May 17th, 2004

On May 16th I took it easy. The ideal "taking it easy" experience for me is simply going to the movies; of which I love to do especially if I can go alone. I find now that after traveling for two months alone that I really love the freedom of traveling in any direction I please, doing whatever I want, without compromising to anyone. For those who really know me they can tell you that I am a "nomad" a "loner" or at least never afraid to do something by myself.

I went to see Troy. This was the third movie I had seen in Bangkok - this was my third - and last - time to Bangkok for this trip. Before I went up to Ayuthaya and Chiang Mai in Thailand I saw the The Passion of the Christ and Starsky and Hutch. Starsky and Hutch was exactly what I expected; a stupidly fun comedy and for that I enjoyed it. The Passion of the Christ was excellent as a fine work of movie making mastery. I was deeply moved by the film and will place it on my "all time best films list". As for Troy, well, to be honest I didnt like it at all. For me it simply was a Hollywood Blockbuster filled with attractive young actors and actresses that really added nothing to the film in terms of their talent capabilities. Brad Pitt gave a poor performance. I respect him as an actor - I loved his portrayal of his characters in 12 Monkeys and Fight Club but in Troy I felt like I wasnt watching Achilles but Brad Pitt being Brad Pitt in a Hollywood Blockbuster Epic piece of crap.

And I dont get the Trojan priestess's relationship with Achilles. Achilles takes her hostage with the intent to rape her, but he doesnt. Now, after he has slain her fellow priests and destroyed the temple that she was dedicated to she, in a matter of days, falls in love with him? And she still loves him after she gets choked by him when he - Achilles - finds out his cousin was killed? Out of vengeance Achilles kills Hector - the Trojan priestess's cousin - and she still loves him? Then he - Achilles - sets her free. She still loves him? What the hell does this say about women? Women love men that conquer them by forcibly taking them hostage, mounting them within a day or two, choking them, killing members of their family, etc? And Hector's wife . . . all she does is cry - and she was so skinny that I wanted to jump into the film and give her some of my popcorn. I dont think she said more than two words in the entire film. I haven't read the Iliad so I dont know how close the film is to the Epic story but as a film I thought the dialogue and believability of the characters was very, very weak.

In any case the funny thing - or annoying thing depending on how you want to look at it - about going to the movies in Thailand is that you must stand after all the previews for this 2 minute Thai salute to the King of Thailand. For me, personally, I hate it. I think it is ridiculous that I or anyone has to stand up before a movie to pay homage to someone I have never - nor will ever - meet personally. I dont know anything about this King but unless he has special powers to heal the sick, feed the poor, and uncorrupt his country and rid it of the Sex Trade I find no reason, no reason, at all why I or anyone should stand up and salute this guy. Is he higher than me? Is he Jesus, the Buddha himself, God? No, no, no. He is a human being just like the rest of us.

Speaking so harshly about the Royal family in Thailand is taboo. No one in public can say anything derogatory about their King or Queen. This also pisses me off. It is dangerous. It is dangerous when no one can speak their mind about individuals in their government or Royal Family for that matter. Its a form of control and a breeding ground that allows these individuals that are beyond public criticism to, at times, get away with murder. Im sure that if any Thai official comes across this rant that I will be prohibited from re-entering their country. Ohh . . . well . . .

Well, moving on. On the 17th of May I was to meet Dan of FitCorp at a hotel near the Nana train station. I met Dan before in Bangkok through a friend who introduced me to him via the internet. Dan is originally from Australia but he has been living in Bangkok for about 5 years I believe. He has started his own company - called FitCorp - which caters to expatriot executives that want a personal trainer and so forth. Dan - as I later found out - was unable to make it to meet me but strangely enough as I waited for him I noticed a Toyota Land Cruiser about to leave the hotel. The interesting thing about the Land Cruiser was that it had various stickers on its back window of all the countries that it had traveled to. The sticker that really caught my eye was Iran. I saw the driver - he looked Spanish. But then they took off.

On May 18th I took a bus from Bangkok to Aranya Prathet which is right on the Thai/Cambodian border. On my bus I met a man from the Philippines. His name was Ricardo and he was traveling with his wife and a friend on a visa-run. When you enter Thailand you get a three-month visa. At the end of those three months you can hop on over into Laos or Malaysia or Cambodia and then back into Thailand for another three-month visa. That was what Ricardo was doing. He imports clothing from the Philippines into Bangkok. He spoke Thai and told me that when he was a young teenager that he used to shine the shoes of the U.S. troops based in Manila during the Vietnam War. He deeply loves Americans as a result of his experiences with these U.S. soldiers.

He told me about one U.S. soldier whom I will call Dave. Dave asked Ricardo - while he was shining his boots - what the capital of Missouri was. Ricardo didnt know but Dave told him that he would give him a dollar if he could tell him the capital of that state the next day. Now, at that time, especially in the Philippines a dollar was a lot of money. Ricardo ran back home asking friends and family what the capital of Missouri was. He eventually found a book that gave him the answer and the next day he told Dave and made a dollar. Dave kept quizing him on the capitals of all the States. As a result Ricardo can now tell you - nearly 20 years later - all the capitals of all the U.S. States. Gradually he and Dave became friends and to help him make more money Dave would sneak him into the U.S. base so that he could develop a group of regular clients. He would charge 10 cents for each shine and sometimes the soldiers would keep a running tab so that after some time Ricardo would approach each of his clients and tell them, "Hey, Charlie. Time to pay. I shined your shoes 8 times. That will be 80 cents." Well, as time went by Dave wanted to help Ricardo achieve his dream of becoming an electrical engineer. Dave bought books for him about the topic and even offered to help him come to America to study. Ricardo's Mom could not bear to have her son leave her and so he stayed in the Philipinnes. And now he imports clothes from his country into Thailand. Sadly though he told me that Dave died of cancer at the age of 37.

When we got off the bus station in Aranya Prathet Ricardo told me that I could join him and his wife and his friend in a Tuk Tuk taxi ride for the border. The driver wanted to charge extra because I was a foreigner but Ricardo bargained and got the price down. Then we took the Tuk Tuk to the border. When we got out Ricardo paid and didnt allow me to pay my portion. I thanked him. That is nice that this U.S. soldier - Dave - during the Vietnam War made such a great impression on Ricardo. I guess Ricardo paying for my Tuk Tuk was kind of a sign of his appreciation and love of Americans - although he does not like George W. Bush in the least - which is fine by me because we have that in common.

The border crossing between Aranya Prathet in Thailand and Poipet in Cambodia may be harsh on the eyes of those who have never traveled to extremely poor third world nations. After experiencing Peru and Morocco and a few other "poor" nations the border was nothing I hadnt seen before. Now, as I mentioned (I think I mentioned this . . . maybe not) there is a large market right on the Thai side of the border. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of Cambodians were traveling into and out of Thailand at this border on their way to or from the Thai market. All of them were pulling or pushing large wooden carts either filled with goods - if they were going to the Thai market - or empty - if they had just come from the market. These Cambodians were bringing in their goods to sell at the Thai market to earn the stronger Thai baht. All of them were extremely poor. Some of whom Im sure were wearing the only clothing that they possessed. All of their clothing was extremely dirty - as if it had never been cleaned. Children begging for money were quick upon me. And, beside Ricardo and his family, I was the only foreigner I saw crossing this border. As we crossed I saw Casino's on the Cambodian side. It didnt make sense for me to see so many poor Cambodians hauling their carts into Thailand to make a survival living and then to see these massive Casino buildings that exuded wealth. Ricardo explained that since gambling is illegal in Thailand many Thai's cross the border here to indulge in the these prohibited games. Interesting. The one thing that really shocked me was an old man. He was sitting on the ground of a bridge that we had to cross. He had no forearms. He had been the victim of a landmine. His face had been shredded from the shrapenel that exploded from the landmine that ripped up his face. I continued on throught the Visa check points. Along this way I was being followed by a Cambodian tout. He kept asking where I was going. I explained that I was going to Battambang. He was quick to tell me that I could share a taxi to Battambang with two other Japanese travelers. He said that these Japanese travelers were waiting as a friend of his was getting them their visas.

Now, there is no way for any foreign traveler to get a Cambodian visa at this border crossing. So right there I knew he was lying. He went on explaining that his friend was friend's with a Cambodian police officer and that in this "illegal" way he could process a visa. Thankfully I had gotten my visa in Bangkok. Im sure there are a few travelers who come through this border and fall for this bu**sh** and apply for a visa through one of these guy for $20 and never see their money, and perhaps their passports again. Well, he should me two pieces of paper that was "supposedly" being used to process these two Japanese travelers. I started to fall for it. I told him that if these two Japanese travelers were going to Battambang I would go with them in a taxi and split the cost. He then put me in a Tuk Tuk and off we went to meet up with these Japanese travelers. Then we arrived after traveling through the streets - if you can call them that - of Poipet to a line of white Toyota cars; they were taxi's. The tout then said, "Oh, it looks like the Japanese are gone." Again he was lying. There had never been any Japanese travelers. It was just a story to get my trust and to get me to the taxi drivers. Then the whole process of bargaining began. The tout translated the taxi driver's demands and mine. The Taxi driver wanted $20. I was shocked. The tout explained that, "You go. You go in front, sitting alone. Other people sit in back. It has air-con. Very good for you." I then said, "For $20 I can go from Bangkok to Lao - a 7 hour journey. From here to Battambang is only 2 and a half. $10. That's it." The tout then said, "No, you pay $20. You sit in front." I replied, "I dont need to sit in front. I sit in the back. $10." This went on and on. He kept telling me that I would be traveling with other people. He opened the trunk of the taxi driver's car and showed me all the boxes and bags of the people who would be traveling with me. I then said, "How many people are traveling with me?" The tout said, "Three in the back and you in the front." "Look," I began, "I dont need to sit in the front. And where the hell are these people that are traveling with me?" The tout literally pointed to some random lady buying some fruits.

