So thursday, Nov 18th, mornign at 5:00 I woke up, and was off to the dorval airport AGAIN. Not much to say about that other that the fact that the 30 hours to get from montreal to bangkok were TERRIBLE. Sitting and waiting around when you're exhausted just isn't too much fun.
Well I arrived in Bangkok Friday night at 11:45pm, met up with Derek (the guy I'm travelling with, incase you don't already know) and headed off to my guest house. I'm staying in this really nice cozy guest house called "Suk 11" you can have a look at it here
http://www.suk11.com
hmmm besides that nothign too exciting has happened. This is my 4th time to bangkok, I've already seen all the Wats (temples) and other attractions, so if you're not into hookers, buying suits, jewlery or watching "pingpong shows" (if you don't knwo what that is please don't ask) Bangkok really isn't all that too exciting.
So far I haven't done much other than eat deliciouse Thai food, and bum around. I had the pleasure of visitting a thai hospital here. I have never seen such efficient and good health care before. NOTHING compared to the shitty system we have back home. I got a test done here, that will take 3 days for them to gte me the results, as opposed to when I got them done back home where it took them TWO MONTHS!!!!!!!
I was also taken out to Sirocco http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/buildings/state/state.shtml, what they claim to be, the nicest restaurant in Bangkok, for my a late birthday celebration. MMMMMMMMMMM I had the best food I've ever eaten there, and the view was GORGEOUSE.
I went to a bar, but didn't really like it much because it was crawling with old men with either blue or brown polyester socks pulled up half way to their knee, with sandals and their young hookers. It's really a sad sight.
Due to the lack of anything else to do I went on a day long mission to find my favourite pancake lady and finally found a pancake man standing infront of my guest house, which made my day.
Tonight, I will be flying to Sri Lanka. Originally I was supposed to wait a few more weeks until I leave to go there, but there was no point staying here when I was goign to come back anyway.
I'm pretty excited because the culture in Sri Lanka is completely different (well as far as I know) then what I've experienced so far. Plus apperantly they have some very beautiful beaches.
I won't have access to the internet much in Sri Lanka, apperantly it's pretty hard to find a good connection, but I'll try to keep intouch!
I hope all is well in montreal, and it's not raining toooooo much!
Friday, November 26, 2004
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
my trip in general
Eventhough my last 2 posts seemed negative I had an AMAZING time in Cuba. I spent most my time, walkign along the beach, drinking all kinds of fancy drinks, swimming in the pool,and coming up with complicated routes to the beach to avoid the stalking Cuban men, well not all of them ;)
While I was there I really met a lot of interesting people,and learned a lot about the country. Before i went I had absolutly no clue about the place, then again I have a habit of doing that.
So it turns out the average person makes about 15 USD a MONTH in Cuba. And for some reason most things u buy in Cuba are in US dollars, not only in the resorts which really confuses me,from what i understood that is.
The money they earn isn't proportional to the cost of living there either. Things are actually rather expensive. Unlike in china,many people were making around 100-150$ a month,which was fine, you can live a decent life with that income there. I really don't know how some people survive there. hmmm theres a lot about cuba i still don't quite understand, it all seems so complicated.
Cuba also has 2 currencies. the Cuban peso which is 28=1 USD
and the Convertible Peso which is 1=1USD
this is what is replacing the american dollar,because as of nov 8 it is no longer allowed to be used.
things apperantly just keep getting more complicated there,i think.
One thing that really stood out about the people there,well besides their sexy accents, was how educated everybody was. In Cuba education is free,all the way upto university, and apperantly most people take advantage of this. I met some people whospokeperfect english, french, and german. Ignorance is something I rarely saw in these people. Generally I was really impressed by the average cuban i met,they seemed like very intelligent,sincere and down to earth people. Then again I was in a touristic area and didn't get to really experience cuba so i'm not really in a good position to judge.
Anyway I'm back home now,I have a great tan, a cigar,and a few litres of rhum and am stressing out because I leave for Thailand on Thursday. Everythig came so fast, it's hard to get everything done so quickly.....
While I was there I really met a lot of interesting people,and learned a lot about the country. Before i went I had absolutly no clue about the place, then again I have a habit of doing that.
