1.) This year's "place that sticks" is without a doubt my former home-away-from-home Chiangmai, where I spent about three of my five weeks in Thailand. It was great simply to hang out there as an informed ex-resident, now tourist, and surprising some of my old friends along the way.
2.) Hanging out with Pik and Stefan and their kids.
3.) Seeing Peppo, my niece, after seven long years.
4.) Although I didn't seek out as much live music as I would have even 10 years ago, discovering the bands at Tiger Kingdom in Chiangmai was definitely a highlight of this trip. The younger generation of singers and musicians here is very impressive, and though their older mentors--some of them contemporaries and friends of mine--have obviously helped with their development, I can tell that older musicians in Thailand can also learn a lot from their younger sisters and bretheran.
5.) Revisiting Soppong Town, Bangma Pha District, Mae Hong Son Province.
6.) Visiting the old 16th century Ayutthaya City ruins.
7.) Playing fiddle tunes with Sharon and Mick and others at Finnegan's Pub in Bangkok.
8.) Best $12 hotel room: The Rest Bull Bed and Bar in Chiangmai had everything I needed: clean sheets and bathroom, hot shower, fridge, air conditioning, cable TV, free coffee and tea, and relative peace and quiet.
9.) Best $22 hotel room: a toss-up between the S1 Hostel in Bangkok's Soi Ngam Dupli--with most of the same amenities listed above, and Hanoi's Serenity Hotel--also with the same amenities plus an excellent, free American-style breakfast and a desktop with internet access in my room.
10.) Best coffee: Vietnam wins this by a large margin with its strong black coffee sweetened with condensed milk. Thailand tries very hard with its many small espresso machines and $1 lattes, but at heart it's still a Nescafe nation. On the rare occasions when I found kafe boran, the Thai version of Vietnamese coffee, I ordered it in anticipation of my return to Hanoi.
Showing posts with label Bangkok. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bangkok. Show all posts
Friday, July 4, 2014
Rainy Season in Hot, Muggy Hanoi
The weather is starting to get to me, but it's not the welcome late afternoon rains that are doing me in; it's the almost unbearable heat and humidity.
The old cliche "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" was never more true than it is here in Hanoi. An ordinary late morning walk of 30 minutes or so has my shirt soaked through to the skin and my brain crying out for some air-conditioned relief.
But AC is expensive here, and although I have an ACd hotel room, the hotel's management keeps the thermostat locked in at about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a welcome respite from the muggy streets of the old city neighborhood, but in my room in the daytime I can't wear much more than a pha khao ma, the Thai version of the men's sarong. This is a popular garment for men of all ages, in many countries of the region, for when they're simply hanging out at home.
Unlike in Bangkok, the Vietnamese capital city doesn't have nearly as many centrally-cooled shopping malls, fast food restaurants, and other oases of tropically-located, electrically-powered cool zones.
So it's best to get out early--seven or eight in the morning at the latest until 11.00 or 12.00 noon--then take a long siesta after lunch before going back out again at 5.00 p.m. as things begins to cool down a little, hopefully with some rain to help things along.
These past few days, however, we haven't seen much rain either--even though the skies have remained cloudy for much of the day.
The old cliche "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" was never more true than it is here in Hanoi. An ordinary late morning walk of 30 minutes or so has my shirt soaked through to the skin and my brain crying out for some air-conditioned relief.
But AC is expensive here, and although I have an ACd hotel room, the hotel's management keeps the thermostat locked in at about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a welcome respite from the muggy streets of the old city neighborhood, but in my room in the daytime I can't wear much more than a pha khao ma, the Thai version of the men's sarong. This is a popular garment for men of all ages, in many countries of the region, for when they're simply hanging out at home.
Unlike in Bangkok, the Vietnamese capital city doesn't have nearly as many centrally-cooled shopping malls, fast food restaurants, and other oases of tropically-located, electrically-powered cool zones.
So it's best to get out early--seven or eight in the morning at the latest until 11.00 or 12.00 noon--then take a long siesta after lunch before going back out again at 5.00 p.m. as things begins to cool down a little, hopefully with some rain to help things along.
These past few days, however, we haven't seen much rain either--even though the skies have remained cloudy for much of the day.
Back in Post-Vietnam War Hanoi
I arrived in Hanoi on Tuesday July 1 and was almost the first in line to present my extraordinary health declaration to Vietnamese officials--now required of all visitors flying from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other middle eastern countries--amidst a swarm of news cameras and media spotlights.
My declaration was only a formality since technically I spent the last 30-some days in Thailand, but I flew in on the regular Qatar Airways Bangkok-Hanoi flight, and the news crews were on hand to document the first 200 passengers to arrive in Hanoi under the new regulations.
The form I filled out never mentions the deadly MERS-CoV which has lately been in the news, but I knew I'd guessed correctly about its purpose when I googled the whole episode later the next day.
It's always an adventure when I visit a country new to my own experience--especially when it's a country that's been on my "to go" list for three or four decades, as is Vietnam.
I grew up with the Vietnam War, the first TV war in America's checkered history of international interventions, and somehow I was profoundly affected by the experience of seeing so many American boys return from this mysterious Southeast Asian land, which looks like a serpent on the map and which always seems to have had such colorful postage stamps, in body bags and caskets.
Although I was only six years old at the time of the February 1968 Tet Offensive I distinctly remember being frightened at the prospect of getting drafted for the slaughter of a long-running quagmire that I was sure--deep down--would see Americans and Vietnamese killing each other well into the 21st Century. When I was 10 years old I was already planning my trip to Canada or Sweden to avoid that prospect.
My uncle was stationed in Hue, not so far from the DMZ marking the border between North and South Vietnam, but his 1965-66 tour was relatively early in the conflict, before the Lyndon B. Johnson administration began its upsizing from a few thousand military "advisors" to the eventual 500,000 troops that were stationed in the south at the peak of the war.
In retrospect, the U.S. attempt to prevent the Soviet-backed, Red Chinese-inspired Viet Cong from toppling the corrupt, inept South Vietnamese government was obviously doomed to failure. But at the time it may have seemed reasonable to most Americans that if South Vietnam fell to the "communist monolith" it would necessarily be the first of several Indochinese "dominoes" to topple, perhaps bringing Thailand, Burma, and Malaysia down with them.
In fact, American involvement in the war inevitably spread to Cambodia where the murderous Khmer Rouge for several years was battling the right-wing Lon Nol regime for control, and to Laos where another low-level "communist" insurgency--similar to that taking place in northeastern Thailand--was also brewing.
It bears mentioning that these Indochinese wars were taking place in three of the poorest countries on earth.
When the U.S. and North Vietnam finally agreed on a peace accord in January 1973 that would see a complete American withdrawal in exchange for the return of all American POWs held by Hanoi, it was only a matter of time before the Indochinese insurgencies bore fruit. By the end of April 1975 Vietnam was reunified under Hanoi, and communist regimes were in control in Phnom Penh and Vientiane as well.
But Thailand successfully crushed its own low-level insurgency in the 1970s and 1980s, as Malaysia had done in the 1950s-1960s.
My declaration was only a formality since technically I spent the last 30-some days in Thailand, but I flew in on the regular Qatar Airways Bangkok-Hanoi flight, and the news crews were on hand to document the first 200 passengers to arrive in Hanoi under the new regulations.
The form I filled out never mentions the deadly MERS-CoV which has lately been in the news, but I knew I'd guessed correctly about its purpose when I googled the whole episode later the next day.
It's always an adventure when I visit a country new to my own experience--especially when it's a country that's been on my "to go" list for three or four decades, as is Vietnam.
I grew up with the Vietnam War, the first TV war in America's checkered history of international interventions, and somehow I was profoundly affected by the experience of seeing so many American boys return from this mysterious Southeast Asian land, which looks like a serpent on the map and which always seems to have had such colorful postage stamps, in body bags and caskets.
Although I was only six years old at the time of the February 1968 Tet Offensive I distinctly remember being frightened at the prospect of getting drafted for the slaughter of a long-running quagmire that I was sure--deep down--would see Americans and Vietnamese killing each other well into the 21st Century. When I was 10 years old I was already planning my trip to Canada or Sweden to avoid that prospect.
My uncle was stationed in Hue, not so far from the DMZ marking the border between North and South Vietnam, but his 1965-66 tour was relatively early in the conflict, before the Lyndon B. Johnson administration began its upsizing from a few thousand military "advisors" to the eventual 500,000 troops that were stationed in the south at the peak of the war.
In retrospect, the U.S. attempt to prevent the Soviet-backed, Red Chinese-inspired Viet Cong from toppling the corrupt, inept South Vietnamese government was obviously doomed to failure. But at the time it may have seemed reasonable to most Americans that if South Vietnam fell to the "communist monolith" it would necessarily be the first of several Indochinese "dominoes" to topple, perhaps bringing Thailand, Burma, and Malaysia down with them.
In fact, American involvement in the war inevitably spread to Cambodia where the murderous Khmer Rouge for several years was battling the right-wing Lon Nol regime for control, and to Laos where another low-level "communist" insurgency--similar to that taking place in northeastern Thailand--was also brewing.
It bears mentioning that these Indochinese wars were taking place in three of the poorest countries on earth.
