We're home!

We left Bangkok on Thursday morning and arrived at Sara's just after midnight on Friday morning, with the time differences our way home, door to door, was about 32 hours. We were shattered. We spent the weekend with Sara and drove from Portland to home Monday morning. For some reason it is taking me a long time to get over the time differences but I am somehow managing. As I write it is Christmas morning. We are meeting the Zinkes for lunch at 1:30 today and we will all come here for dessert. I made pumpkin pie. This morning for breakfast I made biscuits and opened some homemade jam. I opened a quart of canned peaches from our tree and opened some homemade grape juice. It seems appropriate to have homemade things on Christmas, don't know why. I do feel a bit like eating in a restaurant on Christmas day isn't a good thing to do, but Charlynn works and shouldn't have to cook on this time off and I'm so jet lagged I just can't cook. So, we will eat out and not have to cook or clean up.I am so grateful to have friends to spend Christmas with now that you girls are gone. I guess my Christmas wish is to spend next Christmas with one of you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Dad enjoying a free foot massage at the Changi Airport, Singapore, on our way home.

Ox cart in Nepal.

Miscellaneous pictures from our trip.

Angkor Wat

Children playing in some vines at the back of Angkor Wat. They were singing in Cambodian too and it was very nice.

Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

Mango shake in Siem Reap Cambodia.

We ate at this small restaurant at the night market and the food was very good. The mango shakes we had were excellent. The next day we went back in the heat of the afternoon for another shake and I asked the woman if I could watch her make it. She took fresh fruit, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, ice and enough water to blend it with. She put lots of fruit. I'll try it at home with berries, bananas, etc. Hope mine will be as tasty.

Angkor Wat.

Rules at Angkor Wat.

The architecture is fabulous, of course, but the frosting on the cake is the art inside, outside, up and down and around---everywhere.

Inside a hall in Angkor Wat.

A nice young couple from Shanghai took our picture with our camera and we took their picture with their camera!

Angkok literally means "Capitol City" or "Holy City", Khmer refers to the dominant ethnic group in modern and ancient Cambodia. In it's modern usage, "Angkor" has come to refer to the capital city of the Khmer Empire that existed in the area of Cambodia between the 9th and 12 centuries AD, as well as to the empire itself. The temple ruins in the area of Siem Reap are the remnents of the Angkorian capitals, and represent the pinnacle of the ancient Khmer architecture, art and civilization.

At the height, the Age of Angkor was a time when the capital area contained more than a million people when Khmer kings constructed vast waterworks and grand temples and when Angkor's military, economic and cultural dominance held sway over the area of modern Cambodia as well as much of Thailand.

The above was copied from a visitor guide, Siem Rap Angkor.

It is awsome, impressive...I am at a loss of words really, to describe what we saw today. Fantastic, I am so glad we came here and saw what we saw. I'll post a few more pictures then we're heading out for dinner.

Wat? ANOTHER Wat? Angkor Wat that is, the Grandaddy of them all.

The entrance to the main temple. Today was a holiday (National Human Rights Day) so there were many Cambodians out, which was nice to see. Probably first on the list would be large groups of Japanese tourists. We often had to wait for entire groups of them to take their pictures and move on before we could get the pictures we wanted. It is such a large place though that finally we went off in different directions so we didn't have much problem with them.

The moat around Angkor Wat.

Our bathroom!

The shower is to the left. A fountain is in the middle with the water going to a pond below the shower, fountain and sink. The toilet is to the right, out of the picture, in a separate room.

Our room.

Terasse des Elephants (hotel where we're staying in Siem Reap, Cambodia). The pool and a lovely garden area are on the rooftop of the hotel. There isn't an elevator here and the rooftop is on the 5th floor.

Money DOES buy happiness.

We survived the 9 hr bus trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap. They were old busses and the a.c. didn't work real well and it was very hot. They stopped for an hour for lunch and 30 minutes for dinner and it took longer than an hour for immigration so we actually weren't on the road for the entire 9 hours. FYI they drive on the right in Cambodia and left in Thailand. Right in Burma. The scenery through Thailand and Cambodia was rice fields, rice fields and more rice fields. Green and pretty. Some rice was ripe for harvesting and they do it by hand, no monster rice harvesters like in California. I'm pretty sure they don't have airplanes for seeding and fertilizing either!

