Back in America

I am now in San Francisco, California. It's been two weeks since I got back. It's really cold here! I was mentally preparing myself for the shock, but it didn't matter. I have always said that SF is an air-conditioned city, but I think I may start to refer to it as a meat locker.

The job search has already started. While in Thailand, I was online... checking out Craig's List. I am delightfully surprised as to how plentiful the job market is. I've had a few interviews, but everything's in the early stages.

After securing a job, I will start looking for places to live. I don't have much stuff - I got rid of most everything when I left New Orleans and what I did save was kept with friends in NOLA. I lost my clothes and personal documents, but the CDs, cookbooks and photographs survived.

If anyone's got a lead on a job or a place to live, lemme know!

Angkor Wat - one last adventure

One destination that has been on my list of To-Do is to visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia. This area has been declared a World Heritage site by the UN and quite deservedly so. It contains the ruins of an ancient empire dating as far back as the 12th Century. What it is most famous for are giant stone sculptures of faces. I first saw these images in the movie Apocolypse Now, where Brando is nuts and has an army to call his own (but the movie was actually shot in the Philappines).

The first part of my adventure starts with just getting there. People have told me that it's a harsh journey to Siem Reap, the town that borders this area. Though it's only 200 kilometers away (120 miles), people have told me that it took 12 hours out of their lives. But a reputable source told me that these people are wussies who can't handle a five hour bus ride and that the road is bearable. Always looking for an adventure, I followed the latter opinion.

He was right, but failed to stress the conditions of the road. I chose to take a minivan (instead of a huge charter bus) and that was a poor choice. I've been on some horrible roads before, let me remind you that I've lived in Senegal, West Africa where there's a running joke of who's drunk: the driver who is going a straight line or the driver who is swerving all over the road. Answer: The driver in a straight line because he's not avoiding the potholes, mounds of random dirt and wandering animals.

This road to Siem Reap can't be as bad as that, I thought, and if it was, I've been conditioned to handle this rough terrain. Well, I gotta say, that if this wasn't worse than what I 've been on in Senegal, it has to be the longest stretch of crappy highway that I've ever experienced. It took six hours to get to Siem Reap!

I should consider myself lucky, though. The rainy season just started - prior to this, the 200 km would take twelve hours because of the loose dirt and sand.

But I made it to town safe and sound.

Siem Reap is an odd town. First of all, though the Cambodian currency is the riel, US dollars and Thai baht are preferred. The few ATMs in town don't distribute riel, either. It gives dollars, with a maximum amount of $800, a limit that I haven't seen since Las Vegas.

The town also has a wild, wild west, outlaw feel to it. While walking alone at night, many a motorcycle taxi would pull up next to me and ask me a series of questions: 1) do I need a ride somewhere. 2) do I need a woman for "boom-boom" 3) do I need any drugs.

Angkor Wat is just a buncha temples from a time long forgotten - in fact, it wasn't "discovered" until the 1860s by a French biologist. Words just can't do justice to what is here, so I'll just post some of the many pictures I took.

Some of you may have seen this image of the buddha face, but the face isn't as obscured by the tree roots. This is an example that there is still real growth in these ancient ruins.

End of the dream

After seven months of no work and all play, it's time for me to leave this paradise and come back to the land of the "free" and home of the paranoid. Actually, the well has gone dry. It's time to start working again. I will fly into San Francisco on April 10th.

Until then, I've been hanging in Phuket enjoying the last few weeks of my early retirement. After this weekend, I'm going to Cambodia to check out the ancient ruins of Ankor Wat. This will be my last adventure before leaving Asia.

What follows are some of my favorite photos from my journeys... (A warning again - the first group of photos are from the Vegetarian Festival [see http://therandychung.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_therandychung_archive.html Oct 11 entry]. Some of the photos are extremely painful.)

These are the some gods that are possessing the people to pierce and mutilate themselves.

These gods are waiting to be carried through the parade.

