India Kids’ Train Station Performance

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During a train stop on my way from Bodhgaya to Darjeeling, India, i saw these kids do a little act for money. They look maybe 5-7 years old and homeless. I wish I had some more background on their situation. Maybe they are orphans or maybe they have some adult sending them out to work during the day. Maybe they are on their own, living and working at the train station.

In the beginning, the little boy puts his body through a metal hoop. The girl then balances a plastic water bottle on her head. The whole performance was very simple and unimpressive.

Look how unmotivated the kids are. The black marks on the boy’s face were magic marker or some kind of pen. At first I thought they might be hairy nevi, but they weren’t.

Thailand Soccer Juggler

If you think your favorite World Cup athletes are talented check out this guy.

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Khao San Road in Bangkok, Thailand is the traveler’s gateway to SE Asia. It feels like an adult circus atmosphere, a mixture of Thai food, cheap hotels, tacky clubs, partying, street performers, loud music, and vendors hawking anything they think tourists will buy.

This guy obviously fits into the “street performer” category. Today is the final of the World Cup 2010, and this is my contribution to the game.

Angkor Wat From Above

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I spent 4 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of Angkor, the world’s largest and greatest collection of temples.

This video shows my first sunset at Angkor Wat. Tourists can check out the temples until the sun sets, then they have to leave. Most tourists had already left by the time I reached the far side of Angkor Wat. The guards were closing up, telling the few stragglers to start making their way out. As the last one out and a single tourist, I must have looked like an easy sell to a guard looking to supplement his income.

Angkor Wat is going through some rehabilitation on its outer upper level walls right now, so is closed off to the public. Naturally I found a way to go where others could not.

If it seems like I was rushed, it’s because I was. I sped to all sides of the upper level, trying to get some good video of the sun setting, while being mindful of the unusual circumstances. I knew I couldn’t loiter. Nobody except a guard, who you can see in the video asking me for money, was up there. The experience was incredible, yet somewhat scary in that all other tourists had left and I was going into a restricted area alone. Life is too short, and odds are I’ll never visit Cambodia again with so much more of the world to see. I had to do it.

Clint Mansell’s “Lux Aeterna” and many versions of it can be found on iTunes. If you like the song, you might try listening to some of the dozens and dozens of remixes on Youtube.

Monkey Assault at Angkor Wat!

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After over 20 miles of easy bicycling around Angkor, I made my way to Angkor Wat to catch another sunset on the great temple. I was interrupted by a bunch of monkeys on a stretch of road. Instead of bringing you something serious, I have this goofy video of me trying to feed some overfed, ungrateful monkeys. Note to self: if a monkey give me “crazy eyes,” back away!

Besides watching me nearly become a victim of aggravated assault, you can see a tiny glimpse of Cambodia, even if at a major tourist attraction. Check out the tuk-tuk (or remorque-moto) drivers hauling tourists down the road in mini covered trailers hitched to motorcycles. Notice the banana lady wearing the surgical mask. It seems everywhere in Asia, many people wear surgical masks. They cut down on dust, road pollution, and germs. I’m surprised this hasn’t caught on a little more in the US.

Disclaimer: I don’t condone name calling in any circumstance, even with animals. I apologize for my lack of self control with the animals in the  video, but all their monkeying around was really frustrating me. They were not harmed in the making of this video, and aggravated assault charges were not filed against the bad monkey.

Riding the Bamboo Train Express: Choo Choo!

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Riding Cambodias bamboo train (called norry by locals) was one of only a few specific activities I had in mind when starting my travels in June. Today I did it! I found out about these trains while researching cool things to do in Cambodia. It turns out the Lonely Planet Cambodia travel book has a small blurb of information on these trains as well. None of the information Ive found online or in the travel guides seems especially detailed. Hopefully, the Google map Ive included will help anyone else trying to find the trains for free.

