Random thoughts (in no particular order)

The Filet-O-Fish and 6 piece Chicken McNuggets meals are the coveted #1 and #2 McDonald's Value meals in Singapore (as opposed to America where they are banished to #9 and #10). Screw all you haters that say no one buys the Filet-O-Fish.

Walking through Luang Prabang, Laos really feels like walking in the year 1920.

Everyone should have their nose hairs clipped by a barber in the streets of Hanoi; so when someone asks you at a dinner party, you can answer "Why yes, I have".

While many people predict the imminent demise of the western empire, our friend Richard believes we will retain a leadership position for quite some time, as he feels the rest of the world is lagging in innovation. After seeing how customer service representatives in Southeast Asia handle situations they haven't been trained for, we tend to agree with him.

Having said that, there is no doubt that the rest of the world is catching up very quickly, led by old fashioned hard work and western financial investments.

Marie has the uncanny ability to find the most expensive hotel/lodging in a given city. That doesn't mean we necessarily stay there...

The United Nations may no longer have the political clout they once did, but unquestionably, they have a place when it comes to preserving historic sites, promoting education and coordinating humanitarian aid.

The saga that is Paris Hilton is covered by every TV station and newspaper around the world. Why?

When you break it down to the bare essentials, a country needs to provide its citizens with clean water, shelter, food and clothing, followed closely by primary education and medicine.

You haven't lived until you've experienced the warm smile of a Laotian kid saying "Saba-dee", or a group of Vietnamese kids walking up to you and saying "Hello".

Its may be a cultural thing, but seeing dog meat on a menu will make most people (including yours truly) sick to their stomach.

Malaysia is second to only southern California in the number of customized cars. Having said that, lets just say the quality of customization is very low on the maturity scale.

Many brands popular in the 80s (e.g, B.U.M Equipment, Kenny Rogers Roasters, Orange Julius) have an usually large presence in Southeast Asia. Granted, its not a terribly large presence, but when it comes to these brands, ANY presence qualifies as unusually large.

Many people know the Sultan of Brunei is among the richest fellows in the world. But, could you spot Brunei on a map? Until this trip, me neither.

We really wanted to visit Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), until we learned how the government treats its citizens. Hard to justify giving even a dime to such a horrible regime.

Its not easy to find books/magazines in Laos and Vietnam, both communist-led countries. Wonder why?

We've completed over 33% of our trip, and it has more than exceeded either of our expectations.

Mon mari est un imposteur

Le temps passe vite. Cela fait plus de 2 mois que nous avons quitte New York, et nous ne voyons pas le temps passer. Nous sommes arrives en Inde il y a un peu plus d'une semaine. Nous avons commence notre sejour a Madras... ou Karl ne nous attendait PAS. Nous avions en effet decide de lui faire la surprise de notre visite avec la complicite de Xavier. Ca a paru lui faire plaisir... ou il est tres bon acteur ;-) Apres 3 jours a Madras, nous sommes partis a Delhi 4 jours pour rendre visite a la famille de Nick. Nous etions heberges chez son oncle et sa tante. Nick n'etant pas retourne en Inde depuis 1998, n'avait pas vu sa famille depuis pres de 9 ans ! De Delhi, nous sommes alles passer une journee a Agra, ou se trouve le Taj Mahal. S'il y a un truc que je realise depuis que nous sommes ici, c'est que Nick n'est pas un vrai Indien:
- il ne porte pas de moustache
- les indiens ne le comprennent pas quand il essaie de parler hindi
- il se lave
- il n'a pas porte de chaussures Bata depuis ses neufs ans
- il ne fait pas de brushing

Nous sommes maintenant au Rajasthan. Nous sommes arrives hier a Jaipur et partons demain pour Udaipur. Apres Delhi et notre emploi du temps strict et minute, nous avons eu besoin de prendre notre temps pour visiter la ville. Personnellement, je resterais bien une journee de plus a Jaipur car j'ai l'impression que nous n'avons pas vu grand chose... Malheureusement, nos billets d'avion ne peuvent etre changes.

C'est bien avoir un beauf dans le famille

Bonjour et bienvenue a ma premier post en francais. Mes excuses sinceres pour les nombreuses erreurs grammaticales.

