San Francisco Marathon

It is the single most difficult thing, physically, that I have ever done in my life:

Miles 1-5 good. I peed in the bushes.
Miles 5-13 good. Ate about 3 GU packs.
Miles 13-17 OK.
Miles 17-26.2...sheer hell.

It happened at mile 17. My legs, they just...died. At that moment my mission began - to force myself, no matter the pain, to endure and see myself to the finish line. It became a classic case of mind over matter, no pain no gain, whatever you like to call it. To me though only one phrase came to mind, "keep...moving..."

So the mind games started. It was my mind vs. my legs, and at this point in the race my legs were kicking my mind's ass.  At every turn my legs told me, "You're an idiot! Why would you put us through this!" My mind then rebutted with an incoherent ramble that went something like, "ShittttttmothereffinSTFUlegsYOUSUCK."

The schism between mind and legs went on like that for the next 5 miles. Finally around mile 20 my mind put my legs and place by saying, "STOP YOUR BITCHING AND STOP ASKING ME "ARE WE THERE YET?!"" From then on, as painfully annoying as the legs were, they simply became just noise in the backseat of a long roadtrip.

By mile 21 I came to the realization that I had now travelled further than any of my previous runs, ever. For a second I thought, "Maybe this will be my second wind. Maybe this will motivate me to the finish." Nope, the second wind never arrived and every mile became more difficult than the last. By mile 22 my running became more of an electric slide, "Slide to the left, slide to the right," my legs only lifting up enough to barely slide them across the pavement. The mind was still winning though - cheering me on no matter how slow my progress.

Everything changed at Mile 23. My legs were now screaming to me at the top of their lugs asking repeatedly, "ARE WE THERE YET!?" They were so hungry and pained they were threatening to jump into the front seat to force the mind to pull over - they've had enough. Mind stronghanded those little wankers and put them back in their place. Onto mile 24.

At 24 was the last aid station and the mind thought, "Hey, why don't we walk through this station?" Probably the dumbest idea of the day, the second the run/shuffle digressed to a walk, the legs became as stiff as a tree trunk. I thought it was over. The legs were locking up...this was it... death to the marathon! It was now do or die, I either finish up, legs moving in a full running motion, or die a painful runners death with instant rigamortis. I ran.

It was now down to the last 1.2 miles. The legs had now leapt into the front seat of the car and were attempting to wrestle the wheel away from the mind, weaving all over the road and nearly causing an accident. This was it, the face-off between mind and body that would determine the fate of the marathon. The legs were now holding a cloth of chloroform up to the mind's face, and mind was beginning to feel very, very, very woozy...

Through blurred vision, the banner over the finish line became visible. At this point something beautiful happened - the legs released their stranglehold on the mind and settled back into the passenger seat and waited patiently. Then they became antsy! Rooting on the mind to go faster and faster and faster! It was no longer a battle.

As I sprinted to the finish line I was one with my body and mind.  I literally cried passing the finish line. Something profound had happened, I had willed my way to the finish through some of the most grueling pain I had ever experienced. I had a realization: mind over matter is not only a proverb, but a Truth. We are capable of accomplishing more than imaginable if we can set our mind to it.

Photo Credits to Scoot and Delsheen! They surprised me with a cake and lots of water. Much appreciated.
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In case any of you didn't know I am, in fact, a type 1 diabetic. So I'd like to add a blurb down here about how I prepared for my run and what I ate during the run to ensure that I had safe blood sugar levels throughout. Hopefully this information will be helpful to other diabetics hoping to run a marathon.

My Carb Intake and Blood Glucose on Race Day:
3:30 am Woke up (BG 180 mg/dL)
4:00 am Drank 1 Cup of Coffee, Ate 80 carb bagel (2 unit of insulin)
5:00 am Ran 0.5 miles for warm up
5:30 am Getting ready for race. (BG 340 mg/dL) (1 unit of insulin)
5:42 am Race Starts!
7 miles - GU 1 (BG 240 mg/dL)
10 miles - GU 2 (BG 180 mg/dL)
13 miles - GU 3 (BG 140 mg/dL)
17 miles - GU 4 (BG 128 mg/dL)
20 miles - GU 5 (BG 134 mg/dL)
26.2 miles - (BG 128 mg/dL)

There you have it. If anyone has any questions about my diet or my training regimen, please e-mail me at spencerfrank24"At"gmaildotcom.