Over and over this tout lied and lied and lied. I decided to finally take the freakin taxi for $15 - which is still a RIP OFF!!! But, whatever. After the taxi driver said "we go" I put my bag in the trunk and got in the back seat of the car. I turned around so that I could keep an eye on my bag but then I realized that the entire back window was covered with three giant bags filled with smaller bags of potato chips so that I couldnt see out the back. At this point I was scared that these guys were going to try to run off with my bag - thus the reason why they covered the back window so that I couldnt see the trunk. I removed the stupid bags of potato chips to keep an eye on the trunk. I then got out of the car since it was apparent that we werent ready to leave. The tout said you wait inside. I said, "No!" I waited outside watching the closed trunk in the mid-day sun. I then asked the tout, "Where the hell are these people that are traveling with me? Where did that lady go? The one buying fruit!" The tout then said, "She left but you go to pick her up." Again, another freakin lie. Finally the taxi driver was ready to go. I asked him to open the trunk to ensure that my bag was actually there and off we went. The tout asked for his tip . . . I gave his 20 baht which is 50 cents. He was pissed off with the amount but for all his lies he really didnt deserve anything. I simply turned my back on him and off I went in my taxi. Well, the taxi drove and drove and we didnt pick up anyone. It was all crap. I had really hired a taxi for myself for $15 to take me all the way to Battambang which for me isnt a bad price at all - but from a Cambodian point of view I still got ripped off BIG TIME. The good thing was that the taxi did have air-con so I was pleased. Along the road we passed that very same Land Cruiser that I had seen the previous day in Bangkok. I waved to them and my taxi continued on. The roads and the scenery reminded me much of Myanmar. A single lane road, falling apart, full of pot-holes that the taxi kept having to swerve around. Along the roads I saw thatched stalls selling packs of cigarrettes, can sodas, and gasoline. In Cambodia you will see a racks of old 1 and 2 liter plastic soda bottles filled with gasoline. You simply pull up to one of these stalls and buy as many 1 or 2 liter bottles of gasoline as you want and they pour it into your car tank.

Well somewhere near the town of Sisophon there was a massive line of cars all pulled over to both sides of the road. I had no idea what was going on but it was apparent to both the driver and I that we could go no further. We pulled over and behind us the Land Cruiser we had passed also stopped. I got out of the car and introduced myself to the drivers. They were a couple originally from Argentina but currently living in Spain. Their names were Marcelo and Luisa. I told them that I saw them the previous day in Bangkok. We spoke in Spanish and they told me about their journey as I told them about mine. They have been traveling by car for 8 months I believe. They drove through Iran, Pakistan, India, then went to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand. They were amazing. I believe that once they got to Saigon they were going to ship their car to South America - to Argentina - and continue their journey north to Mexico and possibly into the U.S. This is their website: http://www.galeon.com/madridsingapur

Then my taxi driver called me and into my taxi I went. Then he tried to start the car but it stalled, and stalled. Great, I thought. Some people pushed the car back and then the car began. He turned the car around and then turned right into a very rough dirt path. The engine wasnt doing too good. I was afraid that the taxi was going to stall again. As we drove through the dirt path - completely avoiding the traffic jam - we had to pay tolls to the locals who created the path. This you will also find in Myanmar. Then I could see from a distance that the traffic jam had been caused by a single lane bridge where cars and trucks on both sides tried to pass through. But, it had turned into utter chaos with all the vehicles on both sides of the bridge unable to coordinate their efforts to take turns to cross the bridge. The result . . . a BIG MESS.

Well, around 2 I believe I arrived in Battambang which is the second largest city in Cambodia. It is a tiny town. Like most towns in Laos you can see all that this city has to offer in a day. Once I settled into my hotel and had some lunch and then I hired a Moto - a scooter driver - to take me to Phnom Sampeau. It is a small mountain and at its summit is a temple. The temple though was not why I went there. Once we arrived I made an arrangement with a local boy who spoke good English to guide me to the infamous caves of Phnom Sampeau. We followed a path up aroung the mountain. I was sweating from the heat and attracting a lot of mosquito's. The boy was very intelligent and kind. He asked me how much an English teacher makes in the U.S. Thinking about Japan I said about $20 an hour. He was shocked. He explained that he had taken English classes after school for $3 a month. But it has been too expensive and that he has had to stop taking classes. Well, although my Moto driver told me only to tip the boy about 1000 Riel which is 25 cents U.S. I decided that Id give him $3 to help him continue his studies. Soon enough we arrived to a few old and very small temples. The boy led me to a kind of cave pit entrance - it was one of two sites on this mountain that was a killing field during Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge reign of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. He showed me an area of the cave that was used by the Khmer Rouge to execute Chinese families. Then he pointed up and high up above us was a cliff from where the Khmer Rouge - in an effort to save bullets - simply bludgeoned thousands of Cambodians and threw them down to fall to their deaths. The pit before us - as you can imagine - was once piled high with bodies. Just a bit further down and to our left there was a smaller cave opening where the boy showed me a cage filled with the skulls and bones of the victims that rotted in this cave pit. He told me that previously these bones were not in a cage but simply placed on a rock altar but tourists came and took these bones as souvenirs. As a result the cage was made so that no one could take them. I kneeled before the bones in saddened awe. The boy then explained that there was another cave. He led me back and around and down steps to another cave. He explained that before there was a Buddha statue in this cave but that Pol Pot had it destroyed. Years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge locals and foreigners who had traveled through the area donated enough money to make another Buddha statue - but of lower craftmanship. Before having a look at the statue he showed me another cage filled with human bones and there were also a few bones just before the cage that anyone could freely touch. The boy explained that the monks that had found more bones when they came to the cave to pray would simply place the bones before the cage. We walked up a bit and there high above us was another cliff that the Khmer Rouge used to throw their victims down to their deaths. I did not want to even imagine what this site must have been like when these atrocities were taking place.

Pol Pot - who did not die until 1997 or so - led the Khmer Rouge (backed by Communist China) to take over Cambodia in 1975. In four years the Khmer Rouge killed an estimated 1 to 2 million Cambodians - about 25% of their population at the time. Many were thrown into cave pits like the one I saw, or starved to death as they worked in the concentration camps. And although tens of thousands starved in Cambodia during this time the rice production of Cambodia actually shot up. These concentration camps were farming communities of Cambodians enslaved to work the fields. The Khmer Rouge did not use the rice to feed their enslaved nation. Instead they sold it off to China so that they could buy more guns and weapons for their evil cause. It was the strategy of the Khmer Rouge to keep their prisoners near starvation levels - it was a means to keep them just weak enough so that they could never rise up against them, but still work. As a result Khmers resorted to eating insects, rats, and even large spiders for subsitenance.

I am 27 years old. I was born in 1977. Any Cambodian I meet who is my age or older suffered under the regime of Pol Pot. It is a constant reminder for me that these people still have the memory of this horrific time in their national history very much alive within them. It is estimated that about 60% of the population of Cambodia suffers from varying degrees of post-traumatic stress disorder which is a disorder than many war-veterans suffer from. That alone with the fact that Pol Pot killed off nearly all Cambodian professionals and educated individuals essentially means that Cambodia has today become one of the most corrupted, uneducated, poor nations in Southeast Asia. As you travel in Cambodia you will see a sharp difference between Cambodians who work in the government or military and civilians. Government and Military officials all drive Toyota Land Cruisers - it is the same in Myanmar - while everyone else travels by scooter or by hoping onto the back of a truck with 40 other people simply to get from one place to the other on horrible dirt roads. Elections are a joke here. Although the U.N. oversaw a democratic election here in 1993 (by the way the U.N. Army forces stationed here during that time were notorious for going into the brothels of Phenom Penh (the capital of Cambodia) and raping the girls, beating them, and not paying them)in all reality democracy is nowhere to be found here. The people have no power what-so-ever. And that coupled with their passive religious beliefs that they simply are living out the bad karma of a previous life adds to the fact that they simply accept things the way they are. Never do they challenge their situation. It is still a shock for me that Pol Pot died of natural causes in 1997 before any war tribunal was ever enacted upon him. Pol Pot is the anti-Christ himelf - as far as Im concerned - and yet he lived freely in Cambodia after the fall of his Khmer Rouge army in 1979. I am surpirsed that no one shot that piece of sh**, or even tried to assasinate him, or put him on trial. And today you can still find members of the Khmer Rouge living out peaceful lives in remote towns and villages. They committed some of the most atrocious crimes against their own people - against humanity - and today they still live without having to face any form of judicial justice - they - by all means - got away with the murder of nearly 2 million people. Im sure the typical Khmer will simply shrug his or her shoulders saying or thinking something to the effect of, "Well, Im sure the next life of a Khmer Rouge will be a bad one." And that is that. They let mystic forces handle justice for them.

After the caves the boy took me behind the Buddha statue where he showed me the remains of the old statue that had been destroyed by Pol Pot. We walked into another cave and stood quietly. It was eerily silent. Too silent. I have never heard such silence. Then we heard the movement of bats high above us.