When the U.S. and North Vietnam finally agreed on a peace accord in January 1973 that would see a complete American withdrawal in exchange for the return of all American POWs held by Hanoi, it was only a matter of time before the Indochinese insurgencies bore fruit. By the end of April 1975 Vietnam was reunified under Hanoi, and communist regimes were in control in Phnom Penh and Vientiane as well.
But Thailand successfully crushed its own low-level insurgency in the 1970s and 1980s, as Malaysia had done in the 1950s-1960s.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
A Tour of Historical Thailand
My weekend in Bangkok with Sharon turned out to be action-packed with activities. On Friday morning we met in the Silom area and had a brief look at the Patpong district in daylight. This is the heart of Bangkok's world (in)famous nightlife, and both Soi Patpong 1 and Patpong 2 are normally packed with tourists and vendors in the huge night bazaar. Without the neon lights, however--and in the unforgiving late morning sun--the neighborhood appears even seedier in the daytime than it is at night.
We then set out for Siam Square, an old haunt from my youth, on Bangkok's BTS Skytrain, and I was quite confused by all the changes in the neighborhood since my last visit about 20 years ago. The Mah Boon Krong mall is still there, but now it's rebranded as MBK. I was gratified to see that the old Lido and Scala movie houses are still in the same place.
The Siam Square mall itself remains basically unchanged, albeit spiffed up, but there are many new buildings surrounding it, and these are all rather tall-- 20 stories or more in some cases.
From this point, roughly about halfway between Silom and the Chao Phraya River, we picked up a local city bus for the long trip out to the Banglamphu area which is the location of all the big Bangkok tourist attractions such as the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Khao San Road, Sanam Luang, Thammasat University, and the National Museum, our ultimate destination.
Although the 200 baht admission fee is a little bit on the high side for a Thai museum ticket, the entire compound is huge with a very thorough and informative historical exhibit hall to kick things off before one enters the numerous buildings with their display galleries. We spent about three hours on the site but I doubt if we covered even a third of it.
The next day Sharon and I met on Sukhumwit Soi 61 to watch the latest installment of the Thai historical film series King Naresuan 5. King Naresuan was a hero in 16th century Thailand because he fought the hated Burmese and sought vengeance for the latter's sacking of the old Siamese capital city Ayutthaya . As part of the current Thai army junta's program to "Bring Happiness Back to the Thai People", the military government promoted a nationwide ticket giveaway earlier in June so Thais could see the film for free.
Although we paid for our tickets, we thoroughly enjoyed the movie since we were planning to visit the ruins of Ayutthaya with Sharon's husband Michael on the following day, and the historical subject matter of the film piqued our interest in the Ayutthaya story.
Unfortunately, Michael was called back to work on Sunday, so Sharon and I rebooted the idea and made the trip on Monday morning with a hired car and driver, Uncle U.
It's difficult to describe the sheer scope of the ancient ruined city which is full of temples, numerous Buddha images (some of them gigantic including a famous reclining Buddha), many large jedi (stupas), and more.
We started out with a list of about 10 sites and we probably visited 6-7 of them over a six hour period.
On Monday night Sharon helped organize a jam session at Finnegan's Pub on Soi Nana and there was a pretty good turnout of expat players (bodhran, banjo, guitar, mandolin, and fiddle) and Thai/expat listeners.
Sharon did an excellent job helping to clear the cobwebs from my memory of American and Irish fiddle tunes, and at one point the host of the session asked me to play something from Thailand.
Of course I played Khang Khao Kin Kluay (Bats Eating Bananas). By the time I hit the third time around the form, this excellent pickup band of the aged, the middle-aged, and the young, was backing me up so solidly it attracted the attention of the Thai waitstaff and barkeeps.
It also caught the attention of Father Joe Maier, a Bangkok icon of many years for his work in the Khlong Toei slums, who just happened to be in the audience that night.
We then set out for Siam Square, an old haunt from my youth, on Bangkok's BTS Skytrain, and I was quite confused by all the changes in the neighborhood since my last visit about 20 years ago. The Mah Boon Krong mall is still there, but now it's rebranded as MBK. I was gratified to see that the old Lido and Scala movie houses are still in the same place.
The Siam Square mall itself remains basically unchanged, albeit spiffed up, but there are many new buildings surrounding it, and these are all rather tall-- 20 stories or more in some cases.
From this point, roughly about halfway between Silom and the Chao Phraya River, we picked up a local city bus for the long trip out to the Banglamphu area which is the location of all the big Bangkok tourist attractions such as the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Khao San Road, Sanam Luang, Thammasat University, and the National Museum, our ultimate destination.
Although the 200 baht admission fee is a little bit on the high side for a Thai museum ticket, the entire compound is huge with a very thorough and informative historical exhibit hall to kick things off before one enters the numerous buildings with their display galleries. We spent about three hours on the site but I doubt if we covered even a third of it.
The next day Sharon and I met on Sukhumwit Soi 61 to watch the latest installment of the Thai historical film series King Naresuan 5. King Naresuan was a hero in 16th century Thailand because he fought the hated Burmese and sought vengeance for the latter's sacking of the old Siamese capital city Ayutthaya . As part of the current Thai army junta's program to "Bring Happiness Back to the Thai People", the military government promoted a nationwide ticket giveaway earlier in June so Thais could see the film for free.
Although we paid for our tickets, we thoroughly enjoyed the movie since we were planning to visit the ruins of Ayutthaya with Sharon's husband Michael on the following day, and the historical subject matter of the film piqued our interest in the Ayutthaya story.
Unfortunately, Michael was called back to work on Sunday, so Sharon and I rebooted the idea and made the trip on Monday morning with a hired car and driver, Uncle U.
It's difficult to describe the sheer scope of the ancient ruined city which is full of temples, numerous Buddha images (some of them gigantic including a famous reclining Buddha), many large jedi (stupas), and more.
We started out with a list of about 10 sites and we probably visited 6-7 of them over a six hour period.
On Monday night Sharon helped organize a jam session at Finnegan's Pub on Soi Nana and there was a pretty good turnout of expat players (bodhran, banjo, guitar, mandolin, and fiddle) and Thai/expat listeners.
Sharon did an excellent job helping to clear the cobwebs from my memory of American and Irish fiddle tunes, and at one point the host of the session asked me to play something from Thailand.
Of course I played Khang Khao Kin Kluay (Bats Eating Bananas). By the time I hit the third time around the form, this excellent pickup band of the aged, the middle-aged, and the young, was backing me up so solidly it attracted the attention of the Thai waitstaff and barkeeps.
It also caught the attention of Father Joe Maier, a Bangkok icon of many years for his work in the Khlong Toei slums, who just happened to be in the audience that night.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Saying Goodbye and Hello to Old Friends
It wasn't easy saying goodbye to Stefan and his daughters when they left for Germany last week. "I'm gonna miss you guys," I told Stefan.
"We feel the same way about you, " he said.
After they left on Tuesday I had just two more nights to wrap up my affairs in Chiangmai--not that I had a lot on my plate, but there was some shopping to do, some food to eat, some TV to watch, and some visiting with Pik.
I also picked up a new friend, Yuriy from Perm, Russia, who is on his first trip to Thailand and this is only his second trip outside of Russia.
He's an IT guy ("I hate it!") who sold all his belongings in Moscow with the intention of "looking for myself" in Thailand.
I remarked that Thailand can be a good place to do that. "Or it can be a very bad place to do it if you're not careful." This observation cracked him up.
Yuriy wants to try to make a go of it in Chiangmai, maybe sign up for Thai courses so he can get a year-long student visa.
He seems like a decent guy, and he's a music fan, so I took him to Tiger Kingdom and introduced him to A and Sakhorn. Yuriry is very impressed with the bands, and especially with the excellent women singers.
I also helped him to find a "hong phak", a room for rent by the month. Within a day we got him set up with something suitable for 2500 baht monthly on a three month minimum lease.
Pik and I had a final dinner together on Wednesday night, then I met her and Yuriy again Thursday morning before I flew back to Bangkok that afternoon.
Of course Pik wants me to move back to Thailand. "We can help you get situated again," she says. She says this every time she sees me.
We've been talking about how to help Peppo get a tourist visa for the U.S., and on Wednesday I went to a specialty travel agency that handles most visa situations for Thais and farang. The travel agent was very helpful with the info, and I wrote it all down and gave Pik a copy so we can begin strategizing.
Pik and I hope that maybe we can sponsor Peppo for a U.S. visit in 2015.
It's sort of sad to be leaving, but I also feel it's about time to get out of Chiangmai--I was getting way too comfortable there.
By late Thursday I was checked into the S1 Hostel on Soi Ngam Dupli off Bangkok's busy Rama 4 Road. The S1 Hostel is a nicely renovated hotel which used to be my regular first stop in Bangkok back when it was called "Honey House".
I was happy with the renovations and with the fact that the price--at 700 baht for an aircon room with bathroom, fridge, and TV--is only 100 baht more than it was in 2007. This is really a bargain for only $22. Does anyone really wonder why I love Thailand?
I've said goodbye to old friends in Chiangmai, but now I'm saying hello to old friends--from the States--in Bangkok.
Sharon is a friend from the old-time music scene in America. As an ethno-musicologist and professor in the field, she has studied--among other things--the contest scene at the National Old-Time Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, ID that I attended each year from 2002 to 2005. This is where we first met, and I still have a copy of her dissertation on the subject.
