A riveboat taxi in Bangkok, Thailand.

Journal and photo by Todd Borgie

After traipsing all over Bangkok for the last week or so, still working on paperwork, permits and visas, today I thought I would change gears. While exploring Bangkok, I have been seeing stupas, temples, and Buddha’s and have been wondering what all these things mean.

Chanda and I got up early enough to catch the morning ferry up river. Unfortunately, we were a little late to meet a 9:30 am tour at the National Museum, so the ferry seemed extra slow this morning. I have to say I have been really enjoying starting my day boarding a morning open-air ferry. The weather is warm, but a breeze slides though the boat, and I get to read the morning paper. Anyway, back to the present morning. Bangkok traffic moves slower than the boats on the river, so after our ferry shuttle took us to the main terminal, we needed to catch another boat the rest of the way up the river.

The boat we took was long and sleek. It could have held about 12 people, but there were only four of us. The boat was colorful and it was complete with a canopy and splashguard so we wouldn’t have to deal with the muddy water of the river or the strong tropical sun thundering down upon us.

One of the coolest things about these boats is how the engine is situated. The engine and transmission are bolted together and mounted on a pivot. Connected to the transmission is a long shaft that is about 10-feet long. This shaft is connected to the propeller, the speed and the heading of the boat altered by swiveling or pivoting the engine, which in turn alters the depth or direction of the prop in the water. The engines look like standard four-cylinder jobbies, so they can make tracks. If it wasn’t for the long propeller shafts and their movement, you could easily ski behind one of these babies.

We raced up the river and got to the museum, but we had to catch up with the tour, which was not too much of an effort. Volunteer tours are given in English on Wednesdays and Thursdays; today’s topic was Buddhism.

The National museum was now held in one of the crown princes’ former palaces; the buildings were beautiful. The first building we entered was a temple. We were required to take off our shoes as we entered. Shoe removal is just an excellent way to keep dirt levels down anywhere. We had to step over a large threshold (about six inches high), and we were in the temple! We were told that it was bad luck to step directly upon the threshold, so now I won’t do that anymore, but sometimes I forget!

In the temple we learned the story of Buddha. In Thailand we are not able to take pictures of sacred Buddhist things, so I wasn’t able to take pictures. Anyway, the story of Buddha was depicted in a series of colorful murals on the walls.

Buddha was born in around 500 BC to a king and queen who lived in what is now known as Northeast India. His name was not Buddha, but Siddharta. Apparently, Siddharta’s mother did not have a normal pregnancy, as she was entered by a deity and then became pregnant.

Siddharta lived in his father’s court for 29 years and even married, but when he was 29, he managed to slip out of the walls that protected him in his father’s court and got a glimpse of what life was like without privilege; this is when he began his wanderings. Siddharta could not resolve the problem that some had privilege and others didn’t; therefore, through his wanderings he was able to separate the material and the spiritual, freeing himself of earthly desires. As a result of being free from desire, he was also free of fear. Through his efforts he became enlightened (free of fear or desire, having only love for everything and everyone).

The teachings of Buddha are a method of obtaining enlightenment. Buddhist monks spend their life studying his peaceful teachings, as Buddhism is the major religion of Southeast Asia, China and Tibet.

After leaving the temple, we viewed all kinds of artifacts from royal Thailand. We saw cremation urns, glassware, and clothing styles from many different eras. It’s all pretty interesting, as you see certain objects, characters and symbols over and over again, but people have spent their entire lives writing about that stuff, so I won’t.

After leaving the museum, I went to the Grand Palace. This is not the royal residence anymore, but the place where the king of Thailand goes to practice Buddhism. Just a side note here about the king: the King of Thailand is a highly revered person here. You do not make jokes about him or the royal family, not because of a mandate, but out of respect. One thing we have all been startled with is a brief royal ceremony before movies. Before the movie, but after the previews, the king appears on the screen. There are images of him doing various things around Thailand, but what you have to do is stand up when he comes on the screen. I didn’t know this during the first movie I saw, but I quickly learned. I must confess it is kind of a strange concept for me to show profound respect to a person who possesses a hereditary title, but I guess there are always concepts and ideas, some of which we challenge, and others which we don’t.

Anyway, back to the day. The Grand Palace was an amazing place. One of the most notable items there was the Emerald Buddha. The Emerald Buddha was placed in a glass box on top of a large altar. Apparently, it was discovered in about 1434 in Chiang Rai. Although it was confused for being made from an emerald, it was really carved from jade. Only sitting a couple feet tall, this is one of the most venerated Buddha images in Thailand. In the last 500 years, this statue has been traded back and forth between Thailand and Laos. Unfortunately, the trading has been done with armies rather than amongst friends. In any case, the Emerald Buddha is now living in Thailand.

It was amazing to walk through the royal grounds, seeing the former residence of the Thai kings and queens. It does not look like a high-walled fortress of Europe, although it most certainly has a high wall around the perimeter. It’s just inspiring to see what human creativity is capable of. With that kind of capability, shouldn’t it be easy to find a cure for Parkinson’s Disease?

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Headless Buddas.

Journal and photo by Adam Burgess

Across from me she wines, “I just wanna see his email!” He plops the petite laptop down on the round wooden table. “Sorry, they said that they’ll have to send it out to a service department!” And so she gets up to buy another tidbit from the English language menu. Clad in beads, Tevas, and an oversized Independent Coffee Company T-shirt, she now sits head-in-hand, disappointed in a far-off world. He’s sinks his fork into a small muffin cup as though it were a dessert in a fine Parisian restaurant. Nibble by nibble, his goatee scruff catches a few crumbs. These are the new world travelers, as they sit in Starbucks in Bangkok, they steal wireless from the nearby Apple Centre store with their wireless computer. Splattered with hypocrisy, they display themselves in the window like contemporary art depicting American values…and I, equally guilty, sit facing them and this computer screen. While my fingers tap away at the plastic keys, two blue lights flicker in the corner showing 11.0 Mbps of stolen bandwidth.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

This is Part IV of a four-part educational installment that Neil wrote about his solo trip to Cambodia. To see more pictures and to read the entire story, click on the monk photo below.

A monk who befriended Neil in Cambodia poses at the Angkor Wat ruins.

Photo by Neil Dana

What I didn't tell you before about the dictatorship of Sihanouk from 1941-71, was he based his ideals and philosophies on the ancient Khmer civilization that built all the Angkor Ruins from the 9th-14th centuries. The Angkor Kings were godlike. In fact, they revered themselves above God, and the population believed they were higher than God. It is from here that the root of Cambodia's problems stemmed. However, we all have problems, and everyone is far from perfect.

Anyway, I spent four days going to quite a few different Angkor Ruins, and truthfully, they were the most intricate ruins I have ever seen. The amount of time and detail that went into every stone throughout all the temples is unbelievable! The Angkor Ruins are famous for their stone carvings in all the ruins, and they certainly live up to their reputation. It is hard to believe that people can actually create such magnificent structures.

On my first day of checking out the ruins, I awoke at 5:30AM and went to the Angkor Wat temple, which is the most famous and largest of all the monuments. When I arrived, I was quite surprised at how many people were there to take photos of the sunrise. There were about 300 people there ready for the sun to come up. The sun was going to come up behind the monument, and everyone was on the west side to see the silhouette. I decided to go in the temple before the sunrise and go to the other side, the one that the sun would actually shine on, and get in before the crowd.

I am so glad I did just that. There wasn't anyone around, and I had the whole place to myself with all the heavenly nymphs. I must admit, the heavenly nymphs are my favorite carvings in the Angkor Wat. I'm not sure why?