Nous voyagons a Chennai visiter Karl, le cousin de Marie. Il est en assignment pour 4 ans comme le directeur de l'Alliance Francais en Chennai.

Alors, pourquoi c'est bien etre beauf? Karl a le plus de livres d'art et de litterature que tout personne dans le monde; et il ya tout en condicions perfect. C'est étonnant!!! Mais, si vous connaissez Karl, vous avez il n'est pas technique.

En Chennai, Karl a un voiture s'appelle Tata Indica. Un jour, son chauffeur Suresh dit que les embrayage de la voiture doivent être changés, en raison de l'usure, et les prix est $200USD. Deux mechaniques different dit meme chose. Comme vous le savez sans doute, le coulour de peau de Karl est blanc. En India, peau blanc traduire a "tout le monde essaie de t'arnaquer". Alors, le beauf, errr, mechanique amateur (moi) examine le voiture, et le problem est juste le cable de embrayage que coute $10USD!!!! Voila!!!

Ma comprehension c'est que Michel en Toulouse (l'oncle du Marie) est aussi bon mechanique (il apprecie aussi le tuning quand il est jeune), mais les fait que nous avons deux poilu est simplement de coincidence :-)

Et merci Julien, pour enseigner la signification du mot, beauf.

News photos

It's been such a long time since we've written anything in the blog... Sorry about that! We have been in India for the past week visiting Karl (my cousin) in Chennai and Nick's family in Delhi. We are right now and in Jaipur, Rajasthan and taking advantage of the relatively fast connection at the hotel to post some new photos online. Promise we will post more news on the blog very soon. In the mean time, check out our 2 photos albums from the island of Borneo (Malaysia).

Voici (enfin) de nouvelles photos: Kuching et Kinabalu (2 albums)

Almost the end of our trip in South East Asia...

Only a few days left now in South East Asia... Time really flew by! As mentioned in my previous post we have been spending the last few days on the island of Borneo, on the Malaysian side. We started in Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan and ended by Kuching, where we are today. We particularly enjoyed this last city. It is very pretty, especially compared to Kota Kinabalu, which was completely destroyed during World War II. Today we left the city area and went to Bako National Park. To get there you need to ride a public bus for about 1 hour and then charter a small boat to the park itself. It's still really worth the trip! The park is a big jungle, covering about 2,500 hectares, surrounded by deserted beaches. There are many trails to hike. Considering our lack of time (we didn't plan ahead to spend the night in a lodge in the park) and lack of physical training, we picked two relatively short trails:

- Telok Paku: A 2 km (1 km each way) trail that passes through the rain forest before reaching a small secluded beach. We saw a few monkeys along the way.

- Tanjung Sapi: A short but steep climb through cliff vegetation and ends at the summet of a hill with excellent view of the South China Sea.

After all this intense physical activity (our life is tough! ;-) we are heading tomorrow to the island of Langkawi, where we are planning to spend our last two days in South East Asia...

Our photos from the island are online!

Nous venons de mettre en ligne nos photos de Pulau Perhentian...

Missing the US Grand Prix

As many of you know, a few friends and I have attended the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway each year since its inception in 2000. While marriage, parenthood, impending parenthood, budget constraints and the frustration of the 2005 race have resulted in some folks watching the race from home, my friend Brian and I have prided ourselves on attending every year. Given the big trip, this was the first year I didn't make it.

Thankfully, our hotel in KL had Star Sports/ESPN carried qualifying live at 1am local time (and of course, I stayed up for it!!!). But, we left for the Perhentian islands the next day. Much to my dismay, the resort doesn't have TVs in the room. In fact, the island doesn't have power; all electricity is produced by generators.

Getting from KL to the Perhentian Islands includes the following:
- 30 minute taxi ride from the hotel to KL Sentral transportation center
- 1 hour bus from KL Sentral to the KL Airport
- 55 minute flight from KL to Kota Bharu
- 1 hour taxi ride from Kota Bharu to Kuala Besat
- 40 minute boat ride in the South China Sea to the island.