But what a small world it is! She's also done some extensive study of Thai classical and folk music, and she knows a lot more than I ever will about the instruments they play in Thailand and in other musically influential Asian countries such as China. Indeed, one of her mentors is an expert on Thai music, and he keeps his second home here.
In the most serendipitous manner possible, Sharon's husband Michael--an engineer of state of the art packing machinery--was offered a two-year contract with Bangkok company, and Sharon's summer visit to him coincided with my own trip to Thailand.
We've agreed to meet at the McDonald's at Rama 4 and Silom to do some tourist stuff and maybe take in a museum.
After all, she and I both are supposedly on vacation--even if work from home seems to intrude upon us in that way that it seems to do . . .
"We feel the same way about you, " he said.
After they left on Tuesday I had just two more nights to wrap up my affairs in Chiangmai--not that I had a lot on my plate, but there was some shopping to do, some food to eat, some TV to watch, and some visiting with Pik.
I also picked up a new friend, Yuriy from Perm, Russia, who is on his first trip to Thailand and this is only his second trip outside of Russia.
He's an IT guy ("I hate it!") who sold all his belongings in Moscow with the intention of "looking for myself" in Thailand.
I remarked that Thailand can be a good place to do that. "Or it can be a very bad place to do it if you're not careful." This observation cracked him up.
Yuriy wants to try to make a go of it in Chiangmai, maybe sign up for Thai courses so he can get a year-long student visa.
He seems like a decent guy, and he's a music fan, so I took him to Tiger Kingdom and introduced him to A and Sakhorn. Yuriry is very impressed with the bands, and especially with the excellent women singers.
I also helped him to find a "hong phak", a room for rent by the month. Within a day we got him set up with something suitable for 2500 baht monthly on a three month minimum lease.
Pik and I had a final dinner together on Wednesday night, then I met her and Yuriy again Thursday morning before I flew back to Bangkok that afternoon.
Of course Pik wants me to move back to Thailand. "We can help you get situated again," she says. She says this every time she sees me.
We've been talking about how to help Peppo get a tourist visa for the U.S., and on Wednesday I went to a specialty travel agency that handles most visa situations for Thais and farang. The travel agent was very helpful with the info, and I wrote it all down and gave Pik a copy so we can begin strategizing.
Pik and I hope that maybe we can sponsor Peppo for a U.S. visit in 2015.
It's sort of sad to be leaving, but I also feel it's about time to get out of Chiangmai--I was getting way too comfortable there.
By late Thursday I was checked into the S1 Hostel on Soi Ngam Dupli off Bangkok's busy Rama 4 Road. The S1 Hostel is a nicely renovated hotel which used to be my regular first stop in Bangkok back when it was called "Honey House".
I was happy with the renovations and with the fact that the price--at 700 baht for an aircon room with bathroom, fridge, and TV--is only 100 baht more than it was in 2007. This is really a bargain for only $22. Does anyone really wonder why I love Thailand?
I've said goodbye to old friends in Chiangmai, but now I'm saying hello to old friends--from the States--in Bangkok.
Sharon is a friend from the old-time music scene in America. As an ethno-musicologist and professor in the field, she has studied--among other things--the contest scene at the National Old-Time Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, ID that I attended each year from 2002 to 2005. This is where we first met, and I still have a copy of her dissertation on the subject.
But what a small world it is! She's also done some extensive study of Thai classical and folk music, and she knows a lot more than I ever will about the instruments they play in Thailand and in other musically influential Asian countries such as China. Indeed, one of her mentors is an expert on Thai music, and he keeps his second home here.
In the most serendipitous manner possible, Sharon's husband Michael--an engineer of state of the art packing machinery--was offered a two-year contract with Bangkok company, and Sharon's summer visit to him coincided with my own trip to Thailand.
We've agreed to meet at the McDonald's at Rama 4 and Silom to do some tourist stuff and maybe take in a museum.
After all, she and I both are supposedly on vacation--even if work from home seems to intrude upon us in that way that it seems to do . . .
Friday, June 27, 2014
World Cup Fever
From his sister's home in Germany, Stefan will be able to watch the Fifa World Cup final group G match between powerful Germany versus up and coming United States as both teams would appear to make it to the next round of 16.
In their first group match, the U.S. beat Ghana in a vengeance match as payback for the latter's rousting of the Americans at the 2010 event in South Africa, and the Americans came very close to besting Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal side last Monday (Tuesday morning at 5.00 a.m. Thai time).
I was able to watch most of that match while readying myself for a visa run to the Thai-Burmese border. The American side at first were unable to answer the early goal by Portugal's Nani as the match broke for halftime. But American midfielder Jermaine Jones evened things up with a goal in the 64th minute.
In the 84th minute, forward Clint Dempsey put the U.S. ahead with a beautiful goal that had me screaming at my TV at 6.40 a.m. I thought, all you guys have to do is hold on for this victory!
Unfortunately, I was screaming again 11 minutes later when, in the 90th minute plus 5 minutes injury time, Silvester Varela evened the score 2-2, barely a minute before the referee whistled the match to a close. It was quite a disappointing end to a match that featured a very strong American team.
There have been surprises galore in this year's World Cup finals as some of the "beautiful game's" biggest contenders have been eliminated from the tournament, including former world champions Spain, Italy's famed Azzuri, and now Portugal as well.
Poor England, a perpetual also-ran since it won the World Cup final it hosted in 1966, was shut out of the final 16 with a miserable draw and two losses in group D.
Meanwhile, some of the "minnows" of the sport have delivered major happiness to their supporters with their stunning upsets and ferociously determined play. These teams include Costa Rica at the top of group D, Chile second in group B, Algeria also in second in group H, and Greece in second in group C.
Colombian fans are thrilled to see their team topping group C with their best World Cup performance in history.
And Uruguay surprised some with their second place in group D as they eliminated Italy in their final group match. Unfortunately the celebration was marred by Luis Suarez's biting of Giorgio Chiellini's left shoulder. It was the third biting incident in Suarez's checkered career, and Fifa has banned him for four months which means he will miss Uruguay's next nine games.
All this--the thrilling matches, the heartbreak, the controversy--is personally reminiscent of the
2010 World Cup which I was able to watch during my seven week tour of Central America in June and July of that year.
And I am reminded also of my experience in 1994 when the United States hosted the World Cup for the first time.
At that time I was living and working in Bangkok, and often I would stay up late--at times until 3.00 or 5.00 a.m.--and go out to watch the matches at the Malaysia Hotel, near my room in the Soi Ngam Dupli neighborhood.
I discovered then that I enjoy watching this level of "soccer" play, even though I was never a huge sports fan. There is something really compelling about the World Cup. It's similar to the excitement generated by the Olympics, but I think it's more exciting than the Olympics, and I'm not sure I can explain why.
In 1994 I was proud, too, to see the U.S. make such a good international impression with its outstanding hosting of the event. That year, the world famous Brazilians came out on top against Roberto Baggio's Italy in an overtime penalty shootout.
This year, the Brazilians are the hosts and they are also the favorites to win their sixth World Cup.
I'm just thrilled to see the U.S. make the top 16 with Germany in their group G. Can the Americans advance to the next round?
In their first group match, the U.S. beat Ghana in a vengeance match as payback for the latter's rousting of the Americans at the 2010 event in South Africa, and the Americans came very close to besting Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal side last Monday (Tuesday morning at 5.00 a.m. Thai time).
I was able to watch most of that match while readying myself for a visa run to the Thai-Burmese border. The American side at first were unable to answer the early goal by Portugal's Nani as the match broke for halftime. But American midfielder Jermaine Jones evened things up with a goal in the 64th minute.
In the 84th minute, forward Clint Dempsey put the U.S. ahead with a beautiful goal that had me screaming at my TV at 6.40 a.m. I thought, all you guys have to do is hold on for this victory!
Unfortunately, I was screaming again 11 minutes later when, in the 90th minute plus 5 minutes injury time, Silvester Varela evened the score 2-2, barely a minute before the referee whistled the match to a close. It was quite a disappointing end to a match that featured a very strong American team.
There have been surprises galore in this year's World Cup finals as some of the "beautiful game's" biggest contenders have been eliminated from the tournament, including former world champions Spain, Italy's famed Azzuri, and now Portugal as well.
Poor England, a perpetual also-ran since it won the World Cup final it hosted in 1966, was shut out of the final 16 with a miserable draw and two losses in group D.
Meanwhile, some of the "minnows" of the sport have delivered major happiness to their supporters with their stunning upsets and ferociously determined play. These teams include Costa Rica at the top of group D, Chile second in group B, Algeria also in second in group H, and Greece in second in group C.
Colombian fans are thrilled to see their team topping group C with their best World Cup performance in history.
And Uruguay surprised some with their second place in group D as they eliminated Italy in their final group match. Unfortunately the celebration was marred by Luis Suarez's biting of Giorgio Chiellini's left shoulder. It was the third biting incident in Suarez's checkered career, and Fifa has banned him for four months which means he will miss Uruguay's next nine games.
All this--the thrilling matches, the heartbreak, the controversy--is personally reminiscent of the
2010 World Cup which I was able to watch during my seven week tour of Central America in June and July of that year.
And I am reminded also of my experience in 1994 when the United States hosted the World Cup for the first time.
At that time I was living and working in Bangkok, and often I would stay up late--at times until 3.00 or 5.00 a.m.--and go out to watch the matches at the Malaysia Hotel, near my room in the Soi Ngam Dupli neighborhood.