Anyway, the place is immense! The stairs are steep, and if you fall, you've had it, so you need to be careful. There are different corridors as well, the outer corridor and the inner corridor, and you can walk around them, but it takes quite a while. Around the inner wall is what they call Bas-Reliefs, carvings that depict ancient epic events. They surround the entire center of the temple and are 800 meters in length. As you walk up the stairs into the different areas, there are different statues and wall carvings, too many to describe. In fact, these ruins have so much to offer, you really need to go there yourself to really understand. You can also get a book and read up about them, but I am not going to try and attempt to describe all the different intricate carvings I saw; it is too much to recreate. You can, however, check out the pictures I have included, and it will give you an idea of many of the beautiful things I experienced.

I will tell you that I spent five hours in the Angkor Wat that morning and was completely enthralled. I was just in awe and felt the amazing magnificence that man can be. I met a cool monk there as well, and he showed me around for a while and was a very nice guy. He did ask for some "help" afterwards, and I expected that and gave him a few bucks. As with any religion I can think of, the followers depend on the local community for money. If you go to church back home, doesn't a hat or pot go around for donations? I also ended up going to some more temples throughout the rest of that day and the other days. Bayon was a temple that has the ENORMOUS faces of Avalokiteshvara, which was quite a sight. Many of the temples are made of soft sandstone and bricks, and have been restored over the years. They have done a really good job at keeping the recreated work from looking too new and unreal.

Another really amazing ruin as well was Ta Prohm, and a few other similar ruins that have not been renovated or kept up. The ruins have been overtaken by the jungle, and there are huge trees that have grown into the walls and destroyed many structures. But to be able to see it, as it is, untouched by human hands since they were created, is rare to see anywhere in the world. The Angkor Ruins are so large, and there are so many of them, that there are not enough resources to keep them all up. Just in the immediate area, there are two roads that circle many of the main ruins. One is a 17 km road, and the other a 26km road that you encircle and stop off at different ruins along the way. And then outside of that, there are roads that go off in other directions towards other distant temples.

Two of my other favorite locations were about an hour and a half ride away along an old dirt road out in the countryside. One is known as the ruins of Banteay Srei, which they say must have been carved by women, because the carvings are so intricate, only a woman has the patience and delicate touch to accomplish such fine work. Also, the doorways are much lower than the other temples. And yes, the carvings are incredibly intricate!

And further up the road is Kobal Spien, which is the River of 1,000 Lingas, and is where the old king used to bathe. I took the liberty of taking off my clothes and going under the waterfall and bathing as well; and I must say, I did feel like a King. Although, that is nothing new:) Also in this river, there are hundreds and hundreds of carvings in the actual rock bed of the river. They are circular carvings, representing a phallic nature. It is a really beautiful, remote location in the middle of the jungle. In fact, if you take the road further north, it is really dangerous due to land mines. You start heading up towards the northern border with Thailand, there are still some Khmer Rouge floating around, whom I've heard come out once a year or so and blow something up just to let us all know they still exist.

Oh, and in between the ruins, Richard, my moped driver would take me to various vendors in front of the ruins to have lunch or drinks. The Cambodian food is decent, not as good as Thai food by any means, but not bad. And, you end up drinking tons of water, as Cambodia is extremely HOT!!! It is the hottest I have been on this whole trip so far, just sweating all the time. I had to buy a hat to cover my face and shoulders to keep the sun's penetrating rays from heating me up too much. And at the end of each day, I was completely exhausted and worn out. It was hard to fall asleep with a fan that blew hot air over my body all night. I guess that's what you get for $3 a night. I could have paid more for air conditioning, but come on!

I also ended up going to many other ruins, and they all were fantastic. The Roluos Group, which are the oldest, date back to the late 800's. As for all the ruins I barely described, and for the ones I didn't, please forgive me, but there are large books solely devoted to these ruins. If you are really interested, go and buy one, as all I really want to say is that these ruins are truly a gift to witness and experience. I have been touched to the core by these ruins, and also by Cambodian culture and history. It really is beyond my words. I only hope you can make the time to visit this place some day; it will be one of the greatest places you have ever been, guaranteed!

And if you ever do come, maybe you will remember this part of my story, and you too can help out some local Cambodians. After a few days of walking around ruins all day, my legs and feet were beat up, and all over the town of Siem Reap, there are foot massage places. So I decided to get one. I walked up to one of them, and there were a couple of ladies sitting out front. One of them asked if I would like a massage and I told her yes, I would like a foot massage. So she brings me in and sits me down, washes my feet and begins to rub them, which tickles like mad!! Anyway, she could speak a bit of English and was really excited to speak English with me. She was telling me how she is trying to learn English, but it is difficult because she doesn't have the opportunity to speak it very often. She goes to English school in the morning from 6-8, and then works from 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. everyday. She is one of ten children, each of whom is supporting the family, as the parents don't work. She brings home the most money from the massage place, since she gets tips, which is good. However, she doesn't like it very much; she wants to get into management eventually. Her name is Sitha by the way.

I tell her that the more English she learns, the more success she will have in the future since she lives in such a tourist-dominated area, and she agrees. I ask her if she knows how to use the Internet, as that is a great way to practice English and chat with people. She doesn't know how to use it and wants to learn, but doesn't have the opportunity. So as she massages me more, I think, well, I have one more day here, maybe she will have time to go to an Internet cafe with me for an hour and I can teach her. So I ask her, and her eyes light up like I've never seen before; it was amazing. "You would teach me?" she asks, as if she doesn't really believe me. I tell her yes. She is amazed, and we organize to meet the following morning at 8 a.m. to go to the Internet cafe for an hour or so. She is so happy, and we continue talking, and she keeps calling me a "good man."

Anyway, the next morning comes and we meet and she shows up with one of her friends and asks if it is ok to teach her as well? Of course! Her name is Chai. So I take them both over to the Internet cafe and sit them down at two computers and open up a Yahoo account for each of them and teach them how to use the computer and mouse, and what to click, and everything necessary to use email. I make them start the computer, open the browser, type in www.yahoo.com, then click the email button, then put in their name and password, etc. After about 15 times, they really get it without my help. The lady who works there everyday also helped them a bit, so now I know in the future if they get stuck, they can ask her for help as well. So after an hour and a half, they get it and are extremely happy.

Then I go over to the cashier and pay for the time, and also pay for 20 more hours of Internet time for the girls so they can use it for a while and really get used to it and practice English. We are all really happy, and I wish them goodbye, they are so happy, it is great to see. In just communicating with a local, and putting in a little time and effort, I really hope that I have started and inspired some more learning for them. I do think it will help them both tremendously. They live in a very poor area, and a small bit of knowledge and help can go a long way, as long as you can get them to be self-motivated and continue on their own, which I think I have done. I will keep in touch with them, and it should require them to translate my emails with one of their dictionaries, and they will learn more English and how to type faster, which can only help them in a tourism-dominated town.

After that, I grabbed some food and then decided to head off to the silk farm for a bit of my own education.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

A Buddhist monk stands on a temple in Cambodia.

[Photo by Neil Dana]

Journal by Chanda Baggarly

Marriott Riverside Resort and Spa, Baby!!! We get 5 days of paradise thanks to Colin's cool Auntie.

