Spearfishing with Eline and Marijn - Blogging Ends

So much more to write -- but I'm already home from the trip -- and my blogging time has given way to planning my next adventure.  These few links are what remain of my plans for more blogging -- the couple in the photos and you tube's with me is Eline and her boyfriend Marijn.  I've blogged about Eline before here -- and it just worked out that we were able to cross paths in Bali as they were wrapping up their "world tour" adventure of several months.  We had some amazing scuba and spear fishing adventures together -- and then, as planned, I began my journey back to the USA on October 3rd with plans to return again at Christmas.  As these photos show, I added even more friends to my growing international family.

Photo Album: 9/30/2016: https://goo.gl/photos/FoAsXMnYv8UWqn2K7

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLazYlSByvsi6AvCly_NtfphP20bmZCyXx

Return to Amed for Spearfishing - 9/24/2016

After two nights on Gili Air -- the "fast boat" took me back to Amed and my first-ever opportunity to personally watch and try spearfishing.  It was an amazing day of brotherhood with two Balinese brothers for which there are no adequate words to describe.  I watched in awe as these "Freediving" experts took 23 fish from crystal clear waters in three spots around the uninhabited Gili Selang island.  Photos will have to do for now -- but since I am writing this after a second experience, I will be posting underwater photos and videos in a subsequent posting.

After the celebrated catch (shown here on a video that I made as we walked back through the village from the boat) -- I was invited to a scrumptious dinner of the fish cooked several ways at the home of Made/his wife.  The photos capture it best:

Photo Album 9/24/2016: https://goo.gl/photos/ExAoExcbmPefAS6d8

Side Trip To Gili Air Island

Let me back up for a moment in this story.  For three nights I had been staying in the rustic beach-side bungalow - but decided to upgrade to the lovely Sky Dancer villa which Ningah and Made's wives manage for an absentee Swiss-French owner.  Of course the cost for one night would be the equivalent of 3 nights at the bungalow -- about $50USD -- but for that, this was my air conditioned view every morning with breakfast served on my veranda and afternoon coffee/tea:

Yes, that is the ocean just beyond the pool!  I stayed three nights in this luxury -- but pulled myself away to continue my pre-planned trip to one of the three "Gili" Islands -- high-interest tourist hot-spots an hour "fast-boat" ride away.  I'll forgo the details except to note that there are three with differing reputations: one for the party crowd, one for the non-party crowd and one that is very primitive and reputed to be best for couples.  I had decided on the non-party crowd: Gili Air - and made arrangements for the boat ride from Amed:

Departure

Enroute

Arrival

I stayed two nights in an inexpensive bungalow, and enjoyed some truly fun conversations with travelers -- and walked the entire circumference -- but quickly recognized that it is a mostly tourist-only island primarily visited by youngish Europeans on holiday.  Perhaps because I was solo traveling on an island clearly better for couples -- I quickly determined that while my two nights would be pleasant with beautiful beaches to visit -- that it possessed no interesting culture or "real" life -- just holiday life:  probably like visiting Hawaii 50 years ago before all the corporate names built resorts.  Don't misunderstand -- I totally enjoyed my time there, mostly because of the great traveler conversations I had (posted about on Facebook) -- but I was ready to return to my favorite Amed (where culture and holiday combine) and the hope for a spear fishing adventure.

Two Roads To Spearfishing

Picking up from where I left off -- when returning from my first scooter ride along the eastern coast and over a mountain -- I felt myself looking for a place to stop just to hydrate and rest.  I had already had my first ever experience getting petrol for the scooter (I offered a 3,000 Rupiah note thinking that's what was said -- and the woman laughed at me with a loud "No" and repeated what sounded like 3,000 -- of course I was forgetting that 3,000 Rupiah is about 23 cents USD: only those who have never traveled will laugh at this mistake, I'm fairly certain every international traveler has made a similar mistake.  Turned out, of course, that she wanted 30,000 Rupiah (about $2.29 USD).

Anyway, back to my story -- I happened upon a road off the main one that looked like it might lead down to a small, beautiful ocean-side village

 -- and I took it.  I've recreated and narrated the experience with this short YouTube video.  After hitting a terrible, rocky road -- but continuing on -- I arrived at a Warung -- and after greetings requested a coke (which I've learned you must ask for as coca-cola to be understood). No English was understood but soon I had a gathering of children around me. As I have frequently done - and blogged about - the easiest way to begin a conversation with non-English speakers is to inquire about age -- and that I did as the kids all showed interest in this white American at their store.  Shortly a young man appeared to see the commotion, and I introduced myself and with eye and hand motions, he did the same: "Ningah."  So, although their are many Ningah's in the Bali world (also a common name of second born), I took a chance a showed him a photo of the "Ningah" I had gone fishing with -- and to my surprise, he let me know he knew him.  Of course I doubted he did -- but I went with it because he was soon motioning for me to sit in a shaded open-air hut that is common here -- where I continued my interaction with the children and showed photos of my kids and grandkids that garnered me great attention and interest.

