Sunday, June 29, 2014

Hanoi, Vietnam: Liam and Gracie Blog about Puppets and Trains

Hanoi, Vietnam
Vietnamese Water Puppetry. Who would have guessed? All the mechanisms to control these large and elaborate puppets are disguised by the brown water.



A long good-bye.






26 June was our last day with Karen and Lauryn. We have been traveling together since Siem Reap. It was great to be able to meet Anita's sister and our niece here on the far side of the world. The kids competed incessantly for Lauryn's attention (see Lauryn's blog entry where she hints at this), and it was hard to say good-bye. Safe travels, Karen & Lauryn! We hope you had a good time hanging with us in S.E. Asia.

27 June in Saigon, HCMC, Vietnam

Liam's Blog. We get up and go to breakfast where we talk about the Vietnamese war. Here in Vietnam they call it the American war. I think this is one of America’s most stupid moves because Hochimin the leader of north Vietnamese side asked America for help. But Hochimin was fighting for freedom against France because France had colonized there. America was afraid that Hochimin was a communist and that if Vietnam became communist all of Asia and then the whole world would become communist. And also because America and France were allies in World War II. So they declined the offer and joined South Vietnam but in the end America had to withdraw from the war and Hochimin took victory. After that we went to the Reunification Palace -- that was like the White House of the south Vietnamese side. We learned about how the war ended after the Americans left. We also went swimming that afternoon. P.S. this is the longest day only because I wrote about the Vietnamese war.

Selfie in front of the iconic tank that broke into the
royal palace during the surrender of Saigon.
Gracie's Blog. Last night we went to a water puppet show. There were a bunch of little stories in a 1 hour show. Me and Dad and the rest of the family were puzzled how they made the puppets show up in the water. There were three people on each side of the stage. They were not in the water. They were playing all the instruments and making all the cool noises. And the stage was like a pool of water with a house behind it that was like a Chinese/Vietnamese house. The water was the same color as the Mekong River that we sailed on to get to Vietnam.
Two of my favorite little stories in there were called the Fairy Dance and Boat Racing. For the Fairy Dance, there were these two puppets that were the king and queen fairies. Their wings were attached to their upper arms and waist and they danced and twirled in the water. Their wings were shiny and it looked beautiful when they danced and twirled in the water. There were a bunch of other fairies that were their daughters dancing and twirling with them. My favorite part about the Boat Racing was that all the little people that were paddling were in two rows and one person was in the back. They were all attached to each other. There were three boats -- red, green and yellow. And the way that the people made them move – well, I don’t know how they did it, but it was very interesting and funny. J


28 June, Train North

Liam's Blog. Up really early and pack for 30 hr. train ride we get to station leave and wait it really sucks because there is no Wi-Fi or plugs for charging. L L L L L L    L L L L L L L L L L L L L L L Really annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! P.S Do not laugh. Or I get mad tee he

Gracie’s Blog. Today we needed to go to a train from South Vietnam to North Vietnam . So this morning we woke up at 5:00. Oh no, we were late. But luckily, it didn’t leave. Mom was really worried. We were too, but we kept it inside. We packed up really, really, really fast. Then after we were done packing, we went down to the lobby and the people who worked at the hotel made us breakfast because we couldn’t have breakfast at the hotel or the train. So then after we grabbed our breakfast we waited for a taxi and then one came for us. We put our bags into the taxi and went into the car and drove to the train station. When we got the train station, we got out, paid the taxi person and then went inside and got on our train, and then I went to sleep right away when we got to our bed.
The train that we were on had beds that were 3 levels, a bottom bed, a middle bed and a top bed. Mom and me and Liam were in the same compartment. Dad and Carrie were in the last compartment in the train car. Then, after my nap, me, Carrie and Liam and Mom went to look around to see if there’s a dining car. But bad news. There’s not one. L That’s why I had so much time to write this awesome blog. J J