While that is a pretty straight forward itinerary, we didn't anticipate my sprained ankle (see Marie's earlier post), losing our ticket at the Malaysia Airlines office, and our Air Asia flight arriving in Kota Bharu after the last boat left Kuala Besat (which the hotel kindly told at 8am the morning of our arrival, well after we booked our flight!!!). Thankfully, upon arriving at Kuala Besat, we learned the hotel arranged for a late boat. Oddly enough, our 10 person boat had 2 Honda 225 engines, which, if memory serves me correctly is the previous generation Honda Accord V6 or Acura TL engine. Translation: A lot of power for a little boat. We soon learned why.

Lets just say the South China Sea is far from billiard table smooth. You need all that engine to power through the violent waves. Marie, who has spent a lot of time in the water was simply laughing it up. I, on the other hand, not being accustomed to boats, the ocean, or rudimentary swimming, was not comfortable to say the least. So, when you add everything together (sprained ankle, frustration from Malaysian Airlines internal procedures and customer service, 40 minutes getting soaked during the roughest boat ride ever), there was a 10 minute stretch where all I could think of was Fosters beer, the sweet melody of a Formula 1 engine down the front stretch at Indy, and consuming tender, juicy BW3 chicken wings. This island had better be paradise!!!!!

Of course, we arrived at the Tuna Bay resort, and it really is wonderful. Words can't describe how clear the water is; lots of coral and multi-colored fish merely 10 feet from shore makes for excellent snorkling. The people are incredibly friendly -- turns out there is a police training facility next to our hotel, and we got some great travel tips from a couple of cops. Unrelated note: Whoever came up with the idea for a "1 month training program" on a paradise-like island should win an award.

For you divers (or aspiring divers), there is a PADI 5 certified dive shop next door, and a 4 day open water full certification course costs approx. $300 USD. So, its actually cheaper to fly out here and learn on a real coral reef instead of a tiny lake!!!!

Oh, and as for the race: Turns out they have satellite TV in the staff room, but I fell asleep before it started!!!! Eh, there are worse places to be and worse things to be doing ;-)

New photos!

Voici nos nouvelles photos du Sud du Laos ainsi que de Kuala Lumpur.

We are hoping to both the ones from Pulau Perhentian very soon.

Reconcilies avec la Malaisie

Enfin une connection Internet rapide ! Apres 4 jours de farniente sur Pulau Perhentian Besar, ile paradisiaque de Malaisie, nous voici maintenant a Kota Kinabalu sur l'Ile de Borneo. Nous sommes arrives hier soir et avons passe la journee en ville -- aucun interet, mais nous en avons profite pour faire un peu de shopping, planifier nos derniers jours en Asie du Sud est, et avons meme eu le temps d'aller au cinema voir Ocean Thirteen !

Nous avons loue une voiture et partons demain pour Mount Kinabalu, la plus grande montagne de Malaisie (4095 m). Pour ceux qui se poseraient la question, non, nous n'allons pas essayer de grimper jusqu'au sommet. Si nous y arrivions (j'en doute !), il nous faudrait encore retourner a Singapour dans un hotel 5 etoiles pour nous en remettre.

Lundi, nous partons en avion pour Kuching , dans le sud de l'ile de Borneo, ou nous esperons visiter le parc national de Lambir Hills, et Kelabit Highlands (a ne pas confondre avec... ;-)

Mesaventures a Kuala Lumpur

Pour ceux d'entre vous qui ont lu le texte de Nick (ci-dessus), vous avez peut-etre du etre etonne par son sarcasme. En lisant le resume de notre sejour , peut-etre comprendrez-vous mieux pourquoi nous ne sommes pas fan de Kuala Lumpur:

Nous avions reserve un hotel a Kuala Lumpur du 13 au 16 Juin par l'intermediaire d'expedia. La veille de notre depart de Bangkok, nous nous sommes apercus qu'il y avait eu un probleme avec la reservation et que l'hotel etait complet le 13 Juin. Nous avons donc effectue une deuxieme reservation pour seulement deux nuits, du 14 au 16 Juin, pensant passer la nuit du 13 dans un autre hotel. Juste avant de partir a l'aeroport, alors que nous voulions imprimer notre reservation, nous nous sommes apercus qu'en fait, les deux reservations avaient ete honorees. Comme nous n'avions pas besoin de 2 chambres d'hotel (!!), nous avions contacte expedia pour annuler la derniere reservation faite.

