90 minutes from Bangkok, the Damnoen Saduak floating market sits between the Mae Klong and Tha Chin rivers. According to the internet, in 1866, king Rama IV of Thailand ordered a series of canals to be built to connect the two rivers, from which additional side canals were dug. Along these canals, floating markets started to spring up, due to the ease of transportation afforded by the canals. According to my tour guide, when the communists took over China, a large number of Chinese fled China and moved to the area. They dug canals to facilitate their own transportation and commerce, which eventually turned into the floating markets that we see today. I expect the reality is somewhere between the two.
One Test In Bangkok
When the taxi pulled up to the main entrance, the bellman stepped forward and opened the door, giving me a slight bow as I exited the cab. As I entered the front doors, two ladies greeted me with a similar bow and welcomed me, as the dulcet tones of a live pianist on a grand piano wafted down the halls. The 30 seconds that I’d been here had eclipsed the welcome at any hotel I’d ever stayed at, but I wasn’t at a hotel. I was at a hospital in Thailand.
Pad Thai- The National Dish That Almost Wasn’t
Quick: Name a Thai dish that almost everyone is familiar with. Got one? You probably were thinking of Pad Thai (of course, it’s the name of this post, so that was an easy guess.) Pad Thai is officially known as the national dish of Thailand. But it’s history is much more recent than you’d think.
Aftermath of the Cambodian Genocide
After the end of the Cambodian Genocide in 1979, life returned to ‘normal’. Or as normal as it could get after such an experience. But there are some interesting stories that came out of the aftermath of the genocide.
S-21 and The Killing Fields
** This one’s not funny or entertaining, but it needed to be written. This is not for the faint of heart. ** 2 million people. That’s more than the populations of Washington DC, Atlanta, Miami, and San Diego combined. It’s 1/4 of the total population of Cambodia in 1975. It’s also the number of people that were imprisoned, tortured, and killed during the Cambodian Genocide under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.
Know Your Prices pt 2
After my taxi incident, you would think that I would have learned. And I did, but not thoroughly enough. I blame exchange rates. I think that every country should use the US Dollar*. That would make things easy.
Know Your Prices
I got hustled within 60 seconds of being in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC, aka Saigon). Rule #1 of traveling is to pay attention to your money. That’s both in terms of watching out for pickpockets and in terms of getting hustled. I forgot rule #1. It took me about 15 minutes to realize that it may have happened and another 10 hours to confirm it, but yeah, it happened.
Austin is a food town
Over the past several years, I have heard from several friends and from countless articles that “Austin is a food town.” I didn’t pay much attention to that statement, since I lived in DC and DC is a really good town for food. With it’s huge metropolitan footprint and international population, you can find whatever cuisine you’re looking for with ease, and new fusion restaurants are popping up constantly to add new variety to the mix. But Austin takes food to a whole different level.
Segways- They’re not as bad as you think
When you’re thinking of touring a city on two wheels, you probably expect the wheels to be one in front of the other like those on a bicycle or maybe a motorcycle if you’re daring. A pair of wheels strapped next to each other on a short board with a steering column is probably not your first thought when it comes to traversing a city’s streets, but you may want to reconsider. The Segway has been called “a revolution in transportation,” “the future of urban commuting,” and “the goofiest thing I’ve ever seen.” And all of these are true, and it’s a lot of fun to boot.
Talking To Locals
Before my trip to Italy, I spent a few months learning the basics of Italian. I wasn’t trying to get fluent, but I wanted to be able to say a few basic phrases and muddle my way through a conversation if I wanted to go to a restaurant or bar that wasn’t frequented by tourists. So I tried to learn the phrases that I thought I’d need most often. “Can I have a beer, please?” “Where is the bathroom?” “I’m sorry.” “Can I talk to a lawyer?” Stuff like that.