Fun facts about Ania

Travelling with your significant other for an extended period means you’ll spend a lot of time together. It also means that you’ll discover things about your partner that you didn’t know before you embarked on your long journey.

So I’ve decided to spill the beans and tell you what I’ve discovered about Ania during this trip (only partially approved by the Bureau of Truth headed by Ania) :)

1 – Ania is more afraid of dogs than I thought.

2 – Ania became a very experienced snorkeler during this trip. That’s surprising because before this trip I always felt that Ania was never comfortable in water. She seems to have lost her fear of the underworld.

3 – Ania is crazier about tea than I thought; I had to walk more than 3 hours in a freaking jungle in Malaysia to see a piece of land full of green leaves she loves to put in her morning, afternoon, evening (insert any hour of the day) cup of hot water. Insane.

4 – Ania is less of an Internet junkie than me.

5 – Ania doesn’t know about rest. She has a hard time staying in the same place for a few days.

6 – Ania is generally tougher and more patient than me when we take a means of transportation. 15 hour bus rides can make me angry man. Not my girl though. However, Ania will get fed up more quickly when we are driving long hours in a car.

7 – Ania is more adventurous when it comes to trying new food or new restaurants. If I find a restaurant that serves excellent food, I tend to want to go back to the same place. My philosophy goes like this: why try a new horse when I have a winning horse? Her philosophy: how do we know this is the best horse if there are still other horses that we haven’t tried?

8 – Ania is much better than me with maps. I have much better visual memory than her. This means that when we arrive in a new city, I rely on Ania to bring us to our first destination. However, Ania will rely on me to get back to the starting point.

9 – Ania likes to tan more than I thought (not approved by the Bureau of Truth).

10 – Ania really suffers in a hot and humid climate.

12 – Ania managed to hold out buying trinkets during this trip more than I thought she would.

13 – Ania is not good at negotiating with the locals. And she doesn’t like it when I do it, too. In tense situations where I am arguing for a bargain, she feels uneasy, sometimes even forcing me to accept a worse deal just so the harsh negotiation can stop. She should be happy we are not going to Egypt after all, because I know how Arabs love to negotiate and my plan was to negotiate my way to a free vacation in Egypt. :)

Southern Thailand Wrap-up

The Great : The snorkeling tour on Koh Phi Phi. The tour took us to three different islands and some great beaches for relaxing. Just navigating around scenic Koh Phi Phi Leh was in itself worth the tour. The price was very reasonable, too.

The Hidden : Nothing particular in that category.

The Overrated : The beach from the movie « The Beach ». The beach was totally overcrowded in low season, and dozens of boats were parked in the turquoise water. The beach looks nice but it is not so incredibly beautiful to warrant such popularity. I dread to imagine how many people can visit this beach on any given day during high season. There is nothing “stranded” about “The Beach” anymore. As it stands the “The Beach” is overrated.

The Ugly : Boat transportation between the islands and mainland Thailand is generally long, uncomfortable, and tedious. The ferry boats are relics from the past and the waves in monsoon season can make your life miserable. But there is no other way to reach the islands - only Phuket has an airport.

Pictures of Southern Thailand uploaded

Enjoy

As usual to view the pictures in the correct order click on one of the thumbnails, then click "view all" right above the picture. You can then select the first picture and take it from there.

Koh Tao versus Koh Phi Phi

Southern Thailand has quite a few islands located in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. There are many well-known islands (Phuket, Phi Phi, Phangan) and other less-visited islands.

We visited two islands during our stay in Southern Thailand. The first 6 months of our round-the-world trip have been quite hectic, and we had shared with you our intention to find a quiet island in Southern Thailand to relax 4-5 days. For this purpose we chose Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand.

Koh Tao is renowned for being one of the best diving spots in the world. The island is not renowned for being a party place (unlike Koh Phangan to the south), and this is exactly what we wanted. We arrived on May 4 and stayed five nights on the island. Since this is monsoon season, many hotels were empty and we found some great bargains. The beaches were almost totally empty. We also found some nice snorkeling spots around the island. All in all, this was a much needed vacation from our vacation: no running to the next destination.

