Escape From LA

'Escape From LA' Has a New Home and a New Name!!

2011-10-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I have finally begun to take this blogging thing seriously and put some effort into making something of it. So, I've jazzed things up a bit, moved its home and crowned it with a new name.
You can find the new home at Chrissy Travels.
There is s sign up box on the site where you can get email messages whenever there is a new post.

Come read the latest posting: People Keep Asking Me To....Should I Kiss and Tell?

Thanks for all of the support here at my Blogger home. I am now the proud owner of a Wordpress blog.

Happy Travels!

The stats are in! The Best and Worst List of the Past Year Around the World

2011-09-22T03:37:00.000-07:00

The statistics are in. I have tallied the details from my travels the past 12 months.

Here are a few stats from August 2010 to August 2011:
20 countries
60 cities (not counting repeats)
85 cities (counting repeats)
12 currencies
38 planes
21 trains
10 boats
1 cruise ship

Itinerary and course of travel for the past year:

Leg 1 drive across the US beginning August 16th, 2010:
Los Angeles, California

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Lake Powell, Nevada

Bryce Canyon, Utah

Route 12 through Utah

Aspen, Colorado

Denver, Colorado

Des Moines, Iowa

Chicago, Illinois

Cincinnati, Ohio

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

New York, NY

Leg 2 European train tour:
Paris, France

Brussels, Belgium

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Cologne, Germany

Berlin, Germany

Prague, Czech Republic

Vienna, Austria

Budapest, Hungary

Milan, Italy

Venice, Italy

Rome, Italy

Naples, Italy

Pompeii, Italy

Assissi, Italy

Betona, Italy

Berlin, Germany

Paris, France

London, England

Back to US to repack:

Cincinnati, Ohio

Leg 3 South East Asia:
Singapore, Singapore

Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

Singapore, Singapore

Krabi, Thailand

Koh Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

Phuket, Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Singapore, Singapore

Leg 4 Middle East, The Mediterranean:
Dubai, UAE

Abu Dhabi, UAE

Sharjah, UAE

Los Angeles, California

Rome, Italy

Betona, Italy

Perugia, Italy

Cosenza, Calabria, Italy

Leg 5 Back to the US for the holidays:
Cincinnati, Ohio

Miami, Florida

Boca Raton, Florida

Del Ray Beach, Florida

West Palm Beach, Florida

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Leg 6 Spring, Middle East, N. Africa, Mediterranean:
Dubai, UAE

Sarasota, Florida

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Hamptons, Long Island

Cincinnati, Ohio

Marrakech, Morocco

Essaouira, Morocco

Madrid, Spain

Formentera, Spain

Ibiza, Spain

Los Angeles, California

Cincinnati, Ohio

Leg 7 Summer Mediterranean Tour:

Barcelona, Spain

Valletta, Malta

Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Naples, Italy

Pompeii, Italy

Sorrento, Italy

Positano and the Amalfi Coast, Italy

Rome, Italy

Pisa, Italy

Florence, Italy

Corsica, France

Ville Franche, France

Monaco, France

Barcelona, Spain

Sardinia, Italy

Rome, Italy

Athens, Greece

Mykonos, Greece

Delos, Greece

Mykonos, Greece

Finish:
Back to Cincinnati August 11th, 2011

The Best and Worst List of the Past Year:

Favorite countries:
Italy and Greece

Favorite cities:
Prague, Czech Republic; Mykonos, Greece; Siem Reap, Cambodia; Dubai, UAE; Barcelona, Spain

Favorite foods:
Dubai (Lebanese) kibbeh nayeh, any Southern Italian cuisine, Greek horta and tyropita

Least favorite food culturally:
Cambodian; Czech Republic, Dutch

Favorite drinks:
Moroccan tea and the ouzo cocktail "Plomari Splash" at Solymar restaurant, Kalo Livadi, Mykonos, Greece

Most bizarre drink:
Luwak poop coffee in Bali, Indonesia

Most fun had:
Dubai and Mykonos

Most eye opening experience:
Reading the book 'Somaly Mam' on my way to Cambodia then visiting the kids in the Cambodian school for orphans (see Siem Reap, Cambodia and The Smiling Mom )

Most peaceful time spent:
6 days at the Hostal La Savina in Formentera, Spain; 2 days in the Riad Mimouna in Essaouira, Morocco; any day I am in Mykonos, Greece

Most touching moments:
Receiving an email from Rodrigo, the waiter in Madrid (see A Special Encounter in Madrid ) ; looking into the eyes of the poor and begging children in Cambodia; having a romantic interest tell me the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" is what he thinks of me and standing in front of the site where a terrorist bomb ripped through a tourist cafe a week earlier in Marrakech.