When I returned to the base of the mountain I got back on the scooter with my driver and off we went down the dirt road that quickly covered my shirt, shorts, and glasses, with a layer of dust. 20 minutes later the driver drove me through town and after I agreed he took me to a Crocodile farm. Just on the outskirts of Battambang there are several Crocodile farms. Locals create a series of pools and walls to raise their crocodiles. When I got there I walked and looked at them. They were all amazingly still. So still that I began to think that they were fake, statues, and that the whole crocodile farm was false. But then a few moved. I could not believe it. Part of their hunting strategy is their ability to stand completely still. Many simply lie on the ground with their mouths open. And they will keep their mouth open without moving a muscle for hours. They wait and wait until a fly or something significant comes near or into their mouth and then SNAP . . . its all over.

From the Crocodile farm the driver took me to his home. His family was very kind and their home very humble. It was a brick two story home. Within there was simply a concrete floor and brick walls, a book shelf and plenty of pictures of his oldest daughter's engagement ceremony. His daughter is 17 years old and she is already engaged. But, she is not engaged to a local man, no. She is engaged to a 37 year old American man. My driver - the father - really doesnt like the American, and he hinted that his daughter really doesnt like him either. But, he is an answer, an escape. The father explained that the scooter we had been driving around today - one source of his income - was given to him by the American. The American has the money to buy things that his fiance's family needs. And Im sure once she is 18 - AND LEGAL IN THE U.S. - the American will take his soon-to-be bride with him back to the U.S.

He had two other boys and another girl. All very kind and shy. Inside there was a bamboo bed as there was one outside. And a hammock as well. There were also 6 giant ceramic pots where they would pour the water that they bought from the market and boil to purify it. In the end though. It was obviously apparent that they were extremely poor.

From there I returned to my hotel, took a shower to wash off all the dust and grime that had clung to my sweat from traveling on the scooter, and had dinner. I then walked around the town a bit but I was nervous, and quick enough I was back in my hotel room watching the news on my television.

Domenico
www.thedragonbone.com
www.banromsai.gr.jp

May 16th, 2004 - Bangkok, Thailand

The bus arrived at 5 in the morning. An hour ahead of schedule. The bus stopped at Khao San Road which is a road full of back-packer hostels and guest houses and touts and crap. I dont like this road at all and so as soon as I got off the bus I got a metered taxi and left for Siam Square. I wanted to stay in the same Guest House as I did before but when I arrived it was way too early - 5:20 a.m. I paid the taxi driver and walked up and down the road but all the night security guys and gals in the Guest Houses explained that they were full and that I had to come back at 12:00. I decided to go to my old Guest House - The Bed and Breakfast - and sit on one of its outdoor chairs and read my book until 12 if need be. By 7:00 the owner of the Guest House arrived and she immediately told me that she had a room for me. I realized that the security guy - this includes all the security guys and gals I came across that morning - simply told me to come back at 12 because it was not his responsibility to check me in - thus he lied and said that they were full in the hopes that I would leave and not bother him.

Nonetheless I was very pleased to finally get a room. I went to bed and woke up at about 10:30.

Today I decided that I see for myself one of the three major streets that cater to Sex Tourists in Bangkok. I was a bit nervous for I wasnt sure what I come across. I took the BTS train to Ploenchit Station and walked to Soi 4 road which is also known as Nana Tai. This street is infamous for its Nana Entertainment Plaza. The other infamous roads in Bangkok are Pat Pong and Soi Cowboy. Soi 4 is about two blocks away from the Phrom Phong train station and the closer I got the more foreign men I saw either speaking to a young Thai woman, walking with a Thai woman or two, or on their way to Soi 4 in search of a Thai woman or two or more. Right when I arrived to Soi 4 I saw a man in his 40's with a book tucked right into the backside of his pants. I looked at the cover of the book and saw that it was a guide book to Sex in Bangkok. That was a clear sign that I had arrived at the right place. Right as I walked down Soi 4 I saw several bars with an open-air area facing the street. All, I mean all, the patrons were foreign men in their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's. And all the girls were young Thai women. Most of the women were more than half the age of the foreign men. All the men were being entertained and smiling. As I continued walking I saw more bars, and billiard bars as well, with Thai prostitutes standing outside trying to attract men into their establishments. Then to my left I saw the very infamous Nana Entertainment Plaza. It looked like s$%t!!! It was a hole. It looked beaten up, filthy, caked in grime. There is a large sign just above the entrance into Nana Entertainment Plaza that reads - you guessed it - Nana Entertainment Plaza. There is bar to both sides of the sign and past it is where men go to fulfill all of their sexual needs and fantasies. Right across the street from the Plaza is the Nana Hotel which is a 5 star hotel. There is a world of difference between this ultra clean 5 star hotel and the Nana Entertainment Plaza just across the street. But I think it is symbolically fitting. To one side of the street you have Nana Hotel which is posh, beautiful, well-kept, rich, and caters to middle-class to upper-class foreign professional men. Then across the street you have the filthy and decrepit Nana Entertainment Plaza which looks abused, dirty, and extremely poor. This is an exact reflection of the market and the commodity. The market is composed of foreign men from 1st World Nation who come to Bangkok to buy sex (a commodity) from poor, uneducated, Thai women from the North Thailand country side who have been sold into Sex Slavery by their own brothers, fathers, mothers, or friends. Here we see a fine example of Western men exploiting poor Eastern women.

As I continued up the road I found more 5 star hotels and massage parlors inbetween them. I also found a Modeling Agency which was blatantly a front to fool naive young Thai and Burmese girls from the countryside to believe that their agent was not lying to them when he told them that they were pretty and could work as a model in Bangkok.

Soi 4 continues to a dead end. At the end of the street is the Thailand Tabacco Monopoly. I wonder if they have a part to play in the Sex Industry of Soi 4? And strangely enough I found compounds - literally an urban fortress - toward the end of Soi 4. Are these compounds used to keep the newly bought women from escaping before they are "seasoned" into becoming prostitutes? I do not know.

This is how the Sex Industry works in Southeast Asia. Which is the same as in South Asia (Nepal, Pakistan, India) to an extent. Bangkok is the central hub of the Sex Industry in Southeast Asia. Let us begin with the women. The majority of the women are from the rural Northern villages and towns of Thailand. From Chiang Mai on north and in all directions from there you will find pimps from Bangkok searching for girls (girls as young as 11 years old) and young women. The northern rural areas of Thailand are extremely poor and as a result it is not uncommon for families to easily sell their own daughters into prostitution. It can be argued that a few poor families have no idea that they are actually selling their daughters into prostitution but for the most part, from what I have read, I would have to say that these families are not blind to what is going to happen to their daughters. Thai agents (some of whom were raised by mother's who were prostitutes themselves) approach Thai families and promise that they will take their daughter into the city to work as a maid for a rich family. With the money she makes she can send it back home to her family and support them. Families - usually poor farmers - desperate for money - and in some cases not (some families simply sell off their daughters so that they can buy a T.V.) - sell off their daughters to these agents relieved that they have one less mouth to feed.

This is simply one way a Thai agent may acquire a Thai girl. Another technique is raping her. Since a girl's virginity is required for her to marry it is at times in the interest of the agent or one of his associates to rape the girl thus making her unable to marry, and thus simply worthless. Thus the family is eager to get rid of her since she can not be used to marry and forge a relationship with another family. As you can imagine there are plenty of variations of this. A father may rape his own daughter and sell her off, or a brother, or even her own husband may be found to sell her off thus serving as her pimp.

In one case a Thai agent fooled a Burmese girl into marrying him. He then took her to Bangkok after having his way with her and sold her off to a brothel.

The amazing thing is, is that these women simply except the fact that someone other than themselves is able to possess them and thus have the right to sell them off to a brothel. Since these women are uneducated and highly dependent on their families or husbands they do not know how to survive on their own and simply see themselves as the property of their families, and/or husbands, and/or brothels.

The more uneducated the girl the better she is able to be controlled by her pimp or brothel owner.

With the HIV/AIDS scare - which is very real, estimates place the percentage of prostitutes in Thailand with the virus at 50% - there is a high demand for very young Thai and Burmese girls. The younger the better for the market of men believe that she will be devoid of STD's and the HIV/AIDS virus itself. Foreign men (mostly Japanese) will pay a very high price to "deflower" a young girl as will upper-class Thai men. Girls sought after for her virginity may be as young as 9 years to 11 years old.

The younger the girl is the better for the brothel owner, for the prostitute will have a longer life span of attractiveness for her clients.

When girls are sold off to a brothel owner they do so under the understanding that they have acquired a significant amount of debt. The brothel owner paid a heavy amount for her - from the Thai agent middleman - plus the brothel owner has to pay for her food, her medical bills (abortions, medicine to treat her STD's), etc. The girl is made to believe that she is indentured to her brothel owner because of this "debt" that she must pay off. As a result most of the money she makes for her services as a prostitute goes directly into the hands of her brothel owner.

In some cases (mostly in Nepal, India, and Pakistan) girls are imprisoned in their brothels - sometimes never leaving their rooms, chained to their beds, guarded. The conditions these girls work in ranges. There is an entire spectrum of clients and women. Now, dont just think that it is simply foreign men that are buying sex. The number of local men who buy sex in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, etc. far outways the number of foreign men buying sex. As a tourist or traveler to Thailand you may not think so since at every corner you will see a foreign man with a Thai girl half his age hanging off his arm. The thing is this. Foreign men and they whole process of how they purchase sex in Thailand is completely out in the open. For the local Thai men they have their own streets lined with brothels that are very hidden and unseen by public eyes. Foreign men represent the high end of the industry. The girls they purchase probably work in descent conditions. Then there are the Thai's themselves in Thailand that dont have the purchasing power of the foreigners. As a result the women they purchase are cheap and as a result work in horrendous condition. At times these Thai women servicing Thai men sleep on couches in the lounge area of their brothel so that they are available 24 hours a day. Women can end up servicing anywhere from 2 to 15 men a night.