After our rest, we decided to visit Koh Phi Phi in the Andaman Sea. Koh Phi Phi is one of the most well-known islands in Thailand because it is on this island (Koh Phi Phi Leh) that the movie “The Beach” was filmed. Naturally we expected the place to be crawling with tourists. Sure enough there were plenty of tourists, probably too many. We stayed three days on the island.

So what is my recommendation? Koh Phi Phi is more scenic than Koh Tao for sure. Koh Phi Phi is more developed and has better infrastructure as well. The snorkeling is better, although you’ll need to join a tour. On the other hand, Koh Phi Phi is enormously touristy, which means that you won’t be able to find a deserted beach. So if you want peace and quiet, choose Koh Tao. If you want a scenic island, more things to do, and a chance to go to the “Beach”, choose Koh Phi Phi. All in all we liked Koh Phi Phi a bit more. If you choose to visit the island, make sure you do it in low season (May to October). It will be too crowded during high season.

Trip Monthly Update

Apr. 9 2011 – May. 8 2011

Summary of the sixth month of our trip

Number of countries visited: 4

Number of flights taken: 2

Number of posts added to our blog: 15

Number of marital conflicts: 0

Best overnight stay: definitely Batad in the Philippines. In previous posts I already raved about the beautiful views from our room and the restaurant. The atmosphere was great too - starting with the manager Casey and ending with different but always interesting fellow travelers we met there. The first night was particularly special: the electricity went off so we spent the evening with candle lights, which allowed us to see hundreds of fire flies around us. We also saw the bonfires from the village below. An unforgettable night.

Worst overnight stay: I'm not sure if this counts as a "stay" but what the heck I made up this category and I decide what I can include:-). So the worst overnight stay for us was the night we spent on the boat from Koh Tao to mainland Thailand. We were stuck like sardines on mattresses too narrow to fit one reasonably sized person. This means that I not only touched Marc's arm but also the arm of the guy lying on my other side. I should also add that the sea was very agitated that night so the boat was jumping on the waves like crazy. Every now add then it also made interesting cracking noises, as if it was going to cut in half. All in all, this is one night I am not eager to repeat.

Best call we made: deciding to go to a public hospital in Thailand instead of a private clinic. I got a severe cold in the Philippines and staying in polluted cities of Manila and Bangkok only made it worse. At some point we decided that I needed antibiotics. We were planning to go to a private clinic nearby but Jenny, the owner of our favorite restaurant in Bangkok (who kind of generally took care of us), convinced us to go to a public hospital instead, claiming that it was equally good but over 10 times cheaper. We were a little hesitant but what can I say - he was right.

Hardly anybody spoke English in the hospital, but somehow we managed to communicate with the hospital staff. There was always somebody making sure that I was waiting in the right place and that I had all the necessary check-ups done. The conversation with the doctor was a bit funny because he had a very thick accent and wore a facemask and I wore a facemask and spoke with a fading voice that even Marc could hardly understand. But we understood each other.

The doctor made the necessary prescriptions and I was then sent with a nurse to the hospital pharmacy where my medicines were already waiting for me with English instructions. I felt touched. All of this (including registration, check-ups, visit to the doctor and the pharmacy) took about an hour and cost just a couple of dollars - not even enough to claim to the insurance. I don't know to what degree I was given a special treatment because I was a foreigner but I must say that I was quite impressed. And just to finish he story - three days later I was as good as new!

Worst call we made: staying only 10 days in the Philippines. Traveling anywhere in the country takes a long time so we didn't see half of what we planned. We loved the Filipino people and we also loved what we saw of the country. We didn't think beforehand that we would like it so much and when we realized that, it was too late to change tickets. Philippines - watch out! I'll definitely be back!

How to make sure everybody knows you've been to Thailand

1. Wear baggy pants

2. Wear a leather ankle bracelet

3. Let your hair grow long or cut them randomly or, even better, get dreadlocks

4. If you are a guy, you HAVE to grow a beard

5. Talk a lot about "the spirit of the place"

Even before we got to Thailand, we found it very easy to recognize people who visited the country. We met some of them in Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, and they all shared these characteristics I mentioned. And sure enough, when we arrived in Bangkok, we found that about half of the tourists we saw on the streets fitted the description above.

