2016

I knew this Christmas break was going to be one of my hardest ever.  I found the last few weeks in Dhaka extremely stressful; a little due to the job but mainly dealing with my emotions with Stella's birthday and the upcoming break.
My choices were to be with family and friends or to travel alone.  I chose the second.

Lao was demanding to travel in alone.  The local people are lovely.  Humble and unassuming.  But where I was travelling, in the south, English is not well spoken.  At times it was difficult to order a meal at restaurant.  Once I had to walk through the kitchen pointing at the food available so I could get something.  Even my imitation of a chicken did not get any understanding but did cause immense hilarity.  No English menu and absolutely none spoken.  I love those challenges of travel.  But it made communicating difficult.

There is also little infrastructure for travel.  I enjoy watching sport but there was no opportunity for doing this.  It is one of the few places I have been where people don't gather around in a bar to watch a football match.  This is one of the social events that I have often enjoyed when travelling.  But in the parts of Lao I was in it did not exist.  Where I was travelling is very much on the back packer trail.  But there were not a lot of them.  Surprisingly there were very few people from English speaking countries.  Most were French, Swiss and German.  I did not meet one other solo traveler - again a surprise.  I find in Thailand and now in Cambodia it is very easy to meet other single travelers but in Lao everyone seems to travel as a couple or in small groups.

So Lao was a challenge.  Enjoyable and humbling.  My decision to travel alone would mean that I would not need to worry about how my emotions would effect others.  I could be with myself and enjoy whatever that may bring.  It was a decision I made based on a positive view of my future.  A post on Facebook (you know those usually inane links) about 6 months back, was a catalyst for this 'selfish' positiveness. Here is the post.  I have these 5 things written down and read them often.  It has become a bit of a mantra.

Arriving overland into Cambodia was unusual.  The $30 visa 'increases' to $40 at this border.  Five dollars extra to the visa officer, $2 to get your exit stamp from Lao, $2 for a health check and $1 to get your passport carried through immigration.  The bus journey was long with few breaks.  The one meal stop in the 12 hour journey was at a dirty roadside stall.  The food had been sitting around all day.  I did have some chicken soup as it was 7 hours since breakfast.  Bad decision.  I rarely get sick travelling but this chicken soup was not the best.  So my last two days of 2015 were spent with many visits to the toilet.

In Cambodia it has been great to spend time with two wonderful colleagues from Dhaka.  We saw New Year in at Sharkys bar.  This is a very famous place in Cambodia.  Been around for ever and it is my second time there.  It is actually a bit of a dive.  Drunk, over weight expats being gross is not a good look.  But the music was good, the beer cheap and the company great.

As I write this it is now New Years Day.  I said to someone that 2016 could not be as bad as 2015. In some ways it was a remarkable year.  I went to Australia, New Zealand, England, Italy, Spain, France, Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and of course Bangladesh.  An epic year of travel. I met wonderful new friends (except for Jonathon).  I have a great place to work.

But it has been a challenge.  So I reflect forward to 2016 with much hope.  I am in the process of making my goals for the year as I always do.  One thing I do know is that it will not be like 2015!

Bangkok to Pakse

There are many ways to get from Thailand to Laos.  The quickest is by plane and the next fastest is by bus.  The slowest is by train.  So it is train for me.  My desire is to travel to Pakse the second biggest city in Lao and the entrance to the south.  A place where few travel.

The overnight sleeper train to Ubon Ratchathani leaves Bangkok at 8.30pm.  It is a long train with several sleeper classes and non-sleeper classes.  My class was second class sleeper which is an air-conditioned class with a sleeper bed.

My ticket said car 10, seat 15.  The first car was 16, the next 15, then 14, then 13 and the next was labelled car 10.  So after finding car 10, I moved into seat 15.  However I was told after a few minutes that it was in fact car 12 even though it had 10 on the outside board. 

