerous beautiful vistas that required photos. Those of you are paying attention will have noticed the similarity that the geology has to Halong Bay in northern Vietnam from last year's trip.

We motored about with 14 tourists in our speed boat:
Many tourists paddle about in kayaks between the rocks:
As the sun got lower in the sky during the afternoon, the lighting created some nice effects:

More fisherman in their long-tailed boats:

A walk on the sand during low tide:

If this photo below looks familiar to you, then you are a fan of the James Bond movies. It was featured in the 1974 "Man with the Golden Gun". The movie producers chose this location to have one of the arch-villains hideout. Of course, it is now a a busy tourist site called "James Bond Rock":

Phang Nga National Park

2008-12-15T08:00:00.000+07:00

Phang Nga National Park is a preserve in Phang Nga Bay in the Andaman Sea northeast of Phuket Island. We took a daylong boat trip that explored this beautiful area that is dotted with 48 islands that are mostly limestone karsts. The limestone forms caves and rooms and takes unusual forms.The map above indicates the area and route of the trip. The beauty in this area gave many photo opportunities...so many that I'll put this trip in 2 posts to the blog.

The first place we went was Koh Hong...meaning Room Island. The limestone center of the island has caved in leaving an open space surrounded by cliffs that reminded someone of a room. It left a beautiful area for swimming, snorkeling and being lazy. The first photo under the post title above is a panorama of this place. The water was warm, very clear and schools of small blue and yellow fish appeared from time to time. We spent about an hour and a half at this spot.

We had lunch at a Muslim village that was attached to a small island and was built on stilts above the water. The villagers were fisherman and merchants that had small shops and large restaurants to serve the local tourists. The island's name is Punyee Island. The lunch was good and the setting wonderful.
This a typical fisherman's long-tailed boat from the village:

Patong

2008-12-13T21:58:00.001+07:00

Patong is the largest, most developed area on Phuket. It has many budget and mid-priced hotels and guest houses as well has a large variety of discotheques, go-go bars and just plain old bars. There are also many souvenir shops and one quite large shopping mall. It also has a very nice beach. The water is very clean and clear and is great for swimming. The crowd here at this time of year is mostly Scandinavian singles and families...a more upscale group than one finds at Pattaya. There are several direct, nonstop flights from northern Europe during the winter.

There are the typical fast-food places such as McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Subway, Dairy Queen, Swensen's, Hagen Daz and Starbuck's of course.
Ronald McDonald welcomes you with a classic Thai "wai":

The seafood here is very fresh and plentiful

Surin Beach on Phuket Island, Thailand

2008-12-12T08:30:00.000+07:00

Friday, December 12
We arrived on Phuket yesterday afternoon after a quick, comfortable flight in a 2/3 full THAI Airways 744. This stay here has also required some flexibility in plans as I was notified by email last week the Marriott Courtyard at Patong Beach was not opened on schedule because of construction delays. They offered a room at the new Courtyard in Surin Beach about 30 min north of Patong.....and they said it would be complimentary and returned the 95,000 Marriott Reward points I used for the reservation! And we were upgraded into a 1-bedroom suite because I'm a Marriott Gold Level member. It's a 5 minute walk from a lovely, quiet beach and has a beautiful pool area and facilities. So I'm pleased.
The pool area from the room:

The beach is relatively small and has the typical umbrellas and chairs common at Thai beaches. The back border is lined with small restaurants that have enclosed or open and shaded areas for service. There are 2 relatively luxurious Beach Clubs that offer upgraded service and facilities.

As the sun dipped into the western sky the reflection caused a beautiful scene:

Wat Po

2008-12-10T18:14:00.000+07:00

Wat Po is a temple complex just south of the Grand Palace. It is most famous for containing the largest reclining Buddha in the world. It is 46 meters (151 feet) long and 15 meters (49 feet) high! It is brick covered in cement with an overlay of gold leaf. Not like the 5 tons of solid gold of the Golden Buddha.