It was a fun interaction -- and when I ran out of ideas for conversation and my coca-cola was finished, I departed with much commotion and interest and hand shaking with everyone.

Well, when I asked my fisherman friend of this Ningah (who I now also a photo of)

-- not only did he know him -- but I learned that my friend Ningah's wife's co-worker is from that village and the co-worker ("Komang" - common third born name) and her husband (Made - also common second born name) were going to be at another dinner he invited me to at his house.

Another scrumptious meal and an opportunity to add two more friends to my life

 -- and I learned that Made is also a morning fisherman but his hobby is spearfishing in the afternoons.  Of course I expressed interest, and a plan was set in motion for me to go spearfishing with him should I return to Amed after my planned visit to a tourist hot-spot Gili Air.  Before I left for Gili Air, I had decided to change my plan and return for this unique opportunity. More on that in a future posting.

Amed - My Favorite Bali!

After our tour around the island, Made brought me, as planned, to my favorite spot in Bali - a portion that has been collectively named after its closest village - Amed (map).  In my visit last year I had the good fortune of scoring a beach-side bungalow here that framed my love of this area by the good experiences I had here.  One highlight of last year's trip was the opportunity to go fishing with a local fisherman Nengah and enjoy his and his wife's fresh fish cooking in their local "Waroeng" - restaurant.  

Returning to the restaurant this time, Nengah greeted me like a long-time friend and we made plans to repeat the fishing trip the following morning - another 4:00am start, proceeding to the far-away drop spot of the net by sail, and watching a spectacular sunrise as Nengah hauled in the net -- this time yielding 70 mackerel.

Once again I marveled at the community of fisherman on the shore -- and looked forward to having one of the mackerel for dinner. 

After we returned from fishing, Nengah invited me to his childhood home where his parents/family still live (I had met his dad, also a fisherman, last year -- but this year Nengah and his dad are establishing a huge chicken egg operation.  Intensely interesting to talk about the business during our visit:

You can imagine my pleasure when Nengah invited me to share in the fish feast at his home with he and his wife rather than at the restaurant.  It was another special meal -- in keeping with all the Balinese traditions including eating by hand (at my request - as utensils were offered).  The only tradition I didn't keep was keeping quiet while eating and visiting afterwards -- there were too many fun questions to ask and things to learn about Balinese life.

After dinner I arranged with Ningah to borrow a scooter and snorkel gear for the remainder of my stay.

The next morning I bounded out on a scooter adventure over the coastal route east of Amed that was itself exhilarating as I proceeded first along the coast and then over a mountain, watching life in the villages -- including many children walking and riding to (and later from) school in their uniforms.  People, especially the children, showed their happiness and friendliness throughout my journey.  I felt like the old commercials for Honda motorcycles: "You meet the nicest people on a Honda!" 

And it was during this journey along the coastal route and over the mountain that I happened to take a "road less traveled" that happened to lead to another meal at Nengah's house and a unique spear fishing adventure.  I'll tell the story in my next posting -- but a preview is in these photos of the special snorkeling/spear fishing/family dinner - day.

Goodbye Cambodia - Hello Bali Again!

My six nights in Cambodia went by too fast -- but I had already booked my onward flight to Denpasar, Bali.  But as you can tell from my postings about Siem Reap, I want to return -- and before I left Singapore Airlines had a special that allowed me to grab a repeat trip this coming June: a month long adventure that will start in Siem Reap and returning from Hanoi, Vietnam.  I've been told that adventure/backpacking travel is my "cocaine" and I don't disagree.  I'm definitely addicted.

Anyway -- because I am very behind in my writing, I'm going to summarize my first 11 days in Bali: arriving on September 11 and now writing this on September 22.

If you followed my prior Bali trip, you already know that I experienced SCUBA diving for the first time (4 dives) and, even more special, fell in love with the authentic Balinese life thanks to my driver/tour guide recommended to me by an expat friend living in Bali.  The driver, Made Artana (the web site I am creating for him is here) quickly assessed my interests and became a friend -- taking me to his village, meeting his parents, visiting his temple, eating authentically.  This year's trip was planned to continue that friendship -- now with his wife, Ekha, who is pregnant with their first child and to have longer time to enjoy both the culture and the tourism (more snorkeling and SCUBA).

Made and Ekha picked me up at the airport and took me to another authentic Balinese dinner on our way to my planned stay in Candidasa, where I had enjoyed diving with the Dutch-managed Bambu Divers. 