Most terrifying experience:
Being harassed in German by a vagrant in the subway late at night in Berlin

Most beautiful spots:
Formentera, Spain; Mykonos, Greece; Phi Phi Islands, Thailand; The Amalfi Coast, Italy, Route 12 through central Utah, USA

Most beautiful water to swim:
Sardinia, Italy; Formentera, Spain; Mykonos, Greece

Favorite sightseeing spots:
Phi Phi Islands boat ride, the opulence in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the Gaudi architecture in Barcelona, the Kasbah in Marrakech and strolling along the city streets of Prague

Favorite cultures:
Greek, Italian and Moroccan

Least favorite culture:
German

Best beaches:
Formentera, Spain and Mykonos, Greece

Best bargain hunting shopping:
Any open air market in South East Asia

Best bargain for a hotel:
Hostal La Savina, Formentera, Spain; Sea Side Studios, Kalo Livadi, Mykonos, Greece

Cheapest places to visit:
Bali, Indonesia; Cambodia

Most expensive places to visit:
London, Paris, Madrid and Mykonos, Greece (during the month of August)

Best spot for singles:
Mykonos, Greece and Ibiza, Spain during the summer months

Worst place to be without a hotel room:
Amsterdam, Holland (see Amsterdam, Holland )

Place I liked the least:
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Most difficult place to maneuver without knowing the language:
Sardinia, Italy (and I even know a little Italian)

Most pleasurable language to listen to:
Italian

Most unpleasant language to listen to:
German

Most difficult place to learn your way around with or without a map:
Palermo, Sicily

Best public transport system:
Barcelona

Number of countable romances this past year:
5

Number of opportunities for more romances:
Countless

Amount of money spent:
I don't want to think about it, but not as much as you may think

Value of the experiences had and people I have met:
Priceless

Mykonos, Greece

2011-08-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

The town of Mykonos

My island ride

Let me take you on a tour of the island I have fallen in love with.......

A church in the center of town. One of 365 on the island. One for each day of the year.

One of my favorite spots, Little Venice

The famous windmills

Platis Yialos beach

Elia beach

Kalo Livadi beach where I stayed most of my stay.

The view from my villa

Capari beach

The Emerald water

The water taxi headed to Paradise Beach

Headed out to Agio Sostis

Agio Sostis

Sunset at Little Venice

Dusk

An authentic home cooked Greek meal

Horta! One of my favorite traditional Greek foods

Full moon party at the Santa Marina Hotel

I'll bet this guy was a whole lot of fun last night

Happy to have some American company

My three favorite Bulgarians

Dancing the night away

How she walked on the cobblestone roads with these shoes, I'll never understand

A day at Kalo Livadi beach with my friends from Los Angeles

The dancing on the tables begins at Solymar

But, he's not impressed

A day at Psarou beach and the famous Nammos restaurant. This is Nammos before lunch....

Nammos during lunch

Nammos after lunch

I have finished traveling for one year and I have ended in the place I wish to stay for a while......Greece!

Athens, Greece and the Week of Anti- Austerity

2011-07-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

I took the ferry ride from Sardinia to the Civitavecchia port, caught the first train into Rome and headed to the airport to board my flight to Greece. I will be entering my 20^th country in the past 11 months and one I have only dreamed about.

I didn’t know much about Athens or anything about Greece for that matter. I did not do my homework. I just knew that it was a country full of rich history and overdosed with a plethora of islands. What those islands looked like, I didn’t know except for the blue topped white buildings you see in so many postcard type views.

I arrived in Athens late on a Friday night with an offer from a new friend to pick me up from the airport. I booked a hotel room a few subway stops away from town and knew as soon as we pulled up, I may have made a mistake. It was horrible. The room was a shoebox and the neighborhood had a lot to be desired. I am so tired by now of handling the bookings while on the road. You could never imagine how much work it is to do the research, to find the right place, in the right part of town, for the right price when you don’t know anything about the city you are going to.

I had a friend from the States arriving on Saturday. She was enjoying an island hopping cruise with her boyfriend and another couple We coordinated the timing of our arrivals. I couldn’t wait! I was so excited to have an American friend in Athens to enjoy the weekend with.

When I awoke Saturday morning and I was able to take a look around, I had decided to get online and find another hotel to book closer to town where my friends were staying. I found the journey into town from where I was not as simple as the hotel promised. I gathered my things and began to search for the nearest bus and was met with an insurmountable frustration at the hoops I had to jump to get a bus ticket. I decided to cave and call a cab.

Twenty minutes later, my bags and I were on our way only to be stopped just short of the city limits due to the police barricading all traffic from entering into the center of town. The Greeks were protesting in the city streets and no one was allowed in by car. The cab driver didn’t speak a lick of English. After a much aggravated attempt at severe body language, he opted to drop me off, bags and all, at the nearest subway stop. I would have to lug all of my luggage down to the subway and into the center of town to fend for myself. Thank God, the subway dropped me off right in front of the hotel where my friends were staying.

It was hot that day. Stuffy and brutal. We met up in the afternoon and began to plan our sightseeing adventures in and around Athens. They were staying at the 5 star Hotel Bretagne in the heart of Syntagma Square. Their balcony over looked the square and you could hear the protestors throughout the day and into the night chanting their call to Parliament to stop the austerity measures that were imminent to come down after the planned vote on Tuesday.

