A Voyage in the East

That is about how far away from home I am right now. The furthest away I got was when I was in Singapore; then I was 12838 kilometers away. Today I plan nothing more substantial than relaxing on the beach, between telling people that I don't want to buy anything. I'm sure the words I have used the most in the past month have been 'no thank you!' Tomorrow, I am going to go for a couple more dives. Tuesday, I return to Ho Chi Minh City. On Wednesday, I fly to Laos for a few days. Then on to Bangkok. In 9 days I fly to Hong Kong, where I will only be a short 10280 kilometers from Vancouver.

I believe in a world of tolerance, compassion, understanding and justice. A world where the importance of borders, ethnic difference, religious difference, racial differences, etcetera are minimized. And in other news, the holocaust denying President of Iran has banned the use of foreign words by government agencies. Next time I am in Tehran I will make sure to order some elastic loaves when I am hungry!

Am I the only one who has a hard time thinking that war can ever be 'measured'? The act of killing another person has a certain sense of finality for those who are killed and their families. War is inherently not a limited policy. It is an absolute policy that can have dramatic and unintended consequences. A measured response is applying sanctions, or protesting to the United Nations. War can be justified, at times. Personally, I can understand why Israel is doing what it is doing. They are surrounded by enemies. They can hardly make any more and there will not be peace while Hezbollah is an active force. Will this war be successful? I doubt it. There are many adjectives which can be used to describe war. But measured? Perhaps only in the land of Orwell. Describing war as measured is an attempt to manipulate language to reduce or eliminate the negative imagery of war. It is a bit like describing innocent civilians who are blown to smitherens by a bomb as 'collateral damage.' Saying 15 innocent civilians were murdered just wouldn't sound democratic or tasteful.

This is probably the first day since I arrived from Malaysia that a pimp hasn't offered me the services of a prostitute. Those guys are wonderful gentlemen. Why don't they just ask an actual honest question? Sir, do you want to sleep with someone I have abducted and the United Nations says has a 25% likelihood of having HIV?

Today, I overcame an early morning of depression and my fears of a premature death to take a tour of the Central Highlands with an Easy Rider. An Easy Rider is a local motorbike guide who shows his client around the countryside on the back of a late model Russian or East German bike. It was fun. We went racing down the highway, dust showering our faces (the helmet mask helped a little bit), avoiding potholes, cows and trucks coming head-on who conveniently decided to overtake as we approached them.

We visited a minority village, which has become a little bit kitzch because the government has installed a giant wooden chicken in the middle of town. Yes, a wooden chicken. Nonetheless, it was fascinating to wonder through a place where Vietnamese is still not that widely spoken. In many ways it reminded me of the beautiful Guatemalan Highlands. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to do a trek here.

My friendly guide, Le, also took me to a waterfall, which had become too touristy and a pagoda. Buddhism is the most widely observed faith in Vietnam. Having said that, I have seen gazillions of churches while driving through the countryside.

The highlight of the trip was a visit to the Crazy House. It is the queen of tacky and kitsch, the epitome of bizarre. The proprietor, Mrs. Dang Viet Nga, has a PhD in architecture from a university in Moscow. The house is not easy to describe, but it is definitely something straight out of Alice in Wonderland. There are caves, giant spider webs, concrete tree trunks, and even concrete giraffes. In the past, the Dalat People's Committee has not taken kindly to such architectural innovation. Mrs. Nga does not have to worry about the Dalat People's Committee. She is about as well connected as one could possibly be in Vietnam. Her father, Truong Chinh, was Ho Chi Minh's right hand man and successor. She is clearly not that crazy. Hundreds of tourists each day pay 50 cents to take a look around her house.

I write this post from the cool highlands of central Vietnam. For the first time in a couple of months I am finding it necessary to swear jeans and a sweater. Yesterday, I was in a very different climate, sailing the hot waters of the Mekong Delta.

I can understand why so much American blood was spilled in the Mekong Delta. The jungle is incredibly dense. One can't really see anything on the shore from the streams that make up the delta. Our toor guide was very candid about the role that he playedin the war and has quite a macabre sense of humour about it. He talked a lot about the war. I wondered whether that was for the tourists sake or because it has left him incredibly scarred. Perhaps humour is the best way to deal with it.