Well where was car 10?  Well they had forgot to connect it and were getting it attached now.  It was 10 minutes to leaving time.  So a few bumps (as the car was connected) later, car 10 was attached and the wonderful conductor carried my bag to car 10 and showed me to my seat.  And the train left only two minutes late.

I then got a visit from the rail police.  Since the military government there are many more police and military at visible places.  So being one of the few Farang on the train, I was visited by the railway police and given a list of ‘Suggestions’.  I was also required to assure this rather officious man that I understood the suggestions.

The food lady arrived with a much nicer demeanour and I ordered option ‘F’.














I got very friendly service so there was no need to ring the number for ‘ungently’ service. 

The wonderful conductor came and made up my bed and then the option ‘F’ arrived.

The food was wonderful.  Chicken, pork, shrimp, squid lightly boiled on a salad base.  With a wonderful spicy, salty, lime sauce.  I was always avoid that rule about not eating salad.  Thai salads are so fresh and tasty.

Unfortunately the new military government has banned alcohol on trains.  It used to be wonderful to have a Singha with your dinner.

Then it was bed time.  I find sleeping on trains wonderful as they rock you to sleep and surprisingly quiet.  Everyone sleeps and there is very little talk.

A visit to the toilet is interesting.  The toilet goes straight onto the rails.  Reminder to self ‘Never walk under a railway overbridge in Thailand.’  Just in case someone is relieving themselves at that time.

Ubon with taxi driver approaching

In the morning coffee arrives and the train arrives at Ubon Rathchathani right on time at 7.30am.  Of course being the only Farang disembarking, I am immediately approached regarding if I need a taxi.  No need to search for one here. 

I decide to go straight to the border as the price quoted is exactly what is suggested on the internet.  I am dropped at Chong Mek immigration centre and pointed on the way.  No dramas and I walk in to Lao.

Again approached by a taxi driver who leads through Lao immigration and for the sum of $US30 and a myriad of forms I have my Lao visa. 

And then it is 30 minutes to Pakse and arrive at 10 am for coffee. 

A very pleasant way to travel, no dramas, no queues, no security checks.  Just pleasant friendly people (except for the railway policeman) and no hassles.  Beats plane travel any day.

Time to reflect

It is obviously the time of the year when people reflect on their year (even Facebook is now into it) so why not.

It has been a challenging year!  So when Christmas break came along; there was a need to consider what to do.  I had many offers of friendship and places to go, but knowing that it was going to be a difficult few weeks (first Christmas alone!), I decided to go around South East Asia again where I feel very comfortable and the beer is cold and cheap.

So in my first few days lying on a beach I started to consider my year or at least the second half of it.  The space and time were important.  The beer and food also significant.

When I headed off to return to Bangladesh in July, I was not sure if it was the right move.  I wrote 6 goals I wanted to achieve before Xmas.  I have progressed on all of these so for that I am pleased.  Some more so than others.  

One major goal was surviving on my own.  The dream of spending time travelling with a very significant other was my reason for being in Bangladesh.  With Stella's death, I have struggled to think of a good reason for staying.  But staying I am and have signed on for another year.

So the first part of my reflection is why am I staying in Dhaka.  I think it is around the security of friendships and the familiarity of the place.  I don't really want to pack up and move countries.  I also have a sense of obligation to the school for the incredible way they have supported me - they don't feel I owe them anything!  

It is not Dhaka!  I still find Dhaka fun at times when I have the time and energy or do something strange, like riding my bike home at 3 am after to much to drink.  Thanks Ian.  But the wearying demands of the chaos and traffic are no longer fun.  So Dhaka to me is now officially a dump!  

So it is very much around the people!  The students at the school - they are so much fun; the foreign staff are extremely social to the point of excess; and the wonderful Bangladeshi people I really like.  It makes me consider an ancient Maori proverb;

He aha te mea nui? He tangata He tangata. He tangata.

What is the most important thing? It is the people. It is the people. It is people.

