well, i survived southeast asia. pretty interesting tour to shoot 2 videos...one is for a private school that sponsors local kids and teaches every student English, the other video is for the B&B / Guest House that helps support school. both are in Phnom Penh and run by a dynamic lady named Muoy. she has big plans, a big heart and big vision...for a bigger school on her own land and for a second guest house 5 hours away near Koh Kong.
i saw a lot of countryside, driving to Koh Kong and then another 6 hours to Bangkok by car. the weather was hot, humid, and very little rain. i never saw so many scooters in my life. and so many air masks...must be worn for all the pollution putting around the city. pretty crazy. and we went by three-wheel tuk tuk. an interesting place. i think seeing hanoi or saigon would have had a little more impact for me due to U.S. history there, but Cambodia was still a thrill. a lot like thailand but poorer and less developed. the Khmer Rouge ruled and killed millions of its own people. it set the country back decades as well.
quite a shock going from the snow in zurich to the heat of cambodia and bangkok and then back to zurich. and i'm heading off to zermatt to see the matterhorn tomorrow before i fly back to warm nairobi on wednesday.
lots of pics on this blog. spent a week in phnom penh, 2 nights in koh kong, and 1 night in bangkok, then a 12 hour flight back to zurich. nairobi is another 8 or 9 hours i think. but only 2 hour time change so should be reasonable.
lots of cutting to do when i get back, but i'll blog some links to the upcoming videos when all is done.
have really enjoyed the snow this trip. not sure i could handle 6 months of gray skies in europe every winter, but for a visit it's been great. i really have been traveling a lot more than i expected. always fun. but always good to get back home. living a very charmed life at the moment. pretty good idea to leave L.A. after all. have had such great adventures ever since! sure beats sitting on the couch in my old loft watching TV!
now for some pics...again in random order!
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| had another brat today back in zurich. so good. a rarity in africa. |
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| zurich beauty. |
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| swan lake |
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| me these days. somewhere in asia i think. |
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| my first panorama pic taken with my iphone 5. the swiss villa kitchen with friends. |
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| swiss air lounge bar in zurich airport |
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| the Heidi train to our terminal. nice remembrance of my sister Heidi who is now gone. |
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| zurich airport...great lighting design and architecture |
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| always love the marketing of countries. the other by-line is "Swizterland. Get natural". |
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| Swiss Air now owned by Lufthansa. those germans swooped in and did it right. |
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| Cambodia ho! |
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| crazy sunset colors in a thunderhead. |
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| bangkok airport. looks like infinity. |
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| more sunset |
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| the power line situation in phnom penh was completely out of hand. |
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| looks totally unsafe and ruins any photo! |
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| basic cambodian temple |
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| this complex was in complete decay mode...yet inhabited. |
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| monks on a scooter. mask #1. |
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| modern day bicycle rickshaw. |
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| view of phnom penh from the roof bar Le Moon. |
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| cambodian dancing girl |
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| the hand gestures and dress are divinely inspired. |
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| somewhat mesmerizing. |
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| mask #2 & #3 |
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| a very cool colonial house and restaurant serving tarantula and stir fried ants among other things. |
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| the Seametrey school in phnom penh |
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| central market in PP. huge in every direction! |
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| modern architecture in PP |
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| our tuk tuk driver. |
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| scooter city. |
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| all the mask wearing made you paranoid after a while! is there an outbreak????? |
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| muoy who is the visionary behind it all. |
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| we had brunch on the famous Mekong River. this isn't it. but it's close by. |
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| kids at the school. |
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| cambodian sunset. |
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| more temple-age. |
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| the FCC or Foreign Correspondents CLub in PP. met 2 guys from denver and went bar hopping. |
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| i liked the Tiger beer over the local Angwok beer. |
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| early morning monks. |
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| a very loaded down van crossing cambodia. public transpo. |
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| remember kids, safety is no accident! |
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| our hotel was a welcome sight! |
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| our hotel terrace on the river near the thai border. |
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| gruesome stone village of khmer atrocities. |
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| baby coconut drinks...the juice is all the rage for body fluid replacement. natural electrolytes, et al. |
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| water shrine |
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| more hotel view |
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| a cold beer was always welcome |
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| the long bridge to thailand |
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| pretty spiffy bank poster guy in thailand. we walked across the border like a no-man's land between immigration offices. a definite buzz on the border. |
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| Grande Dynasty hotel in bangkok. |
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| bizarre fruit in thailand. |
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| the "taxi" we hired from the border crossing to bangkok. spacious! |
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| Bangkok or gotham city? half expected Batman to show up on our 32nd floor bar of the Sofitel. |
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| lots o escalators at Siam Center |
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| inside bangkok's skytrain |
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| clean lighting. siam center. |
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| parts of bangkok were most civilized. other parts total improv mayhem! |
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| what all of bangkok would look like if left alone. tall grass! |
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| the skytrain runs above the main drag in bangkok. a flying subway. very economical to build. LA should follow suit...down wilshire and down santa monica blvd. gee, right where the Red Line used to run! |
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| massive construction going on. |
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| another view of bangkok |
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| lots o food vendors |
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| old ferry against a new building on the bangkok river |
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| classic ferry boats, price was 15 baht. |
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| they had the long tail v-8 motor boats as well. |
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| siam center giant video screen |
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| at last, shangri-la found! |
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| power line madness in bangkok. wires gone wild! |
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| fish? |
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| deep fry |
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| lots o street vendors |
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| outbreak at the food stand? very disconcerting! |
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| i guess if it's deep fried hot enough it kills all the bad stuff. serious woks! |
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| bangkok has a great subway too. and an airlink train to the airport. avoid all car transpo! |
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| air con advert in sky train station. |
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| clean public transpo and it was packed! it works! |
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| another view of bangkok |
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| the coldest Singha drafts ever! at the hotel next door. |
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| skytrain station |
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| bangkok airport black light lighting |
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| more skytrain |
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| the swiss villa...my digs in zurich |
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| a sunny sunday in zurich |
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| a flatmate at the villa...Youmna. |
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| she showed me the town on a sunny afternoon. |
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| classic suisse. |
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| emerging clock tower |
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| picturesque day! |
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| a great european city. |
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| hip crowd at Motta by the river in zurich |
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| swiss menu. great font. |
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| where we stopped for lunch. |
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| what we ate. melted cheese, ham, great bread and a fried egg. |
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| bangkok mall. |
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| tuk tuk driver/photo assistant in koh kong |
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| more PP scooters |
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| french colonial lunch spot in PP |
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| these wings are so huge...still amazed these things can fly at all! |
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| MAtterhorn tomorrow then back to nairobi. hopefully it's not too cloudy! i want to see the mountain. so reminds me of growing up in So Cal and going to Disneyland. the Matterhorn became "the happiest place on earth". i'll see tomorrow! excited! 6 hours on a fast train through the alps. bliss! UNTIL NEXT TIME! XXOO COTW |
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