These photos give you some perspective on how large it is..... the back of the head and the front of the head:

There are several buildings in the temple complex which are all quite beautiful. A walk around the grounds is lovely.

And in one of them is this elaborate Buddha shrine
Tomorrow we will proceed to the Island of Phuket via THAI Airways which is now functioning normally.

The Erawan Shrine

2008-12-08T11:42:00.000+07:00

The Erawan Shrine is at a corner of a major intersection in the area of large, expensive hotels and large shopping malls. There usually is a human traffic jam there as all sorts of Thai people stop to show their respect and offer garlands of flowers and joss sticks to gain favor. A statue of the 4 headed Hindu god of creation Brahma is located there. The idolatry that occurs here would make one think that there is great sacred religious significance to this shrine. However, people stop here to gain favor for material success, wealth, and good luck.
It all started in the 1950's when the forst Erawan Hotel was being built. Several mishaps delayed the opening so the Brahman shrine was erected to ward off injuries. Construction proceeded with out problems and the hotel did a booming business so the shrine was celebrated as a harbinger of material success.
If wishes are granted then thanks are shown by commissioning shrine musicians and dancers to perform. So there is a constant hum and tinkle of music, joss stick smoke, worshippers and onlookers at the site.

Leaving Pattaya for Bangkok today

2008-12-07T09:57:00.000+07:00

Today, Sunday 7 December, we are going back to Bangkok for 4 days.

The stay in Pattaya has been very nice. Very lazy. Have gone to the beach to read under the umbrellas, get lunch, have a massage and even got a manicure one day....the manicurists, masseurs, and other vendors circulate among the beach chairs so you don't really have to move for 4-5 hours. Luckily the hotel has a nice fitness center.

The weather since I arrived in Thailand has been quite nice, with daytime temperatures in the low to mid 80's and much less humidity than usual and nice breezes so it is very comfortable.
Last nite we went to the restaurant called Cabbages & Condoms which is at the Birds & Bees Resort. It's a quiet, lovely place on a quiet cove not far from Pattaya. It is owned and run by the Population Association (PDA).....an organization founded 30 years ago to deal with population control and now is involved in HIV/AIDS work. The founder believes that birth control methods and condoms should be as readily available as vegetables, hence the name. They have 11 restaurants and 2 resorts across Thailand from which the profits go to the PDA. I ate at their restaurant in Bangkok a few years ago and the food was excellent... as it was last nite.

This is my friend "Aong" getting a beach side massage by a roving masseur named "Bam".
Most Thais have short nicknames as their real names are quite long and complicated...Aong's real name is Vitoon Mahavangsavash. Some people can have lifelong friends and never know their real name; they only know the nickname. Egg, Nut, Lek, Wut, Pae, etc.

A few photos from a morning walk in Pattaya

2008-12-03T11:16:00.000+07:00

The beach:

A child and mother:

A sign which sums up the culture of Pattaya:

Chairs available for rent:

Fron the pooldeck at the hotel:

The gardens at the hotel:
A couple of noisy employees at the hotel pool:

An "artsy" photo of the beachside:
Remember you can click the photos to enlarge.

The Airport Siege Ends!!

2008-12-03T07:37:00.000+07:00

The protesters have decided to end the occupation of the airport as of 10am Wednesday. It will take a few days to get the airport systems up and running again before commercial flights can resume. They hope that on Friday that will happen. So it looks like I can fly to Phuket on 11 Dec....unless there is a change.

The anti-government forces claimed victory after the countries High Court ruled that the the government was illegal because of voter fraud in the Dec 2007 election and dissolved 3 political parties and banned their leaders from politics for 5 years. So they said their goal was achieved and they could leave the airport. Of course they will start a new Party and the non-banned members will join it and try to form a new government. Politics is a complex charade here.