Keeping in contact with people and and meeting new people was my first goal.

The second goal was around my teaching.  The school I am at has wonderful staff to work with and great students.  But it is neither progressive in its approach to teaching and learning, nor does it demand academic success from its students.  Both of these are important to me.  There is change occurring but it can feel a bit straitjacketed.  A school with no thinking skills programme, no literacy programme, no extended investigations in science, no curriculum integration, limited data logging, a curriculum overloaded with content, and inflexible learning spaces based on the 'Principles of Scientific Management' which would make Frederick Winslow Taylor feel very proud. 

But it is a good place to teach.

• Students are keen and responsive.  In my end of term feedback from my students they said they liked the different experiences they had in my class.  (They also said they couldn't understand my accent - first time I have had that!)  
• The management is flexible and approachable.  Now that I have grounded myself again, I have been given a role mentoring new teachers.  Thanks to Michael, Christoph and Dennis for being guinea pigs.  Three wonderful first year teachers.  In January a training programme for Bengali teachers - I am feeling slightly challenged on that one.
• Opportunities galore.  I have also worked at mentoring students at risk in Year 11, introducing investigations into science, ripping content out of the Year 9 and 10, decreasing the amount of assessment, and ordered a some data logging stuff (hope the boss approves this - please read Kim!)

So two goals in here.  One on my teaching and the other on the teacher support programme.

Fourth goal is around photography.  Ran a photography club at school, got some new gear, did photography walks around town and a few other things.  So overall pretty ok with this one as well.

So with the new start to my life from June things are pretty good.  It is lonely at times especially at three in the morning but I am in a much better state that expected.  To all you others reflecting people have a good holiday time.

Fuck Cancer

As most of you know my wife recently passed away due to melanoma.  Having now being effected by cancer makes one view life differently.

I have two wonderful teaching colleagues, one in New Zealand, and one here in Bangladesh, who have had breast cancer.  They are both strong, inspirational women and great friends who have at present won their struggle with cancer.  They both have loving people around them and have been people who have been wonderfully supportive to me.  But from talking to them and reading their writings I know how their perspective on life has altered because of the impact of cancer.

Last weekend another person I know passed away from cancer.  I did not know him that well.  He was a parent of children from my school in New Zealand.  He and his wife were very supportive to me and I meet them most Saturdays on the the side of the football (soccer) pitch.  As English immigrants they were pretty keen on football and their boys weren't half bad players.

But cancer struck and through the wonders of Facebook I became connected.  The strength and character of people around him says so much about him and his family.

The death of this person really hurt!  Why, because cancer draws you in!  It effects everyone!  Near and far away!  Close and distant.

This post has been hard to write but it needs to be said.

"FUCK CANCER"

South East Asia - some thoughts.

Since the middle of May, I have spent time in New Zealand and Australia and then holidayed in Thailand,  Cambodia and Vietnam before returning to my home in Bangladesh.  My feelings about my journey in New Zealand and Australia has been told elsewhere, so this posting is about the three countries I visited in South East Asia.

I had the most enjoyable time in these three places.  They are interesting places with diverse cultures.

A few chillies

Firstly the food!  It is all amazing.  The food from little stalls on the side of the road, food from basic shelters in country villages, and food from smart restaurants in big cities.  It is always cheap and a Tiger, Singha, Angkor or Saigon beer is always available.  Though wine was a bit harder to get and always expensive!

I broke all the rules!  I had ice in my drinks, ate uncooked vegetables, ate street food and had meals where the food safety rating in New Zealand would be a D.  I ate unknown meals on trains and buses.  I did suffer occasionally but the enjoyment of the food was well beyond that.

Secondly the people.  I have always found Thai people friendly and wonderful to be with.  I have not always found them easy to do business with.  A run in with an immigration official when leaving Thailand was humorous and showed their unwillingness to compromise and make sensible decisions.  Both the Cambodians and the Vietnamese people are friendly and courteous.  They bargain but do it in such a civilised friendly fashion.  Everything is so cheap that you realise you are bargaining for just a few cents.  I loved the way they accepted you into their social lives.  Even though they see westerners as affluent they were still wanting to give you a meal or buy you a drink.

