Fooled Em'!! (Bangkok, Thailand)

Just a quick update on my language learning status. I managed to complete all 10 lessons of Indonesian. For Thai I managed to complete 9/10. I got lazy speaking English in Thailand so I didn't finish the last one. But, I learned enough in each of those countries to fool some of the locals into thinking I was from those countries! Of course, once the conversation got a little deeper it quickly became obvious I wasn't a local. Overall it is easier than I thought to learn languages on the road as long as I have a relatively quiet and comfortable room to learn in.

The funny thing...especially in Indonesia, most people there didn't believe I am American. They kept thinking I was Japanese. Especially in light of the fact that I tended to speak much slower and somewhat broken English. Both as a courtesy and to help them understand me. This speaks volumes about what perceptions people have of America. A future article I would like to write and research. My first thought is that people in many parts of the world think everyone in America looks like the folks on Baywatch. Oh how wrong they must be....

I can now speak a VERY modest amount of words with decent intonation in Japanese, Indonesian, Thai, German, and
a bit more of Spanish and Portugese, and with my French a bit rusty from high school. I find it difficult to believe
how far I've come in so short of time...all I gotta say is learn how to learn first!! I'm not really on an extended
vacation / journey, I'm just going to school! hahaha

Seriously, knowing a modest amount of the language is SO helpful. People really appreciate the effort I feel. More
respect too. It is like meeting people halfway instead of expecting everyone to speak English. Let alone what one learns
from understanding and speaking the language itself too.

Now somewhere in Palau and India I'm going to start learning Arabic, and I have 30+ lessons of that!! Let's see if my 1 month beard (To be started after Palau) and Arabic will fool some more people.

Who do I want to be today? ...got to go and catch my flight to Colombo now!!

Warp Drive to Overload (Bangkok, Thailand)

As I sit here in the Cathay Pacific Business Class lounge at the Bangkok airport I'm both looking forward to the next 2.5 months with wide open eyes and a touch of apprehensiveness. Although the latter is quickly disappearing as I learn and read more about what lies ahead. The next 2.5 months will be my first direct exposure to India (Both North and South) / Sri Lanka, Nepal (If I'm lucky with my pacing), Arabia, and the underwater world of Palau.

Some of the things I expect to experience:

Sri Lanka:
- Tea Plantations

The tiny island of Sri Lanka accounts for about 10% of all world tea production (India, China, Sri Lanka, Kenya - account for 70% of the world production), BUT is #1 with around 20% of world tea exports. With Kenya, China, and India close behind in that order. The only reason India and China don't have more exports is that much of the production is to satisfy internal demand.

These 4 countries account for 77% of world tea exports with Sri Lanka leading the way. Add in Indonesia at roughly 5% and you have 82%.

I first heard about Kenya as a tea producer while touring the production facilities of Celestial Seasonings in Boulder, CO, USA - where a few million teabags are produced 6-7 days/week. However, I still don't think of Kenya as a tea producer...nor do I think many other people think of it as a major tea producer. I only think of wildebeest migrations with all its associated wildlife, and long distance runners. But alas, my ignorance is increasingly evident. But, I'm expecting to see another aspect that relates to my Production Line theme - one of the most rewarding travel themes I believe.

Here are some interesting links regarding the tea industry:

http://www.michigan.gov/scope/0,1607,7-155-13497_13503_13507-44028--,00.html

The link above is interesting...it shows a school lesson plan for 7th graders!

World Tea Production and Export Info (India Infoline)


India:
- Amritsar: Holiest place for Sikhs, also near Pakistan border.
- Bodghaya: Location where Buddha reputedly became enlightened 2500 or so years ago. So that explains why the Thai calendar is at year 2547!! ....as I recently realized while riding in the Skytrain and seeing Thai characters followed by numbers of 2147-2547. Marking the 400 year relationship between the Netherlands and Thailand I think.
- Varanasi: Another one of the holiest places in India - many people come here to bathe in the Ganges river and burn their dead along the banks. (I'll add open air cremations occur in Indonesia too...among a few other places I've learned about recently)
- Bangalore: A place I mentioned earlier where many service sector jobs are moving to
- Mumbai: Center of Bollywood - India's film industry that puts out more films than Hollywood.

