Nha Trang And the French Question

Nha Trang, Vietnam, March 23 2006


Okay, this is what I mean about Vietnam. It's 4:30 in the afternoon. My Tour Bus leaves at 6pm for Hoi An. So I decide to have some authentic...Italian food. I'm sitting at an open restaurant watching the traffic go by when this guy shows up on his motorbike and starts showing his box of books for sale. These are all photocopies of the original books but he acts like they are the real thing. There are a couple of interesting things in this photo. Notice the women wearing masks. Many Vietnamese woman wear them. The masks are to keep their faces from getting tanned. And see the woman at the right of the picture? She's the next selling wave after this first guy is done. And then there's the bus. My impression before coming to this country was that the transportation was very poor. That is definitely not my experience. Vietnam is moving into the 21st Century in a big way. That bus is top quality.
This cutie pie is Huong. She's eighteen years old and very friendly. I don't think this outfit suits her though. I just don't think she passes for Italian. So Huong is taking my order while this guy with the box of books is doing the hard sell on me, and not getting very far. The trouble is that I am a prolific reader and have read most of the books he's selling. As a matter of fact, as of today I've now read fifteen books since arriving in Asia. So I'm starting to lose interest in his pitch.

I look over at the next table and hear two men speaking French. I say hello and and it turns out the man on the left is from Quebec Canada. His name is Jean-Pierre Martin. His buddy is from Switzerland I believe. Anyway, we get talking about the French Question. Canada is a bilingual country with a large population in Quebec speaking French while most of the rest of us speak (only) English. Every few years Quebec makes noises about separating from the rest of Canada but as I admit with some embarrassment to me friend here, I don't understand why they want to leave Canada. He tells me it's because the rest of the country is gunning for Quebecois and trying to kill their culture. I tell Jean-Pierre it never occurred to me that he would think that way. To me as an Albertan (where I lived for 25 years) we think of Quebec as a Giant who teams up with Ontario to control the rest of the country. Jean-Pierre also suggested that it would mean a lot to Quebecois if the rest of us would make more of an effort to speak French, at least to those who are French speaking. I tell him that I feel too intimidated most of the time to speak French because I am afraid I will be shunted for my bad pronunciation. He tells me he has never seen that reaction from a Quebecois and suggests I try it sometimeMeanwhile my book seller is getting a bit exasperated because I have the audacity to ignore him while I sit at my table eating my Vietnamese Italian Pizza while discussing Canadian politics. Suddenly we hear a police siren and the guy with the books drops his box next to me and runs off at full tilt down the street. We all watch him run away and once he is gone we all go back to what we're doing as if nothing has happened. I keep thinking of the scene in 'The wizard Of Oz' when Dorothy says: "People come and go so quickly here." A few minutes later, when the police are gone, the book guy saunters back and continues his sales pitch with me without acknowledging any of what has just happened. He shows no embarrassment or shame. It's just business as usual for him. Finally when he sees there is no sale happening, he wanders over to his motorbike and moves along.
Huong has been watching my reaction to these events and my political discussion with amusement so I ask her to pose for a photo. It's like I said before, everyone is a participant here in Vietnam.

Vietnam War Museum

Saigon, Vietnam, March 20, 2006

We just finished our tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels. As we were leaving, we saw a huge crocodile on display. I have no idea why this reptile would be here, but that was just the kind of day it was. If you look at the 'Cu-chi Tunnels' post, you will find the same guy in the background of another photo with exactly the same expression on his face. I find myself feeling the way he looks. This is just such an intense day.

We left the Tunnels and our bus took us to the Vietnam War Museum.

The Museum includes a large lot filled with U.S. Military vehicles and Armaments. This is Paul. He's from California. I walked through the Museum with him. It was an amazing experience to look though the displays with an American. We saw photos of Napalmed bodies and bombed out villages. We read the pleadings from the Countries of the World, begging the U.S. to withdraw from Vietnam. As Paul and I walked along from room to room, reading and looking at the pictures on the walls, we didn't say a word.

This is one of the fighter Jets abandoned after the War.

This is the helicopter that was used as the modern 'Cavalry' for the American soldiers, as depicted in the movie: 'We Were Soldiers'.

The photos and stories we saw were horrendous. But the most disturbing thing to me was to watch a class of eight and ten-year-old Vietnamese students walking through these same buildings with us and see the same photos. I saw some of the children walk away from the walls of photos crying. Some just refuse to look. I wish they weren't here looking at this.
In Vietnam they call this the 'American War'. I lost track of Paul as I finished walking through the displays and caught up with him outside. He was sitting on some steps looking drained and upset. He said to me: "I feel so guilty for what my Country did. I just don't know what to think."

