Monsoon Season - Part 1

Bring it ON!

From a distance, this is what I've been hoping for... Typically one short cloudburst each afternoon + evening, precluded by a quick wind so you know it's coming. Though it often stops people in their tracks, there's not so much urgency here to be someplace at a set time, so most people hurry for cover in doorways or coffeeshops and just wait it out.

During the day - Dramatic clouds and the downpour cool things off and make the heat of the day much more bearable. Women in conical hats don plastic ponchos and continue to vend their produce to neighborhood restaurants. Just today, we got caught off-guard in the market of a small town we're visiting and waited out the worst of it over lunch and iced coffee. Vendors moved plastic buckets under holes in the tarps to collect water for dish-washing, others used the overflowing buckets to rinse down the pavement in their work areas. Buckets were continually swapped out as they quickly filled, one after the other.

In the evening - You can actually SEE it coming, then enjoy a fantastic display of lightning + thunder as a torrential wall of water bears down while people continue enjoying their dinner + beers under awnings.

Don't let this time of year keep you away from a tropical destination. We're digging it! Bring an umbrella and be prepared for an occasional day-long downpour (most likely in August - Mid October, though sometimes in June + July at the start of the season too), and for the heat. But that's why our recommended itineraries typically allow for a few days at the beach :)

(Photo: This is an actual, un-photoshoped photo taken from our hotel, just moments before the deluge)

Will I Ever Have Time Again?

The trio of 29-year-old English students I've mentioned who we had the pleasure of meeting the other day, not only interviewed, but befriended us AND treated us to lunch. Yet another instance of the hospitality that people in Asia (and MANY places in the world) offer up so naturally, but that I feel you'd be hard-pressed to have reciprocated in the U.S. Not that people in the States are necessarily UN-friendly, it's just that it seems a rare thing for us to go out of our way to be generous to a total stranger, especially one who barely speaks our language, if at all.

A good friend of ours has begged to differ with us about this point and assures us that a foreigner would be likely to receive a warm reception if, for example, visiting the midwest. I personally don't believe it. Having traveled fairly extensively internationally I reflect on the generosity I've received in various countries - In Seoul, Korea a student took off work for an entire day to tour me around town and refused to let me pay for lunch or tea; In Arequipa, Peru I befriended a girl on an overnight bus and after chatting the night away, we arrived exhausted and her mother took us in, letting me sleep in her bed while preparing a wonderful meal for us; In Samut Songkhram, Thailand were were given free food by several people and shown around town by another young man; In Jianshui, China a poor, old man buys us lunch and refuses to let us treat him in return - I could go on, but the point is, that even though I think of myself as helpful and compassionate to other travelers, I have never once offered to buy anyone coffee and show them around San Francisco. And would I dare invite a total stranger into my home? Not for lack of opportunity have these thoughts crossed my mind. For years I rode Muni to work along the main route from downtown to Coit Tower/Fisherman's Wharf area and frequently saw backpackers studying their maps en-route. Not for lack of compassion or fear did I leave them alone to their task, but for lack of time.


This, I believe, is the true crux of the matter. We, in the developed world, really don't seem to have any to spare! Whether it's rushing to work, or the gym, or home to your family, or happy hour with friends, or household chores... I know I'm not alone in feeling like I never had a free moment. Let me ask - How long has it taken you to finish just one novel in the past year? In the past year I've read at least 30! This would've been completely impossible if I were at home. So what would it take for me to take the time out to help a TOTAL STRANGER?

Through my travels I've fallen deeply in love with the more laid-back approach that much of the rest of the world has to time. In Latin America they say "manana!" (tomorrow). It's taken me awhile on the road, on this and previous extended trips, just to unwind enough not only to accept this way of thinking, but adopt it. For example - The train's three hours late, or the person that sold me my bus ticket said the ride would be 8 hours and instead it's 12. What is there to do but just accept it. But more importantly, what is the valuable lesson to be learned by it? Relax, and go with the flow. In all honesty, I still find it hard at times and have the tendency to regress to the "Give me now!", "Do it now!" mentality, but I'm trying...

