ok, so that everyone can stop worrying, here has been whats been going on;
Landed safely in manila on the 21st with Mother, John, and Andy, the flight was made so much easie with the assistane of Luenstra, i'm pretty sure i slept almost 9 hours of it....once we landed in manila we were met by brenda and Andrew and whisked away to the hotel, it was late, but all of us were wide awake (this would be night one of keeping andrew up as much as possible)....we went out to the Cowboy Grill a place Brenda and Andrew had taken me before, they have great live bands there and cold beer, well, sufisive to say, the beer never has the chance to get warm when were together!
The next day it was tours of the ancient city Intramuras, we checked out the walled city, the manila cathedral and took a walk around the grounds, this is someplace i have not been before so it was nice to see (what little of it i was able to, spending 4 hours in the seamans hospital was not part of the itenerary)....oh yeah, and did i mention the 6 stiches (not me) and gauze tied to someones head?....
Thursday, it was off to bataan, oh what fun, after cherrie arrived, we piled everyone into a jeepney and headed off to the Genesis bus terminal to catch the two hour ride to Bataan, and the Crowne royal hotel...what a nice place... we went to dinner at a nice japanese resturaunt and then to the bar across the street for more livation and chocalate cake for my birthday, good job on the cake brenda, it was mighty tasty, although the next bar, the cake didn't mix to well with the birthday tequila shot.
Friday- relaxation in the morning, with a trip to Mt. Samat, much like the chient christ in Rio, this is a giant cross on top of a mountain memoralizing the battle of bataan, with a nice ww2 museam underneath, after the hot sun and fun day at Samat it was off to the rehearsal...the ladies that did the planning moved quite fast, and the maid of honor was a no show, so my part combined with hers was a bit shakey, i was still all set for the wedding, and ready to look gwapo in my barong (pictures to follow when i get back to manila) after the rehearsal, we all loaded back into the jeepney to head off to brenda's for more food than anyone can handle and karaoke...we were feed and watered well there....thank you brenda and your family for the wonderful hosptality that evening.
Saturday.... the wedding day, the festivities started around 10, with everyone all dressed up and ready to go., loaded in the jeepney to head off to the church, and andrew getting his last cigarette as a single man!!!! it was a great ceremony, and it was a wonderful experience to be apart of it...andrew looked handsome in his tuxedo, and brenda look ravishing in her dress....after the ceremony it was a mad dash back to the hotel for the reception where the food was good the beef somthing or other was mighty tasty and the shrimps had just the right amount of spice....after the wedding it was off to get changed, naps in, and if john and cam had there ways another trip to jollibee!!! that night it was gift time and an introduction to tanduay silver....mighty tasty!!!!
Sunday.... a relaxing day at the beach with everyone and brenda's family, the waves were huge and the food plentiful!!! we finished off the additional bottle of rhum we brought with us and then beat up on some koreans in volley ball (Korea number 1 no more!!!) after the beach it was back to the hotel for some much needed rest
Monday..... Manila for some shopping and last minute gifts in china town.....alvin, cherrie, and brenda has there work cut out for them keeping up with mom...damn she can shop!!!
Tuesday.... Manila again, with everyone gone it was nice for some rest without being pulled every which way....mom andy and john made there flights with no problem, cherrie made her flight no problem, and matt made his no problem, as did cam and john so everyone got to the skies with no issues.
Wednesday....off to Tacloban, got there late evening so just a night out to dinner and an early evening
Thursday....Tacloban again...went to the mcarthur park and other sites around, this is the historic "i shall return" landing spot for mcarthur after he left bataan, he landed again in tacloban to expel the japanese
Friday.... tacloban to ormoc, got in early afternoon and checked into the sabin resort, this place rocked for 1800PHP (35US) a night, right on the ocean, with great views, the resturaunt had a great view of the ocean so i got to watch the waves while having dinner and a few cocktails
Saturday....ormoc sight seeing again, not much here
Sunday..... Ferry to Cebu.....never again, i was one of maybe 3 on this ferry that didn't vomic continiously through out
Monday...Cebu, went to mactan island and saw the lapu lapu shrine, this is the cheif that beheaded magellen, then to the city center to see magellans cross, which was erected in the mid 1500's, and then back to the hotel for some dinner and a night out
Tuesday .... catching a flight to manila, where i will meet up with martin on the 7th....
hope this catches everyone up, i will upload pictures when i get to an internet cafe that allows me to!!
peace....i keep living vicariously through myself!!!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Planning for 2009 Has begun
The next trip has begun to move past the planning stages, with a tentative Itinerary set, and the round trip tickets purchased....This time around it will be just a month with a couple of special occasions mixed in, wheels up is July 20th, landing in Manila on the 21st!
The primary reason for this trip is the nuptials of my brother...this will be a special occasion, not only because I'm the best man, but for the chance to participate in this joyous occasion with him. The Clampets are going to Manila, I just hope no one packs with Igloo coolers and piggly wiggly bags!
The tentative Itinerary is looking as such;
Wheels up DTW - 7.20
Land Manila - 7.21
Brother Wedding - 7.25
Tacloban (Visayas) - 7.28 (Tentative)
Oromoc (Visayas) - 7.31 (Tentative)
Manila - 8.02
Bali - 8.08 (Tentative)
Sri Lanka via Singapore 8.11
Delhi, India 8.12
after India from 8.12- 8.20 is Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, with an attempt to go to Bhutan, and possibly Thailand to enter Burma...
Visa's are all taken care of for India, got the 10 year multiple entry, and the 5 year multiple entry for Bangladesh, and Burma/Myanmar should be in my hands by the end of this week.
The good news is that Martin will be meeting me in the Philippines and the fun will begin, also will be meeting Joe (a friend from home) in Delhi on the 12th....
Let the fun begin.....looks like the Dos Esquis commercial was right...I'm living vicariously through myself!!!
The primary reason for this trip is the nuptials of my brother...this will be a special occasion, not only because I'm the best man, but for the chance to participate in this joyous occasion with him. The Clampets are going to Manila, I just hope no one packs with Igloo coolers and piggly wiggly bags!
The tentative Itinerary is looking as such;
Wheels up DTW - 7.20
Land Manila - 7.21
Brother Wedding - 7.25
Tacloban (Visayas) - 7.28 (Tentative)
Oromoc (Visayas) - 7.31 (Tentative)
Manila - 8.02
Bali - 8.08 (Tentative)
Sri Lanka via Singapore 8.11
Delhi, India 8.12
after India from 8.12- 8.20 is Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, with an attempt to go to Bhutan, and possibly Thailand to enter Burma...
