AGROjazz

It was sad to leave Boracay, I could've spent all my time there as the people, the energy and the scenery were all world class. However I was excited to get moving to experience the rest of The Philippines. We're off on an adventure which will take us through a multi island province called The Visayas. Our first journey took us through the large island of Panay. Lining the roads past all the bamboo hut villages we saw 1000's of people, some in tradtional outfits waving the Filippino flag. Security was high and soldiers with machine guns were a common site. After about an hour of driving though this I saw a series of police vehicles followed by a convoy. We quickly realized it was the president of The Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The bus slowed down ... read more

As we checked for our $15.00 flight from Saigon, Vietnam to Manila they asked for proof that we were leaving the country. We had a return ticket but not a printed out copy. Being the typical unfriendly authority figure of Vietnam they wouldn't let us open the email in order to prove ourselves telling us we'd have to buy more flights. We put up a huge fuss. Time was running out but persistence finally payed off when we tried to bribe a lady to let us use the net rather than buying another $100.00+ last minute ticket. At the end of it all we were able to board the flight with minutes to spare and the lady was even nice enough to not accept the money we offered. We arrived in Manila at 5am, hopped in ... read more

The 3rd class $1.00, 5 hour, train ride from Bangkok to the Cambodia border town of Poipet was luxury compared to the rest of the ride. The Thailand side of the border is developed and looks just like any other plane Thai town. Crossing into Cambodia is like hopping into a different world. A world of extreme poverty and corruption. Walking through the dirt roads to the Visa purchase area we passed hundred of poverty stricken people including children in the intense heat pulling giant decrepit carts of goods purchased from the border markets. They pull them right under the noses of huge and beautiful Cambodian casinos that are designed to take Thai peoples money since gambling is illegal over the border. None of the money they make trickles down to the community and its very ... read more

I arrived to Bangkok from Bali around 10pm. I went to my usual stomping grounds Khao San Road but something changed. It looked drastically different. The place is filthy, I've never seen so much garbage on the streets. It made India look spotless. It's a wilder type of atmosphere than normal and there are several people drinking and rowdily dancing on the streets to loud music. Just then I saw a group of young men with large guns in the back of a pick up truck, they pointed their weapons at me. Someone said something to them, they all laughed and sped away without shooting me. I quickly noticed the streets are full of people with large guns, child soldiers everywhere. Normally I'd be nervous, but this is Thailand! And those weapons are water guns! I've ... read more

At the train station from Pangandaran to Yogyakarta the staff stuck the other two foreigners and I in a fan cooled room with two sofas and a television letting us know we could wait there until the train arrived. They seem to really take care of you, as a foreigner in this country, sometimes to the point that they baby you haha. The city of Yogyakarta, (pronounced Jogjakarta or Jogja for short). I'll spell it Yogya. Anyway.....the city of Yogya is fairly interesting and right on the beaten tourist path. This is the first city I've seen more than a handful of tourists in since I've got to Indonesia. There's not an over abundance of foreigners like you would see in some places in Thailand or the rest of SE Asia. It's a strange place to ... read more