I stayed at an inexpensive "Home Stay" - motel-like accommodations common in SE Asia -- and hung out at the Bambu Divers home spot - complete with full restaurant and pool.  It was fun to catch up with many of those who I knew from my prior trip.  It was a relaxing 4 days/nights.  From there I proceeded on a "road trip" with Made first back to his village to enjoy watching his dad prepare a special spice for an upcoming Hindu festival.

And then to meet Ekha's family in a distant village -- allowing us to visit other tourist spots in Bali (popular surfing/beach destinations of Balian and Medewi Beaches.  

Ekha's family (and some of the village children who came around to join in) couldn't have been more fun and welcoming -- and soon we were enjoying a typical Balinese meal.

From there we continued around to another popular beach area: Lovina Beach where I stayed three nights enjoying many contacts with expats living there, residents and traveler's. On my last night there, Made and Ekha returned to take me to a local fresh fish restaurant where once again we picked out the fish before it was cooked.

The following morning all three of us took a local tourist boat to see the local Dolphins and I did some snorkeling.  The boat owner even snorkeled with me so that he could take me to the location where I could see see "Nemo" fish in their native habitat (made popular by the movie "Finding Nemo.")  It was a fun experience to realize that the movie had genuinely depicted "Nemo's" habitat and reclusive nature.

Then we proceeded about 2 hours to my favorite beach side location from the prior trip: Amed where Made negotiated a great deal ($17 USD) for a beach-side bungalow (video here).  I stayed there 3 nights and it was such a rewarding experience that my next posting will be about that.  Preview:  the bungalows I stayed at are called Good Karma Bungalows -- my three days there would have repeated examples of either "good karma" or "good luck."  The reader can decide.  [to be continued]

The Siem Reap Experience - Part 3 - Other Tourist Stops

Falling Behind:  Well, as I write this, it is September 20 and I am on my second week in Bali -- with much to write about -- but as has been common, experiences trump (do I dare use that word!) writing about them.  So, I'll just give this intro -- I am sitting in the open air restaurant of this Bali beach-side bungalow, listening to the waves lap the shore after a day of fishing (a repeat of this experience from a year ago), a visit to the fisherman's chicken//egg farm, and then some snorkeling.  Here is a one minute youtube video of my place that is costing me just under $17 a night (220,000 Indonesian Rupiah).

But let me return for a moment to my planned last installment of the Siem Reap experience:

A "Floating" Village:  I debated with myself whether to try to visit one of the so-called "Floating Village" -- after reading very mixed reviews. But my conversation with my daughter who had visited here and motivated my trip -- prompted me to try to retrace her and her husband's travels there 6 years ago.  To be sure, I was told that there are 4 such "floating" and the one they had visited isn't currently shown as the most popular -- but when my tuk tuk driver explained that the most popular one is farther away and requires a van rather than a tuk tuk, the decision was easy.  Going by tuk tuk -- at tuk tuk speeds -- allows a unique experience as I have written about previously in this blog.  It turned out to be another amazing experience -- as I was moved by the same happiness of life that was displayed by Cambodian's living out their lives along the way.  In addition, I happened to connect with a group of 7 volunteers who added to the fun of the adventure and expanded my knowledge of the volunteer world.  More about them at the end of this post.

The "floating" village is actually a community of houses built on stilts accessible only by water -- and while the experience does render a feeling of a tourism invasion of private life, it is also clear that the community has encouraged, and takes advantage, of that exposure for their financial benefit.  On balance, I thought it a pretty fair trade-off -- but I can also now better understand the widely disperse ratings.  I'll live it to future visitors to make their own assessments -- but for me, and given my connection with the volunteers it was both a fun and interesting adventure.  However there should be no doubt that the best part of the adventure was the tuk tuk ride through the country-side coming and going.  It is that "tour" that tugged at my heart-strings to see such happiness amongst the impoverished and was another reminder that "things" don't buy happiness.  

My daughter and son-in-law had to endure a long, interesting motorcycle experience to get to the launch area of the tour boats (see their blog link) -- but because I was visiting in wet season, we enjoyed a speed boat ride to the staging area of larger, tour boats:

Other tourist stops during my visit to Siem Reap included:

Angkor National Museum - an excellent overview to the temples and the culture/religion that inspired them.

Cambodian Landmine Museum - while the museum was junior grade bulletin board displays, the free audio guide and the happenstance opportunity to watch as local police were being trained to recognize landmines created an interesting hour along our tuk tuk journey.