Visa's are all taken care of for India, got the 10 year multiple entry, and the 5 year multiple entry for Bangladesh, and Burma/Myanmar should be in my hands by the end of this week.
The good news is that Martin will be meeting me in the Philippines and the fun will begin, also will be meeting Joe (a friend from home) in Delhi on the 12th....
Let the fun begin.....looks like the Dos Esquis commercial was right...I'm living vicariously through myself!!!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Back in the Philippines with Money Issues
I spent three weeks total in the Philippines, one at the beginning of August, one at the end of August beginning of September and one at the end of September. I had no issues using the ATM's in SM Clark during my first two stays in AC, however on the third i was given a suprise by my bank. Knowing that i was returning to the Philippines I had converted most of my cash (with the exception of 6 dollars) with the knowledge that I could just run to SM Clark and use an ATM if I needed more money, or for larger purchases use my Visa (all issued by the same bank).
Part of my plan was to head to Boracay for a Saturday through Monday, and return to Manila from Boracay to head home on Tuesday. I booked with the travel agent in the hotel on Friday for two people to go to boracay, hotel and flights for 15K peso, it was a package deal and worked out to be the easiest for me. Once everything was arranged the travel agent let me know that everything needed to be paid by 2PM. I said no problem and headed over to SM Clark to use the ATM. I used the first ATM and got the message to contact my Financial institution, having gotten this message in the past, i simply went to another ATM as I had in the past and the problem should be resolved, i went to the next atm and got the same message, and again at the third and fourth, not sure what was going on, i paid attention to the message at the fourth ATM and realized i was attempting to withdrawal more than the maximum allowed by the ATM. Damn, i blocked my card and would need to call my bank to unblock the card, i went back to the travel agent and let her know what i had done and she was cool, i asked her if their were any alternatives, and she said she could run it through as a visa payment, cool, i handed her my card and was willing to suck up the 7.5% fee attached to the credit card purchase. My card came back declined, shit, this isn't good, the block from using the ATMs wouldn't affect a visa purchase, at this point i've got a minimal amount of peso's in my pocket and not nearly enough to pay for the trip. I tell the travel agent that i need to contact my bank, but that they won't be open for another 7 hours cause their based in the US and don't have any type of after hours support. She was comfortable with that and said she would leave the tickets and info at the receptionist of the hotel and to just leave the money for the tickets their and they would release them to me when i paid.
At 8:00 i called my bank and made sure that their was not issues, their was a block on my card from trying to withdrawal at too many ATM's, and she did inform me that that should not have affected my Visa purchase. The Visa purchase was explained to me by customer service to be declined due to an update to the system, some kind of maintenance and upgrade to the system they were attempting to do when it wouldn't inconvenience any customers. This i took as complete bull shit but the card was working again and thats all i cared about. So now that that was fixed it was back to SM clark to use the atm again. This time i got the same message, this wasn't making sense, why was my card still not working, i again tried additional ATM's and after still getting the same message to contact my financial institution i called the bank again. This time, as with each time i called i advised them that i was in the Philippines and didn't have a lot of phone time, so of course knowing this the daft cow at customer service put me on hold for 7 minutes. I hung up and called back and got another, ever so pleasant customer service agent who advised me that my bank had placed the Philippines on their blacklist....meaning that all ATM and Visa purchases would not be allowed from that country due to the increased amount of fraud that was emanating from the country. My initial though was Oh Shit....I didn't have enough money on me to pay for to the trip to Boracay, pay for my hotel, take a taxi to the airport, pay the departure fee if their was one, or pay for any food in boracay once we got their....i was trapped in the third world with no money, i didn't even have enough to take a bus back to manila to catch my flight home.
In a panic i immediately start calling family back home, i finally get ahold of my grandfather in Alaska, and he agrees to western union me money. I call him back an hour later and everything is set to pick up. I go to four Western Unions, two are closed and two are out of money, i didn't realize their were so many WU's until Sunday, but its 2AM and I still don't have any money and have been told by the security guard at the two WU's with no money to come back at 8. Shit, i'm supposed to leave for Boracay at 6 AM to catch the 8 AM flight out of Clark. Well looks like i'm not going, i've got to get the money issue resolved before doing anything, hindsight tells me that i probably could have gone to a WU in Boracay. At 8 AM i go to another WU in AC to try to get the wire transfer, not a proficient person with the intricacies of Western Union i wasn't aware i needed the MTCN number, after playing phone tag with my Grandfather for 2 hours i finally get the number i need, fill out the form and submit it for payment. 10 minutes later the clerk tells me that he cannot find the payment, i tell him to check again. Now another wave of panic comes over me, I call my grandfather back and review the receipt with him, and low and behold we find the problem, the money went to Poland. He goes back to the Western Union, hoping its not closed at this point to try to get this fixed, only he doesn't go to the WU where he did the transfer from, he calls me back to let me know that he's not able to get this resolved until morning. A side note with a lot of irony, the clerk at the western union in the US was Filipino. The plot thickens, the town my grandfather lives in is having a festival that starts on Saturday and the town essentially closes down for it, so this may not get resolved in Monday. Now this sends me into a panic attack...i'm stuck, and a monday resolution means late monday night before the transfer can be fixed, leading possibly into to Tuesday Philippines time (theirs a 16 hour time difference between where my grandfather is and the philippines) and my flight leaves 6:30 AM Tuesday.
In a state of panic all afternoon (waiting for morning in the US), i pace around the hotel until 8 PM so that i can call another family member to attempt another wire transfer in the off chance that the one my grandfather sent doesn't come through. I get ahold of my father to send money, he graciously (even though i woke him up) went out and did it right away. My luck was beginning to change, i check back in with him an hour and a half later and the transfer has gone through, i get the MTCN number and were good to go. As i get around to head out to the WU, i get another phone call a couple hours later that the transfer my grandfather had sent has gone through. Its now after midnight and I'm ready to head out and collect, again the same situation as the night before, only this time all the WU's are closed. This is really starting to get old.
Sunday Morning has now come and I'm still without a means to pay for anything at this point. I have informed the hotel of my situation, and they are very understanding, this morning they have agreed to help me find a WU that is open, and has money. Jackpot they find one. I get a trike and a member of the hotel staff goes with me, as now i have over a 1000 us waiting for me. I get to the Western Union, fill out the necessary forms and 20 minutes later am walking out with money in my pocket. i think i may have even skipped out of the western union, a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
What really chapped my ass through all of this is that my bank didn't even notify of the change, you'd think having used my cards in 11 countries (including the philipines on two different dates) they would have made some sort of notification. Even today i'm still not able to find anything on my banks website to tell me what countries my cards will not work in. As for the trip to Boracay, The person i was taking has been able to rebook for november 9th. I covered those fees upon checking out of the hotel so she's all set.