En arrivant a l'hotel de Kuala Lumpur a 23h , la reception nous informe que -- ces abrutis -- d'expedia ont annule les deux reservations. Nous avons du attendre trois heures avant qu'ils nous trouvent une chambre et 2 heures de plus pour qu'ils enlevent les oreillers et la couette en plume (je suis allergique). Le lendemain matin, l'hotel nous laisse un message en nous disant que nous devrons payer la chambre plus chere car nous n'avons pu passer par expedia.

Vendredi apres-midi, nous decidons d'aller a Malaysia Airlines pour acheter un "Malaysia Air Pass" -- 5 billets d'avion pour $199 qui nous permettraient de voyager n'importe ou en Malaysie. A peine sortis de l'agence nous nous apercevons que l'agent de reservation a garde nos billets pour l'Inde par megarde. Nous decidons d'y retourner le Samedi matin pour les recuperer, mais malheureusement un garde nous informe que l'agence est fermee et ne reouvrera que Lundi (nous sommes Samedi matin). Nous decidons donc d'aller au bureau principal de Malaysia Airlines a KL Sentral pour expliquer ce qui nous arrive. Apres 40 minutes d'explication, la personne au comptoir nous informe qu'ils ne peuvent retrouver nos billets et que nous devons payer l'equivalent de 150 USD pour les re-imprimer (pas de e-ticket car leur site Internet ne fonctionne pratiquement jamais !)...et qu'ils ne pourront le faire avant Mardi ou Mercredi car il faut qu'ils contactent Malaysia Airlines a Bangkok -- a croire qu'ils communiquent par pigeons messagers !! Ils nous annoncent ensuite qu'ils ne peuvent pas nous donner notre air pass car nous n'avons plus notre billet d'avion pour l'Inde -- alors qu'ils voient dans leur systeme qu'il y 2 a billets reserves a notre nom, et que nous avons garde nos boarding passes du vol Bangkok / KL.

Nous sommes restes au moins 3 heures au comptoir sans qu'une seule personne leve le petit doigt pour essayer de nous accommoder. Ils ont meme essayer de nous faire re-payer les tickets (alors qu'ils sont responsables de leur perte !).

Le soir meme, en traversant un passage pieton, Nick trebuche -- des imbeciles hurlaient derriere nous alors que nous traversion la route, et nous avons courru pensant qu'une voiture arrivait. Resultat, on prend un taxi pour rentrer a l'hotel: sa cheville a triple de volume (et on dirait qu'une balle de golf s'est logee sous sa peau). Nous devions partir le lendemaint pour Cameron Highland, et devons donc annuler: il a une entorse.

Nous decidons donc a la place de partir a Perenthian Island, ile sur la cote Nord Est de la Malaisie, ou Nick n'aura pas besoin de beaucoup marcher. Nous achetons un billet d'avion aupres d'Air Asia (a ce point, on prefere voyager avec une compagnie aerienne "budget" plutot que Malaysia), qui nous fait arriver a 16h30 a Kota Bharu sur la cote, et reservons une chambre au Tuna Bay Hotel sur l'ile pour 4 nuits. Le jour du depart, coup de fil a 8h du mat de l'hotel pour nous dire que le vol arrive trop tard et qu'a cette heure il n'y a plus de bateaux pour se rendre sur l'ile... N'auraient-ils pas pu nous le dire avant, au moment de la reservation, par exemple ?!

Bref, en trois jours a Kuala Lumpur, nous n'avons eu que des problemes, et le plus frustrant est que personne (a par le concierge de l'hotel et une personne a Malaysia Airlines) n'a ete cooperatif -- par stupidite ou par faineantise ? Meme si les infrastructures sont la, le niveau de service laisse vraiment a desirer...

Kuala Lumpur: The Jan Brady of Southeast Asia

For the non-Americans reading this, Jan Brady is the teenaged, middle daughter of 3 girls on a 1970s American TV show called "The Brady Bunch". Jan is often forgotten and thinks she knows more than she really does.