And so here's yet another thing I ask myself regarding Will I ever be Satisfied Again? And if not, can I hold onto this slowing of time at least in my OWN life if the rest of society is racing around me?

New Urbanism

There's something about the cities of Asia (and many in Europe for that matter) that has been so appealing to us. It's more than the warm weather, the exotic cuisine, the old buildings full of character, the friendly people... though they all play into it. It's the cities themselves and how they function.

First and foremost, it's the human scale of the cities and the walkability to all your needs. It's the ease and minimal cost of public transporta- tion. The fact that there are trees and people hanging out at curbside cafes, and the diversity of the things you pass - A block full of produce sellers, then metal workers, then stationary stores, then fabrics or mechanics... all interspersed with cafes + restaurants. Above this first level of commerce are the homes of the cities inhabitants, typically 3-6 stories maximum in height.

(Photo: Your typical corner - Veggie vendors, curbsite eatery, mini-market, pharmacy, cell phone store, child riding tricycle, old man walking, people hanging around chatting)

Check the "link" for more on the principles of the New Urbanism movement. And no, I'm not proposing that buildings need to be designed in a retro aesthetic like most of the examples noted, merely to incorporate these design principles.

Hanoi's "Old Quarter", where we've opted to settle for a bit to determine what our next move is, and which I'll use as an example, is just that. The streets in this neighborhood are even still named after the goods that were produced there and that still mainly are today - The street of silk, the street of cotton, the street of iron, etc.

(Photo: Not many vehicles other than 2-wheelers in sight making for a better community atmosphere)

One thing that IS unique to the developing world and which is not necessarily for the best is the fact that though most people have a more relaxed pace of life, they have little time to themselves. People work LONG hours, meaning 12+ HOURS - ALL DAY LONG, and though they may be napping during the slow afternoon hours or watching TV most of the time, there is little time for activities or friends OUTSIDE of work. Many even LIVE onsite, add that to the fact that most places are overstaffed and you have ALOT of unproductive down time AND lower pay for everyone. Not something I envy, but that's why I'm talking about NEW urbanism, because maybe it really IS feasible to have the best of both worlds.

Just yesterday we met a trio of 29-year-old women working towards their Master's degrees in English. We agreed to be interviewed for an assignment they're working on. It was interesting to hear that their perception of Americans + Europeans is that we are so much more efficient with our time, while they noted that the Vietnamese are often just sitting around. Maybe we ARE more efficient, but there IS a trade off in that we're ALWAYS on the go. Maybe there's a happy medium to be found in a work schedule of 10-12 available hours where you have the flexibility to creating your own 8 hour work day, giving us better social interchange and hopefully loosening up our schedule's so that we're not always RUSHING.

Maybe because people work such long hours here they tend to ethusiastically kick-up their heels too. Virtually every night the numerous cafe's that serve food + beer on draft are packed to the gills with men AND women. Some with children in tow. Again, lending the neighborhood a great community vibe where everyone is a participant. Wouldn't it be great if OUR urban planners would opt less to develop in an auto-centric model and incorporate these principles. Despite the obvious advantages of a communal lifestyle + layout here there seems to be a push to modernize with less concern about maintaining the good of what they have than merely rushing headlong towards the western ideal that we've marketed to the world. With a greater level of cultural exchange maybe we can begin to learn from one another and reshape our "ideal", working towards a more sustainable future for us all.

