KHALEH NAZ NOMAD FOUND

In this last entry of South East Asia I want to thank all the firends and strangers I met along the way, all the tuk tuk, car, van, bus, truck, boat, ox, elephant drivers, and all the guides...Unfortunately and regretfully, I do not remember all the names, except Mohammad Irfan the driver on my last day in Bali, who was uncomfortable taking us to the Besakih Hindu temple for a religious ceremony, and his rants , ravings, and constant use of the "F" word followed by "Astaghforellah" (God Forgive Me)... Thank you...The past three months, or better yet, the past year has been an eyeopening and life changing experience...I look forward to many more of such experiences... The city of angels awaits me... After that God is great!!! Maybe Eastern Europe... Write to you later from ... read more

LAOS-VANG VIENG... Back in VT, my last day in South East Asia (SEA)... Yesterday, Three of the hotel staff and I headed to Vang Vieng for a day... Veng Vieng was interesting, in it that the nature is quite beautiful, kayaking a couple of hours thru the river and the mountains in the back drop made for a picturesque and delightful experience. But there is this tourist element that I found, I am short on words, weird...There are these riverfront water parks, mainly accommodating the Farang (Foreign) tourists where they drink, dance, zip, swing, and dive, and tube with their beer bottles in hand, half or fully drunk thru the river...I found it surreal...People stay here for days, I can not imagine doing that...I did not find the scene very serene...A days trip was quite ok ... read more

LAOS-PHONSAVAN-XIENG KHOUANG-PLAIN OF JARS... Xieng Khounag has been the only place I have to come where the weather has been dry and cool in 22 degrees Celcius...Hail the Lord...It brought tears to my eyes...I checked into the hotel and arranged for a ride to the plains. First to site 1 then to site 2. There are many jar locations. These two along with site number 3 are the ones that are open to the tourist. It was drizzling a little when we started the ride, but by the time we (The driver and I) got to the site 1 it was all clear and cool...They are impressive and their mystery adds to their magic and beauty...What was there purpose, how were they lifted to the top of the hills, etc...The area of Xieng Khoung was heavily ... read more

LAOS-VIENTIANE I am so impressed with Vientiane (VT), not that should say much, but I find the city orderly, clean, quaint, quiet (Beside the next to the hotel construction noise) with tree lines streets and great cafes. The people I find gracious. They have been kind and friendly...The Laotian temple complexes and the colonial buildings are beautiful and definitelty worth a visit... Check out the Mobile phone pictures of the city... M... read more

The thirteen days sejourn in Phnom Penh (PP) with cousin S and N and the adorable P the cat, included many shopping, shoe and dress making, spa treatments, a daytrip to Thonle Bati (Angokorian Temples), the riverside resort of Manguiere, and the last but not the least Preah Vihear... Thonle Bati is about thirty five kilometers southe of PP. I rented a tuk tuk for half a day to take me to and fro the temple. The temple like all Angkorian temples is quite marvelous and like most of the temples has a group of childen at the front entry selling souvenirs during their break from school. The difference was the kids, all girls, were more intimate with the temple. I asked them to take me around and explain the history...All spoke relatively good English. They ... read more

I decided to separate Jakarta... After Bali the cousins and I flew back to Jakarta. Jakarta to me felt like an undefinable city...Parhaps its character is its lack of definition...Like many Southeast Asian cities, it has beautiful colonial era buildings (Dutch), especially in the Batavia neighborhood, but there seems, and I could be completely wrong, a tremendous neglect...The city, minus the small Golden Triangle area, is very delapitated. The museums have great collection, but they are not maintained or coherent...The old and the new are not coordinated or conscious of each other, they are just adjacent to each other...It is intense and merciless...The traffic is horrendous and in my opnion supercedes any other Asian city..Beside the Batavia Neighborhood and too far from it, the ship docks lined with colorful, large wooden boats is quite interesting and ... read more

And then there was Angkor... Awe aspiring, breathtaking, and spectacular...... read more