If Bangkok is the low-cost tourist hub of Southeast Asia, and Singapore is where the world goes to conduct business, then Kuala Lumpur (the locals refer to it as KL) is somewhere in the middle, struggling to define its place in the world. Some examples:

KL: We have two of the world's tallest buildings (Petronas Towers and Menara KL tower).
The World: Yes, they're very impressive, but have since been eclipsed by Taiwan in height.

KL: We host a world-class Formula 1 race.
The World: Its a fantastic facility, but tickets are so expensive the average Malay can't afford to attend.

KL: We have our own make of automobile, Proton.
The World: Protons are simply rebadged 10 year old Mitsubishis designs assembled in Malaysia, and are so uncompetitive they can't be sold anywhere else in the world.

KL: We are a multicultural society that blends the best of Chinese, Indian, native Malay, and westerners; English is widely spoken and people have freedom of religion.
The World: Singapore is far more culturally integrated than Malaysia is. And, people may have freedom of religion, but according to the Islamic High Court that rules the country, they are not free to change religions.

KL: KL has emerged as the Islamic Banking capital of the world.
The World: No doubt, but multi-national corporations and investment banks do far more business in London, Singapore and Dubai, where they can receive both Islamic and traditional services. KL's Islamic Banking sector primarily consists of local Malay banks, and HSBC.

KL: Malaysia Airlines is among the world's best.
The World: MAS is not part of any major airline alliance, and their ground staff / in-flight services are not at the same level as Thai Airways or Singapore Airlines. Having said that, Air Asia, Malaysia's low cost airline (similar business model to Ryanair) does appear to be a very successful business (more on this in a future post)

KL: Kuala Lumpur is among the wealthiest cities in Asia.
The World: The wealth is concentrated amongst a very small handful of people (mostly Petronas oil tycoons and bankers). Meanwhile, seemingly every bookstore is stocked with "get rich quick" books. In fact, one of my friends from high school, who is part of a network marketing business (commonly referred to as a pyramid scheme) recently spent a few months successfully expanding his network in KL.

KL: Kuala Lumpur has an extensive public transportation infrastructure.
The World: Yes, but none of the monorail or train lines are integrated, which means you need to purchase separate tickets for each line, and go outside the station to change trains.

Obviously Kuala Lumpur isn't nearly as bad as the above makes it out to be. KL City Centre is a truly modern area, the airport is beautiful, roads are first class, food (both local and western) fresh and tasty, and major western big box retailers, speciality retailers and hotels have a significant presence. However, unquestionably, the city has a "we are great, we've got it all, we're better than you" teenage-like attitude about it. I suppose this comes with newfound wealth: Malaysia as a whole gained independence from England only 50 years ago, and money poured into the country when Petronas started oil drilling in 1974. Also, in the 70s, the government implemented a wealth distribution scheme from Chinese / Westerners to native Malay. Therefore, this is the first generation of Malay to experience a fair amount of prosperity.

Impressions of Cambodia

We left Cambodia 6 days ago, but am catching up on old posts...

Cambodians have been through a lot:
- Colonized by France and Thai in the late 1800s;
- Invaded by Japan from 1941-1945;
- Fought for independence from the French in the 1950s (receiving it in 1954);
- Civil War / pulled into the Vietnam war in the 1960s and early 1970s;
- Lived under the tyranny of Pol Pot's regime from the mid 70s through the mid-late 80s;
- Invaded by Vietnam in the 80s;
- Finally all the wars stopped in the mid 90s.

Pol Pot was a bastard:
- Ordered the death of over 2 million Cambodians (primarily educated ones; he wanted Cambodia to be a farming country)
- Anyone who disagreed with him was killed, or their limbs cut off.
- Arranged "marriages" amongst the people by lining up hundreds of men and women, then pairing them up "1-2" style.
- It took Western governments 12 years to accept that he was committing genocide against the Cambodian people (most supported Pol Pot because they did not want Cambodia to fall to the Vietnamese)
- Was never brought to justice, as he died of natural causes before his trial.