So next course of action for me is to establish an account at an international bank like HSBC prior to my next visit to make sure that this doesn't happen again.
Part of my plan was to head to Boracay for a Saturday through Monday, and return to Manila from Boracay to head home on Tuesday. I booked with the travel agent in the hotel on Friday for two people to go to boracay, hotel and flights for 15K peso, it was a package deal and worked out to be the easiest for me. Once everything was arranged the travel agent let me know that everything needed to be paid by 2PM. I said no problem and headed over to SM Clark to use the ATM. I used the first ATM and got the message to contact my Financial institution, having gotten this message in the past, i simply went to another ATM as I had in the past and the problem should be resolved, i went to the next atm and got the same message, and again at the third and fourth, not sure what was going on, i paid attention to the message at the fourth ATM and realized i was attempting to withdrawal more than the maximum allowed by the ATM. Damn, i blocked my card and would need to call my bank to unblock the card, i went back to the travel agent and let her know what i had done and she was cool, i asked her if their were any alternatives, and she said she could run it through as a visa payment, cool, i handed her my card and was willing to suck up the 7.5% fee attached to the credit card purchase. My card came back declined, shit, this isn't good, the block from using the ATMs wouldn't affect a visa purchase, at this point i've got a minimal amount of peso's in my pocket and not nearly enough to pay for the trip. I tell the travel agent that i need to contact my bank, but that they won't be open for another 7 hours cause their based in the US and don't have any type of after hours support. She was comfortable with that and said she would leave the tickets and info at the receptionist of the hotel and to just leave the money for the tickets their and they would release them to me when i paid.
At 8:00 i called my bank and made sure that their was not issues, their was a block on my card from trying to withdrawal at too many ATM's, and she did inform me that that should not have affected my Visa purchase. The Visa purchase was explained to me by customer service to be declined due to an update to the system, some kind of maintenance and upgrade to the system they were attempting to do when it wouldn't inconvenience any customers. This i took as complete bull shit but the card was working again and thats all i cared about. So now that that was fixed it was back to SM clark to use the atm again. This time i got the same message, this wasn't making sense, why was my card still not working, i again tried additional ATM's and after still getting the same message to contact my financial institution i called the bank again. This time, as with each time i called i advised them that i was in the Philippines and didn't have a lot of phone time, so of course knowing this the daft cow at customer service put me on hold for 7 minutes. I hung up and called back and got another, ever so pleasant customer service agent who advised me that my bank had placed the Philippines on their blacklist....meaning that all ATM and Visa purchases would not be allowed from that country due to the increased amount of fraud that was emanating from the country. My initial though was Oh Shit....I didn't have enough money on me to pay for to the trip to Boracay, pay for my hotel, take a taxi to the airport, pay the departure fee if their was one, or pay for any food in boracay once we got their....i was trapped in the third world with no money, i didn't even have enough to take a bus back to manila to catch my flight home.
In a panic i immediately start calling family back home, i finally get ahold of my grandfather in Alaska, and he agrees to western union me money. I call him back an hour later and everything is set to pick up. I go to four Western Unions, two are closed and two are out of money, i didn't realize their were so many WU's until Sunday, but its 2AM and I still don't have any money and have been told by the security guard at the two WU's with no money to come back at 8. Shit, i'm supposed to leave for Boracay at 6 AM to catch the 8 AM flight out of Clark. Well looks like i'm not going, i've got to get the money issue resolved before doing anything, hindsight tells me that i probably could have gone to a WU in Boracay. At 8 AM i go to another WU in AC to try to get the wire transfer, not a proficient person with the intricacies of Western Union i wasn't aware i needed the MTCN number, after playing phone tag with my Grandfather for 2 hours i finally get the number i need, fill out the form and submit it for payment. 10 minutes later the clerk tells me that he cannot find the payment, i tell him to check again. Now another wave of panic comes over me, I call my grandfather back and review the receipt with him, and low and behold we find the problem, the money went to Poland. He goes back to the Western Union, hoping its not closed at this point to try to get this fixed, only he doesn't go to the WU where he did the transfer from, he calls me back to let me know that he's not able to get this resolved until morning. A side note with a lot of irony, the clerk at the western union in the US was Filipino. The plot thickens, the town my grandfather lives in is having a festival that starts on Saturday and the town essentially closes down for it, so this may not get resolved in Monday. Now this sends me into a panic attack...i'm stuck, and a monday resolution means late monday night before the transfer can be fixed, leading possibly into to Tuesday Philippines time (theirs a 16 hour time difference between where my grandfather is and the philippines) and my flight leaves 6:30 AM Tuesday.
In a state of panic all afternoon (waiting for morning in the US), i pace around the hotel until 8 PM so that i can call another family member to attempt another wire transfer in the off chance that the one my grandfather sent doesn't come through. I get ahold of my father to send money, he graciously (even though i woke him up) went out and did it right away. My luck was beginning to change, i check back in with him an hour and a half later and the transfer has gone through, i get the MTCN number and were good to go. As i get around to head out to the WU, i get another phone call a couple hours later that the transfer my grandfather had sent has gone through. Its now after midnight and I'm ready to head out and collect, again the same situation as the night before, only this time all the WU's are closed. This is really starting to get old.
Sunday Morning has now come and I'm still without a means to pay for anything at this point. I have informed the hotel of my situation, and they are very understanding, this morning they have agreed to help me find a WU that is open, and has money. Jackpot they find one. I get a trike and a member of the hotel staff goes with me, as now i have over a 1000 us waiting for me. I get to the Western Union, fill out the necessary forms and 20 minutes later am walking out with money in my pocket. i think i may have even skipped out of the western union, a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
What really chapped my ass through all of this is that my bank didn't even notify of the change, you'd think having used my cards in 11 countries (including the philipines on two different dates) they would have made some sort of notification. Even today i'm still not able to find anything on my banks website to tell me what countries my cards will not work in. As for the trip to Boracay, The person i was taking has been able to rebook for november 9th. I covered those fees upon checking out of the hotel so she's all set.
So next course of action for me is to establish an account at an international bank like HSBC prior to my next visit to make sure that this doesn't happen again.
Thailand to the Philippines
http://picasaweb.google.com/pdullock/Brunei?authkey=n24us40fJ0c#
So after the disappointing news from United I decided to do the easiest trip, and that was to Brunei. This would require me flying to Kuala Lumpur, then to Brunei, back to Kuala Lumpur then to the Philippines. This seems convoluted and out of the way but it was actually 100 USD cheaper than flying from Thailand to Brunei round trip then to the Philippines.