He is on his way to get pierced. I've tried to get this look in my eyes, but I just can't. I would have to say that he really is possessed.

These buddies are sharing the same sword to slide across their tongues. Obviously, AIDS is not a concern for them.

waiting for the parade to start

After marching about 10 kilometers around the city, all gather at a temple at the edge of town and say prayers into the horizon.

waterbuffaloes finish wading in the pond at sunset.

Than Bokkarani national park

This is my favorite beach in Thailand - Railey Beach. The water is clear blue, the beach has fine sand and the backdrop is of linestone caves.

perhistoric drawings alongside this wall on an island in Phang-Nga.

Here is plant growing in a trees branches in the Koh Sok rainforest.

Koh Sok River

monkeys hanging with Gonesh

construction of a new stairway.

This was a staged ceremony in a remote village north of Pai. The photographer on the right is working for a French magazine and paid the village to put on this ceremony.

nap time for a tailor and the street dog

Gabor and I paid a village woman to guide us through the forest in search of a couple of hidden caves.

scenes from Taman Negara rainforest

Our bus was delayed for an hour while en route to the park. We arrived just as the car driver sprayed the engine with a fire extinguisher but to no avail. After ten minutes, flames started shooting out from the front.




In the center of the photo is a dung beetle in part of a mating ritual. He is in direct competition with another male as to who can roll the bigger ball.


In the center of the photo is a macaque that was hiding from me.

Serenity now.

I am back in Thailand, finished with my travails on the Malaysian railway system. What started at midnite of Monday morning in Jerentut has finally ended in Phuket at 5:15 AM of Wednesday.

Forty hours in the same set of clothes (I only have two "sets" of clothes - one for biking and one for non-biking activities. This time I am wearing a hybrid of them, biking shirt and regular shorts with biking shoes).

All this for what normally is a twelve-hour ride. I was able to get out of Jerentut, but not on the 12:30 PM train. I had to wait another eight hours for the 6:22 PM train. The 12:30 is an "express" only and does not have cargo capacity.

Once out of Jerentut, the #58 local route (my third time on this route in four days) rolls on for seven hours until reaching the end of its line at Gua Musang. I arrive at one in the morning, Tuesday.

I then find out that the next train that leaves Gua Musang, the 4:44, is an express. So now I have to wait until seven in the morning for the train that hits every single town and village along the route until it reaches its destination of Pasir Mas at noontime. I am now thirty kilometers from crossing the Malaysian border.

I bike the distance after eating my last Malaysian meal, chicken in a tomato onion curry sauce over rice with sauteed oyster mushrooms (a common item in the daily market) and baby bok choy. Also in the veggies was some extra flavor provided by a couple of tiny, tiny silk worms (presumably) not washed out before cooking.

Eighteen miles to the Thai border is a short distance for me after going all the way down to Singapore. But the mood changed a little after considering all that I had to go through just to get my bicycle on the proper trains. During this hour's time, the thought did occur to me that if I just biked to the border from Jerentut in the first place, I would cross into Thailand just a few hours later. I saved almost no time by taking the train system!

The Malaysian immigration officer did have a curious look when he saw my passport. This only meant just a few more minutes standing at the border. The Thai side was easier. I just filled out a form and was back in Thailand.

The final challenge was getting out of southern Thailand. For the past few years, this area has had occasional insurgent activity that is being unsecessfully suppressed by the military. Thais from other areas try to avoid this area after nightfall, so I felt it was in my best interests to follow suit.

Only one bus was leaving town. The midnight express bus leaves at 5 pm and arrived Phuket twelve hours later. I managed to get four hours of sleep on the bus. This gave me enough strength to bike a final 18 km to get to Debbie and Eric's house close to Naiharn Beach.

Finally, my journey has ended...

Trapped!

I am trapped in hell!

Right now I am in Jerentut, Malaysia, the entryway into Taman Negara, Malaysia's rainforest.