Day 13 - Angkor Wat

As our guidebook puts it Ankgor Wat is “The Mother of All Temples.” It is a place where engineering marvel meets religious wonder, and where mystical energy and mysteriousness seem to seep from the jungle which surrounds it – engulf it.

It is important first to understand that Ankgor Wat is but one temple in a complex of probably 100 smaller temples that are  less splendid, but perhaps more mysterious than the main tourist draw that is Angkor Wat. Most of the temples in the area were built more than a Millenia ago by ancient Cambodians, and the city in the area was made up of nearly a million people, a staggeringly enormous city by ancient standards.

So our adventure of Angkor War actually started with a bus ride. A very long bus ride – about 12 hours. Now it is well known that Cambodia is a poor country, but how poor is poor you ask? Well something as simple as a good road is not to be taken for granted. Nearly every road in the states is paved, smooth, and nice to drive on. Here in Cambodia, even the main highways resemble a jungle road which should be fit for only a Jeep Wrangler 4X4. Yet the busses here, though they weigh prob 15 tonnes  and have horrid suspensions that prob were due for maintenance 5 years ago, barrel down these roads at 80 MPH. After our long bus ride, which felt like we are indeed in a blender, or a maraca, or maybe even a lottery ball holder as it is being turned upside down, we made it from Sihanoukville to Siam Reap (the town where Angkor Wat is located). Time of arrival 3:00am. Degree of shadiness once off the bus, a 10 on a scale of 1-10. Chances of getting ripped off on our Tuk Tuk ride to our hotel, 100%. Hours of sleep in our new accommodations, 4 hours. All things considered though, we made it to the 8^th wonder of the world unscathed. Though David was a little weirded out when a lady-boy randomly decided to sit next to him when the bus was not even 25% full. David quickly changed his seat wanting none of the lady-boy's company.

Exhausted on our 12 hour busride.

The next morning was our first of two days we used to explore Angkor Wat, after a hearty breakfast and a 20 dollar admission fee into the park (The most expensive thing in Cambodia) we decided to explore the less well known temples first, saving Ankgor Wat till last.

The first temple we went to was more a mountain of rubble than a temple. Although it was still very impressive, with its unique feature being the red rock that was used during its construction.

David in front of one of the temple spires. 

Exploring the temple.

The second temple was for lack of a better word, using queer-eye for the straight guy lingo,  fabulous. It was by far the smallest of the temples in the complex, but for what is lacked in size it made up for with some of the most intricate carvings that you will every lay your eyes on. Sorry Rome, this art has you beat. The carvings were three dimensional, literally popping out of the walls. Additionally, the method of reflection or repetition (whatever it is called) was used to give an incredible effect to the small temple, similar to when you look into two mirrors facing eachother, the never ending wormhole of reflection. Well that is what this place had, except there were no mirrors, just repetitious carving that recreate themselves on a small scale, successively, until they are too small to carve anymore.

This is a shrine, this is the macro carving, If you look closely you will see on the corners of it are the smaller micro carving, which exactly emulate the same shrine, yet on a smaller scale. 

This is the micro scale carving. Notice that is is identical to the macro scale carving. It too has another level of micro scale carving on its corners.

This picture illustrates the intricacy of the carvings. It is said that these carvings must have been done by women, for they become so detailed that only a small women's hand could have navigated the small crevices. 

After the second temple we continued our tour of the complex seeing a total of 7 temples that day, but I will not bore you with all the details of each temple we visited. Instead I will jump to the “Mother of all Temples” Angkor Wat, which we saw the next day during sunrise with sleepy eyes.