These brothels could never exist without the approval and protection of the local mafia groups and clans, and with the mafia comes connections to police officers and politicians that they - the mafia - buy off and sometimes include in their Sex operations. You would be right to say that the Sex Industry is woven right into the very fabric of all cultures and societies with webs sticking to our own men, women, gangsters, property owners (someone owns those buildings the brothels are located in, corrupted police officers, politicians, tourists, etc.

The clientele: Who are these men that feed this industry? Simply said they are every sort of man you can think of from the C.E.O. to the college professor, to your business partner, to your neighbor, to your drinking buddy, to your friend at church, to your brother, to your father, to your uncle, to your son, to your grandfather.

Why do foreign western men fly half way around the world to Thailand for sex? The answer is this. Most of the men that partake in the Sex Industry are in their late 30's, to 40's, to 50's, to 60's, to 70's. They are single men, divorced men, twice divorced men, men who never had the balls to ask a woman out, some want to have sex with children, boys, etc. They are lonely in their old age and seeking affection and companionship. Many of these foreign men will take on a hired girl for a few days or a week or more. They - foreign sex tourists - will travel around Thailand with their "hired wives" or to Myanmar, to Laos, to Vietnam, to Cambodia with them. These "hired wives" serve the sex tourists who "bought them out" for a night, day, week, or more by translating for them in Thailand, bargaining for them, etc. as they spend time together or as they travel together. The funny thing is is that many of the foreign men are fool enough to think that the Thai girl they hired actually loves them or cares about him or has been touched by him. Most of the girls simply put on an act and pretend that they give a f@#k. All they want is their money.

Japanese men. They are the most brutal. Interviews with Thai prostitutes reveals that they at times go "crazy". On the outside they are very kind and polite but once behind closed doors they beat the girls, force them to act out degrading sexual situations, and so forth. It can be very easily argued that Japanese men are extremely racist toward other Asians. The darker the skin of the girl the lower they will look at her to the point that she is not even human. In Japan, Japanese prostitutes are extremely expensive and never treated as harshly as Thai girls are treated. If you go to Japan I suggest that you walk into a Manga (Comic book) store and see with your own eyes the type of twisted, demented, horrendous sexual fantasies that are played out in their comic porn. They are disturbing to say the least. All a reflection of the Japanese man's want to dominate a woman or women. From a psychological point of view it is argued that Japanese men are too smothered with love from their mothers. And I have seen this while living in Japan. Since wives do not get the affection and love that they seek from their Japanese husbands they seek it out in their sons by excessively caring for them to the point that their son will turn 30 or 40 and is still living at home for they can not function if they lived independently for their mothers cook for them, wash their clothes, and baby them. When they - Japanese men - eventually marry they find that their wives are filling the role that their mothers once had and confuse their wives with their own mothers and can not relate to them sexually. The Japanese have one of the lowest sex rates between husbands and wives in Asia. As a result the Japanese man may and will seek out "dirty" sex with an outsider - someone outside the borders of public societal behavior - a prostitute. It is with a prostitute that a Japanese man will unleash all his pent up anger, frustration, messed up sexual fantasies, etc.

Prostitution exists in all cities, towns, villages, countries regardless of the race, religion, government, etc. In regards to religion. The more strict and represize the religion is toward sex the higher the likelihood that there is a very strong and very hidden sex industry serving as an outlet - extreme forms of Islam and Catholicism are examples of this. The more laid back and tolerant of sexuality the religion is the higher the likelihood that there is also a very strong and very hidden sex industry - Buddhism is an example of this.

If you would like to read more about the Sex Industry in Thailand I recommend these two books:

Night Market: Sexual Cultures and the Thai Economic Miracle by Ryan Bishop and Lillian S. Robinson.
This is an excellent book. It is very well researched and well documented. It rarely puts forth its own interpretations and opinions. It is very objective.

Sex Slaves: The Trafficking of Women in Asia by T. Louise Brown
This is a good book but I must say that it is full of the author's own opinions thus making it not a very objective read. But, it paints a wider and more interesting picture of the Sex Industry in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It discusses the type of men who purchase sex and why they do so, the pimps, the brothel owners, the politicians, the Mafia, the Japanese mob, and so forth who are all apart of the industry. It also makes it very clear that the number of foreign men who purchase sex in Asia is far lower than the number of Asian men who purchase sex in Asia.

This journal entry is simply my attempt to display a bit about how the Sex Industry works in Asia, in particular in Thailand. There is so much more that I havent been able to touch on or discuss. I recommend that you read more about the topic to paint a better picture for yourself of this industry and the awful situation these women who are often forced into prostitution must work and survive in. They more we are aware of the "evils" of the world Sex industry and the more we openly discuss it with our friends and family, and the more we educate ourselves about it the more we can put a dent into it by aiding organizations that are fighting it, donating to organizations that are caring for the children who are victims of it, by protesting it, voting for politicians who oppose it, etc.

Sincerely,
Domenico Composto
www.thedragonbone.com
www.banromsai.gr.jp

May 15th, 2004 - Vientiane, Laos

Since I felt that I had covered most of the city the day before I decided to leave Vientiane and return to Bangkok. My bus was an overnight trip which would depart from Vientiane at 5:00. In the morning I decided to walk west on Thanon Setthathirat where I came across a few more temples on both sides of the street. I took more photo's with a wonderful background of a magnificent blue sky filled with some of the most amazing clouds I continue to see in Laos.

Now, I must say that the skies of Laos in an of themselves should be considered a tourist attraction. Now that I type this here in Bangkok and have only seen dull skies today I am simply reminded by the amazing view that I saw in the blue heavens of Laos. The cloud formations in the country are some of the most amazing and beautiful I have ever seen in my life. I have reviewed my photo's of these cloud formations and I eagerly wait to show them to my friends and family back home for they will take your breath away.

I later had lunch and spent the time after reading a book detailing the Sex Trade in South Asia and in Southeast Asia. I am nearly done with the book and I will discuss its contents soon.

5:00 soon came and so did my bus which picked me up just near my hotel. I hopped on an the bus continued picking up more backpackers. Once we got everyone we drove about 20 minutes or so outside Vientiane to the Friendship Bridge where we would exit Laos and enter Thailand. At the Lao border crossing I saw a few Lao women crossing over to the Thai side. I looked at their passports as they were being stamped and I could see the dates. It appeared that they crossed the border nearly everynight. It was my guess - based on the observation of their passports, their clothes, and tattoos, that they were Lao prostitutes crossing over to the Thai side for work. The Thai baht is stronger than the Lao Kip and so there must be a large incentive to do work just across the border and bring back a stronger currency.

The bus ride back to Bangkok was pleasant. No accidents or anything :) It was a bit cold though, especially since I was sitting all the way in the back right next to the air conditioner. But no worries.

Domenico
www.thedragonbone.com
www.banromsai.gr.jp

May 14th, 2004

Today was to be dedicated to the exploration of Vientiane. Just as in Luang Prabang all you need is a single day to discover the entire town, or in the case of Vientiane, city. Vientiane sits right along a huge curve in the Mekong river. On the other side of the river you have Thailand, which is within clear view. If Thailand wanted to launch an attack on Laos and take over the country they can easily do so. I must admit that placing the capital of the country within a few hundred meters of the Thai border is no defensive strategy. But in all honesty who would want to take over Laos? It is the poorest nation in Southeast Asia and the most bombed country in the history of warfare. They only have 20 people per square mile. I think I could single-handedly take over Vientiane in an afternoon if I wanted to. Okay, Im exaggerating. Give me 20 U.S. Navy Seals and then I can easily take over Vientiane and thus Laos in an afternoon.

The streets that cater to tourists have more than enough three-wheeled taxi's. But Im really not sure how much business they get from the tourists since most of what you want to see in the city is easily within walking distance. I guess that is why most taxi-drivers will look at you and ask if you would like some pot because as one taxi driver put it, "I have some!" "No thank you," was my constant polite reply.

I decided to change hotels that morning since the one I was in was not nice by any means and having to use a public bathroom did not help. So I found a nice and brand new Guest House on Thanon Setthathirat. The owners of the establishment were very nice. They did not have a single room so instead I got a double with a fan for $6. The room was very clean (it was only a week old) and I had a private bath which was the bonus, or incentive rather.

At the front desk of the Guest House I met a Lao man who was helping out with the opening of the Guest House. He explained that he lived in California and that he came back to Laos to help his wife's sister with the opening of the hotel for she owned it. He was a very nice man.

That morning I had breakfast at JOMA Cafe. You may recall that I also had breakfast at JOMA Cafe in Luang Prabang. It is a chain. They have only two locations. The JOMA Cafe in Vientiane was much the same as the one in Luang Prabang. As soon as I sat down with my "Egger Bagel" and apple juice I noticed a Caucasian man walk in. He was very friendly with the staff at the cafe and after getting his cinnamon roll and coffee he sat at the table next to me. He then introduced himself to me by asking the question I never fail to hear now - now that I am a fulltime traveler - "How long have you been traveling?" I answered his question and explained that I was originally living in Japan. He then told me that he had been living in Laos for about 10 years with his family. He is an English teacher in Vientiane, and originally he is from Miami. He is dedicated to "The Lord" and a Pastor of a Christian (or Baptist) congregation. He was very talkative and extremely friendly and to be honest it was nice to listen to him and how dedicated he was to his faith, his relationship with God, his work, and his family. He has 7 children. The oldest and the youngest are boys and girls inbetween. By 10:30 he had to run to work and he invited me to have lunch with him. We agreed to meet at 12:30 but I knew that I wasnt completely sure if I could make it or not since I had just arrived to the city and wanted to explore it first before sitting down with anyone for a chat.

