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A few months wandering
through Asia can produce profound changes in your perspective and values.
When Carol and I first landed in Bangkok back in early September we were
overwhelmed by the noise, the air and the traffic.
Last week when we cruised through the city a second time after a couple months in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, it all seemed so quiet and ordinary. Having survived Hanoi and Saigon, Bangkok's traffic was a piece of cake, no problem! Getting out of Cambodia was a challenge. All the nasty stories they tell you about the roads in that country are true. On the bright side, the rainy season has finished there, and our journey was much better than it could have been. We'd had a couple of people give us their first-hands accounts of "the bus ride from Hell" through Cambodia. It's been intense and exhausting, particularly the past three weeks. Still, I can't think of a place we've visited that I wouldn't mind going back to and exploring further... well, two places perhaps, but they were just stops along the road. December 3 -- We've found a quiet little spot in the south of Thailand, about 1000 kilometers from Bangkok (an overnight train, two busses, a tuk-tuk and a boat). We're in Krabi Province at a place called Railay Beach. It's been 80 days since we arrived in Asia. I think we'll stay put for a while. There's an eclipse of the sun tomorrow in southern Australia. Alas we'll miss it, but our friends David and Harvie from London, whom we travelled with in Vietnam and Cambodia, headed down for it a few days ago. We're going to have to work on our timing. We were 12 days early for the José Carreras concert at Angkor Wat, accompanied by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (we'll catch it next year on PBS, no doubt), two weeks off for the lunar lanterns night in Hoi An, and we left Laos just as the dragon boat races were starting in Vientiane. Next time we'll have to plan a bit more extensively. This is a good place for reflecting on the adventures and the people, the surprises and the hardships. We're in another world here. Laos, was great, my favourite place, I think. People in Cambodia
were so friendly, but what a desparate and devastated country! Vietnam
was intense, and fascinating. Thailand is charming. Each are so different,
lots of new phrases and bits of language to master. Many stories
to be told...
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| Carol outside the Canadian Embassy
in Hanoi, Vietnam. We dropped by
hoping for some more detailed information on current travel advisories,
and perhaps a recent copy of The Globe and Mail. Well, maybe
the Canadian Foreign Service is just underfunded.
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| Gary tries to explain Saskatchewan winters to a couple of Buddhist
monks at Angkor Wat, Cambodia.
The ancient Khmer ruins had been on my Places to Go list for many years
and have been one of the highlights of our journey so far.
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| The Mekong River carried us from
Thailand into Laos and then six weeks later
we travelled through the Mekong Delta and up the river from Vietnam into
Cambodia. With its headwaters in Tibet, the Mekong journeys through
seven countries, and is the fifth largest river in the world. For
transportation, irrigation and food, this legendary river is the lifeblood
of southeast Asia.
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