I left Thailand on the 23rd, early in the morning to get to the Bangkok airport, i flew Air Asia (great looking stewardesses) to KL, with a few hour layover, and headed to Brunei, it was a taxing day as i didn't get much sleep from the night before, and spending time in airports isn't actually the time of your life. The only odd thing that happened was after clearing immigration the customers agent wanted to have an in depth conversation about 9/11. Now I'm all about random conversations but this topic was not one that i wanted to have with a customs agent in a Muslim country. It felt like he was setting me up to say something bad either about the US or Islam, and either way i just answered his questions with a lot happened and has happened since then, avoiding giving him a personal opinion which he was pushing for. The flight to Brunei was good, i met a couple from New Zealand (actually he was from New Zealand, she was from London, and they both were living in Australia) who were transiting through Brunei to explore Borneo, they had some interesting stories and were getting anxious as their trip was coming to a close as well and they were both excited to go home and see their families.
Landing in Brunei and clearing immigration was a breeze, i thought i would be issued a visa on arrival, but it was much more simplistic and a stamp in the passport and I was off. After exiting the airport, the couple I had met and I decided to share a taxi into the city, as the taxi's didn't use meters and we were heading toward the same area. (the capital city isn't that big, and it takes about 20 minutes to drive from one side to the other and just a little more time to traverse the country). As we went to the Taxi stand line and stood their alone we did notice one odd thing, their were no taxis. We asked an airport employee if we were in the right queue, and she said yes, but that their were a minimum number of taxi's and they didn't always come to the airport, or even go out. She told us she would call the taxi company and send some out to the airport, and we thanked her. The taxi driver was a nice guy, his name was Ossie, and he spoke great english and had quite a decorated past. He served in the Brunei Army, and then on the Sultans personal detail on his private plane. I got the impression that he was retired and driving a taxi for something to do. We dropped the new zealand couple off at their hotel first, then to my hotel. I got Ossies contact information and asked him how much he would charge to hire him for the day for sight seeing, he quoted me $75 for the day (8 hours total), this was a bargain, and less than it cost to hire the taxi in Batam.
The next day i slept in, the bed at the hotel i stayed was probably one of the softest i had slept in at any point on the trip, i had breakfast and hung out at the hotel lounging until around 11 and then checked out. I had the receptionist contact ossie to pick me up to see the sights. She asked me how much i was paying for the day, and when i told her she seemed shocked and amazed as most of the taxi drivers apparently charge from 25-35 dollars an hour to do sightseeing.
The trip around the capital city was nice. We started at the National Museum and took around 2.5 hours to go through it. The collections included the sulatans private peices detailing the history of Islam, the oil and gas industry in Brunei, daily life, indigenous plants and animals and then a section on the sultans of Brunei (which has the longest hereditary monarchy in history). One interesting thing was that the museum did not allow any photography outside of the main lobby so i had to lock my camera in the lockers provided. In fact i think i was the only visitor to the museum, and was suprised that after around 15 minutes in the museum Ossie the taxi driver had joined me, he asked if I minded him going through the museum with me as he had not been their since it opened. I didn't mind, and he was able to explain some of the items related to the history of Brunei which was just like having a tour guide.
After the Museum we headed out to the coast to see the fish market and see the beaches, which were vacant, not a single customer, or beach goer, this didn't suprise me as we were in the middle of Ramadan. After the beach we headed to the Sultans residence, i was a bit disappointed that more could not be seen from the street but what could be seen was still impressive. The archway along the drive way was huge, and at the end of it in front of the house you could see a large fountain, and above the tree line you could see a gold dome. The house itself cost around 3 billion to build, and is opened to the public during a festival in October, and by opened, residents of Brunei can go meet the Sultan and are given complete access to the house, you could actually go to the fridge and help yourself to whatever leftovers might be available!
After the sultans house we headed to the national mosque, it was quite impressive and reminded me of the national mosque in KL. From their is was to the National Mausoleum where the sultans are buried. Just like in Cambodia I was shocked by the lack of personal space with the dead. the Mausoleum was built right on top of the graves of those that were their before, in fact their were breaks in the foundation where grave markers were. The other interesting point with the NM was that in addition to the Sultans and their spouses, the graveyard also served as the final resting place for the inhabitants of the water village. The next stop was a walk to the end of the parking lot of the NM to view the Water Village itself. This is an impressive set up and really seems a contradiction to Brunei in that it at one point was the wealthiest per capita country in the world, and still remains one of them. The Water village is self sufficient, a Mosque, Apartment Buildings, schools all built right over the river. The government of Brunei is systematically rebuilding the water village starting with the parts that are the most run down. The houses that we could see seemed to be quite decrepit and one even had quite a lean t to it, almost to the point where it looked like it was about to fall over.
Once back in the car, Ossie asked me if I wanted to go to the Malaysian border for a beer, and let me know that their were girls their as well. He suggested the Malaysian border because Brunei is a dry country and you can bring alcohol into the country but not find any when your their. This was only after 4 hours of touring the country. I asked him if their was anything else to see, he quickly responded no, we've seen it all. We drove around for a while longer before heading back to the airport at 5. This was three hours before my flight left, but as it was Ramadan, I felt guilty asking him to take me somewhere to eat and having to eat in front of him so I settled on Chicken Tocino at the Jollibee in the Brunei airport. This would mark the only time that i would eat at a Jollibee throughout my entire trip.
Once back in KL i made the genius decision to sleep at the airport. My flight landed at 11, and after clearing immigration it was close to 11:30, and my flight to the Philippines left at 7:30 the next morning. This meant i had 6 hours, and to get a hotel would only leave me with approximately 3 hours to sleep, not a sound investment, and as I had yet to sleep in an airport on the trip, i was up for the experience. The Low Cost Terminal for those interested is very uncomfortable, they are redoing the main roadway in front of the terminal and had cordoned off the section at the terminal with corrugated steel walls in effect expanding the "lobby" area in front of the terminal. Several benches had been sporadically placed around where this new road had been poured as well as on the sidewalk, people were sleeping everywhere, benches, luggage trolleys, on the ground, it was like the pictures you see of the airports in the US when massive amounts of flights are canceled during the holidays. Apparently i wasn't the only one with the idea of sleeping in the airport to ensure catching an early morning flight.
