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-<!DOCTYPE html>
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- <title>Luxagraf | Travel Writing from Southeast Asia</title>
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- <meta name="author" content="Scott Gilbertson">
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- <li>Southeast Asia</li>
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- <main role="main" id="writing-archive" class="archive">
- <h1 class="hide">Writing from Southeast Asia</h1>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd first">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/05/closing-time" title="Closing Time"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/thailandtrain.jpg" alt="Closing Time" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/05/closing-time" class="u-url" title="Closing Time">Closing&nbsp;Time</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-05-01T00:14:23">May <span>1, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Koh Kradan</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="7.0586452366957175"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="98.53981016694692"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- Headed back to Europe: I started to write a bit of reminiscence, trying to remember the highlights of my time in Asia before I return to the west, but about halfway through I kept thinking of a popular Buddhist saying &mdash; be here now. Most of these dispatches are written in past tense, but this time I want to simply be here now. This moment, on this train. This is the last time I'll post something from Southeast Asia.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even second">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/04/beginning-end" title="Beginning of the End"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/kokradan.jpg" alt="Beginning of the End" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/04/beginning-end" class="u-url" title="Beginning of the End">Beginning of the&nbsp;End</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-04-22T00:11:20">April <span>22, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Koh Kradan</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="7.4090692758064645"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="99.207916245987"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- I wasn't expecting much from Ko Kradan, but in the end I discovered a slice of Thailand the way it's often describe by wistful hippies who first came here twenty years ago. Tong and Ngu and the rest of the Thais working at Paradise Lost were the nicest people I met in Thailand and Wally was by far the most laid back farang I've come across. I ended up staying on Ko Kradan for the remainder of my time in the south.
-
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd third">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/04/going-down-south" title="Going Down South"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/kophiphi.jpg" alt="Going Down South" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/04/going-down-south" class="u-url" title="Going Down South">Going Down&nbsp;South</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-04-11T00:10:50">April <span>11, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Koh Phi Phi</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="7.735826857017756"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="98.77876280363327"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- The Phi Phi Island Resort, where some friends were staying, is nestled on the leeward shore of Koh Phi Phi Island and posts a private beach, beautiful reef, fancy swimming pools and rooms with real sheets. Unheard of. I sauntered in a day early, acted like I owned the place, rented snorkel gear, charged it to a random room number and spent the afternoon on the reef. If only I could have put it on the Underhill's credit card.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even first">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/03/book-right" title="The Book of Right On"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/goodbyes.jpg" alt="The Book of Right On" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/03/book-right" class="u-url" title="The Book of Right On">The Book of Right&nbsp;On</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-03-31T00:01:02">March <span>31, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Sinoukville</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/cambodia/" title="travel writing from Cambodia">Cambodia</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="10.626275865572227"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="103.49945066918632"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- The next day we continued on to Sinoukville which is Cambodia's attempt at a seaside resort. Combining the essential elements of Goa and Thailand, Sinoukville is a pleasant, if somewhat hippy-oriented, travelers haven. We rented Honda Dreams and cruised down the coast to deserted white sand beaches, thatched huts serving noodles and rice, where we watched sunsets and dodged rain storms.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd second">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/03/midnight-perfect-world" title="Midnight in a Perfect World"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/deathisland.jpg" alt="Midnight in a Perfect World" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/03/midnight-perfect-world" class="u-url" title="Midnight in a Perfect World">Midnight in a Perfect&nbsp;World</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-03-26T23:58:12">March <span>26, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Death Island</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/cambodia/" title="travel writing from Cambodia">Cambodia</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="10.438267017137903"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="104.32325361706974"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- Death Island, as Rob nicknamed it, was just what I needed. The first day we sat down for lunch and ordered crab; a boy in his underwear proceeded to run out of the kitchen, swam out in the ocean and began unloading crabs from a trap into a bucket. It doesn't get much fresher than that. Throw in a nice beach, some cheap bungalows and you're away.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even third">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/03/angkor-wat" title="Angkor Wat"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/angkorwat.jpg" alt="Angkor Wat" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/03/angkor-wat" class="u-url" title="Angkor Wat">Angkor&nbsp;Wat</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-03-21T23:55:50">March <span>21, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Angkor Wat</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/cambodia/" title="travel writing from Cambodia">Cambodia</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="13.497808126788645"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="103.89289854510803"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- Roughly half a million people a year visit Angkor Wat. The first evening we decided to see just how tourist-filled Angkor was by heading to the most popular sunset temple, Phnom Bakheng, to watch the sunset. And there were a lot of tourists. Thousands of them. And that was just at one temple. Thus was hatched the plan: see Angkor in the heat of the day. Yes it will be hot. Hot hot hot. Fucking hot. But hopefully empty.