Peter's Peace

"A journey of a thousand footsteps begins with one single footstep."

- Lao Tzu -

Thanks for riding along with me, and taking a piece with you! I hope this adventure gives you some of the peace that I am still receiving today.  

Nam in a Nutshell

Nam In a Nutshell

I spent about 10 days in Vietnam with Helen. Then we went to be with the Eles in Thailand. After that I went to Malaysia to meet more of her family. I loved Vietnam so much that I decided I would end my trip there. Of course I had to buy another Visa, but it was worth every rush ordered 2 week only dollars.

So I bought another Visa and spent my last 2 weeks of my trip there. (Thanks to all the Lims' help!)

Basically Helen & I started in the South and did a little southern loop. We rode on motos, went scuba diving, and had some dresses made.

Right before I took this picture I was super frustrated with this travel agent giving us the run around. Seriously, I was about to get angry. I turned around to take a deep breath and saw the banana man right outside our office. If there is one thing Helen & I learned together is how much food or a little humor can solve just about any situation.

So we walked right outside of the office, ate a couple of naners, and bought our own cheaper flights!

We were packed in these cubbies like sardines. The measurements of these "beds" were definitely only considered for Asian people. These were probably the most unenjoyable overnight transportation if only for the lack of space... Other than that they took plenty of stops, and always told you what city you were in. (Which made it easy to know if you were supposed to get off the bus or not.) Plus they would even pick you up from your hotel!

I could always see just about anything on the streets in Vietnam. There was always someone trying to sell you something (though you hardly ever felt hassled.) The Vietnamese were always sleeping too. Although I never got a picture, my favorite was the way the Vietnamese could use a moto as a minivan, truck, and A LAZY BOY. There would be some hard core reclining and napping all day long all over every street.

I am not kidding they can look this comfortable on a moto.

these next few pictures occurred during 4 day motorcycle trip. I took this photo off of the reflection from my guides helmet.

Helen & I traveled for 4 full days on the back of motorcycles all through all different areas of Vietnam to see the Mekong River Valley. Now I have so much more respect for motorcyclers. It was seriously taxing on our bodies.

Vietnamese coffee is beyond delicious! It's super strong, filtered through the container on top, and usually mixed with condensed milk. (I had some pretty intense headaches when I first returned back to the States because I was not drinking it any more!)

After seeing these people's working conditions, I doubt I will ever complain about the expensive prices of cashews. It was so hot and humid at this point it felt like I was wading through later. 

Every job is paid extremely low in Vietnam. Manual labor jobs are excessively low & most of these people work everyday of every week all day long.

These trees produce a sticky, gummy like substance that is the main ingredient in rubber & latex. We saw them all over Vietnam & Malaysia. I had never really wondered where or how those products are produced but it was pretty cool to see all the trees in rows with bags & coconuts lined up collecting every drip of stickiness.

Our whole "goal" of the journey was to go to the Mekong Delta River Valley. I learned so much more on the journey than the actual destination we were excited to see. In every situation I can think in my life, the journey was way more fun and exciting than any ending point point we may have been eager to see or have. When I was a little girl, I was always more excited about the road trip and the mixed tapes than wherever we actually went. The open road was always the adventure where most of us Griswolds had our most exciting tales. The open road....

We went through this tour called Easy Riders. It was a bit pricey. Actually REALLY pricey for Vietnam. In the end it was worth every penny because it is where I felt like I understood & fell in love with Vietnam. We were as close to being locals as possible. We ate at all the local & cheap restaurants, and stayed off the beaten path. Plus I learned more from them with complete freedom. I think my favorite reoccurring activity was our siesta in the mid afternoon.

Most locals that had transportation would do the same as well. The trucker stops in Vietnam were far different than the ones back home. First of all there were hammocks. They were right off the highway, plenty of delicious fresh juices, food, toilets, and did I mention hammocks - for resting your sore buttie?

My favorite pedicure place in Ho Chi Minh city. Yeah that is right we had pedicures for $5.00. Two of these women also gave me an hour massage for $9.00

I am going to miss my Asian massages. There was stretching, popping, crunching, pulling, bending, pushing, and rubbing involved. I definitely did get used to it!

Here is Fuki- our favorite seamstress who we could hardly say no to. (In Vietnam they can make just about anything you could possibly want. Anything. In hours. With your exact measurements. Anything like: Dresses, shoes, suits, jackets, or boots.)