I found the Cambodians more laid back and friendly than any group of people I have experienced.   You could imagine that they do nothing and the economy should be a mess.  But GDP growth is spectacular in Vietnam (6%) and Cambodia (7%).  The last time New Zealand's growth rate (presently 2.4%) was above either was in 1999.  The infrastructure in both countries is poor (especially Cambodia) but the ability of the people to work around that is wonderful.

Siem Reap

Mighty Mekong river

All three countries have terrible histories.  More so Vietnam and Cambodia.  Vietnam has fought wars against China, France and Vietnam in recent history and has won all three conflicts.  Is Ho Chi Minh the greatest leader the world has ever seen?  As well they freed Cambodia from the tyranny of Pol Pot.  But even with this incredible military history they appear to have little desire for expansion and appear willing to live within their borders.

Bones and cloth on a path

Cambodia has lived with a 'non-war' against the USA and the atrocities of the Pol Pot era about which I have previously written.  When one walks the streets there are very few people of my age..  Those in their fifties and older.  They have disappeared!  The median age in New Zealand is 37 years, in Vietnam it is 28.5, while in Cambodia it is 23.5 years.  In 1995 at the depths of the Pol Pot regime the average age was 17.4 years.  Thailand which was close to Vietnam and Cambodia in median age in 1980 is now close to New Zealand.

Flags in Vietnam village

Thailand is the only country in Asia which did not fall under a colonial imperialistic power in the time when Britain, France, Portugal, Spain and others were expanding their empires.  In the depths of the cold war they were surrounded by supposedly expansionist communist states.  Thailand has been the football of western diplomacy for years.  They have had (and are continuing to have) insurrections on their borders.  They have had spectacular growth at times and also real downturns.  While only 1% growth now, 2 years ago it was 6.5%).  A roller coaster ride.

Rural home

The cities in all three countries are bustling and dynamic but the poverty in the country side is extreme.  So with the turbulent histories these three countries have had and the poverty why are the people so amazing and welcoming, and why are the economies doing so well.  All three have the right to be bitter countries and angry at the people from the west who have contributed so much negatively to their countries.

There seems to be several indicators pointing to us why these countries are so wonderful;

Thai temple

1. Religion - These three countries are Buddhist.  Overwhelmingly so.  Thailand and Cambodia are considered to be close to the most religious countries in the world with well over 90% of the population being Buddhist.  A taxi driver in Bangkok will remove his hands from the steering wheel and give a simple prayer and 'wai' when passing a temple.  The peacefulness of this religion seems to have passed down to all the people.
2. China - The historical influence of Confucianism from China through immigration and invasion seems to have been a major influence.  The important Confucian tenets of family and social harmony, I have observed on numerous occasions and seems to be an unwritten rule of living.



Cambodian temple

3. Democracy - None of these countries are democratic.  Cambodia and Vietnam have one party socialist states while Thailand has a right-wing military dictatorship.  All of the three leaderships of each of the countries seem to have a genuine desire to lead their countries for the betterment of all.  (Some would disagree with this, but it is my view).  The leaderships control the elite (even in Thailand), manage multi-nationals, ensure a level of equity.  The Gini coefficient (a standard measure of equity) indicates a more equitable society in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand than New Zealand or Australia.

So these are great places to visit and my final thought is do we promote democracy to much?

Where do I come from?

I posted this quote on facebook a few days back as it struck very closely to where I see myself.  As most know I was born in New Zealand and lived there for 55 years.

A few years ago I moved to Australia and then on to Bangladesh teaching Physics at different secondary schools.In the last year I have visited Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Turkey, Italy, France, Spain and England.  An exceptional travel year made extraordinary but the illness of my wife.  (See earlier blogs if interested!)