Volunteers I Met:  This is what I wrote to my own kids about the volunteers and their program:

Yesterday I spent few hours with 7 “volunteers” working with this program: https://www.volunteerhq.org/

It’s essentially a pay to volunteer program –but they each (from around the world) spoke highly of the program.  Seemed to be a mix of privileged kids (parents paying) and adventurous kids (paying themselves as a cheaper way to travel – the ones in this category were traveling for shorter length of time).  I bonded up with 20 something Bryan [pictured waving in photo above] when he was trying to fill boats with eight seats and only had 7 participants — and he encouraged me to join them.  I did. Later they invited me to dinner with them at a local NGO that trains restaurant staff (not my fav meal but I definitely enjoyed questioning each of them about their plans/program/intents).  Seemed like a great ‘gap’ year experience.  Oldest in this group was 29 but they said there were older in their program (in Phnom Penh – they had taken overnight sleeping bus to explore Siem Reap for the weekend).  They each spoke glowing about affordability of the program, their housing and experience. 

The Siem Reap Experience - Part 2 - Culinary Immersion

​

Cultural Culinary Immersion:  By the time we reached the second temple of the first morning - I decided to see if I could shortcut having to buy water for myself throughout the day.  It was hot and humid, and the temple hiking was quickly dehydrating.  I gave Sith $5 and asked him if he would just keep the tuk tuk supplied so there was always water.  He readily agreed and thereafter there was always water in the tuk tuk.  The second day and beyond he even brought a cooler for the tuk tuk and kept it supplied.  I was feeling rather "brilliant" (maybe just "lucky" - see prior posting on this topic) and successful with my idea - so I hatched another one:

For the first day and a half, I followed along with what seemed to be the tourist routine -- tuk tuk to each of the temples with a stop for lunch at a place easily identifiable as lunch destination for tourists.  Yes, there was plenty of authentic food and drink -- but the locations near the temples and/or large number of seating capacity made it clear these were tourist-only food stops.  Traveling solo, I happily invited Sith to join me - and paid for his meal as well.  It was worth it to be able to ask questions throughout the lunch about the culture and traditions -- and to have him assist me in ordering my desired "locally popular" food.  But as I got to know Sith, I hatched another plan to change up the routine:  I explained to Sith that I would prefer to go to lunch stops that only Cambodians would visit -- and I inquired about some roadside stands that were cooking what, from a distance, appeared to be some sort of barbecued satay sticks.  He explained that the sticks actually held frogs and with my reassurance that I wanted to eat there, we did -- and he soon added fish, pork and soup to our lunch among ordinary Cambodians -- where the guests spoke as much English as I did Khmer (the language of Cambodians).

Another "brilliant" or lucky deviation from routine as I enjoyed it all -- especially the feeling of satisfaction that I get from those parts of my adventure that are things that most Americans, indeed most western tourists, probably wouldn't try.  And the idea played out successfully the rest of the day as we stopped for traditional Khmer snacks: fried rice covered bananas - 

barbecue corn - 

sugar cane candy -

and some sort of pod (I don't remember the name, but Sith bought many as he said his 3 year old loved them) -

By the time we returned to the Guesthouse, my confidence in my luck was soaring -- so I asked Sith if he might be willing to take me to meet his wife/son (his two daughters would be in school) at her place of work (selling eggs in a local market that no tourists go to).  Another successful day as we ate at a diner where you could tell Sith knew everyone by name and frequented directly across from his/his wife's egg selling business.  Another scrumptious success.

When my 3 day temple pass expired -- on my last full day in Siem Reap, I considered whether I should take in other sights (of course I missed some) or spend the day relaxing.  But instead I hatched another plan - just meander through some more countryside and have another typical Khmer lunch.  I explained to Sith that one of the things my girlfriend and I like to do is travel by motorbike on the backroads just to see how people live, what their houses look like and what they are doing.  I expressed extreme satisfaction with the interesting route he had taken to get me to the "floating village" (blog post to follow) -- and asked that he just pick a different route and lunch stop.

This last day trip was exactly what I was hoping for -- into the countryside another direction where I got to see people going about their daily lives including harvesting rice (also another blog post).  At the suitable time, we arrived at sort of a park-like setting at the rear of a residence -- complete with open air huts equipped with ceiling fans and hammocks.  Sith explained that this type of park-like dining/resting place was the destination of Cambodian families looking to have an escape from the confines of city life.  He further explained that he had tried to bring his family here on one occasion but that they were so busy, there was no remaining hut to be taken.

We rested and talked -- about lots of topics from his birthplace, marriage, family to USA politics (everyone has heard of the clown Trump) while feasting on a chicken that was killed and prepared just for us.  After a filling lunch, the hammocks lulled us to sleep for a short time and then we returned to the Guesthouse.

The Siem Reap Experience - to be continued...