Cambodia has one rail line. It is not well built, not maintained, and generally unsafe. For that reason, Cambodia no longer operates heavy trains. The people, however, have created an inexpensive and lightweight system to travel safely on the rails. These bamboo trains are pushed by small gasoline engines, and roll on two axles. They can be removed from the railroad or assembled in about a minute flat. Locals are charged about $0.25 (1,000 Riel) for a lift, but foreigners (me) get a huge markup. Despite what sounds like a $1 negotiation in the video, I ended up paying $5. That is the low end of what I was expecting to pay for a private ride. Fortunately, I got my moneys worth, learning how to operate the things. For the typical train ride from Ou Dambong to Ou Sra Lav, foreigners can expect to pay $8.

You can see in the video how the train is controlled. A foot pedal provides friction to the rollers, slowing the traincar. The stick held by the driver is pulled back to increase fan belt tension between the rear axle and engine, speeding up the traincar.

I was unsure exactly where to go or how to set up a train ride. I had no idea if the trains even existed anymore, since nearly all of the available information talks about their impending extinction. Like many of the things I’ve done while traveling, I enjoy figuring it out for myself, without the help of a tour guide, taxi driver, or anyone but “regular locals.” This keeps things more adventurous and a can be a little chaotic, in that I might not have an accurate read on a dynamic situation.

Yesterday, I went searching for the trains without a map, knowing only that I needed to follow the dirt road running along the Stung Sangker river, South of Battambang. I found the point where the railroad tracks cross the river, but no trains were there, nobody in the area spoke English, I was unsure if perhaps there were other rails, and the tracks weren’t easy to walk. I crossed the bridge on foot and then wandered back South on the tracks to see if I could find any clues. There was nothing. With the sun beating down on me, I gave up for the day, but resolved to find it the next day no matter what.

With a little more research, and the help of Google Earth, I figured out that I might need to walk the poorly maintained railroad all the way to Ou Dambong, which has a “train station” and seems to be the Northern bamboo train hub. Well today, I went back, taking the same path along the Stung Sangker to where the rails meet the river. I was all set to walk the tracks to Ou Dambang, but lo and behold, there is a bamboo train with two guys ready to work. They were at the exact spot I had visited yesterday! I guess it’s all about timing.

To make a long story short, I jumped on the train and rode to Ou Dambang, but didn’t want to pay $10 extra requested by another “railroad engineer” to reach the normal destination of Ou Sra Lav. My ride ended up being an hour long, and covered a good amount of territory, including the river crossing at the end. Best of all, I figured out how these things work, and successfully assembled, disassembled, started, and operated one. I believe this video is the most detailed of any Bamboo Train material you’ll find on the internet. Watch it and let me know what you think!

Natural High: 100% Pure Sugar Cane Drink

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These sugar cane drinks are delicious. They are called Nuoc Mia in Vietnam, and Am Pov (or something like that) in Cambodia. I found them all over Vietnam, and have been kicking myself in the butt for not making a video or taking pictures of the sugar cane drink production while there. Finally, two months later, I ran into a Cambodian street merchant selling them. Doing a little Google research, it looks as if Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar (Burma) are the countries that make this tasty streetside beverage. The drink is very sweet, but not as sweet as you might think, and it has a nice flavor to it. Just after I stopped my camera and continued down the street, I noticed another half dozen vendors selling sugar cane drinks…I guess we see what we want to see.

Sa Pa, Vietnam: Chatting With H’Mong & Dao Saleswomen

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On my last day in SaPa, I wanted to get some video of the H’Mong and other ethnic minority women running after the arriving tour buses. Yes, they literally run after the buses, even though they are wearing flip flops and carrying big backpacks! It’s quite a sight, and shows just how determined and competitive these women can be.

Since I woke up too late, I simply walked outside to chat with some, as I had done every day in Sa Pa. They are extremely friendly and sociable, as you can see in the video. Some are much more aggressive at pushing their products than others, but most are happy to talk casually. As soon as I express any interest at all in their handicrafts, others mob me. They state “You buy this from me?!” to get my attention. The smoother ones start with “Where you from?” to establish a 5-second rapport before launching into the sales pitch.