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd first">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/03/wait-til-it-blows" title="...Wait &#39;til it Blows"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/landmines.jpg" alt="...Wait &#39;til it Blows" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/03/wait-til-it-blows" class="u-url" title="...Wait &#39;til it Blows">&#8230;Wait &#8216;til it&nbsp;Blows</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-03-18T23:52:55">March <span>18, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Seam Reap</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/cambodia/" title="travel writing from Cambodia">Cambodia</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="13.361228724078332"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="103.86148451313011"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- One the things I may have failed to mention thus far in my Cambodia reportage is that this was/is one of the most heavily mined areas in the world. You might think that removing landmines involves sophisticated technology of the sort you see in BBC documentaries on Bosnia, but here in Cambodia landmine removal is most often handled by the technological marvel of southeast Asia &mdash; the bamboo stick.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even second">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/03/beginning-see-light" title="Beginning to See the Light"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/floatingvillage.jpg" alt="Beginning to See the Light" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/03/beginning-see-light" class="u-url" title="Beginning to See the Light">Beginning to See the&nbsp;Light</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-03-16T20:45:20">March <span>16, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Floating Village</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/cambodia/" title="travel writing from Cambodia">Cambodia</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="12.821174848475923"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="104.04052732926735"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- Surprisingly, a floating village is not that different than a village on the land. There are the same stores, the computer repair shop, the grocers, the petrol station, the temple, the dance hall and all the other things that makeup a town. I could even say with some authority that the town is laid out in streets, watery pathways that form nearly perfect lines.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd third">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/03/blood-tracks" title="Blood on the Tracks"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/killingfields.jpg" alt="Blood on the Tracks" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/03/blood-tracks" class="u-url" title="Blood on the Tracks">Blood on the&nbsp;Tracks</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-03-14T23:41:41">March <span>14, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Phenom Phen</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/cambodia/" title="travel writing from Cambodia">Cambodia</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="11.56597559052094"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="104.92750166386062"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- As I mentioned in the last entry I came down with a bit of a fever for a few days. This was accompanied by what we in the group have come to term, for lack of a nicer, but equally descriptive phrase &mdash; pissing out the ass. It's not a pretty picture. Nor is it a pleasant experience, and consequently I don't have a real clear recollection of the journey from Ban Lung to Kratie or from Kratie out to Sen Monoron.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even first">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/03/ticket-ride" title="Ticket To Ride"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/hondadream.jpg" alt="Ticket To Ride" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/03/ticket-ride" class="u-url" title="Ticket To Ride">Ticket To&nbsp;Ride</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-03-07T23:39:02">March <span>7, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Ban Lung</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/cambodia/" title="travel writing from Cambodia">Cambodia</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="13.734549299840165"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="106.97941301763984"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- I can't see. My eyebrows are orange with dust. I cannot see them, but I know they must be; they were yesterday. Every now and then when her legs clench down on my hips or her fingernails dig into my shoulders, I remember Debi is behind me and I am more or less responsible for not killing both of us.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd second">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/02/little-corner-world" title="Little Corner of the World"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/siphondon.jpg" alt="Little Corner of the World" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/little-corner-world" class="u-url" title="Little Corner of the World">Little Corner of the&nbsp;World</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-28T20:13:00">February <span>28, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Four Thousand Islands</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="14.130915842740961"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="105.83782194571636"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- It's difficult to explain but the further south you go in Laos the more relaxed life becomes. Since life in the north is not exactly high stress, by the time we arrived in the four thousand Islands we had to check our pulse periodically to ensure that time was in fact still moving forward.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even third">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/02/cant-get-there-here" title="Can&amp;#8217;t Get There From Here"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/attapeulight.jpg" alt="Can&amp;#8217;t Get There From Here" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/cant-get-there-here" class="u-url" title="Can&amp;#8217;t Get There From Here">Can&#8217;t Get There From&nbsp;Here</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-24T20:00:03">February <span>24, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Attapeu</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="14.806085524831946"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="106.83689115944449"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- The most magical light in Laos lives on the Bolevan Plateau. For some reason not many tourists seem to make it out to the Bolevan Plateau, in spite of the fact that the roads are quite good, transport runs regularly, the villages peaceful, even sleepy, little hamlets. In short, the Bolevan Plateau is wonderful, and not the least in part because no one else is there.