The Siem Reap Experience - Part 1 - Temples, Tuk Tuks, Poverty

I've just completed 6 nights in Siem Reap and have a few minutes to write between flights.  But rather than give an agenda format to this posting, I'm just going to give some thoughts on various aspects of my time in Siem Reap..

The Temples:  $40 buys a three day pass to the temples and it was perfect for me for this trip and the time available.  As I sit here I am unable to tell you by name which temple I liked best -- and I can't even understand how people can rate and rank them as they do on tripadvisor.com.  For me, so much depended on the time of day, my own energy, the number of people/groups present when I visited, and what inspired me in the moment of each visit.

My Unretouched Photo

Except for the sunrise at Angkor Wat itself (sort of a -- if you're here, you gotta do it place),  I was blessed with a general absence of crowds -- sometimes I was only person at a temple or I could easily chart a course through it that kept my visit private and contemplative. Sometimes I felt inclined to engage other travelers and met many from everywhere - sometimes leading to invites to meet up later or stay in touch on travel tips for anticipated destinations.  Conversations, when I wanted them, started easily as people, like me, seemed to enjoy the opportunity to share traveler stories and tips about what they were doing and what they had liked.

In summary, I loved every step -- I loved going at my own pace -- and, as I have posted previously, I found them all to be inspiring and interesting.  Like my visits to China's Terracotta Army and Great Wall -- and so many other places, I often found myself contemplating the society/civilization that existed when these temples were built -- and trying to imagine how they were accomplished -- and thinking about what conditions might have caused the decline and elimination of the civilization.  It was 3 days of mind-stretching.

Yes, as guide books will remind you, there was always the presence of children and women selling at the entrances and exits -- but unlike some reviewers, it is easy for me to say no (nicely!) because like I've posted previously, these trips are about experiences and memories, not things -- and I choose to buy nothing.  I don't need trinkets or silk or clothing or anything to remember these special moments and I don't have room in my backpack to bring home travel gifts.  Now, that being said -- I did pay $1 for a set of postcards -- but not because I wanted the postcards but rather I wanted to video the young girl selling them to demonstrate her skill in multiple languages -- more on that in a another blog posting.

But I do give in to my own weakness for supporting music buskers -- and there were a few opportunities to do that at some of the temples. Here is a youtube video I took of one set of buskers.  At the end of the video is the sign that explains the buskers.

I've run into other travelers who thought less of the temples experience and deemed it too expensive -- but that's not my view.  I agree with the Lonely Planet assessment (from my previous post) -- it's a not-to-be-missed adventure whether or not you are a fan of the Tomb Raider or Angelina Jolie.

To be sure, I have enough self-pics at every temple to bore even myself -- but I'll include just these two:

Everything Looks Better in a Tuk Tuk:  So my son coined the phrase "everything looks better from the seat of a motorcycle" which I have blogged about previously -- but when I was describing a particular day, my girlfriend suggested that I modify my son's saying to "everything looks better from the seat of a tuk tuk."  She is correct! What a fun way to travel around the city.  Relaxing with a great view!

Also it is worth mentioning that driving is not at all like USA.  Everyday I watched with pleasure as drivers quietly and peacefully were very assertive, pushing their way through traffic -- with no expression of anger with the exception of a quick look of displeasure.  There was virtually no horn honking in anger though it was a common to alert each other to move aside to let a faster vehicle pass.  My tuk tuk driver never exceeded a comfortable 20 mph (he said his old motorcycle couldn't go fast!).

Poverty: This is not a holiday destination! Though there are luxury level hotels, there is no beautiful beach and the poverty of the residents is in your face everyday, everywhere except inside the controlled space of the temples where you only see tourists and travelers.  Outside the walls of the temples, and everywhere else I was reminded of the privilege to which I was lucky to have been born and the lucky breaks afforded me during my life.  But for me it was that daily "slap in the face" humility that inspired me to focus on how the "American Dream" of pursuing and amassing possessions is so unimportant to one's happiness.

 Like my visit last year to Andy's home village in China, I was emotionally touched (sometimes wrecked) by the happiness of people who clearly possessed so little.  And while the sordid history of American involvement in the country (another blog post) would give them just cause to be disgusted with this easily identifiable white American, I only received kindness and smiles everywhere I went.  Smiles and waving were common among the children, especially in the country side; kindness and warmth were evident in my personal interactions with service industry personnel.  About the only place I observed an officious demeanor was by previously described immigration officials and airport personnel.

I had read about Cambodia's poverty -- but now it was no longer just words on a page.  On one day I stopped to ask a temple guard (maybe better described as ticket checker) and he explained that it was a good job that paid $170 a month for 15 days work of 13 hours a day.  Remembering that I was carrying a backpack of electronics worth 14 months of his salary was one of those "slaps" I mentioned above.