Their messages rang throughout the whole weekend not causing much trouble to us and our planned visits to the Acropolis and the Parthenon. It didn’t even interrupt our evening enjoying the symphony orchestra at the beautiful and ancient Odeon theater, but we were warned that come Tuesday, if the measures were passed in Parliament all hell would break loose. The city workers had planned to strike on Tuesday which would shut down the airports and stop any ferry traffic to the islands. I had better start making plans for a quick exit to the islands or at least get out of Athens before, for fear we may not be able to leave for days.

Athens is a city to see for two, maybe three days. You can see what you need to see in a short period, other than that, it’s really not worth staying unless you are somewhere on the coastline away form the city center.

My friends were scheduled to leave Tuesday morning just before the strike was about to take place. I decided to book a room on the outskirts of town close to the beach area and wait for the strike to lift. I really wanted to take a ferry over to the islands to get a feel for the geography. I wanted to watch as we pulled into each port.

Tuesday came and the strikes were in full effect. The city center turned into a quiet war zone. Marchers and chanters were calling on bull horns rants to be called back by the followers, (In Greek) “First you beat us, now you smile at us”. They screamed and danced and made as much noise as they could. It wasn’t until mid day on Tuesday when the vote had passed that the scene took a turn for the worse and became violent.

A war broke out that lasted several days. The streets had become a deadly place to walk and gas masks a necessity to survive. The people were uprising and riot police were called to arms. Buildings caught on fire as the crowds threw molotov cocktails into store windows and trash cans.

The 5 star hotel balcony where were my friends stayed just the night before had turned into an opportunity for news crew to set up impromptu studios overlooking the scene down below. It was chaos that I watched on CNN from my safely, removed hotel room by the beach. It lasted for three days before the fighting and citizens war began to settle.

I was ready to get out of this hell hole of a city. I felt for the Greek people. They held so much passion inside of them and wanted to have some control of their destiny that seemed to be slipping through their hands.

Although my time in Athens held a fun filled, sightseeing weekend with friends, the cities energy the last few days was draining. I couldn’t wait to get on that ferry. I booked the very first ferry leaving at 7 am when the strike lifted Friday morning. I had to be out the door and ready by 5 to make it to the port in time, but it was well worth it. I wanted on that boat and on that island….fast!

Happy to have met up with some American friends

My friend, Vanessa with the Acropoils in the background

The Evznoes changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier

The Parliament

The Odeon theater

We saw the Philharmonic Orchestra of La Scala, Milan

Overlooking the Odeon theater

The Parthenon

Acropolis

Sardinia, Italy

2011-06-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

My friend, Elizabeth, was there at the same time.

Her hubby and bambino

Barcelona, Spain

2011-06-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

It was all about Gaudi for me in Barcelona. From the first building I saw of his, I was hooked and began to search for more of his creations. What an amazing creator and innovator.

Casa Batilo

The rooftop at Casa Batilo

Park Guell

Le Segrada Familia

Inside Le Segrada Familia

By a friends suggestion, I stopped and had the best paella and natural clams.

I've never seen clams in this shape of a shell before.

Villefranche and Monaco, France

2011-06-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

The sweet port of Villefranche, France

Headed to Monaco

Monaco

Dipping our feet into the Mediterranean for the first time.

You can't visit France and not have a taste of the crepes.

Corsica, France

2011-06-15T06:13:00.000-07:00

Arriving in the beautiful port in Corsica

The birthplace of Napoleon

Taking a ride along the coastline

Pisa and Florence, Italy

2011-06-14T01:40:00.000-07:00

Roma!

2011-06-13T01:27:00.000-07:00

As the saying goes, if you throw a coin in the fountain, you are sure to return to Rome. Looks like we will all be coming back.

Next stop......Pisa and Florence

Naples, Pompeii, Positano and Sorrento

2011-06-12T04:34:00.000-07:00

At the ruins of Pompeii

Headed for the Amalfi Coast

The beautiful Amalfi Coast

A road side stand had the best (and most expensive) Granita di Limone

The sweet town of Positano

Sorrento

Third time is a charm. We stopped at two of the locals favorite pizza joints only to find they were closed an Sundays. What we found was still good Napolitano pizza!

Leaving the Bay of Naples

Next stop....Roma!

Palermo, Sicily

2011-06-11T04:16:00.000-07:00

Arriving in Palermo

Jackpot! We found capers!!

In the fish market

It took us a long and difficult to walk to get to this restaurant, but it was a GREAT Sicilian meal.

Next stop.....Naples, Italy

10 Day Mediterranean Cruise With My Family....First Stop, Malta!

2011-06-10T12:56:00.000-07:00

Our home for the next 10 days

A sweet little fishing village

Getting ready to see the Blue Grotto. Somebody was not happy about the tiny little boat we had to get in to see it.

The Blue Grotto

Next stop.....Palermo, Sicily

Ibiza, Spain

2011-05-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

The Blu Marlin on Sunday

The first of the two Albertos that hosted my stay in Ibiza.

The two Albertos. Don't ask me what they were trying to accomplish in this photo.

Ibiza town

A cruise around the island

The boats in the harbor

Formentera, Spain

2011-05-22T07:21:00.000-07:00

Formentera was a last minute stop and a last minute decision on my way through Spain. It is a small island in the Balearic Sea just off the coast of Ibiza.

