Subject: Let's Talk Hot Food
Hello All,
I tried to send an email a couple days ago but I couldn't send anything. (for you geeks, IE would crash on popups so I couldn't open a send)
First let me catch you up on what's happened. We flew from Bangkok on the second day and by lunch we were heading north out of Chang Mai (a city in northern Thialand) on 2 bikes. One is a big dirt bike with street tires (known as a motard to bike guys) and the other is a bike I fell in love with - a VFR 400 from Japan that they don't sell to North Americans. It's likely the most fun bike I've ever ridden. It cool, cool, cool, has an engine that revs to the moon, it's light, moderately uncomfortable, has a roasting hot seat and handles spectacularly. It put big smiles on both our faces. We're going to see if we can import a couple to Calgary.
When I found out it was going to be 35 to 40C just before we came (nope, I wasn't smart enough to look beforehand) I asked Rob how we weren't going to boil over. Not explaining he said "we won't". What he didn't tell me about was that the festival we were showing up for, where people throw water at each other, would also take place on the highway in all the little towns we passed through. It was ripping hot out and, despite us tearing down the road at over 40C, I was absolutely freezing cold - so cold I was actually thinking I'd get sick - because we were sopping wet from kids throwing water on us. It was SO much fun. When the kids would see we were farang (a term for any foreigner but we're damned easy to spot - and they pronounce it "falang") they would light up, yell "farang'', "happy new year", "songkran" (the name of the festival), "hello" and all sorts of things and Rob even got a shot of whiskey. One thing that made things a little dramatic was that the VFR has a hockey puck middle tread on the back tire (yes, that's bad but the edges still hang on for cornering) and when it gets wet it spins like hell. So, when we got a bucket of water and then got on the throttle it could get a bit dramatic.
We spent the first night in the mountains near Bhurma at a very rustic place. The fellow running it, James is his English name, was so excited to see Rob when we got there. He was a heckuva host and I could spend a whole long email talking about him, but, let me share a couple stories only.
James story one involves our, ummmm, "cabin". It was very open and had a thatched roof. It was huge and had 4 beds. It was really cool, but it was also full of big flying insects and, worst of all, we saw a big-ass spider. It was about the size of a fried egg and just about as dense. This was no spindly thing but a big thick spider. We talked and realized we were going to have trouble sleeping in there. Thank goodness James decided to bunk with us in one of the other beds! I had one blanket wrapped around me like a condom but it was small enough to leave me exposed from the chest and up. As I sat up to adjust it - in just about pitch blackness and imagining a big-ass spider sinking its fangs into me - one of the big flying bugs flew through my hair. I'm sure I made little girl noises and swatted at my hair. I then took another blanket, wrapped it like a second condom around me from my waist to head and prepared for a sleepless night. It was at least 30C in the room so you can imagine how hot it was swathed in my coccoon. James then left and came back with bug nets. Oh, oh, oh those were welcome. We hung them from the ceiling, tucked them under our mattresses and then I slept like a baby - occasionally woken up by demented roosters (where on earth did the idea that they crow at dawn come from?!? They crowed everywhere we slept in Thialand - whether in the sticks, wee towns or in the middle of Bangkok!) or something scurring about. Spider? Rat? Snake? It didn't matter because I was so tired and I had a bug net!!
James story too is really cool. He asked us if we wanted to visit someplace different. "Sure". So, he took us to a little museum way off the beaten path that was about a stone's throw from the Bhurmese border. He first had us walk up a hill and showed us a "jail". It was a hole in the ground where people were thrown in and often never saw the light of day from again. I have pictures and Rob has video. It was a creepy experience. We were in a place where a war was waged for a small nation and appears to have been financed by Opium (see http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,203585,00.html if you want some details) Rob figures it is a place that the Thailand government would never encourage tourism)
So, a bit more drama - later that day we were about to run out of gas in the mountains and Rob thought but wasn't confident of the next place to get some. I was on the thirsty VFR so we decide that I'd stay in the this wee settlement at a crossroads while he went ahead to make sure. My bike had headlights but his didn't. As the sky began to turn the orange of dusk an hour or two later, Rob had not returned. I was in a place that appeared to have no accomodations, no one spoke English, I didn't know where the hell I was really and Rob was nowhere to be seen. I was a little freaked to say the least. Rob then pulled up with a fellow in a pickup truck and told me that a few km down the road he had run out of gas. I basically said something like "I'm glad to see you're ok and I was wondering what the hell I was gonna do - I didn't want to sleep with the mosquitoes!" All was fine an hour or-so later as we checked into a room very close to the northernmost point in Thailand.