Personal Observation: I may get a chance to write about this more, but for now I'll save a few words by just observing that my feelings gave personal validation to what my daughter wrote about Siem Reap when she and her husband traveled here 6 years ago:

"Our travels here aren't about seeing as many places as we can, or drinking to oblivion because it's cheap, or staying in luxury hotels. Our travels are about learning another culture's ways, connecting with other humans, connecting with each other. We've both been overwhelmed with our emotions here. I love the smiles the local children give us as we pass, I love my incredibly dirty feet after a full day of climbing around historic, magic temples, I love the taste of completely new food on my tongue. Yes, Cambodia is a poor country-- but everything about it is nothing short of amazing. You all need to come visit."

 The Siem Reap Experience - to be continued...

The Temples of Angkor Wat

Wow!  I've been having so much fun and been so busy that I haven't had time to blog. But, please know I still have best intentions -- and many words and stories rolling around in my brain that I want to write about -- but just no time.  This is truly an amazing place and those of you who are are Facebook know from my posting there that I am both in awe and humbled by this place -- and loving every minute.

So, I'll continue writing as soon as time allows -- but for now, allow me to leave you with this - The Temples of Angkor Wat have consistently been listed as one of the top travel destination on the planet -- topping the better known Great Barrier Reef and the Grand Canyon.  If you have an extra 3 minutes, I highly recommend this excellent video overview put together by Lonely Planet. It truly is excellent.

So, I have lots of stories and photos - but just no time. Just know I haven't given out on writing yet -- and I will let you know if I do.  In the meantime, check back later -- I always have more I want to write, now I just need to find time.

Arriving Siem Reap - Traveling Challenges (Sep 5-6)

Challenge 1: Got up early to catch my 4:40am ride to the airport -- and the day got off to a challenging start at the airport when the Air Asia person checking me advised that I couldn't take the flight because I didn't have the required Cambodian visa.  I had read that I didn't need one -- it could be issued upon arrival -- but I hadn't thought about the fact that I'd be departing from China where Chinese citizens can't exit their country without showing the Cambodian entry visa.  Thankfully, the clerk's English was excellent as was her research skills -- and after a few minutes she decided that I could indeed get my visa upon arrival

Challenge 2: My initial flight was to Bangkok where I had long enough connecting time to find a noodle place and, because I didn't have Thai Bhat (because I was just transiting there) nor wanted it as change for my US dollars, I opted to use a credit card.  I wouldn't know it until the next day, but somewhere in the hustle of the exchange for my $5 US meal, I either left or dropped my credit card. (Spoiler alert - when I did discover I'd lost it, no additional charges had been put on it.  Thankfully, I had another card to use).

Challenge 3: If one believes in the rule of three -- then you might guess that the day continued with one more challenge.  During the second leg of the trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap, I fell asleep and only awoke when the wheels hit the runway.  As I jolted awake, I noted that three lengthy immigration, visa, customs forms had been left on the empty seat next to me.  I rushed to complete them, but was the last to leave the plane -- and therefore the last to get in line for the visa application.  Processing was crazy officious as passports were passed from officer to officer in a row of about 8 with each one doing something different.  So, $32 later (I was "fined" $2 for not having an extra passport photo to leave with my application - a fine I was aware of and calculated that it would be cheaper/easier to pay the fine than take time/money to bring one with me) -- and an hour of processing and I exited the airport to find my waiting tuk tuk driver with a sign with my name (well, sort of my name --  but as I have often said, there is no one else in the world with my name so it's easily recognizable even with one changed letter and one dropped one.)

The sense of adventure started immediately in the tuk tuk!

I had arranged lodging at the same Guesthouse that my daughter and her husband had stayed at 6 years prior -- and my experience quickly became confirmation of their recommendation.  Friendly staff, super nice room for $15 a night, conveniently located and with a open-air bar and restaurant in the lobby.  If you'd like to see the Google Street View in front of the Guesthouse, click here.

The ride from the airport was free but, of course, there is a reason: it gives the driver an opportunity to make himself available for the needed transportation to the temples  I bonded with "Sith" easily and set a plan to meet the next morning to get started.

Upon settling in my room, I re-read my daughter/son-in-law's blog about their stay.  I had read it before, but I have always found with all my travel reading that the details generally get buried until I'm in-country and have some specific knowledge of my specific circumstances.  This was no exception.  I had previously scanned over their recommendation that the 3-day temple pass allowed a one day prior admission to sunset at the Angkor Wat temple.  And upon reading, I headed back downstairs to see if Sith was still around so I could change up my plan to get started the next day with the sunset admission -- allowing me to have a leisurely first day in Siem Reap.  Sith was still at the guesthouse and the change was made.