I am so glad I made the decision to stop there. It hosted the peace, quiet and solitude I was longing for. It gave a me a chance to do the writing I have been wanting to catch up on. I was able to write 30 pages in three days and set the wheels in motion for me to write a book. What happens to the book when I am finished is in God's hands.

Thank you, Formentera!

The view from my room

My work station

I wrote 30 pages in three days looking at this view. Not a bad office.

Nighttime at the hotel

Sunrise. I swear I didn't leave the hotel for three days. It is heaven here.

Pretty, pretty

I finally left the hotel today and took a bike ride around the island.

It was a bit overcast and rainy, but still beautiful.

The overcast clouds made for a pretty sky.

Walking towards Espalmador

The water here is like the water in the Caribbean

The following day had a clear sky full of sunshine. It made a big difference in the color of the water.

The beach I went today is Platja de Ses Illetes

The camera doesn't capture what the eye sees. I couldn't get enough of the water.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll actually take a picture of my face.

That is a shark in the water. Well, not a real one. They were shooting a movie.

I took a bike ride to the other side of the island and popped into this sweet little cove, Cala Soana.

And this is what I came home to.

Another beautiful end to a beautiful day in Formentera.

More of the same beauty at a different beach today.

My new Italian friends.

I will be sad to leave here tomorrow. It has been by far the most peaceful stop on the tour thus far.

A Special Encounter in Madrid

2011-05-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

During my journey around the world, I have met many people and have had many amazing experiences, but none more touching than while on a short walking tour of Madrid this past Saturday.

As I stumbled into a tapas bar across from the royal palace to rest my feet, a young waiter approached and began to describe the specials. He spoke in broken English, but enough to convey what I needed to know. He became curious about where I was from and why I was in Madrid. I told him briefly and nonchalantly of my travels around the world this past year and how I gave up my home, my car, my job and my life in the US. There was a look in his eyes that I could only describe as a quiet wonderment.

I paid my bill and headed out the door to where he followed me and insisted of knowing a way to contact me. He wanted to meet up for a coffee so he could hear more of my story. I declined, but instead gave him the address of my blog. Not thinking anything of the exchange or of the waiter, I continued on my way.

As I was walking out the door for the airport this morning, I received a phone call in my hotel room. It was Rodrigo, the waiter, desperately trying to explain his urgency in contacting me. I was in a rush and impatiently wanted to end the call so I passed along my email address. I spoke carefully to him of the shortness in time I had to spare and abruptly said goodbye. Again, not thinking anything of the exchange, I continued on my way.

As I boarded my plane for Ibiza, I received an email from Rodrigo. What he wrote touched me more than any one person has along this journey. I was flattered and humbled that such a brief encounter could have had such a lasting impression. With this experience I am reminded of the innate ability we all have to inspire and affect those around us and possibly change their lives with just our stories.

Here is what Rodrigo wrote:

Hello & will be untill another

Chrissy,

Power would have stayed with you last night was great, when I met you at the restaurant and spoke to me about your story I felt something completely different, but rather something very brave,free & full of conviction.

After I have come to know a thousand things at his head, looking forward to go forward with my life, my desires, I saw something in you that would like that should endure as long as possible, I think it conveys something powerful, unique and gives me a go for good & cool things I always wanted to find.

If you ever want to share something with someone thinks of me, because I'll be waiting, I met you just changed a lot in me.

Scroll to the bottom of the greatness of the world, there are people who simply change your life. like you

A big hug

Rodrigo.

Essaouira, Morocco

2011-05-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

I am currently spending most of my down time trying to catch up on some personal writing so, unfortunately, I will not be spending a lot of time writing for the blog.

Here are some great pictures from my recent visit to Essaouira, Morocco.

My first night's sunset

The view from my hotel's rooftop

The view at breakfast

A beautiful storm rolled in

Company on the rooftop at breakfast

The best hotel room in town

A room with a view

Waves crashed just below my window

The sweet and colorful streets of Essaouira

Mint. It smelled so good.

In the medina

The ladies preparing argun nuts to make oil

The city at night

Rooftop view of the main square

Rainy night walking through the city streets

I helped to make some argon oil

The best tour guide in the whole world. He delivered the best two days I could have asked for.

Marrakech, Morocco and the BIG birthday!

2011-05-10T08:05:00.000-07:00

This post will be updated soon.

Birthday '11 started with Kamil as the host

The chefs that cooked us a 5 star meal of fresh lobster salad and veal wellington

The dining table

One of the many impressive corridors in the house

Birthday cake number 1

Birthday night number 2

Hosted by my sweet friends, Saad and Slim

Birthday cake number 2

The after party

In da club

This is how they serve Moroccan tea. It is the best tea I have ever had. I drank it every day.

Jam el Fna Square

The Argana cafe where the bombing happened a week earlier.

Street performers in the square.

Add caption

The poor guy who had to carry our luggage to the taxi. It's not every day you pass a mule on the street.

Food in the market

Birthday cake number 3 came from the hotel staff.

