Beaches

One of the most well known tourist attractions in SE Asia is its beaches, and for good reason. In Thailand, the choice of which beach or island to visit is surprisingly frustrating, because of the hundreds of possibilities.  After endless research, we eventually settled on Koh Lanta, a decent sized island with about a half dozen beaches, including secluded bays in the south and long open beaches in the north. One of the most famous beaches in Thailand (if not the world) is on Koh Phi Phi island, and reachable only by long boat. Maya Bay, where the movie “the Beach” was filmed, may be hard to reach but that does not deter hundreds of people (us included!) from making the journey every day.  The view of the green water and surrounding rock formations is quite breathtaking and if you squint and concentrate hard enough you can pretend you are the only one there.  

We also had a great stay at the beach in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. In retrospect this is almost solely due to the place we stayed on the quietest part of the beach. The main part of the beach is pretty run down and not super pretty, but we were able to find a nice little hotel, with very few tourists around...and for wicked cheap. If you are ever in the area, definitely stay at Sunset Lounge and enjoy the relaxing days doing nothing but laying on their hammocks and drinking killer margaritas. 

Markets

Many times during our travels I have wished we were going straight home just so I could load up an extra suitcase with the beautiful arts, crafts, clothing and occasional kitsch that fill some of the most glorious markets in the world; more so than ever in Southeast Asia. Whether it was flower markets, food markets or just another tourist trinket market, we couldn't get enough of them. Luckily, there were many and they were enormous. The Saturday market in Chiang Mai probably encompassed 7 square blocks selling everything from various ready-to-eat insects to hand-carved wooden iPhone cases. All these markets have some percentage of crafts that are probably made in a factory in China, but you see those same fabrics and products so often that you develop an eye for what is unique and likely handmade. And of course, any market experience wouldn't be complete without a friendly haggling over price, which is always expected and a fun way to practice our language skills. 

Turn down for Wat??! 

The temples of Southeast Asia are really beyond description. From the ancient to the most opulent, they are nearly indescribable. Anyone who plans on spending time in SE Asia needs to have an appreciation for temples and shrines. These make the churches of Europe seem both few in number and modest in decor. Buddha statues are as plentiful as spires. Despite knowing very little about Asian architecture, the variety and beauty of the temples in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand continually awed us even as we grew weary of removing our shoes to enter every single shrine. Whether Hindu or Buddhist, literally every home, business, or property has a small shrine where daily offerings of fruit, rice or money are made. A simple, comforting reminder of the spirituality that permeates the varied cultures of Southeast Asia. 

Although most temples we visited were relatively modern creations, the oldest ones we saw in Siem Reap were far and away the most magnificent.  Of course we are talking about the temples of Angkor Wat. We spent 3 full days visiting the temples of Angkor Wat and didn't get sick of them. The highlights were the many carved faces of Bayon, the gigantic trees invading Ta Prohm Temple (where "Tomb Raider" was filmed) and of course the massive and most famous temple in the region: Angkor Wat.  Oh and we were there the same day as Beyonce and Jay-Z!

Food! Yum, Yum, Yum. 

Soups, curries, stir fries, bbq, smoothies! Just a few of the things we couldn't get enough of in the cuisine of Southeast Asia, which has to be among the most nuanced in the world.  That's about as descriptive as I can get because we are not foodies, but we do seek out local and delicious food. We were not disappointed here. In an effort to learn (as we stuffed our faces), we took a street food tour in Chiang Mai, Thailand with a local food lover who walked us around the local food markets to introduce us to some things that would be hard for most tourists to spot. 

The local food stalls really get fired up at night, when people come out to enjoy the cooler temps and mingle or just grab some chow on the way home from work.  Whether it's an area where many food carts gather, or just a solo cook on a corner, each one specializes in one or two dishes. All the ingredients are there ready to go, with the searing hot wok frying them up. After you place your order, there are typically plastic tables and chairs set up. This experience can be intimidating and tricky for a vegetarian. You can't read the signs, so you can only point to ingredients and hope for the best. It almost always ends up delicious.  While there is a lot of continuity in these cuisines, there were also many distinctive dishes and ingredients, such as padek, fermented fish paste, that was especially stinky in Laos and rendered an otherwise enjoyable raw papaya salad, inedible. Even in this instance, the colors, smells, and flavors of food in SE Asia kept us excited to try new things.   For lots more pictures of some of the local food we tried in SE Asia and during our other travels, be sure to check out or food photos section of the blog!