Once i was checked in for the flight i met an interesting Filipino women named Ilene (she had her name written in large block letters on her soduko puzzle book) who was very interested in me meeting her 18 year old niece. Almost to the point of being adamant, like having her meet us at the airport when the plane landed. As politely as I could i declined her offer, and almost suggested she go into selling used cars.
Back in the Philippines.
So after the disappointing news from United I decided to do the easiest trip, and that was to Brunei. This would require me flying to Kuala Lumpur, then to Brunei, back to Kuala Lumpur then to the Philippines. This seems convoluted and out of the way but it was actually 100 USD cheaper than flying from Thailand to Brunei round trip then to the Philippines.
I left Thailand on the 23rd, early in the morning to get to the Bangkok airport, i flew Air Asia (great looking stewardesses) to KL, with a few hour layover, and headed to Brunei, it was a taxing day as i didn't get much sleep from the night before, and spending time in airports isn't actually the time of your life. The only odd thing that happened was after clearing immigration the customers agent wanted to have an in depth conversation about 9/11. Now I'm all about random conversations but this topic was not one that i wanted to have with a customs agent in a Muslim country. It felt like he was setting me up to say something bad either about the US or Islam, and either way i just answered his questions with a lot happened and has happened since then, avoiding giving him a personal opinion which he was pushing for. The flight to Brunei was good, i met a couple from New Zealand (actually he was from New Zealand, she was from London, and they both were living in Australia) who were transiting through Brunei to explore Borneo, they had some interesting stories and were getting anxious as their trip was coming to a close as well and they were both excited to go home and see their families.
Landing in Brunei and clearing immigration was a breeze, i thought i would be issued a visa on arrival, but it was much more simplistic and a stamp in the passport and I was off. After exiting the airport, the couple I had met and I decided to share a taxi into the city, as the taxi's didn't use meters and we were heading toward the same area. (the capital city isn't that big, and it takes about 20 minutes to drive from one side to the other and just a little more time to traverse the country). As we went to the Taxi stand line and stood their alone we did notice one odd thing, their were no taxis. We asked an airport employee if we were in the right queue, and she said yes, but that their were a minimum number of taxi's and they didn't always come to the airport, or even go out. She told us she would call the taxi company and send some out to the airport, and we thanked her. The taxi driver was a nice guy, his name was Ossie, and he spoke great english and had quite a decorated past. He served in the Brunei Army, and then on the Sultans personal detail on his private plane. I got the impression that he was retired and driving a taxi for something to do. We dropped the new zealand couple off at their hotel first, then to my hotel. I got Ossies contact information and asked him how much he would charge to hire him for the day for sight seeing, he quoted me $75 for the day (8 hours total), this was a bargain, and less than it cost to hire the taxi in Batam.
The next day i slept in, the bed at the hotel i stayed was probably one of the softest i had slept in at any point on the trip, i had breakfast and hung out at the hotel lounging until around 11 and then checked out. I had the receptionist contact ossie to pick me up to see the sights. She asked me how much i was paying for the day, and when i told her she seemed shocked and amazed as most of the taxi drivers apparently charge from 25-35 dollars an hour to do sightseeing.
The trip around the capital city was nice. We started at the National Museum and took around 2.5 hours to go through it. The collections included the sulatans private peices detailing the history of Islam, the oil and gas industry in Brunei, daily life, indigenous plants and animals and then a section on the sultans of Brunei (which has the longest hereditary monarchy in history). One interesting thing was that the museum did not allow any photography outside of the main lobby so i had to lock my camera in the lockers provided. In fact i think i was the only visitor to the museum, and was suprised that after around 15 minutes in the museum Ossie the taxi driver had joined me, he asked if I minded him going through the museum with me as he had not been their since it opened. I didn't mind, and he was able to explain some of the items related to the history of Brunei which was just like having a tour guide.
After the Museum we headed out to the coast to see the fish market and see the beaches, which were vacant, not a single customer, or beach goer, this didn't suprise me as we were in the middle of Ramadan. After the beach we headed to the Sultans residence, i was a bit disappointed that more could not be seen from the street but what could be seen was still impressive. The archway along the drive way was huge, and at the end of it in front of the house you could see a large fountain, and above the tree line you could see a gold dome. The house itself cost around 3 billion to build, and is opened to the public during a festival in October, and by opened, residents of Brunei can go meet the Sultan and are given complete access to the house, you could actually go to the fridge and help yourself to whatever leftovers might be available!
After the sultans house we headed to the national mosque, it was quite impressive and reminded me of the national mosque in KL. From their is was to the National Mausoleum where the sultans are buried. Just like in Cambodia I was shocked by the lack of personal space with the dead. the Mausoleum was built right on top of the graves of those that were their before, in fact their were breaks in the foundation where grave markers were. The other interesting point with the NM was that in addition to the Sultans and their spouses, the graveyard also served as the final resting place for the inhabitants of the water village. The next stop was a walk to the end of the parking lot of the NM to view the Water Village itself. This is an impressive set up and really seems a contradiction to Brunei in that it at one point was the wealthiest per capita country in the world, and still remains one of them. The Water village is self sufficient, a Mosque, Apartment Buildings, schools all built right over the river. The government of Brunei is systematically rebuilding the water village starting with the parts that are the most run down. The houses that we could see seemed to be quite decrepit and one even had quite a lean t to it, almost to the point where it looked like it was about to fall over.
Once back in the car, Ossie asked me if I wanted to go to the Malaysian border for a beer, and let me know that their were girls their as well. He suggested the Malaysian border because Brunei is a dry country and you can bring alcohol into the country but not find any when your their. This was only after 4 hours of touring the country. I asked him if their was anything else to see, he quickly responded no, we've seen it all. We drove around for a while longer before heading back to the airport at 5. This was three hours before my flight left, but as it was Ramadan, I felt guilty asking him to take me somewhere to eat and having to eat in front of him so I settled on Chicken Tocino at the Jollibee in the Brunei airport. This would mark the only time that i would eat at a Jollibee throughout my entire trip.
Once back in KL i made the genius decision to sleep at the airport. My flight landed at 11, and after clearing immigration it was close to 11:30, and my flight to the Philippines left at 7:30 the next morning. This meant i had 6 hours, and to get a hotel would only leave me with approximately 3 hours to sleep, not a sound investment, and as I had yet to sleep in an airport on the trip, i was up for the experience. The Low Cost Terminal for those interested is very uncomfortable, they are redoing the main roadway in front of the terminal and had cordoned off the section at the terminal with corrugated steel walls in effect expanding the "lobby" area in front of the terminal. Several benches had been sporadically placed around where this new road had been poured as well as on the sidewalk, people were sleeping everywhere, benches, luggage trolleys, on the ground, it was like the pictures you see of the airports in the US when massive amounts of flights are canceled during the holidays. Apparently i wasn't the only one with the idea of sleeping in the airport to ensure catching an early morning flight.