We woke up at 4 AM that day to find bikes to ride to the temple. Because it was so early (or late for the night crawlers) there were still hookers on the street. One of them even had the audacity to grab my arm. I quickly rid myself of her grip and yelled "No!" to her. Finally after walking around the shady streets for a few more minutes, we found bikes to rent. In 30 minutes we made it to Angkor Wat. David and I made it in time to watch the sun slowly illuminate its intricate façade. By 6:30, the temple was fully illuminated, with its 5 spires jutting into the sky like a fire poker, which is red hot on its tip, and grey and dull at its middle. The grey was the stone that was not yet illuminated, for the sun was rising behind the temple, preventing the entire façade from being visible. Realizing we were on the wrong side of the sun, we decided to go inside of the temple and explore.

The Temple of Angkor Wat at Sunrise. 

Inside of the walls of Angkor Wat. The steps were made so absurdly steep that walking up them was like rock climbing. They said this was symbolic of the difficulty associated with reaching the gods. 

What we found did no disappoint. An incredible stone carved tapestry surrounded the temple, telling the history of the Ankgar and their triumphs in war. Most of the carvings depicted graphic scenes, with beheaded men, impaled soldiers, and infantry men being stomped by the elephants which supported the gods. Below are some images of the carvings.

Hard to see, but you can make out a line of infantry soldiers carved into the wall. These carvings went on for at least 100 ft. This was one of 8 carvings that surrounded the exterior of the temple. 

We eventually left the carvings and climbed to the top of the temples to take in the view of the complex. At the top, the spleandor did not disappear, and carving were everywhere, with a shrine at the geometric center of the building, incense scented the air surrounding it. The view from the top was beautiful, with the ability to take in the surrounding walls and the smaller buildings. Beyond the trees was the enormous moat, a football field in width, that surrounded the temple complex. The moat was perhaps as impressive as the temple itself, the manpower to dig it must have rivaled the jewpower needed to build the pyramids in Egypt. 

The largest central shrine at the top of the temple.

The enormous moat that surrounded the temple. Incredible...

After seeing Angkor Wat, we continued on to view the other temples. But before we would do this, we needed some refreshments.

David and I acquired a taste for this delicious pomegranate iced tea that they sell everywhere. So we stopped at the nearest drink stall to get one.

This drink stall consisted of about 5 older women and a few kids, all selling the same exact thing. Maybe it was a slow day, but what was about to happen will stick with me fore the rest of my life.

So I roll up on my bike from behind them, sneakily. The creak of my bike catches the attention of one of the ladies. She turns around and her eyes become wide, like a deer in headlights. She immediately gets up and makes a MAD DASH to her cooler. She is followed by the rest of the ladies. It becomes a race to sell me a drink, a one dollar drink. There is no other way to describe this mad dash other than a shark feeding frenzy, every shark for themselves, one fish at stake. After an elapsed time of about 10 seconds, I am having various drinks shoved in my face: water, coke, sprite, none of which I wanted. I call out that I want a "red" iced tea. Once again a feeding frenzy. The victor, a little girl who understood my request immediately and was a step quicker than the rest. She was extremely happy to have my dollar. Her cute face made me feel as if I had done a good deed.

After refreshments, it was on to the next temples. I won't describe them all, but I will describe my favorite temple of all, Ta Prohm or "The Tree Temple."

Ta Prohm was nowhere near as large as Angkor Wat, it was nowhere near as intricate, nor as splendid, but it lacked something that Ankgor Wat had, and that was maintenance, Angkor Wat was never abandoned, Ta Prohm was abandoned to the jungle for many centuries. The result was an incredible temple that was taken over by the jungle.

If you wanted to have an idea of what it would be like to find an ancient temple in the middle of the jungle, this temple gave you a good vision.  As you walk up to the temple you  notice that you feel as if you are in a jungle, and are walking on a path that was not well-maintained, albeit well trodden.

Ta Prohm. Notice the trees growing right out of the roof. 

Cute kid selling trinkets in front of one of the trees. 