I discovered then that I enjoy watching this level of "soccer" play, even though I was never a huge sports fan. There is something really compelling about the World Cup. It's similar to the excitement generated by the Olympics, but I think it's more exciting than the Olympics, and I'm not sure I can explain why.
In 1994 I was proud, too, to see the U.S. make such a good international impression with its outstanding hosting of the event. That year, the world famous Brazilians came out on top against Roberto Baggio's Italy in an overtime penalty shootout.
This year, the Brazilians are the hosts and they are also the favorites to win their sixth World Cup.
I'm just thrilled to see the U.S. make the top 16 with Germany in their group G. Can the Americans advance to the next round?
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Thailand Story
From about 1985-1989, when I lived in
New York, I spent most of my springs and summers hanging out in the
international busking scene in Europe. From Paris and Zurich, I
would join various bands forming up to play the summer season on the
circuit. The money was actually quite good back then--good
enough to fly to London or Paris 2-3 times a year.
One of my friends, a Dutch one-man band named Thomas van Nes, had relocated to Chiangmai and fallen in love with Thailand and with a young Thai woman. He later married her and they had two sons, now grown.
The band I was playing with at the time, the Rhythm Pygmies, bumped into Thomas in Switzerland during the summer of '89, and he urged us to pay him a visit. The four of us in the band--me, my running buddy Marc from New York on guitar; Gilles,a Canadian bassist; and Christian, a French-Spanish gypsy singer/guitarist; took Thomas up on his invitation just a few days before the Berlin Wall fell in November of '89.
One thing led to another and we started getting gigs in Chiangmai, so we decided to stay indefinitely, or at least for the winter. In the end, the Rhythm Pygmies celebrated its swan song with a lengthy run in Bangkok's Brown Sugar jazz club in May of 1990, and then we split up more or less permanently with Marc and me staying in Thailand while Gilles and Christian returned to Europe.
Marc and I found ourselves hooked on the Thai people, the food, the culture, and the ease of getting paid gigs in Chiangmai. Marc later married a Thai citizen, Pik, and eventually they had a daughter, Peppo.
One of my friends, a Dutch one-man band named Thomas van Nes, had relocated to Chiangmai and fallen in love with Thailand and with a young Thai woman. He later married her and they had two sons, now grown.
The band I was playing with at the time, the Rhythm Pygmies, bumped into Thomas in Switzerland during the summer of '89, and he urged us to pay him a visit. The four of us in the band--me, my running buddy Marc from New York on guitar; Gilles,a Canadian bassist; and Christian, a French-Spanish gypsy singer/guitarist; took Thomas up on his invitation just a few days before the Berlin Wall fell in November of '89.
One thing led to another and we started getting gigs in Chiangmai, so we decided to stay indefinitely, or at least for the winter. In the end, the Rhythm Pygmies celebrated its swan song with a lengthy run in Bangkok's Brown Sugar jazz club in May of 1990, and then we split up more or less permanently with Marc and me staying in Thailand while Gilles and Christian returned to Europe.
Marc and I found ourselves hooked on the Thai people, the food, the culture, and the ease of getting paid gigs in Chiangmai. Marc later married a Thai citizen, Pik, and eventually they had a daughter, Peppo.
Long story short, Marc and I
eventually went our separate ways and I joined a Thai country band,
Banjoman and Friends, whose members were mostly from Phrae province.
We enjoyed a very well-paid run at Chiangmai's Mae Ping Hotel, and
this led to other gigs including private engagements in Thailand's
"Hi-So" scene: Army and police generals (including a
former prime minister and leader of the 1991 coup that ousted
Chatichai Choonhaven), aristocracy including the King and Queen, and
other various and assorted rich and powerful figures.
This experience--roughly from 1992
through 1998--culminated with several Banjoman recording sessions and CDs and
at least one appearance that I recall on national television. So I was
fortunate enough to be hooked up with Thai musicians who were sort of
C- or D-list famous. But these led to other gigs for me with a
few A-list people including Ad Carabao and Nga Caravan.
Perhaps most importantly, all this was happening as Thailand was in the midst of an economic boom which ended only with the so-called Asian currency crisis in July 1997. In other words, Thailand in the mid-'90s was the right place and the right time for me.
Along the way I also met a Thai woman, and we ended up together for about three years--no children--and it was from her that I learned the bulk of my Thai language skills. Meanwhile, my colleagues in the Banjoman group were the ones who introduced me to phlaeng luk-thung and Thai classical music. Banjoman ultimately disbanded in '98 but since then there have been many imitators in Chiangmai and Bangkok--indeed, probably in every major city in Thailand.
Perhaps most importantly, all this was happening as Thailand was in the midst of an economic boom which ended only with the so-called Asian currency crisis in July 1997. In other words, Thailand in the mid-'90s was the right place and the right time for me.
Along the way I also met a Thai woman, and we ended up together for about three years--no children--and it was from her that I learned the bulk of my Thai language skills. Meanwhile, my colleagues in the Banjoman group were the ones who introduced me to phlaeng luk-thung and Thai classical music. Banjoman ultimately disbanded in '98 but since then there have been many imitators in Chiangmai and Bangkok--indeed, probably in every major city in Thailand.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Junta Ends Curfew Just As Niece Arrives for a Visit
Bangkok's military rulers earlier this week eased curfew restrictions in several provinces, including Mae Hong Son, but left the midnight-4 a.m. restriction in the capital, in Chiangmai, and several other areas.
However, in a surprise move, the junta finally scrapped the curfew in all remaining areas effective last night (Friday June 13).
The move comes just in time for the second day of Fifa's World Cup in Brazil. Thais are pretty crazy for football and will watch as many broadcast matches as possible, but many of the live broadcasts will be late at night. Last night there were three matches at 10 p.m., 1 a.m., and 4 a.m.
Businesses with big screen HD and plenty of food and drink are expected, as usual, to cash in on the biggest sports event in the world apart from the Olympics.
While the curfew hasn't really cramped my own earlier-to-bed-at-this-age lifestyle, most Thais and farang are sure to welcome the news. This morning I overheard some Thais talking about how they'd gone out partying in the wee hours. In fact, they were only just returning home, at 10.30 a.m., to get some sleep.
Meanwhile, I had just slept through the entire canceled curfew following a somewhat difficult motorbike journey yesterday from Pai to Chiangmai. While I made excellent time in the first hour of my trip, once I passed the provincial border, I started getting hit by intermittent rain. In fact, the rain forced me to stop half a dozen times in the last 80 km (50 miles) of the trip. It took me about five hours to cover the entire 80 mile journey.
So I was fairly pleased to be back in Chiangmai today, and thrilled to find out that my Thai "niece" Pepo, daughter of my friend Marc, has arrived for a three-day weekend with her family. Pepo looks great and seems very happy and content with life. She was bubbling with enthusiasm about things in general, and she filled me a bit about her PR job with the Bangkok film company.
Her entry level salary is okay, but she also gets paid for overtime. The catch, however, is that she has to put in a lot of overtime. In fact, it seems as if she's expected to put in 16 hour days--everyday.
On the bright side her weekends are free, and she has friends to hang out with as she begins to settle into the work life routine.
This morning I ate northern style food (with sticky rice) with Pepo and her sister Miriam. This kind of food isn't for everybody (for many farang it involves acquiring a taste), but for northern Thais it is an integral part of their culture and home life.
I asked Pepo if she misses northern food in Bangkok. "For sure!" she said, adding that she's far too busy with work to seek out the cuisine in the capital.
However, in a surprise move, the junta finally scrapped the curfew in all remaining areas effective last night (Friday June 13).
The move comes just in time for the second day of Fifa's World Cup in Brazil. Thais are pretty crazy for football and will watch as many broadcast matches as possible, but many of the live broadcasts will be late at night. Last night there were three matches at 10 p.m., 1 a.m., and 4 a.m.
Businesses with big screen HD and plenty of food and drink are expected, as usual, to cash in on the biggest sports event in the world apart from the Olympics.
While the curfew hasn't really cramped my own earlier-to-bed-at-this-age lifestyle, most Thais and farang are sure to welcome the news. This morning I overheard some Thais talking about how they'd gone out partying in the wee hours. In fact, they were only just returning home, at 10.30 a.m., to get some sleep.
Meanwhile, I had just slept through the entire canceled curfew following a somewhat difficult motorbike journey yesterday from Pai to Chiangmai. While I made excellent time in the first hour of my trip, once I passed the provincial border, I started getting hit by intermittent rain. In fact, the rain forced me to stop half a dozen times in the last 80 km (50 miles) of the trip. It took me about five hours to cover the entire 80 mile journey.
So I was fairly pleased to be back in Chiangmai today, and thrilled to find out that my Thai "niece" Pepo, daughter of my friend Marc, has arrived for a three-day weekend with her family. Pepo looks great and seems very happy and content with life. She was bubbling with enthusiasm about things in general, and she filled me a bit about her PR job with the Bangkok film company.
Her entry level salary is okay, but she also gets paid for overtime. The catch, however, is that she has to put in a lot of overtime. In fact, it seems as if she's expected to put in 16 hour days--everyday.
On the bright side her weekends are free, and she has friends to hang out with as she begins to settle into the work life routine.
This morning I ate northern style food (with sticky rice) with Pepo and her sister Miriam. This kind of food isn't for everybody (for many farang it involves acquiring a taste), but for northern Thais it is an integral part of their culture and home life.