A Winter's Break

2011-04-28T05:31:00.000-07:00

From Christmas to mid February, I spent time with my family in Cincinnati helping to babysit my 11 year old niece. I hadn't decided where my next venture would be, so I took a short trip to Miami and stayed with a long time friend who was in desperate need of help. She was ill and had no idea. I was able to give her the guidance she needed and point her in the right direction in finding a proper doctor to give her a proper diagnosis. She was in bad shape, so I spent the next three weeks re-organizing her house that had been severely neglected.

This is the annual South Beach shot I get every year with friends in Miami. This year my friend, Vera stopped in town from LA for a visit along with her friend Paula from Brazil.

Once my job was done and I was able to see she was on the road to recovery, I was free to plan my next trip. As I said in an earlier post, Dubai is top of the list!

More fun in Dubai!

I went back to Dubai to visit my friend that hosted my previous stay. I spent 10 days reliving the fun and excitement I had experienced back in December. After Dubai, I flew back to Florida to meet up with my family in Sarasota for Spring break week. My mom, my sister, my two nieces, nephew and I spent the holiday week soaking up as much sun as possible.

It took all day, but they finally managed to bury her. One tiny handful at a time.

I then headed to the Hamptons for a quick weekend jaunt, back to Cincinnati for Easter then it was back to the chalkboard to begin to plan my BIG birthday coming up on May 7th.
The decision was finalized shortly thereafter........Marrakech, Morocco!

Dubai!

2010-12-14T16:19:00.000-08:00

I arrived close to midnight expecting to find my friend that would be hosting my stay fast asleep and unwilling to await my late arrival. A key was left for me to let myself in. I was pleasantly greeted at the front door by my friend and a glass of wine. It was now 1:00 and the next three hours would set the tone for the week ahead.

We stayed up drinking wine and laughing until 4 am. The kind of laughing that hurts your stomach. The kind that prevents you from saying your words in between the gulps of air supporting the laugh. The laughs continued night after night as we hit the town for dinner, drinks and a mirage of fun.

I spent the days sightseeing at places I have only read about for the last eight years. The Burj Al Arab which is a seven star hotel in the shape of a sailboat carefully placed in the ocean, The Burj Al Khalifa which is the tallest building in the world, the Dubai Mall that has an aquarium, a skating rink, a gold souk, and a fountain to make the Bellagio Hotel’s look like a lawn sprinkler, The Mall of the Emirates that has a ski slope built inside the mall and massive buildings that were newly built in shapes of architecture my eyes have never seen. I visited the Dubai museum, the old town, the gold souk and spice souk. I rode the Abra along the Dubai creek and watched the sunset fall behind a skyline built with oil rich hands. I took a desert safari into the Sharjah desert for a 4 wheel sand dune adventure. I rode a camel, did some sand boarding and visited a camel farm.

My friend and I took a day to drive to Abu Dhabi to try out the new Ferrari World theme park. They were, unfortunately, closed that day so, instead, we enjoyed a quiet lunch on the sidelines of the Yas F1 race track at The Yas Hotel. We visited another 7 star hotel, The Emirates Palace, that has its own gold vending machine all while my friend would tell me stories of the opulence and wealth that flows from the government and the rivalry that is apparent between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

It was the perfect ending to a perfect world tour. I would now have to fly back to Los Angeles to attend a court hearing where I will testify against a girl that robbed my storage unit a year ago. A trip I do not want to take, but is necessary.

Once I return to the US, I will take a short detour back to Italy to visit the city where my great Grandmother is from, then head back to Cincinnati for the holidays. I will resume my travels again in February where I will revisit some of my favorite spots. Dubai is top of the list!

I haven’t decided if I should continue the blog in the meantime. It takes up a lot of time and has prevented me from focusing on the writing I would like to do about many of the things that happened to me on a daily basis during the trip. Things I did not include in the blog. Stories best shared amongst girlfriends. All of the juicy gossip. The good stuff!!!

If there is interest, then maybe I’ll write more as I feel fit over the next few months. We will have to see where the road leads. Until next time.....

My favorite building

At the gold souk

Gold!

Riding the Abra

Back to Singers!

2010-12-08T05:56:00.000-08:00

The tour is winding down and I now have to start thinking about booking my return back to the States. I have one last destination after this weekend in Singapore....Dubai, and then it is back to the US for a short while.

Kelly and I spent a fairly quiet weekend in Singapore sleeping in, relaxing and a little bit of socializing. We dined on chili crab before she insisted on taking me to what is called, “The Four Floors of Whores”. A venue with basically four floors of whores. The first and second floor have nightclubs with lots of men and lots of Asian hookers. The third floor has pole dancing clubs with lots of, again, Asian hookers and the fourth floor has more pole dancing clubs with lots of Asian ladyboy hookers (trans genders). A must see while in Singapore. It was a night to remember.

We enjoyed a lazy Sunday and an errand filled Monday. I spent the whole day trying to figure out how to get 65 kg of luggage, souvenirs and shopping bags back to the States. The plane had a baggage allowance of only 20 kg for a checked in bag. It took me the whole day to finally decide on sending a box through the mail. I ended up sending 20 kg home, but it wasn’t cheap!