Well, as soon as I was finished with breakfast I decided to check my email. I did so and grew nervous as I found some complications with a website I am managing. In the end though everything worked out. After that I decided to walk around town. I set out to the Namphou Garden which is sort of the center of town. There is a water fountain right in the middle of this garden area which is all new. It seems like the water fountain and the brick walkway around it were built just a couple of years ago. From there I went north for a block and the east and then north again until I came across That Dam (Black Stupa) which is a Stupa made of bricks that literally looks heavily abused my all elements - nature and man. Just next to it is the U.S. Embassy. I saw the old "Red, White, and Blue" waving beautifully from a high pole behind high white walls. I walked toward it and realized that the Embassy actually occupied both sides of the street. Lao security officers and police men sat lazily along the street. You could see nothing of the Embassy itself. The walls were too high. It was a fortress and not a very friendly place to walk past. But, it did feel like home in some sense. From there I continued north soon walking past the Talat Sao (Morning Market). It was afternoon so the market was completely dead but no worries. I think by now Ive seen enough markets. I soon came across Patuxai which is a sort of Lao version of the Arc de Triumph in Paris. Remember - Laos was originally a colony of France as was Vietnam. I found a curious sign when I walked under the Arc. This is what it said:

"At the northeastern end of the LaneXang Avenue arises a huge structure resembling the Arc de Triumph. It is the Patuxai or Victory Gate of Vientianne, built in 1962, but never completed due to the country's turbulent history. From a closer distance, it appears even less impressive, like a monster of concrete. Nowadays this is a place used as leisure ground for the people of Vientianne and the 7th floor on top of the building serves an excellent view point over the city."

I thought it was funny that it describe the Arc as a "Monster of Concrete." I guess you could say that. It isnt particularly attractive but I wouldnt say that it is a Monster. Behind the Arc is a park where I found locals (families, kids, teenagers, etc). using the grass to lounge about or to play soccer. It was a pleasant little area. From there I saw something that I could not explain in the clouds. It was some sort of black dot in the sky and just below it I saw the golden stupa of Pha That Luang (Great Golden Stupa). It seemed a bit far and by this point the sun was beginning to set. I eventually decided to walk toward the stupa and the strange black dot in the sky. It took me about 20 to 25 minutes to reach the stupa. Along the way I saw Vientiane College which was simply a 4 story building and a row of embassies. The Pha That Luang is impressive. Before it is a gate and before the gate there is a large car park sort of area, but there are no cars. I saw many women and a few men jogging around the area. People on scooters sped past me. I walked through the gate and saw that the black dot in the sky was actually a very large kite that three foreigners were flying. I took some photo's of the stupa and made my way back toward the city for I was no on its outskirts. On the way out of the large car park area devoid of cars I saw a public aerobics area. There was a stage with the aerobics instructor going through the motions and locals of all ages moving their bodies to techno beats. It was very cool to see that. And as I walked back toward town I found more and more locals jogging and staying fit. It seemed like the whole city was into exercising.

Soon enough I was back near my hotel and for dinner I sat down at an Indian restaurant reading my book, eating, and listening to the loud conversation that a group of young travelers were having about sex and other related topics.

I left as soon as I finished my meal, went to an internet cafe to send a few emails, and I retired for the night.

Domenico
www.thedragonbone.com
www.banromsai.gr.jp

May 13th, 2004 - Journey from Luang Prabang, Laos to Vientiane, Laos

Did you know that Laos is the most bombed country in the history of warfare. During the Vietnam war the U.S. flew up and down the Ho Chi Minh trail - which crossed into Laos - bombing both Vietnam and Laos. Aren't you proud to be an American :) Now with Afghanistan and Iraq it looks like we Americans can really pride ourselves at being exceptionally good at bombing the living s$%t out of the poorest countries in the world. What the hell is wrong with us??? If we are so tough let's go to war with a BIG country like China or North Korea - I mean we know North Korea has Nuclear Weapons - shouldnt we launch a "pre-emptive stike" against North Korea. Do we really want a "smoking gun" in the U.S. be a "nuclear mushroom cloud" delivered from Kin Il-
Jung? Come on America. Come on George W. Bush!!! Let's blow up North Korea!!!

These political comments are sarcastic.

Kerry 2004!!!

Also of note: The eastern portions of Laos are still littered with thousands of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) "left behind from nearly 100 years of warfare" - WW II, etc. There are about 130 casualties a year from these left over bombs. I wonder how many people a year have lost their limbs to these bombs that are hidden and scattered in the mountains and country side? Sad that a rich country like the U.S. doesnt do more to help the Lao people rid their country of all these bombs. Or maybe we left it all there for them as nice little X-mas presents? It looks like the U.S. and other powerful nations like to make a mess in other poor nations and leave it there. Didnt our mothers always tell us to clean up our messes?

---------------------

Now back to our story :)

I bought a $16 U.S. ticket for a mini-bus (its really a van) to take me from Luang Prabang to Vientiane. Now, in Laos, $16 is a lot of money. My mini-bus was supposed to be air-conditioned as well. The staff at the travel agency in Luang Prabang explained to me that the journey to Vientiane would take about 7 hours.

Well, I can tell you that my journey to Vientiane did not take 7 hours. Instead it took nearly 12 hours. And I didnt arrive there in a mini-bus. Instead I arrived there on the top of a truck roof drying up from a rain storm that soaked me.

This is what happened . . .

I waited outside my Guest House from 8:50 to about 9:20 for my mini-van. Two girls from Israel who were also staying in my Guest House were also waiting for the mini-van. The mini-van arrived soon enough and in we went with our bags tied to the top of the van. The mini-bus was full - 11 people total including the driver. I was the only one in the mini-bus headed to Vientiane. The driver explained to me through a Thai girl who was translating for me that in Vang Vieng - where are the travelers in the mini-bus were headed - I would switch to another mini-bus headed to Vientiane.

The ride to Vang Vieng was full of constant twists and turns. I nearly became car-sick. We were driving through the high mountains of Northern Laos and it was beautiful. At times some the the views we had from our car window looked much like the mountains that I had seen near Cusco in Peru. The clouds were everywhere and many of them were floating nearly at the same altitude as our mini-bus. And we saw dark storm clouds headed our way and before we were stuck by the rain we could see the heavy fall of the rain shooting down between the valleys of the mountains. It was absolutely beautiful. In the seat behind me was an American from San Francisco. He had recently turned 50 and was traveling through Southeast Asia for 3 months. And he wasnt alone. He picked up a Thai girl - simply said, a prostitute - in Chiang Mai to accompany him for the duration of his travels. He was a very nice fellow. Much like any professional you would meet in any city in the States. Now I had a face to put with all the books and statistics I had read and am reading concerning the Sex Trade and Sex Tourism Industry in Southeast Asia. As I have mentioned before the majority of the men I saw in Thailand with Thai prostitutes were in their 40's and 50's. Most of these men are either single or have come out of their first or second divorce. And so they come to Thailand in search of some sense of companionship to fill the void that they may be feeling at their age. This man from San Francisco - Ill call him Mark. Was very nice. He could have been your uncle, or neighbor, or bar buddy. He was a business man, well-educated, professional, and well-informed of current events. I was happy to find that he was anti-Bush. We spent most of our time talking about U.S. politics and the state of things in California. The Thai woman he was with was perhaps my age or a bit older - late 20's. She was very nice and would translate for me when our Lao driver - who spoke Thai - needed to tell me something. She was poor. You could see that in the way she dressed and the way she kept her multi-colored nails. I tried to be as friendly as I could with her for I felt a bit sorry for her. But, here she was traveling with Mark and Im sure for her this was pleasant - perhaps an escape for a moment from her life as a prostitute in Chiang Mai. Here she was with Mark - who seemed to treat her very well. But, in a month or two Mark will leave her and return to the U.S. and back she will be in Chiang Mai looking for her next customer not knowing if he will treat her well, if he will abuse her, beat her, or give her an STD if she doesnt already have one. I should mention that the majority of the men who employ the services of Thai prostitutes are Thai men not farangs - foreign men. I am currently reading about this so I will share more of this information as I read more of it.

In any case about 5 hours later we arrived in Vang Vieng which is really nothing of a town. All the buildings seemed again to have been built simply for the tourists. They were all Guest Houses and Travel Agencies and Restaurants. Most of the tourists that go to Vang Vieng go for the river rafting adventure fun to be had along the rivers there.

Well, we arrived and I didnt see any mini-bus for me to switch to. My driver looked a little worried but he continued on and dropped all the passengers off at their Guest Houses. I was the last one . . . the only one left. Then I saw Paul and then Tom and Sarah and Katie. I spoke to them very briefly for I had to go to the bus station area with my driver.

My bus driver told me to have a seat at the out-door bus station. I knew that something was wrong. On the way to Vang Vieng our mini-bus had a flat tire. We had to stop for about 20-30 minutes to change the tire. We stopped in a very remote local village. The children were all running around in filthy, filthy clothing if they weren't running around naked. But they all smiled and tried to approach us foreigners. But once anyone of us tried to approach them they quickly ran off. One girl in particular - she must have been 7 years old and she had an infant tied to her back - ran so far away that she was standing behind a house and peeking at us. Im sure we looked like aliens to them. I noticed that some of the girls would hit each other and an old man also hit one of the girls. I was taken aback by this. But, what was I to do. It seemed that they did this as if this as simply how they communicated.