Double bunked, space pod A/C super bussing. Plus V-pop!
Angus' Blog. You simply can’t get to the tundra if you’re heading in the wrong direction. Sailing down the Mekong is one thing, but every rice paddy, bamboo dock and concrete stilted house took us further from our final destination. We finally turned the trajectory around a couple of days ago when we caught a sleeper bus from Chau Doc to Ho Chi Minh City.  A ride through the Mekong Delta on a bus, instead of a boat, involves 1 bus ferry, 2 levels of pod-like beds, 3 DVD’s of staged Vietnamese pop songs played on a distant screen and an overhead speaker, and a whole lot of honking at the lesser traffic. This was a bus the nature of which I have never seen before. From the outside it looked like an upscale shiny A/C bus you see in many countries. It would not have been out of place in North America. But the changes strike you when you first enter and you’re handed a plastic bag for your shoes. That’s a not-so-subtle way to remind you to remove your shoes. Next you have to chose either the right or left isles that separate three rows of sleeper pod-like seats. These are not well-bred seats. They’re the love child of a hammock and a bunk bed mated with a rocket couch. They angle back, 30 degrees above flat with some ability to sit more or go almost flat. There’s a place for your feet tucked well under the seat of the person in front of you. This works fine if your feet are bound, hooved, pigeon-toed or in childrens’ sizes. Your nearest neighbor is across an isle or below you, which is fine if you have nothing to talk about, or you don’t mind shouting (our children proved this even after being shushed again). It sounds like I’m complaining, but the overall effect is a mix of practical and surreal. 

On a toy chair -- this is what it has come to.
Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as the central part of the city is still called, is mostly east of the Mekong, though, so after the ferries, rocket pods and pop videos, we were only slight north of where we had started, 11° N. Now, though, we’re really tracking in the right direction, almost due north. At 1:30 yesterday afternoon we passed through the Nha Trang station, passing our previously northern most latitude attained as a family in Siem Reap, after a mere 7 hours in hard sleeper berths. On the Reunification Railway, hard sleeper births are deployed 3 high in cabins of 6 ber. If ever there were a reason for encouraging kids to practice on jungle gyms, the Vietnamese hard sleeper berth is it – there are no ladders so people adapt by climbing around the little cabin like they were back on a playground. Apparently the newer cars have thicker padding, but with our luck we got one where the foam was about 2 cm, which gets pretty thin after 3 hours, much less 30.  Upon arrival the bunks are already deployed and only friends of the people on the bottom bunk are sitting on the bottom bunk – not that I’m even sure I could sit up down there. Since we got our tickets late we were in middle and top berths. In these berths one lies propped up – not unlike that spacey bus, actually. That's the way I’m typing now, laptop on my tummy. If you’re a kid, though, it’s like having a whole bench to yourself. Ironically, for grown-ups an escape from being prone are kid-sized plastic chairs that can be deployed to sit in the aisle to stare out the window, moving as needed when a vendor card trundles past.

We tried to prepare for the journey with small bills, fruit, cracker snacks and water. But short of a cooler, a full duffle and mastery of the local language, there is no good way to prepare for 30 hours of hard berth. We’d forgotten utensils, so when I got a dried noodle bowl from a passing vendor I waited an hour before I could scrounge a plastic spoon from another vendor before I could get breakfast. In the event I needn’t have bothered, because the fork for my noodles was concealed inside – local knowledge. Despite a sketchy diet and interminable pastoral scenes scrolling past, the kids are in good spirits. They’ve never had so much sleep.

Paddies. But not just -- mountains, ducks, cemeteries. In short,
Vietnam's backyard.
As we passed Nha Trang we were less than a quarter of a way through our ticket, which is taking us all the way to Hanoi, latitude 21° N. This morning at 9 or 10, somewhere past Vinh, we will pass the latitude of the Golden Triangle, 19° north, the high water mark for my travels in South East Asia so far this summer. Then we’ll really be tundra-bound.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Saigon: Angkor Video, pt 2, and Liam's Mekong Blog

Angkor Redux

There was more to show of the Angkor Monuments, including the ever amazing Banteay Srey. Twenty-two years ago when Anita and I first visited the Angkor monuments, Banteay Srey was a long day's motor scooter ride on rough roads to a temple surrounded by land mine warning signs. It was the pinnacle of our romantic memories of the trip. Today the road is paved and the signs are removed, and the pink sandstone is as evocative as ever -- but it is hard to live up to that former magic. Still, the video blog shows our guide Saron bringing the carvings to life. Thanks, Saron.


On the Mekong

Fishing from a sampan on the Mekong. Muddy water, tasty fish.



Liam's Blog: Hi, I am Liam I am writing to my friends and most of all Mrs. Brown, my 4th grade teacher. So anyway.

June 23. We leave Fragipani hotel (in Phnom Penh, Cambodia) and take a tuk tuk to the boat dock so we can take one to Vietnam. The ride was long and boring especially because Grace lost her iPod.

