good guys go to heaven, bad guys go to pattaya...

...reads the most popular shirt that is purchased by the fifty-something white men, the majority of whom are from the uk and us, who have come to pattaya in search of a thai wife, girlfriend, or generally to be able to get away with things that are seriously illegal in their countries of origin. pattaya is reffered to by some as the asshole of the world and after being here for two weeks, the description is most definitely warranted. the only thai people that are here are the working girls who have come from small villages in the north of thailand to make enough money to either support their families or support their relatively extravagant lifestyles.

the cultural outlook on selling one's body in thailand is obviously and shockingly different that in the western world. speaking at length with a brit who owns a bar adjacent to my guest house on pattaya tai has allowed me to gain more insight into this part of thailand than i thought i would and in some cases more insight than i really wanted. stories of thai girls with thai boyfriends who sell their bodies to some old white guy from indiana so that she could buy her thai boyfriend the hot new nokia phone abound in pattaya and unfortunately, you don't have to go looking for this kind of trouble - it looks for you. diligence is of the utmost importance in a city where it is impossible to go ten feet without hearing, "sexy man, come here, thousand baht."

there are three main streets running north and south in pattaya, beach road, soi two and soi three. beach road turns into walking street which truly is amazing. if you possess the necessary fortitude to brave the working girls and ladyboys, the people watching on walking street is unmatched anywhere in the world. soi six is to be avoided unless you have a sense of humor and an open mind - only ladyboys work on soi six. walking street is comprised of more bars in about 500 meters than are in the entirety of some american states. obviously an exaggeration, but not by much. this photo was taken in the early evening on walking street, i didn't have the guts to bring my camera with me during prime time. it is truly indescribable.


the beaches in pattaya leave quite a bit to be desired. pattaya beach, just nort of walking street, is centered on the city sewage runoff. fairly indicative of the entire place if you ask me. a fifteen minute moto ride to jomtien beach is worth the trip, still filthy though sans sewage. my guest house/apartment is at the corner of pattayatai and soi rungland, well east of walking street. however, it still is in the running for the loudest, noisiest intersection i have seen, including 42nd street and broadway at times square. the drag races that go on at two am in front of the 24 hour beer garden next door produce an astonishing amount of noise without taking a break. ever.

the traffic in this photo is headed towards walking street and the photo was taken at 2 am on a monday morning. new york isn't the only city that never sleeps. even though it is a terrible place to try to get some rest, the food stands on the corner are absolutely fantastic.


khao paht gai le quidtetieau muu a roi krab. having thai lessons has been very enjoyable, i have picked up all of the useful phrases and know numbers well enough to not be fleeced by local sellers of wares, which are numerous. i have also picked up the street slang from my moto driver friend, bo, who plays pool at the bar next to my place. he wears a dead gecko in a case around his neck and beat me with one hand.

pattaya isn't for everyone, certainly not for me.

next stop china!

phnom penh to ko chang

stepping on a crowded coach outside the old market in phnom penh at seven am is quite an experience to say the least. a few other westerners are along for the ride, but the vast majority of the sixty or so voyagers are khmer, attempting to manage children, luggage and the general level of stress that inherently accompanies any sort of organized activity in southeast asia. even negotiating with a moto driver in cambodia is a process that could take upwards of a half an hour, especially if two drivers feel the need to have an extended argument over the rights for your transportation.

the bus journey initially seemed as if it were going to be an average cruise through the kampuchean countryside. the most difficult part of trips leaving phnom penh is actually getting out of the city. this process is laborious and takes at least an hour and a half on a good day. having done an excursion to siem reap the weekend before, i was well prepared for the reality of traffic regulation in the city. however, i was most certainly not prepared for the two televisions in the bus that showed dvd's of khmer karaoke for the entire seven hour ride at full volume. any hopes to catch some sleep on the bus rapidly dissipated. at least none of those savvy to the inner workings of khmer karaoke chose to participate.

crossing the border at chamyeam was another adventure, involving changing buses multiple times and having your passport scrutinzed rather closely for no particular reason - they don't look through bags or run them through an x-ray, but passports are of their utmost concern. finally making it through and getting into another bus was a relief and about two hours later, i was waiting for the ferry to ko chang outside of a funny little thai city called trat. leaving phnom penh at seven am put me at the ferry dock at about six pm. luckily, beer was available for purchase on the boat and it left just in time to see the sun set over the north end of ko chang.