Timeline Video Clips

These are the Video Clips from my Travel Blog. Enjoy!

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Finally the answer to the age old question: 'Who is Mom's Favorite Child?'

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Some wonderful school girls I met on the beach in Songkhla, Thailand.

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The story is on my travel Blog: Nirvanah Negotiation

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What happens when you try to film a monkey through a chain link fence?See the story in my story from Thailand Monkey Wow

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Read the story [Erbsville Fan Club]

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I say to her: "Isn't that the couple who played the accordian for me last year?" [Read the story

here]

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Sexy Songkran Girls

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How to say 'Happy Songkran!'

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My Video Showcase

Click to see a showcase of the videos in my Travel Blog.

What The Bleep Time

Okay Vivyan and Somsoc, I finally saw the movie: ‘What the Bleep Do We Know’ and it was really fun.

The strongest theme in the movie that hits home with me is the theory of time travel. Quantum physics has found that particles of matter seem to exist in two or more places at the same time and that when we put our attention on them they seem to be in only one place again.

I developed my model of the Universe thirty years ago when I began studying ‘Eckankar’ which was described as the ‘ancient science of Soul Travel’ by it’s founder, Paul Twitchell. Twitchell based his cosmology on the premise that in our true state we are omnipotent beings and so we never travel anywhere. We simply put our attention somewhere and are here now. Twitchell took this idea further. He said that we all have the natural ability to be in any place in any Plane of existence at any ‘time’ just by focusing our attention on where we want to be. The reason this is possible is that we are already in all places and times right now. The Soul travel theory states that all eventualities of all time tracks have already happened. Anything that you can imagine or dream or experience with your senses, has already taken place. Twitchell says that we simply put our attention on those events the same way a flashlight illuminates the darkness. What we see is what we tend to accept as Reality.

There is a movie that demonstrates this theory. ‘Back to the Future’ is a movie in which a boy (Marty) travels from 1985 to 1955. But he returns ten minutes before the time he left and so is able to watch himself leave. When he goes home, at the end of his adventure, his whole life is totally changed. The movie explains this by showing that he has altered events of the future by past actions. That is sort of true. In ‘reality’ what Marty has done is leave one time track and enter another. The explanation in Quantum Physics and according to Twitchell is that the time track Marty arrives in is a parallel universe. He never actually does go home. He arrives somewhere he has never been and both world exist at once.

So if all this is correct then we are actually omnipotent beings trapped in our own hypnosis. I don't think we can wake up from this hypnosis, as humans, but we can change our lives in the blink of an eye, when we learn to consciously alter our hypnosis. And I think the first step to accomplishing this goal is to learn to become the observer beyond the physical body. I have experienced this state through lucid dreaming and Soul Travel.

Don't Bring A Knife To A Gunfight

There's a line from the Movie 'The Untouchables' when Sean Connery tells Kevin Costner: "When you go to a Gunfight, don't bring a knife." I learned that lesson the hard way here in Laos.
While Nee and I were Tubing down the Nam Song River, we stopped to do some diving with the Village children. I took off the Buddha Amulet that I got from my friends in Ubon Ratchithani, and hung it on a branch of a tree. It wasn't until almost an hour later that I realized I had forgotten it. I went to shore and ran back only to find it was gone. I talked to some of the townspeople who were just upstream from there and gave them the number for my Guesthouse. Sure enough, when I arrived, I was told that someone had found it and wanted me to come back for it. Chai, one of the managers of the Guesthouse, agreed to take me on his motorcycle. So off we went, speeding away to some unknown place in the dark.

We waited at an intersection and he called the number he had been given. We waited and he called again. Suddenly a crowd of children showed up and two of them took me by the hands and led me down some back roads to the back yard of a house where we waited for almost a half hour again. The suddenly, we were off heading to yet another back yard. Finally, an hour later we came to yet another house and I was invited in.

There were 20 people there waiting for me including three men who seemed to be Village elders. Leen, was the only one who spoke English. He had my amulet brought out and placed on a mat in front of him. Then in a very solemn tone asked me if I knew what it was. Now I thought that they were testing me to make sure I realized this was a sacred thing and not just some souvenir to be wearing. I began explaining that it was a gift from some dear friends in Ubon and that I considered it very important. Then Leen asked how much it was worth. I told him it was priceless. He asked: "How much did you pay for it?" "It was a gift." I replied. He said:
"My friend here went to a lot of trouble to return it to you. Perhaps that is worth one hundred dollars." I was stunned. I was thinking that they wanted to make sure I realized the value of the amulet. At the same time I felt it was unjust to use that against me to get money. I replied: "If you think it is so valuable I will give it to your village as a gift." and I began to hand it to him. Now I would like to tell you that I got up and left. I wish I had. But this is what really happened.