The next morning will mark the end of the South East Asia tour. I will be off to the middle East to a desert oasis filled with opulence and modern architecture. Gold suks and 7 star hotels. My last stop on a world wide tour. A stop I have imagined for years. I can’t wait to see what awaits me there.

Chili crab!! A must try while in Singapore

There is a building with a boat on top. Hmmm....why didn't we think of that?

We stopped here for a drink before going to the Four Floors of Whores

These are their Christmas lights. Purple everywhere.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam AKA Saigon

2010-12-05T03:29:00.000-08:00

How can you top Siem Reap? They were big shoes to fill for Ho Chi Minh. Unfortunately, Ho Chi Minh fell short. Kelly and I agreed not long after arriving that we desperately wanted to go back to Cambodia.

Ho Chi Minh (aka Saigon) is a dirty, smelly city filled with motorbikes. And I don’t mean a few. I mean millions of motorbikes.....everywhere. The streets, the sidewalks and everywhere in between. Their roads seemed lawless. No organization. No one obeys lights or pedestrians. It is each man to himself when on the road. When trying to walk across the street, we had to just think of it as playing Vietnam frogger. You just have to move into oncoming traffic a few steps forward, a few steps back, a few to the side and maybe a jump here or there and you will hopefully make it across, albeit, white knuckled.

We spent our first day at the war museum. When we were in Cambodia, we went to the museum on the last day. We felt, this time, we should go first so when we sight see we would know a little about what we were seeing. Well, this really wasn’t the place to teach us that. However, we were taught how Americans loved to kill women and babies and deform people with agent orange. We were shown how destructive and horrible the American soldiers were to the Vietnamese. There was no explanation in the museum of how the war started or even why. Just photo after photo of how horrible the Americans were to the Vietnamese.

We walked out of the museum confused and ashamed. We were approached by two sitlo drivers trying to sell us a ride. They asked where we were from. We looked at each other and I quickly replied, “We’re Canadians!”. They perked up and gave us a thumbs up. One driver said, “Canadians good!” Yes, that was us, two Americans walking out of the Vietnam war museum ashamed of our ignorance to what the war was really about and confused about why the Americans were so awful to these people.

I guess they didn’t really teach us much about the Vietnam war when we were in school or maybe I missed class that day. Whatever it was, we were in dire need of a briefing. Maybe a briefing from an American would balance the score.

We still tried to give Vietnam another chance at impressing us. Maybe a nice boat ride down the Saigon river would cure us of the ache the war museum left. It was a nice ride. We visited a temple and a man made, park like island that I really think was the only serene setting in the whole city. I was supported in that theory by the dozens of brides that were there having their wedding photos taken.

The next day we scheduled a tour of the Mekong Delta. A three hour bus ride would bring us a to a boat that would then bring us to different local village businesses. We visited a bee farm and a coconut candy factory. The best part of the tour was climbing on canoes for a row down the canals of the Mekong. The three hour bus ride there gave us a four hour tour where we then had to jump on another 3 hour boat ride back into Saigon. It was a long day of commuting for a short tour.

The boat ride back was enjoyable. It was a low lying covered long boat. During the ride, a massive thunder and lightening storm was rolling in. The skies turned black as we passed through moments of torrential downpours. I loved it. I have missed having weather so much living in LA with thunderstorms being top of the list.

It poured down rain the rest of the night and part of the next day as we headed to the airport for our flight back to Singapore. It would be when we arrived in Singapore that I would find out that the jewelry case I packed into the side zipper pocket of my luggage was gone and conveniently found its way into the hands of an airline employee.

Sorry, Ho Chi Minh, I do not think I will be coming back :((

Motorbikes everywhere

Kelly on the sitlo

Our sitlo tour

Rolling down the Saigon river

Lighting a wish lantern at a temple

Inside the temple

The pretty park we stopped at for lunch

Walking across the monkey bridge in the park

A leather store. Had to snap a pic. They pronounce it Chin-Chin-Naaateee....Italian. I found it funny.

Such a sweet face

Canoeing down the canals of the Mekong Delta

A water buffalo....in the water. Imagine that!

Lunch

Kelly and the water buffalo

A bike ride through a village on the Mekong Delta

Something you don't see everyday

Rolling back down the Mekong towards Saigon

I was in a pharmacy and this old lady was standing next to me. She kept grabbing my boob. She did it three times!

The Ben Thanh market

Siem Reap, Cambodia and The Smiling Mom

2010-11-30T06:40:00.000-08:00

I didn’t know what to expect when arriving in Cambodia. It was already nighttime as evident by the swarm of mosquitos, crickets and other bugs awaiting outside the arrival door at the baggage claim. A few jumped right down my shirt as I exited. I was taken back and a little nervous as I am whenever arriving in a new country. It is a new language, a new culture and this time a real third world country.

Kelly arrived the next morning and greeted me at breakfast. We began to plan our day of sightseeing. Our first day here we would visit the much anticipated Angkor Wat temples. This is the sole reason millions of people come to visit Cambodia each year. They are numerous grand temples that were built in the 12th century and then abandoned for many years only to be rediscovered in the 1800’s. It was then that they were again opened to the public. It has only been in the last 20 years since the end of a destructive regime and war that people have come back and filled the streets of Angkor Wat with tourists.