Why would Thailand attract Bohemian spirits? I have no idea. Thailand is a beautiful country to visit but it is surely more commercialized and profit-oriented than other countries in Southeast Asia I have visited.

Why do Bohemian people all end up in Thailand? Is it Buddhism? Maybe. Although I think that there are other Buddhist countries that offer more spiritual experience than Thailand, where everything is for sale.

So maybe it is just pure fashion? Or maybe after spending enough time here one just can't help getting baggy pants and growing a beard? This remains to be seen. and I will cerrtainly let you know the moment Marc gets an ankle bracelet :-)

All Hail to the King! I repeat: ALL

There is someone very popular in Bangkok. In fact, the man is so popular that his picture is found at all major crossroads, inside stores, on buildings, on public buses, in public hospitals, on all coins and notes, in shopping malls, etc.

Who can claim such popularity? Bhumibol Adulyadej, the king of Thailand.

The king is an enterprising man: he is pictured hunting African animals, holding binoculars and exploring vast landscapes, touring major attractions in Europe, discussing important matters with his advisors, etc. It seems that Thailand’s omnipotent king can do it all. Hence the people worship him.

Is that the end of this beautiful story?

In a restaurant I pointed my finger at the picture of the king and asked the waiter a few questions about the king. He mentioned that the king is 85 years old. I said: “Wow, that’s old. Who is next in line to replace him?”.

There was a moment of silence. Then his face grew severe and he said that we should not talk about things like that. He said it is “not good” to talk about this subject. And he also said that I should be careful not to talk with other Thais about matters related to the king.

Surprise, surprise! I dug a little deeper and this is what I found: Lèse-Majesté, the act of insulting or defaming the king, can result in 15 years jail time.

So is it universal love for the king? Or is it universal coercion to love the king? In Thailand it is probably both.

Ladyboys - they'll fool you!

Khao San Road, made famous in the movie “The Beach”, offers the visitor the first chance to spot a ladyboy in Thailand. The tough part is recognizing the ladyboy from the real ladies. Some ladyboys have surgery to remove Adam’s apple, breast surgery, and hip augmentation surgery. Even the legs are going under the scalpel to remove as much muscle as possible. You will see many beautiful Thai girls on Khao San Road. The hottest ones may as well be ladyboys. It’s that simple.

There’s something strange going on in Bangkok. It’s all the ladyboys who stare seductively at foreigners; it’s the male waiter at our preferred restaurant who likes to act girlie and who declares that he is “just a girl”; it’s male employees at 7 Eleven who put on mascara and wear high heel shoes.

From what I hear, this phenomenon is directly related to sex tourism and the simple fact that Thai girls can make more money, way more money than guys in the tourism industry. So I guess the reasoning is that if you can’t beat them, join them.

This mix-up can have funny consequences for the unsuspecting traveler. A Dane we met in a restaurant told us how he had once brought a Thai “lady” back to his hotel room only to realize he had made a mistake. A Big Mistake.

Thailand is recognized as a premier destination for sex tourism. At the forefront of this industry are ladyboys, ready to pounce on tourists who don’t know that the rules of the game have been changed in Thailand.

Latest pictures uploaded

Hi,

Enjoy the Philippines.

The Philippines Wrap-up

The Great : Batad. The small village is difficult to access and requires trekkers to be in fit condition. However, Batad offers the visitor hands down the best rice fields in the world. The view is majestic and trekkers will enjoy the many walks in the surrounding mountains. A real gem on the island of Luzon.

The Hidden : The seven viewpoints in Banaue. Our travel guide talked about only one viewpoint. As we went up the mountain to the first “official” viewpoint, we decided to keep going up in the hopes of getting a better top down view of the valley leading to Banaue. Lo and behold, we found other viewpoints, some with picnic tables that provided even better views than the official viewpoint. So if you visit Banaue, make sure you go all the way up to the last viewpoint. The highest one provides the most spectacular view.