We spent a day in Chang Rai (and I can't for the life of me think of what we did there - I'm kind of tired right now) and then headed back to Chang Mai. We stopped for lunch and Rob once again ridiculed me at me for refusing ice or water. He said something like "soon you're going to have moat water dumped all over you and you worry about the ice?!?" With a small WTF I started drinking the water. Moat water, you ask? One of the big reasons we came at this time of year was the Songkran festival for the Thailand new year. They celebrate by throwing water at each other. This is insane. If you are anywhere near the moat surrounding the old city (in the middle of the new one) then you're gonna be wet. Your only choice, really, is to arm yourself and fight back. This is just about the most fun I've had in years and years. Seeing as it's a giant opportunity to be obnoxious, why not just put blocks of ice in your water? So that's what people do. Why dump some comfy moat water down someone's back when you can mix it with ice so they dance and and scream?!?
Jump ahead a couple days and now we're in Siem Reap, Cambodia. We're primarily here to go see the temples of Angkor Wat. It's a world heritage site and is a huge array of temples built many hundreds of years ago.
Rob wanted to bring me by land so that I could experience the stress and excitement of the border - children clawing at my backpack and border guards siezing my passport with no explanation. Yesterday started with an early morning taxi to the bus station in Bangkok, followed by a 5 hour bus ride to the border (in a surprisingly nice bus with lots of leg room, leather seats and a driver demonstrating that bus will actually corner quite well). We stopped a few times to drop people off, pick up folks, get fuel and for me to try more local junk food. The junk food here is damn good, by the way. We got to the border and much of it was different. Other than a lot of waiting there was little drama.
The negotiation for a taxi was a blur while Rob negotiated, I moved money from one place on my body to another and then paid. They asked us if we wanted to share with another guy to save him money. I asked if the ride was long, Rob said yes and I said "no, I'd rather be comfortable". This was rude but thank God I was rude. The road was horrible and I needed the entire back seat to lay down and not re-herniate a disk in my back - yes, it was that bad. When we stopped for a beer and a water, Rob asked me something like "how long do you thing the suspension will last in these cars?!?" I napped most of the way while rigidly holding my back in the defensive position and being woken up when the suspension went "bang!" Once in a while I'd sit up for a look to be shocked an horrified that we hadn't hit, rubbed or scraped any other vehicles, delighted that we hadn't had a head-on collision and hoping that we hadn't sent any poor locals into the ditch on their scooters. Nuts, nuts, nuts.
We arrived at Siem Reap about dinner time after about 10 hours of buses, border queues and taxis. Just so you'll know, we could have flown from Bangkok in about an hour. The land route was to experience the drama of the border but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) it was gone. We were dropped on the edge of town to catch a tuk tuk (motorcycle-tricycle-taxi-doodad) and a young guy jumped on with us to offer his services as a guide. Rob said "he seems like a nice guy but you have to decide". "Sure" was my answer. He was offering to spend the day with us driving from temple to temple for an amazingly reasonable price. We made a deal for him to pick us up at 8 am this morning.
Now it was time for dinner. I have gone from a guy worried about drinking water or ice in restaurants and a little afraid of gross food to "what the f***, just eat it". So, Rob again gave me the choice and I wanted to eat where the locals do. We found a restaurant full of locals and that's where we had dinner. Rob asked the fellow what a good Cambodian dish is and we both ordered it. Other than the chopped chicken with hardly any meat, which we could have done without, it was damned good. It wasn't unlike Thai food except that it was less rich and more vegetably. There were mystery vegetables in it that were odd but good and, besides, according to Brad I'd probably find the bowl delicious too. Oh, and yes we drank the water and it had ice.
The food here is amazing. That's the food part of this email subject. It isn't terribly spicy but it sure can be if you'd like. If any of you have gone to The Spicy Hut on Edmonton Trail with me, the food here is very similar to there. The Hot part of the subject is the weather. As hot as it was in Thailand, Siem Reap is insane. I don't know how hot it is here but I've never sweated this much in my life - including sports, exercise or hiking. 40+ anyway and really freakin' humid.
The temples are amazing. It's just too much to describe in an email. I took about 400 pictures today and only stopped because my memory card was full. Sometime I'll hopefully get to a working connection that is decently fast to upload some of them. (this connection is brutall slow)
I stick out here like a sore thumb. I'm big and I'm white. People look at me and say "ooooh, falang" which has me look at them and smile. They usually smile back and laugh. A bunch of times I've had pictures taken with them and I had whole families today. Cambodians are particularly little and particularly dark.