I asked Pepo if she misses northern food in Bangkok. "For sure!" she said, adding that she's far too busy with work to seek out the cuisine in the capital.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Pik and Stefan and Their Kids
Pik is my oldest Thai friend. She and I have known each other for almost 25 years (I am slightly older than her). She married my friend Marc in 1990, and their daughter Pepo was born in May 1991.
Although their marriage didn't last long, Marc sent money regularly for Pepo's education, and recently she earned her bachelor's degree in film studies from Rajabhat University in Bangkok.
A month ago Pepo found an entry level position in Bangkok with the Kantana Film Company with a decent starting salary.
Stefan, a young man from Germany, met Pik in the hills of Mae Hong Son Province in 1994 where they were both working--Pik as a trekking guide and Stefan as a silversmith. They fell in love and Stefan became Pepo's surrogate father.
In 1995 Pik gave birth to a son, Caspar. I remember Caspar when he was only two or three years old at the time I returned to Thailand in 1997 following a year in the States. At that time Pik and Stefan and the kids were living high in the hills of Mae Hong Son outside a Shan village overlooking a spectacular view of the bordering area of Burma. Their compound became a regular stop for me in my travels in northern Thailand in 1997-98 and early 2001, partly because it was a remote kind of paradise.
In 1999 their daughter Tara was born, followed quickly by another daughter, Miriam, toward the end of the year 2000. Tara was only two or so and Miriam just a baby when I visited the family in early 2001.
They were--and still are--perhaps an unusual family by Thai and even by Western standards. Never very affluent but always hard-working, they believed in a living philosophy of closeness to nature, limited materialism, healthy food, and a "balanced lifestyle" incorporating both work and and plenty of leisure.
This lifestyle was never easy for them. For example, soon it became clear, as the kids grew older, that the school in the Shan village would not be able provide an adequate education for their children. As the kids grew older, it became necessary for the family to move closer to the cities of the north, and away from their homemade paradise in Mae Hong Son.
By the time I returned again for annual visits in 2005-2007, Pepo was living with Pik's parents in Doi Saket, a town just a half hour's drive east of central Chiangmai. Later, Caspar joined Pepo there, and the kids began attending school in Chiangmai.
Around this time, the family acquired a house in Doi Saket while keeping the property in Mae Hong Son. It was here that I last saw everyone during my last trip in August 2007. Pepo was 16, Caspar 11, Tara just 8, and little Miriam only six years old.
Now Pepo is 23 and succeeding in Bangkok while her younger brother and sisters are fast-growing teenagers: Caspar is 18 and attending a technical school, Tara's15 and preparing for a year's exchange study in Germany, and little Miriam is already 13 and just starting the new school year as a high school student in Chiangmai.
While still keeping the Doi Saket house, the family began moving piecemeal but more or less permanently to Chiangmai about 2-3 years ago.
Currently they rent a 2 1/2 story shophouse not far from my hotel, and Stefan also rents a small shop in a heavily touristed lane in Chiangmai's old city where he sells his silver jewelry and custom-crafted silk screen t-shirts.
Life hasn't gotten any easier for them. Though solidly middle class, they have never been as affluent as the typical Thai-farang couple. Every baht they make is hard-earned. The combined rent of their shophouse and store is about 14,000 baht per month ( a little less than $500) which seems very cheap by Western standards but which I know from my own experience can seem quite expensive under the circumstances.
As the kids grow older, the family faces different kinds of problems. Today Pik and Stefan complain about having to pay so much for the IT gadgets the kids desire: the laptops, cellphones, and other items that most Thai youngsters seem to require (and take for granted) in this wired new millennium.
They worry that their teens are wasting too much time in front of their own individual screens, and that this type of activity will negatively impact their education.
Certainly these kind of worries will sound familiar to Western parents, too.
Although their marriage didn't last long, Marc sent money regularly for Pepo's education, and recently she earned her bachelor's degree in film studies from Rajabhat University in Bangkok.
A month ago Pepo found an entry level position in Bangkok with the Kantana Film Company with a decent starting salary.
Stefan, a young man from Germany, met Pik in the hills of Mae Hong Son Province in 1994 where they were both working--Pik as a trekking guide and Stefan as a silversmith. They fell in love and Stefan became Pepo's surrogate father.
In 1995 Pik gave birth to a son, Caspar. I remember Caspar when he was only two or three years old at the time I returned to Thailand in 1997 following a year in the States. At that time Pik and Stefan and the kids were living high in the hills of Mae Hong Son outside a Shan village overlooking a spectacular view of the bordering area of Burma. Their compound became a regular stop for me in my travels in northern Thailand in 1997-98 and early 2001, partly because it was a remote kind of paradise.
In 1999 their daughter Tara was born, followed quickly by another daughter, Miriam, toward the end of the year 2000. Tara was only two or so and Miriam just a baby when I visited the family in early 2001.
They were--and still are--perhaps an unusual family by Thai and even by Western standards. Never very affluent but always hard-working, they believed in a living philosophy of closeness to nature, limited materialism, healthy food, and a "balanced lifestyle" incorporating both work and and plenty of leisure.
This lifestyle was never easy for them. For example, soon it became clear, as the kids grew older, that the school in the Shan village would not be able provide an adequate education for their children. As the kids grew older, it became necessary for the family to move closer to the cities of the north, and away from their homemade paradise in Mae Hong Son.
By the time I returned again for annual visits in 2005-2007, Pepo was living with Pik's parents in Doi Saket, a town just a half hour's drive east of central Chiangmai. Later, Caspar joined Pepo there, and the kids began attending school in Chiangmai.
Around this time, the family acquired a house in Doi Saket while keeping the property in Mae Hong Son. It was here that I last saw everyone during my last trip in August 2007. Pepo was 16, Caspar 11, Tara just 8, and little Miriam only six years old.
Now Pepo is 23 and succeeding in Bangkok while her younger brother and sisters are fast-growing teenagers: Caspar is 18 and attending a technical school, Tara's15 and preparing for a year's exchange study in Germany, and little Miriam is already 13 and just starting the new school year as a high school student in Chiangmai.
While still keeping the Doi Saket house, the family began moving piecemeal but more or less permanently to Chiangmai about 2-3 years ago.
Currently they rent a 2 1/2 story shophouse not far from my hotel, and Stefan also rents a small shop in a heavily touristed lane in Chiangmai's old city where he sells his silver jewelry and custom-crafted silk screen t-shirts.
Life hasn't gotten any easier for them. Though solidly middle class, they have never been as affluent as the typical Thai-farang couple. Every baht they make is hard-earned. The combined rent of their shophouse and store is about 14,000 baht per month ( a little less than $500) which seems very cheap by Western standards but which I know from my own experience can seem quite expensive under the circumstances.
As the kids grow older, the family faces different kinds of problems. Today Pik and Stefan complain about having to pay so much for the IT gadgets the kids desire: the laptops, cellphones, and other items that most Thai youngsters seem to require (and take for granted) in this wired new millennium.
They worry that their teens are wasting too much time in front of their own individual screens, and that this type of activity will negatively impact their education.
Certainly these kind of worries will sound familiar to Western parents, too.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Settling in Chiang Mai
I'm finally settling into something of a quiet routine here in Chiangmai with a cheap but good hotel room:
https://www.google.co.th/?gws_rd=cr&ei=YgOIU47rMIbmrAfK1YDwAw#q=rest+bull+bed+and+bar
The "bar" part of the "bed and bar" service is closed for the low season. I'm also benefiting from a low season rate of almost 30% below the high season rate.
The monsoon season is just beginning so we've had overcast skies the past 2-3 days, but no heavy rains just yet.
The people I've talked to say it's definitely a slower low season than usual, but they don't necessarily attribute that to the recent coup and curtailed nightly business hours.
In this "old city" neighborhood, within the 700 year-old city walls, I have access to a couple good coffee shops, 8-10 restaurants that run the gamut of Thai cuisine, a couple convenience stores, 2-3 Thai traditional massage shops (about $12 for two hours), 3-4 laundry services (about $1 per kilo), and the famous Kasem store:
https://www.google.co.th/?gws_rd=cr&ei=-wSIU-TSPMbnrAeg8oHoAw#q=kasem+store+chiangmai
This is a local institution where you can buy excellent baguettes, imported cheese, vegemite, Fruit Loops (for real!) and other farang goodies.
Also nearby is the Warorot Market:
http://www.visitchiangmai.com.au/warorot_market.html
As nice as it is to feel like I'm settling in, there's also a strange feeling underlying it all: has it really been seven years since my last visit? (Yes, and it feels longer.) Did I really live here for most of eight years in the 1990s? (Yes, but what a world of a different time that was, and what a different city Chiangmai is now.) Can I still speak and understand Thai? (Yes, although I can tell my pronunciation of some of the tonal syllables is a little rusty.)
The youngest people I meet here--those under 25 years of age--weren't even born when I first visited in 1989. At that time Chiangmai's population was estimated to be around 100,000. Today, the city is at least five times that size with about 1.6 million people in Chiangmai Province.
And while The Rose of the North has always been a top destination for farang travelers and tourists, the past decade or so has seen the city evolve into the premier weekend getaway destination for affluent Bangkokians and other middle class Thais.
https://www.google.co.th/?gws_rd=cr&ei=YgOIU47rMIbmrAfK1YDwAw#q=rest+bull+bed+and+bar
The "bar" part of the "bed and bar" service is closed for the low season. I'm also benefiting from a low season rate of almost 30% below the high season rate.