First Day in Pattaya

2008-12-02T12:50:00.000+07:00

Above is the view from my room at the Pattaya Marriott Resort & Spa

Today I decide I was going to try to deal with some of the loose ends from the cancelled flights caused by the blockade of the Airport. My flights to Vietnam and my flight next week to Phuket are on THAI Airways. Since I couldn't reach them on the phone during the last 5 days and the Bangkok office was a mob scene, I went to their local Pattaya office. It was crowded but orderly. I took a number for the line and was number 521. They were serving number 103 at that time. The doorman estimated that it would be 3-4 hours before I got to the head of the line. He suggested that I go across the street for a whiskey or two. I decided to go back to the hotel and return in 2 1/2 hours.
Once back at the hotel, I decided to try the phone line; lo and behold after 8 tries I got connected and was put on hold for 10 minutes and then got an agent to talk to. She cheerfully said my Vietnam leg deserved a full refund and it would be credited to my credit card in about 45 days. She said I must call back 2 days before my Phuket flight and if it was not flying I would get another full refund.
My plan then would be to hire a van or car with driver for the 10 hr trip to Phuket. The airport in Phuket is functioning and so I would not return to Bangkok at the end of the stay. Instead I would fly to Singapore where I could get on United back thru Tokyo to catch my flight to LAX on the 23rd. I hope.

I did get a waiver of the cancellation fee for my hotel at Nha Trang, Vietnam and I was able to cancel my Saigon hotel online. Myone nite in Hanoi hotel was not refunded. And my tour guide will send me the info about the cancelled Vietnam Airlines flights and what I owe him.

Here are a couple of photos of the beach in front of the THAI Airways office:

I'm ready to change location!

2008-12-01T07:24:00.000+07:00

I am tired of Bangkok right now so I have arranged to hire a limo service to take me to a beach town about 2 hours drive away called Pattaya. I will use Marriott Reward points to stay at the Marriott there for 5-6 days.

Last nite there was a delayed Thanksgiving Dinner at Cousin Jean's friend's house. There were 8 adults and 3 children...a couple from Spain and their son...an American couple that were journalists and their daughter...and an American that works for AP and her son. The children were all 4 years old and they each spoke several languages. We had turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, wine, apple tort dessert, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream...it was very nice.

There is not much prospect of opening the airports in the next 4-5 days. So that is why I will go by car to Pattaya. My next flight is scheduled to Phuket on 11 Dec. I hope the situation is improved by then.

No Changes in the Situation

2008-11-28T16:01:00.000+07:00

The situation with the airport here is so far unchanged. The anti-government people are not backing down and it looks as if they will have to be forcibly removed. And Thai Airways, with whom I have tickets for the trip to and from Vietnam seems to have disappeared. So it looks as if I will be here for a while. So far it has been safe and business as usual in the city of Bangkok...only there are definitely less people on the streets. I hope when force is applied to re-open the airport that violence is kept to minimum, but I fear demonstrations may metastasize into the city. If it does, I feel very safe as my hotel is in a side street with some very plush aparment buildings with excellent private security. We'll know more soon.
The locals, at least those who deal with tourists, are very apologetic about what is happening. I have been constantly reminded of why I enjoy visiting...and it is the people here. They are lovely, polite, smiling and laughing at every encounter. The politicians are clowns.

Last nite we went to the Silom/Patpong area for dinner and then entertainment at a few bars....it was crazy as usual. Today I decided to visit Chinatown as I figured it would be safe because of the typical clout of the Chinese community throughout Asia. We took the Skytrain to the River and then the tourist boat to Chinatown. Walked for about 2 hours thru the narrow, packed streets and visited the Temple where the 5 ton Golden Buddha resides. Got back to the River and returned to the hotel.

Stay tuned.

The streets of Chinatown:
The Golden Buddha..... 5 tones of solid gold! :
School children messing around:

Bombs, Attempt at Government Takeover, Closed Airport, Stranded !!!!!