In the past, I would have gone crazy. I lived for the dress. (I still do, but given my nomadic tendencies I am really not buying like I used to.)   

Helen & I could be food connoisseurs. This was one of our favorites that we found on the street. Bananas wrapped in sticky rice, drizzled with coconut milk, and peanuts sprinkled on top. (I ended up going back to this spot at the very end of my trip and this dessert might have been one of the main reasons why! Yep It is that good.)

After we left Vietnam we went to be with the Eles. Then we went to Malaysia to be with Helen's family. After that, I flew into northern Vietnam, checked out some cool bay Islands and quickly headed South. I am not sure where & how long ago I came to my senses about Southern Superiority, but Vietnam definitely reconfirmed that everything was, is, and always will be a little bit better down south. 

Basically in the North people were ruder & prices were higher.

Crossing an intersection in Vietnam

is to

Diving with the fish down in the ocean.

Yeah there is a man with 4 children on this moto. (Vietnam has a 2 child only policy in cities. It is a little more loosely regulated than China's 1 child only policy.)

Running out of gas is no problem in Vietnam. I actually did! There are gas stations everywhere. You can seriously buy it at every street corner from mom & pop shops or a proper gas station like this one. When we ran out of gas we just pushed our moto a couple steps and were at someone's house who sold gas. 

I went to Ha Long Bay for 3 days in Northern Vietnam.

When I was there I ran into some of the cutest girls from Coffee Bay which of course made me freak out. (Yeah they remembered me as the curly haired dancer girl from Coffee Bay!)

While I was there I got to sleep on a boat, karaoke in a great bar with my friend Chi who out did Whitney Houston, checked out the coolest disco lit cave, kayaked, hiked, swam, and of course there was a lot of great food.

The disco-lit cave

These were all the people that were constantly outside eating. Most "cafes" consist of tiny kindergarten-like chairs, a table, crunchy paper that were supposed to be napkins and utensils. This particular meal was chicken, a fried egg, noodles, and some greens. I had soy milk to drink and all together it cost me $1.75. 

I am definitely going to miss the street food flavor & the prices.

All the locals use these circular mini sphere baskets to take them out to their boats.

Did I mention Vietnamese were always sleeping somewhere?

There was no such thing as a soccer driving carpool mom in Vietnam. But here were all the parents picking up their children after school in motos or bicycles.

Here were the oldest sibling who took care of the younger ones. I will really miss Vietnameses efficiency. When you travel, there was no such thing as not enough space.

Schools out for the summer!!! (Or in my case kinda all year long...)

Ele Bele

About 2 years ago I reconnected with a good highschool friend of mine, Lauren. She had just come back from an incredible experience of helping out with the elephants in Thailand. There have been many important times in my life where people talk about their travels or experiences with such strong convictions & then recommend that I do the same. Needless to say this was one of them. And I am so grateful to have had this experience also. So basically Helen and I paid to volunteer for a week & do a lot of manual labor. But in our free time we got to roam, feed, bath, & play with the elephants.

The lady who created this elephant reserve grew up in Thailand as the granddaughter of a Shaman. She always had this strong connection with elephants and wanted to do something to protect them from all the abuse. Elephants were used heavily during the logging days of Thailand. Now due to deforestation logging is illegal & there is no need for the elephants. So their owners have resorted to street begging & tourist rides to make money.

Even though elephants are considered sacred animals with Thai's Buddhist beliefs they are not treated as such. The main problem is the way the elephants are "broken into" their lives of tourism. They are tortured for days in tiny chambers. (We got to see plenty of footage.) Lek, the owner of this reserve has opened up this space for the Mahouts, or elephant owners to come & live with their families & bring their elephants so long as they do not abuse the elephants anymore.

They are also in the process of opening another reserve, working with the Thai government, providing free medical aide to local villages, and educating the new mahout generations on trying to change hundreds of years of abuse. It is beyond inspiring: http://www.elephantnaturefoundation.org/

I think my single most favorite thing about elephants is their soulful eyes. This ele is crazy for some bananas. But after spending just a week with them you really pick up on their language & expressions. They really are some of the most gentle, special, loving creatures.

I also loved the way they were constantly scratching. Elephants have surprisingly sensitive skin.