Well, I believe that as a result of getting the flat tire - and arriving late in Vang Vieng - the mini-bus that I had paid for to take me to Vientiane simply left without me. It is times like this when I am really happy to be traveling alone for I simply go with the flow. Perhaps if I was with someone they would have gotten angry and started an argument with the driver that got me to Vang Vieng.

Well, the driver made arrangements for me to take a local truck to Vientiane. I hoped into the back of the truck with four other locals and away we went. There was a married Lao couple with their 3 year old boy. Their son was dressed in filthy clothes. God only knows when his clothes were last washed. But he carried on with little care. His parents fed him mango and lechee which he happily ate. As we drove sitting in the back of the truck which had two benches that we all sat on along the sides of the truck the mother of the boy became car-sick and began vomiting into the plastic bags that had carried the mangos she and her family had eaten. I offered her my bottled water but she did not want it. For the duration of the journey she would vomit from time to time. The odd thing was was that the people who sat in the back of the truck sat at a distance away from me. I felt weird - was there something wrong with me? And as we traveled we would pick up more locals but instead of coming into the back of the truck to sit they chose to stand at the back on a grill that they could place their feet on and hold on for dear life. About 2 to 3 hours later we arrived in Phon Hong. All of us had to get out of the truck for that was as far as the truck was going to go. One of the women in the truck asked me in Lao if I was going to Vientiane. I had no idea what the hell she was asking me at first but after her repeat Vientiane several times I guessed that she wanted to know if I was going there. I figured out that she was going there too. So we got out of the truck and waited for another truck headed for Vientianne. About 15 to 20 minutes later we found a truck that was headed to the capital. I threw my bag on the rook of the truck and stood at the back holding onto the truck from the back with several other men for the sitting area within the back of the truck was completely, completely packed! I thought that there was no way anymore people could fit in the truck but we carried on picking up more people until there were 8 men - including me - standing on the grill at the back of the truck holding on. I was worried that if the truck turned sharply or hit a bump that I would loose my grip and fall straight onto the pavement of the road. Luckily hanging on to the back of the truck was no bid deal. All the men around me chatted away but as soon as we saw storm clouds ahead of us we began to worry and then sort of laugh to ourselves that we were in for a fun and wet ride. I quickly pulled some plastic bags from a pocket in my backpack and covered my pouch that had my digital camera - I definitely didnt want that to get wet. Soon the storm clouds were over us and down came the ran. I held on and prayed a bit but I must confess that I did enjoy the challenge and the adventure of this trip. After we stopped for some gas we picked up more people! One individual was physically challenged and used a tricylce type of contraption to move from one place to the other. Some Lao men got onto the roof of the truck and helped lift the tricycle onto the roof. The Lao men then motioned for me to get onto the roof with them to make more room for them people who were getting on the truck. So from then on into Vientianne I road on the roof of a truck laughing at the fact that of all the things that had to be placed on the roof there was a tricycle. Now, here I knew that if this over-crowded truck flipped over I was surely going to either die, or lose a limbs or several limbs or crack my head open. I held on to the rails and simply enjoyed the adventure and the view of the electrical storm ahead of us that lit up the night sky with amazing flashes of lightening.

Then I made it. On the outskirts of the city we all got off the truck and took a 3 wheeled taxi into town. I was in a taxi with three other Lao women - one of home kept touching my leg - and another Lao man. Once inside town I got off and took another 3 wheeled taxi to Namphou Garden where I walked for a bit until I found a Guest House to stay in for the night.

And here I am . . . alive and well after my adventure in Vientianne :)

Domenico
www.thedragonbone.com
www.bamromsai.gr.jp

May 12th, 2004 - Luang Prabang, Laos and Kuang Si Falls

Again this morning I had breakfast at JOMA Cafe and after I ate I sat for about an hour or more reading my book, Night Market. I believe around 11 or so I left the Cafe and then went to an internet cafe to get this journal up to speed. I felt like venting about the situation in Iraq and so I wrote a bit about that. At 12:30 I met up with Katie and Sarah and their friend Paul and Tom. The five of us then went to Paul and Tom's Guesthouse and hopped onto a truck headed south of Luang Prabang to the Kuang Si Falls.

If you would like to cool of from the intense sun then I recommend the Kuang Si Falls. It is a wonderful multi-tiered water fall that anyone can swim in. And if you take the trekking path to the falls from where your hired truck drops you off you will find a small zoo of monkeys, cubby bears and adult bears, and a bangel tiger. You can make a donation to the zoo to help feed these wonderful and very cute animals. Katie, Sara, Tom, Paul, and I all jumped into one of the pools of the falls. The water was a bit cold but it was a great relief from the heat. It was truly wonderful. Something for honey-mooners.

The ride back into town provided more incredibly views of the surrounding mountains and unbelievable clouds. I took some more fantastic photo's of these mountainous clouds that will cause anyone to believe in the Kingdom of Heaven . . . no matter what your faith may be.

That night Katie, Sarah, Tom, Paul and I all met up for dinner. I really enjoyed their company. Katie and Sarah have been friends since the age of 11 and they met Tom and Paul when they were living in Sydney, Australia. Tom seemed to tease Katie and Sarah like an older brother. I enjoyed listening to the jokes they all made with eachother. It was a very pleasant night.

I should mention that Tom and Paul warned me that they have been giving off bad luck to fellow travelers they have come across. They had story after story of travelers they came across and the horrible things that happened to them as soon as they went off on their way . . .

This should lead in nicely to my adventure on the 13th of May :)

Domenico
www.thedragonbone.com
www.banromsai.gr.jp

May 11th, 2004 - Luang Prabang, Laos

I had breakfast at JOMA Cafe. In interior and general feel of the cafe was one nearly reflective of StarBucks. After my battle with severe diarrhea in Myanmar I will probably stick to foods that remind me of home. Im believe I am done with trying the local dishes in local food stalls along the streets. As a result a cafe like JOMA stands out to me as a safe and familiar place for my stomach. The clientele of the JOMA Cafe is composed almost entirely of foreigners for they really are the only one's who could afford the food and drinks. It isn't expensive by any Western means but for the locals Im sure it is ridiculously expensive. I had a bagel with eggs and cheese, and a coffee. After reading my book entitled Night Market I decided not to waste more of the morning and left to explore the small town of Luang Prabang. Most of the time a traveler spends in Luang Prabang will be on Thanon Phothisalat - which is a street. I believe Thanon means street in Lao. Thanon Phothisalat is loaded with hotels, restaurants, and tourist agencies catering to foreigners. Also along this street you will find the Royal Palace which is now a museum. The Royal Family of Laos was forced to leave into the North of Laos in 1975 and from what I understand they were all killed. I believe that a few extended members of the family are still alive but they are living lives no different than the other lowland Lao people.

I entered the grounds of the Royal Palace and had a nice walk around the Palace/Museum itself for the Palace/Museum was actually closed. I arrived at 10:30; the exact time the Museum closes in the morning. There is a row of incredibly tall palm trees on the path leading up to the main entrance of the Palace/Museum. The Palace seems to have been constructed in a French Colonial style. There is a beautiful Wat temple on the grounds as well.

Just in front of the Royal Palace entrance is the entrance/path that leads up Phu Si Hill. Luang Prabang as a town has been built surrounding this hill. At the summit you will find a few small temples. The view is incredible for you can see the stretch of the town of Luang Prabang die off into forests of palm trees. There are magnificent mountains to the South and East and the sky is filled with clouds so large that the appear like mountains themselves. I have never seen a sky so magical as the skies that I have come across in Laos. The clouds are unlike anything you will ever see in your life. Many of my photo's are just beautiful in most part because of the incredible cloud formation that begin where the mountains end and continue up and up and up.

After I descended Phu Si I returned to Thanon Phothisalat and continued walking east toward the end of the peninsula where the Nan Khan River meets the Mekong River. All along Thanon Phothisalat there are Wat's that compared to the one's in Thailand are much smaller and a bit less impressive. There are plenty of young monks - all male - living and working in these Wat temples. Along the road I came across an elementary school. I arrived just as school had let out. Fathers sitting on their scooters waited for their children who ran at them with tremendous joy. Some of them would hop on the back of the scooter and fly off down the street with their fathers. Others were treated to drinks and treats that their father's would buy for them from local vendors.

The life in Luang Prabang is very quiet and peaceful. There are no arguments heard or the honks of cars for there are simply few cars to begin with. And there are no traffic lights at all within Luang Prabang. You will see women riding on their bikes or scooters steering with one hand and holding an umbrella in the other to block the afternoon sun. I must say that although the weather in Luang Prabang is a bit more pleasant than what I came across in Thailand for it is dry, the sun is much more intense. In the afternoon most locals stay in the shade of their homes and lay down on a mat on the first floor napping or looking out. The "middle=class" houses in Luang Prabang are usually two-storeys. The first floor can either be the living area or the living area/store area. As you walk down any street in Luang Prabang you can easily look into people's homes for their doors are wide open and see people lounging around. You make feel like you are intruding on their privacy with your eyes but do not worry. They simply could care less of what you see them doing in their own homes.

Also, what you may see are boys and or men playing checkers with bottle caps in the late afternoon into the late evening.