I had emailed a hotel the night before we left to ask for a room and they emailed back but I didn't get it until after we arrived here, that they were full so we arrived with no place to stay. The tuk tuk driver suggested a place and it was nice, we stayed there. Of course they charged us more for the tuk tuk drivers commission but at least we had a place to stay. It was nice except the bed was as hard as a rock so this morning we decided to look for another place and found this one, Terrasse des Elephants, right on street smack dab in the middle of town. We are so lucky. I went exploring after I went swimming and there is a large indoor market on the street next to the hotel. About two blocks away is a sign for the night market and I'm sure we'll go there tonight. Couldn't have found a hotel in a better location.

On the way to the bus station last night the bus went down the main street where the 5 star hotels were and it was like driving down a major hotel street in any city USA with all the beautiful Christmas decorations. I was so surprised that a Cambodia city was so advanced.

During the trip through immigration (leaving Thailand and entering Cambodia) it was very hot and tiring. I can see why people use airplanes instead of busses! But people up in the air don't see all the interesting things we people on the ground see. Anyway when we bought our bus ticket we didn't expect to have a guide to guide us through the entire process. He was Cambodian and spoke English quite well and having him was wonderful, it would have been difficult without him for sure. From Cambodia immigration to the bus station they had us get on a free for tourists Cambodian government bus. It took about 5 minutes. Our guide was a mid 20 something. Of course we all know the terrible history of Pol Pot but I was quite surprised to hear him ask if we had heard of Pol Pot. We all shook our heads yes and then he said, "We don't know why he did what he did. Maybe he wants to be some kind of fucking god. That's all we can think of, some kind of fucking god." His language was harsh but understandable when I've read that it will take generations for Cambodians to recover from the shock of what happened to every single family in Cambodia during the reign of Pol Pot and his henchmen. Our guide said that before after the war the population of Cambodia was reduced my many million people. Tortured terribly and killed. I can hardly bear to even think of it. I walked by several bookstores today and there are many books on their terrible time and I just could not even read one. It seems like maybe the people don't want the world to forget their sadness. Maybe by not forgetting it can't happen again?

Anyway, I'll post some pictures of our hotel. Like I say, Money does buy happiness, but actually, this hotel is not expensive compared to U.S. prices. Our room includes breakfast, which we haven't had here yet so can't report on that. We have a flat screen television and internet in the room. As you'll see, a very unusual bathroom area.

Well, I will post some pictures next.

I had a massage by a blind man.

I've had exactly one massage since I've been here, and this is in the land of massages where a two hour massage is about $10.00. Well, $10.00 and up. The place where we've been going while here, the past couple of years is aways down the street then across a very busy street so busy in fact that you have to climb a whole bunch of stairs, cross over the busy street on a pedestrian cross-over then down again to the sidewalk. Then you have to go past a whole bunch of street vendors to get to the place. It isn't fancy at all but it is very clean and the girls are very nice. They have you change into clean pajamas, they dim the lights, turn on the air conditioning and put on nice gentle thai music c.d's. What is frosting on the cake at this place is that for about the last half an hour of massage they use tiger balm and it not only smells so good it feels wonderful. They also wash your feet to begin with and offer tea at the end.

Well, I was walking along a side street yesterday and noticed a sign near our guesthouse that offered massages and for the same price as our other place. This meant that I could take a shower, throw on some clothes and head on down the street and reach the new place while I was still clean. Just getting to the other massage place is quite a workout. So last night I decided to try this new place. The building is brick and very nice.