The reserve has 33 elephants, 3 pigs, tons of dogs, water buffalo, and plenty of mice & rats too.

Here is Michele in all her food preparation glory. She is an Aussie who came to help out for a couple weeks 6 years ago & has not left! It was fun helping her out, plus she always had great tunes playing.

I like this photo because you can really see the indentions right behind May Kum Geaws eyes. It is easy to tell a general age of elephants by looking at their forehead. The deeper the indentions the older the elephant.

About half way into our week we got to take an overnight excursion with the ele's to Elephant Heaven. We hiked about 2 hours with the elephants up into jungle paradise. We lucked out because they had just built a bridge back that had collapsed and we just missed the rain that cancelled the next groups trip.

The elephants were pretty wiped out after our hike. When we arrived to our camp they spent at least 45 minutes enjoying their mud bath.

These garments were blessed by monks. Every group that goes to Elephant Heaven wraps them around trees to protect them from the loggers that are trying to destroy the surrounding areas.

Here is a perfect example of what should not be happening. Many of these elephants had blood marks from beatings. If you ever go to Thailand please do not ride the elephants or give money to street elephants.

Another day we got to go to the local school & play with all the kiddos. Obviously I was in paradise. There always is a group of children outside of school that cook treats to raise money. They were totally delish.

Oh yeah- for all those Eanes & Mystic people we taught the kindergarteners how to "GO BANANAS!"

Dr. Rob & nurse Jeannette pretty much adopted all the "youngsters" in the group. They were a lovely Australian couple who were going to go to Europe but after hearing about the reserve decided to cancel & come work with the ELE'S in Thailand.

Heres, Number 1, our guard dog.

Nat our "volunteer coordinator"

Dam is the mahout for May Kum Geaw (my favorite elephant!) Everyone made fun of him because he used to be the mahout for Hope (a naughtier elephant) & since he has switched he had put on some pounds since he does not have to run around chasing Hope anymore.

Meadow (on the right) broke her back in a poorly run breeding camp. When we humans break our back we are totally incapacitated. Seeing Meadow and her friend & they way they care for & protect each other makes me melt.

Yep- I caught Jungle Boy in action!

Helen & I with the British card playing boys Ben & Greg.

It's all Chinese to ME.

Ok since I only have a couple of days left the last few entries are going to be more of "highlights" of countries if that makes sense.

Matching couples is easily one of the favorite memories of China.

Another highlight is all the children have holes in their pants to make it easy for to potty training. Kinda genius if you think about it... (Another major difference though is that it is acceptable for children to go to the bathroom just about anywhere. You see them on the sides of streets or parents holding them over trash cans all the time.)

Matt, Austin, & I with our spicy, hotpot adventure

Here is the bridge to Tiananmen Square. I of course know that China is a communist Country. I was oblivious/ had forgotten that the Government controls everything. Children growing up in schools have no idea of what happened: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989 There are no markers or plaques acknowledging anything.

China has also found a way to block or at least censor google. While I was in China I was never able to access google on the internet.

Helen & I in the Forbidden palace

China has a 1 child only policy. Just as an outsiders' perspective it was very noticeable. Instead of a lot of little children running around with one parent. There would be tons of caregivers hovering over one child.

Driving in America is going to be so boring when I return. You never know what you may see on the roads in foreign countries. Oxen, horses, motos, cows, roosters, pigs, ducks, buses. The thing that impresses me the most is just the hardcore manual labor that you see in normal day to day life. Everyday there are men & women carrying who knows what all over the streets. I feel like you never see it back home the way you do over here when you travel.

People doing their ritual bows, prayers, & offerings of incense.

The Olympic Stadium

This is my first bite out of one of the scariest desserts I had ever tried. As Helen phrases it the Chinese eat EVERYTHING! So naturally it makes sense that they would combine all their desserts into on Megasert. & serve it over ice. Gushy, mushy, crunchy, & chewey. Not my favorites, but surprisingly tasty.

Traveling reminds me of running a marathon. When you are in a serious race people are always out there to cheer you on & pass out water and other supplies. When you are traveling before you even stop there are always people rushing to sell you their goods.

Back home many people are consumed with their tans. In Asia most people want to be whiter. They were long pants, sleeves, hats, and carry umbrellas. Most of the products sold have whitening enhancers instead of tanning. Everything is the same same, but different. They always will point out our tans. We think it is a compliment, they think its bad.