We went through security and when there was around 5 minutes left on the boat Mom found it. We go to a not-so-fancy hotel (in Chau Doc, Vietnam) and stay for the night. There is really loud music so it is hard to sleep.
Where to go when the cows need washing. 
Peaking out.
Tug, heavily laden. Freeboard (the amount of boat that remains
about the water) appears to be optional for several tugs we see.
The Birthday Girl after her spa.
Happy Birthday, Carrie. 
June 24. We wake up and our Aunt found a better hotel so we pack up and move there. It's Carrie's birthday. We get free breakfast at hotel. Around noon we go to a spa for Carrie's birthday present. Then I go to gaming center. When we get back to the hotel we have a birthday party.












Scenes from an impromptu afternoon tour around Chau Doc:

Gracie drives some fish stark raving crazy.

Forward rowing appears to be mandated. The dog,
though, is just accessorizing.




Liam vs. Vegetable Soup: Half time

Liam vs. Vegetable Soup: Final. Soup wins after valiant effort.









Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Chau Doc: Lauryn's Blog on Family Travel

Chau Doc, Vietnam

Lauryn is Anita's sister, Karen's, daughter. An only child at home, she had an idea what she was getting herself in for when travel with the MacDonalds. Still, it's always shocking to discover you've become the gravitational center of three kids' universe. She contributed this blog entry before heading back to the States for soccer camp.
Carrie & Lauryn stand on the edge. Siem Reap, Cambodia

Lauryn's Blog on Traveling With the Family

Traveling with the family has probably been one of the biggest adventures throughout my time on this trip. On June 17th we met up the MacDonald family in Siem Reap where we stayed in the Gloria Hotel for three nights. These days and nights included many types of travel such as by tuk tuk to the night market and restaurants, a van to temples, and a good deal of walking. The most exciting of these transportation methods was the tuk tuks which are little open carriages that are driven by motor bike. Grace was especially excited to be driven on these and the possible risks did not seem to phase her. Me on other hand was nervous on every single ride and let the safety risks overcome my excitement. Liam and Carrie seemed more or less indifferent about the experience.

Our usual tuk tuk ride to dinner. Siem Reap, Cambodia

The next traveling opportunity was on the June 21th when the entire family would take a six hour bus ride to a major Cambodian city Phnom Penn. The bus ride aroused some excitement because of the free wifi. The tides soon turned when it was made clear their could only be two people to a seat. We decided to be fair the kids would alternate every few hours in order to allow everyone to sit by who they wanted to. The bus ride was a bit rough at the beginning. I got a migraine and a bit of nausea but after some advil and dramamine it was smooth sailing. First I sat with Carrie for about two hours. We mainly just spent the time getting the most of our free wifi, which we were both pumped about. After that I sat with Grace for another two hours. We mainly spent our time laughing eating snacks and playing various games that Grace made up usually involving a celebrity or girlfriend and boyfriend. I think its fair to say me and Grace had a Blast! For the last part of this six hour journey I sat with Liam and the competition was on! It turned into a tournament of who could get the highest score on various games. The main game we focused on was called Ski Safari this was the game that really spiked our emotions. While others were trying to sleep Liam and I were uncontrollably  laughing at "epic fails" each other had. This caused a lot of hushes and stares from other passengers and family members but it was worth it. Soon enough we were in Phnom Penn.

After two days in Phnom Penn we faced our next travel adventure to Vietnam. But this time we weren't taking a bus or a plane we were going to be taking a boat. When faced with this information the kids (myself included) did not know what to think. We got to the boat station at 12:00 pm and waited around for about forty five minutes. In this time their was some fighting but that seems to happen about every five minutes on this trip. The plot usually goes Carrie says something, Grace gets mad screams for a few minutes calls Carrie a jerk and peace somehow gets restored. But none the less everyone had somewhat high spirits when boarding the boat. The boat had nice seats but thats about it. There was no air conditioning or free wifi which was kind of a bummer for us kids, but we soon found other things to do. Grace liked to stand up on top the boat and look around. Soon almost all the kids began doing this which lead to another fight... but thats another story. I sat with Carrie most of the trip and we played hard core games of Life on her iPhone (which i always won). Then we discovered these jelly candies and we began slurping them all over the place, after noticing the excitement Grace joined in fun and soon jelly candies were flying all over the seat. It was a BLAST! Later we stopped to get or passports checked in order to go into Vietnam which was very rushed and frantic because this was the time Grace discovered she had lost track of her iPod. When we got back on the bus everyone searched and searched for Graces iPod with no luck lets just say their was a lot of tears and yelling. The good news is just when everyone thought all hope was lost as we were preparing to get off the boat we found her iPod buried in the snack bag. So i guess that's a happy ending for everyone.