The peddlers here are numerous and well trained. They send out the cute little kids. "What country you from?" "Canada" "Ottawa capital of Canada - you buy something from me. One dollar." "Sorry, but no." "Where you come from in Canada?" "Albertä - I suppose you know the capital?" "I do - but I tell you if you buy from me." Then Rob looks at what she has and really likes them so he buys some. As she walks away he says "hey - you didn't tell me capital." "Edmonton" she says with a smile." (I'm laughing now recalling this) Later on I get confronted by yet another adorable girl (I'd say 12 years old) "You buy bracelet. 10 for one dollar." (you'll note it's not in the form of a question) "No, I've already bought enough today, sorry." (I've bought postcards, scarves, a hat, fridge magnets, a book, a flute and a lot of water) "You buy bracelet - 10 for one dollar - you give to girlfriend." "I don't have a girlfriend so I don't need - no, thanks." "You give to family - you buy bracelet." "I don't want a bracelet so no thanks." (I'm not at all upset, by the way and I'm being nice while looking at the view) "You have book - what did you pay for book?" "I not tell you." "Why not?" "Because you'll use it to try and get me to buy something. Why do ask?" "I not tell you." "Oh, so you can ask me questions but I can't ask you? You sneaky." (I finally got a smile out of her and by this time she's been joined by a friend so now I have 2 adorable girls trying to sell me bracelets. Now I just want to chat with them so I ask them about their country, how they like how hot it is, get them to teach me a couple words in Cambodian - that kind of thing") "We give you bracelet." (and then they each give me one) "Thanks, that's very nice of you." "Now you buy something from me." (saw that coming didn't you?) "No, I no need anything." "You buy drink for driver." "That I'll do. Coke please." "You buy drink for me?" "That I'll do too." "I not want çoke, I want orange." "You can have whatever you want." So, I bought a coke and an orange pop but I don't know if she actually got to have it. I hope she did or, even better, she got to keep the dollar."
I need to go now and get some sleep. I have another hot day of temple visiting ahead tomorrow and a beer to have before I got to bed.
Love you all,Bil
Hello All,
I tried to send an email a couple days ago but I couldn't send anything. (for you geeks, IE would crash on popups so I couldn't open a send)
First let me catch you up on what's happened. We flew from Bangkok on the second day and by lunch we were heading north out of Chang Mai (a city in northern Thialand) on 2 bikes. One is a big dirt bike with street tires (known as a motard to bike guys) and the other is a bike I fell in love with - a VFR 400 from Japan that they don't sell to North Americans. It's likely the most fun bike I've ever ridden. It cool, cool, cool, has an engine that revs to the moon, it's light, moderately uncomfortable, has a roasting hot seat and handles spectacularly. It put big smiles on both our faces. We're going to see if we can import a couple to Calgary.
When I found out it was going to be 35 to 40C just before we came (nope, I wasn't smart enough to look beforehand) I asked Rob how we weren't going to boil over. Not explaining he said "we won't". What he didn't tell me about was that the festival we were showing up for, where people throw water at each other, would also take place on the highway in all the little towns we passed through. It was ripping hot out and, despite us tearing down the road at over 40C, I was absolutely freezing cold - so cold I was actually thinking I'd get sick - because we were sopping wet from kids throwing water on us. It was SO much fun. When the kids would see we were farang (a term for any foreigner but we're damned easy to spot - and they pronounce it "falang") they would light up, yell "farang'', "happy new year", "songkran" (the name of the festival), "hello" and all sorts of things and Rob even got a shot of whiskey. One thing that made things a little dramatic was that the VFR has a hockey puck middle tread on the back tire (yes, that's bad but the edges still hang on for cornering) and when it gets wet it spins like hell. So, when we got a bucket of water and then got on the throttle it could get a bit dramatic.
We spent the first night in the mountains near Bhurma at a very rustic place. The fellow running it, James is his English name, was so excited to see Rob when we got there. He was a heckuva host and I could spend a whole long email talking about him, but, let me share a couple stories only.