The Bus chart

This was yet another moment where I was staring off into la la land as Helen was forced to be the "tour guide." One time Helen just started laughing at dinner, wondering what I would have done without her in Asia? The truth is I have no idea. I would have never gotten to see a deeper side to any of the countries because it is pretty intimidating as a newcomer.

We had so many dialogues & inside jokes created about everyone else around us because they were so confused to see her with me. Plus they could never pinpoint where she was from. It was one of my favorite games: Where is Helen from today? It always depended on the situation, bargaining, who was asking & many other external factors.... In reality:

Its all Chinese to me!

FAMILY

It all started way back in Beijing when we thought we had bought tickets to Vietnam. Unfortunately when we arrived to the airport, they had no record of our tickets. Awesome. We had all these signals leading us into dead ends before we "purchased" our tickets. Needless to say we were in the airport, bags packed, barely any chinese currency, ready to leave Beijing. A couple nights before, I had told Helen a story of a friend who went to the airport & had the airport saleswoman buy him a random flight when he realized he had extra time off. We both agreed that it would be so fun & spontaneous to do the same. If we only knew what was in store....

So we booked the cheapest most random flight out of Beijing to the island of Hainan, China. Of course, Helen happened to have long lost family living in a small village on this Island.

Helen when she realized we were going to the the Island where she had family!

We were on the flight with no more Chinese currency & absolutely no plan. We met the cutest girl who helped us get a shady hotel for the night. When we woke up the next day we relocated & Helen put a call to her parents checking to see about her family. We had pretty much canned the idea of going to see her family because we really wanted to get to Vietnam and it was going to be more complicated then we thought. We ended up heading east to a popular beach spot for a few days and bought our flights to Vietnam.

So on one of our last days on the Island I am in my bathing suit & sun dress ready to go to the beach, I make a quick run to the ATM and when I return Helen is on the phone talking to her family. The next thing I know we are on a "3 hour" bus headed to the small town where Helen's great uncle lives.

When we arrive (2 hours later than anticipated,) Helen's second cousin whose name I still am yet to be able to pronounce scoops us off the bus & we are flying in a taxi to there family chateaux-like compound.

Right when we arrived they showered us with coconuts & other delicious fruits. We only stayed one night but we had 2 of the best meals I had when I was in China.

Helen's great uncle is her grandmother's youngest brother. His whole family lived in this village. Every family had their own building but It appeared like they all shared 1 bathroom. All the elders spoke Cantonese. The parents, and children spoke Cantonese & Mandarin. Helen spoke Mandarin and English. Try to imagine what it was like to give me 1 message or ask me a question. Remember I was the first American they had ever met. Although I love the movie Lost in Translation, I find it hardly did this scenario justice.

Here is Helen's 2nd cousin that took us around the whole time with his 3 month hold baby boy & his grandparents.

After we ate dinner, Helen's cousins took us out for a night on the town. We drove about 20 minutes into town by taxi & saw the main city square. Even though it was only a tuesday it was buzzing with people. They had this one area that was filled with all these people doing traditional dancing. It reminded me a bit of Criders for all those Kerrville people (except with a Chinese spin!) They said that during the summer it is always packed because it is so hot in their houses that everyone comes to the square to cool off.

After we saw the town square they really spiced it up by taking us to the main discoteca/ karaoke hall. There was this moment where I was dancing on the dance floor to some cheesy eighties ballads in my same sun dress & bathing suit where I could hardly believe my life - we were supposed to be going to the beach & instead we are having one of the coolest most surreal family encounters.

This of course was a super special occasion for the cousins to go out & they showed us a fantastic time. On this trip I really have not gone out much. Its exhausting always being on the road, plus the same cheesy touristy bars are boring. This night along with a few others with LOCALS are by far the most memorable!

Unfortunately this picture does not do the whole meal justice because the food kept coming but I was too busy eating to take any more photos. At this meal I unknowingly tried the most unusual food... I had already eaten it the night before in the soup. Later at this brunch Helen was "sweet "enough to inform me I was eating PIGS BLOOD. Which slowed me down a bit. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

After brunch, we took photos, and then we were on our way to catch our flight to Vietnam. Here were my favorite family shots:

La Gran muralla de China

We took a ferry which I would compare to a cheap "cruise" from Japan to China. We met a great group of travelers that were all heading to Beijing as well. So we kinda continued our cruise through Beijing. One of our friends, Fernando, had done his homework & found this exclusive great wall tour!