Hanoi's "Old Quarter" (Photo: People sit around on pint-sized chairs enjoying cold beer for a mere 12 cents a glass watching the world go by)

Check the "link" for more Hanoi photos

The Facts, and Only The Facts

A few of you have asked just how destinations of the past year and a half have stacked up... Here goes -


Number of Countries Visited?
10

Average number of Nights per City?
5

Longest Time in any One City?
1 week in Casa Granda, Arizona; 1 week in Ann Arbor, Michigan; 1-2 weeks each in Barcelona, Valencia + Zarautz, Spain; 1 week in Paris, France; 2 weeks in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 4 weeks in Varanasi, India; 2 weeks each in Rishikesh, Leh + Delhi, India; 4 weeks in Kathmandu, Nepal; 1-2 weeks each in Bangkok + Koh Mak Island, Thailand; 1-2 weeks each in Phnom Penh + Siem Reap, Cambodia; 1-2 weeks each in Vientianne + Luang Prabang, Laos; 1-2 weeks each in Kunming + Xijiang, China; 3 weeks in Hanoi, Vietnam

Number of Friends that have Visited Us Abroad?
7 - Ken Phelps (x2), Rich Janda, Johan Hamberg (Germany), Mark Dobbrow, Tish Hendershot, Joerg + Corinna (Germany)

Number of Friends + Family We have Visited while on the Road?
37 - Chris + Mari, Steve (Cheese) + Shelly (Squeeze), Scott + Tami, Marvel + Bob, Todd + Christy, Frank + Patricia, Tanya + Amanda, Charlie + Sachiko, Vinnie, Lori, Tom + Jo, Tom Hey, Jackie + Denny, Carrie, Marc + Sveta, Molly, Rich, Sharon + Kenny Ray, Nick, Tracy, Sherry, Maribel + Inaki (Spain), Karo (Amsterdam), Steve Goodman (Phnom Penh)

Average Daily Spending in Asia (2 people, including ground transportation + visa costs)?
$30 - Typical Accommodations $4-8, Meals $1-3/each. If not moving around and self-catering and/or eating at locals food stalls you can comfortably get by on $10 per person, per day.

Most Pleasant Surprise Destination + Why?
New Mexico - An underexplored gem of the American Southwest; Annapurna Circuit - We'd heard stories of this trek being overtouristed, but what we found FAR exceeded our highest expectations; China - The friendliness + curiosity of the people and beautiful nature, both natural + cultivated; Vietnam - I wasn't sure any one country could provide the perfect blend of modern comforts, freaky sights, good food, cheap living, spectacular scenery + engaging people, but this one does.

Most Disappointing Destination + Why?
Laos - The divide between locals + tourists and destruction of nature. We're STILL a bit perplexed why fellow travelers rate this one so high.

Most Spiritial Destinations?
Tabo Monastery - Spiti Valley, India; Varanasi, India; Boudhha - Kathmandu, Nepal

Least Spiritual Destinations?
China (too many years of religious suppression)

Most Chill Destinations?
Koh Mak Island, Thailand; Spiti Valley + Orchha, India; Don Det, Laos; Xijiang - Guizhou, China; Quan Lan Island, Vietnam

Noisiest Cities?
Kathmandu, Nepal; Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) + Hanoi, Vietnam

Wierdest Cities?
Varanasi + Haridwar, India

Cleanest Country?
U.S., Holland (for Europe) + China (for Asia)

Dirtiest Country?
India

Number of Modes of Transportation?
22 - Pick-up (self-driven), plane, car taxi, a/c bus, train, subway, bicycle, cycle-rickshaw, moto-rickshaw, chicken bus, shikara, walking (for 30 days), tuk-tuk, moto taxi, cyclo, row boat, samlor, sawngthaew, motor boat, moto (self-driven), hitchhiking

Worst Smokers?
Spanish + Chinese, followed by the Vietnamese

Most Scenic Farming Area?
Tulip Bloom, The Netherlands; Ladakh, India; Annapurna, Nepal; Doc Let, Vietnam; Southern Guizhou Province, China

Most Scenic Natural Wonders?
Saguaro Ntl. Monument + Monument Valley, Arizona; Canyonlands, Utah; White Sands, New Mexico; Las Alpujaras - Granada, Spain; Spiti Valley, Nubra Valley + Aru, India; Annapurna, Nepal; Yangshuo - Guangxi, China; Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Best Water Culture?
Tonle Sap Delta, Cambodia; Mekong Delta + Mui Ne, Vietnam; Kashmir, India