Once I got to the end of Thanon Phothisalat - which actually becomes Thanon Xieng-Thong - I walked down the steep of the hill a bit toward where the Nam Khan River meets the Mekong. I saw fishermen on their long boats and children - usually naked - playing in the cool river waters. I then went north along Thanon Khaem Khong and came across Wat Xieng Thong. I walked up the steps and quickly noticed a Lao woman looking through a Lonely Planet book. I was a bit curious about her but I continued and paid my ticket entrance and then went into the Wat. The same Lao woman I saw before entered the Wat and I - from the corner of my eye - watched her. She kneeled on her knees before the shrine dedicated to Buddha and prayed. I pretended to be interested in the designs on the walls. Once she stood up I approached her and asked where she was from. She explained that she was from France but that her parents were from Laos and Vietnam. We then began to talk and soon enough we agreed to have lunch together. Her name was Estelle and for the duration of the day she sort of served as my unofficial guide to Lao culture. For lunch she ordered for me a typical Lao salad with sticky rice and explained how to eat it in the traditional way. One my plate were three or four red peppers. I simply popped one into my mouth thinking I could brave the spicy pain. I soon regretted my gamble and found that the pepper was so strong that I began to tear and turn a bit red. I will never do that again.

From there I walked a bit with Estelle exploring Thanon Phothisalat. She then decided to rest in her hotel and we said our good-byes. Before we departed she informed me that at 4:00 that day all the monks in their Wat's would begin playing drum music to mark the phases of the moon. She told me that on the day of a quarter moon, half moon, three-quarter and full moon that the Wat's at 4:00 will perform their drum music.

I walked around a bit and cooled off in the shade provided by the trees along Thanon Lim Khong which is the road just along the Mekong. The winds gradually became strong and the sky dark. A storm looked like it was approaching. As I sat along the road a branch from a palm tree fell on me due to the strong blows of the wind. I then decided to keep walking and I walked south along Thanon Kitsalat which then turns into Thanon Sethathirat. I then went east and then north again and found the old iron bridge that I had crossed by three wheeled local taxi the day before from the speed boat pier. I decided to walk across it and took a few pictures on it. Again, as I said in my previous journal entry I felt like Indiana Jones crossing the bridge at the end of the Temple of Doom movie.

I then went to Wat Wisunalat and watched as a boy monk who sat at the top of a very, very tall palm tree cut something from it. Im actually not sure what he was doing up there. Then I began to hear drums - it was 4:00. I went toward where I heard the music and watched the monks perform. I loved it. And then I saw Estelle walking toward the monks. We continued our explorations of the town until about 6:00. I enjoyed her company very much. We took a break at JOMA Cafe and chatted more. I learned a bit about her life in Paris and what she does for a living.

Then we parted again and at 7:00 I met up with Sarah and Katie and two Americans that I saw back at Huay Xai. We found a restaurant to eat in and talked and talked and talked. I enjoyed the company of the two Americans, and Sarah and Katie so much. I hadnt laughed so much in so long. It was fantastic as well to be in the company of fellow Americans.

Later that night I sat with the two Americans I had met and a couple from Wales and we sat in a outdoor bar drinking and talking. I was very content and pleased.

Smiles from Luang Prabang,
Domenico
www.thedragonbone.com
www.banromsai.gr.jp

May 12th, 2004

It is the common belief that if aliens from another galaxy were ever to make contact with human beings on Earth that they would surely be peaceful for if they had achieved the "high" technology to travel across the universe to reach our planet then they must be of a "higher" intelligence with beliefs allied to harmony, solidarity, peace/non-violence. Why do we even think this? It is foolish to abide by this logic. If aliens had achieved the technology to cross the great expanse of space to reach Earth it is my belief that they would see us Earthlings as primitive, crude, backwards and in need of being civilized by their standards of civilization and/or religion. Outer-space alien missionaries, adventurers, colonizers, and armies will flock upon our planet and colonize it; and they will kill, enslave, rape, pillage, and destroy anyone of us Earthlings who do not go along with their "higher" plan.

The West (the United States in particular and Western Europe and any First World nation) possesses a higher standard of living, technology, "a perfect God", and so forth. Does all of our technology truly refelct our "higher" intelligence? Not really. Are we any different from the Empires of the past? No. After being educated on the "evils" of warfare by our teachers, museums, movies, and books how many of us really stand up against the wars we wage abroad? Not many of us. The masses simply go along with the strong political power of their nation, and those of us that speak up against warfare find that we have been asked to leave from our jobs, that the television program that you produced has been taken off the air, that Disney will not distribute a certain left-wing documentary by Michael Moore, that you should be careful of what you write on the internet for your "freedom of speech" government is watching you.

How different are the American occupying forces in Iraq from the regime of Sadam Hussein? There is one major difference which I will discuss in just a moment. When we went into Iraq the U.S. prided itself in "freeing" the Iraqi people. Images of the dungeon chambers used by Sadam to torture fellow Iraqis were shown on T.V. as were interviews with Iraqi's who had suffered in those chambers. Now, we see that the U.S. military is no different in the treatment of Iraqi prisoners than the former Iraqi regime. Now Ive read in the papers that the images and stories we will soon hear about concerning the treatment of Iraqi prisoners will get worse, "rape and murder" is what is coming up next!

This is a very sad moment in U.S. history. Can we really parade our delluded image of a U.S. nation devoted to equality, peace, freedom, and democracy?

Although there are many of us Americans that are ashamed of these images that our national military has been torturing Iraqi prisoners we must also remember that in our nation no one is above the law. Not even our President. And that is something that we should be proud of. Those responsible for these crimes against the Iraqi prisoners will be brought to trial. Rumsfield may loose his job because of this - he should of lost it a long time ago along with George W. and Cheney and the whole administration as far as Im concerned - all Ive ever heard from them are lies, lies, and more lies. Although I am sure that the U.S. government and military will try to protect "certain" high officials that were and are directly responsible for the crimes against the Iraqi prisoners most - I hope - will not be able to escape the law.

These words are of my opinion. If I had the time I would properly research the news of recent weeks to formulate a more accurate view based upon hard facts. But, I am traveling and much of what I learn concerning current events is from quick glances through newspapers and CNN.com. This BLOG is simply a mental release at my disappointment with individuals within our U.S. military forces in Iraq. I dont expect anyone to agree with me. I simply ask that you respect my opinion - which will change over time - as I respect yours. I believe very much in the United States and I am looking forward, very much, to returning to my country after living in Asia for nearly 4 years to exerise my right to vote in our next national election and to work in my own way as a musician and writer in educating and entertaining people in my own country as well as outside of it.

Kerry 2004!!!

May 10th, 2004 - Chiang Khong, Thailand to Huay Xai, Laos to Luang Prabang, Laos

I left my hotel after having breakfast on the old wooden terrace of my Guest House that overlooked the Mekong River and Laos at 8 a.m. I took a Tuk Tuk to the Chiang Khong pier and handed over my passport to the Thai authorities to properly exit Thailand. Once I was done I along with Sarah and Katie - two British girls I had just met - walked down to the river and hoped on a very narrow boat to cross the Mekong over to the Lao side. On the Lao side I walked up to the Lao border patrol and filled out the paper work for my Lao visa. I handed over $30 U.S. dollars as well and in five minutes I had my Lao visa. Right in front of the boarder patrol office was a Lao money exchange office. I handed over 1,500 Thai baht and got over 360,000 Lao Kip. The teller handed over my very high stack of cash and all the foreigners around me could do nothing but laugh. It was funny to hand over such a small amount of Thai money and get so many bills back - no coins, there are no coinage in their currency system. After waiting for the other foreingers to get their visas and so forth we headed just a block into Huay Xai - the Lao town across the river from Chiang Khong in Thailand. Already, the difference between Thailand and Lao became apparent. Yuay Xai was tiny with only a few sparse locals walking along the streets. And it was quiet, nearly sleepy. There is no road between Yuay Xai and Luang Prabang - my destination for the day. As a result you must travel along the Mekhong by either slow boat or speed boat. I was not interested in the least in taking the slow boat for it takes two days to reach Luang Prabang. The speed boat takes only 7 hours.

So Katie, Sarah, and I along with a Japanese man who had volunteered in Iraq before and after the war, along with two other American men who had just finished college got into a jeep in Yuay Xai and made our journey to the speed boat pier. The speed boat is a very narrow boat that seats only six passengers and the pilot plus all our baggage. When we got into the boat we were all a bit shocked to see that the space we had to sit in was incredibly tiny. We had to sit with our knees tucked up right up to our chests. Before we knew it we were off speeding at unbelivable speeds on the Mekong. If a boat was coming toward us the waves it created would at times cause our speed boat to lift off its crests and back down on the water with a hard punch to out bottoms. When the river was devoid of ripples our speed boat would easily glide across the river - Im sure if the boat had wings we could have taken off and flown for several meters before gravity retook out boat. But, if there were ripples in the river the ride was a rough one as we continually bounced on the waters. About 2 to 3 hours later we stopped to rest be either relieving our bladders or having something to drink and eat at a pier that had locals gambling and foreigners resting who had either had come from down river or from up it. At around 2:00 we began our journey again but this time we had to switch boats - and the boat that would not complete our journey to Luang Prabang was even smaller in terms of the seats we had to sit in. We all complained to ourselves of how painful the rest of the journey would be.

An hour later we stopped at another pier/home to get some gas. In the middle of nowhere was this pier but there in this little thatched home on the Mekhong was a fine selection of soft drinks ranging from Pepsi to Coke to fanta. It seems that no matter where you go in the world - no matter how remote the location you are in - you will find someone ready to sell you either a Coke or a Pepsi.

Laos is nearly the same size as England but has only 8% of the population of England. Laos only has about 20 people for every sqaure mile. And the population is divided between those who live and survive along the Mekong and those who live in the highlands and hills. As we journeyed along the river I saw a small village here or there or simply a single thatched home in the middle of nowhere. There were jagged rocks piercing up above the river along the sides and cliffs of sand and beaches and palm trees and so forth all the way up the hills and mountains.