Once i was checked in for the flight i met an interesting Filipino women named Ilene (she had her name written in large block letters on her soduko puzzle book) who was very interested in me meeting her 18 year old niece. Almost to the point of being adamant, like having her meet us at the airport when the plane landed. As politely as I could i declined her offer, and almost suggested she go into selling used cars.
Back in the Philippines.
Monday, September 22, 2008
A Quick Update (9.22.08)
I talked to united this afternon, to change my flight home from 9.30.08 to 10.14.08 it would cost me 1,400, which is more than i paid for the round trip flight....based on this new information i'm coming home one the 30th....this also means that Australia and New Zealand are out of the questions. I'll be taking off from Thailand tomorrow to Kuala Lumpur and then to Brunei, returning to Kuala Lumpur. From their its to Hong Kong, over to Macau then back to the Philippines. The discombobulated route is based on price, its cheaper to fly to Hong Kong take the ferry to Macau then fly from Macau to the Philippines. Go Figure. See everyone soon!!!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Laos
5 Hours after crossing the border with the insufferable bus driver(s), who by the way put on the Aqua's (I'm a Barbie Girl) Greatest Hits video disc at full volume upon leaving the border just to be that guy we arrived in Vientienne the capital city. The Irish lasses ran to an ATM to pay me back the 40 USD they borrowed to get their visa's and bailed, in fact they payed me back 500,000 Kip, which was well over 50 USD, i even tried to give them 100k back and they balked, at least something good is happening to my karma. We managed to hook up with 7 germans who were looking to go to the same place we were Viang Vien. We managed to hire a private minibus for 50,000 kip a person (1:8652), and because their was now nine of us we had much more bargaining power for a 9 passenger minibus. The drive took 4.5 hours and was hell, the road was very comparable to the one to Siem Reap, filled with potholes and very dangerous, as this one was winding up and down mountains. The kicker was that the driver was feeling ill and continually rolled his window down, thus increasing the tempeture in the back of the minibus by 10 degress making everyone miserable, it only took 5 times each time he rolled it down for him to roll it back up. We arrived in Vang Vien shortly after 9 and it was pitch black out. We wandered around town, the germans with their lonely planet guides, and James and I just following not really wanting to get involved in the decision making process they were debating in German. Finally after looking at 3 guest houses the germans sent the two ladies of the group out to find the guest house as they were the ones vetoing each one we came across. We finally settled on one in the center of town, for a whopping 30K Kip a night (less than 4 dollars). To boot several of the germans thought they were paying too much. The room was complete with a bed, bathroom (no flushing toliet), and a table, what more could we ask for.
The purpose of going to Vang Vien was the tubing. What this involves as many can guess is floating down a river in an inflated innertube...the kicker is that their are 15 bars along the river that you can stop at as you go along, each complete with either a rope swing, or zip line that you can take out into the water. While tubing the first day (yes I went more than once) we ran into several English guys who liked to have a good time, they had brought with them several bottles of vodka and 16 bottles of red bull, the good times were a going!!! As the day went on the courage, albeit liquid, increased in many of the tubers whom where taking more and more risks on the swings. These swings were probably 30 feet above the water and at their pinnacle you were probably 40-50 feet above the water when you let go. I got brave on the first swing, made it to the top and nearly barfed from how high up I was....i did however try the zip line at the second bar, and decided that that was my adventure on the swings and lines for the tubing adventure as when i hit the water my feet touched the bottom, I'm all for excitement, but that was a little too real for me.
The second day in Vang Vien was essentially much of the same, we started tubing around 11 and made it back around 6:30 thus losing 20K Kip from our deposit, for those that could still walk (from the alcohol not injury) i'm not sure they even noticed. We relaxed in the evening heading off to Bucket Bar where you could get about a pint of whiskey and coke in a bucket for 20K kip and sit in a hammock and people watch. A good end to a two hard days of floating down the river.
Day three we were packed and ready to get back to Thailand, James flight home is on the 23rd, and he still has friends that he travelled to Thailand their. One of the deals we made while trekking was that we were to be back in Pattaya by the 19th, and low and behold at 9:02 our taxi from Bangkok pulled into the hotel where we were going to stay!
One thing about Laos is that the natural beauty is everywhere, the mountains the rivers, the people. Not much commercialism their, its one of the few places (countries) to not have any major fast food chain, not even a KFC. Vang Vien wasn't really experiencing Laos though, as the towns people were probably outnumbered by tourist, you definitely saw more white faces than asian faces walking the streets at any given time of the day. I would go back to Laos, its very laid back, and very serene, a good place to go if you need to get your head on straight and work shit out. next time it will be for more than 3 days!
Next stop after Thailand is still to be determined, a trip to South Korea may be making its way back into the itenerary, which means that my trip will more than likely be extended by 2 weeks, to the middle of October. Aside from South Korea, its looking like New Zealand or Australia (which ever comes in Cheaper and its a dead heat right now), Brunei, probably a quick stopover in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore to get out to any of the places listed above, and then back to the Philippines to come home.
For those actually following this back home, this takes me to where I am currently at in my trip sitting in an Internet Cafe in Pattaya Thailand!!!
The purpose of going to Vang Vien was the tubing. What this involves as many can guess is floating down a river in an inflated innertube...the kicker is that their are 15 bars along the river that you can stop at as you go along, each complete with either a rope swing, or zip line that you can take out into the water. While tubing the first day (yes I went more than once) we ran into several English guys who liked to have a good time, they had brought with them several bottles of vodka and 16 bottles of red bull, the good times were a going!!! As the day went on the courage, albeit liquid, increased in many of the tubers whom where taking more and more risks on the swings. These swings were probably 30 feet above the water and at their pinnacle you were probably 40-50 feet above the water when you let go. I got brave on the first swing, made it to the top and nearly barfed from how high up I was....i did however try the zip line at the second bar, and decided that that was my adventure on the swings and lines for the tubing adventure as when i hit the water my feet touched the bottom, I'm all for excitement, but that was a little too real for me.
The second day in Vang Vien was essentially much of the same, we started tubing around 11 and made it back around 6:30 thus losing 20K Kip from our deposit, for those that could still walk (from the alcohol not injury) i'm not sure they even noticed. We relaxed in the evening heading off to Bucket Bar where you could get about a pint of whiskey and coke in a bucket for 20K kip and sit in a hammock and people watch. A good end to a two hard days of floating down the river.