Best Biking/2-wheeled Culture?
Holland + Vietnam

Best Nightlife?
New York; Spain; Phnom Penh + Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Best Festival?
Las Fallas - Valencia, Spain + Queen's Day, Amsterdam

Gnarliest Festival?
Durga Puja - Nepal

Best Architecture?
Las Vegas, New Mexico; New Harmony + Columbus, Indiana; Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia, Cuenca, Granada + Cordoba, Spain; Paris, France; Amsterdam; Agra, Rishikesh + Ladakh, India; Kathmandu Valley, Nepal; Hoi An, Vietnam; Luang Prabang, Laos

Best Ruins?
Mesa Verde, Colorado; Chaco Canyon, New Mexico; Angkor, Cambodia; Orchha + Fatehpur Sikri, India

Best Buddhas?
Gwalior, India; Ladakh, India; Ayutthaya, Thailand

Best Place to Shop?
Bangkok's Weekend Market (for everything); Kathmandu, Nepal (for outdoor gear); Luang Prabang, Laos (for gifts + home accessories)

Best Room/Accommodation Value for your Money?
China + Vietnam; The American Southwest in Winter

Best Food for Vegetarians?
California; Yunnan, China; India; Vietnam; Thailand if Self-Catering

Best Food Overall?
Thailand + California (and France if you can live off of bread, cheese + wine)

Best Outdoor Dining Culture?
Spain, China + Vietnam

Best Bread + Baked Goods?
France + California, followed by Nepal + Vietnam (maybe)

Best Domestic Wine?
California, France + Spain, followed by, believe it our not... Yunnan, China

Best Domestic Beer?
U.S. (for microbrews that are some of THE best in the World), Vietnam (for super-cheap draft "cool beer") + Laos, which has only one beer - Beer Lao (for the COLDEST beer on a super-hot day, making the most memorable + satisfying beer-drinking experience of the trip)

Best Coffee?
Vietnam, followed by France + Spain

Best Dressed Women?
India (the Sari); Southern Vietnam (the Ao Dai); Guizhou, China (Miao tribalwear)

Best Dressed Men?
Spain (tight-fitting modern fashion); Southern China (eclectic fashion by the old men)

Worst Dressed?
Vietnam - Many women wear pajamas as clothes while men go for the white-trash look with a white wife-beater, baggy shorts, slouchy socks + plastic slippers, a big gold ring and long pinky nails to boot - Hideous!

Best Hair?
Southern China (you've never SEEN so many salon's, and the guys go for highlights + alternative cuts just as much as the girls.)

Worst Hair?
Spain (the mullet was never flattering and never WILL be, even on a woman) + Chinese (not ALL the alternative cuts are good, and they've got a things for 80's-era do's)

Best Abs?
Vietnamese fishermen (Even in their 50's!)

Best Arms?
Vietnamese farming women (You don't even KNOW what hard work is!)

Nicest People?
Ladakhi's, India; Southern China; Samut Songkhram, Thailand; Thakli people - Annapurna, Nepal

Most Difficult People?
Kashmiri's, then Vietnamese (though sometimes they will break your heart with sweetness too)

Least Engaging/Friendly People?
Laotians + the Spanish (it was our only disappointment with Spain)

Best smiles?
Khmer's (Cambodia), Thai's + Southern Chinese


Check the "Recommendations" link for more

Will I Ever be Satisfied Again?

No, not another post about China. Well, only sort of.

For anyone that knows me well, you know that I'm a creature acutely ruled by my belly. I LOVE good food. Since arriving in Southeast Asia I've enjoyed fruit + veggies the likes of which I haven't dared hope of having such access to again, or have even had the pleasure of tasting... Tomatoes, fava beans, herbs like pak chi falang, fresh bamboo shoots + baby corn, durian, lychees... All available in season and in abundance, because they don't pick stuff out of season here and store it AND because it's grown locally, not shipped halfway around the world.