His first joke was describing his job as a translator for American forces. As he said, "The Americans tortured their captives and I translated what they said." Later when our bus was attacked by a club wielding crazy man he joked that tomorrow he'd bring a gun to protect the tourists because "the Americans trained me and I am a very accurate shot." He also seemed to feel guilt about some of the stuff has happened, especially when he described dropping Viet Cong captives out of helicopters to their death. As he said, war made everybody a criminal, and the Vietnamese people have had to collectively forgive each other for what they didto each other and move on to create a more peaceful and civil society. He said that the Southern Vietnamese have accepted that they lost the war and now, Vietnam has a capitalist economy again anyway. As a South Vietnamese army officer, he told me that he had so spend three years in a reeducation camp and that reeducation consisted of hard labour.

We went to a variety of interesting places: a market, coconut candy factory, although it all felt too touristy. And then we were attacked. We were on the road back to Saigon, after having stopped to satiate our alcoholism a couple of Heines (Heineken for those uninitiated in Aussie slang.) I was reading an interesting book about the politics and culture of Iran (a country that is going to be much in the news the next few years.) Suddenly, our bus started to swerve and honk its horn. I looked up to see this middle aged man, with ruffled hair, dirty clothes and a crazed look in his eyes weilding a huge bat. He takes one swing at our bus, thump. He takes another swing, THUMP. Our bus driver floors it. A kilometer down the road we pull over to check out the damage. There is a huge hole in the bus's exterior right next to where I was sitting. We were just lucky that he missed the window, or that he didn't have a gun. He was lucky that he wasn't smoked by a bus, car or motorbike as he walked down the middle of Vietnam's busiest highway. He was also lucky that he didn't try to attack a motorbiker (this country has a love affair with the motorbike) because he'd have really seriously injured the person.

Today was a day of museums. First, I went to the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, where one could learn about the economy, geography and of course, revolutionary history of Ho Chi Minh City. For example, did you know that Saigon was the city from which Ho Chi Minh departed in the 1920 for 30 years in exile, where he learned revolutionary techniques? I did, but I bet most of you didn't.

From there, I went to the War Remnants Museum, formerly the U.S War Crime Museum, until it was discovered by the communist party that capitalism was a better economic system and Vietnam needed foreign (ie. U.S) investment, at which time it was necessary to rename the museum. There are some gruesome and depressing exhibits, especially the ones which showed the consequences of the use of Agent Orange. There are people in the U.S who still have some serious crimes to pay for. As far as I am concerned the Vietnam War and the U.S intervention there, was one of the stupidest wars in history. 3 million people died, including 50000 Americans and what has been the consequence? Today, despite the communist victory, Vietnam seems to have as capitalist an economy as China has. The North Vietnamese won the battle for Vietnam, but the communists (all over the world) lost the war.

From there, I went to the National Unification Palace, which formerly was the South Vietnamese Presidential Palace. I think that in the communists warped view of the world, it serves as a propoganda piece. I left wondering why the hell the guide book recommended visiting there. One trapsed around looking at the former office of the President of South Vietnam, and the reception room of the Vice President of South Vietnam, and lets not forget, the gambling room of the executive office. It was boring, and I guess that it is a tourist site because the party is still too self absorbed.

I've changed my plans. Now I am going to just stay in South Vietnam, before flying to Laos. Tomorrow, I am going to visit the Mekong Delta before heading to the highlands to play around of golf, checking out the hill tribes, etc.

I have discovered Cao Dai religion. I am one of the few who have had the luck to witness prayers at their main temple. It is fascinating to learn and try to understand a religion that worships Victor Hugo. The thing that interests me the most about Cao Dai is that it incorporates teachings from several distinct religious traditions. Imagine, a new religion, other than communism, that thrives in "communist" Vietnam. For more on Cao Dai, click here.

Today I got to see the true horror of war, I went to the Cu Chi tunnels. The Cu Chi tunnels were dug by the Viet Cong to avoid the constant barrage of B-52 bombers coming over the area. The museum also displayed a lot of the brutal boobytraps that the Viet Cong used. War is an absolutely horrendous business. We've got to find a way to eliminate it being used as a political tool. Perhaps the way is to make politics less important a concern in human affairs (how to accomplish this I do not know.) My only other thought is that Gandhi was way ahead of his time. Then again, the causes of war are probably more complex than humans being overly politicized (which I am convinced that we are) and perhaps Gandhi was too nieve.