Golden Gai (Tokyo)
Like in America, drinking is one of the favorite pastimes of young (and old) Japanese. One of the most interesting places to get a drink is the “Golden Gai” district in Tokyo. It is an area about 8 square blocks filled with old 1-2 story buildings, each containing a TINY bar...and I mean tiny. The occupancy of these bars varies from about 4 seats to as “big” as about 15 seats. The bars are so small that you need to squeeze in tight and cozy with everyone inside.

We didn't know which of the over 200 bar to go to, so we randomly picked one that looked interesting up a set of steep, tiny stairs. Upon entering, we were greeted by the bartender (who is literally 1 foot away from the entrance). As there were only 4 other seats, and we didn't have any elbow room between us, we got some nice cultural interactions at the bars here. We highly recommend hopping around the bars in this district, but note that many charge a cover charge since space is so limited.

Karaoke and Arcades

Probably the most well-known Japanese entertainment export, it is still a whole different ballgame here. There are mega-complexes (12+ stories tall) everywhere you turn that are devoted exclusively to Karaoke; and many are open all night. We of course had to check it out and went to a karaoke complex late night after a few drinks; post-bar is the most popular time to go. It feels very professional to go to a karaoke complex...more like going to the movies than like going to the bar (as it usually is in the U.S.). You enter into a sparkling lobby with many employees behind the desk, you book a personal room from one of many different options and you get an awesome menu full of food and drink options which will be delivered to your room. Ala “Lost In Translation” style, all the karaoke here is done in private rooms. We weren't sure if it would be as much fun singing without the public humiliation aspect, but once the music came on, we were enjoying being in our own little karaoke world. The hour flew by and we were wishing we had more time. It took half our time just flipping through the song choice book.... it is literally bigger than the bible. Opening up one of these karaoke complexes in the U.S. may be our post-travel profession.

Robot Restaurant (Tokyo)

What is the “Robot Restaurant”? Well, that is kind of hard to explain. I'm still not quite sure what it is, but lets just say that it is the kind of thing that only makes sense in Tokyo. It is a dinner show that supposedly cost $100 million to make (which is obviously a gigantic lie), but it is almost believable after seeing the crazy elaborate dinner show. The show consists of an over-the-top light show, pyrotechnics, giant video walls, costumed characters, segways, yelling Japanese girls and, of course, robots. The whole show is an odd collection of scenes that don't make much sense. Some of the show's sequences included 10 foot robots dancing in unison, a women riding a giant, robotic snake which ate an “evil” woman and a mock robot boxing match. It was random, nonsensical, crazy...and amazing. I don't know why I enjoyed it so much, but something so weird, elaborate and “techy” is not something I have ever witnessed and felt so right at home in Tokyo. Obviously, this is hard to explain with words (and even photos), so you must watch this short two minute video I took of the night. Seriously, if you like seeing weird things and being confused, press play!

Spa World (Osaka)

On the opposite side of the spectrum from the hyper spectacle of the Robot Restaurant is “Spa World.” Forced into it by Caitlin, I didn't regret it in the end. Spa world consists of two levels, separated by gender, one which is themed “Asia” and one which is themed “Western.” I was certainly a bit intimated to partake as it is completely nude. Being naked in public is usually reserved for my recurring dreams. Additionally, it is a very “local” place: there was maybe one other tourist there. Once you get into the locker room, it is a bit confusing as I saw a bunch of people dressed in robes, which I did not have, so I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I didn't want to be the one weird naked white guy walking around. After some confusing conversations with the staff, I figured out that the robes are for post-spa relaxing and so off I went naked into a brave new world.

On each floor, there are about a dozen different hot spring baths and other spa activities designed based on the theme. For example, on my floor (western themed), there was an outdoor spanish-inspired hot tub with waterfall, an italian inspired grotto jacuzzi, a Finnish style salt sauna, etc. Despite the initial uncomfortableness, it was pretty relaxing. My favorite part of the place was definitely the massive post-spa nap room, complete with a dozen big screen tvs, about 100 fully reclining leather chairs (each with individual speakers) and full bar. It was an amazingly peaceful place, aside from the hundreds of people snoring.