Day three we were packed and ready to get back to Thailand, James flight home is on the 23rd, and he still has friends that he travelled to Thailand their. One of the deals we made while trekking was that we were to be back in Pattaya by the 19th, and low and behold at 9:02 our taxi from Bangkok pulled into the hotel where we were going to stay!
One thing about Laos is that the natural beauty is everywhere, the mountains the rivers, the people. Not much commercialism their, its one of the few places (countries) to not have any major fast food chain, not even a KFC. Vang Vien wasn't really experiencing Laos though, as the towns people were probably outnumbered by tourist, you definitely saw more white faces than asian faces walking the streets at any given time of the day. I would go back to Laos, its very laid back, and very serene, a good place to go if you need to get your head on straight and work shit out. next time it will be for more than 3 days!
Next stop after Thailand is still to be determined, a trip to South Korea may be making its way back into the itenerary, which means that my trip will more than likely be extended by 2 weeks, to the middle of October. Aside from South Korea, its looking like New Zealand or Australia (which ever comes in Cheaper and its a dead heat right now), Brunei, probably a quick stopover in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore to get out to any of the places listed above, and then back to the Philippines to come home.
For those actually following this back home, this takes me to where I am currently at in my trip sitting in an Internet Cafe in Pattaya Thailand!!!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Vietnam, Laos
Vietnam is a really fascinating place, in HCMC (Saigon) the people are extremely friendly and the food is excellent. Most of the restaurants serve food that is both Vietnamese, as well as that with a french twist. The local stands are primarily for noodles and they in and of themselves are very tasty. I also noticed that sandwiches are a huge hit, especially on a 12 inch baguette.
Visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, it became very apparent some of the atrocities mentioned during the fighting their. Our tour guide, while speaking decent english, lacked a considerably when it comes to couth. Part of the tour of the tunnels was a display on the different tactics the VC used while fighting, including the many different traps used to maim, and or kill the US soldiers. Our guide actually made the comment when referring to one of the traps that it was his favorite.
After the tunnels we headed back to the hotel to make sure our bags were safe and see any of the parts of the city that the three of us wanted to prior to departing at 7. The bus at seven was a first for all of us, we were taking a sleeper bus to Na Trang, a beach community about 10 hours up the coast. The bus would arrive their at around 6AM. The bus was cool, it was laid out with three rows , Beds. Each person to themselves, their was a small shelf to store anything one might need through the journey, as well as space where your feet went to hide your travel bag out of site. When the bus arrived we decided to take a walk directly to the beach. James is a huge surfing fan, and had heard that their were decent waves in this part of Vietnam. The sea was really still, so we didn't have any surfing conditions, we decided to head back to the city to have breakfast, and then plan out the day, and figure out where we had to go to next to get me to the Border by the 15th, and Gustaf to Hanoi for his flight on the 16th.
Our travel agent in Saigon, Merina, a very attractive and educated Vietnamese American, had an office in Na Trang that we camped out it to store our bags and whatnot. We booked our travel to Hue, the next stop on our journey north before we seperated for James and I to head to the border and Gustaf to head to Hanoi. After sorting out our travel plans our next site to visit was the beach, we all were somewhat exhaused from the travel, and decided a relaxing afternoon at the ocean was just what we needed, we opted for some cabana's near a swanky hotel that cost us 25000 VND (1:16,652), and played in the ocean for several hours. Our bus to Hue wasn't leaving until 6 so we had time to spare and unwind. Hue is the gateway for one of two border towns, Vinh being the other, with Laos. Both borders do Visa on Arrival, I had my visa for Laos, James did not, therefore those two border crossings were our only options unless we were to fly. The Sleeper bus to Hue was for 14 hours, absolutely horrible, the beds however were confortable, so we didn't much complain, i just didn't sleep at all so that made for a horrible day in Hue. We arrivd in Hue without incident and decided to try to find travel arrangements as soon as possible. The hotel where the bus had dropped us off at had a travel agent, being that we all were cranky, tired, and just not in the mood to search out a deal to save us a dollar or two we opted to make the arrangements with the hotel we were standing in front of. The arrangements we made were for Gustaf to take a bus to Hanoi, and for James and I to take a bus to the Laos border via Vinh. We had to travel that route as that was the only way we were going to get a bus to Vientiene Laos. the bus would travel from 5 until just after midnight, when we would arrive in Vinh, change buses for the border and arrive at the border aroun 3AM. From the border we would travel to Vientiene and arrive their around 4 PM. This was to be the worst bus experience we would have. While in Hue we decided to see the sights, we hired three (one for each) pedi cabs to give us a tour of the city, this took approximately one hour and cost us 50K Dong a piece (less than 4 dollars). When the bus arrived we were presented with the awkward presence of our group splitting up. Gustaf was booked on a different bus, and we would not be seperating in Vinh, but at that moment.
The bus from Hue to Vinh was a sleeper. Upon arriving in Vinh, an italian gentlemen was woken and told rather abrubtly (pigeon english) that his stop was here and he was to get off. What wasn't communicated is that this stop was also for James and I to switch buses. We determined that the bus was not in Vinh but just south, so the Italian got back on the bus (which he should not have) and a lot of confusion ensued to the point of if James and I were to switch buses their. He and I had gotten off the bus simply to smoke a cigarette, if not we would have never gotten off the bus. It was finally determined that James and I should have switched buses, and that the bus we were to get on was not pulling out of the stop and beginning to head down the road. A couple of loud whistles from James and many people yelling got the bus to stop and back us so that we could get on it. This was a sitting bus, so it was quite uncomfortable as the back seat and several other seats were being occupied by the bus staff and not available to PAYING CUSTOMERS. This bus crew turned out to be the rudest and most disrespecting bunh we had come accross on all the buses we had taken on this leg of the journey.