2008-11-26T16:14:00.000+07:00

My original Plan today was to take a 0750hr Thai Air flight to Hanoi to meet my guide and spend 13 days in Vietnam sightseeing in the central and southern areas. However, the simmering political situation here in Thailand came to a boil. The anti-government side had occupied the Prime Minister's offices in August and recently Parliament Buildings to try to provoke the government into resorting to force and violence...but the police and Army have generally responded by avoiding confrontation. The anti-government forces decided escalate the provocations last nite by blocking the roads to the airport and storming the Control Tower. So the airport closed at 9pm and all flights were canceled. Worst of all there was no information about what was happening; the Thai Airways phones on interminable hold; vague info from airport authorities. Only rumors and shoulder shrugs. So I went to the Airport this morning to hope to catch a 0750 flight. The taxi driver charged double but knew back roads thru a maze to get me to the terminal. No one was working: no airlines reps other than Malaysia Air; no immigration; no air traffic control (therefore no air traffic). No announcements. Nothing. It looked like a strike in sympathy with demonstrators. I stayed 4 hours chatting and exchanging rumors with Aussies, Americans. General drift was it would take at least 3 days to get it up and running again. One bomb was rumored to have been heard. Protesters were chanting and marching and sitting blocking the departure level driveway. Most of us decided to return to safety of hotels in Central Bangkok. Again a double fare!
Since tourism is way down because of the troubles so there are lots of hotel rooms are available for those stranded.

Everything else in the city seems to be working as usual but with fewer tourists. Lots of shoppers, lots of traffic. Many pissed off tourists especially Americans who will not be home for Thanksgiving.

I will try to get to Vietnam this weekend if the Airport starts functioning again. But will forfeit some hotel and air fares that can't be refunded. In the meantime, I'll enjoythis crazy city.
The only problem is that the government may have had enough and will declare a state of emergency and will try to move out the anti-govenment folks. It could get a bit edgy then.
Stay tuned.
As Cousin Jean who has been here 10 years says "well, it is Asia so you have to be flexible with plans"

An anti-government protestor trying to be noticed:

Arrival in Southeast Asia

2008-11-25T16:26:00.000+07:00

I have arrived in my Bangkok Hotel after over 24 hours of travel from San Diego.
Most of the trip was very nice....except the last 6 hour leg from Tokyo to Bangkok.
The United flight had to be delayed 13 hours because of Flight Crew work rules......but we weren't informed until 9 hours into the Los Angeles-Tokyo leg. United handled it pretty well arranging to have me and my luggage transferred to a Japan Airlines flight that arrived in Bangkok at the same time as I was originally scheduled. However they couldn't arrange a Business Class seat like I was originally supposed to have.... so I was in Economy during that 6 hours next to the galley with restricted recline seat.
I was in my hotel in the center of Bangkok with 90 minutes of our midnite arrival.

I slept for 4+ hours and called my Cousin Jean Walzer, the 81yo who is retired here, to arrange a meeting. I had purchased and brought with me about 10 bottles of he favorite Trader Joe's vitamins and minerals as well as a bottle of her favorite 12 yo single malt scotch. We met at the Four Seasons for lunch at a wonderful Italian restaurant. I transferred the "goods" to her and we talked and ate for a couple of hours. This is the evidence:

This afternoon I will nap a bit and go out this evening. Hope to have my brain in this time zone in a day or two.
Tomorrow I must be at the airport at 6am for a flight to Hanoi, Vietnam to meet my guide, Tran Van Bay.

Ka'anapali, Maui, Hawai'i

2008-10-02T01:44:00.000+07:00

Last week I went off to spend a week on Maui in Hawaii at a timeshare that I traded for.
It was beautiful and relaxing.

I played golf 3 times at a local course actually breaking 90 once.

Watched Sunsets:

We went on a day trip sailing and snorkeling to the island of Lanai:
And spent time at the pool.
One evening we went to the weekly Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Concert at Kapalua/Napili.
And another evening we went to the Old Lahaina Luau.

KRAP on Torrey Pines State Park

2008-06-30T06:48:00.000+07:00

On Thursday of last week, I went on a walk with the KRAP hiking group.....some retired Kaiser doctors. Hence "KRAP"....Kaiser Retired Associated Physicians. We walked at Torrey Pines State Beach and Park which is about a mile and a half from my place. The hike lasted about 4 hours.