Laos is also the poorest nation in Southeast Asia. The average annual income is about $250 U.S. Which is not much at all but from what I have seen the people seem to be living well - meaning that they have enough for food, a home, and so forth. I have seen more severe poverty in South America than I have in any part of Southeast Asia that I have explored.

The speed boat landing in Luang Prabang is several kilometers from the center of town. When we arrived at the pier I was surprised that it was simply a tiny bamboo pier with nude children swimming all around it. There was a staircase leading up the hill from the pier. I couldnt believe that we had arrived in Luang Prabang. It seemd as if we had arrived literally in no where special at all. After we grabbed our bags and ascended the steps we were approached by touts trying to influence us to go to the Guest House that they were recommending us. After agreeing to take a look at one of the Guest Houses we got onto a small truck and bargained the driver down from 600 baht for all 6 of us to 300 baht. We were still ripped up but what difference does it make to a traveling foreinger. We drove and began to see the town of Luang Prabang slowly making its appearance to us. We had to cross an old iron bridge that appeared like the bridge that was used at the end of the movie, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Luang Prabang as a town is small!!! I believe that the smallest town in Montana is bigger than Luang Prabang. You can see all that a traveler needs to see in Luang Prabang in an afternoon by foot. I had the constant feeling that I was in small town in a small island in the Carribean. The whole down is blessed by scores of cocconut palm trees and old French colonial buildings. It is a quiet, safe, and pleasant town. Unfortunately Luang Prabang is being run over by tourists. At night it seems like the locals retire to their homes and the foreigners parade about in search of a restaurant or bar that caters specifically to tourists. One friend that I met here said that he was a bit baffled that at night it seemed like the "tourists outnumbered the locals 2 to 1."

This is a bit upsetting to find that the "isolated" nation of Laos is really not so isolated anymore. Tourists are taking over causing towns like Luang Prabang to be heavily dependent on the tourists for their economy. As I learned from Estelle - a French woman with Lao and Vietenamese roots - that the number of Americans traveling to Laos has decreased tremendously after September 11th causing the amount of money to be made from American toursits to go down significantly for the locals dependent on them for business. This is what my concern for Lao towns like Luang Prabang. It is a dangerous thing to be so heavily dependent on tourists for their economy for if there is another September 11th scare they will suffer tremendously in the decrease of tourists that frequent their nation.

All right . . . I must go . . . I will write more soon,

Domenico
www.thedragonbone.com
www.banromsai.gr.jp

May 9th, 2004

I woke up at 6 a.m. and left my hotel at 7 and got on a bus headed to Chiang Khong at 8. A six hour bus ride later I am here in Chiang Khong.

Chiang Khong is a sleepy little town right on the Mekong river. This is the first time in my life to see the Mekong. And right across the river is Laos. My guest house room looks right over the river and straight on to Laos. Tomorrow morning I will cross over into Laos and take a speed boat to Luang Prabang.

There is one road that cuts through Chiang Khong and after checking into my guest house I walked up and down it finding only a few more guest houses and out door restaurants offering Thai to Mexican food while also offering to show movies in the evening. There is simply nothing much to do here so I guess Ill end up in one of these restaurants tonight and watch a movie or two before going to bed.

That is all for now,
Domenico
www.thedragonbone.com
www.banromsai.gr.jp

May 8th, 2004

After I bought my bus ticket to Chiang Khong and having breakfast (pancakes, toast, and tea) I returned to Ban Rom Sai (www.banromsai.gr.jp) for my third and final day.

I spent most of the day with Surachai (10 years old), Nat (11 years old), and Pond (10 years old). They are the three oldest boys at Ban Rom Sai. We spent most of the afternoon with Nanako who is the art teacher at Ban Rom Sai. The art room is on the second floor of a wooden building built on high stilts. The first floor is all in the open air and is where the staff at Ban Rom Sai work on dying the Thai style clothing that they make by hand and sell to raise funds for Ban Rom Sai. Nanako's room is on the second floor and just in front of her door is a low table and shelves of art supplies as well as a sink. The boys wanted to work with paper clay and I watched them mold their clay into the shapes of various animals. I believe Surachai made an airplane from the paper clay and it sparked my creativity to begin work on making an aircraft carrier for the plane. With the help of the boys we all began cutting up cardboard and forming them into boxes that we painted and put together to make the aircraft carrier. Surachai and Pond also made a few more paper clay airplanes to complete our decoration of the aircraft carrier. After that Surachai decided to grab some paint markers and began tattooing my arm with a very colorful design of a ships' anchor. I returned the deed when he was done by painting his bicep with a smiley face and a skull. I painted a few other designs on his forearm but Surachai later washed it off out of fear from the Thai staff scolding him.

Gen, who is six years old, also came up to do some art with Nanako. He is the weakest child at Ban Rom Sai. He has skinny arms and legs and coughs from time to time. But, Nanako told me that he has been getting gradually stronger. She explained that he has been having difficulty adjusting to the medicine he has been taking and that he needs to change his prescription soon. They have no records of the medication he took before he came into the care of Ban Rom Sai and so it is feared that the medication he is currently on was possibly the same medication that he took before he came to Ban Rom Sai. Ban Rom Sai receive their medication from the Thai government for free but this causes a problem. The paperwork done to change prescriptions for the children takes months and months. As a result a child like Gen must suffer as all the bureaucratic steps are followed. This type of situation is frustrating for the Ban Rom Sai staff for they are at the mercy of the civil servants who process this paper work. They feel helpless in their ability to alleviate the children from their suffering since they simply have to wait and wait for the government to finally okay the change in prescription and to provide it for them.

After the arts and crafts I went to the pool and watched Nat and Pond swim with the Japanese staff. They were working on several different swimming strokes.

From then on I played super kung-fu fighter with the younger boys. They had various weapons (toys) and attacked me - the Evil Giant. My secret fighting ability was the paralyzing finger attack to the under arm of the boys - the most ticklish area of the human body. It was fun to grab them and tickle them until they were laughing so hard that they could no longer breath. I remember that my father used to do that to me when I was young and how painful but fun it was to be tickled under the arm - right in the arm pit.

Soon enough it was dinner time - 5:30 - and I sat down with the infants and youngest children to encourage them to eat, eat, eat. I spoiled a few of the kids by spoon feeding them and making dog garble garble noises as they bit down on their spoon and chewed their food. I was most impressed with the youngest child at Ban Rom Sai. He is maybe two-and-a-half to three years old and there he was with his spoon in hand feeding himself rice and bits of chicken. He was so, so, so young. I thought that someone would help him eat but no, he was completely independent, determined, and able to eat by himself. I took several pictures of him. He was my little champion.

I then had some fruits with the boys and then sat out on a porch with Asama and a few of the girls. Asama is 20 years old but does not have the HIV virus. Technically she is apart of the Thai staff at Ban Rom Sai. She is an orphan. And she is beautiful. Because she was too old for the previous orphanage that she was in she was then adopted into Ban Rom Sai to help care for the kids and serve the girls as an older sister. The girls sat out on the porch with Asama and talked their gossip as they complimented each other on the gorgeous hair cuts the all got in town earlier that day. When I pulled my camera out the girls quickly posed for me and pointed to their hair reminding me that they had had their cut and stylized.

Soon it was nearly bed time and the children and to have their shower and dress into their pajamas. Surachai, Nat, and Pond all called to me to wait near their rooms as they finished their showers and exercises. They wanted me to tattoo more paintings onto their arms. I decided to join them in their nightly exercise routine which consisted of meditation, breathing exercises, and stretching exercises.

Nat really serves Ban Rom Sai as an older brother for all the boys. Who always looks out for them and disciplines them. In one case one of the younger boys threw a stick into the air and it fell back on his head. The boy began crying and pouting. I ran up to him to see what was wrong but Nat told me not to help him. He explained to me what the boy had done and that he had to learn from his mistake to not do such a thing again. I was immediately impressed with Nat.

One boy I must tell you about is Muu. The first time I met him he was busy peeling cucumbers in the kitchen. Nanako explained to me that he loves to cook. As a result I decided to call him "The Chef". The kitchen staff does not ask him for his help. He simply appears in the kitchen and helps out in anyway he can. The funny thing is is that he loves to eat dry ramen noodles. Not the type of snack you would expect "The Chef" to eat.

After Nat, Surachai, and Pond finished their exercises we all went to the art room and I tattooed their arms. Nat, wanted me to paint "I Love You" on his right arm and a flower on his left. I also painted the Yin/Yang Chinese design on both his ankles. On Surachai's left arm I painted another skull and on Pond's arm I painted a skull and spiderman's head. Then the boys led me to the TV room to watch Treasure Island with all the other children.

I had only watched about 10 minutes of the movie before one of the Japanese staff approached me and told me that they could drive me back into town.

This month two of the Japanese staff will have their birthday and so that night all the Japanese staff and a few of the Thai staff were going into town to celebrate. They invited me to join them and together we all sat around a large table eating, drinking, talking, and laughing.

The Ban Rom Sai then went to Kareoke after dinner but I departed for I had to get up early the next morning to grab a bus to Chiang Khong.

I will miss the kids and the staff at Ban Rom Sai very much. They are all so amazing and so full of life. I will hold them all in my thoughts for the rest of my travels and I will work hard when I return to the U.S. to create the English website for them and to promote their cause throughout North America and Europe.

If you haven't already please have a look at their Japanese website at http://www.banromsai.gr.jp

With Love,
Domenico
www.thedragonbone.com