More later on the rest of the trip that I took today as I was also introduced to a new religion. But I am too tired now to write more.

Arrived today in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam after a long and arduous journey. Left Cambodia at 7 AM, got to the border by 11. Vietnamese customs is the most bureaucratic process I have ever been through. First an official looks and stamps your visa. Then your passport is passed to an official who stamps your passport. From there, you go to an official who stamps your entry form. Then you pay another official 30 cents entry tax. Then you go see another official, who takes one look at you and declares that you are healthy enough to enter the country. Then you go to another three officials who x-ray your bags. Then you go to another official who looks at your passport and makes sure the other officials have done everything properly and takes special care to make sure that the picture on the passport matches your face. Whew. This whole process TAKES AN HOUR.

Ho Chin Minh is a bustling, busy city. There are so many bikes on the street, one is taking their life in their hands when they cross the street.

I'm beginning to get a bit weary of the road. I've been on the move for almost two months. I'm starting to get tired of the backpack and meeting new people every two days and then saying goodbye. Backpacking is fun, but also in a way superficial. You don't learn that much about the local culture and your relationships are all transitory. I shouldn't complain because there are far worse fates than mine, but I am definitely looking forward to getting home to Vancouverand seeing my friends in Canada.

here.

FUCKED THAT KIDS HAVE TO FINANCE THEIR ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN THIS COUNTRY BY SELLING PHOTOCOPIED BOOKS TO FOREIGNERS ABOUT THE CAMBODIAN GENOCIDE? I DO.

Ho hum, human beings can be exceedingly cruel creatures. After buying a copy of Lonely Planet Vietnam I decided to make my way to Vietnam as quickly as possible. For that reason, I came up to Phenom Phenh yesterday, I applied for my Vietnamese visa today, and will hopefully leave on Saturday (my 27th birthday) for 'NAM BABY!

The trip down to Phenom Phenh was uneventful, but the Cambodian countryside is very pretty. Most Cambodians live in the countryside, so it really is the heart of the country. When I got off the bus I was immediately mobbed by touts. Thankfully, there was a tout there from the hostel I was looking to stay at. As I was getting into his tuk-tuk I noticed this pretty American girl being surrounded by the touts. I called to her that I was going to a good hotel and we've spent the last day hanging out.

Today, we went to the Killing Field and the prison S-21. Both were eerie, depressing places that I don't think I can necessarily give just to with words. The Khmer Rouge are amongst the most horrific criminals in human history. They were fanatical monsters. What is even worse is the small amount of support the international community has given Cambodia to punish those mother fuckers. The international community was way quicker to punish the comparitively lesser crimes of the Balkans than it has been to act to punish the murders of Cambodia.

Now, we are experiencing a monsoon rain. It is an amazing site to see the rains approach and then to hit with such thunderous force.

Tonight, I will be pulling a late night, trying to register for my final courses. Tomorrow, I will finish looking around Phenom Phenh before making my way to Vietnam.

is definitely the interesting people that you meet on the road. For example, yesterday evening I met a bunch of travellers at my hotel and we shared dinner and numerous beers. Among our group was Phil, a fascinating and peaceful guy from Switzerland who speaks 6 languages fluently and has just spent the past three and half years studying Sinology at a Chinese University. He was the first western person to complete the program in 25 years. Then there was Darren, who has also spent the past three years teaching in China. He is now moving to Montreal to start a band and get a Masters in Philosophy. Finally, there was John, the American I've been hanging out a bit with the last couple of days. He just finished working for GE Capital, a job that has taken him around the world. He's heading to MIT in the fall. He's a really thoughtful, well-read and urbane guy. The perfect person to have a couple of beers with.

Tomorrow morning I am going to take a very early bus to Battambang. I am going to potter around that colonial town and the Cambodian countryside for a couple of days. From there, I think that I will go to the south coast to the town of Sihanoukville to get my Vietnamese visa, then briefly to Phnom Penh, and over to Vietnam for a week or so.

I'll be glad to leave Siem Reap. After two days I am templed out! I'd definitely recommend a visit though.

