What makes SE Asia really amazing
-by Dave
1. A working elephant and its Mahmoud lumbering along a village street, passing within a few feet of a group of children playing a game of marbles in the dirt road.
2. A small boy proudly carrying his large, brightly colored pet rooster.
3. Multi-colored Tuk-tuks, so brightly painted they would make the psychedelic colors of the hippy era look dull.
4. The very laid-back and unassuming character of the people of Laos.
5. Sitting beside a Buddhist Monk in his bright orange robe, on a 7 hour local bus ride thru the mountains, while both of us listen to our iPods.
6. Meeting fellow travelers who have been exploring our world for years, and have no intent on stopping.
7. Getting a vigorous Thai massage after 2 days floating down the Mekong River and sitting on benches had of the hardest wood known to man.
8. Getting a haircut in a street stall. You'll looks like Mao and blend in much better.
9. Sharing the simple hut of a remote hill tribe family and sleeping on their bamboo floor, after having trekked for 2 days without seeing another westerner.
10. Talking for over an hour with a novice monk, originally from a tiny farming village, about his career goals of getting into a high-tech computer career.
11. Learning from our trekking guide how to make a fire by rubbing 2 pieces of bamboo together. Well, I may not have made actual fire, but I did make a lot of smoke.
12. Watching the fiery colors of the sun sinking into the Mekong, while sitting at a riverside cafe drinking an ice cold beer.
13. Finally getting used to squat toilets and finding them not that bad at all. The ones with a spray wash are actually pretty refreshing... :)
14. Savoring a spicy stir fry, or fiery Thai Curry at one of the great restaurants in Chiang Mai.
15. Taking a Thia cooking course.
16. Learning to ride a small motorbike and heading off into the hills to explore back road villages and remote waterfalls.
17. Sharing the carnival atmosphere of the local night festival, which has attracted hundreds of hill tribe families from miles around, and being one of only a very few westerners. Throwing darts in a balloon game alongside Long-neck women and girls who were having a blast.
18. Riding an escalator with a group of older monks in front of me, and watching them jump when the escalator reached the floor level. They laughed as they looked back and were a bit surprised they had come out unharmed.
19. A family of 5 people on a 100cc motorbike, with the kids sandwiched between mom and dad, and a basket of chickens hanging off the back.
20. Waling along a jungle trail, and then meeting a solitary monk praying at a small mountain stupa. Talked with him about reaching nirvana. Actually, he was pretty strange, in an innocent and good way. He had just walked alone for 5 days thru a very remote area. He gave me 3 stones to hold while he closed his eyes, held my hands and asked me to accept the power flowing from him.
21. Waking in the morning to find I had a room-mate. She was about 6" in diameter, and had 8 very hairy legs. She was quite shy and also seemed as surprised as I was.
22. Watching the little children running and waving to meet our boat on the Mekong river.
23. Having puppies sit quietly beside you while you eat, looking up at you hopefully. Having little kittens purr and brush around your legs as you sit eating at a roadside table in a night market.
25. Taking a 10 hr sleeper bus, where everyone lays flat, and having to push away a local male who wanted to cuddle.
26. Swimming in the pool at the bottom of a waterfall in the jungles of southern Laos. The only other people around were locals from the area who don't swim.
27. Taking a motorbike to a remote location on the Mekong River, and finding some sandbars to swim from, while watching freshwater Dolphins.
28. Drinking beers and having dinner at a Mekong riverfront cafe, while talking with a Vietnam vet. He is travelling around, doing art, and coming to terms with what he did during the war.
29. Riding on the back of a motorcycle taxi in Phnom Penh's chaotic rush hour traffic.
30. The emotional impact of visiting the Killing Fields and S-21 hell on earth Torture Prison. Trying to understand the insanity of humanity at its worst. Over 2 million innocent Cambodians were executed by the Khmer Rouge, while the world stood by and did nothing.