Since we arrived in Thailand we have experienced many extremes; for example, we have met wealthy and poor, eaten spicy and bland, seen colorful and plain, and wouldn't dare forget, experienced welcoming and "you go now!". The Marriott Riverside Resort and Spa is certainly one of the extremes. The luxury of the Marriott is a huge contrast to the White Lodge where we stayed last week. I love the White Lodge, and we will head back there when our time is up at the Marriott, but well, I'll just throw out some adjectives and you say the first thing that comes to your mind....the White Lodge is austere, musty, moldy, damp yet charming, friendly and warm and don't forget cheap. Perfect.

Bangkok itself is extreme. Whoever put together Bangkok bought in bulk. Here you have most of everything and anything you can think of---people, religion, cuisine, culture, clothing, electronics, cell phones, traffic, everything. Bangkok offers one of the best shopping experiences ever. And with the Sky Train system, you could literally spend the whole day shopping without your Ferragammos ever touching Madre Earth. The Sky Train can take you from your hotel to at least three different multi-level shopping centers that I know of.

The MBK center is a huge, crowded mall, like many of the malls in the U.S. It is seven stories high and has restaurants and a movie theatre.
[Photo by Nancy Olson]

To help balance the extreme shopping and consumerism that one can lose themselves in while staying in Bangkok is the gentle reminder that 'what we do not have, we do not need' and 'attachment leads to suffering,' a concept brought to us by the many Buddist temples and monks that walk the streets. The Buddhist monks live simple ascetic lives of religious contemplation in monasteries; however, you see them out and about all over Bangkok. They follow different rules according to their sect, but most remain cut off from worldly affairs---no television, newspapers, etc. They do not use money, they are self sufficient, but they will accept donations of food and drink from anyone who offers.

Until next week, safe journeys!

Chanda

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

D3 gets some religion in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Here, Todd, Adam, and Nancy visited Wat Tham Mangkon Thong, which means Cave Temple of the Golden Dragon. Basically, it is a big cave that houses several Buddhist shrines and temples and is considered sacred by Buddhists. People go there to meditate, and ceremonies are often performed there.

Photo Journal by Nancy Olson

A PHOTO JOURNAL

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1. At the Wat Tham Mangkon Thong in Kanchanaburi, this big, happy Buddha welcomes guests with his benevolent smile.

These stairs lead up to the wat, or cave, where Buddhists go to meditate.

3. Adam and Todd climb up the dragon staircase that leads to the Cave Temple.

4. The view from the top of the big staircase, where the entrance to the Cave Temple of the Golden Dragon lies.

5. This is the entrance to the Cave Temple of the Golden Dragon.

6. Todd and Adam enter the wat to view the Cave Temple of the Golden Dragon.

7. The wat was actually quite a deep cave, and some sections required Nancy, Todd, and Adam to get down on all fours and crawl. This section required a scramble up a little lip to a ladder that led out of the cave. It was AWESOME!

Outside of the wat, or cave, Todd found another temple. Here, he lit incense as a show of respect.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Justin poses for a photo in Cambodia after a long and grueling journey to get there.

Journal and photos by Justin Mounts

The team has been sweating in Bangkok for three weeks now, and all of my local friends have gone away for the weekend; I need to get out of town. Fortunately, not too far away is the Cambodian border, and beyond that, the historic ruins of Angkor Wat.

Flash forward a little bit—it’s 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, and I am just getting into bed. I have just endured one of the biggest scams of my life. In order to go from Bangkok to the town of Siem Reap, I have arranged transport via bus. I know that ahead of me lies about a 9-hour trip using budget transportation in all senses of the word. Knowing that the process of getting to and from Cambodia is lined with scams starting with tour agencies, continuing at the border, and wrapping up with the hotels near the ruins, I am prepared.

So I think.

Despite my best efforts to avoid being taken, I got screwed. I mean, I asked what I thought were all the right questions. I checked with many tour groups to find what I thought was a fair price. I asked to ensure that I would be traveling in a bus or minivan the entire distance. I confirmed the price of obtaining a Cambodian visa. I even researched all the hotels in Siem Reap and knew where they were on the map. I am ready for whatever may come my way.

It’s 6:30 am on Friday, and I am supposed to be getting onto the first bus that will take me to the border. I am not well this morning. In fact, I had to stop the taxi on the way to the tour agency so I could vomit out the door into the street. After I reached the tour company, my sickness came back with a vengeance, and I once again emptied my stomach. Feeling a little better finally, I am now wondering where my bus is. It’s 7:30. I have checked with the tour agent several times now, but have been patient given how lousy I feel. Now that whatever was ailing me is gone, I’m ready to get on the road. I bought a ticket on the earliest bus to ensure that I could arrive before the other hoards of tourists and get a good hotel room. Finally, a shuttle van arrives to pick me up. After a 20-minute drive, this shuttle drops me off on the side of the street with about 15 other people. It is here that we wait another 20 minutes before our bus arrives. Trying to remain positive, I settle into a seat for the five-hour ride to the border.

As we near the border, the bus stops at a conveniently placed restaurant, owned and operated by a friend of the driver, where there are several “paperwork expediters” present who will graciously assist you in buying your visa at the border for 1,300 baht. Since the cost of a visa is only 1,000 baht, I politely pass on their offer. Besides, I’ve been through enough borders in my time that I’m certain I can navigate the border without getting scammed. After taking over an hour for lunch (a scam), we set off for the border 8 km down the road. After reaching the border and talking to the guards, I find that the price of admission has gone up to 1,500 baht. That’s 1,000 for the visa, and 500 as an expediting fee for a stamp that is required. I hand over my passport with 1,000 baht and politely and quietly explain that I know the price for a visa, and that I’m not willing to pay more. One hour later, my passport is still gone. The little man behind the counter returns with my passport and tells me that he cannot process my paperwork with the money I have given him. In fact, he says if I don’t want to pay, I can go back to Bangkok. At this point, I politely and quietly restate the fact that I know the cost of a visa for Cambodia is 1,000 baht. I hand back my passport and ask the man to try again. I don’t want to cause this man to lose face, but I’m not budging. We go through this game for another 20 minutes, even to the point where they pull me around the side of the building into a swarm of military personnel who want me to pay them too. I’m not moving. The hardest thing to get rid of is a body, and as long as I’m standing in front of the window holding up the line, it makes them look bad, and they lose the opportunity to scam other travelers. Finally, after giving me back my passport for the 3rd or 4th time, they admit that they can stamp my passport for an additional 100 baht, or $2.50 cents. Since it is ridiculously hot out, I pay the money and I’m on my way.

Now, here’s where the real work of art takes place. You have to walk about a kilometer through no-man’s land to actually enter Cambodia. Instead of a meeting a bus that will take me the rest of the way to Siem Reap, my tour company representative politely informs me and the other travelers I’m with that we will be taking a pickup truck the rest of the way. It is a small, extended-cab pickup, very similar to the ones we have in the states. The problem? Including the driver, there are 13 of us that will be traveling in this truck. So, I spent the next 7 hours in the bed of the pickup with 9 other travelers and their bags. I still have symmetrical bruises on my butt and a decent bruise on my lower back.

Having the wind in my hair and laughing at the painfully big bumps along the road was fun for the first hour while the sun was setting. The next 6 hours were nothing but torture. You can’t move, you can’t get comfortable, and you are covered with dust from the road. By the time we actually arrive in Siem Reap, everybody looks as impoverished as some of the local hill-tribe villagers.

At least I have done my hotel research.