A delicious dinner and three 75 cent beers later, I was ready for sleep.

Shanghai and Suzhou (Aug 31-Sep 4)

My AirBnB was within walking distance of the frequently photographed Bund walkway -- so I returned to enjoy a leisurely stroll there.  Always a wonderful people-watching place -- especially today as I happened upon three different professional photo shoots of wedding couples. Peaceful and beautiful -- not at all like the 2014 New Year's stampede that killed 36 and injured 49 when 300,000 crowded the area.

And when I noted that the Shanghai Postal Museum was close by, I thought that would be a fitting stop considering the saga of Andy's stolen iPad in the US Postal System.  It was very informative as to the long history of the Chinese postal system -- and free.  What's not to like about that.

Thereafter I meandered amongst lots of streets -- enjoying the bustle, noise and smells of Shanghai city life.

The next morning I made my way on the subway to the railroad station that I have been to several times before -- and was off to Suzhou on bullet train.  Suzhou is 62 miles from Shanghai (about 35 minutes on the train) and while it felt like I was headed to a suburb, it's a city of 4 million -- making it about the size of Los Angeles, the USA's second largest city.   Suzhou is famous for its World Heritage Site Classical Gardens -- and I spend the day visiting three of them (Humble Administrator's, Lion's Grove Garden, and Couples Retreat.  Except for the last one, the others were very crowded with Chinese tourists -- making for more great people watching.  Andy later explained that Suzhou gardens is a "must see" for Chinese tourists.  They were interesting and it was a fun way to spend a day.  This photo is from Lion's Grove:

After my feet had walked more than they liked, I succumbed to a touristy pedicab back to the train station and arrived back in Shanghai just in time to get caught on the subway.  No one can appreciate the massiveness train stations nor the masses of people they accommodate unless you have visited China.  Here's an internet photo of the inside of Shanghai's railway station.

The four days/nights in downtown Shanghai passed quickly and comfortably at my selected AirBnb. but on the morning I was going to be headed back to the original AirBnB, I awoke early with some concern that I still didn't know the precise address of the location nor whether I might again share space with the guy from Peru whose story, appearance and demeanor left me suspicious.  Thankfully, many texts with the host calmed all of my concerns and I arrived in time to have several hours of interesting and fun conversation with the host about Chinese culture, her experiences with AirBnb, and her extensive travels in China.  When I inquired if  I might be able to find my favorite Muslim noodle place (see this prior post) to have dinner , she and a friend offered to lead me to its location only to find it was out of business.  So we opted to go to another nearby street-side restaurant and I got to experience the seasonally favorite crayfish among a few other Chinese foods I hadn't had.

The host arranged a 4:40am ride to the airport for my 6:50am departure -- and I departed Shanghai very happy that I had a chance to meet up with Andy and return his iPad, experience another city (Suzhou) -- and add new friends to my life from my first two AirBnB experiences in China.

Arrival - First Days in Shanghai (Aug 29-31)

My flights were comfortable and uneventful, and arrival was easy -- and just like others had reviewed on the AirBnB site, as prearranged with my host, I texted her on arrival and within a few minutes she and a guy picked me up curbside.  I quickly learned that the guy was not her boyfriend or husband, just a driver.  Within less than 10 minutes we were in a large, newish looking development of many high rise buildings -- and she was escorting me to her 4th floor apartment.  The room was exactly as pictured, but my research had been incomplete.  She doesn't rent just one room, but 3 and their occupants, two young guys - one from Peru and one Chinese - greeted me and we all shared some "where you from, where you going to" traveler talk -- comfortably seated in the living room.  As I will readily admit, I'm often too quick to get suspicious (though it served me well in my work!) and my own stereotyped biases about appearance and the Peru Guy's unusual story was a little unnerving: came two days before to learn Chinese at area school -- decided he wanted to return but didn't have booked flight.  I couldn't really assess whether it was because his English wasn't very good or he was purposely being evasive, but I momentarily reflected on my discomfort with the choices that brought me to a place where I wasn't exactly sure of my location and situation.

Of course, some of that discomfort is exactly the challenge I love about being a traveler and I was too tired from the long journey to give it much brain bandwidth.  So, after some short, interesting conversation, I was off for much needed sleep.  Spoiler alert of future post - the discomfort returns before my stay at the same place the night before departure.

Anyway, when I awakened in the morning, the two guys were gone -- and after getting a confirming text from Andy for a lunch together in Shanghai, I quickly arranged my preselected AirBnB booking downtown -- thankfully it was available for the next 4 nights but because of the host and her husband's work schedule, neither would be home before 7pm.  That worked for me.