reaching the island was difficult enough, having traveled for over twelve hours and not really covering very much territory. getting off of the ferry, a whole new conflict presented itself - thai baht bus drivers. these characters refuse to take you anywhere unless the bus is full. it just so happened that there weren't enough people getting off of the ferry i was on, so this gentleman decided it would be smart to wait an hour for the next ferry to fill the seats on his pick up truck/taxi contraption. myself, a dutch couple and a german couple proceeded to get extremely angry with this man as we had all been traveling the entire day and the guy refused drive us ten feet. eventually, he won and was paid a very high sum for his services, much to the displeasure of his passengers.

ko chang is one of the most beautiful places i have ever seen. i rented a motorbike for the day and rode to every waterfall and beach i could find, but didn't bring my camera as i didn't want to have to be concerned about it while i was in the water.

the trip from ko chang to pattaya was equally ridiculous, "same same but different," as the people is southeast asia say.

north to siem reap

the most difficult part of the journey north to siem reap is simply getting out of phnom penh. the traffic is terrible, though highly entertaining. the journey lasts nearly seven hours, at least one of which covers only a few kilometers leaving the city. once the traffic clears on national road number six, the landscapes and various visual stimuli are wonderful. on one side of the road, which is only intermittently paved, you will see families cooking food and on the other will be a young man on a moto trying to herd his few cattle away from the busy thoroughfare.

the countryside is truly beautiful and almost completely undeveloped as international aid organizations continue their efforts to clear the country of land mines so that people can begin to cultivate the vast open spaces.

after the sun set, the adventure became particularly interesting as those who were previously responsible for monitoring the road crossing habits of the thousands of loose cattle were no longer vigilant. it most certainly makes for an entertaining few hours. driving into siem reap is a welcome respite while sat in the comfort of an air conditioned van, but as soon as the protection offered by the car is gone, the heat, dirt and smell of the city hit you simultaneously. for whatever reason, siem reap is noticably more dirty than phnom penh. most of its side streets are not paved which leads to massive amounts of dust in the air and increase the temperature on the ground. to say it simply, siem reap is not a pleasant place.

ten minutes of driving takes you to the angkor wat temple complex. the series of temples at this site that date back to the 11th century are very difficult to describe and their size and complexity are disrespected by photographic representation.

i found the bayon temple to be the most interesting, as its thiry four towers are each capped by four indivudal faces, each with its own expression. it is especially fun because you are able to climb to the top level of the temple to stand very near to the towers. even though it was incredibly hot, it was better to visit the temples during the low season, as there were relatively few fellow tourists to deal with.

the angkor wat temple itself is massive and something that you have to see to believe!

i was very glad to have visited the temples but i could have done without siem reap and the hellride that was necessary to reach them. coming back to phnom penh was quite a relief - i never thought i would say anything like that!

the first week in the third world

having completed my first week in southeast asia, there have been too many things that i have done, seen and experienced to verbalize everything.

being in phnom penh allows me to truly experience unadulterated asia, complete with abject poverty in all her beauty. other countries in this part of the world have become westernized with mcdonalds, starbucks, etc. cambodia is still recovering from the seemingly little known disaster that was the 1970s. all it takes for one to realize the influence of killing off 98% of a country's population is a stroll down one of the bustling streets of phnom penh. the rare occurance of encountering an elderly person is just that - there are almost zero people older than the age of forty in phnom penh and every single one of them has a personal horror story of the way in which the pol pot regime operated.

visiting the killing fields outside of phnom penh was a worthwhile journey. to see the place where an unknown amount of people were killed is harrowing. indicative of the face of the nation is this photo, two children outside the fence of the killing fields. they wanted me to take a picture of them and then asked me for a few dollars to pay for books so that they could learn. i didn't really care what they spent the money on.

the people here are truly amazing. everyone always has some sort of project going, most of them have to do with repairing one or a series of motorbikes. everyone has their own garage in which any number of projects are completed on a daily basis. i am staying in a relatively poor part of phnom penh and the local laundry service is also the local moto repair shop/fuel station/food stand. the level of convenience is quite remarkable.

the eastern line of the city is drawn by the confluence of the tonle bassac and mekong rivers. the riverside area is full of bars, tourists and the only elephant in the city that walks back and forth twice a day. locals live on the side of the river in the tall grass that usually disguises their presence to westerners. i looked a little deeper into the riverside the other day and found a very friendly youngster who must have been around an aussie at some point, as the only english phrase he could say was, "the dingo ate my baby."among abject poverty is utter opulence. there are few cars on the streets here, but almost all of them are brand new cadillac escalades or lexus suv's. the focal point of the riverside district is the national palace, which is beautiful and a demonstration of complete devotion to the royal family and buddha. the man driving the tuk tuk in which i was riding early this morning stopped everything to approach a monk on the street. he gave the monk a few hundred khmer riel and laid prostrate in the street before him. it was a good thing that he got his blessing for the day as he was responsible for navigating the maze that is phnom penh.
okun jrean!