I set off by foot to find my hotels, only to discover that since it is low season, most of them are chained off with large metal gates. I find myself at a “high-end” hotel in the area that wants $15 US a night to stay there. After investigating the room, I decide that it is definitely not worth the money. I leave and spend another hour looking for hotel rooms, only to be given stories of we’re full or we’re closed about another half-dozen times. I meet back up with three of the other pickup truck refugees, and we decide to band together to negotiate a better rate at my $15 roach motel. Only when we arrive, we are informed that the price has gone up to $20 per room. At this point, I am fed up. I don’t care about cultural insensitivity, and I don’t care about saving face. I let this guy have it. After about 10 minutes, the price is back down to $15 and I’m too tired to care anymore. I sign my name on the dotted line, go into my room, and collapse. I have to be up in a few hours if I’m going to see the sunrise…

Until next time, I wish you well from the far side of the world.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Adam, Todd, and Nancy took an overnight trip to Kanchanaburi Province in Thailand, some 170 km west of Bangkok. Here, two monks cross the Bridge over River Kwai in there. This steel bridge replaces the original wooden structure, which was destroyed by allied troops during WWII. The bridge is part of the Burmese/Thai railway, nicknamed the “Death Railway” because of the thousands of allied POWs and Asian laborers who died building it during WWII.

Photo journal by Nancy Olson

A PHOTO JOURNAL

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1. Nancy and Adam strike a pose on the Bridge over River Kwai.

2. A sign warns tourists of the dangers of walking across the bridge, which has no hand railings and offers careless adventurers a freefall into the water.

3. Todd strikes his own special pose on the Bridge over River Kwai. The bridge’s story was made mainstream by Hollywood, which made a 1957 film of the same name that tells the story of the POW’s who were forced to build it.

4. The Bridge over River Kwai is now a popular tourist attraction. The river is trafficked by party boats and kayakers, and floating hotels and restaurants dot its shores.

Many vendors have booths set up at the Bridge over River Kwai to sell various goods, and one guy sold bananas to tourists who want to feed his elephants. This baby Asian elephant was eager to get hold of a banana!

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Ronald McDonald strikes a Buddist pose in Bangkok

Journal by Colin McAuliffe, photo by Nancy Olson

Anyhooooo, So we've been in Bangkok for a while now. Almost three weeks in fact. It's a blessing and a curse. I love Bangkok, I really do, of all the cities that I've visited on this trip, BKK is definitely top three. It's also so nice to feel settled. That is one of the major things that I miss from home, the feeling of knowing where I am, and the options that I have. I've reached a point here in Bangkok where I can get anywhere I want in the city and know how much the cab or skytrain should cost. My short-lived love affair with the Tu-Tuk has ended. Yes, they are fun and all, but taxis are actually cheaper if you are Farang (Westerner).

You might wonder about the daily routine that I have here, you might not wonder, you might not care at all. Too bad for you, because I'm a-gonna tell you. So, I wake up (this could be anywhere between 8 a.m. and noon, although it's usually closer to noon.) I shower, usually when I shower I sit on the edge of the tub, which is kind of strange, but since the shower is really just a fawcetty-type thing with an extensiony-type thing, my method makes sense. You can hang the extension on the wall, but I don't like the angle, so I bath Asian style.

After my bath I head over to my favorite eating place, which I went into great detail about in a recent blog. Then I check my email. Which is usually fast, since I don't have a computer and always have to borrow Adam's (which he doesn't really like, but does anyway because he's such a sweetheart).

If the weather is nice, a grab my video camera (Panasonic dvc80) which is my little buddy, and I head out with a tripod and get some footage of things going on in the city.
Usually after that (if that happens, that is), I watch a movie. Movies are super cheap here, so I've pretty much seen everything that's out. I'm heartily looking forward to next week when some new films hit the big screen.

Then I eat dinner, also at my favorite restaurant, where at this point, I know everyone by name, and they all know exactly what I want. A few days ago, they got a TV, so now I sit around with them and watch TV and drink ice coffee for a while. They are always asking me things in Thai, that I don't understand, and they get a huge kick out of that. Yesterday, a Thai woman was there eating who spoke good English, and when they started asking questions she translated for me. Here is the sequence: "Do you have a wife?" "No", I reply. They giggle. "How long you will stay in Thailand?" "Who knows? 1 week, 1 year, maybe forever," I reply mischievously. "You want a Thai wife?" "Maybe so, maybe not," I reply, even though I don't want one. "You have Thai girlfriend?".... Anyway, you get the point. I think they are trying to get me to marry Phung, one of the waitresses there, which I think is funny. But I really don't plan on getting married anytime soon, so I just stick with my ice coffee.

After the whole giggling waitress thing (which is a nightly occurrence) I head back to the room and take another shower on the side of the tub. It's hot and muggy and sweaty and sticky here, so multiple showers are needed daily. Once I am clean, maybe I'll read, maybe I won't. For a few days I was reading Frank McCourt's "'Tis." Unfortunately, the book was so good I couldn't put it down and read it too fast. Now I'm reading some bubblegum murder mystery that I picked up somewhere along the way, and I don't really enjoy it.

After that, the boys (Adam and Neil) are usually back around, so we head down to Khoa Sarn road and drink milkshakes and watch soccer matches until 4 a.m. The Euro Cup is going on right now, so every night, throngs of people head out to watch the games, which start at 1:30 a.m. It's nice to see people so patriotic, all dressed up in their nations soccer jersey. The English people are the most numerous and fervent. They go crazy when they score, and boo when they don't. When France beat them last week it was a very sad scene, to see all those upset English people moping around.

Once the games are over, I go to sleep and wake up and start it all over again. And that is my Bangkok life.

Colin

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Surrounded by the bustling city of Bangkok, Nancy dreams of mountain biking in the Outback. Ah, the good ol' days...

Journal by Nancy Olson, Photos by Todd Borgie, montage by Nancy Olson...

Lately, I have been feeling the emotional effects of being physically out of shape. I have lost all of the fitness I gained during my month-long cycle down the east coast of Australia, which is a shame, because I was pretty fit then. I had actually managed to hang on to that fitness by running each day in Brisbane, on the road, and in Cairns. Then, in the Outback, I managed a few runs and a few bike rides.

All the way across Australia, I was in fairly decent shape, though definitely on the decline, and then I mangled my ankle. Well, I’m normally one to run off an injury such as that, but this one was worse than any ankle twist I’ve had before, and I was out of commission until just after we arrived in Singapore. My left ankle, still marked by a large bump, was fat, swollen, and painful for weeks.

Now, I’m certain I can run on it, and I did ride my bike on it in Malysia with fair results, but I’m afraid to go running in the city of Bangkok. I go all over this city by myself, so that’s not really the problem. The problem is, 1) The traffic is ridiculous, and there’s nowhere that’s physically safe to run where I wouldn’t be mowed over by a tuk-tuk or taxi or food cart, and 2) I always feel like a complete whacko running through crowds of people who aren’t used to having people run through them. Maybe if I weren’t the Great White Red-Head who sticks out in a city of Asians like a sore thumb, I wouldn’t be self-conscious. I just don’t want to draw THAT MUCH attention to myself.

So, I’m lamenting my poor fitness level. I have had to alter my dietary intake, because, at 31, I’m prone to “inflation” if I don’t exercise regularly. What can I say? I like to eat! I realized that the seemingly healthy soups and stir-fry dishes here are heavily infused with sugar, because Thai people, like me, have an intense sweet tooth! So, those delicious things must be consumed in moderation. I hate moderation!

