Summer '06 Trip Post #3

Day 3: Friday, June 30 - Bangkok and Cambodia

Today Drew and I had one day to do the highlight tour of Bangkok. After breakfast at the hotel we took a private boat ride along the river and through the canals. (pic 1, pic 2, pic 3) It was amazing to see how some of these people lived along these canals. The house were nothing more than some slabs of metal sheeting on a frame. It appeared that most were getting by on very little, which was conveyed through their resourcefulness of saving every plastic bag, can, chair, etc. that may have floated past them in the river.

After the river tour we headed to the Royal Palace, which was fascinating once you got past all the people trying to convince you that the Palace is actually closed (it never is) and that instead we should take their tour. (pic 1, pic 2, pic 3) The Palace was a magnificent site, including the Buddhist shrines. After touring the Palace we headed back to the hotel and headed to the airport to catch our flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

We arrived late at night in Cambodia and could see very little of the countryside as we headed into town since it was dark and there was little lighting. Mark missed his connection and will not make it till tomorrow morning.

Summer '06 Trip Post #2

Day 2: Thursday, June 29 – Bangkok

As a stepped outside into the thick and humid smoke filled air I felt like I had arrived in the infamous Bangkok. With sweat pouring down my back and forcing myself through the hordes of Thais pushing taxi services, I got in a metered taxi and headed to the “Mandarin” hotel as instructed by Drew. The taxi driver was nice and talkative like all the Thais I would soon come across. He was so nice that he even began to show me his stacks of brochures for “massages” and other gratuitous shows that Bangkok has become so notorious for providing to foreigners, beginning with the soldiers on leave from the Vietnam War.

The taxi took me to the “Mandarin Hotel” as I instructed, only for me to figure out that I was staying instead at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a completely different and much nicer hotel. Once the confusion was cleared I arrived at the proper hotel and met up with Drew. We took to the town and walked to the largest building in Bangkok and had drinks and dinner on the top terrace overlooking the city. A few dirty martinis later and we were off in a tok tok to the infamous Patpong Road. Tok tok are three wheeled motorcycles that race through the streets at break neck speed and you hold on for dear life. The driver was persistent in not taking us to our destination but what seemed like every “massage pallor” and go-go room he could find. After finally convincing him to stop on the main road we exited the tok tok and embarked on the Patpong area. This area has the endearing superlative of being the “most famous red light district in the world” and let me tell you it was like nothing Drew and I had ever seen before. The street was lined with bars filled with scantily clad women dancing on runways with numbers pinned to them, to easily identify a woman of interest. It was unbelievable the number of women and bars along this road, where did all these women come from. Unfortunately, as it has been more publicized as of late, a lot of the women are held to these bars against their own well and are being trafficked for sex slavery and sex tourism.

The other interesting piece to note was when Drew and I sat down for a beer at one of these places to say we “did it,” I befriended a German man next to me who seemed to frequent the establishment. He gave me the low down on the place and what the women were trying to do and also informed me that at least 60% of the women on stage were actually MEN. Yes, that is right, I could not believe it and had not noticed. Of course many people warned me against the “lady men” but I had no idea how well they transformed themselves, full body part operation and all. It was quite shocking. We soon finished our beers and left for a more normal disco, if there is such thing in Bangkok. We eventually found our way back to the hotel and all was well.

Summer '06 Trip Post #1

Day 1: Wednesday, June 28 – Flying to Bangkok

After almost missing my first flight thanks to the long and inefficient lines at Dulles Airport, I found myself sitting next to Gregory Stanton. Mr. Stantion happen to be the man who founded The Cambodia Genocide Project at Yale over 25 years ago with the mission to bring the Khmer Rouge to justice with a war crime tribunal. He visited Cambodia often over the past 25 years and worked with both the UN and US to achieve justice for the Cambodia people who were so brutally killed by the Khmer Rouge. Over 2 million were killed in little over 2 years by the nasty Pol Pot regime, which was largely overlooked by the western countries and often little known today. Mr. Stanton could not have been happier and had the air of someone reaching a life-long goal and a dream come true. The judges and advisors to the tribunal were finally going to meet and the trial is set to being very soon. Many of the Khmer Rouge are dying and there is great urgency to get the tribunal underway. It is a Cambodian run tribunal with UN assistance.

Mr. Stanton was a fascinating man and also the founder of Genocide Watch in Washington DC. It was great to be out again traveling and I was most excited about going to Cambodia and seeing the killing fields for myself. The rest of the trip to Bangkok was largely uneventful. Thai Airways was incredible even in coach and the 17 hours went by very fast.