...and of course many places showcasing India's rich past via art and architecture. Including of course the Taj Mahal.


Nepal:
- Buddhist culture and the mighty Himalayan mountain range. What more can I say? A short trek is in order.


Palau:
- Jellyfish Lake: The opportunity to snorkel with countless numbers of stingerless Jellyfish
- Diving with sharks: While I have been underwater and have been near a couple of small reef sharks, I'm expecting to be diving around dozens of them..much larger too.
- also cave diving, shipwrecks, and seemingly bottomless reef walls.


Arabia:
- Well I haven't done enough research on this area yet nor have I established a firmer plan. I'm expecting to travel through the UAE (Dubai), Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman if I have time. The more modern face of Arabia I feel. The "older" face will have to wait for a future journey.


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If all goes according to plan I will be experiencing the most holy Buddhist places one week, the mighty Himalayas the next, with the following week in Palau, then 2 weeks later - the deserts of Arabia. This no doubt will be a weird AND unnatural sensation. I'll let you know how it goes. All ahead!

As for apprehensiveness, my jitters about India are quickly receding as I become more familiar with the geography, places to go, means of getting around, and as I begin to put the rest of Asia behind me. Of course it all sounds easy sitting in a nice quiet lounge. While I sometimes dislike lugging around my computer, the benefits of carrying it are never far from my mind. I just downloaded the route maps and timetables for all of India's airlines. This makes planning a breeze. No guidebook can match this level of convenience or clarity. Of course I will travel by train too, the Lonely Planet guide does a pretty good job with that...but if I can I will download the train timetable too.

Downloading websites must be one of the best reasons to have a computer. Using business class lounges as a staging area is good. High speed internet (Wired or wireless) is often available. I just downloaded the India YHA (Youth Hostel Assn) website too and information on Palau dive operators.

Reflections on Thailand and Asia

Before I charge full speed ahead I'll reflect in a couple of sentences that I enjoyed my time in Thailand, but am somewhat disappointed that I did not see other countries in SE Asia as my original plan called for. However my understanding of Asia is so much more clear now that I have experienced a few more countries outside of Taiwan and China.

Sacrifices (Bangkok, Thailand)

I was reminded recently again that there is still not enough time to see all that I want to see on this trip. This courtesy of when I was looking through a book titled Miracle Thailand at a bookstore here in Bangkok. The images and text surprised me for they showed things that I did not expect to encounter in Thailand. There is a fair bit I won’t have seen even after this trip is done.

Tomorrow I fly to Chiang Mai (After a week hanging out in Bangkok) to explore the more Northerly regions of Thailand. This has also resulted in what I believe will be my first major sacrifice due to time. I have decided not to go to Cambodia. No bombs or killing fields in the tour any more.

While I have been in Thailand for 10 days now (A few down South), I have spent more time than planned in Bangkok resting, soaking up the city, shopping, and preparing for future travel. While I did take a day to go visit some ruins a little North of Bangkok, I still don’t feel I have a good grasp of Thailand. So instead of inserting another new country I made the decision to first get a better feel for Thailand. If I am able to do that then maybe I will make a quick trip to Cambodia - but I think Cambodia deserves more than just a few days. The visa alone is US$20! Besides, Sri Lanka and India are next. No need to overload right now.

I’m not sure if my pace of travel is slowing down because I have been traveling for a few months now, or if it because it is harder to travel in SE Asia. I’m inclined to think more the latter. As the latter affects my ability to complete tasks related to the “Business of travel.” Indonesia wore me down a bit too - even in Bali. I think this was mostly because of the humid wet season weather, but also because of all the touts and spending anytime in Jakarta - a modern day working hell (As opposed to living hell - war zones, and natural disaster areas).

A fellow traveller asked me recently if I thought it was possible to see nearly “everything” and be satisfied and not really want to travel again. I said - YES.....with proper planning, rest breaks, and pacing that is, and confining the list to “Unique” places - a subjective list no doubt. Maybe in a few years I will be able to fully define what the most unique points are. To top that affirmative answer - I don’t think it takes a lifetime either, but it certainly takes more than a couple years of solid travel. I guess it would be a lifetime if one only has a few weeks of vacation every year.