Some of my best childhood memories are of eating astoundingly flavorful tomatoes + peaches straight from my grandparents garden + orchard. At the time, those store-bought really were pretty tasty too. As I've grown up though (I know my memory isn't failing me, yet) produce really HAS gone downhill in quality + flavor. As some of you may or may not know, over recent years the evolution of corporate agriculture has moved decisely towards improving the look + storage of the produce we eat, not the flavor. Hence those pretty, but flavorless globes we now have year-round in our supermarkets.

Don't get me wrong, there are LOTS of culinary treats that I miss from home. If you're a foodie, there's just about no other place in the World than the San Francisco/Bay Area where you can enjoy such a wealth of culinary styles from around the globe, either cooked by folks actually FROM that country or by chef's who dare to take those cuisines to entirely new levels. BUT, unless you're willing to pay an arm + a leg for it (and sometimes not even then) it's really hard to find a tomato that tastes like... well, a tomato.

There's even more disturbing news on the food front. Monsanto Corporation's "Terminator Seed" should give us all pause as to what the future of food (check out the film by the same name) on this planet will be and whether that power should be put into the hand of a single corporation. On the bright side, the Slow Food Foundation is but one group that is working to improve agricultural biodiversity. Some things YOU can do are to grow your own produce (I know, not so easy in San Francisco), buy organic (check this fairly unbiased report of when it's worth the cost), become a WOOFer (Willing Worker on Organic Farm) or support education through school garden projects or community gardens.

We're looking into taking our own turn as WOOFer's in the coming months, so hopefully I'll be able to give a better account of this first-hand.

Check the "link" for photos from Guangxi Province and the remainder of our time in China.

Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Panda?

The Chinese account for about ONE IN EVERY FOUR PEOPLE ON THE PLANET, and even their own government's conservative estimates project population growth at one-fourth again by 2030. Add this to the fact that they are short on natural resources (except dirty coal), clean water + arable land (which is being diminished each year due to erosion + construction) and the estimated growth could equate to BIG SHORTAGES in the future.

On top of this, Chinese of average means are now getting a glimpse of the good life and they want their share of it. Living standards therefore have to keep improving for nothing more surely invites social unrest than the dashing of rising expectations. Unrestrained growth can destroy ecosystems on which all economies ultimately depend, but headlong pursuit of wealth is the cornerstone of modern Chinese life. "Americans do not know how urgent our need for economic improvement is - How little our people have compared to what Americans take for granted." stated one man quoted in Earth Odyssey by Mark Hertsgaard (a great book from which I've gathered many of these facts).

Note: Photos have been gathered from the Web as our journey through the southern hinterlands brought us mainly through beautiful countryside and cities, though with populations in the multi-millions, that were very clean. The majority of China's environmental mayhem is being conducted in the big cities with large-scale industrial + manufacturing sectors, but obviously, future shortages and pollution will affect not only the country as a whole but the entire globe. Check Worldwatch's "China Watch" for current news + happenings.

(Photo: The future is looking bright for these optimistic "Beijing 2008 Olympic" mascots. We saw this optimism mirrored on many peoples faces in China where the feeling on the street must be similar to what the 1950's in America was.)

Most Chinese accept the view that economic growth requires environmental damage, and they are quite ready to pay that price. "Americans talk about saving birds + monkeys while there are many Chinese people who still don't have enough food to eat." With our own eyes, we saw that the corpulent Chinese stereotype is not at all true in the South where no one carries any excess weight. On the other hand, a big part of the culture is eating out communally and whether through pride or having enough, we were rarely begged for food. MUCH less than in San Francisco or the other Asian countries we've been traveling in.

China and the U.S. are each responsible for such a large share of global consumption that any international attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, limit oceanic overfishing, or phase out ozone-destroying chemicals simply CAN NOT SUCCEED without their cooperation. The U.S., with 301 million people (each of whom earn an average of $34,500), casts a long environmental shadow largely through it's extravagant consumption patterns - gas guzzling SUV's, an advertising-saturated culture of fast food + throw-away plastic packaging and shopping malls crammed with all sorts of unnecessary junk. China's environmental heft, on the other hand, still derives mainly from the size of it's population (an estimated 1.3 billion). At the moment (1998 estimate), less than 10% of it's population (each of whom earn an average of $5,600) can afford even a pale imitation of American excess (But a pair of Nike's cost $100 here too!), but if incomes keep rising that percentage will increase (as we have seen with our own eyes) and the environmental effects of China's gigantic population could be fearsome to behold.