I was asked the other day what I most miss about home. Easy question, if you want the short answer: I miss my family and friends and their conservative political ways… But the other part of the answer is that I miss, very terribly, the sport of adventure racing. It is the world’s greatest sport, and I ache to compete, or even just to train for an adventure race. The sport combines all sorts of weekend-warrior activities, such as mountain biking, trekking, running, paddling, climbing, rappelling (abseiling to Brits), orienteering, and other outdoor activities. Because these are all events that adventure racers love to do in their free time, anyway, training for an adventure race is just incredibly fun. And the race itself, while excruciating, is the ultimate physical challenge and the ultimate thrill for participants, who normally compete in teams of four.

So, here I am in Bangkok, a city of some 16 million, pining for the day when we will move to a beach, or somewhere less congested, so I can hop on my bike or go for a morning run. Sometimes, I even allow myself to dream of the day when we will be home and I can ride my bike throughout the mountains around San Jose, Los Gatos, and the Bay Area.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Adam takes a big bight out of Nemo...

Journal by Todd Borgie

Well, we are making forward progress. Visas are taken care of and paperwork for India, Myanmar, and China are well underway. It came down today that we could arrive in China as early as the 15th of July. That isn’t too far off, and it will give us time to see and learn about the various sites here in Thailand. However, there are many questions to which we need to find answers between now and when we begin the next section of the expedition.

One of the huge questions we have to answer is one about security! Listening to the news, it is sometimes hard to separate fact from fiction. Often every story is true, but it is hard to determine whether many of the stories are representative of everyday life, or if they are extreme cases, the one in a million stories. Take the Scott and Lacy Petersen case, for example. If this story were all that a visitor heard about while in the USA, their opinion would be pretty skewed of us as a people. To further my point about perceptions, I would bet the chances of being shot are greater in the United States than virtually any other place on Earth, if you look at the percentage of gunshot wounds per population. Although many people do not want to accept this, I believe this statement is likely very accurate. In the news, we are witness to the daily bloodshed elsewhere, and the bloodshed on our home front is not very well reported unless an extreme event occurs. The problem here is that the way news is reported often determines how we view the rest of the world. Many people I talk to view the rest of the world as a very violent place. I would suggest that it is not as violent as it is perceived to be, especially in the United States. In defense of the media, we must also look our appetite for the news, what we like to watch, and what do we determine as boring, as our desires are often met. But I guess that is another topic entirely.

To dismount off my soapbox, I must transition to my point. While researching places, we have to look at a variety of sources for information and then try to read between the lines, while at the same time keeping in mind that circumstances change every day. Today we are researching whether or not to hire security between Mandalay, Myanmar, and the northeast states of India. There are a variety of conflicts in this area stemming from the past foreign involvement here. Kingdoms have been swallowed up by larger powers, and people are not completely happy about how the cards fell, and who was in fact invited to the card game in the first place. But again, that is not our issue; the pertinent issue is safety through these regions.

The next couple of days of researching will help us make the best decisions possible for this stretch of the road.

Last night, many of us were on the monthly conference call. Due to the time difference, the call began for us at 1:00 a.m.; therefore, we all made it back to our respective lodgings around 3:30 a.m. Needless to say, this was not an early morning for us. Snapping to attention around noon, one of the most important things on our plates was to deliver to India and China the necessary documentation they requested in order to apply for our permits. Yesterday was filled with filling out reams of paper, making photocopies, and affixing pictures to documents. Now we must hope that all our answers will be cogent, and, most importantly, correct, for the powers that be!

After collecting all the necessary signatures and data, I needed to go to a DHL office to send the documents to India. This seems easy enough, but you never know when a wrench is going to be thrown into your spokes. These errands are usually a lot of fun in a new city, if you have the patience for them. Although you have to have determination, don’t be attached to getting these errands done quickly, because this idea will only leave you with a headache!

I located a DHL office online; there were multiple, but I wanted one that was closest to the sky train (in my opinion, the only way to get around in Bangkok due to the extreme traffic congestion). I was off and running. I love walking down the streets of a new city, because you never know what you are going to see, and you will always see something that you have never seen before! This time I saw a cemetery that was being dug up. There were a few crypts left, but for the most part the whole area was dug up. The area was muddy and half flooded, but the tractors were working. The morbid side of me stopped and looked around and wondered if I would end up in some haunted movie plot. I scanned for bones and things, but at the same time I knew I wouldn’t want to see them even if I saw them.

As I walked down the street, I neared the DHL office. I would check with people on the way to make sure I was going the right direction. Everyone seemed to know where the office was and kept pointing me in the direction I was going. Unfortunately, I arrived only to find the office had moved to a different location less than a month ago. Bummer! One thing that was making me disconcerted despite the lack of a DHL office was the fact that everyone looked at their watch when I asked them where DHL was. I don’t wear a watch; I haven’t for about 15 years, but I became a bit paranoid and developed a new sense of urgency.

Anyway, a nice security officer wrote down in English and Thai how to get to the nearest DHL office. I trusted him and thanked him. I flagged down a cab and gave the cabby my instructions. The cabby looked at the paper for a bit longer than he should have, he studied it, his eyes swayed right, he looked again, and with a semi-confident grin, he gave of the impression that he had a good guess where we were going. We drove south away from the city; it was then that my paranoia tapped me on the shoulder. “Where is this place?” I thought. We just kept driving. After fifteen minutes I was relieved to see the bright-yellow office of DHL. Soon business was taken care of and I was headed back downtown, trying to get there before another downpour began.

It was at this time that I realized how exhausted I was and picked up an ice cream from Dairy Queen in hopes of getting my second wind. It worked, with the aid of a cup of coffee. Back in the saddle, I spent the rest of the evening researching Manipur and Western Burma. This area of the world is interesting, and I am eager to learn more. Thus ends another day in Bangkok!

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Bangkok traffic.

Journal and photo by Adam Burgess

Just in front of me was another street person, a mother carrying a baby as she walked towards the overpass to sit and hope for baht to fall into her cup. As she approached the stairs, the baby started to cry. Its face curled up, tears came out, and it reached towards the ground. The mother tried to quiet her down as she took the first couple of steps to the sky train. It was then that my eyes followed the line of the frail outstretched arm down to the filthy pavement below where a small portion of somebody’s dropped banana lay half smooshed into the cement. As the mother continued obliviously up the flight of steps, the little hand flopped down behind the mothers back, the dirty chin slumped onto her mother’s shoulders, and the wails turned to sobs. This struck a chord in Neil and me. We don’t shell out a lot because its impossible to help everyone, but we both looked at each other and thought, “That’s horrible.” So we gave the mother 40 baht. She has no idea why, I’m sure, and was quite surprised to receive money without having yet assumed her place next to the others on the walkway above.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Neil went to Cambodia, all by his lonesome, and he has written several blogs about his experiences there.

His journals and photos have been posted to our education site, and they can be accessed by clicking HERE.

This is the first installment:

A man towing canoes in a Vietnamese floating village.

[Photos by Neil Dana]

Vietnamese Floating Village

The Vietnamese Floating Village was intense and filled with local color. Just the 30-minute moped ride out there was unbelievable! Again, the countryside here is magnificent. Another thing to realize is that the Cambodian people are extremely poor, and Cambodia is the poorest country in Southeast Asia. So you have friendly, smiling people everywhere who are barely clothed and living in wooden shacks covered in dust. A quarter of the very young children I see running around are naked. Many people look as if they haven't washed themselves in weeks. There are also people in very elegant silks and colorful robes; in fact, many of the younger girls ride around in a sort of pajama-type outfit. And everywhere you look, you will spot a monk or two or three or four. They are impossible to miss with their vibrant orange and purple robes.