Sort of off topic, but so what. Here are my thoughts on the three stupidest things that humans have ever done:
1. Split the atom.
2. Developed organized religion.
3. Permitted politics to dominate all life.

This post is being made under an explosive heading. I just came back from having an excellent tour of Ankor Wat. The place is huge, massive, impressive. But it is not what I am going to write about during this post. I'm going to write about my impressions of Cambodia and the tour guide that I hired. Yesterday, I definitely had a full on introduction to Cambodia. What, with being offered a prostitute at the airport and being sworn at by an 8 year old child. To top that off, after dinner I was walking down the street when a tuk-tuk driver (which is a motorized rickshaw) approached me on the street and we had the following conversation:
Him: Sir, where are you from?
Me: Canada
Him: Est-ce que vous parlez francais?
Me: Un peu.
Him: Voulez-vous une fille Vietienne? Elle coute vingt dollars?
Me: Tabernac.

Today, I have a much better impression of Cambodians. They are generally friendly, industrious people who are recovering from one of the most grusome histories of the twentieth century. To even begin to understand this society, one has to appreciate that the Pol Pot regime murdered 3 million people, including most of the professional class. The society has had to rebuild itself. Cambodia is a true example of the danger of politics. Politics can too easily consume and destroy life. It may be a necessary evil, but human beings are only going to thrive on this planet if we can put politics in its necessary place, which is on the back burner.

John and I had an excellent tour guide today. He taught us a lot about Ankor Wat, but he also taught us a lot about human nature. The guy is 31 years old, his parents were murdered by the Khmer Rouge, yet he continues to struggle on, and seems to be thriving. That seems to be the other lesson - that through all adversity, people continue to try to find a way. People here have been beaten up, but they continue to try to find a way to improve their lives. It is in this sense that Canada should be ashamed. Tourism is obviously going to be crucial to rebuilding Cambodia, and to facilitate this Ankor Wat needs international support to be restored. Is Canada contributing? Nope. Is every other developed nation? Pretty much. CANADA IS MIA. It's shameful. That's because Canada's foreign policy is to ignore the rest of the world and to perpetuate this myth that we are a great peacebuidling country (which we haven't been for over 20 years.) Canadians are almost as ignorant and insolated as Americans.

Anyway, I'm obviously in an intense mood, so I better rap up (plus a delegation of German feminists has entered the bar.) Tomorrow, I am going to have a larger tour of Ankor Wat. After that I am heading down to Phenom Phenh and then Vietnam.

I have arrived safely in Siem Reap, Cambodia and I immediately had massive culture shock! I went through customs and immigration fine and approached the taxi stand. I requested, along with an American called John who I met on the flight, a taxi to the hotel. The guy told me that it would be five U.S dollars and then asked me "if I needed some fucking?" We were taken back by the question but quickly said no. Later we confirmed with each other whether he had really asked us what we thought he had asked us.

Cambodians strike me as being poor and desperate, which is understandable when one considers what the society has gone through in the last few decades. The taxi driver couldn't stop talking about what a good deal he could provide his services as a tour guide. After lunch we walked into the centre of town to surf the internet. I was also looking to buy the Cambodia Lonely Planet, which conveniently enough one can buy photocopied versions of for $5. We came across a little boy who was selling such books, well buying from him really pissed off the little girl next to him, especially when we refused to buy another book or postcards. We were followed into town, this 8 year old girl yelling the most rotten things that I have ever heard coming out of a little childs mouth. We were ugly. Liers. Our children will be ugly. We won't get girl friends. She definitely won't be getting my business now, the only reason I didn't buy postcards was because I didn't have anything smaller than $5 U.S.

To say the least, this place is tense and intense. You can see victims of landmines everywhere (I will definitely be very careful about where I place my feet.) Maybe Thailand isn't so bad after all!

I'm not sure about the road ahead. Maybe I will look for a volunteer placement somewhere more quiet!

Tomorrow morning I am leaving this splendid country that is the crossroads of Asia. The place where the Chinese, Islamic and Indian civilizations meet and live in peace. The place where everybody is multilingual, laid back, and friendly (hopefully I don't get robbed tomorrow on the way to the airport and have my view of this place changed!!!)