Hmm...walked into the reception area that I had seen the day before while scoping out the place and the receptionist was there, straight ahead, and there were three massage tables to the immediate right. Hadn't seen that when I had peeked through the glass door the day before. No curtains, no privacy, and there were two men sitting there wearing clean white jackets and sunglasses. I immediately got the idea my massage would be by a blind person because years ago in Taiwan dad had gotten a massage by a blind woman. Well, here I am. Intimidated because there were no curtains for privacy. My massage would be done by a man, which I've never had before. But what to do...I had two choices: turn and run or bite the bullet and stay. How could I run out on a blind man? Couldn't. So I paid, up front, which I've never been asked to do before. The man put a clean sheet on the table and motioned for me to lay down. What?? No foot washing? No clean pajamas? Nope. Luckily I had just showered and thrown on the only pair of shorts I have here and a loose top. I was the only customer. They didn't turn down the lights at all (why on earth not, it wouldn't have made a difference to a blind man, right??), the music was on a radio station and was half talk and the worst part, the very worst part, was the receptionist who yakked constantly to one of the blind men. Now, these people didn't speak English and of course I don't speak Thai I layed there madder than a wet hen for paying the money up front and not speaking Thai and being able to tell them to shut the heck up. How, anyway, could I politely, gently and kindly tell a blind man to shut up in any language? It was actually the seeing-hearing-speaking woman who was at fault. I decided to grin and bear it. Finally, after 20-30 minutes the blind man who wasn't busy went somewhere and the woman didn't have anybody to talk to. So she was finally quiet. But the radio went on and on and on in Thai. Not much music either. It was like a talk radio show almost, but with one speaker. Don't know, don't care, what he was talking about. The massage. At first I thought he had never taken a massage course and was just being slow to drag out the two hours. But after awhile he really got into it and was actually very very good. He gave my back, shoulders and neck a fabulous workout. Finally it was over. I was up and out of there in a split second. I'd love to be able to go back and have a word with that crew. The woman is ruining the business for these wonderful blind men. Several things they need: 1. massage tables with curtains for privacy. 2. quiet, soothing atmosphere (be quiet woman). 3. dim the lights. 4. nice, soothing Thai music c.d.'s, not the radio, so there is no talking, only music. 3. wash the feet, if only with a warm cloth. 4. a warm cloth to the forehead before the head massage is a nice touch. 5. if the people down the street can use tiger balm, for the same price, these people can too. 6. they could offer a cup of tea at the end of the massage as other massage places do. Wish I spoke their language as I could help them with their business. Or maybe I should just mind my own business. But the blind man was so good, really so very good. Very professional. I can only just wish him the best from my heart.

Grandma IS alive!

When we first started staying at this guesthouse we'd see this elderly woman selling her vegetables along the street. She is extremely old. At first she was always sitting doing her selling. Then she would be laying down selling. Well, actually I've never seen a customer buy anything from her but surely somebody must in order for her to stay in business through the years. The last couple of years she would mostly be sleeping as we'd walk by. Then, the first few days we came this time we looked for her but nothing. She wasn't in her usual spot, nor anywhere else. We thought she had probably died. I'd say she is in her 90's or maybe even a hundred. Then low and behold she came back selling her things right in the same spot. Funny, the things that catch our attention. We were both so happy to see her alive! And able to be a businesswoman again. Amazing, at her age. Mind you, I'm certain that being a street vendor is not an easy task. Number one, it is hot. Hot and humid. All day long too. Then, where on earth do these people find a bathroom? It must be boring, boring, boring to sit there all day long and some of these people sit there half the night too. I suppose they go somewhere during the last half of the night. I hope she has a bed somewhere and a place to clean up and a family to take care of her. Or does her family put her out there day after day? Well, no matter, she is alive and has her little stall and we were happy to see her.  It did seem intrusive to take her picture...

A good looking new tuk-tuk.

Tuk-tuk's are all over but we never use them. I hate the bargaining hassle with their drivers. Bargaining, in my opinion, is a waste of time and energy. Taxies here have meters and the flag drop is 35 baht, about a dollar. It is just easier on the nerves to use a taxi although I remember the day when we used tuk-tuk's and it was fun. Now with the sky train we rarely even use a taxi, mostly just to and from the airport. We walk a lot, which isn't as easy as it sounds, if you remember the awful sidewalk conditions. I remember Onny and I discussing sidewalks in Saudi before we left. They were in poor repair and had holes and things and you had to watch every single step just like here and we said one thing we'd appreciate when we got back to the U.S. were good sidewalks!!

MK's for dinner last night.