We hopped on our tuk tuk equipped with our own personal driver (costing us a mere $15 for the whole day) and began the beautiful drive through the forest on dirt and gravel roads all while our open aired ride allowed for us to feel a warm breeze cooling the otherwise hot day. The temples were beautifully nestled deep in the forest giving way for the trees to overgrow for hundreds of years in and around each stone. Monks strolled in orange robes taking in the splendor and adding a pop of color to the otherwise dull palette of browns and grays in the temple landscape.

Small children greeted us at every turn. They were as small as 4, 5 and 6 trying desperately to sell us baubles and bracelets and postcards. They would even stand in line and sing for us in the hopes of one American dollar.

It seemed that everything here was a dollar. They love the American dollar. I’ve read that in Cambodia, many families live off of less than $4 a day. So when we pass through and hand them one, it could quite literally feed their whole family. I wanted to give each and every one of them a dollar and I tried. Kelly thought I was a fool and a sucker, but my heart went out to them. With as much as we Americans spend and consume and waste, what is a dollar to us? It could mean everything to them. I enjoyed every minute I had with the kids. The time I spent talking to them and looking into their sweet faces was worth far more than a hundred pennies. I gladly paid them for the sheer presence of brightening my day and handed over a simple one dollar bill.

The next day we took a tour out by Chong Khneas on the Tonle Sap lake. It is a remote area with a floating village and a floating school where many of the kids are orphans. We had our own longboat to take us around the lake to see how these people live. Again, we were met with loads of children and their parents begging for dollars. This time I came prepared. In the morning before heading out to the lake, we stopped at the bank. I exchanged $40 for 40 crisp American one dollar bills. We also stopped at the local school supply store and loaded up on books, pencils, rulers and pencil sharpeners to donate to the floating school. But I wanted to bring something else besides school supplies. Something directly for the kids. Something they could play with. Something I could pass out to them one by one.....and there they were. A pack of 100 balloons for, you guessed it, $1. Perfect!

I passed out the balloons to each of the kids. It gave me the chance to look into each and every one of their faces. They crowded around me waiting their turn to receive a balloon patiently. When they would get a little too excited, the school attendant would come by with a stick and smack them with it in an attempt to keep them in line. It about broke my heart. I hated being the culprit of their reprimand. I wanted to yell at the man and tell him to stop, take all of the kids by the hand and walk them out of there.

We left the school and continued our journey down the river. On the way back we had to pass the school again. This was where I received the biggest reward of the day. As we floated by, we could get a clear view inside the window of the classroom. As I looked in through the chain linked fence separating the classroom from the outside, I could see the kids blowing up the balloons. I could see them teasing each other with them. This filled my heart. It was the best part of the day for me.

Interacting with the kids in Siem Reap affected me more than any other place I have visited so far. I believe it was because, earlier in the week while at the Phuket airport, I picked up a book called Samaly Mam. It is a true story of a woman born and raised in Cambodia. She was orphaned as a toddler in the mid 70’s during the Pol Pot regime (there was a genocide going on of the Cambodian people during that time) and was taken in by a man that savagely beat her and held her as his slave at around the age of 8. He then sold her to pay off debts and she was repeatedly raped and beaten by the men he sold her to. She was sold to a man that would be her husband at 14 and again beaten and raped on a daily basis. After her husband didn’t return one day, she was then sold to a brothel where she was tortured, beaten and raped everyday. She tried to escape only to find the police were as savage as everyone else. They too beat and raped her repeatedly. She lived a hard life and has somehow found her way out of it. She has now built the Somaly Mam Foundation that rescues little girls from brothels. Little girls as young as 5, 6 and 7 that are sold for their virginity. She has, to date, rescued over 6,000 little girls. I have since nicknamed her "The Smiling Mom".

Cambodia is a different world. They have seen war and torture and death and poverty in ways we, Americans, will never know. We will never know what it is like to be hungry the way they do, what it is like to be beaten and raped and sold the way the young girls are there. The book set a tone for me. I read it just as I was arriving and during the visit. These things still go on there today. Their torturous history is recent history. The 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. There are still little girls being sold everyday into brothels.

I believe it was because of the book that Cambodia has found a very special place in my heart. I wish I had millions of dollars to spend so I could go back and rescue and support every single one of those little girls that are experiencing a living hell today. The little girls being sold for their virginity and being tortured daily. They have things done to them, you and I as Americans, could never even imagine.

I will come back to Cambodia one day and I am hoping it will be sooner rather than later. I am reaching out to different orphanages to see what kind of volunteer programs are available. I’m finding out what kinds of things are directly needed. I am hoping to return sometime next year to look into their sweet faces once again. Next time, I hope, I will be able to bring more than a few dollar bills from America. Who knows, maybe one little girl will find her way back to America with me one day. If I were ever to adopt, I need not look any further. I have found the place!