The monsoon season is just beginning so we've had overcast skies the past 2-3 days, but no heavy rains just yet.
The people I've talked to say it's definitely a slower low season than usual, but they don't necessarily attribute that to the recent coup and curtailed nightly business hours.
In this "old city" neighborhood, within the 700 year-old city walls, I have access to a couple good coffee shops, 8-10 restaurants that run the gamut of Thai cuisine, a couple convenience stores, 2-3 Thai traditional massage shops (about $12 for two hours), 3-4 laundry services (about $1 per kilo), and the famous Kasem store:
https://www.google.co.th/?gws_rd=cr&ei=-wSIU-TSPMbnrAeg8oHoAw#q=kasem+store+chiangmai
This is a local institution where you can buy excellent baguettes, imported cheese, vegemite, Fruit Loops (for real!) and other farang goodies.
Also nearby is the Warorot Market:
http://www.visitchiangmai.com.au/warorot_market.html
As nice as it is to feel like I'm settling in, there's also a strange feeling underlying it all: has it really been seven years since my last visit? (Yes, and it feels longer.) Did I really live here for most of eight years in the 1990s? (Yes, but what a world of a different time that was, and what a different city Chiangmai is now.) Can I still speak and understand Thai? (Yes, although I can tell my pronunciation of some of the tonal syllables is a little rusty.)
The youngest people I meet here--those under 25 years of age--weren't even born when I first visited in 1989. At that time Chiangmai's population was estimated to be around 100,000. Today, the city is at least five times that size with about 1.6 million people in Chiangmai Province.
And while The Rose of the North has always been a top destination for farang travelers and tourists, the past decade or so has seen the city evolve into the premier weekend getaway destination for affluent Bangkokians and other middle class Thais.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Thai Curfew Eased Somewhat
Yesterday I flew from Hanoi to Bangkok, cleared immigration very quickly, and bought a seat on the last flight to Chiangmai.
The BCC reported this morning that the army has eased curfew restrictions somewhat from 10pm-5am to midnight-4am. This is better news for the economy which has been contracting all year because of the political gridlock which led to the coup, and the coup certainly hasn't improved that grim outlook.
Half the TV channels are shut down and replaced by an Orwellian screensaver with the name of the junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (Thai acronym Khor Sor Chor), and its red, blue, yellow, and brown seals.
All active TV channels have the Khor Sor Chor logo stamped on the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Thais are quite used to this sort of thing, but it sure looks awfully "funny" to Westerners. CNN is still unavailable, but the BBC, for some reason, is allowed to air its reports on "spontaneous" demonstrations.
The opposition PPT website (or at least its "mirrored" version) is apparently unblocked by the authorities. Maybe that's because the site is in English. Check out the links below for PPT's newest online reports:
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/interview-with-released-political-detainee/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/hrw-thailand-rights-in-free-fall-after-coup/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/national-peace-and-order-maintenance-council-announcement-no-372557/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/prayuths-press-conference/
The BCC reported this morning that the army has eased curfew restrictions somewhat from 10pm-5am to midnight-4am. This is better news for the economy which has been contracting all year because of the political gridlock which led to the coup, and the coup certainly hasn't improved that grim outlook.
Half the TV channels are shut down and replaced by an Orwellian screensaver with the name of the junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (Thai acronym Khor Sor Chor), and its red, blue, yellow, and brown seals.
All active TV channels have the Khor Sor Chor logo stamped on the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Thais are quite used to this sort of thing, but it sure looks awfully "funny" to Westerners. CNN is still unavailable, but the BBC, for some reason, is allowed to air its reports on "spontaneous" demonstrations.
The opposition PPT website (or at least its "mirrored" version) is apparently unblocked by the authorities. Maybe that's because the site is in English. Check out the links below for PPT's newest online reports:
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/interview-with-released-political-detainee/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/hrw-thailand-rights-in-free-fall-after-coup/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/national-peace-and-order-maintenance-council-announcement-no-372557/
http://politicalprisonersofthailand.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/prayuths-press-conference/
Monday, May 26, 2014
Thai Academics Criticize Junta For Speech Suppression
Friday, May 23, 2014
Safe in Hanoi
I arrived
safe in Hanoi last night after a grueling 60 hour journey from O'Hare.
My original Tuesday night flight was canceled because of a mechanical
problem exacerbated by thunderstorms which prevented mechanics from
working on the aircraft. Qatar Airways made a very poor first
impression on me when they basically dumped us for the night without
food or lodging.
Of my 60 hour ordeal, about 15 of those hours were spent, standing in line, dealing with the extremely frustrating and incompetent QA bureaucracy, and waiting for them to fix their errors (such as issuing me the wrong boarding passes).
Now that I'm in Vietnam, I'm looking for all the news reports I can find regarding this bizarre coup in Bangkok. Of the 19 or so coup attempts and successes in the past 80 years, this one was really quite different for a number of reasons. You can find out more here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/
Also check out this website for many reports from the opposition in Thailand and the large Thai diaspora :
http://
I'm checking these and other websites now while I'm in Vietnam because they are likely to be blocked in Thailand. Indeed, the Thai army shut down about a dozen TV channels including CNN, so Thais aren't able to get real news for the moment.
Although its reports are likely to be censored, you can also check out the Bangkok Post:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/
Although this news sounds really bad to us Americans, it's really much worse for the Thais and for Thailand's political development.
The irony here is that with the coup, Bankok is likely to be very safe now that the army has closed both semi-permanent protest camps and imposed a 10pm-4am curfew on the capital.
CNN reported that protesters turned out to support the arrested ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra, but apart from some minor scuffling with police, there was no violence. CNN said the protesters eventually dispersed and went home for the curfew.
I'm monitoring things very closely ahead of my Tuesday arrival, but I'm not worried about getting snagged up in any of it. The neighborhood where I stay is quite far from the government districts which are so often the target of both Red Shirt and Yellow Shirt protesters.
Of my 60 hour ordeal, about 15 of those hours were spent, standing in line, dealing with the extremely frustrating and incompetent QA bureaucracy, and waiting for them to fix their errors (such as issuing me the wrong boarding passes).
Now that I'm in Vietnam, I'm looking for all the news reports I can find regarding this bizarre coup in Bangkok. Of the 19 or so coup attempts and successes in the past 80 years, this one was really quite different for a number of reasons. You can find out more here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/
Also check out this website for many reports from the opposition in Thailand and the large Thai diaspora :
http://
I'm checking these and other websites now while I'm in Vietnam because they are likely to be blocked in Thailand. Indeed, the Thai army shut down about a dozen TV channels including CNN, so Thais aren't able to get real news for the moment.
Although its reports are likely to be censored, you can also check out the Bangkok Post:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/
Although this news sounds really bad to us Americans, it's really much worse for the Thais and for Thailand's political development.
The irony here is that with the coup, Bankok is likely to be very safe now that the army has closed both semi-permanent protest camps and imposed a 10pm-4am curfew on the capital.
CNN reported that protesters turned out to support the arrested ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra, but apart from some minor scuffling with police, there was no violence. CNN said the protesters eventually dispersed and went home for the curfew.
I'm monitoring things very closely ahead of my Tuesday arrival, but I'm not worried about getting snagged up in any of it. The neighborhood where I stay is quite far from the government districts which are so often the target of both Red Shirt and Yellow Shirt protesters.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Weekend Crowds Take Over in the DF
With el Chopo and Insurgentes visited in the morning, in the afternoon I took another Metro train up to the Tepito Market. This turned out to be a huge affair taking up all the sidewalk as well as two lanes of each side of a six lane boulevard extending for at least six city blocks and spreading out on all side streets for that length.
This market not only had the usual pirated knockoffs, but stall after stall of jeans, shirts, underwear, socks, and almost anything imaginable. The crowds spilled out into the street where six lanes of a one way boulevard were bottlenecked into two, creating a massive traffic jam for the length of the market.
Fairly typical of the "Third World" market, Tepito was reminiscent of the gigantic Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok or the equally large Marche aux Puces in Paris.
A walk from Tepito southwest took me past the Plaza Santo Domingo--sort of a mini Zocalo--to the Calle Donceles where, as advertised, I found at least a dozen used book shops.
In a country where new English language titles can set you back $40-50 even for paperback, it was refreshing to find prices more in line with the budget traveler: $2-10 depending on the title and condition.
Not all the shops had English language titles, but I found a huge pile in the back corner of one place, and many of these books were from the 1970s or earlier.
Walking further down Donceles took me to both the national Chamber of Deputies and the Mexican Senate. And on another pedestrian walkway, the Calle Condesa, I was delighted to find an unofficial used book market on the street, though there weren't any non-Spanish language books in sight.
My walk then took me past the UNAM university bookstore where next door there appeared to be an exhibit dedicated to "Instruments of Torture and Capital Punishment." This reminded me that the Police Museum, near my hotel, has an exhibit titled "Serial Killers."
This morning I took the Metro way up to the northeast side of the city to check out the Virgin of Guadalupe. Perhaps most simply described as the most important religious shrine in Mexico, this attraction apparently draws throngs of visitors 24/7.
I will admit that the crowds nearly defeated me today, and it took me nearly a half hour to find a less crowded way into the broad square where thousands of visitors came to pay their repects, some of them actually walking on their knees to do so.