Once I arrived at the beginning of the docks, I was so enthralled with everyone and everything that I didn't even bother trying to find a boat ride for the next 45 minutes. I just walked around looking at all the different vendors and people working: women selling fish, men chopping ice and putting it into an ice crusher, little boys carrying around empty gas cans or large water containers, men drinking and playing billiards, people putting gear into their boats, and women cooking and eating. The docks were crawling with people. These “docks” were basically just the abrupt end of a dirt road, not docks like at a marina you might find in the United States. This is where the waterline is right now. In a month or two, when the rains get really intense, the water level rises drastically, as is evidenced by the houses built on 5-10-foot-high stilts!

After a while, I pursued finding a boat ride. There are many people with boats; however, the people who take you out on a ride to the village for sightseeing are part of a local organization. It's basically a way to ensure you don't go and only pay $1 to some guy with a small boat to take you out, and in doing so hurt the local tourist economy. Instead, you have to pay $10-$15 to a guy who is a representative for one of the many companies there, and he will give a percentage to the actual boat drivers. This whole town is really wired when it comes to raking in the tourist dollar. In fact, there is a hotel here that has rooms starting at $350/night, all the way up to $1900/night, no joke!! I do think this is good though, as tourism is one of Cambodia's main sources of revenue, and, in Cambodia, you can buy everything in U.S. dollars, which is a better deal for us. I saw many people who had changed money to Riel, and they were losing a bit on the local exchange rate.

So, I tried talking to a couple different operators and ended up paying $10 for a two-hour ride out to the Vietnamese Floating Village. The boat was empty but for the driver, myself, and a boy who was watching the engine and helping to avoid obstacles in the river. In fact, I was the only traveler I noticed in the area. I guess this isn't as popular a destination as the ruins. So, off we went, slowly cruising down the narrow winding river, which leads to an estuary that turns into the enormous Tonle Sap Lake.

Right from the get-go, the river was filled with boats and people. There were people standing and paddling their canoes, some of which were filled with all kinds of goods for sale, from food to bamboo or other materials used for building. The range of boats was really interesting as well, varying from canoes, to small motorboats, to small, moving houseboats, to stationary houseboats, and to schools and a police station on stilts over the water. You even see pigs, dogs, and cats on these boats. There are women bathing their children, cooking food, and doing the same basic things people do all over the world. It is really interesting, because it is all on the water, and, hence, the pace of life is much slower. When in town, the tuk-tuks and mopeds zip by, and the streets are bustling with energy and dust. Out here on the water, people revolve with the natural movement of the river, and the river barely moves.

On the water, there were Cambodians and Vietnamese people. The Vietnamese people wore distinctive, pointed hats, which were always easy to recognize. It is nice to see the Cambodians and Vietnamese getting along with good relations. I was talking with Richard, and the only people he said the Cambodians detest are the Thai people. They have been fighting since their history began. In fact, it was the Thai Empire's Kingdom of Ayuthaya that sacked the Khmers back in 1431.

So, as we puttered down towards the lake, we stopped at a fish farm on the water that also turned out to have crocodiles. There was also a girl who had a python or boa constrictor at her disposal. This seemed to be the spot where all the tourists end up, seeing as there were souvenirs there and drinks for sale. It was the most mellow souvenir shop/crocodile farm I have ever come across. After that, I got back onto the boat and headed around the village some more. It literally is a floating village, and everyday, these people live off of the water and trade the goods that people bring in from town and the lake. These people have moved into the water because there wasn't enough land available for them, and they have created a vibrant community. This is their life, quite, tough, and poor, yet peaceful and very scenic as well.

I feel very fortunate having come to Cambodia, and seeing this village was only the beginning of a series of incredible experiences. After the boat ride, I reluctantly jumped on the back of the moped, wishing I had more time to hang around the docks, and buzzed away from the floating village. I only had a short stay in Cambodia, and there were so many other places I wanted to visit, which brings me to my next stop: the Land Mine Museum.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

A Thai Buddha appears to conjure a rainbow at this temple.

[Photos by Neil Dana]

Journal by Chanda Baggarly

Todd and I visited a museum and temple where we learned a lot about Buddha. One of the most facsinating points that we learned is that there are many, many incarnations of Buddha. In fact, YOU could be a Buddha.

Wing-Tsit Tan describes Buddha as, "one of the greatest human beings, a man of noble character, penetrating vision, warm compassion, and profound thought. Not only did he establish a great new religion, but his revolt against Hindu hedonism, asceticism, extreme spiritualism, and the caste system deeply influenced Hinduism itself. His rejection of metaphysical speculation and his logical thinking introduced an important scientific strain heretofore lacking in Oriental thought. Buddha's teachings have influenced the lives of millions of people for nearly 2500 years."

While you may not be described as "one of the greatest human beings" or known for your "logical thinking", don't rule yourself out. There are 32 other characteristics that a Buddha has.

1. feet with a level sole (the Buddha would have an even pace -- not like those who wear down their shoes unevenly -- such a sole would spread the weight of His body evenly)

2. 1,000 spoked wheel marks on soles (such marks would make the Buddha's hands and feet infinitely flexible -- unlike our hands and feet which can flex only in one or two directions because there are only two or three lines on our palms)

3. projecting heels-- the heels were not round in shape but more oval (spreads weight and gives extra leverage for strength to the foot)

4. fingers and toes being of even length (makes the hands and feet very strong by comparison to our own for whom all our fingers and toes are of different lengths)

5. hands & feet soft skinned (this is not to say that the Buddha was not strong. Normally we associate hunks of taut muscle with strength -- but also soft flesh can be full of muscles)

6. netlike lines on palms and soles (this is similar to no.2 -- it allows the feet and hands to be infinitely flexible -- it is not people of ancient times who had such a feature -- even Kuhn Yay Thongsuk Samdaengpan had such a feature on her hands which perhaps explains why she was so resiliant, even at a senior age when travelling to give teachings around the country)

7. high raised ankles (this feature is similar to the way the legs of a horse are built -- it gives exceptional strength, leverage and agility to the leg)

8. taught calf muscles like antelope (again this explains why the Buddha could be so strong -- because his legs were strong like those of an antelope -- rather than being flacid like those of a buffalo)

9. even standing without bending down, the Buddha could touch his knees (such proportions for a person are in fact the ideal -- not like Asians who have a long body but short legs, or at the other extreme, blacks and caucasians who have a long body and long legs)

10. sexual organs concealed by sheath (the advantage of this is not to risk bringing offence to anyone even when naked)

11. bright golden-coloured complexion (such golden skin has the advantage of being sensitive to the touch)

12. skin so fine no dust can attach (this is unlike the rough skin of a reptile to which all manner of dirt attaches. In fact the Buddha managed to achieve what women and sportsmen still try to achieve, but without all the effort!)

13. body hair separate with one hair per pore (not like some people who have whole tufts of hair coming from each pore).

14. bluish body hair curls clockwise

15. upright stance like a god (such a stance gives an exceptional sense of balance and a firm stance)

16. flesh undented and convex in seven places (these seven places comprise: the back of the hands [2], the upper side of the feet [2], the shoulders [2] and the neck [1])

17. lion-like chest (such a chest allows strong breathing and better metabolism than a normal person)

18. flesh on back undented (not like some people whose back looks like fish bones)

19. equal distance hand-to-hand & head-to-toe (such a proportion allows one to sit comfortably for meditation, without one's legs sticking out)

20. neck rounded and smooth (the shape of the Buddha's neck was perfect like a tube or organ pipe and is the reason for the melodious voice he had)

21. sensitive taste-buds (allows one to pick up the nutrients from even the poorest of foods and is why the Buddha could survive for 49 days on seven lumps of rice after his enlightenment or during the time when he had to spend his rainy-season in a place where there was famine)

22. lion-like jaw (such a jaw is necessary to accommodate the 40 teeth of mark 23.)