For Cinco De Mayo we celebrated by hiking The Great Wall of China! Surprisingly enough I picked up a couple new Spanish phrases since there is no hope in me taking on Chinese. 

We drove about 3 hours outside of the city & met our 65 year pistol tour guide & got to hike the great wall with no one else & no cheesy vendors! 

Helen's tour guide responsibilities will not end till we leave Asia... (Again because our guide was not English speaking so she got to help translate. Remember even though they say English speaking it does not mean they actual speak English.)

Kojie, our Japanese friend, who always spices it up with the greatest faces in all photos!

Although I would never want to down play any hiking experience, after my near death ice picking Bolivian adventure I do not think any trek will ever surmount to that experience.

Been there - hiked that.

KEEN: The shoe that goes everywhere!

After we hiked the Great Wall we had a great lunch in the local village.

Then we met some other friends and all went out for Peking Duck (which is one of Beijing's specialties and what Helen was most looking forward to.) We wrapped it up like a fajita with veggies inside. It was totally delish!

After our duck, we walked around some of the night markets and we took one more photo before we said goodbye to some of our group. 

Yeah- these scorpions were still wriggling. Although I have gotten so good about trying new things & getting over my texture issues, this was not going to happen.

PEACE

The peace museum was easily one of the most well done museums I have ever been to. It did an excellent job of stating the facts in a clean and neutral way. It never put blame on any party. It clearly stated many times that both sides made mistakes. And now Japan's main objective for the future is:

PEACE

When we first walked up to the park this is what we found with a plaque that read: "The A Bomb dome is the ruins of the former Industrial promotion hall which was destroyed by the first atomic bomb ever to be used in the history of humankind on August 6, 1945.

"The Atomic Bomb detonated in the air at an altitude of approximately 600 meters almost right above the hall. The explosion of a single bomb claimed the lives of over 200,000 people and the city area of about 2-km radius was turned to ashes. In order to have this tragic fact known to succeeding generations and to make it a lesson for humankind, the reinforcement work of the ruins has been done by contributions of many people who desire peace within and out of the country. The ruins shall be preserved forever." August 6, 1967 Hirsohima City

This flame will burn until there are no more weapons of mass destruction.

Ultimately the reason why Hiroshima was chosen was because it was believed that it was one of the smallest cities that did not have a prisoner of war site with any of the U.S.'s Allies.

(Here is my little disclaimer: I know from this point on if you are reading it will be difficult. I am hoping you can enlarge your viewing window so you can read because there are a lot of powerful words.)

The museum also had plenty of stories of how the U.S. supported Hiroshima in different ways after the bombing. One story was flying women to the United States to help them with cancer treatments.

The smaller children that should have been killed at the nearby schools in Hiroshima had been evacuated. Many of the children that were evacuated were orphaned in seconds because the rest of their family was annihilated.

Many of the teenagers that should have been in school had been put to work instead. I read many stories of these children barely managing to walk home & then die in their parents arms.

As a teacher this was one of the most powerful things I have read. The truth is not always easy but it is the only thing that will set us free.

After this point in the museum there was a major break. Then you enter another hall & this is when it gets gut-wrenching. They have testimonials, pictures, leftover artifacts and everything else that instantly forces tears in your eyes.

It was said that no plants would grow, because of the radioactivity, for 75 years after the bomb was dropped.

This tricycle was of a little 3 year old boy who was killed. His father buried him in their backyard with his tricycle because he did not want him buried alone in a graveyard. Then 50 years later the father dug him up donated the tricycle to the museum and buried him with the rest of his family.

When you exit the Museum you can see the special statue that was created for Sadako.

I have been to concentration camps in Europe. I have seen plenty of other museums all over the world. This museum easily was one of the most powerful museums I have ever been to. It is incredible the way they transformed such a tragedy into a powerful positive message of peace.

The last monument I read as we left the whole park said: "Mourning the lives lost in the atomic bombing we pledge to convey the truth of this tragedy throughout Japan and the world pass it on to the future, learn the lessons of history, and build a peaceful world free from nuclear weapons."

No blame, just the facts, and a lot of hope.