A colonial relic of a cathedral, sinking into Mexico City's soft ground, is flanked by a couple of even larger modern structures where people flow in and out constantly to choral music piped into huge speakers. A larger than life bronze statue of John Paul II overlooks the entire scene.
Back on the Metro, I faced my first experience with a transport breakdown and wasted an hour trying to get a train back downtown. Apparently a bicycle race near the Alameda-Zocalo route completely messed up many of the major bus routes, but I have no idea what delayed the metro trains.
All I know is it was a bit scary to see the crowds pouring into the station platform with almost no trains arriving to ease the jam.
This market not only had the usual pirated knockoffs, but stall after stall of jeans, shirts, underwear, socks, and almost anything imaginable. The crowds spilled out into the street where six lanes of a one way boulevard were bottlenecked into two, creating a massive traffic jam for the length of the market.
Fairly typical of the "Third World" market, Tepito was reminiscent of the gigantic Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok or the equally large Marche aux Puces in Paris.
A walk from Tepito southwest took me past the Plaza Santo Domingo--sort of a mini Zocalo--to the Calle Donceles where, as advertised, I found at least a dozen used book shops.
In a country where new English language titles can set you back $40-50 even for paperback, it was refreshing to find prices more in line with the budget traveler: $2-10 depending on the title and condition.
Not all the shops had English language titles, but I found a huge pile in the back corner of one place, and many of these books were from the 1970s or earlier.
Walking further down Donceles took me to both the national Chamber of Deputies and the Mexican Senate. And on another pedestrian walkway, the Calle Condesa, I was delighted to find an unofficial used book market on the street, though there weren't any non-Spanish language books in sight.
My walk then took me past the UNAM university bookstore where next door there appeared to be an exhibit dedicated to "Instruments of Torture and Capital Punishment." This reminded me that the Police Museum, near my hotel, has an exhibit titled "Serial Killers."
This morning I took the Metro way up to the northeast side of the city to check out the Virgin of Guadalupe. Perhaps most simply described as the most important religious shrine in Mexico, this attraction apparently draws throngs of visitors 24/7.
I will admit that the crowds nearly defeated me today, and it took me nearly a half hour to find a less crowded way into the broad square where thousands of visitors came to pay their repects, some of them actually walking on their knees to do so.
A colonial relic of a cathedral, sinking into Mexico City's soft ground, is flanked by a couple of even larger modern structures where people flow in and out constantly to choral music piped into huge speakers. A larger than life bronze statue of John Paul II overlooks the entire scene.
Back on the Metro, I faced my first experience with a transport breakdown and wasted an hour trying to get a train back downtown. Apparently a bicycle race near the Alameda-Zocalo route completely messed up many of the major bus routes, but I have no idea what delayed the metro trains.
All I know is it was a bit scary to see the crowds pouring into the station platform with almost no trains arriving to ease the jam.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
World Cup Fever
Nicaragua's national pasttime is baseball, but like most of the rest of the world they're crazy about futbol, too. With daily matches in South Africa at around 5.00 a.m., 8.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m., I find myself getting into World Cup fever like everyone else.
The last time I was in a country that cared about the World Cup (yes, this is a barely veiled criticism of Americans who see "soccer" as a kids' game that otherwise is reeally booring on TV) was in 1994, the year the U.S. hosted the event for the first time.
I was in my fourth year of "exile" in Thailand, at that time living in Bangkok and in a work situation that was making me increasingly unhappy. Therefore, I welcomed the distraction of the month-long tournament, and I felt more than just a little pride that my country turned out to be such a fine host. (The U.S. team didn't do too badly, either, as I recall, making the semi-finals.)
So I'd head out to the bars and cafes in my neighborhood to watch the matches with other fans, Thais and Westerners alike. Only problem was these matches were on Thai TV at 2.00 a.m. until 7.00 or 9.00 a.m. daily. Everyone in Thailand, indeed everyone across East Asia, was going sleep-deprived.
But it was that month that I discovered World Cup football isn't always as boring as some of us say. Yes, sometimes on TV it's just a wide shot of 22 guys kicking a tiny ball around that you can barely see. And yes, a 0-0 draw usually ain't much of a game.
But once you get your mind set fixed on what's happening, you begin to see how exciting it can be at times, even when it's 1-1 at the half and no sign of either team pulling ahead.
If you don't believe me, I suggest patience, my friend! Crack open another beer, enjoy the fact that they don't interrupt this 45 minute half with commericals, and wait for the next score. Then check out the slow motion replays. If you don't get hooked on what these amazing athletes are doing by watching all the angles of every score, then I'll eat my hat.
I watched a couple 1-1 draws this morning and yesterday. If I don't have any skin in the game, I´ll root for the underdog. Yesterday the underdog was Ghana matched up with Australia. While Ghana is having an excellent year, winning its first match against Serbia, and Australia was expected to be very strong, the Aussies have been struggling with their game while one of their best players was suspended with a red card in the 24th minute. They barely managed to hold Ghana to the draw.
Then today Italy was the powerhouse vs lowly New Zealand. It was thrilling to see the New Zealanders take the early lead, but the best they could do by the 90th minute was hold tight to that 1-1 "lead." Italy has won 44 World Cup matches while New Zealand has won none.
Meanwhile "underdog" United States managed to hold former World Cup champs England to a 1-1 draw in their first match. Go U.S.A.!
Perhaps many Central Americans will show their support for Honduras, which is the only representative from the region, and which lost its first match against Chile. Tomorrow the Hondurans face Spain.
Even if I go for the underdog, I gotta admit it was fun to watch Brazil kick some North Korean butt 2-1 last week. Today the bigshot Brazilians are in the prime time 1.00 p.m. match against Ivory Coast. Don't miss it 'cause the Brazilian fans put on a great show, too!
The last time I was in a country that cared about the World Cup (yes, this is a barely veiled criticism of Americans who see "soccer" as a kids' game that otherwise is reeally booring on TV) was in 1994, the year the U.S. hosted the event for the first time.
I was in my fourth year of "exile" in Thailand, at that time living in Bangkok and in a work situation that was making me increasingly unhappy. Therefore, I welcomed the distraction of the month-long tournament, and I felt more than just a little pride that my country turned out to be such a fine host. (The U.S. team didn't do too badly, either, as I recall, making the semi-finals.)
So I'd head out to the bars and cafes in my neighborhood to watch the matches with other fans, Thais and Westerners alike. Only problem was these matches were on Thai TV at 2.00 a.m. until 7.00 or 9.00 a.m. daily. Everyone in Thailand, indeed everyone across East Asia, was going sleep-deprived.
But it was that month that I discovered World Cup football isn't always as boring as some of us say. Yes, sometimes on TV it's just a wide shot of 22 guys kicking a tiny ball around that you can barely see. And yes, a 0-0 draw usually ain't much of a game.
But once you get your mind set fixed on what's happening, you begin to see how exciting it can be at times, even when it's 1-1 at the half and no sign of either team pulling ahead.
If you don't believe me, I suggest patience, my friend! Crack open another beer, enjoy the fact that they don't interrupt this 45 minute half with commericals, and wait for the next score. Then check out the slow motion replays. If you don't get hooked on what these amazing athletes are doing by watching all the angles of every score, then I'll eat my hat.
I watched a couple 1-1 draws this morning and yesterday. If I don't have any skin in the game, I´ll root for the underdog. Yesterday the underdog was Ghana matched up with Australia. While Ghana is having an excellent year, winning its first match against Serbia, and Australia was expected to be very strong, the Aussies have been struggling with their game while one of their best players was suspended with a red card in the 24th minute. They barely managed to hold Ghana to the draw.
Then today Italy was the powerhouse vs lowly New Zealand. It was thrilling to see the New Zealanders take the early lead, but the best they could do by the 90th minute was hold tight to that 1-1 "lead." Italy has won 44 World Cup matches while New Zealand has won none.
Meanwhile "underdog" United States managed to hold former World Cup champs England to a 1-1 draw in their first match. Go U.S.A.!
Perhaps many Central Americans will show their support for Honduras, which is the only representative from the region, and which lost its first match against Chile. Tomorrow the Hondurans face Spain.
Even if I go for the underdog, I gotta admit it was fun to watch Brazil kick some North Korean butt 2-1 last week. Today the bigshot Brazilians are in the prime time 1.00 p.m. match against Ivory Coast. Don't miss it 'cause the Brazilian fans put on a great show, too!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Something Out of a John LeCarre or Graham Greene Novel
Okay, I guess it's official: Leon has turned out to be "the place that sticks" for me on this trip, at least for the present moment, since tonight I'll spend my fifth night in a row here (Day 22). I'm still agnostic on returning to Las Peñitas for a couple days, but I'm definitely sure about heading out somewhere else tomorrow.
I'm staying here a bit longer not because there are tons more westerners here, including young European backpackers and American college kids, than I've seen anywhere else in three weeks.
Indeed, there are also plenty of Our Man in Havana types lurking about in the bars and cafes. Am I one of them? It reminds me of the time I returned to Bangkok after a long absence and encountered two Brits who tried to wind me up by accusing me of being a DEA narc.
There's another "quiet American" type sitting over there in the cafe where I'm writing this "dispatch," but he's drinking beer while I'm enjoying my late morning latte. He's "old school", I guess.