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind. Yesterday evening we went up the KL Tower. They weren't going to let us in because of the late hour, but I was able to talk our way in: "come on, I'm only here for a couple of days, and I came ALL THE WAY FROM CANADA to go up this tower!" It is amazing how obliging people were. Today, I pulled the same stunt at the Petronas Tower, because we were not there at 7 AM to get one of the LIMITED EDITION tickets. They decided to let us up at the end of the day, but finally we were finding the National Art Museum so interesting that we decided to stay there instead (Alana is very knowledgeable about art.)

Alana has been an excellent tour guide of a city that she arrived at twenty four hours before me! She took me for a walking tour of the city and knew what all the buildings were.

Overall, there is not that much to do in KL, but it is worth visiting for a couple of days. I am sorry to be leaving Malaysia, but alas, I must go on to the 22nd country that I will have visited in my life: Cambodia.

So I am back in Malaysia, one of my favourite countries in the world. Singapore was expensive, a bit staid and basically a money-oriented country. I was not upset to come back to Malaysia. The country has some very harsh laws. For example, oral sex is illegal unless you are going all the way (I guess that means if you get to third base, then you are legally obliged to go home!) and anal sex and pornography are illegal. It is a wealthy country, but it is also a nanny state.

On the way back to KL I had a very nice seat mate. He was a sixty five year old Malay gentleman named Bob. We talked the entire three hours that he was on the train. We talked about a lot of different things: Canada, Malaysia, religion, the Middle East, travelling. He told me that he has two wives (polygamy is apparently legal here) and about his religious views. He is definitely not an extremist. He told me that he wouldn't travel to the west because he feared being branded a terrorist. It is too bad that extremists create a situation where there isn't a true dialogue between people like him and reasonable people in the west. If they could only meet and talk we could probably avoid a lot of the calamities that are presently affecting the world and seem to be boiling over this week. We parted on good terms and exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. He has invited to come back to Malaysia to visit him and I hope to do so at some point.

Since arriving in KL I have been hanging out with my friend Alana, who was my roommate in South Korea. We went to see the Petronas Towers yesterday and today we went to the Bantu Caves, which are a Hindu shrine and went up the KL Tower, which is the fourth highest tower in the world. Tomorrow we are going to try to go up the Petronas Towers and take in some art exhibits. On Sunday, I travel on to Cambodia!

For Immediate Release

Intrepid world traveller and future year 2 UBC Law Student Andy Pearcey has appeared on Singapore National Television calling for a more tolerant attitude towards treating pornography as art. He also offered that he would not like to see American Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in the buff, but would be happy to encounter Angelina Jolie naked. He made the comments after being ambushed by a televison crew while minding his own business walking around a popular Singapore Shopping District. He was approached and asked if he'd be willing to answer a few questions about the Singapore Art Scene. Only being in Singapore for a couple of days, he was reluctant to be interviewed, but after offering that he had visited a couple of local museums he agreed to answer a few questions. Pearcey praised Singapore's efforts to improve the quality of museums and arts available to the citizens and stressed that a vibrant arts scene is essential to improving a city's quality of life. He said that if he had more time in this country, he would make the effort to check out the arts scene. Not satisfied with these thoughtful and diplomatic remarks, the journalist moved onto the key of the interview: what did the foreigner think of the arts versus porn debate? Pearcey, a pro with handling such out of the blue questions, kept his cool and expressed a desire for people to have a healthy attitude towards a normal human function. This, he explained on national televisions, requires people to be able to talk, write and depict it. Pornography, which is exploitative, is different, but which is which is in the eye of the beholder and not for the government to dictate. Pearcey was then, for some weird reason, asked which celebraty he would most like to see in the nude. Pearcey tried to demur from answering such a frivilous question, but under constant pestering, with a twinkle in his eye, looked straight in the camera and said not Condoleeza Rice, perhaps Angeline Jolie or Cindy Crawford, but they may be a bit too old for me, and then walked off. Pearcey's next media availability will be in front of the Petronas Towers in KL on the evening of July 13th. He is willing to answer questions on gay rights, the conflict in the middle east, North Korea, euthenasia and abortion.