MK's is a chain of restaurants usually, but not always, in shopping centers. The menu offers already made items but the main menu item is soup. Make it yourself soup. We like it. There is an electric hot pot built into the table and they bring a broth then you order individual items and cook it yourself in the broth. We ordered fried tofu, noodles,some greens and baby corn. They give you free iced tea. It's good but I'm not sure what kind of tea it is, maybe chrysanthumum. I need to find out what sauce they give you to put into the soup for flavoring, it is what makes the soup good. The little dish dad has in his hand has the sauce, they bring it around in a teakettle to refill it. The service here was terrible last night. I wanted rice and guess I asked the wrong man. I watched him as he ignored me and walked off and never spoke to our waiter at all. I had to ask three people for rice. Same with refill on drink. In fact we never saw the waiter who took our order until we left. I asked dad to not give one baht tip because none of them deserved a thing. There are small tiny Thai restaurants near our guesthouse and they are delighted we come in and can't do enough for us. Don't know what the difference is.

Would you like a cockroach for dinner?

Well, I suppose these are not really cockroaches but some type of beetle. Sorry to say this about Thai food but some of it makes me sick to look at. This definitely is a third world country.

A butterfly made from a carrot. Beautiful!

Dad had a glass of orange juice and pineapple juice with ginger. It was really delicious. They made it very pretty with a piece of carrot made to look like a butterfly. If you even need a pick me up try the orange juice/ginger combo. It did have fresh pineapple juice too but who has that at home?! Thais can afford to spend time creating beautiful things because labor here is very cheap. Cheap in the sense that the rich are very rich and exploit the poor who can be very poor. The guesthouse where we stay is not in a tourist part of town. A British man married a Thai woman whose father gave them the guesthouse as a wedding gift. They are probably about our age. This side of Bangkok is where the international airport used to be, but now the new international airport is on the other side of the city which has hurt business for the guesthouse. However, we have found an interesting new, small, shopping mall near here (Ari BTS station) that has a Starbucks and nearby is a McDonalds. They are both very popular. When we have been there we have been the only foreigners there and at times it is crowded with Thai people. Goes to show there is a thriving middle class. When we were in Nepal the big news in the paper was the grand opening of the first fast food restaurants in Nepal. They were KFC and Pizza Hut. We met an American man at the airport who spends a lot of time in Nepal and is friends with a Nepalese couple. They are both in the police force, he being a higher rank than she but the wife as a police woman makes $150 a month and her husband slightly more. They both have college degrees. They have a little girl and are paying $25.00 a month for her schooling, which shows how much they value her education. I don't think the average (and lower) Nepalese will be able to afford to eat at KFC or Pizza Hut. However, in the hills around Kathmandu are large homes which shows that they too have an upper class and those are the people who might support western fast food restaurants. Here in Bangkok it looks like there is a large middle and upper class. Strange, isn't it, coming from America and thinking people from middle and upper class eat at McDonalds!! It seems almost low class to us to eat there. Food prices at McDonalds here are about the same as in the U.S. They do have an egg and cheese breakfast sandwhich which isn't half bad. It is very white bread but at least it is bread and something different than rice.

Mangoes are in season now. Yummy!!

A Buddhist shrine on a street corner near where we stay in Bangkok.

Back to Thailand. December 5 is the King's birthday.

This coming weekend will be celebrations throughout the country for the King's birthday. He is in his 80's, in poor health and in the hospital. The Thais love him very much and will celebrate his birthday with great love and admiration. His birthday is on a weekend too which will help.

Mt. Everest

The flight from Nepal to Thailand takes 2 hours and 50 minutes. We sat on the left side of the plane so we'd have a good view of the Himalayas. It was spectacular although this time the plane flew higher and further away than the time before. All in all it wonderful to see.

Would you like to work in Kathmandu? Men and women can work in construction here!

Need something mended? Here's your man.

Need a purse? This man has one just right for you!

FACT: 45% of the population of Nepal has tuberculosis and 75% of the population of Nepal does not have access to a toilet.... Beggars are everywhere but these child beggars didn't dare come up inside our bus at a rest stop.

Hindu shrine along a narrow street in Kathmandu.