The border crossing with Vietnm and Laos also proved to be an adventure, as with entering Vietnam, all the passports were collected and taken to the immigration officer, after they were stamped however the bribes came into play. Each person was reqiured to pay 20K Dong, or 1 USD to retrieve their passport, what a load of crap, and to top things off, as the passports were stamped and cleared mine had somehow been set aside as the the only American on the bus. That really pissed me off, after having not slept for a day, told I had to pay to get my passport back, not for the stamp, as all the passports were already stamped, and the rude bus drivers I was close to cracking. I Paid the money for my passport and they handed it over after me having to ask and point to my passport three times, not sure the game they were up to but it wasn't funny from my end. After walking about a 1/2 mile to the Laos border the fun began again. James did not have any photos left for his visa, and did i mention the border crossing is at the top of a mountain pass, the scenery was simply breathtaking. We arrive at the Laos immigration and James finds out he can simply pay a dollar for not having pictures or 2 dollars for the pictions, I'm sure the choice is obvious for what he did. After he cleared immigration i went through, the ass behind the immigration counter attempted to charge me for my visa again, then the daft cow takes my passport to the cashier window to confirm the giant red PAID stamp and leaves it there, when he comes back i asked where my passport was and pointed to the cashier, i about flipped, so i went and got my passport and finally he understood that my visa was procurred prior to arrival and that he needed to stamp my frickin passport, which he did and was able to walk from their to the bus where the driver felt the need to stand behind me shouting GO GO GO, at this point i had about had it, if I was someone else, i probably would have thrown the cocksucker through the winshield.
all right for now, next up tubing in Vien Viang!!!
Visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, it became very apparent some of the atrocities mentioned during the fighting their. Our tour guide, while speaking decent english, lacked a considerably when it comes to couth. Part of the tour of the tunnels was a display on the different tactics the VC used while fighting, including the many different traps used to maim, and or kill the US soldiers. Our guide actually made the comment when referring to one of the traps that it was his favorite.
After the tunnels we headed back to the hotel to make sure our bags were safe and see any of the parts of the city that the three of us wanted to prior to departing at 7. The bus at seven was a first for all of us, we were taking a sleeper bus to Na Trang, a beach community about 10 hours up the coast. The bus would arrive their at around 6AM. The bus was cool, it was laid out with three rows , Beds. Each person to themselves, their was a small shelf to store anything one might need through the journey, as well as space where your feet went to hide your travel bag out of site. When the bus arrived we decided to take a walk directly to the beach. James is a huge surfing fan, and had heard that their were decent waves in this part of Vietnam. The sea was really still, so we didn't have any surfing conditions, we decided to head back to the city to have breakfast, and then plan out the day, and figure out where we had to go to next to get me to the Border by the 15th, and Gustaf to Hanoi for his flight on the 16th.
Our travel agent in Saigon, Merina, a very attractive and educated Vietnamese American, had an office in Na Trang that we camped out it to store our bags and whatnot. We booked our travel to Hue, the next stop on our journey north before we seperated for James and I to head to the border and Gustaf to head to Hanoi. After sorting out our travel plans our next site to visit was the beach, we all were somewhat exhaused from the travel, and decided a relaxing afternoon at the ocean was just what we needed, we opted for some cabana's near a swanky hotel that cost us 25000 VND (1:16,652), and played in the ocean for several hours. Our bus to Hue wasn't leaving until 6 so we had time to spare and unwind. Hue is the gateway for one of two border towns, Vinh being the other, with Laos. Both borders do Visa on Arrival, I had my visa for Laos, James did not, therefore those two border crossings were our only options unless we were to fly. The Sleeper bus to Hue was for 14 hours, absolutely horrible, the beds however were confortable, so we didn't much complain, i just didn't sleep at all so that made for a horrible day in Hue. We arrivd in Hue without incident and decided to try to find travel arrangements as soon as possible. The hotel where the bus had dropped us off at had a travel agent, being that we all were cranky, tired, and just not in the mood to search out a deal to save us a dollar or two we opted to make the arrangements with the hotel we were standing in front of. The arrangements we made were for Gustaf to take a bus to Hanoi, and for James and I to take a bus to the Laos border via Vinh. We had to travel that route as that was the only way we were going to get a bus to Vientiene Laos. the bus would travel from 5 until just after midnight, when we would arrive in Vinh, change buses for the border and arrive at the border aroun 3AM. From the border we would travel to Vientiene and arrive their around 4 PM. This was to be the worst bus experience we would have. While in Hue we decided to see the sights, we hired three (one for each) pedi cabs to give us a tour of the city, this took approximately one hour and cost us 50K Dong a piece (less than 4 dollars). When the bus arrived we were presented with the awkward presence of our group splitting up. Gustaf was booked on a different bus, and we would not be seperating in Vinh, but at that moment.
The bus from Hue to Vinh was a sleeper. Upon arriving in Vinh, an italian gentlemen was woken and told rather abrubtly (pigeon english) that his stop was here and he was to get off. What wasn't communicated is that this stop was also for James and I to switch buses. We determined that the bus was not in Vinh but just south, so the Italian got back on the bus (which he should not have) and a lot of confusion ensued to the point of if James and I were to switch buses their. He and I had gotten off the bus simply to smoke a cigarette, if not we would have never gotten off the bus. It was finally determined that James and I should have switched buses, and that the bus we were to get on was not pulling out of the stop and beginning to head down the road. A couple of loud whistles from James and many people yelling got the bus to stop and back us so that we could get on it. This was a sitting bus, so it was quite uncomfortable as the back seat and several other seats were being occupied by the bus staff and not available to PAYING CUSTOMERS. This bus crew turned out to be the rudest and most disrespecting bunh we had come accross on all the buses we had taken on this leg of the journey.
The border crossing with Vietnm and Laos also proved to be an adventure, as with entering Vietnam, all the passports were collected and taken to the immigration officer, after they were stamped however the bribes came into play. Each person was reqiured to pay 20K Dong, or 1 USD to retrieve their passport, what a load of crap, and to top things off, as the passports were stamped and cleared mine had somehow been set aside as the the only American on the bus. That really pissed me off, after having not slept for a day, told I had to pay to get my passport back, not for the stamp, as all the passports were already stamped, and the rude bus drivers I was close to cracking. I Paid the money for my passport and they handed it over after me having to ask and point to my passport three times, not sure the game they were up to but it wasn't funny from my end. After walking about a 1/2 mile to the Laos border the fun began again. James did not have any photos left for his visa, and did i mention the border crossing is at the top of a mountain pass, the scenery was simply breathtaking. We arrive at the Laos immigration and James finds out he can simply pay a dollar for not having pictures or 2 dollars for the pictions, I'm sure the choice is obvious for what he did. After he cleared immigration i went through, the ass behind the immigration counter attempted to charge me for my visa again, then the daft cow takes my passport to the cashier window to confirm the giant red PAID stamp and leaves it there, when he comes back i asked where my passport was and pointed to the cashier, i about flipped, so i went and got my passport and finally he understood that my visa was procurred prior to arrival and that he needed to stamp my frickin passport, which he did and was able to walk from their to the bus where the driver felt the need to stand behind me shouting GO GO GO, at this point i had about had it, if I was someone else, i probably would have thrown the cocksucker through the winshield.
all right for now, next up tubing in Vien Viang!!!
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