The Overrated : Historical Intramuros in Manilla. Intramuros is touted as a must-see in Manila because it features many historical landmarks. However, Manila was completely leveled during WW2 which means that the “historical” features of Intramuros left standing after WW2 are few and far between. The walls of Intramuros, another must-see, were a bit disappointing.

The Ugly : Stray animals. Wild dogs scared the living bejesus out of us quite a few times. The fabulous mountain walk from Batad to Banaue had an infamous “dog alley”. Walking briskly through dog alley took us no more than 30 minutes, but it must have lasted a lifetime for Ania.

Also, extremely thin, starving dogs and cats with ribs or backbone protruding are a heartbreaking sight. We saw a kitten slowly dying on the street in Manila. I could not function properly for the rest of the day.

My little journey back in time

Batad is a small village in the middle of rice paddies on the slopes of the beautiful Cordillera mountains. It is inhabited by the native Filipinos of the Ifaguo tribes. There is no road leading to Batad. The only way to get there is by hiking. Moreover, there are no roads in the village. In order to get from one place to the next, one has to walk on the stone walls of the rice terraces (very carefully, because some walls are up to 5 meters high).

Batad has become a somewhat tourist destination in recent years, meaning that there are maybe a dozen tourists coming for a day's hike, and five of them staying for the night. And I should add that the vast majority of these tourists are Filipinos.

With the advent of tourism came certain developments. Since 2005 the village has electricity and there are two guesthouses with restaurants. One of the guesthouses has hot water. Fortunately, these changes touched only the part of the village which lies on the tourist walking trail. The main part of the village is happily nestled far below the point where most tourists go. A lot of people there still live in traditional huts, cook on the fireplaces and in the evening gather around bonfires to spend time with their families (as far as I observed, only two houses in the main village were plugged).

This is not a joke. In the evening I could see from the terrace of my guesthouse the fires in front of people's houses. And when I was walking through the village during the day (or rather when I was walking on stonewalls of rice paddies between the houses), I saw people cooking on the fire and using traditional wooden tools to process rice. And they don't do it for tourists, this is simply their way of living.

Staying in Batad, I felt as if I was transported in a time machine back to history. And Batad is only one of many hidden villages in the Ifaguo region. One can take a guide and hike to some other, even more isolated settlements. And I am pretty sure that there is still a number of villages not penetrated by visitors from the outside world...

Banaue Rice Terraces - the Ultimate Experience

For some unimportortant reason we took an unpardonable decision to spend only 10 days in the Philippines. And when we discovered that we love the country it was too late to change our tickets. So we decided that we would at least visit northern Luzon - the main island, on which Manila is situated.

We started off in the direction of the Cordillera mountains to the town of Banaue, where we wanted to see the world famous rice terraces. To our surprise, it turned out that the travel time between Manila and Banaue (the distance of less than 350km) is 8 to 9 hours, and the buses depart only at night because during the day the travel time would be significantly longer.

Once we arrived, though, we knew instantly that the night in the bus was entirely worth it. The rice terraces in the Cordilleras are THE ULTIMATE rice terraces one can see. The Cordilleras are inhabited mainly by the native tribes of Ifugao people who have their own language, customs and traditions and none of the countries which at one point or another colonized the Philippines have left any mark on their villages buried in the mountains.

Between 3rd and 2nd century BC the Ifuago people conducted a huge engineering project - they turned slopes of the mountains surrounding their villages into rice terraces. The terraces cover the total surface of almost 10,400 square km. The irrigation system, using water from the rain forest on the top of the mountains and distributing it through pipes made of bamboo is still working today in the same way as it worked 2000 years ago. And the knowledge of maintenance of the terraces is transferred orally between generations.

However, the image is not all rosy. In 1995 UNESCO recognized the terrace as a world heritage site and, consequently, tourists became interested in visiting the place. The Ifugau people quickly discovered that tourist business is far more lucrative than hard work in rice paddies. Within a few years more and more terraces became abandoned and subject to erosion.