Today, I have to admit, I went to McDonald's. Yes, I know, it is not good for my health, but I have been on the road in foreign parts for over two months now and I was feeling a little homesick. So, being a true, proud, Canadian, there being no Tim Horton's in sight, I went for a Big Mac. When I went to McDick's, I was shocked. They are taking the promotion of heart diesease to a new, grotesque level: McDelivery. Already in Asia, soon to be rolled out WORLDWIDE. No longer will people have to get in their gas gussling, road-killing SUV's and DRIVE to McDonald's. No longer will people have to get on their bikes and pedal to McDick's. Heaven forbid, people won't have to WALK anymore. They can sit on their fat asses, watching reruns of the Simpsons and simply dial away for that Big Mac, or, you know this is coming, they can text message or log-on to Mcdonalds.com and place their order. In fifteen minutes, some illegal immigrant is going to be knocking on their door, clutching a bag of supersized french fries and Big Mac's. What is the world coming to? Are people so lazy? (The answer is yes.) Do something good for your heart people, turn off the television, get off your fat ass, and walk, pedal or drive that greenhouse producing SUV of yours to McDonald's. And then perhaps, you'll live a little longer.

The last few days have been very eventful. I have seen a lot of interesting things and travelled a lot of ground. I am currently in Singapore, which marks the 21st country that I have visited in my life! The trip from Cameron Highlands to Tamara Negara was uneventful. When I arrived in Tamara Negara I was delighted to see that I was sharing my dorm room with two beautiful dutch girls: Sophie and Robin. I was also disappointed to note that the town, being fairly observant of islamic traditions, was dry. I had a hard time not singing Sympathy for the Devil while I was in the shower! Tamara Negara is a very beautiful spot. It is raw, authentic, jungle. We went for a long hike up a mountain and saw lots of different plant and animal life. We also walked along a canapy high up in the trees. I also went on a trip to see a tribal community. It has been changed a lot by tourism, but the people still live in their traditional style huts, and hunt using a blow pipe, which I learned how to use. I think that I could become fairly accurate with a little practice. Finally, a group of us went on a night tour to see the wildlife that comes out after dark.

After only one full day in Tamara Negara I hoped on a boat with the Dutch girls and went on a three hour trip to Jerantut. During the ride I saw Water Buffalos. From Jerantut I got on a bus to Kuala Lumpur where I parted ways with said dutch girls and continued on my way to Singapore.

Singapore is a vibrant, modern city. It seems that the country's leaders have made the conscientious decision to promote English as the lingua franca. It is weird to be on the subway and hear Chinese people talking to each other in impeccable English. I guess they have done that because the city is quite diverse and this way no one group that lives here is favoured because it is a neutral language. As people know the country is very orderly and modern. It is a little like being in Canada. The city is quiet, tidy, and safe. Today I went to the most southerly point in the country and the most southerly point I will go on this trip. What did I do there? I went lugeing. That's right, they had a luge track! It was great fun slashing down in the rain!

I tracked out to the golf course today. You could tell by the decor that the place was built a long time ago by the Brits. I didn't play very well and don't particularly want to reveal my score of 118. I blame it on the old clunkers for clubs that I was using. When in doubt blame everything on the equipment. I played my round with a very nice retiree from Kuala Lumpur. He is a very smart man and told me a lot about the experiences of Chinese people living in Malaysia since independence and about life in Malaysia. The conversation was more interesting than the golf.