Price of Information - (Bangkok, Thailand)

I find it hard to believe that I will finally be in India (And Sri Lanka - a mini-South India it’s been said) in about 2 weeks. The assault on my senses all at once is definitely accelerating. From everything I know - India stands alone as the most different and mind blowing country that one could travel to. There are certainly individual places all over the world that stand out, but for a singular country - India must be it.

From my Chinese-American viewpoint, India, along with Arabia, and most anywhere in Africa strike me as the most exotic and “exciting” areas in terms of culture I have yet to experience, or that I could experience. I’ll add now - parts of Indonesia to that list now. Okay, Papua New Guinea too.

I distinctly point out my ethnicity because for others North and SE Asian countries could be more compelling than any that I just mentioned. One person’s everyday is another person’s fascination after all. While living in North/SE Asia certainly hasn’t been my everyday in life, when you speak one of the major languages and you are exposed to it through family / ethnic heritage and earlier childhood trips (Taiwan) the allure isn’t quite so dramatic - although I was thrilled to visit China in 2002! I can still remember the feeling right before we arrived. Seems like an eternity ago...almost.

Of course...places like the island nation of Palau with its underwater world could be on this list too of exoticness I suspect. You can swim with stinger-less Jellyfish! (Although - I read somewhere that warming water temperatures killed off a lot of them recently) But, only if one counts the vertical depth. As for the mind blowing reference above - I’m speaking more of the results of the “modern” (In the last several thousand years) human hand, not nature in a larger sense - we are part of nature after all. I hope this makes sense.

...speaking of Palau.

Underwater Fantasy

Based on my positive recent diving experiences I have now also went ahead and decided to fly to the small Pacific Ocean island of Palau. Besides diving I’ve strategically placed Palau on my schedule as a place to rest after my initial exposure to India / Sri Lanka and SE Asia. After all, Palau is a tiny island paradise and also English is a primary language there. I have 2 full weeks!!
Diving and writing are my plans. Palau is in a Compact of Free Association with the USA. I have no idea what this really means, but they do use the US Postal service.

Buying my ticket via the Continental Airlines website couldn’t have been easier. All electronic! Manila , Philippines - Koror, Palau round trip - US$537. I’ll add buying my London - USA - London ticket for late April on American Airlines was extremely easy too. It is also an e-ticket. Only US$540!! (Though strangely I was quoted closer to US$800 at the local Bangkok AA office - good thing I called the US reservation #!) The wonders of modern technology. Someday soon my multi-carrier world trip ticket will be electronic too. While I’m not sitting in Business Class on those flights, American does have extra room for coach and the Continental flight should be sufficiently empty to sprawl out I’m guessing. A much better bet than British Airways coach / economy - which flat out SUCKS!

Oh...I almost forgot to mention why I titled this journal as such. The price of my Lonely Planet India guidebook is 1150 Baht / US$30. Next to a LP China guidebook I bought before this is the thickest and heaviest guidebook I have ever bought I think. The LP India book was first published in 1981 and is now on it’s 10th edition (August 2003). There is so much information packed in this book that it practically hands the country on a silver platter to independent travelers. It is so easy to take for granted how “easy” travel is relative to the past - to nearly any point on the globe - especially for English speakers and readers. Early travellers to India certainly didn’t have such a luxury of information. While I first cringed at the price of the book (So used to buying discount guidebooks on the net) - when I thought of the volume of information in the book I realized it is a bargain.

I’ll also sing praise about the electronic encyclopedia I have installed on my laptop. Microsoft Encarta 2003 DVD. If you stop to consider the sacrifices of all the people in the past who contributed to the knowledge now contained on this single DVD (Fully installed on my HD - no disc required) it is staggering. The World Atlas feature is incredible in itself. Over 1 million points on the globe. 1.6 million? The information is amazing, check out the Microsoft website yourself for more details. Very handy on a world trip.

As for knowledge. Here is an interesting link to some entries I copied out of MS Encarta regarding calendars and dating. After reading it - I realized my incredible ignorance - especially after sending out my New Year’s mass email.


Encarta_New_Years_Day