There is a tremendous amount of corruption in Cambodia:
- While tourism dollars are pouring in, the government has sold much of the rights to the sites/infrastructure (e.g, hotels, restaurants, travel companies, Angkor Wat) to foreign companies (mostly Vietnamese, South Korean and Japanese). Therefore, the only $$$ the locals receive is a salary by working at the facilities; but the big bucks leave the country.
- The government pays school teachers a mere $70/month. Since that isn't enough to live on, teachers will often ask students for extra money. Thus, a whole new generation is introduced to begging/bribery; except its far worse, because they never learned that its a bad thing; they learn this is how things get done.
- Its not unusual for children (often aged 5-12) to be the breadwinners of the family, doing so by selling goods, such as books, silks, wood carvings, etc. to tourists.
- It doesn't help that Pol Pot killed most of the educated people in the country.

Despite all these troubles, Cambodians people are happy to simply have peace:
- The Cambodian people we've spoke to have been the friendliest we've met on the trip.
- They aren't nearly as aggressive or pushy as in Bangkok or Hanoi (although not as laid back as Laos, either)
- Cambodians seem genuinely happy to have tourists visit their country (almost as if the money is secondary, which may be the case since they aren't getting the lion's share of it).

News photos online: Singapour et Cambodge

We just added our photos from Singapore online as well as the one from in Cambodia. If there are not too many photos of Singapore it's probably because we spent too much time in our 5 stars hotel or shopping!

Nous venons de mettre nos photos de Singapour (peu nombreuses) et de Siem Reap au Cambodge en ligne.

Finally! Our last photos from Vietnam

Sorry, it took us a while to find a fast internet connection to post our photos online, but you can now see our photos of Hue online.

Nos photos de Hue (Vietnam) sont maintenant en ligne!

An awesome trip... but some frustration...

Sorry it's been a long time we haven't written anything on the blog. It's been a bit difficult to find a fast and reliable internet connection in southern laos.

We are now back to Bangkok, familiar city by now... and it feels good! Nice to have food at the clean and excellent Ricky's Coffee Shop and to find our little New Siam II guesthouse.

Southern Laos was great. We left Siam Reap in Cambodia on Saturday and landed in Pakse. From there we took a songthaew to the island of Don Khong. This part of the trip was probably as close a backpacker experience it would get (at least I hope!)... and for that I almost killed Nick!! Let's just say that in order to save a few bucks Nick thought that it'd be cool to travel with the locals. I was opened to it. When we arrived at the local "bus station" in Pakse (you'll understand the "..." when you will see the photos), we were told to jump in a songthaew for the 4 hours trip. Already 8 people were in it, and we hesitated, thinking that it was already full, but they convinced us that there were enough space available for two more people. We were far from guessing that 20 more people would join in!!! To summarize the experience, we spent 4 hours stuck on a songthaew betweem 28 other people, smelly rotten meat, rice bags, and some other stuff I prefer not to think about (snakes?!)... We were so stucked that people were almost sitting on top of each others, and some had to spend the four hours hanging to the top of the vehicle... The smell was... ughhhh... (I wish I hadn't develop my smelling capabilities by taking evaluation classes at IFF...)

However, even with that, the trip was worth it! (hard to believe, but it is true). Don Khong and the 4000 Islands region in Laos are really amazing. We took a boat down the Mekong to the other islands, saw some great waterfalls, rode bikes around the island, along rice fields, and trying to circle between the goats, chicken and buffalo sharing the road with us. People there really live like 100 years ago --although as Nick would say, some have satellite tv -- living pretty much in autarky, cultivating rice, bathing in the river...

We made our way back to the Thai border yesterday by car and were supposed to fly back last night from Ubon Ratchathani to Bangkok, but encountered again some pretty annoying airlines disagreement (you really need to be VERY patient here to handle customer service people... and let's just say that this is not one of my forte). All in all, we probably lost 8 hours dealing with tickets and airlines issues (and this may not be over yet).

We are not sure yet how long we are going to stay in Bangkok. Ideally, we'd like to leave tomorrow, but booking last minute tickets does not seem to be part of the culture here (can you feel some frustration?). We are thinking of heading to Malaysia but aren't sure yet... La suite bientot...

