Awesome Asia, Tsunami was a downer
Hello everyone,
Well i should actually write a personal email from me to you, yes i know that i wrote no emails and left it all up to Damen, but you know with all the unexpected typhoons, tsunami's and 12kg dysentry weight loss that I hadn't planned on in my travels, I was a bit pre-occupied. Well from all the emails i have recieved from people in India, South America, Middle East and Asia it really sounds like they have all the same madness, chaos, illness, dilema's, poverty,violence and pollution , just different scenery. Coming back to NZ has been very weird for me, South East Asia was a great slap in the face and i feel like i needed to stay longer , get sicker, (even though I had fainted from fever and lost 12kgs of vomit and diarrhea over 3 weeks, and still have the shits in NZ now). I feel rather lost here in Auckland, I really miss the madness, chaos , dirt, poverty and beauty of crazy Asia. Its really hard to comprehend all those people dying from the tsunami when your living so far away, we are so isolated from all that. I felt really guilty when we flew out from Bangkok on the 27th/28th, It could so easily have been us down there, as we had planned to go to Krabi for a week, but fortunatley we were too sick to go South and decided on an island between Cambodia and Thailand. We were on a ferry heading for Bangkok when the tsunami hit , but it went towards the Bay of Bengal so we weren't at all affected. There were groups of people we kept meeting up with in Vietnam who were all heading to the Southern islands for xmas, so some may be among the dead. I guess that I feel guilty about being a tourist that can fly in and have a great sight seeing time but then can leave at any point when things arn't looking too great. I go back to the comforts of my home but.the locals have lost everything and have to live amongst all that damage but had fuck-all and are living off the bones of their ass to begin with. It's really unfair. I know this happens all over the world all the time, (not Tsunami's as such) but death and destruction, but I guess you aren't really affected by it until you lose someone or come very close to being directly involved. Poor Sri Lanker and Indonesia.
Man what a sad sap I am, I should be a door knocking donations collector for oxfam or tear fund. Maybe that's my calling in life, to do aid or environmental work in Asia. Ok on a positve note, yes SEA was awsome with Vietnam being great , parts of Cambodia greater and Thailand being not that shit hot. Vietnam is the haggle to death capital though not as bad as India, fantastic services, food, colours,markets,boats,scenary. Cambodia being the friendliest but poorest and sadest, Angkor Wat is mind blowing and awsome people even though they have been so wasted by war and poverty and still live in such a corrupt society getting screwed by the government and police. Thailand having the yuckest and most disrespectful tourists on the planet (you feel very ashamed to be foreign). I can see why they are sick of foriegners especially fat white horny males covered in young Thai girls and big groups of boys wanting to get laid on their boys only holiday, but cool temples, wats, dynasties, food, massage, lovely locals. Sorry I never sent pics but you may be bored to death by now. I actually took very few pics this trip as I'm still shooting on film, Damen did a digital slaughter on Asia, so I'll steal some of his for you. Man this email feels so preachy, like i'm a saint or Michael Palin , or just an observer, but really i'm just another foreign tourist. Well I have to go back to skool tomorrow, so hope to hear from you all, yes Europe is still on the cards for April/May, look out. Hey if anyone knows how to get fat quick, let me know as i'm a walking billboard for anorexia.
love you all pipxxxxxx.
Well i should actually write a personal email from me to you, yes i know that i wrote no emails and left it all up to Damen, but you know with all the unexpected typhoons, tsunami's and 12kg dysentry weight loss that I hadn't planned on in my travels, I was a bit pre-occupied. Well from all the emails i have recieved from people in India, South America, Middle East and Asia it really sounds like they have all the same madness, chaos, illness, dilema's, poverty,violence and pollution , just different scenery. Coming back to NZ has been very weird for me, South East Asia was a great slap in the face and i feel like i needed to stay longer , get sicker, (even though I had fainted from fever and lost 12kgs of vomit and diarrhea over 3 weeks, and still have the shits in NZ now). I feel rather lost here in Auckland, I really miss the madness, chaos , dirt, poverty and beauty of crazy Asia. Its really hard to comprehend all those people dying from the tsunami when your living so far away, we are so isolated from all that. I felt really guilty when we flew out from Bangkok on the 27th/28th, It could so easily have been us down there, as we had planned to go to Krabi for a week, but fortunatley we were too sick to go South and decided on an island between Cambodia and Thailand. We were on a ferry heading for Bangkok when the tsunami hit , but it went towards the Bay of Bengal so we weren't at all affected. There were groups of people we kept meeting up with in Vietnam who were all heading to the Southern islands for xmas, so some may be among the dead. I guess that I feel guilty about being a tourist that can fly in and have a great sight seeing time but then can leave at any point when things arn't looking too great. I go back to the comforts of my home but.the locals have lost everything and have to live amongst all that damage but had fuck-all and are living off the bones of their ass to begin with. It's really unfair. I know this happens all over the world all the time, (not Tsunami's as such) but death and destruction, but I guess you aren't really affected by it until you lose someone or come very close to being directly involved. Poor Sri Lanker and Indonesia.
Man what a sad sap I am, I should be a door knocking donations collector for oxfam or tear fund. Maybe that's my calling in life, to do aid or environmental work in Asia. Ok on a positve note, yes SEA was awsome with Vietnam being great , parts of Cambodia greater and Thailand being not that shit hot. Vietnam is the haggle to death capital though not as bad as India, fantastic services, food, colours,markets,boats,scenary. Cambodia being the friendliest but poorest and sadest, Angkor Wat is mind blowing and awsome people even though they have been so wasted by war and poverty and still live in such a corrupt society getting screwed by the government and police. Thailand having the yuckest and most disrespectful tourists on the planet (you feel very ashamed to be foreign). I can see why they are sick of foriegners especially fat white horny males covered in young Thai girls and big groups of boys wanting to get laid on their boys only holiday, but cool temples, wats, dynasties, food, massage, lovely locals. Sorry I never sent pics but you may be bored to death by now. I actually took very few pics this trip as I'm still shooting on film, Damen did a digital slaughter on Asia, so I'll steal some of his for you. Man this email feels so preachy, like i'm a saint or Michael Palin , or just an observer, but really i'm just another foreign tourist. Well I have to go back to skool tomorrow, so hope to hear from you all, yes Europe is still on the cards for April/May, look out. Hey if anyone knows how to get fat quick, let me know as i'm a walking billboard for anorexia.
love you all pipxxxxxx.
posted by Damen at 9:18 am
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