When you enter the temple you notice that there are enormous trees that seem to be growing right out of the temple. In fact, they are. Trees spring out of the temple everywhere you look, their roots seamlessly following the cracks between stones that make up the walls. Believe it or not, this temple was on of the temples in which Tomb Raider was filmed, the one with Angelina Jolie. The famous tree which was seen in the movie is below. 

The most famous of all trees. Look in the top left corner and you can see a root perfectly grown into the shingles of the roof. 

After marveling at this jungle temple, David and I have had enough. We retired back to the guesthouse for a shower then headed to pubstreet for dinner. On our way home we were accosted again, this time by little children, no more than 8, asking us for money. When we refused they became much more aggressive, attempting to stick their tiny hands in our pockets to take our wallets. They were unsucessful and classless, but I guess that is what poverty will do to you.

Siam Reap was good to us, but it was now time to leave and head to none other but the city of Bangkok!

Where we last left off we were just arriving in Cambodia. Well a lot has happend since then, and we have now been in Cambodia for a week. We have visited Phenom Penh, Cambodias Capital, Sihanoukville, a small beachtown in Cambodia, and are now in Siam Reap, viewing the beautiful Temples of Angkor Wat. I'll just update you on Phenom Penh and Sihanoukville. David will update you on Angkor Wat. Tomorrow we will head to Bangkok!

So going back about a week, ill pick up at the riverboat from Vietnam to Cambodia. 

Well as fate would have it, we ran into some Americans on this boat. Three women to be exacty, whose names were Molly, Tara, and I forget the last. One of them, Molly, was actually from Seattle, so needless to say the conversation flowed easily, as we discussed Davids plight of moving to the rainy city, what there is to do there, how good the beer is, and all other sorts of imperative information for David to know before he moves. The other girls were from Colorado, and were equally cool, and we talked and talked, looked out the windows, talked some more, and laughed loudly in competition with the Germans harsh sounding chuckles at the back of the boat. The fun conversation made the sweaty, smelly, stifling seven hour ride go by pretty quickly. 

Finally we arrived in Phenom Penh. The before we are even off the boat we hear from the dock, "Tuk Tuk for you?" For those of you unfamiliar, the preferred means of transportation in southeast Asia is by Tuk Tuk. I don't really have any good pictures of these at the moment, but if you Google Tuk Tuk then you will see what I am talking about. It is pretty much a motorcycle or  moped with a small trailer attached to the back of it for pulling up to 4 passengers. Here a picture of us on our first Tuk Tuk. 

Ridin' Sweaty

So as soon as we got off the boat, there was a Tuk Tuk driver waiting for us, apparently it was his turn in the queue (can't believe there is actually some order in this business), so he got our 3 dollars. We jumped on the back of his Tuk Tuk were off into the heart of Phenom Penh. First stop, guesthouse booked, second stop, guesthouse crappy (this is where our recently acquired American friends chose to stay), third stop was the winner and we settled in for 2 nights at a pricey 12 dollars a night.  

Apparently Cambodia is a very poor country, in fact, it is one of the poorest in Asia, with a nominal per capita income of less than 1000 dollars a year. Yet this city was surprisingly nice in comparison to it's wealthier neighbor Saigon. The streets were relatively clean, the monuments well maintained, and the food not half-bad. Yet later, after leaving the touristy part of the city,  we would find out that it was just a front, this place is sadly poor. 

So after we check in, we are famished, for noone told us on the 7 hour boatride that we would not have a chance to stop for food. Throwing down our bags in our room, we are out the door in minutes on our way to our first Khmer style dinner. Not to dissapoint, the Amok (it takes better than it sounds) that David ordered was delicious as was my more conservative fried rice and soup. It was at this very moment that we would make the most significant discovery of our trip thus far, the fruit shake. Now I have never done crack, but based on the documentries I have seen, I would say that the fruit shakes in south east asia should probably be banned, for they are like CRACK! For usually a dollar you get your choice of fresh fruit, blended in with some unknown ingredients, and what results is the lightest, frothiest, most satisfying fruit smoothie you have ever tasted, PERIOD! Don't even attempt to compare this stuff to Jamba Juice, for I will personally smack you if you do. These are the freshest, sweetest, most refreshing fruit smoothies EVER! David and I typically order two with breakfast, one for lunch, and maybe one in the late afternoon, and they are served everywhere!