Coal is an inescapable fact at the center of the Chinese environ- mental crisis, and there is no easy (or even not so easy) remedy. Although China has taken steps to mitigate the damages caused by burning coal, it's options are limited by a scarcity of everything from water to alternative fuels to investment capital (although the latter has recently been changing). Yet China's reliance on coal and it's yearning for economic growth are so entrenched that even their own health experts don't oppose doubling the nations production if attempts are made to reduce negative health effects in order to meet the growing demands. The Chinese are still dying like flies from lung + bronchial disease, just as they have done for centuries, but now it's the coal rather than the cold that is killing them. In effect, they've traded the epidemiology of a peasant society for the new + improved industrial model. The coal that is killing so many is letting them live longer, warmer lives in the meantime. Air pollution in some of the big cities like Beijing, Chongqing, Xi'an + Shengyang are at astronomically high levels and obliterate the sun for weeks, or months, on end. People aren't educated about the effects though, and as with drinking untreated water or eating fish from a polluted river, they say "It's not o.k. for you because you're a foreigner, but I've lived here my entire life and I'm used to it."

This lack of education also extends to smoking, and as one witty traveler we met observed "They smoke here like it's their job!" There are little to no warnings and they start young. Though mostly males, most internet cafe's are packed with teens (or younger) gaming and smoking with barely a break between. You begin to wonder if it's an attempt by the government to ebb the population tide after the one-child law failed so miserably. Better that the people be prosperous and die early than to risk hindering China's goal to rise back to the top. (Photo: Check out this BS! - Special selected tobacco for environment protection)

What is truly discouraging about China's aggressive development is that they're following our lead without heeding our mistakes and current information about environmental degradation. Globally, there's a glamorized ideal about the "American Way" that's being emulated with it's rampant consumerism, waste instead of conservation and auto-centric culture. It is truly unfortunate given that so many other cultures, because of sheer necessity, have HAD to utilize efficient mass transit to move people around. Have HAD to re-use + conserve. But all that's changing with new found wealth. The good + bad news is that while there has recently been a global move towards plastics (where once glass bottles were still re-used in developing countries as when I was a kid... but there is an even MORE discouraging aspect to this), there IS an active community of folks that have opted for recycling as a means of personal income. We've seen it all over Asia - Glass, plastics, cardboard, scrap metal... collected from curbs + trash cans, brought in and sold. Hell, even in our neighborhood in San Francisco, little, old Chinese ladies go around in the early hours taking the recycling from our curbside bins. Not on THIS kind of scale though. (Photo: I haven't seen anything quite like this, but I believe it)

"Americans say that China is the straw that breaks the camel's back on greenhouse gas emissions" commented Zhou Dadi, a self-described insider on China's climate change policies. But we say, "Why don't you take some of the load off the camel first? If the camel belongs to America, fine, we'll walk. But the camel does not belong to America... China will insist on the per capita principle of distributing emissions rights. What else are we supposed to do? Go back to no heat in winter? Impossible. China is not like Africa, you know, some remote place that's never been developed. We used to be the most developed country in the World. Now after many decades of turbulence, civil war, revolution, political instability + other difficulties, we finally have the chance to develop the country again. And we will not lose that chance."

Here's a "link" to the corresponding story.

A recent quote from The Economist (05.29.07) "And don't let's be fooled by all the recent talk that China has embraced capitalism—to the point of allowing that American business icon, Starbucks, to set up shop in the Forbidden City. This is surely a Muhammad Ali-style rope-a-dope move to make the enemy complacent before the decisive blow is struck. This column knows a plot when it sees one. This is China we are talking about—and capitalists, especially Americans, should be afraid, very afraid."