Today I ventured out into tea country. It is certainly very different from Indian tea country which is indicative of how much Malaysian society has advanced in the post-colonial area. India is 50 years behind Malaysia. The reasons why I think this has happened I will not get into here, instead I will talk about what I saw. First, Malaysians don't work on tea plantations picking the tea anymore. The population has become so educated that no Malaysian would want to pick tea as a job. Malaysians still operate the mechanized tea factories, but there are really not that many Malaysians employed in the production of tea anymore. Instead, they recruit male workers to come here from Indonesians on three year contracts to pick the tea. Whereas, in India I daily saw illiterate women with calloused hands picking the tea by hand, here, Indonesian workers use prunes and weed trimmers to clear huge swaths of area in fractions of the time. They get paid about $5 U.S per day, and because many of their expenses are covered, they can actually send some money back to their families. I am sure that it is still very hard work, but it seems to be a lot more humane than the system of semi-slavery that is used for picking tea in India.
After touring the plantation and the tea factory, we drove to the summit of the highest mountain in the Cameron Highlands. The view was spectacular. Then we visited a butterfly farm. I didn't find it that interesting, but I enjoyed watching people squirm when the guide picked up a scorpion and put it on an attractive Czech girls shoulder (she was married, I checked!)
This afternoon, I relaxed around town. I had to move hotels, which sucked, but the owner of the hotel was very nice and phoned around and found a room for me and negotiated an excellent price for me. I like my new hotel even more. People here are super friendly and easy going. For instance, today I was trying to cash a couple of travellers cheques. I went into the HSBC Bank and the helpful teller told me that he could cash my cheques for me, but that I could get a better rate and pay a lower fee if I simply walked across the street to the competition!!! I've been walking down the street and people have just come up to me and asked me if I needed help with anything. They aren't looking to take me for tea, or sell me anything.
The other thing that has blown me away is how well everybody speaks English. The use of the language is not restricted to the upper and upper-middle class as it was in India. Here, everybody is taught English and Malay at school. People who trace their ancestrary back to India or China also learn their own language at school, while Malay students spend that same class time studying Islam. And from what my driver told me today, everybody, regardless of race attends school together. This may not be the whole picture, but it is impressive. I'm not sure how universal education is, but it sure is a progressive approach that I wish we'd copy in Canada when it came to language.
I had an interesting encounter at lunch with this bizarre guy from Romania. I was sitting down enjoying a late meal of vegetarian Indian food when this guy plopped himself down at the same table. We started talking and through his broken English he explained that he was in Southeast Asia for three months, and get this - he had stayed in KL for 25 days because he had found a great salsa club. No other reason than to dance salsa. I know that salsa is fun, but you'd think you could do that as easily back home, or if you really like salsa then GO TO MEXICO!!! Whatever floats your boat I suppose, it is a free country and I am not to judge.
Tomorrow, I am going to rise with the sun because I am going to hit the links, it has been six months since ATP, Andy "Tiger" Pearcey has played a round. The day after I think that I will be heading to the jungle, I may not have access to the internet there, but I will try to post a message.

I've arrived safely and soundly in the Cameron Highlands. It is relieving to have escaped the oppressive tropical heat. The trip here was fairly uneventful except for the hour long stop in Ihod. I was relaxing on the bus when this cute Indian kid came in selling semosas. I bought a couple of them from him. He giggles and then puts out his arm and demands an arm wrestle. I nearly let him win!!!
My hotel is a lot nicer than the other ones I've been too recently. I am watched over while writing this message by the leader of the Tamil Tigers. I asked the owner who the picture was of, and he responded with pride that it was "my boss." We then got into a short discussion about the Tamil Tigers and the current situation in Sri Lanka (which was one of my areas of research interest when I was in grad school for those of you who didn't know.) Off now to relax in this lovely pension and maybe have a cup of tea, followed by continuing reading Herman Wouk's excellent War and Remembrance. A book which in my opinion will end up being considered as much of a classic about war as War and Peace (which I definitely recommend) is today.

I am sure that headline has got your attention but I merely want to start this post by mentioning how hot and steamy it can be this close to the border. Today has been an absolute scorcher. I have probably sweated out my entire body weight!!!
I am in a bit of a tired and crabby mood today which doesn't help. Yesterday when I arrived I checked into the Swiss Hotel. I didn't sleep very well last night because I kept on being harassed by a mosquito that I couldn't find and kill because the light wasn't very strong in my room. When I finally fell asleep at 6AM I counted over 50 bites all over my sweaty and exausted body. Woke up late this morning pissed off that one mosquito could keep me awake. Checked out of my hotel and went to another one nearby that has a mosquito net on the window.
This afternoon I took a train up Penang Hill. There were lots of women going up with their husbands wearing burqas. Interestingly one couple were drinking cokes and the husband was wearing a Harley-Davidson hat. I think that most of them were going up to pray at the mosque. I went up and took a stroll around in the cooler air. I then relaxed at a restaurant that has a fantastic view of the entire island of Penang and drank the most expensive tea that I have ever consumed. I have some excellent photos from the top.
Other than the hotels, I really like Georgetown. The people are incredibly helpful and friendly. One isn't overwhelmed by people whose eyes pop out of their head when they see you and want to sell you a Thai visa, a cheap t-shirt or a meal. The streets are full of life and the places culture hasn't been overly altered by tourism. There is some excellent food here. I have mostly been eating in Little India, but I know there is also a vibrant culinary experience to be had in Chinatown and from the myriad of food stalls that stalk each street.
Having said all that, tomorrow afternoon I will be making haste for the Cameron Highlands.