I travel on a New Zealand passport but that is really the limit of any real association with that country, outside of my wonderful daughters, a few family members and some excellent friendships.  My money is invested in Australia, I work in Bangladesh and I feel most at ease in South East Asia.  I have excellent friendships in New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, England and other places as well (my disclaimer in case I missed you).  I am not involved in any electoral process and my only affiliations are with world wide organisations in education and community.

Yes, I do support the All Blacks when they play but I also support the Rabbitohs in the NRL and of course Chelsea in the English League.  I follow baseball a little and the Yankees benefit from a small amount of support.

Hence Krishnamurti quote above.  I don't particularly like Krishnamurti as a philosopher/guru.  When a philosopher becomes so self-absorbed he considers himself (or others do) a guru then it is time to look elsewhere.  I think it was Clive James who said "It takes a thousand followers to support one guru burbling on."  But this quote makes sense.  All of the nastiness in the world appears to come from people taking entrenched positions based around nationalism, xenophobia, or religion.  If those three were removed from the world it would be a much nicer place.

I have become interested in the growing movement of internationalism.  My fear of course is it has the potential to become an oppressive movement utilised by the elite to make capital from the poor (goodness me, I sound like Marx).  But the idea of nations working for the good of all humanity rather than just their own nation sounds wonderfully pure.

After all a New Zealander is not better than a Bangladeshi or a Cambodian just because he was born in New Zealand!

So my answer to where do I come from is now going to be "the third planet from the sun".

Cambodia

The Mekong

I have just spent 8 days in Cambodia and have loved it.  While I expected the majesty of Angkor Wat and the sadness of The Killing Fields both were more extreme than expected.
What I did not expect was the friendliness of the people, the value for money, the excitement of both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh and the constant delight of being on the street.  Cambodia is a third world country but having lived in Bangladesh (another third world country) the gulf between the two in the day to day (and night) is huge.

Firstly the amazing!

Monks at lunch

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is without doubt incredible and should be on everyone's bucket list.  I saw the first temple and thought that's pretty good.  But it was only a fraction of the whole temple complex.  It is immense and I understand why there are multi-day passes.  Away from the main areas there are some very peaceful and reflective areas with few people.  The Buddhist influence in the temple is obvious and in many parts it is still a living monastery.  There were monks doing blessings and monks having lunch.  Young monks playing games and a baptism of sorts taking place.  Especially away from the package tour group areas it is a very quiet and thoughtful place.  There are also very little signage and a lot of freedom of where you can go.  Can't imagine that in other countries.

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Other amazing places were the Buddhist temples with their amazing colour and statues.  The people were most welcoming and friendly into their space.  The Royal Palace in Phnom Penh is also an incredible place.  The National Museum also has wonderful examples of Khmer statues and has amazing figurines of Buddha.

Angkor, Anchor or Cambodia Beer

The food is also amazing though the insects and shellfish were a bit much but the local beer is good!

Lunch

Shell fish for eating

The really, really, sad!

The Killing Fields.  This has really affected me!  I have found the dichotomy between such wonderfully friendly people and the most horrific crimes hard to reconcile.  I have tried talking to some local Cambodians.  To them it is in the past.  Sad, but in the past.  None of them were born then.  It is difficult to meet older Cambodians but less than 40 years old they are easy to meet.  There seems to be  line drawn in history around that time.

The Killing Fields

I know the activities of the Khmer Rouge (Pol Pot) were affected by what was happening in the world and South East Asia at the time.  The carpet bombing by US forces produced disarray and disaffection at the time, the Maoist 'experiment' through the cultural revolution in China was seen as a powerful revolutionary and idealistic process, the internal anti-royalist view was dominant in many areas, the encroachment across borders by other nations fermenting nationalism.  All of these were significant!

But to kill a quarter of the population!

