Shanghai Times

Amara here. As you can tell from the pictures, we are enjoying our time in Thailand very much. Kotao Island was beautiful! The weather was great, sunny and about 70 or 80 degrees most days. We took scuba diving courses. Getting our certificate required taking some classes about diving safety as well as doing actual dives at various depths. Erik and I are now certified to dive to 18 meters. So we look forward to going diving again soon, possibly in Malaysia! The water was gorgeous, so clear and we saw lots of fish and coral reefs.

The bus ride back to Bangkok was long, but we finally made it. We've spent a couple of days here and have done much. We went shopping on the famed Ko Sahn Road (made famous from that movie The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio). It's a backpacker area. Today we went to the Grand Palace where the King of Thailand used to live and also Wat Phra Kaew, home to the emerald Buddha and Wat Pho, where the huge reclinging Buddha is located. Both beautiful.

Tonight Erik and I did a must do; we ate at Bangkok's Hard Rock Cafe. It was good, but of course outrageously expensive compared to everything else here. Mostly, things here are a little cheaper here then they are in Shanghai. While there's still that constant fear of being ripped off, we find shopping here better because the store people aren't constantly grabbing us or shouting at us as we walk by. Also, it's normal in Shanghai for a store person to quote us a price that's about five times higher than what its actually worth, but here you can only bargain down a little, which is nice because it makes us feel we are paying a fair price.

As always, Erik is constantly being mistaken for being Thai which has been humorous. Often I will start talking to a sales person and they will see Erik and immediately start talking to him in Thai. It seems to happen in every Asian country we visit.

Being here, we've started learning more about Thailand's history. Like the UK, Thailand is a democratic government, but they have a king. He has reigned for a very long time and is very respected here. Foreignors have been shot or assualted for disrespecting him. His face is on all the money and we see his picture constantly. Here, he is very well loved.

Our next plans are to visit Ankor Wat in Cambodia which I am very excited about. It will be a long 10 hour bus ride from Bangkok, but should be worth it. These temples are huge and are considered one of the seven wonders of the world. So we are looking forward to the rest of our trip and are sad that we are now halfway through our travels.

Erik here. Today we took a trip to Kanjanaburi to see the infamous "Bridge over the River Kwai." In addition to seeing the restored bridge, we saw a war museum about the Death Railway built from 1942 to 1943 by Allied POWs under the direction of the Japanese. The railway was erected to support its forces in the Burma campaign. The living and working conditions on the railway were horrific. The estimated total number of civilian labourers and POWs who died during construction is about 160,000. They had a skull and some bones of victims on display at the museum, which I thought was in bad taste.

The allies bombed the bridge at the end of the war (it has since been re-built). I still haven't read the book by author Pierre Boulle. I plan to.

On the way to Kanjanaburi we stopped at Bangkok's most famous "floating market." The original canals which now make up the Floating Market were built in 1866 on demand of His Majesty the King of Thailand to help ease communication in the province. Floating markets have become a symbol of Thailand, and major tourist attractions.

Erik drinking from a coconut

The last place we visited was a tiger temple. It was founded by monks who took in tiger cubs whose parents had been shot by poachers. The temple is now home to over a dozen tigers. We got a chance to play with and take pictures with these beautiful cats. They were quite gentle, having been raised by the monks since they were young. The baby tigers were the cutest. There were four of them, only 16 months old. One of the adult tigers thought Amara's skirt was a toy, and started batting it with his (huge) paw until the staff rushed her away. I was a little nervous after reading about what happened with the tiger in the zoo in California, but we ended up being fine.

I won't get into much detail, because Amara really wants to do this entry but has busy. She will do a detailed summary of these events in a latter entry. So, to sum it up:

Jan 20 - took a trip to Vietnam's magnificent Ha Long Bay

Jan 21st - flew into Bangkok to meet with friends Ryan and Meeyan
Jan 22nd - took an all day bus to Chumpton, where we hitched a ride on a cargo boat to beautiful Ko Tao Island
Jan 23rd - started our PADI scuba diving course, and relaxed on the beach between dives.
Jan 27th - finished our course, obtained our diving certificates

Some of the exotic marine life seen: blue-spotted manta rays, moray eel, harleyquinn fish, white-tip reef shark, just to name a few.

Today we woke up bright and early and headed to the Military History museum. It was fascinating. There were many weapons and vehicles on display from the conflicts with the Americans, Japanese, and the French. The museum was very biased, however - for example, the US-backed government is referred to as the "puppet government" in all the exhibits, and there are only exhibits showing the terrible things their enemies have done to them, and not vice versa.
Anyway, there was lots to see - including the infamous tank that crashed through the gates of the Presidential palace in April 30, 1975. Also on display were wreckages of downed US and French aircraft, as well as captured helicopters, tanks, and howitzers.

We also went to the Ethnology museum, which gave us a better understanding of the different types of groups that make up Vietnam. We got a chance to see ancient tools, musical instruments, and more. Amara liked this museum better than the military history museum.

Yesterday, we arrived in Vietnam by bus at around 3pm. We took a taxi to the Old Quarter, where we found a hotel. The architecture and layout of the streets resembles France, with narrow streets and narrow buildings. The first night we explored the city and got accustomed to the City.

Today, we woke up bright and early. First, we headed to Ho Chi Minh's Presidential Palace. The area around the palace is made up of bright yellow buildings, all of which have the Vietnamese flag flying in front of them. Around the palace was a huge garden. After the palace, we went to a famous pagoda on a lake in which a number of American B-52's crashed after being shot down. The highlight of the day was visiting the prison museum. The prison has a lot of history - originally opened by the French to house Vietamese rebels, then used by the Japanese to house Vietnamese rebels, then used by the Vietnamese to house Americans. One of the Americans was John McCain, whose flight outfit that he was captured in is on display.

We also saw a presentation of Vietnam's infamous "water puppets." They are marrionettes that (seem to be) controlled under the water. It was incredible.

We also did some shopping. I can't believe how cheap everything is here!!!!!! And we're coming from China!

Tomorrow we will visit the Military history museum, Ho Chi Minh's Masouleum, and more.

Sue, the hotel we are staying at is called "Camella Hotel"
The number is (84.4) 926 0119

On the small pictures below, you can click on them and read the descriptions of what they are.

Amara and I woke up at 4am today and headed to Hongqiao airport. We had never been to this airport before because it is only for domestic flights to select cities. We arrived in Nanning at around 10:30, and took a bus into the city. We found a cheap hotel (9 US a night). It is by far the dirtiest hotel i've ever been to - but you can't beat that price!!! After we checked in, we went to a travel agent to drop off our Passports so we can get our Visas to enter Vietnam. Unfortunately, the earliest they could have our Visas ready was 8pm tomorrow night, and there are no buses or trains to Hanoi until Thursday morning, so we have to spend an extra day in Nanning. I wouldn't mind except that we were only planning to stay in Vietnam for 4 days, and now we will only have 3.

I was a little nervous about this trip - we've never done anything like this before. But it is sure to be a great experience. On the next entry, I will add pictures from Vietnam.

Overall, things are off to a good start.

In case of emergency, this is our Hotel #:
We can be contacted at: (0771) 209 9000, room 20210