I've found an interesting site on the BBC webpage about China. My mind keeps on turning back to that country. I obviously still have so much to learn about it.

After some 27 hours on the road, I have arrived in Georgetown, Malaysia and I am already WAY more enamoured with Malaysia than I ever was with Thailand. Perhaps Thailand caught me at a bad time. I was exausted when I arrived there. I was overcome by the humidity (which takes a few days to adjust to.) I became frustrated by Khao San Rd. I liked the physical beauty of Ko Tao and enjoyed learning how to dive, but then I became the most ill I have probably been in about 5 years, so it blotted its copy book! Overall, I found Thai's to be kind-hearted people, but I fear that the country is losing its heart and soul because of tourism. Yes tourism brings jobs and many economic benefits, and I don't want to deny them those benefits, but it can also reduce many of a places charms. For example, whereas in many places in the world a backpacker will find himself alone, or one of a few amongst the locals in restaurants recommended by the Lonely Planet, in the parts of Thailand I have visited so far, if one goes to a place recommended by the Lonely Planet, the only Thais there will be the one's serving you. Having said all that, I haven't seen all of Thailand yet, my only observation being that the more tourists a place has, the more of a specialized infrastructure springs up, and the more difficult it becomes to jump into the true culture and learn about the real heart of the country.

I think these observations also hold an important lesson for Tibet. I believe that I noted earlier how tourism has tarnished the charms of Lijiang. The newly constructed railway line will bring in many more tourists to Lhasa. This has the potential to further the silent genocide that is taking place there. It may bring some economic development, but there is little justice in who benefits from that economic development and no local input into the development strategy. It is wrong, and it is exploitative. When one adds up the benefits and the costs on a balance sheet, it is very likely that the negatives will outweigh any positives.

So onto Malaysia!!! The first Muslim country that I have ever visited. What a treat! The city of Georgetown's heart and soul has been shaped by its colonial history. The first thing you notice on the bus is the beautiful colonial architecture. A short walk on the streets and a visit to the town's excellent museum confirms the place's multicultural history and colourful vibrance. Chinese motorbikers speed past the chai stalls in Little India. Indian families go for an evening stroll through the streets of Chinatown. It is my kind of place, immense diversity, yet peaceful and tolerant. Just like a place such as this needs to be or it won't function successfully. Malaysia, and Indian's experiences living here is a story that Amitav Gosh brought to life in The Glass Palace. In a way I wanted to travel here because I read his passionate account.

Tomorrow I will take a train up the nearby Penang Hill. On Wednesday I will be travelling onward and upward, out of the tropical heat to the Cameron Highlands which in many ways will be a bit of a stroll down memory lane. The Cameron Highlands are well-known for their tea plantations. Apparently most of the labour was brought from Tamil Nadu in India. In 2000 I spent three months living amongst the tea planations of the Nilgiris Hills of Tamil Nadu. I note from the guide book that there is also a golf course there, so I am hoping to get in a round. From there, I will be following the advice of a friend of mine from my time in India, Olivier Morisset, and play with the bats in Taman Negara National Park, and then likely to Melaka.

There is nothing like the open road. A beautiful sunny day. The lush countryside zipping past you at 60 kilometers an hour. The breezy tropical air running through your hair. 125 ccs of pure power between your legs. A beautiful blonde holding onto you (okay sadly not in this case but a beautiful piece of imagery nonetheless.) Riding to the top of mountains to see beautiful vistas (mostly of coves where I earlier went diving.) Relaxing at a secluded restaurant to have a beer, which thankfully was chilled because it had been kept in a fridge like it should be, even if it is going to stay there for months and take up space because there is no one there currently to drink it. Towards the end of my journey the monsoon rains hit. That turned out to be no problem because I actually have Fernando Alonso's skills when it comes to handling a vehicle in the wet. I was zipping between the trucks lumbering down the road. It was - to steal a phrase from the Brits (so myself really) - jolly good fun. It was good practice for that summer when I am going to buy a motorbike and retrace Che's famous drive through South America!