The second fruit smoothie of breakfast.

Our appetites satiated, we meandered back to our guesthouse. On the way one of the most unlikely things happened. As we walked through a quiet and large montestary, me in the black Nirvana T-shirt, we hear in a perfect American accent, "Where you guys from!" Startled, we look over and there stands a monk, burning a tree-stump. We come to find out that he is from Seattle and is only 13 years old. Choosing to come her on his own free will at such a young age (unlike his older brother who came years earlier because he was a bad child), David and I are astounded. He was to be here in Phenom Penh for 9 months, working under a famous monk, and will return to the states afterwards. After meeting this colorful character David and I look at each other and say, "this is why we travel."


Amazing Pagoda in Phenom Penh.

Monks are everywhere in Phenom Penh. It is common for most children to serve sometime as a monk during this early teens. 

A fire precariously close to our hotel. 

But the surprizes of the night were not over yet. As David and I were walking back to our hotel we noticed a column of smoke rising for the block that our hotel was on. After walking closer, we noticed that there was a fire! Once we saw the flames David and I each neverously looked at eachother and said, “I hope this wasn’t our fault.” Knowing that we forgot to turn the hotwater heater off (each shower has an independent hot water heater), we were led to think that we must have done this. All of our stuff was going to be burned, the hotel destroyed, and eventually the fire would be blamed on us. The worst possible scenario going through our heads, we began to ask ourselves, “Where is the US embassy?”

As we continue to look at the flames eventually our curiousity takes over our fear and be venture closer to the scene, with hopes of finding out whether it was in fact our hotel that was ablaze. After walking closer, getting no resistance from the firefighters or police, we are pretty much right in front of the firetruck and we sigh with relief to find out it was a kitchen two away from our building that was actually on fire. We were not to blame. Because they weren’t letting people into our hotel for safety reasons until the fire was completely out at the nearby building, we decided to go for a walk around the city. When we returned and hour later we were exhausted and passed out before we even hit the sheets of our beds.

The next day was depressing. We visited two musesums that talk about the Khmer Rouge and the atrocities that they committed in the late 1970’s against the Cambodian people. For those unfamiliar with the Khmer Rouge, they were a very extreme political party, the preached communisim and desired complete control over the population of Cambodia. After a long drawn out civil war, the Khmer Rouge, and their leader, Pol Pot, came to power in 1975 and immediately began to take a heavy hand to Cambodians, forcing city dwellers to move to the countryside to farm, and killing any person who worked for the previous enemy, anyone who was suspected of being against the Khmer Rouge, anyone who was educated (the Khmer Rouge believed that education was evil and if someone was educated then they had the ability to organize a revolution). Not only were all these people killed, but their families were as well, for the Khmer Rouge wanted to exterminate anyone who could potentially want revenge for the killing of their other family members. In short, the Khmer Rouge was one of the most ruthless governments in history, perhaps only surpassed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

The first musesum we visited was dubbed “S-21.” It was at one time a prison used to detaining, torturing, and killing those who were thought to be enemies of the state. The facility consisted of 4 main buildings. Some of the rooms were used for torture chambers, others were used for holding cells (usually 3 feet by 5 feet.). Horrible methods were used against the prisoners, who crimes were none other than being an employee of the country’s previous government. People were hung, drown, beaten, burned, waterboarded, made to eat feces, all in the name of torture. It was said that, although most of the prisons were indeed innocent, they would sometimes confess to crimes against the Khmer Rouge after harsh torture. Once they confessed, they would sign an affidavit stating their guilt. This affidavit would become their own death warrant, and they would prompty be shipped off to “The Killing Fields.”

S-21 Prison. This is a torture chamber, the image on the wall was how the place was found after the Khmer Rouge finally fell. The body had been decomposing for weeks. 