Since the host was also headed to the subway, she escorted me to a waiting car (she explained it was a Didi car, the Chinese equivalent of Uber) for a short ride to the subway.  She was an easier, comforting, study - a smart traveler, excellent English, 50+ positive reviews on AirBnB-- and she spoke freely of her interaction and assessments of the other two guys she hosted the prior night.

I continued on the subway past where she exited -- and met Andy as arranged.  It was great to be with and catch up with Andy and learn all about his and his wife's families (all of whom are also friends, see previous blogs) -- and return his iPad.  Time passed quickly as he took me on a visit to a local community center/history museum and then to a simple, delicious lunch. Thereafter, I accompanied him back to the train station for his late afternoon departure where he also help me obtain train tickets so I could visit the nearby city of Suzhou, known for its beautiful gardens and on the highly regarded tourist options to the area.

I then made my way to my home for the next 4 nights - an excellent downtown room in another highly rated AirBnB.  To be continued....

Change Is Hard!

I must say that some of the fun of every adventure has been working out the logistics on my own.  I've already written about getting the flights -- but those are really just the bookends of each journey and those are the easiest part of the logistics.  What is often more challenging is the accommodations and ground transportation. And in China,  where I'm essentially illiterate and linguistically silent (another blog topic!) and therefore generally limited to public transportation options, figuring these parts with a "budget-traveler" mindset takes the bulk of my research/preparation. 

For this trip to Shanghai -- where I've been before and might have made these plans with less study and stress -- I took a different fork on the "two roads" that I frequently reference.  You see, I've often repeated, sometimes with disgust, that "people like to do what they have always done."  Most often I am talking about adapting to new technology - but it's certainly true of travel logistics as well.  How much of your life is filled with routines that you prefer to do only because you've always done them?  Change is hard!  Even I still double space after punctuation and carry a handkerchief!

So, when Andy mentioned to me that I might want to consider AirBnB, it appealed to many of my travel priorities: budget-minded, opportunity for increased personal interaction with locals, and taking on a new traveling challenge.  I know the primary readers of this blog will know AirBnB -- but if it is a new term to you, do a search on it ("google it" doesn't seem to be fitting recommendation for a blog about China where Google is blocked by the Chinese government - another blog topic!). I quickly learned that AirBnb in China, like in the USA and worldwide, is becoming increasingly popular as a lodging alternative.

Now, I've used AirBnB successfully 8 times in the USA -- but only once for just a room in a shared house, otherwise opting for an "entire place."  And while an "entire place" is more often suitable for traveling couples/families -- it did remove some of its appeal on these solo adventures: it is not budget-minded and offers no increased interaction with locals.  But on the flip side, getting just a room adds a level of complexity to the choices that makes finding a suitable place much more difficult.  And I quickly found that while there are many AirBnB listings in Shanghai, the only way to figure out whether I was going to be able to even communicate with the host(s) would be by researching each one to see if the listing was in English and looking through reviews to assess whether an English speaker had a successful stay. 

Thereafter another complication: should I eliminate listings where the host was female so as to avoid the appearance of impropriety.  Certainly, as I've blogged about before, there are plenty of old white guys on the hunt for young Asian females and I don't want to be associated with that.  But, in this regard, I quickly noted most of the listings were by females even though some reviews would mention positive interaction with a husband or male partner/roommate.  Of course I'm interested in the sociology/demographics of hosting and the reasons for the apparent predominance of female hosts in Shanghai* (perhaps everywhere?) -- but in the end couldn't let it be a determining factor if I was going to use AirBnB at all.  English listings, reviews by English speakers and location had to be primary. 

The accommodation logistics were further complicated by indecision as to whether Andy would meet me in Shanghai -- or I would take the 4 hour train ride to Wenzhou.  And after I thought I had completed my research (much more time consuming than just using booking.com to find a hotel!) and was ready to book a downtown location (listed by a female but reviews mentioned male partner/husband) -- I remembered that my inbound flight arrival in the evening and my early morning (6:50am) departure (the subway doesn't run at 4:00am when I would need to be at the airport).  Once again, the easy path yelled "hotel" -- but the adventurous path tugged at me until I found only 2 listings near the airport and only one of them stood out as a "super host" (an earned AirBnB designation of a perfect record of reviews with no last minute cancellations).  Listed by a female but unknown if husband/partner present. I booked the first and last nights there as there was no other suitable option -- and awaited further texting from Andy on the in between 4 nights.

As I began the trip, I thought this AirBnB choice in China might have not been worth the extra research and time -- only time would tell.  After all, I was doing exactly what these adventures require: "Playing It By Ear."

Spoiler alert: I'm writing this on my way to Bangkok -- all the extra research and time to experience AirBnB in China did exactly what I sought: cheap and interesting -- but not without creating more stories to tell.  Yes, change is hard!