He said:"All day you were on the river, drinking beer and having fun. Maybe this village would like to have such enjoyment but we can't afford it. Is it too much to ask that you help us buy a case of beer. Fifty Dollars." I was feeling like I was being held prisoner here. And I resented his insinuation that I was some drunk on the river. In fact we had not had any beer. And these people weren't going to let me go until I coughed up some money. I said: "I don't have American money." Leen said: I was thinking maybe two hundred thousand Kip." I wish I had been able to calculate that into baht at that moment because it is about twenty dollars American. I kept thinking it was about one hundred and I was getting very nervous. I ended up reaching into my wallet and handing over one thousand baht, which is thirty-three dollars, Canadian; more than he was even asking for.

But my biggest problem was that I didn't want to dishonor Buddha by offering too little. So then everyone was happy. I took a couple of pictures and my Guesthouse driver and I left. It was only when we were on the road that Chai asked me: "how you feel?" I was actually feeling pretty proud of myself for how I honored Buddha, and I said: "Dee. Dee mah." He replied: "Too expensive. Only should pay 200 baht." Later that night, I told Nee about it and she replied: "Too expensive." Then she added: "In Buddhism there are 5 things not do. One is, no alcohol." At that moment I realized that my pride in trying to show how wise I was, is what cost me that money. If I had just let myself be a stupid Farang who wanted my necklace back it would have been easy.

When I got up the next morning after almost no sleep I realized what it was. That time when I was shuttled from house to house? Those men were busy figuring out how to take my money. I suppose I shouldn't feel so bad at being cheated like that. After all it only cost me one thousand baht and it took a whole town to figure out how to get it from me. I had fooled myself with my own vanity into thinking I was armed with wisdom and insight at that meeting. I thought I was at a Buddhist Ceremony while we were actually bargaining for a case of beer.

Vang Vieng: Blair Cave Project

Vang Vieng, Laos, 2005

My crew has been brought together to explore the strange stories that have been circulating about a cave here in Vang Vieng.
We have decided to call this expedition the 'Blair Cave Project'.

8am: My friends, Nee from Thailand and Josh from San Fransisco have agreed to come with me and try to get to the heart of
these strange tales of mysterious rock formations, bizarre lights and disappearances.

8:45 We approach the Cave by bicycle and it seems we are drawn by a magnetic force that wants us there.

9:00am We have our first look at the entrance to the cave.

Even the dogs here seem to know something is wrong. Or perhaps it's just my imagination.

9:10 Our guide shows us a wide circle of grass that has been flattened. I ask him what did it but he only repeats one word
over and over again: "chang...Chang...chang..."

9:23am We finally reach the mouth of the cave where we are met with a sign that seems strangely familiar from childhood.
Why yes, The Wizard of Oz and the haunted forest with the sign that says:"I'd turn back if I were you."

9:24am Our guide sees these rocks piled in this strange formation and runs away screaming. What could be the matter? We go
in...

9:32am We have been walking for several minutes further and further towards what, we do not know. Suddenly, Nee sees it; a
huge spider on the wall. We look around and see they are crawling everywhere.

Then I turn around and there is Josh surrounded by strange writing on the cave walls all around him.

I turn back to see that Nee is screaming. She is looking at Josh but is unable to calm down enough to tell me what she
sees.

I look back and see a strange light around Josh's head.

Then I see it too... It's... It's... I can't talk about it. We feel the spiders everywhere and we run as fast as we can out
of the cave.

10:13am Nee is now laughing as only a Thai can. And I am left horrified by what I have seen. We call to Josh but he never
shows up...

Ko Phi-Phi: 'The Beach': April 8

I went to a restaurant here on Ko Phi-Phi to watch a movie staring Leonardo Di Caprio; called 'The Beach' I didn't know until I sat down, that this movie was filmed here in the Ko Phi-Phi Islands on 'Maya Bay'. So here's my movie review.

I found it to be a stupid movie filmed on a beautiful place. It takes place in all the places I have been in the last couple of months. What bothered me is that the Thai people were represented as mean and aggressive; especially in Khao San Road. I found the people all through Thailand to be very sweet. And why was he sitting, all alone, bored in his hotel room when he was in such a wondrous place as Bangkok? There is so much going on, and at very least he could have gone outside and had a massage or sampled the local cuisine.