23. 40 teeth (most people have only 32 teeth and normally some are missing too. Such a set of forty teeth is permanent throughout life -- not like ours which change from milk teeth > adult teeth > false teeth!)

24. evenly-spaced teeth

25. gapless teeth

26. crystal canine teeth. Some people ask how when, as we sometimes find in the scriptures, the Buddha and Ananda are walking along, how Ananda could know that the Buddha has noticed something and is smiling about it. Normally, Ananda would walk directly behind the Buddha, but the reason he could know that the Buddha was smiling is because even just the parting of his lips, light would eminate from his canine teeth)

27. large, long tongue (large enough to cover his whole face and long enough to lick ears -- contributes to melodious sound of the Buddha and accommodates exceptional tastebuds)

28. god-like voice (this is a particularly melodious sort of voice -- collective fruit of the shape of his neck, teeth and tongue -- not like a person who is having problems with their teeth)

29. bluish-black eyes

30. eyes innocent like a calf

31. white cotton-wool soft wisp of hair in centre of brow (Indians respect this very highly and if they don't have one will draw one in as a 'caste mark')

32. brow and face, especially the join between the two, are excellently smooth

So, are you a Buddha?

To learn more about Buddhism, check out http://www.buddhanet.net/

Until next week, safe journeys!

Chanda

A Chinese Buddha in Thailand. If you have children sliding all over you, you, too, might be a Buddha!

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

The beach at Koh Samui.

Journal and photo by Justin Mounts

For the last two weeks, I have been chained to a desk in Bangkok working on PR related events. Basically, I go to work at 8:30 a.m. and work feverishly to make press contacts with the local papers and TV media.

In Thailand, however, it’s not so simple. Due to the language barriers, I have learned that Thai’s don’t like to return phone calls. In fact, it is a rare occurrence for people in Thailand to have voicemail. So, unless I talk to someone personally, there’s virtually no chance they will call me back.

I have left all that behind this weekend to explore one of Thailand’s great beach areas—the island of Koh Samui. Located in southern Thailand, Koh Samui is an island that is roughly 20 by 25 kilometers. Situated well away from the hustle of Bangkok, this island retreat is welcomed by me in so many ways.

This is one of the first real breaks I have had in the last two months. I am taking advantage of this opportunity to explore the area and see what island life is like. The answer is painfully simple: life is good. I am staying on the north shore of the island, and the views are snapshots of paradise. In the distance are some of Thailand’s other, smaller islands, and everywhere you look people are smiling.

I took the liberty of renting a little Suzuki Flip-over, I mean, Sidekick, and it does an adequate job for my purposes. After driving around and exploring some of the coastal areas of the island, I’ve decided to follow a road on the map to one of the highest points of the island to find lunch. According to the map, there is a nice restaurant at the end of this road serving up spectacular views of the entire area, as well as fresh seafood.

Unfortunately, the restaurant is nowhere to be found. In fact, as I drive the road, it continues to deteriorate into a narrow, potholed set of tire tracks through the grass that leads me not to the lunch I was hoping, but instead to a couple of rundown shacks that appear to host a small family of farmers. Disappointed in this turn of events, I turn my car around and head back toward the beach.

Upon reaching the water, I do find a nice little restaurant that has some of the freshest fish I have ever had. Complemented with a calamari appetizer and a pineapple shake, I have tasted a piece of paradise. I continue my exploration of the island, and I wind up at a trendy little area called Fisherman’s Cove, where, over coffee, I sit and watch the local fisherman play a pickup game of football on the beach. As the sun begins to fall below the horizon, a wonderful breeze blows in, bringing with it the sounds of island music. The other Thailand is a great place to be.

Until next time, I wish you well from the far side of the world.

A tree grew around this old statue of Buddha in Wat Phra Mahathat, Thailand.
Photo by Adam Burgess

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

We failed to see the actual Thai kickboxing, but we saw these little wooden figures battling it out inside the MBK Center mall...

Photo by Nancy Olson

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

This little kitty cat is Nancy's Bangkok pet. Oh, how she'd love to keep him if Todd weren't allergic and if it wouldn't be so difficult to have a cat on the road.

Journal and photos by Nancy Olson

I fall in love in every city, sometimes more than once. I can’t help myself. Everywhere we go, I find cute, loveable, snuggly, adorable cats and dogs in need of a home. For whatever reason, they seek me out and weedle their way into my good graces in hopes that I will invite them along on our journey. I give off some sort of vibe that tells the stray puppies and kittens of the world that I am a sucker with a capital ‘S.’

I don’t know how my mother survived my childhood. Over the years, I brought home snakes, lizards, a stray cat with a badly broken leg, kittens, orphaned rabbits and squirrels, guinea fowl eggs (I hatched ‘em in my incubator), fluorescent baby chicks (no lie, they were died for Easter, and I bought three), turtles, tortoises, and hamsters (I had at least five, and they all got sick and died, and they were all named “Jerry.”). I knew better than to bring home any dogs. Mine was a Labrador retriever family, and we had two. When I was little, I was sure I wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up.

Well, not much has changed in my old age. At 31, I still have the adolescent instinct to rescue every cute animal I come across. When you are traveling the world, you come across quite a lot of cute animals who could seriously use a good, safe, healthy home.

I cannot tell you how many dogs I have fallen in love with since we left the U.S. seven months ago. There was one at the Guatemala border that ripped my heart out. He was so skinny and broken down that I would be surprised if he lived through the next day. We couldn’t do anyting for him, but later I realized we should have bought him a nice big hamburger. The shock of such rich food would have killed him, but it would have been humane, and he’d have died happy.

Wretched dog at the Mexico/Guatemala border. Poor thing. He broke our hearts, because he was beyond help.

Later, in the coastal desert area of Chile, I fell in love with a ragged adolescent dog who had a bit of a dingo look to him. He attached himself to me at a fuel stop, and I asked Nick if we could keep him. I always ask Nick if we can keep the strays I find, and he always says, “Yes.” But the reality of trying to keep a dog on the road and my inherent fear of commitment (having a dog is a commitment of 8-15 years) always prevents me from adopting a dog. Strays make such good pets, though, probably because they are so thankful to be well-fed and off the streets, and I’ve met some especially good dogs. And if I’d kept the one from Chile, I could have referred to him as my “Chile Dog.” Get it?

Nancy's Chile Dog

When we ran out of gas in Chile, I met a tiny little scruffy black dog whom Nick said I could keep. Luckily, he or she ran off with a pack of neighborhood mongrels, and I remained unburdened of another little mouth to feed.

Little black dog from Chile. Cute, but unfaithful.

At the subsequent fuel stop after we had been stranded on the road, I could have adopted a whole pack of cute dogs. They swarmed the fuel pumps but ran away when we tried to pet them. Eventually, though, they all let me pet them, and soon I was swarmed by mama dog and puppies. I didn’t keep any of those little guys, either.