We walked south along the beach a couple of miles.

Then back north.

Then we walked the trail up from the beach to the trails and outlooks on the cliffs above the beach.

And I was there:

I have been busy.....

2008-04-05T00:33:00.000+07:00

Even though I have not had a blog entry in over 3 months, I have not been staying home. Just haven't taken many photos.

I went to Las Vegas in early January to meet my brother for the Consumer Electronics Show to look at some of the high-end audio stuff. I've done this for the last 15-20 years. My brother's hobby is being a high-end audio dealer in Central Florida....so I have a pretty nice system at home.

In early February I made my annual trip to Snowbird Utah for a week of skiing in the mountains as I have for the last 30 years. 8 feet of snow fell that week so visibility was very poor...only a half day of blue sky. So since I am a fair weather skier in my old age, I only skied 4 days.

In early March, I went back to Ko Olina, Hawaii for a week. It was beautiful weather and good golf and swimming as usual.

Next week, I am going over to Palm Springs for a little warm weather and golf.

I'm Back Home

2007-12-24T07:08:00.000+07:00

I arrived in San Diego late last nite. It was about 24 hours from hotel in Pattaya to my house in San Diego with a change of 15 hours of time zones. Needless to say, my brain will need a couple of days to sort this out.
Despite the fact it was a great trip, it is still nice to be home.

Pattaya

2007-12-20T16:24:00.001+07:00

Above is a view of the lush courtyard and pool at the Pattaya Marriott Resort and Spa from my room. It is a lovely oasis in the sleaze and honky-tonk of this city.
The last 4 days of my trip are here at this extraordinary seaside resort 2 hours southeast of Bangkok. Everything and everybody is for sale here. There are extraordinarily badly dressed Russians filling the streets, bars, brothels and hotels. They have no idea how to choose tasteful outfits for the beach. Plaid shorts with wing-tip shoes and black silk socks with sleeveless shirts with appalling slogans on them. They are loud and usually drunk. The Germans are not much more elegant. The British and Aussies are not representative of the upper or middle classes.
It is literally a human zoo. Extremely entertaining people watching!
2 more days and I fly back home on Saturday.

Brunch with Cousins in Bangkok

2007-12-16T15:01:00.000+07:00

Today I met Cousin Jean again for brunch. We were joined by Jenny, my cousin Jeff's daughter, and her boyfriend/fiance Ter. They were in Bangkok from Koh Samui to meet with the immigration staff at the US Embassy tomorrow. They want to get a visa so Ter can come the United States.

Ter is a small, slight Thai guy who is soft spoken with decent English. He seems to be a very sweet person. He is artist who has attended the Art School in Bangkok. They seem very happy together.

A couple of photos:

I go to Pattaya tomorrow.

Another Bangkok Interlude

2007-12-14T18:26:00.000+07:00

Today (Friday) I left Phuket and will spend Saturday and Sunday in Bangkok. Monday I will be driven down to Pattaya, a beach town 2 hours south of Bangkok. I'll be there until next Saturday when I will return home to San Diego.

Day Trip to Koh Phi Phi

2007-12-12T07:37:00.001+07:00

On Tuesday, I actually left the Resort to take a day trip on a speed boat t0 Koh Phi Phi Island.
"Koh" means island in Thai and Phi Phi is pronounced "pee-pee". The islands are beautiful limestone karsts surrounded by warm blue waters. It is about an hour ride from the Royal Phuket Marina. I swam, snorkeled and took photos.

These islands have been the setting for several movies, notably "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio.

These islands were hit quite hard by the tsunami of Christmas 2004. They now have designated evacuation routes to reach higher ground in case it happens again.

We stopped at Koh Khai on the way back to the Phuket marina. It is a very small island that is a quiet day beach area 20 minutes off the coast.

The beach chairs and umbrellas are available at rent for a nominal price. And refreshments are available. At the end of the day it is quiet and serene.