Copper or brass anyone?

Tibet Guesthouse, Kathmandu, Nepal.

This is the guesthouse where we stayed our last few days in Kathmandu. It had a window heater/a.c. unit which was nice because we could heat our room as dad was sick our last four days there and he was freezing cold.

Need a new dress? These are manniquins over the doorway of a shop in Kathmandu. The shops are quite colorful outside because they hang so much over the street. It's not the rainy season now so they put everything out that they can, to attract attention. On this street I saw some carpets hanging and went in and ended up buying a Nepalese Yak rug, very inexpensive. I am going to use it as a blanket not on the floor.

The scissor sharpeners.

I took this picture just this afternoon near our hotel. The men were sharpening scissors. They had this wheel on a spindle thing and the man on the left was pulling a chain, just like a bicycle chain, back and forth which turned the wheel. The man on the right was sharpening the scissors on the wheel. Very interesting I thought.

Banana boy, Chitwan.

This boy, about age 9 I suppose, sold bananas to tourists to feed to the elephants at bath time. It was fun to see his business skills. He'd shout out "bananas, bananas for the elephants" in English. Then when somebody came over to buy bananas they would ask "how much?" and he'd look them up and down and say a price according to what he'd think they'd buy! To some he sold for 5 rupees a banana, then to some 10, and they'd buy!! He did a pretty good little business. It was a school day and I asked him why he wasn't in school and he said his parents made him do this 'business'. So I had a good talk with him about the importance of school. I saw him playing with some kids when they got off the school bus so I'm sure he would like to go to school. What child would rather be alone on the street doing 'business' rather than be at school with his friends? I asked the waiter at the restaraunt at our hotel if he knew the boy who sold bananas and he said, "yes, I know the banana boy". Evidently the boys parents live quite aways away, he didn't know where the boy stayed. I asked why the boy's parents made him sell food instead of being in school and he said he didn't know but two times he had talked to the boy about the importance of school, the importance of learning. He said the boy's parents were 'short minded', in other words thinking about today instead of the boy's future. Somehow I liked this boy. One day we sat by him as he sold and a woman was grouching about the price of bananas and I got fed up and told her the boy was wanting to go to school and trying to earn the money. She bought a few but she continued to complain that she didn't know how many boys she was helping go to school! Then I told the banana boy that since I helped his business he must know that I thought school was very very important and I hoped he would go. There are many private schools here (big money machines for the rich who can afford to open one--they're usually boarding for the kids from the mountains) but there are also government schools that are free for 10 years. They have to pay for paper, pens, books, uniforms and small amounts for test taking during the year. This is another story but from what I have read many of the boarding schools are little more than fronts to get small children and sell them into prostitution in India. Very sad stories. Last week in the paper was a story about a group of older children found in India who were rescued and brought back to their parents in Nepal, in the mountains. They had been gone for many years but found and rescued, a great story.

Farmers fields near Sauraha, Nepal.

We see mustard growing in fields in California but I've never seen clothes drying on clotheslines in the fields like in this picture. Alisa, I'm glad you like to dry clothes on the clothesline outside. Don't the clothes smell so sunshiny good?

Dad enjoying the trip back to Kathmandu!

Evening photo of Chitwan National Park

Our elephant.

This is the elephant we rode on. Dad had seen other elephants take the tip money in their trunk and raise it up to give it to the mahout so he tried it and 'our' elephant did it too! It is fun to ride the elephants and all that but it makes me sad to see such a magnificent animal corralled, forced to do unnatural things, etc. Seems like all animals should do what nature intended them to do. I like the story of the elephants in Africa who are turned loose every night but return every morning of their own free will to take tourists for rides. The incentive for them is that they are given free food. But the elephants are really free to come and go as they please. Would love to go for a ride on those elephants.

Ma, the Mahout and the elephant.

We had watched this mahout give this elephant his bath in the river and he invited us back to the place (right in town) where they lived. He is mahout #1 but we didn't meet mahout #2. This elephant is 27 years old and seemed quite docile but it is important to be cautious around them. I really didn't want to sit there but the mahout insisted and dad wanted his picture!