However, I'm primarily writing this to convey that visiting the Hiroshima Peace Museum was the most devastating musuem and one of the most profound experiences I've ever had.  Consisting of victims stories and belongings and survivors' accounts of the day and months that followed were truly horrific. As something we've all learned about as a grave and important decision undertaken by the Allies to hasten the end of WWII, it was still utterly different to see the human side of it.  While the justifications for dropping the atomic bomb are not argued in this post or even within the museum, which focuses on nuclear disarmament and securing world peace, it is impossible to not question the event for what it was: one of the darkest events in the history of humanity. 

It was particularly heavy-hitting to us, after having spent 2 weeks in Japan and being steeped in the kindness and generosity of the Japanese people we met.  I did not get the sense that the Japanese are vengeful about the events in Hiroshima or Nagasaki at all and found their resilience and dedication to peace remarkable. And without making this too political, I think we could do more as a society to remember the deaths and experience of those 135,000 people who lost their lives to end the largest war of the 20th century.  

Japan is tech-y, tall, and over-stimulating. 

Flashing lights, tv screens and hoards of people: Tokyo is just as imagined. There are shops and neon signs for 10 and 12 stories up in every building.  Not being able to read Japanese, you might not even realize there are different restaurants and bars on each floor unless you investigate the building. We stayed in an area called Shibuya, near the busiest intersection in the city, which has become iconic for the crush of people that cross the massive intersection at once. Giant malls are all over the place and you could spend a week exploring the labyrinth of shops in one mall alone. Half the neon signs in Tokyo, Osaka and other hyper-urban areas are dedicated to one of Japan's favorite pastimes: karaoke. These are massive complexes. There is at least one multi-story karaoke complex in every block. I have to admit that after experiencing the indulgence of karaoke, I'm a little jealous America doesn't have the same karaoke appreciation.  Japan is also super high-tech. I mentioned the toilets. Even basic public toilets have a keypad of buttons to enhance your toilet experience. I never figured out what half of the buttons did, but those that i did, seriously altered your typical trip to the toilet (I'll leave the details to your imagination). Jed loved exploring the electronics stores that were often 4 or 5 stories tall, full of random gadgets never-before-seen.

The general accepted strategy for trekking is to climb higher than you are going to sleep for the day to help get used to the altitude. That means we would need to climb up to the summit and then back down to the town we are sleeping in all in one day. The summit day starts in the village of Lobuche (elevation 16,200 feet) and takes about 3 hours to get to Gorak Shep, which is the last sleeping spot on the trek. Amazingly, this is the only spot on the whole trek where I had 3G internet on my phone! But I digress. After the winding, up and down slopes to Gorak Shep, it is a quick stop for lunch and then on to the summit. At this point, the daytime temperature has dropped dramatically compared to rest of the trek and we are trekking on top of a glacier. It is time to fully bundle up with the down coats, knit hats, wind-proof gloves etc. The air is super thin and it is really dry...it is quite hard to breathe. And the terrain has also changed; it is now just giant piles of loose rocks that you need to climb over. Twisting an ankle is a real concern, as is a series of rock slides from one of the thousands of loose boulders up hill from where we are walking. 

The teahouses we stayed in ranged quite a bit but were usually above my expectations. That being said, my expectations were incredibly low. Every building was little more than thin plywood walls and a piece of foam on top of a plywood “bed”. Crucially, everywhere provided a blanket which made the difference in us surviving the sub-zero nights, despite having pretty warm sleeping bags. Our rooms at night were roughly the same temp or a few degrees warmer than the outside temperature, which was near freezing for several of the nights. During the last week, water left on the floor over night would be frozen by morning. 

After three very stressful days, we had secured two porters, a guide and all the gear we needed for our trek. Most hiking duos use just one porter instead of two, but after seeing our ridiculously full and heavy duffle bags, we felt there was no way human could carry both those bags (over 40 lbs) up a mountain, in the high altitude. After a few days on the trek, we came to realize how wrong we were as the Sherpas are incredibly strong people and were carrying loads 3X or 4X that. Oh well, we gave someone else employment for 2 weeks. The night before the trek began, we barely slept more than 3 hours due to our anxiety of the upcoming journey. Not a great way to start out 2 weeks of hiking.

Due to my fear of flying, particularly on an old, Nepali plane into the most dangerous airport in the world, we booked a helicopter into Lukla for just a little bit more money. Turned out to be an amazing ride with the spectacular Himalayan scenery in the backdrop. Seeing the mountains as we flew by, I knew these next two weeks were going to be epic...