This scene was actually filmed in Krabi but one of my guides told me there is no such statue there. He said they created the backdrop for the scene.
But what really got to me was that the movie depicts a group of Americans who go to a secret island looking for Paradise. And they described the island as if it was different from the other islands of Thailand. The fact is, this is what you find on all the islands; especially Ko Tao; beautiful palm trees, quiet beaches, wonderful people. The thing that stuck me the most though, was that in their Paradise, they left out the one element that might have given them a chance to really live this dream; the Thai people themselves. The Thais have already figured out what paradise is. It is the sense of community and the openness to love one another and live in the spirit of loving peace. I'm sorry if I'm trashing a movie you really loved. It's just that I find it so hard to believe that that movie makers didn't observe this when they were filming.

The one thing that we in Thailand do agree is true to life; that cleaning lady mopping over a live electrical circuit in that hotel on Khao San road. That is true...

Fitting For Bangkok

I'm here at my old haunt, the Four Son's Village Guesthouse. The most difficult task I have had to do so far is to make a local call. I was trying to reach Santa Dennis but his phone didn't work. So then I called "Monkey" (one of his Thai ladies) and she said to try his number again. I kept getting cut off or running out of change.

So then I braved the forty degree Bangkok heat in a tuk-tuk. I called my buddy Joe, but he just never arrived.

I went to a Jewelry store to buy special gifts for Sarah and her sister, who I refer to as Cara-Rae, in honor of her favorite character in literature. I hope you two like these gifts. The jewels are very special in Thailand. These are the saleswomen who helped me; Flower and Apple (I think those are their stage names).

This is the reclining Buddha. He is the largest statue in any of the Temples. I didn't really get any kind of special feeling here though. It was just a fun tourist place.

You can get some idea of the size from this picture.

These Japanese school children came rushing up to me collecting names and countries. I traded them for a picture of themselves. They ran away giggling with my cards. Oneecheewah, if you see this my young friends!

I'm not sure who this guy is but he just looks so familiar I had to snap a shot.

This is Maureen and her daughter Anita, from Coventry England. They showed up and sat beside me so we started talking. The curator of this Temple handed us those same Dragon sticks that you showed me Vivyan. They are like tongue depressors inside a cylindrical box. You rotate the box until one stick falls out. I got number 26 and so did Anita. The fortune paper for #26 says: "Just like a dying tree in a dry land, suddenly refreshed and soaked with rain, reviving back to life. Strengthening and brightening up required. In order to achieve common targets, compromise and discussions recommended. Patient recovering. Lost persons will be found. Mismatch is likely. A good luck coming your way."

I mentioned to Maureen and Anita that my Mother has decided to do the Garden Tour of England in May. She said that is a wonderful time to go because everything is coming into bloom. This is the swirl of Life here as I travel. Strangers are dear friends for a moment and then they move off into the swirl. This is when I realize how we are all connected.

Somsoc, I took this picture for you. You mentioned a dream about something like this. It also has a good tie in with the book 'The Da Vinci Code'. By the way, thanks again Vivyan for that book. I have run into a tremendous number of people who are reading it right now.

I had my final fitting for my suit today. It's an Armani cashmere dark pinstripe suit with a silk lining and three custom shirts, light blue, ivory and white and second pair of slacks; 16000 baht. When I come back in early April I will pick out the ties. The only problem is that I don't like the way the suit looks with my sandals. And what's the dress code on socks?

Kanchanaburi

Wed, 6:45am Feb 9
Last night, sitting at a line of picnic tables talking, I realize the openness of travellers and of our host, Major (retired) Noon, a 68 year old spry man who produces a guitar and Michael (one of our Ausies) leads us in a singsong. There is not the usual suspicion when it's travellers. As one of my dear English friends; Jude, says: "We're all in the same boat".
When I got on the minibus the first two people I met were Jude and Alex, who are Teachers from Britain working in China. I had a very interesting experience when I first said hello. As I looked into Jude's face her face lit up with white light as if a flashbulb had burst. They were my constant companions on my Trek to Kanchanaburi and they took very good care of me, making sure I didn't get lost (since I am world renowned for my lack of sense of direction.)

Canoeing along the River Kwai, Jude and Erin san.
As I write this, I am sitting on a plastic deck chair on the rocky shore of the River Kwai, listening to the roosters crow and the lapping of the waves and the sound inside my own consciousness of the high tension wire sound in a world without electricity.

The best picture I never took yesterday; a little girl who came padding along the parking lot at Ewan Falls carrying two large plastic cups of juice in her hands. She suddenly stops and carefully puts down the cups. I think she is finding it too much and is abandoning her task but I'm wrong. She stands back up facing us and puts her hands together in prayer position and bows to Jude and Alex and me. Then she crouches back down, carefully pics her cups back up and continues her Journey. This is a picture of her with her mother, just after she picked up her cups again.


The Seven Step Falls at the Seventh Level; Ewan Falls.


Lower down on one of the levels of Ewan Falls; watching the fish.