Finding the rhino in the wild was like finding the prize!

Chitwan

It was crowded on our elephant and impossible to take pictures of ourselves so I took this one of dad and the pretty pink pampas grass.

Me, on our elephant. There are tourists from all over the world here and we have met very few American tourists (or even heard English in the streets) but wouldn't you know that the people on our same elephant were from Southern California! The place where we bought the tickets for our ride (two hours) guaranteed that we would see rhinos and we did! Will post a rhino picture next. We saw a mother and baby, although the baby must have been quite old as it was about 3/4 the size of the mother. The two hour ride cost 1,000 rupees plus a 500 park fee per person. 1,000 rupees is about $13.00. It was well worth it.

Washing clothes in the river.

In Sauraha this woman washed her clothes in the river right in town, right downstream from the elephant baths. In her defence she was there first, but when the elephants started arriving she didn't leave, just kept washing her clothes, then washed her hair, splashed water all over herself for her bath, then left. Never mind that the elephants use the river for their toilet during their bath time, didn't deter her one bit! Actually, I think Nepal is just one big toilet.

Bath time in the river. Chitwan National Park.

Every morning, right in town, the elephants take their baths. They let anybody who wants to get in and help. A lot of people do it but it is dangerous. Last month an elephant rolled on a tourist and smashed her hip and she had to be helicoptered out, to who knows where. I'd hate to have treatment in this country. It is fun to watch them though as the elephants seem to enjoy their bath.

Elephant Grass in Sauraha

It is possible to stay inside the park itself and to do that I think it is easiest to go on a packaged tour but most independent travellers stay in a very small town (Sauraha) right outside the park and then take tours inside the park itself. It's possible to take a number of tours as there are many tour agencies, so I don't see the point of staying inside the park. Among the possibilities are walks, jeep rides, canoe rides and elephant rides. Since the park is protected (or somewhat protected anyway) the main draw is the wildlife. There is a type of grass that grows inside the park that during certain times of the year people are allowed to gather. This grass is gathered and then used for many things. It is stored as in the picture above. This picture was taken right in the town where we stayed. Sauraha is very small, two main streets and at that the streets with the banks, money changers, shops and guest houses are short streets. I'd say that Mill Street in Grass Valley is probably the equivilent to the entire size of Sauraha. Nepal is very short of electricity and every day the government does what is called 'load shedding'. They just totally cut the electricity. People of means and business' have generators. But generators are noisey so in Suaraha the government makes all generators shut off at 9:30 p.m., which makes it nice at quiet at night. The electricity usually is on during the day and goes off about 6:00 p.m. and sometimes comes on later in the evening and sometimes I think it is off all night. This morning we had no electricity until about 8:00, but now we're back in Kathmandu. In Kathmandu they run the generators until later at night but now it is dark early so when we go out in the afternoon we always take our flashlight with us. We have changed hotels now, to Tibet Guest House and it has an elevator. There is a sign by the door that says "No electricity, No elevator". We are on the 5th floor so guess we'll have to hike up after load shedding. We have just moved here this morning. Have kind of a nice room, with windows on two sides so it's nice and sunny. Dad is sick so I splurged and got a room with a heater. It is a heater/a.c. combo like we used to have in Riyadh. They are actually pretty good. He is in bed today but at least we have a good t.v. with satellite stations so maybe he can find something he likes. It is sunny and warm today so I've handwashed a lot of clothes and have them strung all over the room. I'd have them washed in the laundry but after seeing how they wash by hand, just along the road and use the water until it is filthy I'd rather do them by hand, myself. We leave next Wednesday so need to have clean clothes to last until then, the place we stay in Bangkok has washing machines we can use. There are a few places here that advertise electric washing machines but I don't want my clothes washed with other peoples dirty clothes either. Since dad is sick I did wash his clothes but I refuse to wash his socks. He can get out of bed to do that!!

Our trip to Chitwan National Park

I'll just give a small description of our trip to Chitwan National Park today and will write more later. We took a bus from Kathmandu to CNP last week and spent four days there. A lot of the trip is along this river. Kind of reminded both of us of our Yuba River going from Nevada City to Downieville.