I am in Bangkok now for the last leg of this journey and loving every bit of this city. It is loud and grimy and polluted and the traffic is horrendous but for some reason I love it here. I loved it at the beginning of my trip, right after China, and I love it even more 4 months later. It is like New York on crack. They say NY never sleeps, but remember a few years ago I had the pleasure of working there, night shifts with an undercover NYPD team! What a blast that was. Having seen inside NYC at all times of the day and night, I can say that Bangkok blows it away by truly being a 24 hour megopolis: every street teeming with humanity - and then at dusk, the streets change. It seems that every square inch of every sidewalk fills with either sellers or buyers. Tiny little stalls, often as small as a coke crate or a mini hibachi, set up to hawk food, clothes, house wares, puppies last night, stereo and computers - you name it, it is for sale on every block. The hawkers call out; the beggars lay around asking for money, little kids play musical instruments and the blind and disabled cruise around with mini karaoke boxes, belting out terrible Thai love songs into the hot damp night air. It is so great - I love it all. AND, to top it all off, the icing on my last week in Asia......I am in a beautiful apartment hotel. Absolutely beautiful, full river view from my balcony: I can see the barges go up the river, the tour boats and the water taxis zig zaggng back and forth. I am in a stunning apartment with full kitchen and washer/dryer and marble bathroom and and and....no joke, it is so great I don't even want to leave the gigantic pool or marble hallways until nighttime to catch the street action. Laura and Sharon - so much for making fun of me about my incessant researching.....it paid off on this one!!!. It is much more expensive than I am used to paying, but then again everything will be for the rest of my life. I think it will be hard to find nice $5 night places again. This deal ($50) I found on my new favorite website...latestays.com - add it you junkies - it is a worldwide last minute site and it works well. This place is both on the Skytrain and on the river taxi route- a big deal for Bangkok because the traffic is so nasty. The last few mornings, I have been like a princess....down for breakfast/brunch - included. Five star buffet of Thai entrees, salad bar, fresh baked croissants, cakes, egg station etc etc....amazing restaurant overlooking the pool area, then out to have a swim in the rain, then a quick sauna.....ohhhhh!!! . I really will find it hard to leave this place, or hand it over to Janice. Sharon/Laura - this is a must do for your last week. They have 2 more weeks than I have. Seems like we will all be gone by the first week in June. Maybe all to return next winter???????
Remember Janice? Some of you wondered...what happened to Janice - the girl who came over to meet me a couple of months ago. We did the southern Thai islands together, then headed to Malaysia and did the Cameron Highlands (tea plantations etc) and she went east to dive some more before heading to Borneo - which I had said I would go until I learned about those nasty leeches. Since then she has been diving, diving and more diving in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. She too extended her ticket and she is slated to arrive here in my little Shangri La on Friday night, late. I have hardly heard from her as she has been doing the remote thing - I think she may have climbed Mt. Kinabulu Borneo - the highest peak in Malaysia. I leave late Saturday night; she leaves a couple of days after me. We will get to have Saturday together to catch up, and what we can't finish we shall resume at home. Story swapping - should be fun and I know she is not ready to leave here either. This is her second time around and she wasn't able to stay away.
Speaking of updates, I think I wrote - I haven't gone back to read or see my pictures of anything yet, about the amazing Australian women (Hilary) I met in Cambodia. We did a few days in disgusting Sihanoukville together. Hilary was travelling through SE Asia a few years ago with her 15 year old son, went through Cambodia, continued on to other countries but was drawn back to the plight of the Cambodians. She went home, wanted to do something, and together with her sister in law, returned to Phenom Pehn and set up a little house to receive girls from NGO's who were working to rescue trafficked girls. These girls are sold, often by their parents, to traffickers who use them in the sex trade. They become sex slaves and are held captive so they cannot run away. It is a horrible life and some NGO's have been making inroads in catching and prosecuting the traffickers. It is difficult because it is a worldwide network: huge profits, especially with children and often the police and the government officials are involved in the big business/corruption part, so when girls are actually rescued, they are at considerable risk during the prosecution phase. This phase can take a long time so these girls need to be in safe houses where they can recover physically and emotionally enough to testify. Hilary's little organization had 8 girls, aged 8 to 14 living in a house she rented, cared for by Cambodian staff she hired. She was paying for it through donations from various churches in her community and she brings groups of interested folks over to Cambodia a few times a year to see the need and see where their fundraising efforts are going.
Two of the girls are sisters, sold by their parents because of extreme poverty. Hilary's program attempts to keep the kids in contact with their families by arranging supervised visits. As with most of the sex workers in every country, they come from the very poor rural areas so visiting is difficult, dangerous and expensive.
I heard from Hilary this week as she has been following my blog and wants to try and do some of the countries I have done, in the style I have done it (backpacking and alone). Her husband does not like to travel and she is passionate about it so she was writing me for advice. She did tell me some good news and I don't think she will mind if I just cut and paste part of her email because I think it is worth sharing. I have told many about her program as illustrates what impact one person can make....