James story one involves our, ummmm, "cabin". It was very open and had a thatched roof. It was huge and had 4 beds. It was really cool, but it was also full of big flying insects and, worst of all, we saw a big-ass spider. It was about the size of a fried egg and just about as dense. This was no spindly thing but a big thick spider. We talked and realized we were going to have trouble sleeping in there. Thank goodness James decided to bunk with us in one of the other beds! I had one blanket wrapped around me like a condom but it was small enough to leave me exposed from the chest and up. As I sat up to adjust it - in just about pitch blackness and imagining a big-ass spider sinking its fangs into me - one of the big flying bugs flew through my hair. I'm sure I made little girl noises and swatted at my hair. I then took another blanket, wrapped it like a second condom around me from my waist to head and prepared for a sleepless night. It was at least 30C in the room so you can imagine how hot it was swathed in my coccoon. James then left and came back with bug nets. Oh, oh, oh those were welcome. We hung them from the ceiling, tucked them under our mattresses and then I slept like a baby - occasionally woken up by demented roosters (where on earth did the idea that they crow at dawn come from?!? They crowed everywhere we slept in Thialand - whether in the sticks, wee towns or in the middle of Bangkok!) or something scurring about. Spider? Rat? Snake? It didn't matter because I was so tired and I had a bug net!!
James story too is really cool. He asked us if we wanted to visit someplace different. "Sure". So, he took us to a little museum way off the beaten path that was about a stone's throw from the Bhurmese border. He first had us walk up a hill and showed us a "jail". It was a hole in the ground where people were thrown in and often never saw the light of day from again. I have pictures and Rob has video. It was a creepy experience. We were in a place where a war was waged for a small nation and appears to have been financed by Opium (see http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,203585,00.html if you want some details) Rob figures it is a place that the Thailand government would never encourage tourism)
So, a bit more drama - later that day we were about to run out of gas in the mountains and Rob thought but wasn't confident of the next place to get some. I was on the thirsty VFR so we decide that I'd stay in the this wee settlement at a crossroads while he went ahead to make sure. My bike had headlights but his didn't. As the sky began to turn the orange of dusk an hour or two later, Rob had not returned. I was in a place that appeared to have no accomodations, no one spoke English, I didn't know where the hell I was really and Rob was nowhere to be seen. I was a little freaked to say the least. Rob then pulled up with a fellow in a pickup truck and told me that a few km down the road he had run out of gas. I basically said something like "I'm glad to see you're ok and I was wondering what the hell I was gonna do - I didn't want to sleep with the mosquitoes!" All was fine an hour or-so later as we checked into a room very close to the northernmost point in Thailand.
We spent a day in Chang Rai (and I can't for the life of me think of what we did there - I'm kind of tired right now) and then headed back to Chang Mai. We stopped for lunch and Rob once again ridiculed me at me for refusing ice or water. He said something like "soon you're going to have moat water dumped all over you and you worry about the ice?!?" With a small WTF I started drinking the water. Moat water, you ask? One of the big reasons we came at this time of year was the Songkran festival for the Thailand new year. They celebrate by throwing water at each other. This is insane. If you are anywhere near the moat surrounding the old city (in the middle of the new one) then you're gonna be wet. Your only choice, really, is to arm yourself and fight back. This is just about the most fun I've had in years and years. Seeing as it's a giant opportunity to be obnoxious, why not just put blocks of ice in your water? So that's what people do. Why dump some comfy moat water down someone's back when you can mix it with ice so they dance and and scream?!?
Jump ahead a couple days and now we're in Siem Reap, Cambodia. We're primarily here to go see the temples of Angkor Wat. It's a world heritage site and is a huge array of temples built many hundreds of years ago.
Rob wanted to bring me by land so that I could experience the stress and excitement of the border - children clawing at my backpack and border guards siezing my passport with no explanation. Yesterday started with an early morning taxi to the bus station in Bangkok, followed by a 5 hour bus ride to the border (in a surprisingly nice bus with lots of leg room, leather seats and a driver demonstrating that bus will actually corner quite well). We stopped a few times to drop people off, pick up folks, get fuel and for me to try more local junk food. The junk food here is damn good, by the way. We got to the border and much of it was different. Other than a lot of waiting there was little drama.
The negotiation for a taxi was a blur while Rob negotiated, I moved money from one place on my body to another and then paid. They asked us if we wanted to share with another guy to save him money. I asked if the ride was long, Rob said yes and I said "no, I'd rather be comfortable". This was rude but thank God I was rude. The road was horrible and I needed the entire back seat to lay down and not re-herniate a disk in my back - yes, it was that bad. When we stopped for a beer and a water, Rob asked me something like "how long do you thing the suspension will last in these cars?!?" I napped most of the way while rigidly holding my back in the defensive position and being woken up when the suspension went "bang!" Once in a while I'd sit up for a look to be shocked an horrified that we hadn't hit, rubbed or scraped any other vehicles, delighted that we hadn't had a head-on collision and hoping that we hadn't sent any poor locals into the ditch on their scooters. Nuts, nuts, nuts.