A la decouverte du pays de Maddox

Apres Singapour, nous voici a Siam Reap, au Cambodge, ou nous avons pu visiter hier les principaux temples d'Angkor:
- Angkor Vat: le temple le plus connu, et un des symbole du Cambodge
- Angkor Thom: le temple ou a ete filme Tomb Raider avec Angelina Jolie (et oui, toujours de bonnes references !)
- Ta Prohm
- La terrasse des Elephants
- Bayon

Nous avons trouve un guide, Bun, ancien professeur d'anglais, tres sympa, et qui nous a explique pas mal de choses sur le pays, et sur sa jeunesse sous le regime de Pol Pot.

Evidemment, comme dans beaucoup de pays d'Asie du Sud Est, les enfants sont entraines par leurs parents a quemander aupres des touristes. Parmi ces enfants, nous avons rencontre hier, un petit garcon de 6 ans, tres marrant (et tres intelligent !) qui connaissait tous les etats des Etats-Unis, ainsi que leur capitale, leur population, etc... (beaucoup de choses que la plupart des americains d'age adulte ne connaissent pas). Il nous a aussi explique que les pays voisins des Etats-Unis etaient le Canada et le Mexique, mais qu'il avait lu dans les journaux que les mexicains n'etaient pas de bons voisins (il doit avoir les memes lectures que G.W. Bush...)

Nous pensons partir demain ou apres-demain pour Pakse, dans le sud du Laos, pour rejoindre les 4000 Islands. Il semblerait que le choix en terme de compagnie aerienne soit assez restreint. On ne trouve rien sur Internet et les agences de voyages ne proposent que Lao Airlines. Nous avons lu que cette compagnie, sur les vols "internationaux" s'etait amelioree, alors nous allons peut-etre "tenter notre chance" ;-)... Avec deux ou trois xanax, je devrais etre assez inconsciente pour ne pas paniquer pendant le vol...

Singapore: America Major - Asia Minor

As you could probably gather from the tone of the previous post, going "off the beaten" path in Northern Vietnam beat us up. I love Toyota Land Cruisers, but 5 days of 20mph (30kmph) travel on roads that were former mountain goat paths, food filled with MSG, power outages and passing dog meat stores can really wear you down (so much for culture!!!) So, rather than traveling directly from Vietnam to Cambodia, we modified our plans slightly and went to Singapore for a little western style R&R.

If any westerner ever wanted to travel to Asia, Singapore is the ideal first stop. Our friend Mike refers to it as "America in 4 languages", which is a pretty accurate description. Smooth, modern roads and highways; every type of store (from Fendi to Orange Julius); shopping malls everywhere; movie theaters with the latest releases; beautiful marinas; major international companies; the nicest zoos/aquariums; they're all here. And its SUPER clean.

Many of you may remember the hype surrounding Michael Fay, the American who was caned in Singapore for theft and vandalism. No doubt much of the country's prosperity and improvements are a result of extremely harsh legal system. After seeing how clean this place is, and how much progress they've made, to quote Chris Rock, I don't approve of their methods, but I understand. The country has made some large strides trying to remove their stodgy image; they now allow bungee jumping and chewing gum!!!!

In any case, we stayed at the Pan Pacific and Hilton hotels (thank you agoda.com and Hilton points). After 3 days of high-speed internet, walking around malls, stocking up on books and magazines at Borders (very few bookstores in Laos or Vietnam), eating sushi off a conveyor belt and California Pizza Kitchen, we got our "western culture" fill, and are ready to continue onto Siep Reap, Cambodia.

Northwest Vietnam photos online!

Les photos de notre voyage dans le nord ouest du Vietnam sont maintenant sur internet.

Our photos from Northwest Vietnam are now online.

Une parenthese dans notre voyage

Le Vietnam etait sympa mais ca fait vraiment du bien de retrouver un lit sans poil (a part ceux de Nick), une salle de bains avec douche (et pas seulement une poire pres des toilettes), et des restaurants dont les menus n'affichent pas de viande de chien !

Notre sejour a Hue fut tout de meme une agreable transition. Hue est une petite ville en comparaison avec Hanoi, mais on y trouve pas mal de restaurants sympas, cafes avec terrasses, et le rythme de vie est beaucoup plus relax. L'Orchid Hotel dans lequel nous sommes descendu etait par ailleurs tres bien (merci tripadvisor, qui pour le moment ne nous a pas decu).