Mission on the Mekong: no naval gunboat, this capable craft transported us for our own
Joseph Conrad/Apocalypse Now experience. Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Chau Doc, Vietnam.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Chau Doc, Vietnam: Angkor Video Blog

Chau Doc, Vietnam

Today was Carrie's 13th birthday. Anita and I are now officially parents of a teenager. She celebrated with an afternoon in a fancy spa. The rest of us celebrated with a tony dinner and a very fancy cake we got from a bakery that happened to be right across the street from our hotel and, wonder of wonders, happened to make a cake everyone agreed was delicious. Happy birthday, Carrie!

Other adventures from the day included changing hotels (go, Karen!), my first ATM withdrawal in Vietnamese Dong (3rd try was a charm), and going on a boat ride to catch the local Mekong color -- like a Cham mosque. Yes, there are muslims in Vietnam, and there have been for about 1,00 years. Tomorrow I'll post our Joseph Conrad / Apocalypse Now moments, boating down from Phnom Pehn and into this little fish farm town in the upper reaches of the Mekong Delta. We've been engulfed by Vietnam.

This video blog goes back in time a few days to crisp memories that are beginning to get a golden glow. It's late because putting the video together took a few late nights, a long bus ride and a long boat ride, but I'm happy that it gives something of a sense for the place, and the sense the girls made of the place. Liam kept his comments close to his vest, I will say, when recording devices were present. He was fine being more vocal about his opinions at other times. Speaking of unhappy American children, see if you can hear a Dead Kennedy's song apropos that very topic buried in the mix of background music.

A big thrill for me this trip is the fun that Carrie is having with her iPhone camera. She's got an Instagram blog going for her friends back home. They are getting to see some really neat shots of frozen motion -- the video blog ends with one of her pictures and I hope to include more throughout the summer.


Sunday, June 22, 2014

Phnom Penh: Carrie's Market Places

Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Tonle Sap river family, Phnom Penh. The capital of Cambodia is at the confluence of the Tonle Sap and the mighty Mekong rivers. Tomorrow we'll be the Mekong river family, taking a speed boat into Vietnam.




Carrie's Blog: I have been enjoying my trip so far; it was just a couple things that kinda sucked! Today we went to a market that was full of junk, vegetables, fruits, and gross meat hanging from stalls!!! Honestly the food smelled HORRIBLE and we rejoiced when we got smell free air (even though that was full of smog but it smelled better than headless fish). My favorite kind of market we have been to so far was the night markets in Angkor Wat! They were full of people selling cute shirts, pants and jewelry and lots of other knickknacks! The thing I liked the most about the market was not the clothes or the junk it was all the hustle and bustle and that I felt like a local (except every one was yelling at us to by things which btw is not how you get someone to buy something). I felt so powerful because everything is so cheep and you could get like 10 things with only $20!! I’m having a great time and I miss America and I will really appreciate it when I get back!! JJJJJJJJJJ

Blessings on the Tonle Sap


P.S: to all my friends I am sorry I had to leave but I really miss you! JJJ


Personal wiring, like a long extension cord from the main road
Siem Reap, Cambodia

Liam on a loaded tuk tuk. It was a long day.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Siem Reap: Gracie's Angkor Day

Siem Reap, Cambodia

We may fall off the face of the Earth tomorrow, but once we were at Angkor Wat.
(Family with Anita's sister, Karen, and cousin Lauryn.)
Gracie's Blog: On Thursday we woke up at 4:00 am and then we got into our van with our guide to drive to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise. It was so beautiful. Carrie and Lauryn kept on taking pictures. Then they went down to a little grass beach and started throwing rocks to take pictures of the ripples very quickly because they were trying to make a stop motion video. Some other people were taking pictures and video of the sunrise. Some were even going inside the temple. It took a long time for the sun to rise, but finally it did. I thought it was delighting to see the new sun of the day. 

After breakfast we went to Praeh Khan, one of the temples that are very old. We learned a lot about how they build it and what kind of people were the statues of. We went along very quickly but slowly to see stuff. We saw a lot of broke stone. Then we also saw a lot of these Buddha altars where you could light incense and put it in this grey sand and pray or meditate. Then before we left out guide showed us a tower we could go up on to to see a beautiful site. Then when we went back down to go to the van we passed the dancing hall. Then, after we took some pictures of the carvings and us doing the dance poses the carvings were of we went back down to the van. I thought it was very very lovely. 

One of the things I really didn't like about yesterday was our mean parents driving us all around just to make us go to an interesting but boring and hot temple. 