Notice the clothing some of them wear under their traditional indigo-dyed outer garments…these tribal minorities are being thrust into the modern world very quickly. The H’Mong girl in the “H’Mong Girl Makes Horse From Plant” video uses a RAZR cell phone even though she can’t read! She gets people like me to send text messages for her. I’ve found the younger women to be much better at English and more business savvy than their elders.

The H’Mong population is the largest minority group in the region, followed by Dao. You can see several Dao women, wearing red, in the video as well. Each minority group speaks its own language and has its own customs. Most of them share Vietnamese as a common language and as a necessity for living in Vietnam. Many of the women who interact with tourists speak broken English, too.

While in Sa Pa, I took an interest in the H’Mong, giving them motorbike rides home, and eating meals with their families. If you are interested in learning more about them, google “love market,” and you’ll probably find an interesting story or two about their most famous courtship ritual. Additionally, the United States has a significant H’Mong population, most of whom are in California. Their unofficial American leader is a H’Mong man named General Vang Pao, a Vietnam War leader who was charged in California with plotting to overthrow the Laos government, basically the same mission he was supported by the US to do 40 years ago. Charges were dropped last week.

Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton): Vietnam War POW Propaganda Piece

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The infamous Hanoi Hilton has been turned into a museum: Hoa Lo Prison Museum. The museum’s entire collection related to the Vietnam War has been spun into propaganda. At least the War Remnants Museum in Saigon, though also terribly one-sided, seems to present accurate information. The Hanoi Hilton Museum, though, is one big lie.

This video is running continuously at the museum, and makes it seem like American POWs were at a peaceful, relaxing camp retreat. It’s this kind of propaganda that made believers/traitors out of Jane Fonda and the like.

If you would like to know how prisoners were really treated, do some research. It won’t take much to figure out they were severely tortured.

Amazing View From Cat Cat, Vietnam

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Cat Cat is a small village adjacent to Sa Pa, in NW Vietnam. It is the easiest place for travelers to visit, requiring only a short walk. The village, the mountains, and the people are beautiful. I traveled to a few other villages, deeper into the country, and all had similar gobsmacking views. I literally stopped my motorbike a few times on the side of the road in wonderment. The bold green mountains, rice paddies, clouds, and peacefulness of it all give most of this region a fairy tale-like feeling.

Here at Cat Cat, I climbed up a small hill where a restaurant or other building had been abandoned before completion. Like most of SE Asia, there are no safety warnings and anyone could easily walk right off the ledge. Because I was filming, concentrating on holding the camera steady, I made sure to stop a few feet short of the ledge. One step too far, and I easily would have plummeted several dozen feet, probably with fatal consequences. Ouch! You can see a picture of the building from where I filmed here.

Dangerous Cyclo Riding in Saigon!

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I took a ride on the wild side, risking life and property, when I rented a cyclo for 10 minutes. My goal was to pedal around the traffic circle in front of Ben Thanh Market, a very busy traffic hub, without getting killed or injuring others and their property. Notice how many people I pass (ZERO), and how many have to maneuver around me. Yes, I was a safety hazard.

Initially, I asked the cyclo owner to walk the circle to help direct traffic from hitting me. He didn’t want to, but ended up hanging at the back, working the brake which, I think, made me into more of a hazard.

Cyclos (rhymes with “sickhose,” not how I say it in the video) are the most worthless pieces of transportation in Vietnam. A few people actually use them to move produce and other goods, but it seems the vast majority of cyclos are for tourist entertainment only. They are difficult to pedal and steer, move at the speed of a fast walk, interrupt traffic by taking up precious space, and make tourists into easy robbery targets from faster-moving motorcycles sneaking up from behind. Slowly, but surely, the government is trying to phase out cyclos by outlawing them on certain streets.