Good-bye to Southeast Asia

We have finished our Southeast Asia journey.  What an incredible trip!  Southeast Asia is a part of the world that blows you away with its beauty and breaks your heart with its history.  It makes you smile, makes you laugh and makes you cry.  The people are unfailingly warm and hospitable with beautiful smiles and yet some of them live in conditions that are appalling.   We walked by a store in Siem Reap and inside we could see the family sleeping on the floor yet a little girl came running to the door with a brilliant smile to say “hello”.

Laos was everyone’s favourite country.  Although it is land-locked and has no sandy beaches often associated with tropical destinations it was stunningly beautiful.  From our “cruise” down the Mekong River, to our trip through the mountains it blew us away.  The people are more laid back and it was nice to have someone wave at you from across the street just because you were there. 

Anyone know of an elephant Chiropractor

Vietnam had personality.  And coffee.  Oh…. the coffee!  Hanoi was frantic and abrasive with narrow streets and everyone loved the sounds of their horns but it was funky.  Ho Chi Minh city (aka Saigon) was having a serious identity crisis but it had great energy.  Hue and Hoi An were more laid back but still had that good ol’ ADHD feel.  Over indulgence in that incredible coffee…

The quiet streets of Hanoi (Horn oi?)

Cambodia broke my heart and healed it.  We saw beggars there for the first time and we saw sights that were incomprehensible.  We also saw the sweetest kids in the world and Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat.  We had Christmas in Siem Reap with tons of laughs and a feeling like we were amongst friends.

The incredible kids

Angkor Wat on Christmas morning

Bangkok was shabby and Thailand itself seemed tawdry compared to the rest of Southeast Asia.  Having said that, the food was marvelous!  The people?  Southeast Asian- lovely smiles and great warmth.

The standard of beauty in Southeast Asia is something that puzzles me.

 In Thailand there is the “Lady-boy” thingy.  They even have their own beauty contest.  Lady-boys confuse me.  What is their target?  I cannot be straight men – they look like women but have a penis.  Gay men?  They have a penis, but look like women.  Straight women?  Probably not – same problem.  Lesbians?  Uh, uh – the penis thingy again.  In the Thai language you have to add a word at the end of your sentence to identify your gender.  If you are a woman you finish your sentence with “Ka” and if you are a man you finish your sentence with “Kop”.  I guess gender isn’t always obvious from strictly visual clues.

Counter-intuitively women find me attractive here.  Again, this is confusing.  Where else in the world is an aging, overweight, bald man considered hot?  One of the things that seems to be considered sexy here is my pelt.  I have caught women staring at my fuzziness and, in some situations, staring is quickly followed by touching.   I am used to having my fur stared at, there is a certain horrible fascination to it, but it is more often followed by nausea rather than touching.

Petting the Neanderthal - a favourite pass-time in SE

Having said that, it is common to see very attractive young Southeast Asian women in the company of old western men.  This is, I think, a good thing.  It works for both parties.  The women are looking for someone with money to look after them and their potential off-springs whereas the man is looking for someone who is devoted to them and will look after them as well.  Apparently having “white” babies is a very good thing.  It was interesting to see how even hardened security guards, customs officers and police will stop and make goo-goo eyes and smiles at white babies

You cannot talk about Southeast Asia without talking about Buddhism and War.

Buddhism is an integral part of the society.  It seems reminiscent of Europe during Medieval times where the Christian church had so much presence that it figured into everything that people thought and did.  Buddhism seems to have that same presence there.  When I spoke to other amateur artists they were all very keen to draw or paint Buddha and that seemed to be their only subject.

I told them, “No!  I will not pose for you!”

Buddhism does not seem to have the power structure that the Christian church does.  There are no huge hierarchies or attempts to control the population.  The monks go into the monasteries voluntarily and can stay as long as they want and can leave any time they wish. 

Buddhism, to me, seems to make the most sense of any religion in the world today.  It seems more like a philosophy where the goal is enlightenment.  However, like all religions, people use it for their own ends.  

Buddhism today is, I think, not exactly how Buddha wanted

The people of Southeast Asia are not warlike. They have been victims of the “Game of Thrones” indulged in by America, China and Russia.  I think the sculpture in the center of Phnom Penh of the gun with the barrel tied in a knot says it all.  So many people have died horrible deaths there from the interference of the aforementioned power-hungry countries and continue to do so thanks to unexploded bombs and crushing poverty.   These are not soldiers but are innocent victims like women, children and non-combatants. 

Lack of education, corruption and poverty plague these countries.  They are all interlinked.  Education is supposedly free but because the teachers are paid so little you have to pay for each of the lessons and you cannot pass unless you pay again.  For people that have little enough it becomes a terrible burden and often that expense becomes secondary to food.  It is not uncommon to see new cars driving around but apparently those belong to government officials who get paid huge amounts of money and drain off extra as well.

My mind keeps returning to my little sweetie in the village and I wonder what her life holds for her.  Is she going to end up worn out and worn down like the ladies in the village - looking 70 years old when she is 40? 

I keep wondering what I can do to make her life better.

Telen Writes

Visiting 4 countries i.e. Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia in a month has been an intense cultural experience for me.  Unlike Rand, my genetic makeup means that I blend in easily with the locals until I start to speak.  I therefore was not as “popular” with the locals, especially the women, as Rand.

Having seen the devastations in SE Asia from wars, colonialism and political conflicts, I conclude that all people want in life is to live in harmony with each other.  Wars such as the Vietnam War and the Pol Pot regime did more destructions than good.  The gentle and kind spirits of the people in these countries impress me.

The culinary experience has been most flavorful.  Having taken a Thai cooking class in Bangkok and a Vietnamese cooking class in Hoi An, we now are more confident to prepare our own Thai and Vietnamese dishes at home.  The food has been delicious.  A lot of the ingredients are produced and purchased locally, and this means FRESH.  Rand and I both feel trimmer in spite of never having missed a meal.

Sharing Christmas dinner in Siem Reap, Cambodia with 13 other group members was a lot of fun and filled with international goodwill.  I am not sure how but there was a roasted turkey, cooked to perfection.   We even had a “secret Santa” gift exchange.  I certainly felt blessed.

Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia are developing nations, with the usual issues such as illiteracy, lack of clean water, high infant mortality rate etc.  I certainly witnessed some of these issues in the villages we visited.   Yet, the cultures are rich and I sense a pride in the people.

We have just arrived in Bali now to “chill out” and to reflect on our fascinating experience.