By my demeanor, the folks from Witness for Peace must think I'm an operative for the top secret "ABC" agency, with a direct line to the Managua station chief himself. "I'm a Suzuki violin teacher," I tell them, feeling somewhat lame as I do so. Yeah, right! That sounds like a perfect cover, or "legend", for my true purposes here. After all, why else would I be asking so many questions about the Colombian, the Venezuelan, and the Cuban legs of their fact-finding mission?
M says WfP has offical permission from the State Department to make this trip to Cuba. The organization also requires Cuban government permission--not difficult for them to get if they are as liberal as they are made out to be on the internet. "The bad thing about that is we won't be able to escape our Cuban government minders," he says. M and R both invited me to join them for the Nicaraguan leg--"There's always room for more"--but I mentioned that I knew I'd have to pay $1000 for the privilege, which they readily confirmed.
R acknowledged that WfP does make a profit from their volunteers at this $100 per day rate. "But that also includes room and board with local families, overland transport, expert guides and interpreters," she says.
We discuss the risks of traveling, as Americans, to Cuba without offical U.S. sanction. I've heard that a common route is through Cancun, where the cheapest Havana flights and Cuban visas are available at around $300 for the total package.
I remember a story about a California musician who bought old upright pianos to refurbish which he then turned around and exported to Cuba for use in the dance and music academies. Upon his return to the U.S. from one of his Cuba trips, the authorities nailed him, and the Treasury Department imposed an $8000 fine. As I recall, the musician's reaction was something along the line of "this is a situation of can't pay, so won't pay." He didn't even have enough money to hire a lawyer because all his extra money was going into second hand pianos.
M claims that if I failed to slip back into America from Cuba without the authorities noticing, and if Treasury were to hit me with a big fine, then the ACLU would take my case. "And they've never lost a case," he says. I don't know how accurate this information is, but it's an interesting question: Is full liberty to travel, where and when you please, without government interference, a First Amendment right? How ironic that Washington demanded the end of all Iron Curtain travel restrictions at the height of the Cold War, yet today retains its own anachronistic restrictions.
It seems that this 50 year-old Washington anti-Cuba policy serves no one except a small but vocal constituency in Florida. This policy does not benefit the U.S.A., and it doesn't prevent the Cuban government from doing exactly what it wants.
These economic embargo policies really have only losers: both the American and Cuban peoples. Cubans miss out on the economic benefits of free trade with the U.S. And Americans miss out on the many cultural benefits of Cuban arts, music, dance, food etc. In other words, the good stuff.
But beyond all that, in the 21st century, isn't it time to end all passport restrictions for Americans? Currently, even this "minor" restriction vis-a-vis Cuba seems just a bit. . .well, unAmerican.
I'm staying here a bit longer not because there are tons more westerners here, including young European backpackers and American college kids, than I've seen anywhere else in three weeks.
Indeed, there are also plenty of Our Man in Havana types lurking about in the bars and cafes. Am I one of them? It reminds me of the time I returned to Bangkok after a long absence and encountered two Brits who tried to wind me up by accusing me of being a DEA narc.
There's another "quiet American" type sitting over there in the cafe where I'm writing this "dispatch," but he's drinking beer while I'm enjoying my late morning latte. He's "old school", I guess.
By my demeanor, the folks from Witness for Peace must think I'm an operative for the top secret "ABC" agency, with a direct line to the Managua station chief himself. "I'm a Suzuki violin teacher," I tell them, feeling somewhat lame as I do so. Yeah, right! That sounds like a perfect cover, or "legend", for my true purposes here. After all, why else would I be asking so many questions about the Colombian, the Venezuelan, and the Cuban legs of their fact-finding mission?
M says WfP has offical permission from the State Department to make this trip to Cuba. The organization also requires Cuban government permission--not difficult for them to get if they are as liberal as they are made out to be on the internet. "The bad thing about that is we won't be able to escape our Cuban government minders," he says. M and R both invited me to join them for the Nicaraguan leg--"There's always room for more"--but I mentioned that I knew I'd have to pay $1000 for the privilege, which they readily confirmed.
R acknowledged that WfP does make a profit from their volunteers at this $100 per day rate. "But that also includes room and board with local families, overland transport, expert guides and interpreters," she says.
We discuss the risks of traveling, as Americans, to Cuba without offical U.S. sanction. I've heard that a common route is through Cancun, where the cheapest Havana flights and Cuban visas are available at around $300 for the total package.
I remember a story about a California musician who bought old upright pianos to refurbish which he then turned around and exported to Cuba for use in the dance and music academies. Upon his return to the U.S. from one of his Cuba trips, the authorities nailed him, and the Treasury Department imposed an $8000 fine. As I recall, the musician's reaction was something along the line of "this is a situation of can't pay, so won't pay." He didn't even have enough money to hire a lawyer because all his extra money was going into second hand pianos.
M claims that if I failed to slip back into America from Cuba without the authorities noticing, and if Treasury were to hit me with a big fine, then the ACLU would take my case. "And they've never lost a case," he says. I don't know how accurate this information is, but it's an interesting question: Is full liberty to travel, where and when you please, without government interference, a First Amendment right? How ironic that Washington demanded the end of all Iron Curtain travel restrictions at the height of the Cold War, yet today retains its own anachronistic restrictions.
It seems that this 50 year-old Washington anti-Cuba policy serves no one except a small but vocal constituency in Florida. This policy does not benefit the U.S.A., and it doesn't prevent the Cuban government from doing exactly what it wants.
These economic embargo policies really have only losers: both the American and Cuban peoples. Cubans miss out on the economic benefits of free trade with the U.S. And Americans miss out on the many cultural benefits of Cuban arts, music, dance, food etc. In other words, the good stuff.
But beyond all that, in the 21st century, isn't it time to end all passport restrictions for Americans? Currently, even this "minor" restriction vis-a-vis Cuba seems just a bit. . .well, unAmerican.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The Savior Saint is a Gritty Capital City
I've been to a few traffic-choked, chaotic and suffocatingly hot, polluted big cities in my time (Bangkok immediately comes to mind), but San Salvador comes close to taking the cake for its ability to exhaust the visitor after only an hour or so out & about the grimy central district. Like Mexico City the altitude here is already high while the city itself is surrounded by higher mountains. This tends to keep stagnant the noxious smoke & fumes from hundreds of belching buses that ply these city streets on a constant basis.
If the pollution wasn't so bad, the heat & humidity would knock anyone out by itself, but taken all together it makes for a health hazardous triple whammy. Every time I make an errand run I catch myself heading back to my aircon cool, cozy room after 60-90 minutes tops. But I've seen the usual sights: the one or two big cathedrals, the plazas, the parks, the markets, and the big colonial government buildings. This city makes you feel that if you've seen one Central American capital then you've seen them all.
So it's onward and outward again tomorrow, probably to the eastern El Salvador hub of San Miguel where I can catch a Tica bus to Managua. I went looking for the Tica terminal today but lost hope & gave up after an hour. I know I was close and maybe getting closer, but the locals I asked for directions from kept sending me in circles!
What more can I write about El Salvador and its capital? This country is the smallest in Central America--about the size of Massachusetts--and it has one of the smallest populations at around 7 million. It's the only country in the world named after Jesus Christ (The Savior), with its capital also named for "Saint" Savior. Salvadoreans suffered a brutal civil war in the 1980s, but now the country has been more or less at peace, at least politically, for almost two decades. Despite the fact that El Salvador has a somewhat dodgy reputation for crime & violence, I've noticed that the friendly people really seem to work hard to counteract that, welcoming the foreign visitor with goodwill & helpful advice.
It's definitely it a bit off the tourist's beaten path. You don't see very many Westerners here, American or European. But I feel it's worth a visit (it's my second in two years) to see how a remarkably tough, resiliant, vibrant people can climb their way back from such past horror & adversity--and with a generally cheerful & optimistic outlook for the future.
If the pollution wasn't so bad, the heat & humidity would knock anyone out by itself, but taken all together it makes for a health hazardous triple whammy. Every time I make an errand run I catch myself heading back to my aircon cool, cozy room after 60-90 minutes tops. But I've seen the usual sights: the one or two big cathedrals, the plazas, the parks, the markets, and the big colonial government buildings. This city makes you feel that if you've seen one Central American capital then you've seen them all.
So it's onward and outward again tomorrow, probably to the eastern El Salvador hub of San Miguel where I can catch a Tica bus to Managua. I went looking for the Tica terminal today but lost hope & gave up after an hour. I know I was close and maybe getting closer, but the locals I asked for directions from kept sending me in circles!
What more can I write about El Salvador and its capital? This country is the smallest in Central America--about the size of Massachusetts--and it has one of the smallest populations at around 7 million. It's the only country in the world named after Jesus Christ (The Savior), with its capital also named for "Saint" Savior. Salvadoreans suffered a brutal civil war in the 1980s, but now the country has been more or less at peace, at least politically, for almost two decades. Despite the fact that El Salvador has a somewhat dodgy reputation for crime & violence, I've noticed that the friendly people really seem to work hard to counteract that, welcoming the foreign visitor with goodwill & helpful advice.
It's definitely it a bit off the tourist's beaten path. You don't see very many Westerners here, American or European. But I feel it's worth a visit (it's my second in two years) to see how a remarkably tough, resiliant, vibrant people can climb their way back from such past horror & adversity--and with a generally cheerful & optimistic outlook for the future.
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