The Killing Fields were tough to walk through. Located about 10 miles from the S-21 Prison.  The killing fields were simply an agglomeration of mass graves, some single graves holding up to 500 bodies. Walking through the area you are given a free audio guide that explain the significance of each of the graves. One particularly horrible grave was known as the women and children grave. At this grave the families of the enemies of the state would be executed. But the method of execution was not by fire arm, for bullets were expensive and the Khmer Rouge did not want the nearby villiagers to hear the gunshots. Instead blunt objects were used to smash the heads of the women. One the women and children were dead it was said that the babies would be smashed against a nearby tree and then thrown into the grave on top of their mothers. Those who discovered this grave site claim that they still saw the bloodstains and brains splattered across the tree. This tree was known as “The Killing Tree.”

As you walk throughout the Killing Fields, you notice that there are actual human remains still scattered about the land. There are actually signs that tell you to be mindful where you walk. It is said that when the area floods during the rainy season, the bones that have not yet been excavated come to the surface. These are the bones we see on the side of the trail.

Mass Graves. You find some bones and teeth scattered around this area. 

"Killing Tree against which executioners beat children."

Because the Khmer Rouge was very secretive about their atrocities, they did their best to cover their work. One of the trees was said to have had large speakers mounted to it that would blare the national anthem during the times the killings were taking place. This ensured that the grunts, screams, and moans would not be heard by the surrounding villagers.

By the days end we were spent. So we took a short nap to recouperate. When we woke up it was decided that it was time for a drink. After asking out concierge they pointed us in the sleezyiest possible direction for a bar, the infamous 51^st street. Even though we told them we just wanted a place to have a beer, perhaps the concierge thought we wanted more, because they sent us into a swarm of hookers. Hookers as far as the eye could see. As we walked up the street we felt like hot shit. Girls were hollering at us from every direction. Yet on closer examination we realized these girls are not looking for fun, they are looking for money, and they knew we had it. By my estimation I would say there was about 20 hookers for every tourist in the area, a great ratio if you are picky about your hookers. We finally decided to pop into a bar for a beer, only to be accosted by hookers that knew very little English and simply sat down next to us in the hopes that we would ask them to come home with us. Feeling uncomfortable after a while, and feeling grimy watching other 50 year old white guys picking up the hookers are the table next to us, we decided to leave and just forget about Phenom Penh nightlife. Tomorrow we would be off to Sihanoukville, a beach town that we hoped would change our depressing view of Cambodia.  

A typical Cambodian Hut outside the city. 

Day 6 - The Mekong Delta

"Herro!" little Vietnamese children would call out as as we walked through their village in the Mekong Delta. The people in the Mekong region are incredible and welcoming, even when walking through a slum-like village, in a place that I certainly have never been and clearly didn't fit in, I felt welcome.

"Herro!"

 The way these people live is admirable. They have next to nothing, yet seem content with life. Happy to spend time with their families, to laze about in hammocks throughout the day between their labors. And labors they do. Every imaginable type of job was being carried out in plain sight as our boat passed the very active, very poor villagers. People would be fishing, carrying rice, cooking, cleaning, bathing, bargaining, and repairing their ram shackled huts. It was like taking a step back in time, into a time where people worked for the sake of working, for putting food on the table for their famlies, not caring whether they were 'enjoying' their job or not.

The Mekong Delta. Town of Chau Doc. 

We slept in a floating hotel in Chau Doc while in the Mekong, complete with mosquito nets and crappy springy beds. I am also fairly sure the showers were river water as I was very itchy afterwards. Nonetheless it was an experience not to forget.

The next day we were on a riverboat to Cambodia and it's capital Phenom Penh. During the riverboat ride we had a chance to see the river from a unique perspective. Everywhere people were living off of it, bathing in it, fishing in it. Using it as their life-blood.

When we crossed over into Cambodia things changed, starting at the boarder. Now I have never been to a water boarder-crossing before, but this has to be considered crap. When we got to the boarder, our guide asked us to trust him, and give him 25 dollars for the Visa. He claimed it was his "heart" his integrity as a person that should allow us to trust him. We did, and got off the boat on the most rickety river ramp I have ever seen, complete with wooden handrails, and bouncy and degrading driftwood making up the ramp. Once we got to customs, one of the more curious travelers we were with asked what the charge for a Visa was - the answer was $20. We got duped for 5 bucks each and our guide can prob feed his family for a month. Oh well, all is well that ends well, we were safely across the boarder back on the riverboat.