Liberation for the Cambodian people from the Pol Pot came from the the Vietnamese.  They seemed to have been very beneficent in their treatment of the Cambodians and were really liberators.  The western powers, including England, Australia, New Zealand, USA and most of Europe recognized Pol Pot as the legitimate rulers for several decades.  Even though the atrocities were known!

For Cambodia it still goes on!  There are trials happening now.  The present government has leaders who were part of the Khmer Rouge.

Buddha images are revered!

If the wonderful people of Cambodia can do this then it is possible anywhere.  We all need to think about protecting ourselves, society and the world from similar events.

Buddha at Angkor Wat

So Cambodia is weird!

• Beautiful people - friendly and fun loving!
• In eight days I never met a negative local person.
• They are so positive even though they have a tough life.
• Wonderful history
• Religiously powerful - nearly everyone is a Buddhist!

But!  Why, why, why!  The Killing Fields still haunt!

I have to come back to this place!

Mission for Kimi

The puppet

A few days back I got a request via facebook from one of the drama teachers at my school.  It went like this
"let me know if you can help me pick up a few lightweight shadow puppets for MYP theatre classes. I saw them last time we were there and thought I'd see them somewhere else on our trip and never did"
My only clues on this were that they were around 250 Baht only seen at Wat Arun and I got a picture sent to me.
Many people may have replied no with an expletive added.  But as y'all know when a Southern Belle requests you to do something the only correct response is "Yes Ma'am".
So my Mission was to travel across Bangkok in 35 degrees temperature with humidity approaching 3000% to get some damn puppets!  Oh I would get to visit Wat Arun as well.

Sky Train

Sky Train inside

So yesterday I journeyed to Wat Arun to find the puppets.  The journey was via two Sky Train journeys, a trip on the river and a ferry across the river.  The return was the same.
The Sky Train is an impressive way of travelling across central Bangkok.  The air conditioning is super cool and things always work well.  From the outside it looks perfect.  From the inside it can be a little crowded.




The boat journey was similar.  A pleasant journey up the Chao Phraya river with a breeze blowing to keep you cool sounds great.  Reality slightly different.

Only seat left

River barge

River boats

Hotel boat

The Chao Phraya river goes right through the centre of Bangkok and is a major transportation link.  There are multiple passenger boats, many riverside hotels have their own boats, small freight boats and huge barges being towed down river.  Accidents do happen!  An accident in 1995 was due to one of the floating piers becoming overloaded with people and sinking into the mud.  The amount of boat traffic is huge.

Monks at the temple

Main temple with scaffold

Wat Arun is impressive.  It is one of the major landmarks in Bangkok.  It has at various times been a Buddhist and Hindu temple.  But with Thailand being overwhelmingly Buddhist the temple is seen as one of the major Buddhist temples in Bangkok.  There are always monks present.  At present the temple is being restored, with the porcelain that has been damaged being replaced and the entire temple complex being painted by hand.  This I would imagine will take years.

Painting the temple

A spire

Buddha in Wat Arun

Detail of painting

Hence much of the temple complex was closed and scaffolding surrounded much of the temple including the central spire.  There are a number of souvenir shops where I presumed those puppets would be found.

The temple is very well cared for with immaculate gardens.  

Souvenir shops - Yay!

Maybe a wall hanging

So after going through the temples I went looking for the puppets.  So after going down rows of souvenir shops (oh the excitement!), I could not locate any puppets.
 I even tried to ask someone which brought out the wonderful Thai smile of bemusement.  I found all those expected souvenir things but no puppets.

A buddha?

Some of these maybe

Lunch

The kitchen

So completely defeated I traveled back across the river and sat at a roadside stall for lunch.  Lunch was chicken and galangal in coconut soup with steamed rice.  Cost 90 Baht.  Invoice coming your way, Kimi.

Boat ride back

 The journey in return was the same only with more people as both the river boats and Sky Train are transport for school children who were now out of school for the day!

Few Singha beers have tasted as nice!