Apparently UNESCO in recent years provided subsidies to the farmers working in rice fields, so that this ancient cultural heritage doesn't disappear in a few decades. It looks like recognizing the terraces as a national heritage site may be a double-edge sword. The Filipino government also provided special funds for the maintenance of the terraces. Since a portion of that money remains in the pockets of officials, one can ask how much money really reaches down to the farmers. But that is another question. The good news, however, is that many of the abandoned terraces were indeed restored recently and the sights are still truly amazing.

In fact, Marc and I were charmed with the region beyond our expectations. And instead of racing through the rest of the island and spending half of our trip in long distance buses, we decided to stay in the Ifugao region and do some serious trekking. We didn't regret it one minute. We saw some traditional villages practically untouched by tourism, where the only visible concessions to the 21st (or even 20th) century are modern clothes. And we hiked through beautiful mountains and rice terraces. I could easily imagine staying in this region for two weeks. If only my calves would allow me. Because let me tell you - walking through the rice terraces is no easy task. The only paths are either horizontal or vertical. And there is only a certain number of stone steps one can climb in one day :-)

Two ruthless regimes - one trail of destruction

Please allow me to take longer than I should. Much of the following is a subject dear to my heart and has been the focus of my Master’s thesis.

This is Baluarte de San Andres, a dungeon where Japanese soldiers tortured and killed thousands to Filipinos and American soldiers during WW2. There are hundreds of similar landmarks scattered throughout Southeast Asia.

Filipinos are very emotional about the mass killing of their brethren and the almost complete destruction of their country during WW2. Did you know that an estimated one million Filipinos died during WW2 as a result of the Japanese occupation? Probably not.

We all know about Hitler’s crime. Hitler’s victims, primarily Jews, Gypsies, Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, and pretty much everyone else, have made it a duty to explain to the world the horrors of Hitler’s regime. And rightfully so.

The oppressors have also recognized their guilt. Not a single young German who goes through high school can claim to ignore the bloodstained history of his country. The German government has also been active in paying billions in reparations to the victims. Germany has also shown humility and penance at the highest level, as Willy Brandt’s famous kniefall in Warsaw demonstrated. This gesture helped heal the open wounds from WW2 between Germany and Eastern Europe. By and large, Germany has done what no other nation has ever done in this world: apologize for past crimes and seek to repair the damage.

At the same time as Germany was waging war in Europe, another country was waging war against its neighbours: Japan. The 1931 invasion of China marked the beginning of 14 year long reign of blood and massacres that rival the bloodbath in Europe.

Yet, history couldn’t have been more lenient towards Japan. Two countries, two brutal wars of aggression, two very different associations.

Germans are forever tainted by Hitler. What comes to mind when one mentions “Germany?” Hitler.

What comes to mind when one hears “Japan”? Technological development? Sony? Now Fukushima?

We first saw evidence of Japanese war crimes in Darwin, Australia. In a 1942 raid the Japanese managed to destroy half of the city. Anybody who visits Darwin is reminded of the tragic events.

Japanese occupation during WW2 reached all of Southeast Asia. Singapore was occupied. So was Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Japanese occupation was ruthless: millions of women in occupied countries became the property of the imperial troops of Japan. Dozens of millions – in China in particular – were bayoneted, beheaded, hanged, worked to death, sent to death camps, or simply eliminated with a bullet.

And what has the Japanese government done after the war to repair the damage?

Virtually nothing. Until very recently Japan considered “comfort women”, as the women forced to service Japanese soldiers during WW2 were called, to be either allied wartime propaganda or willing “lovers” of Japanese imperial troops. Today children in Japan learn from history books similar to those distributed in Soviet Union: the Nanking massacre, the gruesome killing of 300 000 women and children in 1937, is a fabrication of Chinese propaganda. Children also learn that Japan never acted as the aggressor during WW2; it was simply trying to protect its interests in the region. Worse, it is still customary for the prime minister of Japan to pay his respect at the Yasukini Shrine, a place of rest for Japanese war criminals who were hanged by the Americans in 1945.