All is going great with our home & I probably mentioned we work closely with the girls families where possible with the goal of being able to safely re-integrate them one day. We have 2 girls that are sisters & their Mum & Dad & 2 siblings are homeless & live on the streets at the riverfront & send the children to beg from the tourists. The family were originally from the provinces & were farmers & 3 years ago one of the children got sick & had to be bought to PP to go to hospital The family had no way to pay the bill & it was suggested to them to try begging on the riverfront. They did & never left. We just re-located that family from the streets into a small rented room & are assisting them to earn money to become self sufficient. We have started the micro-enterprise of the "It's Not OK" bracelets (think I showed them to you) & have taught her & pay her for each one she makes. We are helping the Dad to find work as a building labourer. I visited them in their new place the week after we moved them & couldn't not believe the change in them. The Mum looked 10 years younger & was so beautiful with this big beaming smile & even had lipstick on!! Big jump in her self worth! This family has been coming to church every Sunday for the last 6 months and we pick up any of the girls families that want to come. The Dad told me through a translator that he has stopped drinking & gambling since coming to church & is now so much happier!! Has been amazing to see the start of the transformation in this little family's lives & can't wait till we can re-integrate their girls back as well. That has been the highlight of my year!!!
 
I am taking a team of girls over at the beginning of June & then again in August. I am planning a stopover in Phuket on the way home in June as never been to any of the beaches in Thailand, just up north to Chiang Mai. Heard some good & bad about it but will just have to check it out myself!
I should add that many of the women who have come with her to see the realities of the Cambodian experience, come back and volunteer at her house for a short or long stint. They too are moved and want to help.
Pretty cool huh?
 I intend to write more about Mae Sot and how it was that I was able to be so well connected in such a short time - to get ''inside' as they say. It was another lucky/karmic meeting with the daughter (nursing student Cheryl from Red Deer) who too was in Mae Sot for her first time, seeing the work her Dad (farmer from Prince Albert) has been able to do for the Burmese in 6 short years. Cheryl's Dad, Dave, has left, and continues to work on leaving, an incredible impact on thousands of Burmese refugees' lives in the Mae Sot area. Talk about one man's legacy!!!! I saw what he has built (a beautiful school for 650 students, 250 who are orphans and live on campus) and I was fortunate to see part of his vision (he just bought a chunk of land and is going to have the students farm it to make the school self sustaining: we saw the pond dug for the fish farm - it will be stocked in a month and will provide fish for the kids to eat). Like Hilary, he travelled through, saw a need, went home and thought about it and then got to work. Like Sandra van den Brink in Guatemala. My heroes. Real action.
Speaking of home, it seems like I will have some company soon. One girl I met on the bus in Cambodia just wrote me this week to tell me she has been travelling all over Canada - was in Banff skiing, out to Vancouver Island and is now in Ontario on her way to the Maritimes. She is from France, doing an around the world trip and has seen more of Canada then most Canadians. She wanted to see the mountains in summer so will be coming back through just in time for Stampede!!!! She didn't know about Stampede so it will be fun to share that with her and she can stay with me. Seems I may have a house full as I also invited others from around the globe to stay. And my friend who has been house sitting for me is also staying for a bit.....hmmmm, thank God for my big garage, the travelers will be happy camping in the yard or the garage I am sure!!!! Cheap rates and access to a washer/dryer more than make up for the lack of private accommodation. Imagine how expensive travel in Canada is compared to most of the rest of the world. The lack of cheap accommodation and huge distances between sites makes it nearly impossible for most around-the-worlders to include Canada on their agenda. Another family I met in Vietnam, also from France - near Paris, is coming through Calgary in August. Again, small world story, but I was having dinner with the mom (Clementine) and her brother (Henry) and the mom's son ( Aymeric) in Vietnam. We had met on the night bus the night before. Clementine and I laughed all night long instead of sleeping. We were trying to communicate in Franglish - she had more English than I had French. Clementine and Henry are children of Vietnamese parents (boat people) and had left Vietnam when they were quite young. They had returned to Vietnam for a relative's wedding and Clementine had brought her oldest son. At dinner they learned I was from Alberta. Clementine puts her hand into her purse and whips out a map of Alberta !!!!! What are the chances for a French/Vietnamese tourist to be carrying an Alberta map? Seems Aymeric was heading to Alberta soon after he got home from his Vietnam trip. Although he had grown up a city kid, he always wanted to be a farmer/rancher so he studied agriculture in university and had gotten a coop position to learn/work on a gigantic dairy farm in Alberta Canada. Mom had been carrying the map around, trying to get her head around her kid leaving to go somewhere where he knew no one. I thought I would have been home by the time he was to arrive...that was before I extended my stay, so I offered to be his Canadian contact. Long story - he has adapted well in Alberta and mom and the rest of the family - Dad and two younger brothers are coming in August to see Banff and Jasper and northern Alberta where Aymeric lives.
So, only a few more days here before making the long journey home. I leave here at midnight Friday night, fly to Seoul Korea, arriving around 7 am. I plan to beeline into Seoul for the day, blitz a walking tour and see how much it has changed since the last time I was there over 20 years ago, zip back to the airport to fly out around 5pm to Vancouver, landing in Vancouver 10 or 12 hours later around 11:25 am Vancouver time, hope to meet up with Val Bouie for lunch, leave Vancouver 6 hours later, arriving in Calgary at 8:25 pm......Sunday night. Nearly 48 hours of travel. Just think how many interesting people I can meet in 48 hours!!!
I will take pictures of Seoul and post them. My memories of Seoul are that it looked very much like Calgary. We were there in the winter so this should be nicer. It has the same geography and latitude as Calgary - and therefore the same weather. Beautiful mountain backdrop like the Rockies, central urban core of high-rises....except.......zillions of people, no cowboy hats.   Stay tuned.