I’m quite partial to dogs, but I also have a soft spot in my heart for good cats. Good cats are the ones who think they are dogs. The one who had a broken leg when I found him and rescued him as a kid turned out to be the best cat in the whole-wide world. He was pewter gray, with big yellow eyes and no tail whatsoever. He was a Manx, which means he was born without one. He had to have two pins put in his leg, and I worked off the veterinary bill by repacking supplies and cleaning up in the vet clinic. See, Drs. Lolly and Bobby Wilson of Meadowbrook Animal Hospital were friends of ours, and they knew I wanted to be a veterinarian. They mentored me, and, at the age of 12, I was assisting in surgeries. It was quite a good experience, and I have my mom and those doctors to thank for it. (It wasn’t until high school that I decided there was too much math, too much school, and too many work hours for me to become a vet. I chose the Naval Academy and military life, instead.)

But I digress. See, I have met many kittens along the way who were worthy of a place in my home. The problem, though, is that A) I don’t have a home, and B) Todd, my driving partner, is intensely allergic to cats. I’m allergic to cats, too, but not so much that I don’t want one. Todd’s argument, though, is a strong one, and I won’t be taking any cats into our mobile abode.

Oh, but there was a cat in the barrio section outside of La Paz, Mexico, that I just fell for. She was on the sidewalk near an automotive repair shop, and she was covered in oil. She was dehydrated, lethargic, and hungry, but she was purring through it all. I carried her around for a while, and I tried to talk Adam into keeping her, but we ended up getting her some food and putting her back at the repair shop. The film guys can’t have a cat, either, because Colin is allergic. I miss that cat.

Later, in Patagonia, I found a kitten that wasn’t more than a week or two old who kept wandering into the road. He looked exactly like one of my childhood cats, Kermit, who was a black-and-gray tabby. That cat was cool, and he even won a prize at a cat show once. I tried to convince Adam and Neil to keep that one, too, but no dice. I fed him and put him in front of a vet clinic.

Well, all of this is leading up to my current love, or infatuation, or whatever you call it. Here in Bangkok, dogs and cats are everywhere in the city. But the thing is, they all look fairly healthy, and many of the dogs wear collars. There’re tons of street vendors, and I think they keep the strays fed with their leftovers and clean-up time. In our alley, there are several food vendors, a couple of dogs, and at least a half-dozen cats. On our second or third night here, I was befriended by the cutest, nicest little kitten. Like the awesome cat I found as a kid, the best cat I ever owned, a cat even my cat-hating dad loved, this one has no tail. He’s a Manx. He looks like a creamsicle , white with orange splotches. He’s street-wise already, and he’s lanky. I brought him home to our hotel the first night I met him, and he slept in the crook of my arm all night and never left the bed. Reluctantly and out of necessity, I put him back in the gutter the next morning.

I saw him again a couple of days later. He ran over to me and wouldn’t leave me alone. He followed me and pounced on my flip-flops to make me stop. I picked him up and took him with me on my walk to the sidewalk sales and back.

Since then, I’ve seen him dozens more times, and he always recognizes me. There is something special about that cat, and I think there might be something special about Manx kitties in general. I have a feeling he would be the best cat in the world, just like my long-lost childhood Manx kitty. I wish there were some way I could keep him, but I’m afraid there isn’t. I even contemplated shipping him to my parents (my poor parents), but he’d have to go through the horrors of quarantine, and he might come out of there an altered and irritable being.

So, for now, I’ll just continue to make sure he’s alright when I see him in the alley. One day, he’ll be all grown up and on the prowl, and he’ll probably wind up with scratches on him like most of the banged-up tomcats I see around here. For now, though, he’s cute as a button and looking for love. Anybody interested? I’ll ship him to ya.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

You can see the four levels of traffic in downtown Bangkok, the street level, a pedestrian bridge, and the Sky Train levels. You can see the Sky Train sliding by above. Motorcycles lead the pack when leaving an intersection as they have driven between all the vehicles and are waiting at the front of the line. Pole Position!

Journal by Todd Borgie

Today we received our visas to go into Myanmar. It was a seemingly easy task to complete, despite what we had envisioned. The process was straightforward, the embassy was not particularly crowded, and the process took only one day. India, on the other hand, will take a full five days; however, in their defense, they only keep your passport for one day, unlike other countries that collect them for several days. Yes, this is all part of the daily routine for travelers. We have been lucky thus far with visas. We never needed a visa throughout Central and South America! The first place we needed one was Australia; I thought that it was kind of funny that we needed one there, but we did. I wonder who makes those rules?

This was another rainy day in Bangkok as I picked up the visas for Myanmar. The monsoon season keeps the sky cloudy, the ground wet, and the air humid. The weather here is perfect for growing tropical fruits, which we can purchase from venders down nearly every street of Bangkok. I talked to some old-timers here, and they told me that less than 50 years ago much of the area surrounding Bangkok was rice fields. A whole system of canals was used for years to get around in this city. Distance, at that time, was calculated in “days rowing.” Although there are still plenty of canals, many of them have given way to streets. When you are riding on the sky train, you can look down below to see many of the old canals that have been built over and around. Many canals are now under streets that are now the major arteries of the city. I suppose they have to keep most of them open somehow as flood canals, but now I am sure that boats cannot travel them as easily as they once did.

It is interesting how the gasoline engine has completely changed our world in such a short time. I look around Bangkok, and I see more traffic here than anywhere I have ever been! You can sit in a taxi for a long, long time! To get around this traffic you can hire a motorcycle taxi that can split lanes, while you are holding on for dear life. I don’t know how women manage this, as I see many of them riding sidesaddle. Another option is a tuk-tuk driver whose crazy disregard for many traffic rules will get you places faster than most taxis and a little safer than a motorcycle, but still you have to sit in a lot of traffic.

The easiest way to avoid traffic is the Sky Train. This is a two line overhead train that takes a lot of people all over the city. If the sky trains is going your way, it will shave a ton of time off even a short journey. The sky train is very clean and well guarded.

Downtown Bangkok looks in some ways looks like a science-fiction city. One way to keep traffic flowing is to not allow people to cross the streets. There are bridges all over the streets to allow people to cross them without interfering with the traffic. So in downtown, you have multiple levels of traffic going on; the lowest level is the street level, where cars, tuk-tuks, buses, and motorcycles roam or are packed in, one level up is a giant pedestrian bridge, the third level is the lower level of the sky train, and the final level about that is the upper level of the sky train. These multiple levels are running in between several tall buildings and that stand on the corners of a huge bustling intersection down below. It really is impressive, it reminds me of the movie The 5th Dimension.

Enough on the traffic here in Bangkok!

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Bangkok's Khaosarn Road, a mecca for tourists and vendors.

Journal and photo by Adam Burgess

The other day, Colin and I needed to get a shipment of 15 Land Rover tapes off to Las Angeles that we shot during the week Larry was out with us. We obtained an account number from Land Rover and made the call for a pickup from our hotel. Colin had talked previously to a woman there who said we needed an international number…so with this call we were armed with all that we needed. Colin read the number, I dialed. A simple process. A Thai woman answered and I told her I needed a pick up and that I had an account with DHL. The conversation went back and forth making little sense to me. Something like, “Go to post office, we only letters!” I couldn’t believe that DHL would only send letters, so I just handed the phone over to Colin. He had talked to them before, and he loves to speak “Ingris” in a loud broken language; he claims that they understand better. He was told the same thing, and he bellowed back, “Look! I have account! Number for DHL! You pick up package!” It got pretty heated for a while, with the New Yorker speaking broken Thai Ingris and a recipient struggling to make sense of him and the situation. Finally he demands, “Where you office? You, DHL. Where!?” “Receptionist!” the Thai woman screamed. “Yeah I know, where?” yelled back Colin. “You hotel, this receptionist,” she said again. Immediately after this I hear in a soft sweet tone, “Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry I thought you were DHL.” But the call had never made it out of the Reno Hotel...

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.