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd first">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/02/safe-milk" title="Safe as Milk"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/usbombs.jpg" alt="Safe as Milk" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/safe-milk" class="u-url" title="Safe as Milk">Safe as&nbsp;Milk</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-18T19:54:24">February <span>18, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Sekong</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="14.623949505069236"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="106.5756225437582"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- You would think, if you were the United States and you were illegally and unofficially bombing a foreign country you might not want to stamp "US Bomb" on the side of your bombs, and yet there it was all over Laos: "US Bomb." Clearly somebody didn't think things all the way through, especially given that roughly one third of said bombs failed to explode.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even second">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/02/everyday-fourteenth" title="Everyday the Fourteenth"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/hinbunriver.jpg" alt="Everyday the Fourteenth" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/everyday-fourteenth" class="u-url" title="Everyday the Fourteenth">Everyday the&nbsp;Fourteenth</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-14T19:50:35">February <span>14, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Savannakhet</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="16.560435757136183"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="104.75026129218114"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- We piled four large bags, four daypacks and five people in a six meter dugout canoe. The boat was powered by the ever-present-in-southeast-Asia long tail motor which is essential a lawnmower engine with a three meter pole extending out of it to which a small propeller is attached &mdash; perfect for navigating shallow water. And by shallow I mean sometimes a mere inch between the hull and the riverbed.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd third">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/02/water-slides-and-spirit-guides" title="Water Slides and Spirit Guides"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/konglorcave.jpg" alt="Water Slides and Spirit Guides" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/water-slides-and-spirit-guides" class="u-url" title="Water Slides and Spirit Guides">Water Slides and Spirit&nbsp;Guides</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-10T19:47:12">February <span>10, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Konglor Cave</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="18.06285035750356"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="104.49783323740189"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- The dramatic black karst limestone mountains ringing Ban Na Hin grew darker as the light faded. I was sitting alone on the back porch of our guesthouse watching the light slowly disappear from the bottoms of the clouds and wondering absently how many pages it would take to explain how I came to be in the tiny town of Ban Na Hin, or if such an explanation even really existed.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even first">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/02/lovely-universe" title="The Lovely Universe"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/vangveing.jpg" alt="The Lovely Universe" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/02/lovely-universe" class="u-url" title="The Lovely Universe">The Lovely&nbsp;Universe</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-02-04T23:43:28">February <span>4, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Vang Vieng</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="18.92544862065573"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="102.43755339150223"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- I would like to say that I have something memorable to write about Vang Vieng, but the truth is we mostly sat around doing very little, making new friends, drinking a beer around the fire and waiting out the Chinese new year celebrations, which meant none of us could get Cambodian visas until the following Monday. We were forced to relax beside the river for several more days than we intended. Yes friends, traveling is hard, but I do it for you.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd second">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/01/i-used-fly-peter-pan" title="I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/gibbonexperience.jpg" alt="I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/i-used-fly-peter-pan" class="u-url" title="I Used to Fly Like Peter Pan">I Used to Fly Like Peter&nbsp;Pan</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-21T19:42:47">January <span>21, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Luang Nam Tha</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="20.853678554651314"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="101.19094847224211"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- The next time someone asks you, &#8220;would you like to live in a tree house and travel five hundred feet above the ground attached to a zip wire?&#8221; I highly suggest you say, &#8220;yes, where do a I sign up?&#8221; If you happen to be in Laos, try the Gibbon Experience.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even third">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/01/hymn-big-wheel" title="Hymn of the Big Wheel"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/bluemilkwaterfall.jpg" alt="Hymn of the Big Wheel" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/hymn-big-wheel" class="u-url" title="Hymn of the Big Wheel">Hymn of the Big&nbsp;Wheel</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-19T19:37:46">January <span>19, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Luang Prabang</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="19.827433510057354"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="102.42279051308633"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- Jose Saramago writes in <cite>The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis</cite> that the gods "journey like us in the river of things, differing from us only because we call them gods and sometimes believe in them." Sitting in the middle of the river listening to the gurgle of water moving over stone and around trees I began to think that perhaps this is the sound of some lost language, a sound capable of creating mountains, valleys, estuaries, isthmuses and all the other forms around us, gurgling and sonorous but without clear meaning, shrouded in turquoise, a mystery through which we can move our sense of wonder intact.