Ever since I made the decision to get out of Malaysia (while I was in Singapore), I've been getting the screw job one way or another. The first is when I took the train out of Singapore to Jerentut. While crossing the Malaysian border, I noticed that there was no one getting off the train to get a visa stamp. This bothered me all the way to Jerentut (a seven hour ride. When I got off the train, I made an inquiry about the visa stamp, but no one could give me an answer. So I decided that I probably needed to go back to the border to get the stamp. This means that I needed to wait eight hours for the southbound train. Once I get there, the immigration officer informs me that I didn't need to do this my initial visa was still valid. I had the impression that once I left the country (for Singapore), the visa was canceled and I needed to get another one... wrong! So this trip was unnecessary.

Once back in Jerentut, I spent a day and a half in Taman Negara, trekking thru jungle trails and walking thru a half-kilometer canopy walk - a roped path high in the trees.



After coming back from the park, I made arrangements to get to the Thai border. This was 6 pm. I purchased a ticket and asked about the cost for taking my bike. The man said no charge. Interesting, it cost me almost the price of the ticket when I left Singapore.

Well, it seems that this bike is as much of a curse as it is a blessing. I went back to the train station an hour before its arrival, midnite. I wanted to confirm that taking the bike on the midnite express was not a problem (especially since the previous train station attendant said it was going to be free). He told me that it was a problem because it was an "express" and that it did not have cargo capacity. Unfortunately I had already purchased the ticket. The guy said that he could send the bike on a later train, but it would cost me 12 Ringgit.

In my pocket at the time was only 8 ringgit. (I did have 90 ringgit a few hours before, but wanted to go for broke as I was going to leave the country so I had a big meal and got some alcoholic beverages - something I rarely did in this Muslim country.) I told the guy that I would go to an ATM to get some more ringgit. The first ATM didn't accept foreign cards. The next five ATMs didn't dispense cash because it was after midnite.

I went back to the train station tell my story. He was rather unhelpful, meaning that he would not take any other currency (I have US $, Thai baht and Laos kip) to make up the remaining 3 ringgit (equivilent to 75 cents). No help here. I ended up having to scrap the ticket (refund of 50% - 9.5 ringgit) and stay the nite in Jerentut. The guy had the nerve to ask if I had 50 sens - I didn't even bother to check my pocket - I wasn't going to help him out either! Jeez, what a nice guy... he gave me 10 ringgit back.

I go back to the hotel and hope that I can use the room that I got just seven hours ago. The catch is that right when I left the hotel, I let someone else who was staying in a dorm room sleep in it. Not only that, it was 1 AM and I wasn't sure if any one was awake to unlock the front gate. A good thing that some people were still awake and in fact, the guy who took my room was also still up.

I woke up this morning with a mission to get out of this stinktown. I go to the bus station (right across from my hotel) to see what they can do. The bus driver refuses to deal with my bike. Off to the train station again. The attendant says that I can take the 12:44 train, though I need to come back at 11:30 to buy the ticket. Fine. I go back to the hotel and fortunately I can still use the room to lay down on the bed for a few hours.

Right about now my frustration level is very high. I am way past rage and anger - last nite's mishaps at the train station vented all that. I get to the train station and see a new attendant. (Every time I go to the window, there's a new guy.) This man tells me that the bike can't go because there's no cargo car. I ask him of my options and the best thing he suggests is that I take the 6:22 PM train to the end of its line (Gua Musang) then take another train to the Thai border, which requires a four hour wait in the middle of the nite. I hope this works, otherwise I am throwing the bike in front of the next train.

I love Singapore!

I missed a turnoff while trying to find a biker trail and ended up in a Nature Reserve in the northern part of the island. Above is one of the many trees in the mangroves.

Sunset from the "Southernmost point of Continental Asia" on Sentosa Island, Singapore's island resort. This is rather a misnomer, because this was on an island and not on the continent. Obviously, just another tourist trap.

Singapore is known for their harsh penalties (remember Michael Faye and the caning incident?). This sign is found at the begining of underpasses along the river. This is about a $625 US fine.