One of the trees growing through the stones

Getting a blessing at one of the temples

Monks at the Angkor Wat temple

Passing out $$

This is a typical gas stop

Some of the sweet faces we met along the way

He had a pet beetle on a leash

The kids singing for tips

Me and Kelly in our tuk tuk

A talented kid selling his drawings at one of the temples

Hangin with the monks

Stocking up on school supplies for the kids

This boy highjacked our boat to try and sell us drinks

The floating school

The frenzy over the balloons

Enjoying their sweet faces

More of the faces we met along the way

Passing out dollars

On our last day, we were invited to participate in a Cambodian wedding ceremony. I was helping to cut the hair of the bride and groom. Yes, everyone takes turns pretending to cut their hair. Don't ask me what it means.

Bangkok

2010-11-27T07:17:00.000-08:00

I have two days in Bangkok. A bustling, large city heavy with pollution. My friend, Mapi, keeps a place a few hours outside the city and happened to be there the same time as me. She came into the city and joined me for the two days. We strolled the night market full of knock offs, had an excellent Indian meal and laughed at all of the giggling Asian girls lined up at our hotel awaiting the Korean superstar boy band called “2pm” that were staying there. It seemed every single time Mapi and I were in the lobby, the groupies were lined up and the band would make their exit to clads of screaming girls. It became humorous.

Eating great Indian food

A food vendor in Chinatown

Sleeping Buddha

We did a bit of sightseeing the next day at the sleeping Buddha, took a ferry boat down the river and strolled the massive malls in the city center. We took in the view at the sky bar a top the Tower Hotel and called it a night.

Our last day there, we made our way to the Chatuchak market. A massive flea market that goes for what seemed to be miles. After haggling and bargaining I was able to secure 2 bikinis for $4.50 each. That is my kind of shopping.

That’s all we had time for in Bangkok. It was already time to catch my next flight out to Siem Reap, Cambodia. I had no idea when I left Bangkok what was in store for me in Siem Reap. The next stop on the tour could quite literally be a defining moment in my life where I may one day say, “This is where my life changed”.

Ping Pong Phuket

2010-11-24T13:56:00.000-08:00

We took the 2 hour ferry ride over to Phuket for our last two nights together as a group. We stayed in the quiet yet bustling town of Surin beach. It is a small beach nestled on the North West coast of Phuket far enough away from the over crowded Patong, Karon and Kata beaches in the Southern end. We all enjoyed 8$ massages on the beach before getting ready for our night out on the town in Patong. We were briefed on what to expect there, but no one could prepare us enough for what we were about to see that night.

Patong is in the heart of Phuket in what we would call the red light district. It’s very run down and full of street vendors peddling their knock off goods. Very often, the electricity goes out as it did this night on one side of the street. Their electrical line organization has a lot to be desired.

We ventured down the main drag which is something like a poor mans version of Bourbon Street. Hookers, ladyboys, strippers and the legendary ping pong show. Let your mind wander as far as you can to imagine what kind of ping pong show you could possibly see on a street like this. No....let your mind go further into the deepest, sickest and most derelict of your imagination. Now think real hard about how ping pongs could make their way in the company of strippers and hookers. Still confused? Ok....I’ll give you a hint......the ping pongs are being tossed by women, but none are using their hands or their feet or even their mouths to toss them. Capice?? Ok, now that you have a more clear picture, substitute ping pongs for bananas, darts, whistles and even......(insert shock and awe expression)......birds and goldfish....4 goldfish to be exact. I can honestly say, I will never look at a birdcage the same way again.

Now that we had seen what the lovely center of Phuket had to offer, we felt a need to cleanse our souls the next day and take a tour of the beautiful Northeast coastline towards the limestone cliffs that erect high out of the water at James Bond island.

We took canoes through caverns, trekked through the forest on elephants and played coyly with miniature monkeys. Just what we needed to escape the aftershocks of the night before.

It was our last night as a group. The girls were scheduled to head back to Singapore the next morning and I decided to stay in Phuket for a few days to enjoy some peace, quiet and solitude.

I booked two nights in Karon beach, but after arriving I quickly realized it wasn’t what I was looking for. It was very crowded and quite a bit of a walk to the beach from the hotel I booked. I really just wanted a beautiful, quiet hotel somewhat secluded with direct beach access. Somewhere I could pamper myself and do nothing but sleep, read, write and relax.

Enter Dewa Phuket. A four star hotel located very near the Phuket airport with direct beach access and a full size swimming pool, an infinity pool, fitness center, spa, complimentary everything including a bicycle to hop around in and a staff that treated me as if I had reserved the Presidential suite. They upgraded me to a beautiful one bedroom apartment with a balcony, view, a beach bag, fruit basket and a fully equipped kitchen. I was in heaven. Exactly what I wanted and needed. I spent the next two days sleeping on the beach, writing, swimming and bicycling around town decompressing before I was to leave Phuket and head to the next destination, Bangkok.

Goodbye, Dewa Phuket for now. I hope to see you again one day.

PS- As I lay on my beach chair while at Dewa Phuket, I looked up and decided to take a picture of the scene before me. Just as I held the camera up and began to snap, a little boy ran into the frame. This is what I captured......