Nous sommes arrives a Singapour Vendredi apres-midi. A l'origine, nous avions l'intention de nous y rendre a la fin de notre sejour en Asie du Sud Est, mais avons change d'avis apres notre periple dans le nord est du Vietnam. Nous devons nous rendre a l'evidence: nous ne sommes pas des routards ! Nous avons pris une chambre pour trois nuits au Pan Pacific, hotel cinq etoiles, pres du port. C'est un style de vie qui nous convient deja beaucoup plus ! ;-)

Nous avons pas mal marche aujourd'hui: Little India, Chinatown, et bien sur les fameux malls que l'ont trouve partout. Je crois que je n'ai jamais vu une concentration pareille de magasins ! Singapour est vraiment une ville tres propre (je comprends maintenant pourquoi mes parents adorent s'y rendre), d'ailleurs jusqu'a recemment, les chewing gums y etaient interdit !

Nous partons Mardi matin pour Siam Reap, au Cambodge. Nous avons decide de ne pas passer par Pnom Penh, qui apparement ne presente pas enormement d'interet. Nous preferons, si le temps le permet, retourner au Laos -- mais cette fois dans le sud. Au cas ou vous n'auriez pas remarque, nous sommes vraiment tombes amoureux du Laos, ou du moins de Luang Prabang.

French woman detained after assaulting Vietnamese Airport Staff

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam: A 31-year old French woman was detained at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City after ruthlessly beating two airport ticket agents, police said on Friday. The woman, whose name is being withheld until her family is notified, attacked two Tiger Airways airport ticket agents after it took them 90 minutes to issue two tickets.

Police say the detainee and her husband were attempting to travel from Hue, Vietnam to Singapore via Ho Chi Minh City. They had already traveled from Hue to Ho Chi Minh City on Vietnam Airlines earlier that day.

Tiger Airways, a Singapore-based low cost carrier owned by Singapore Airlines, routinely offers the lowest fare on the Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore segment. However, the travelers claim (later verified by Flyertalk.com) their website does not accept western credit cards. The couple then called the local Tiger Airways reservation line, whose agent claimed they could not pay by phone, and were instructed to either:
- send their credit card information via unencrypted e-mail to a shady e-mail address (sales@apt.vn); or
- hang up, call the same number, and leave a voicemail with the credit card number and all relevant information.

The reservations agent also advised the travelers they were no Tiger Airways affiliated travel agents in Hue, and that they could not purchase a ticket at the airport. "So, if I understand you correctly, there are seats available, but we can't pay via Internet, can't pay by phone, and can't pay at the airport." , said the disgruntled French woman.

Three other airlines fly the Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore route: JetStar Asia (a subsidiary of Australia's Qantas), Vietnam Airlines, Garuda Indonesian, and Singapore Airlines.
- JetStar and Vietnam weren't options, as the flights left before they would arrive in Ho Chi Minh City;
- Garuda does not meet International Aviation Safety standards; in fact, the US-based Federal Aviation Administration and Australian Government recommends avoiding all Indonesian based carriers.
- Singapore Airlines, considered amongst the finest airlines in the world, is triple the price of its low cost subsidiary.

The travelers, thinking the telephone reservations agent was an idiot, decided to fly to Ho Chi Minh City and purchase two Tiger Airways ticket at the airport. If that wasn't feasible, they would simply purchase tickets on Singapore Airlines. "How can an airline not allow people to purchase tickets at the airport?", said the detainee's husband.

Tiger Airways Ho Chi Minh City airport ticketing booth opens 2.5 hours before flight departure. So, the travelers waited until the booth opened. Once open, 2 ticket agents spent about 90 minutes issuing the tickets, which included numerous calls to the Tiger Airways reservations center in Singapore. In fact, rather than providing proper tickets, they simply wrote a cryptic message on a torn piece of paper, and told the travelers to hand this to the check-in agent. The French woman, claiming to endured incompetent and ineffective customer service for the majority of her time in Vietnam, lost control and began senseless beating the two ticket agents. The detainee's husband claims this type of irrational overreaction is not unusual for his wife.

Vietnamese government officials say she is being transfered to the "Hanoi Hilton", where "she will be treated with care".