Travels with Andy

After three months of inhaling auto exhaust, looking left, right, left, right, left, right, straight ahead to cross the road, motorcycle exhaust burns, being squashed on public buses, public buses that ran somewhere else than where the driver and/or the route designated, having my backpack perched on my thighs because the public bus was too full, chasing frogs, mosquitos, wasps, hornets and prostitutes out of my room, and numerous other indignities to mention, I am finally bidding adieu to Southeast Asia. You might think what the horror traveling in SEA could be, but in fact, it's the exact opposite. I have not mentioned the Thai woman who walked me from the boat to my bus to go from Ko Samui to Bangkok because she was afraid I would get lost, the tens of Vietnamese who treated me as family after Anh left because they all thought how brave of me to travel Vietnam by myself, the Malaysians for whom I would just give them my wallet or open up my palm with a bunch of change and let them take as much money as needed, and the amusing but short conversations with women trying to convince them that I am actually American not Japanese, I would have to conclude that I find myself much more "Asian" now than ever. I will miss most being able to walk just outside of my hotel in Vietnam and finding a snack at almost any time of the night, sitting down nearly anywhere in the streets of Thailand to eat mango with sticky rice, noodle soup or pad thai, the quiet and beautiful beaches of Malaysia, the overwhelming honesty of Malaysi ans, the rude and malicious driving of the clunky buses and the old man or woman next to you who will cling onto YOU to make sure that you're OK because they do not even blink an eye, and perhaps the one moment which stood out the most, the woman in Thailand who said, You act Thai. You not American. You Asia. I replied to her, Ma jaak Vietnam; ma na-sai saharat amerikkha which means I come from Vietnam but I live in the United States. At risk of being much too melodramatic, what she said was the biggest compliment anyone in Asia could have given me.

The last couple of nights in Bangkok, I checked myself into a decent hotel, the Hampton Inn Hotel, which had a roof-top pool, an elevator, a bathtub, a bathrobe, a television, carpet, complimentary breakfast, all of the amenities.

From the roof, you could view Bangkok and the startling contrasts, high rises amid the temples and street stalls. The hotel capped off a truly epic journey from Buriram back to Bangkok, which took 8 hours by bus (it should have only taken 5), which dropped me off at a different bus station from where I had started in Bangkok, to the flooding rain which completely drenced me during my walk to get to the hotel, not to forget the vomiting child in the seat next to me.

Not too much exciting happened in Thailand except for the monks I caught smoking, and the one hotel I stayed in which apparently dubbed as a brothel, indicated by the red light over my bed and the noises emanating from the thin walls and ceiling separating my room from the others. Unfortunately, in Thailand right now, the packaging of Thailand by the Tourist Authority of Thailand makes the country a bit less appealing. They're marketing the amazing Thailand 1998-1999 with the amazing Thai massage,amazing Grand Sale, amazing this, amazing that, everywhere you go, and of course everyone else jumps on the bandwagon with the amazing mango, or the amazing tuk-tuk. I was simply amazed though at how easy it was to get off of the beaten, backpacking track in Thailand and I do mean there is a well- established track. It extends from Phuket and Ko Phi Phi to Ko Samui/Ko Pha Ngan to Bangkok to Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai. But, deviate from this route a bit and you hardly meet any backpackers. In the town of Buriram near the Khmer ruins of Phnom Rung, I met 4 travelers, but then they left one night before me so I was the lone traveler in Buriram that night. The packaging makes Thailand seem like a commodity to be bought and sold, which is a bit of a shame.

The financial crisis in Thailand finally had a personality for me. While taking a public bus from the Khmer Ruins (Phnom Rung), I talked to the woman collecting the fares on the bus. I had accidentally jumped on a private bus which runs the same route as the public bus. She had lost her job in Bangkok at the college she was teaching at because the school could not afford to pay her salary. She was forced to move back to the province to live with her family, and work with her family who owns the bus. Her father drives the bus, her mother collects the fare and sells snacks and drinks on the bus. They hired a young boy to help the people with their luggage. I met another man in Ko Samui who said that he was sad that he had to leave Bangkok to come work in Ko Samui. He used to work at a now defunct bank. At least, I said, you're surrounded by pleasant beaches. Yes, he said, but none of my friends live here and there are too many foreigners. I could not disagree with him. The financial crisis is real to me, now, and not just a news item in The Bangkok Post.

Today, I am back in Singapore Changi Airport en route to Johannesburg, South Africa. But, all of the South Africans I have met and all of the tour operators and tour guide books say stay out of Jo'burg. Therefore, I am going to Pretoria instead, but I leave for Kruger National Park the following day, anyways. Two more months.

Cheers

Andy

	Travels with Andy
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Last updated: 20 July 98