We ate dinner at the marketplace. Before dinner Dad and I went looking around to see what we could get. We passed a scarf place and there were small scarves that were $1 each. Then she changed the prices because the owner of the scarves was very desperate. Then Dad said that we would come back later. After that situation we went back to eat our dinner. It was good. We had spring rolls and rice and my Aunt Karen has some coconut juice. After dinner when some people were done I went over to my Aunt Karen to ask her how to bargain, which we could do there because there were such low prices. She taught me some things about bargaining: when you go over to a thing, you can can ask the price. Then you should scowl and say that's too much then you should put it down slowly and walk away and they might come back to you and say I'll lower this to blah, blah, blah. Then you can try to change the price again, and if they don't go for it you can just walk away again. They might come back to you again and you can go back-and-forth like that until you get the price that you really want.

To keep up with the parade of events, here are some of the lingering impressions of the Angkor Temple complex.

Angkor Wat:

















Ta Prohm


Angkor Thom South Gate

Bayon of Angkor Thom



Praeh Khan





Sunday, June 15, 2014

Chiang Mai: Shutterbug Monks

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Last weekend the class traveled to a small Karen village's small temple complex built by Wat Sri Soda as part of the Dhamma Jarika (“Walking Dharma” or “Walking Buddhism”) project sponsored by this Chiang Mai foundation. I learned about Wat Sri Soda and this project 3 years ago when I visited Chiang Mai while setting-up the course. It is a unique temple in that it has made an effort to reach-out to hill tribal peoples in Northern Thailand who practice animism. Originally a effort to reduce opium growing and use, the project educates hill tribe boys at its monk school and then integrates them into their communities. The were very excited to take us to show us one of their exemplary projects.

Four hours outside of Chiang Mai we stopped in a pretty typical small Northern village. There we sat on floors to take our meals. We slept on mats under mosquito nettings last night. When we peed, it was in Asian squat toilets. While there we hiked to a hermitage, we joined a chanting ceremony dedicating a family’s new house, and we meditated in the wat. This morning after a fabulous breakfast we tutored and taught American school-yard games to the 30 or so Karen children who came for their Sunday morning Buddhist ethics class.

In a wonderful reversal of philosophy, it was my students who were wreathed in the simple pleasure of the moment. The monks who accompanied us were snapping photos all around them.

“I think they have 5 photos of us for every one we have of them,” Savannah speculated. At least 5.

I smiled remembering that an in example of cultural insensitivity and “essentializing” during one of my leadership preparation courses was photographing monks on their alms begging rounds. This very morning the monks changed the alms routine for the sake of photographic composition. They changed from two lines of students flanking their procession in front of the temple to a single line cascading down the front steps of the temple because that was easier to photograph. This isn’t some media-dependent political organization; these are record-conscious monks in a small hill tribe village moving foreigners around to make a better picture.

"Eyes and ears and mouth and nose. Head, shoulders, knees and toes."
An earlier posted ended by recounting a Facebook exchange with my colleague, Rich Lee, about the encroachment of the West in Thailand. My students, too, are impressed with the Westernization of much of Thailand, and particularly, of course, urban Thailand. 7-11’s aren’t special – they’re so densely integrated into Thai street life that 7-11 is the default recommendation of Thai receptionists when one needs to pick up anything from an ice ceam to toothpaste. That’s not to mention the other brands on billboards and store shelves. Skin whiteners are so prominent they give me the heebeegeebies. I’ve had more than one encounter where a woman – usually a woman – has compared her arm to my post-Minnesota-winter-white arm and, with a smile, asked to borrow my complexion.

“Why?” I finally asked.

“Because its so beautiful,” one woman replied, completely unaware of how odd that sounded to the complexion’s owner. White is eerily good.

Still, I distrust arguments that derive primarily from the apologist position of cultural colonialism. In short, these arguments are at best incomplete, and at worst quite misleading and even solipsistic (self-centered) if they portray the culture in question in a largely passive roll unable to resist (as if they wanted to) the creeping hegemony of Western products and attitudes. I am increasingly of the opinion that the first question about adopting a foreign view or practice is why do they want it? Why do these monks want all these pictures of foreigners visiting their remote temple? Why do Thais want 7-11's? Only after the first lines of explanation that deal with animal spirits have been factored out can the truly weird stand in stark relief-- like the cult of whiteness. In this vein I hope some enterprising student has studied Asian people's toilet preferences, and the encroachment of the commode: are sitting toilets merely a status symbol, or do a significant proportion of the population now prefer to sit rather than squat?