Angkor Wat
Nice Way To Start The Day
I’m On a Boat!
Hello from the infamous slow boat to Luang Prabang!
So far its been a total hot mess where our tour guide keeps trying to jack us for $. Little things, conveniences such as getting our Thailand exit stamp for us, to trying to convert money, to getting us a room in Laos. I guess I’m naturally mistrustful because I said no every time. I’ve read too much Lonely Planet I guess.
Anyways I’m currently drinking Beerlao(national beer of Laos) and hanging out for the next eight hours on this boat. Then tomorrow we’ll do it all again.
Best things about Laos so far:
It’s beautiful
They have french baguette sandwiches just like Vietnam
They take US $ and Thai Baht
People seem friendly
Worst things:
You have to take malaria meds here. Lots of people are really sick from Malarone (I’m on Doxy)
You have to suffer to get to paradise.
I am the hero for the day because with my combined internet and Lao phrasebook I helped my roomie order Plan B. Yes, they have it at the border pharmacy.
Anyways back to boat time. Feeling very far away from home these days.
Sawatdee kaa from Bangkok!
Hello from Bangkok!
So I still haven’t blogged about my six weeks of road trippin around the US yet (someday, someday) but this trip deserves real time posting. Because yes, I am finally on that solo southeast Asia trip that all of my nearest and dearest have had to listen to me hem and haw about for about five months. Thanks for putting up with me friends. I didn’t think I was actually going to go either :).
Since I’m so terrible at updating my blog I thought I might take the Mark Twain autobiography approach to my travelogue. Basically I’m going to talk about whatever, wherever, and whenever from my trip as I see fit. Otherwise I’m just not going to write anything, and I want to because there is so much that is worth sharing.
After a 13 hour flight from SF I had a strange but fun 17 hour layover in Taipei (more on that another time), then caught a packed and delayed 4 hour flight into Bangkok. Lucky me, it was so packed that I got bumped up to the sleeper cars upstairs!
Yes, I had room to put my feet up/lay down, there was a Financial Times AND plenty of wine. Thanks China Air! I apologize for thinking ahead of time that you were going to be a miserable economy carrier. Anybody that offers free wine in economy is all right by me.
Bangkok was rainy and miserable, oh and it was also 3 am (after a full day of Taiwan and mad jet lag) but the moment I hopped in the cab I was all like
Bright lights, bigger city…
Actually let’s be real. There was a little bit of this too: 
Girl my body don’t lie. I’m out of my mind. Let it rain over me!
(I’m totally Marc Anthony. You can be Pit Bull. What do you mean you don’t want to be Pit Bull?)
I’ve been here three days and so far things have been good. I’m eating well, partying hard and getting some culture. Bangkok is definitely going on the “I could live here” list. Its a real city with a complex history and some kind of filthy hot magic- like a Saigon and New York City lovechild. I’m headed up north today but am already looking forward to coming back later in my trip.
Animal Husbandry, Way Back When
Last month I visited the Plantation Agriculture Museum in Scott, Arkansas. The museum had tons of cool stuff related to agriculture and cotton (which I may post in the future), but the section that really caught my heart (and my stomach) was the excellent animal husbandry section. Here’s a few of my favorite bits:
Typical branding irons. It kind of hurts just to look at them.
Egg Incubators
Hog feeding troughs, water bottles
Here’s an old advertisement for a hog oiler, which a hog rubs up against. The oil supposedly helps the hog with animal bites and skin irritations?
A sample hog oiler. Hog oilers are huge in the antique collectors market, especially cast iron oilers. Who knew???
Old timey veterinary tools
Speculum, for keeping a cow’s mouth open
Poultry laxative. Yep.
Calf weaners were placed in a calf’s nose, and caused the animal pain when it tried to nurse. This lead the calf to  move on to eating grain sooner, so it would bulk up.
I saved the best for last: the “Emasculator” was used for castrating calves. You might want to rub on some udder balm afterwards. 🙁
The Next Day
Drag yourself out of bed. Take a long shower. Check your sunburn. Put on a nice dress even though you’re kind of sunburned. Eat something healthy, oatmeal perhaps. Sit on your steps and watch the turtledoves nest while you drink your coffee. Wave to the cat across the yard and pet him when he comes to say hi. Grumble and peel all the friggin orange cat fur off of your dress. Read your roommate’s New Yorker. Read even the fiction part, which is kind of so-so, but you get sucked in a bit anyways.
Draw something. Play Draw Something. Call your uncle back about his questions about San Francisco housing. Say you’ll try to ask around for your cousins. Wonder if this means that he wants you to host them? Consider subletting your room to your cousins. Laugh VERY hard. Â Call your mom about your uncle’s call. Write your friends back, then decide to call them instead. Talk to your cheerful roommate about nothing in particular, but feel better because he always makes you feel better. Wish that you could have that effect on people, just by talking to them. Wonder if you’re starting to get too dependent on being around other people. Decide that that’s probably a good thing, putting down roots.
Go ahead and get your laundry out of the way. While you wait for your clothes to dry read your journal and laugh at all the old stuff, even the really squirmy stuff that was horrible at the time. Write something new for today. Be honest. Clean the house to Watch the Throne. Feel like a badass until upstairs neighbor turns Led Zeppelin on in retaliation, not that you don’t like Led Zeppelin, but you were in a certain mood, damnit.
Go for a bike ride. It doesn’t have to be a long one, but you make it longer because it feels good. Â When you’re going fast you can’t hear anything else but your heart beating. On your way back pick up grocery store sushi and sit and eat it in the park. Think about somebody that you care about, and send them love. Take a picture. Play on the swings with the kids. Think maybe kids aren’t so bad to be around, but jeez I still don’t want one. Drop off your overdue movies at the local videoshop. Pay your late fees.
Pick up a coffee from the place across the street even though you already have coffee at home and it’s getting kind of late for coffee. Play Liar’s Dice with friends. Make a really weird dinner with the last of your groceries. Throw everything else out. Pack your bag. Move your bike. Take a bath. Watch YouTube. Stretch. Go to bed. Dream. Take care.