Our Luxurious and Safe Boarder Crossing

When we got to Cambodia the scenery changed a bit. No longer was every single spot on the side of the river taken by a hut. Now the huts were more sparingly dispersed. There was also no seawall in Cambodia and the river was wide and vast. We were on our way to Phenom Penh.

A typical Cambodian village on the side of the Mekong River. 

Day 3 - Getting My Health Back

My head was throbbing, and I was puking. The hangover from hell was upon me, and only 1 day into my trip. Like idiots, our first night in Saigon, David and I drank more than our fair share of Tiger Beer.  This regrettable action, coupled with our jet lag and dehydration due to our malaria vaccine, left us incapacitated the entire next day. I wont get into detail of the happenings of that night, because I believe David already explained that in his post. Instead I will tell you of the triumph of this day, the day we regained our health, ate some unfamiliar foods, and saw some amazing things.

The day quite literally started at 2am. Because David and I had been sleeping the entire previous day, we never had a chance to fight against our stubborn circadian rhythms, which would not let us go back to sleep. We tossed and turned, turned the AC on and off (it was either too cold or too hot), and I eventually just did some reading until the sun came up around 6am. Still in a bit of a daze, I elected to take initiative and get up and shower in our bathroom that lacks a shower curtain. While showering I think I flooded the entire bathroom, with no more than half of the water actually making it into the shower drain, most of it ending up on the floor, on the toilet, walls, ceiling etc. But eventually I was clean and ready for the day. David followed suit and by 645 we were having breakfast down stairs.

After breakfast we went to a coffee shop, and were enticed by this delicious looking blended coffee. We both knew there was ice and it, which was probably made with tap water. Eating ice made with contaminated water can be treacherous, but we could not resist an ice cold coffee in this hot and muggy city.  Thankfully, we were OK. First daring act of the day - success.

The next daring act of the day was walking under these power lines- success.

After the coffee and power lines, David and I came back to the hotel talked to the parents to tell them yes we were alive, and no we were no longer sick. After some short relaxation time in the room, we decided it was time to go bushwacking through this concrete jungle, and to dodge traffic in order to walk across the city to the reunification palace and war museum.

I am not joking when I claim that crossing the street is like bushwacking. This is a pretty typical street, and the traffic never ceases. You literally just need to walk across the street, and hope in your heart of hearts, that the bikers will see you and go around you - so far it has worked for me. Success

Finally, when we reached the palace and museum, we had some relative calm behind solid gates that would keep out the traffic and annoying street peddlers. The reunification palace I guess could be analogous to the White House, except that it was bombed a few times and was eventually stormed by the Tanks of North Vietnam in 1975. The building itself was beautiful, meshing some western architecture with traditional oriental influences.

Reunification Palace

Next stop was the Vietnam War Museum. The Vietnam War Museum was in one word: horrific. It spoke of the injustices and inhumanity of the French and Americans toward the Vietnamese. One section of the museum was all about torture, and explained the different tactics the French and Americans used on Vietnamese prisoners of war. One particularly cruel punishment was what is known as the tiger cages. In these cages, 5-7 inmates would be crammed in, and would have to permanently slouch over to fit in the cages. 

Tiger Cages

And these tiger cages were not even the saddest part of the museum. There was an entire room devoted to consequences of 'Agent Orange.' A deadly chemical the Americans used against the Vietnamese during the war, which killed regions of agriculture, caused death, and perhaps worst of all, has caused horrible deformities in children born to parents who were poisoned during the war. 

4 out of 4 of this mans children suffered deformities due to his poisoning with Agent Orange.

This is not the worst case pictured in the museum, trust me. 

As horrible as Agent Orange was, Vietnam was not innocent either, but they conveniently forget to tell you of their own war crimes. After all it is their museum. 