So it turns out the average person makes about 15 USD a MONTH in Cuba. And for some reason most things u buy in Cuba are in US dollars, not only in the resorts which really confuses me,from what i understood that is.
The money they earn isn't proportional to the cost of living there either. Things are actually rather expensive. Unlike in china,many people were making around 100-150$ a month,which was fine, you can live a decent life with that income there. I really don't know how some people survive there. hmmm theres a lot about cuba i still don't quite understand, it all seems so complicated.
Cuba also has 2 currencies. the Cuban peso which is 28=1 USD
and the Convertible Peso which is 1=1USD
this is what is replacing the american dollar,because as of nov 8 it is no longer allowed to be used.
things apperantly just keep getting more complicated there,i think.
One thing that really stood out about the people there,well besides their sexy accents, was how educated everybody was. In Cuba education is free,all the way upto university, and apperantly most people take advantage of this. I met some people whospokeperfect english, french, and german. Ignorance is something I rarely saw in these people. Generally I was really impressed by the average cuban i met,they seemed like very intelligent,sincere and down to earth people. Then again I was in a touristic area and didn't get to really experience cuba so i'm not really in a good position to judge.
Anyway I'm back home now,I have a great tan, a cigar,and a few litres of rhum and am stressing out because I leave for Thailand on Thursday. Everythig came so fast, it's hard to get everything done so quickly.....
Thursday, November 11, 2004
My day as a cow
Today I had the oppertunity to experience what it felt like to be cattle. I was woken up at 7:30 in the morning, graised a little and was hearded onto a bus. I sat on this bus for 3 and a half houres, the destination was Trinidad,an old fashion city in south eastern cuba,or so i was told, i didn't actually really get to see it much. After the bus ride,we were hearded off to graise a bit more on an "international" buffet which consisted of nothing that might resemble authentic cuban food. After eating we headed to a big tall tower which really didn't have any significance or much history as far as i know, so we could take pictures to impress our friends back home with all the real cuban buildings we saw. Of course within this tourist trap we were bombarded by people trying to get money out of the tourists. Tourists hate when they do this, obviously, who wouldn't, but the thing is, it's the tourists fault in the first place that they do this.
I find that many people go to third world countries like cuba, feeling sorry for them due to the fact that they don't have all the luxiouries that we have. Which is true, they have nothign compared to what we have,but in my oponion this doesn't necessarily mean they're living a terribly misfortunate life, just different. They live much simpler,less materialistic lives. Hell if I had the choice to to work in a small hut by the beach and live a stress free life for just a few dollars a day as opposed to a fast pased,stressful life in a dirty,noisy city and be rich,I wouldn't even have to think twice with choising choice # 1. But then again it really depends on the person.
Well I'm straying from my point, Cubans live a very simple life,not very materialistic, because they really don't have the means to obtain many material things. This doesn't mean they are less fortunate than us, generally they're happy with what they have and really don't know any other way. Then along come these tourists who feel sorry for the way they have to live,and hand out all kinds of presents. It's a nice thought in theory,and they're happy to recieve these presents, but now all of a sudden they're introduced to these things that really are convinient or fun, or whatever to have around. So they become accustummed to these things and they feel they need them, and how do they get these things? from tourist! And this is how the whole begging,and scamming and hassling thing in touristic areas started. Which really is a shame.For me it really spoils the experience to be viewed as a way to make some money or some one who should be giving gifts.
I witnessed one thing that really upset me ( you may think i'm crazy for getting upset at this) I saw a couple handing candy to one of the local kid *gasp*
HAHA I mean normally that's a very thoughtful, kind thing. But think about it in this case.
"awww poor kid he's got nothing,let's give him candy"
then what happens? he get's no nutrition, ruins his teeth, get's hyper and throws spazzes when he can't get more. Maybe I'm reading into this too much but i just think that if u feel bad for someone why not give them soemhting that they benefit from.
Well that;'s enough ranting for me. All in all I was disapointed with the trip to trinidad, though i did get to see some of the city, which was beautiful. Oh and I would also like to note,even though you always hear how poor Cubans are and they need help from us, and we should bring all our old clothes when we visit so they have soemthing decent to wear, cuban women were dressed nicer than I ever am. They had soem of the most beautifull clothing I've seen.hmmmmmmmmm
I find that many people go to third world countries like cuba, feeling sorry for them due to the fact that they don't have all the luxiouries that we have. Which is true, they have nothign compared to what we have,but in my oponion this doesn't necessarily mean they're living a terribly misfortunate life, just different. They live much simpler,less materialistic lives. Hell if I had the choice to to work in a small hut by the beach and live a stress free life for just a few dollars a day as opposed to a fast pased,stressful life in a dirty,noisy city and be rich,I wouldn't even have to think twice with choising choice # 1. But then again it really depends on the person.