We arrived at Siem Reap about dinner time after about 10 hours of buses, border queues and taxis. Just so you'll know, we could have flown from Bangkok in about an hour. The land route was to experience the drama of the border but unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) it was gone. We were dropped on the edge of town to catch a tuk tuk (motorcycle-tricycle-taxi-doodad) and a young guy jumped on with us to offer his services as a guide. Rob said "he seems like a nice guy but you have to decide". "Sure" was my answer. He was offering to spend the day with us driving from temple to temple for an amazingly reasonable price. We made a deal for him to pick us up at 8 am this morning.
Now it was time for dinner. I have gone from a guy worried about drinking water or ice in restaurants and a little afraid of gross food to "what the f***, just eat it". So, Rob again gave me the choice and I wanted to eat where the locals do. We found a restaurant full of locals and that's where we had dinner. Rob asked the fellow what a good Cambodian dish is and we both ordered it. Other than the chopped chicken with hardly any meat, which we could have done without, it was damned good. It wasn't unlike Thai food except that it was less rich and more vegetably. There were mystery vegetables in it that were odd but good and, besides, according to Brad I'd probably find the bowl delicious too. Oh, and yes we drank the water and it had ice.
The food here is amazing. That's the food part of this email subject. It isn't terribly spicy but it sure can be if you'd like. If any of you have gone to The Spicy Hut on Edmonton Trail with me, the food here is very similar to there. The Hot part of the subject is the weather. As hot as it was in Thailand, Siem Reap is insane. I don't know how hot it is here but I've never sweated this much in my life - including sports, exercise or hiking. 40+ anyway and really freakin' humid.
The temples are amazing. It's just too much to describe in an email. I took about 400 pictures today and only stopped because my memory card was full. Sometime I'll hopefully get to a working connection that is decently fast to upload some of them. (this connection is brutall slow)
I stick out here like a sore thumb. I'm big and I'm white. People look at me and say "ooooh, falang" which has me look at them and smile. They usually smile back and laugh. A bunch of times I've had pictures taken with them and I had whole families today. Cambodians are particularly little and particularly dark.
The peddlers here are numerous and well trained. They send out the cute little kids. "What country you from?" "Canada" "Ottawa capital of Canada - you buy something from me. One dollar." "Sorry, but no." "Where you come from in Canada?" "Albertä - I suppose you know the capital?" "I do - but I tell you if you buy from me." Then Rob looks at what she has and really likes them so he buys some. As she walks away he says "hey - you didn't tell me capital." "Edmonton" she says with a smile." (I'm laughing now recalling this) Later on I get confronted by yet another adorable girl (I'd say 12 years old) "You buy bracelet. 10 for one dollar." (you'll note it's not in the form of a question) "No, I've already bought enough today, sorry." (I've bought postcards, scarves, a hat, fridge magnets, a book, a flute and a lot of water) "You buy bracelet - 10 for one dollar - you give to girlfriend." "I don't have a girlfriend so I don't need - no, thanks." "You give to family - you buy bracelet." "I don't want a bracelet so no thanks." (I'm not at all upset, by the way and I'm being nice while looking at the view) "You have book - what did you pay for book?" "I not tell you." "Why not?" "Because you'll use it to try and get me to buy something. Why do ask?" "I not tell you." "Oh, so you can ask me questions but I can't ask you? You sneaky." (I finally got a smile out of her and by this time she's been joined by a friend so now I have 2 adorable girls trying to sell me bracelets. Now I just want to chat with them so I ask them about their country, how they like how hot it is, get them to teach me a couple words in Cambodian - that kind of thing") "We give you bracelet." (and then they each give me one) "Thanks, that's very nice of you." "Now you buy something from me." (saw that coming didn't you?) "No, I no need anything." "You buy drink for driver." "That I'll do. Coke please." "You buy drink for me?" "That I'll do too." "I not want çoke, I want orange." "You can have whatever you want." So, I bought a coke and an orange pop but I don't know if she actually got to have it. I hope she did or, even better, she got to keep the dollar."
I need to go now and get some sleep. I have another hot day of temple visiting ahead tomorrow and a beer to have before I got to bed.
Love you all,Bil
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