Can you imagine what kind of hell would fall on Germany if its chancellor paid tribute to the men who were hanged at Nuremberg?

I am writing about this because in Southeast Asia, every major town was occupied by the Japanese and suffered enormously as a result. Yet the Japanese, having denied participation in the most heinous crimes of the 20^th Century, are the heroes who brought us Toyota and Playstation.

Unsurprisingly relationships are still strained between Japan and its neighbours. China, South Korea, the Philippines are among many nations who will not let Japan rewrite history because history is too “shameful”.

A nation is truly free when it is able to make amends for its crimes instead of denying them.

Welcome to the United States of the Philippines!

I always thought that the Philippines were this unique story where Spain meets Asia. There’s no denying that the Philippines proudly displays its Spanish heritage. But besides the churches, the names of the streets, and the few buildings left standing after WW2, there is always a feeling that Spain is so…passé here in the Philippines and that another country has had a much bigger influence in the Philippines lately: the United States of America.

It starts with the language. Let me make one thing clear: Filipinos speak the best English in Southeast Asia. They use Shakespeare’s language to communicate important information in light rail stations, shopping malls, or bus stations. Clerks in stores speak to customers – Filipino or not – in English. Filipino seems to be used as a last resort, for example when a customer has more difficulty understanding English.

And English isn’t just the language of business; English is spoken by almost everybody in the Philippines. We met 10-year-old kids in traditional villages of northern Luzon who spoke excellent English. Oh and kids love to give the “high five”. It is funny to see etiquette go out the window when kids – unknowingly – replace the formal “sir” with “hey man”, a clear indication to the visitor that American TV shows are pretty popular in this part of the world.

However, if language was the only thing in common with the United States, I would have a pretty weak case. Consider country music.

Country music is much in vogue in the Philippines. Many radio stations play songs with the steel guitar we come to associate with Nashville, Tennessee. And country music isn’t only popular with the old or depressed, even kids love to listen to it. How about a young village girl listening to country music from a portable radio while she works in a rice paddy?

Filipinos also love an all American sport: basketball. Even politics has U.S influence written all over it. Filipinos elect “congressmen” in the “House of Representatives”. The country is also divided in “congressional districts”.If things go awry, they can "impeach" the President. And just like the United States, the Philippine government is divided into three branches: the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches.

Clearly, Filipinos have taken the best in American politics. Unfortunately they also added a local flavor: corruption. According to a World Bank study in 2008, corruption in the Philippines is considered to be the worst in Southeast Asia. Means of corruption in the country include graft, bribery, embezzlement, backdoor deals, nepotism, patronage.

Left, right, front and centre, it is obvious that the United States has left a lasting impression on Filipinos. Some say at the expense of local culture.

A flamboyant means of traveling

Catch a smoke-belching jeepney for the smokiest ride of your life! The jeepneys were originally made from US military jeeps left over from WW2. They are now the flamboyant, fashionably decorated icon of Manila that have come to symbolize the supremacy of American culture in the Philippines (more on that in another post).

Riding around town in a jeepney is a cultural experience in itself. Sit close to the driver and you’ll be on change duty, for the driver never stops the jeepney to hand out change. Watch out for the head, too! Keep that neck crooked or you’ll bang your head constantly. Oh, and keep an eye out if you board an old jeepney: the many holes in old jeepneys will probably allow you to see straight to the ground.

Odd is the fact that every jeepney proudly displays a non-smoking sign. I guess that smokers don’t feel the pinch too much, for a regular 15 minutes jeepney ride in heavily polluted Manila will give the smoker every chance to inhale his daily dose of cancerous substances. At 15 cents a ride, jeepneys provide better (smoking) bang for the buck than cigarettes. :)

Exiting the jeepney couldn’t be easier for there is no door. More complicated is where you’ll be dropped: you’ll be lucky if the driver pulls over to the side of the road to allow you to disembark; you won’t be so lucky if the driver chooses the middle of the road, a common occurrence that forces you to dodge speedy cars and trucks to reach the sidewalk.

Love it or hate it, any visit to Manila must include a jeepney ride!