Chapter 1
2018 Winter Escape
After winterizing the house, we departed snow packed -9°F
Maine and flew to Washington State to spend a week with our grandchildren,
Stone and Clare, and their parents, of course.
They were such fun to be with, but we felt guilty leaving them. At ages 4 and 2, it’s difficult for them to
understand our departure.
We boarded an EVA 777 aircraft (Taiwanese Airline) for a
midnight departure on the first leg to Taipei, where we changed planes to Thai
Air and on to our first destination, Bangkok.
We had never flown on EVA. It was
the cleanest, nicest aircraft we had probably ever flown. The staff was very pleasant and extremely
helpful. Since we were in first class
with fully reclining seats, we enjoyed a restful night’s sleep.
THAILAND
Bangkok—City of
Sensory Overload
It had been about fifty years since we last visited Bangkok. To say that it has changed would be a total
understatement. Neither of us remembers
a lot, but perhaps we visited a small, charming far east city. We both remember visiting the Buddhist temple
complexes which probably haven’t changed a great deal since they are protected
sanctuaries. Each temple is a riot of
color, gold leaf, Meissen porcelain-like flower sculptures, mirrored glass
tiles and tourists, lots of tourists. As
far as photography goes, one usually likes to find a focal point or subject in
an image. When there is so much to see
in such a small area, it’s easy to be so overwhelmed with color, shape and texture
that no subject is easily found. We viewed the famous Buddha statues—the
Emerald Buddha (which is actually made of jade), the Reclining Buddha, and the
Solid Gold Buddha.
As we drove through the city, it was interesting to witness
its growth. Wide green avenues led into
narrow streets threaded with many black spaghetti-like electrical wires brought
together in bundles at their transformers.
Shops after shops line sidewalks.
Layered in front of the shops are street vendors selling everything from
souvenir Buddhas to grilled bananas.
Urban sprawl is rife here.
One can drive for an hour and still be in the city. Traffic jams are everywhere. As you look into a side street, you can see a
very narrow passage with old buildings huddling on each side. In the middle of such a neighborhood is a
brand new high-rise condominium or office building.
Bridge over the River
Kwai, World War II
A day trip to the bridge over the River Kwai was very
informative and quite touching. We
started the tour at the War Museum in Kanchanaburi. The Japanese used mostly British, Australian
and Dutch POWs during the war to construct a railroad to transport supplies
from Thailand to Burma (Myanmar). In the course of construction, the bridge
over the river Kwai came into being. As
in Vietnam, conditions for the POWs used as slave labor were horrendous. Many died from tropical diseases and
starvation. The terrain was rocky and
mountainous. The photos of the rescued
Allies resembled concentration camp survivors.
BaiPai Thai Cooking
School
On a lighter note, our last day in Bangkok, we took a Thai
cooking class. The instructors made it
fun; so did the other participants, 2 Brits and 2 young Korean students. We learned how to make coconut cream and
coconut milk from scratch, though I think I’ll continue to use the canned
variety. Chicken satay, grilled prawn
salad, and massaman curry were also on the menu.
Other Thoughts
From a tourist perspective, we can certainly attest to the
fact that Bangkok and Thailand have entered the 21st century
international world arena. The
infrastructure is modern and becoming more efficient as time goes by. As always, population growth seems to precede
some of these advancements. The current population of Bangkok is 10
million. China is investing heavily in
all of Southeast Asia, including Thailand.
Our tour guide mentioned that she doesn’t see many Americans
anymore. Chinese tourists are first (in
numbers), followed by Japanese and then Koreans.
CAMBODIA
Siem Reap — Happy
Faces and Ancient Places
A couple of days before our flight to Cambodia, we received
an email from the manager saying the hotel we booked, (Le Meridien), had been
overbooked, so he made us a reservation at the Marriott Courtyard. When we arrived, we discovered that the
Courtyard was brand new, having just opened 3 weeks prior. It was a lovely hotel, but the thing that set
it apart was service such as we had never experienced before. Every time we drove up to the door, employees
came running after us with fresh cool cloths, offering to carry backpacks and
anything else needed. First, last and
always were smiling faces. They
immediately learned our names and used them throughout our stay. Hospitality was primary!
There were a couple of surprising observations even as we
left the airport. First, nearly every
vehicle we saw at the airport and everywhere, for that matter, was a newer
model Lexus. No 3rd world
country here! Also, the avenue leading
into town is filled with luxury hotels.
Tourism is king in this city, and the tourists are treated royally. That’s not to say that everyone is rich. Far from it—there are still many people
leading hard scrabble lives in shacks and lean-tos. Prosperity hasn’t trickled down too far.
We spent 2 days touring the ancient Khmer temple complexes
with names that are familiar to most of us:
Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, etc.
The tremendous scope of the detail in these temples is
mind-boggling. And it was all
constructed and carved about 1,000 years ago.
Now, thanks to ground penetrating radar, many more discoveries are being
made and archeology will continue to uncover more secrets in the future. Instead of more descriptive words, photos
tell the story better.
On our last day, we went on an excursion to Tonle Sap Lake,
its floating village, and the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary. The lake is seasonal, joined to the Tonle Sap
River, which in turn is joined to the Mekong River. There are entire floating villages along the
lake with homes, schools, shops and other necessities of life. Most people fish for a living. Over half the fish consumed in Cambodia come
from this lake.
Before leaving Cambodia, I asked our guide if the people in
his country are as happy as their smiles would have us believe. He answered that yes, they were. We should probably take a lesson from their
chapter. In the 1970’s, the murderous
leader, Pol Pot, subjected the country to unspeakable horrors, murdering about
2 million Cambodians and forcing many out of their homes and into labor camps
where they toiled in rice paddies and were tortured and starved. A country that can overcome such a nightmare
in a mere 40 years and progress to the point where they are happy, educated and
productive deserves respect for the ability of the human spirit to regenerate.
Well, folks, that's all for now. We'll be in touch soon with our next adventures in this region of the world. In the meantime, it's still snowing in Maine, and the current temperature is in the teens. Here, it's toasty in the 80's.