When David and I were done with the War Museum, we were tired.So tired in fact, that we decided to  hire a motorcyclist to drive us to our next destination. After some haggling, it was agreed upon that the price would be about $3.50 for a 15 block ride through the traffic from hell. Not knowing what we were getting ourselves into, we jumped on the back of a scooter and sped off. 

The first minute was a white-knuckled ride, but once you realized that your driver has been doing this his whole life, and that maybe he does know what he is doing, you can't help but just enjoy the ride. Success. 

We reached our destination, the tallest building in Vietnam, and the view from the observation deck was stupendous. See for yourself. 

Top of the Bixco Financial Center. A very polluted view of a city of 9 million.

Finally, the last challenge of the day awaited us - Dinner. After being so sick the day before, we wanted to be extra careful in our choice of restaurant. We ended up finding a little restaurant that served stir-fry dishes. I got the shrimp, head and all, David got the beef. So far, not sick. Success. 

For those of you commenting, I am sorry but the blogger website is blocked here, so I can update my blog but not view it. So Jenny, yes I know David looks good in my shirt, all my shirts would look good on anyone. I have style now, remember? Alan, I will be sure to keep an eye out for the spices that will be coming my way. 

Till next time I have 2 hours to write a blog. Yours truly. - Spencer

Day 1 - Cab Rides

Holy crap, that was the most exhilarating cab ride I have ever been in. The cab driver only knew enough English to tell us our price (we were ripped off) and to exclaim to us that he was a "Good Driver" as David and I cringed as he sped through a chaotic intersection. In Vietnam, the rules of the road are simple:

1. You don't stop at intersections, for if you do the chaotic flow of traffic will surely be interrupted and you will get honked at. 

2. If you are on a bike, yield to cars always, because they WILL run you over only seconds after you hear their honk. 

3. Use your horn at least 3 times per 10 second increment.

4. Don't stop for pedestrians, but do acknowledge them by going around them without decreasing your speed. 

These four simple rules pretty much sum up my observation for the day.

I am here now, in a pretty nice hotel, with pretty nice people, in a pretty nice city. As expected, the Pho was phenomenal. However, David and I went a little overboard on the spicy sauce and couldn't sip the broth out of the bowl like any self respecting Vietnamese person would do. 

I would write more but I am absolutely exhausted, the complete opposite of the hyperactive street pedalers that will attempt to shine your sandal if you will let them. 

Best, 

Spencer

First bowl of Pho

People like to relax here right on the side of the street

Day 0 - The Preparations

All This....

...went into this.

Five hours from now I will likely be doped up on sleeping pills. My goal is to sleep for the entirety of my twelve hour flight to Taiwan. Followed by a four hour short skip and hop (by comparison) to Saigon. Our trek will begin there, in a city of 9 million, which is supposed to have some of the best cuisine in the world - Everything from fried grasshoppers to the more familiar Pho soup. Two months from now I will be back stateside, undoubtedly a changed man.

This brainchild of ours, this vacation, this journey, was agreed on about a year ago during a painstaking mile run at the UCF Gym. There David and I ran through the UCF gym for the only time that entire semester (we're busy studying most the time). As out of shape as we were, this mile was responsible for solidifying a journey of 1000 miles through a part of the world we barley know - South East Asia. For the geographically disinclined, this region includes Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.


Most would say, "Be careful. I wouldn't go there."

Some would say, "Yes, I have heard great things about Thailand and Singapore. But I am not so sure about traveling through Cambodia."


A few would say, "I want to go!"

Well I guess we are in the few.

Well we are packed after about four straight days of buying gear and making packing lists. As you can see, we fit A LOT into a relatively LITTLE backpack. Packed are about 4 days of clothes, a first aid kit , some toiletries, baby wipes (you never know when you gotta go), and some good shoes.

This blog will be updated periodically, and I will do my best to keep it entertaining. Hope you all will enjoy my travels as much as I will (though I know you wont enjoy it like me :) ). Speak to you again on the other side of the bigger pong (The Pacific). Please do comment.

Spencer