Well I'm straying from my point, Cubans live a very simple life,not very materialistic, because they really don't have the means to obtain many material things. This doesn't mean they are less fortunate than us, generally they're happy with what they have and really don't know any other way. Then along come these tourists who feel sorry for the way they have to live,and hand out all kinds of presents. It's a nice thought in theory,and they're happy to recieve these presents, but now all of a sudden they're introduced to these things that really are convinient or fun, or whatever to have around. So they become accustummed to these things and they feel they need them, and how do they get these things? from tourist! And this is how the whole begging,and scamming and hassling thing in touristic areas started. Which really is a shame.For me it really spoils the experience to be viewed as a way to make some money or some one who should be giving gifts.
I witnessed one thing that really upset me ( you may think i'm crazy for getting upset at this) I saw a couple handing candy to one of the local kid *gasp*
HAHA I mean normally that's a very thoughtful, kind thing. But think about it in this case.
"awww poor kid he's got nothing,let's give him candy"
then what happens? he get's no nutrition, ruins his teeth, get's hyper and throws spazzes when he can't get more. Maybe I'm reading into this too much but i just think that if u feel bad for someone why not give them soemhting that they benefit from.
Well that;'s enough ranting for me. All in all I was disapointed with the trip to trinidad, though i did get to see some of the city, which was beautiful. Oh and I would also like to note,even though you always hear how poor Cubans are and they need help from us, and we should bring all our old clothes when we visit so they have soemthing decent to wear, cuban women were dressed nicer than I ever am. They had soem of the most beautifull clothing I've seen.hmmmmmmmmm
Monday, November 08, 2004
Off to "Cuba"
This morning I woke up grabbed my bags hopped into the van and headed off towards Cuba with my mom and all her friends.
The flight was 3 and a half hours long, nothing compared to what's coming up next week. I arrived around 11pm. My first impression of "Cuba" wasn't a great one. Straight off the plain I was shoved into a bus of complaining cranky french canadians. All the cubans spoke french, and english no spanish was to be found anywhere, which was a bit upsetting seeing how i was excited to try out my spanish.
Now the reason why i said my first impression of "cuba" wasn't good, because really I wasn't in Cuba. It was but it wasn't really. I was on an island off of Cuba called Cayo Coco. This island is strictly reserved for tourist. No Cubans were allowed on this island unless they had special permission. It actrually makes me sad that most people who visit this place honestly believe they visited Cuba.
Well after checking into my large room, checking out HBO on my tv, turning on the airconditioning, and trying out one of the queen size beds in my room, I headed down to the beach. I don't think I have ever seen such a beautiful sky. Actually i have but never while i was standing on powder fine white sand. It was really breath taking. After my not so eventful day I headed back to the comforts of my own home anxiouse to see what the place looked like during the day
The flight was 3 and a half hours long, nothing compared to what's coming up next week. I arrived around 11pm. My first impression of "Cuba" wasn't a great one. Straight off the plain I was shoved into a bus of complaining cranky french canadians. All the cubans spoke french, and english no spanish was to be found anywhere, which was a bit upsetting seeing how i was excited to try out my spanish.
Now the reason why i said my first impression of "cuba" wasn't good, because really I wasn't in Cuba. It was but it wasn't really. I was on an island off of Cuba called Cayo Coco. This island is strictly reserved for tourist. No Cubans were allowed on this island unless they had special permission. It actrually makes me sad that most people who visit this place honestly believe they visited Cuba.
Well after checking into my large room, checking out HBO on my tv, turning on the airconditioning, and trying out one of the queen size beds in my room, I headed down to the beach. I don't think I have ever seen such a beautiful sky. Actually i have but never while i was standing on powder fine white sand. It was really breath taking. After my not so eventful day I headed back to the comforts of my own home anxiouse to see what the place looked like during the day
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