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd first">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/01/down-river" title="Down the River"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/mekongslowboat.jpg" alt="Down the River" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/down-river" class="u-url" title="Down the River">Down the&nbsp;River</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-17T20:13:26">January <span>17, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Luang Prabang</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/laos/" title="travel writing from Lao (PDR)">Lao (PDR)</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="19.875064447947235"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="102.13199614056808"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- Morning in Chiang Khong Thailand revealed itself as a foggy, and not a little mysterious, affair with the far shore of the Mekong, the Laos shore, almost completely hidden in a veil of mist. The first ferry crossed at eight and I was on it, looking to meet up with the slow boat to Luang Prabang.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even second">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/01/king-carrot-flowers" title="The King of Carrot Flowers"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/doiinthanonnp.jpg" alt="The King of Carrot Flowers" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/king-carrot-flowers" class="u-url" title="The King of Carrot Flowers">The King of Carrot&nbsp;Flowers</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-17T18:53:17">January <span>17, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Doi Inthanan National Park</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="19.315031381446268"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="98.84262083585028"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- The light outside the windows was still a pre-dawn inky blue when the freezing cold water hit my back. A cold shower at six thirty in the morning is infinitely more powerful, albeit not at long lasting, as a cup of coffee. After dropping my body temperature a few degrees and having no towel to dry off with, just a dirty shirt and ceaseless ceiling fan, a cup of tea seemed like a good idea so I stopped in at the restaurant downstairs and, after a cup of hot water with some Jasmine leaves swirling at the bottom of it, I climbed on my rental motorbike and set out for Doi Inthanan National Park.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd third">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/01/you-and-i-are-disappearing" title="You and I Are Disappearing"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/changmaiumong.jpg" alt="You and I Are Disappearing" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/you-and-i-are-disappearing" class="u-url" title="You and I Are Disappearing">You and I Are&nbsp;Disappearing</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-12T00:52:30">January <span>12, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Chang Mai</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="18.787042343613653"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="98.9876746993555"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- The all night bus reached Chiang Mai well past dawn, the city already beginning to stir. I considered trying to nap, but in the end decided to explore the town. What better way to see Buddhist temples than in the dreamy fog of sleeplessness? Chiang Mai has over three hundred wats within the somewhat sprawling city limits, most of them reasonably modern and, in my opinion, not worth visiting. I narrowed the field to three, which I figured was a nice round one percent.
-
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even first">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/01/buddha-bounty" title="Buddha on the Bounty"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/jimthompsonhouse.jpg" alt="Buddha on the Bounty" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/buddha-bounty" class="u-url" title="Buddha on the Bounty">Buddha on the&nbsp;Bounty</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-05T18:43:03">January <span>5, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Bangkok</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="13.726128126466529"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="100.547304139446"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- The house Jim Thompson left behind in Bangkok is gorgeous, but the real charm is the garden and its orchids. I wandered around the gardens which really aren't that large for some time and then found a bench near a collection of orchids, where I sat for the better part of an hour, occasionally taking a photograph or two, but mostly thinking about how human orchids are.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry odd second">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/01/brink-clouds" title="Brink of the Clouds"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/bangkokfrombaiyoke.jpg" alt="Brink of the Clouds" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/brink-clouds" class="u-url" title="Brink of the Clouds">Brink of the&nbsp;Clouds</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-03T20:38:27">January <span>3, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Bangkok</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="13.750921779579318"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="100.54314135105552"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- "The city is a cathedral" writes James Salter, "its scent is dreams." Salter may have been referring to New York, but his words ring true in Bangkok. And the best place to feel it at night is on the river or from the top of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel &mdash; where a circular, revolving observation deck offers 360&deg; views of the Bangkok nightscape.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
- <article class="h-entry hentry even third">
- <div class="post--image">
- <a href="/2006/01/are-you-amplified-rock" title="Are You Amplified to Rock?"><img src="https://images.luxagraf.net/post-images/2008/bangkokriver.jpg" alt="Are You Amplified to Rock?" class="u-photo post-image" /></a>
- </div>
- <h1 class="p-name entry-title post--title"><a href="/2006/01/are-you-amplified-rock" class="u-url" title="Are You Amplified to Rock?">Are You Amplified to&nbsp;Rock?</a></h1>
- <p class="p-author author hide">Scott Gilbertson</p>
- <time class="dt-published published dt-updated post--date" datetime="2006-01-01T18:37:48">January <span>1, 2006</span></time>
- <p>
- <span class="p-location h-adr adr post--location">
- <span class="p-region">Bangkok</span>, <a class="p-country-name country-name" href="/writing/thailand/" title="travel writing from Thailand">Thailand</a>
- <data itemprop="latitude" class="p-latitude" value="13.761790973148347"></data>
- <data itemprop="longitude" class="p-longitude" value="100.4934453824343"></data>
- </span> &ndash;
- <span class="p-summary hyphenate">
- It's a new year, are you amplified to rock? Ready, set, go.
- </span>
- </p>
- </article>
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