Patrick and Mary Go Round

We’ve cranked right through the small country of Cambodia en route between Saigon and Bangkok. As I’m writing, we’re in a minibus hauling west across the flats near the Thai/Combodian border. Last week, we bussed from Saigon to Phnom Pehn, stopping to pick up our $20 visas-upon-arrival. We emerged from Cambodian Customs and realized that our bus was gone, along with our fellow travelers, who’d each paid a $4 “Please don’t leave me behind” fee. A few kilometers on a motorbike only cost us $2 and we caught the bus with time to grab a bite to eat.

Our arrival in Phnom Pehn was starkly different than our days in Vietnam. First, we needed Riels (Cambodia’s official currency) and went to an ATM that could only dispense US dollars (the unofficial and solely used currency). Like in Panama and Ecuador last year, it can be a bit strange to get USD after converting all transactions back to dollars for 7 weeks. I find myself much more frugal in foreign currencies than in actual dollars. We grabbed a tuk-tuk over to the OKAY Guesthouse, set up shop in a nice room, ate and hooked up a tour through the bossman at OKAY.

Next morning, we were off to the S-21 prison where the ‘Pol Pot Clique’ tortured and killed Cambodians, by the thousands. From 1975 till 1979, communist rebels forced citizens out of the cities to work on collective, communal farms. On top of rampant starvation and malnutrition, religion, money and schools were abolished which seemed to have doomed any chance for even fundamental person freedoms. Pol Pot’s cohorts converted a school in downtown Phnom Pehn into a torture center where political dissenters, foreigners and anyone with an education were detained for 2-4 months, questioned and murdered. We saw the 10AM showing of the museum’s documentary describing the separations of all men and women during the years when the Khmer Rouge outlawed marriage.

That afternoon, we visited the International Genocide Memorial (also known as the Killing Fields). Prisoners weren’t typically executed onsite at the S-21 prison. Rather, they were loaded onto Ox carts at night, driven out of town, slaughtered and thrown into mass graves. In an trench maybe 15 foot square, the bodies of approximately 450 people had been excavated. Possibly hundreds of such trenches stretch all around the grounds of the memorial. A much larger section of the memorial remains unexcavated as its underneath a small lake, making it logistics more difficult. After long debate, excavated skulls and other remains were placed in a large tower, 20 levels high and standing maybe 125 feet above where genocide took place. Thousands and thousands of human skulls eerily stand watch over the killing fields as a constant reminder to future generations of crimes committed by men against all of mankind.

After an awakening, but depressing day in Phnom Pehn, we bussed up to Siem Reap, which is only a few kilometers south of Angkor Wat. It was in Siem Reap that we managed to meet up with Dave the Nomad, fellow traveler and my friend from college. Dave left home in August and has been in Europe, the Middle East, India and Asia, prior to our meet-up. We grabbed some beers, shared stories and talked shop about India. The next morning, we set out early for the temples to check out Preah Kahn, Bantay Prei, Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon, Pre Rup and Banteay Kdei. For $10-12, you can rent a tuk-tuk for the day and drive out to see oodles of ancient temples. They’re huge (might be hundreds) and most are spread miles apart. Angkor Wat, the largest and most expansive temple, is over a thousand years old and is the largest religious building in the world.

On Mary’s birthday, we woke up before 5AM to grab a tuk-tuk out to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. The greatest part about getting up for sunrise is having the temple practically to yourself for a few hours while everyone is asleep back in town. We visited some of the more central temples, including the famous ones from the Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider movies. The intricately detailed stone carving intensifies the awesomeness of the temples’ ancient architecture. Several temples are complete with huge moats that make European castles look like beachside child’s’ play. Mary had some delicious birthday curry, a massage and tasty brews to cap off her special day in Cambodia.

On our final day visiting the temples, we shared some Tuk-tuks with a merry band of travelers from the US, Holland and Finland. We headed WAY out of town to see the womanmade temple, consisting of miniature buildings with extremely detailed sandstone carvings. Afterwards, we went on a hike through the River of 1000 Lingas, where Angkorian people carved Lingas (sacred altars) into the stream bed. As a bonus, we could splash around a waterfall for some much needed cool down.

After the ride back to town, we turned our attention towards India and managed to change our tickets from Bangkok to Delhi instead of our original plans for Mumbai (Bombay). We’ve given serious consideration to the weather forecast while planning our itinerary and will spend the next 5 weeks dodging 105 degree days, as much as possible. We’ll fly into Delhi and work on getting train tickets to Agra, Varanassi, Darjeeling, back to Delhi and then up north to Rishekesh. Because we’re starting later than we’d planned, we’ll have to skip much of southern India and decided that Mumbai no longer made sense as an entry point. Tonight, we’re staying near the Bangkok airport and will hop a flight from BKK to Delhi on Jet Airways.

This officially makes tonight our last night in Bangkok.

I was awoke a little after 7am this morning by people chanting. The area outside was packed with people. Here are a few pictures.

An early look at the parade route. They had not yet let the parade views access to the route.

This is the view from my perch looking North along 7th St. NW.

President Obama was sworn in around 12pm.  Like most, we watched on TV to get the best view.  The difference is that We could hear the crowd roar from the Mall.  The energy was flowing everywhere.  His address had many powerful broad themes.

Around 2:30pm we went up to the roof to watch the parade.  My first observation was the temperature.  It was COLD up there.   All of the law enforcement and security men protecting this event are owed a debt of graditude.  With the wind, it feels like 16 degrees.

We had a nice view from the roof, and were able to grab a few shots.  More will come when I get them off my good camera.  Until then, here are a couple from my point and shoot.

The Presidential Limo. This is a brand new vehicle. The security package around him was very impressive.

Here is an early shot of the President and the First Lady in the parade.

Hi there. I am pretty excited that Patrick and Mary asked me to share my first hand experiences from the 56th Presidential Inauguration.

I arrived here in Washington on Monday afternoon, and quickly got settled. I am staying right in the middle of the action on Pennsylvania Ave, right in between the Capitol and the White House. I stepped out with the intention of picking up the mail and hitting the deli for some food. Instead, I went on a three hour tour of the area with my camera. This is a sampling of what I saw.

First, to say that people are excited about President Obama, is a huge understatement. Emotions are running high, and people are happy. Spontaenous “Obama” chants were the rule, not the exception.

I walked out across Pennsylvania Ave. on 7th street toward the mall. At this point I think I realized just how much media is focused on this event. Its easy to say the world is watching, but seeing TV trucks lined for blocks along the mall from cities across the country really brough it into focus.

Now in the middle of the National Mall, I saw the MSNBC booth. They were broadcvasting live from the Mall. A huge crowd had gathered to see the production, and maybe get on TV. This is where I heard the loudest “Obama” chants.

At this point, I thought about heading back, but became inspired to see how close I could get to the Capitol where the Oath would be given in the morning. It took me a while, a bunch of walking, and a few fences hopped, but I got very close, and was able to get some excellent shots if the building after dark. It was very grand, and again, you could feel the excitement in the air.

With this goal reached, it was finally time to head back. I decided to Penn Ave. back to where I am staying. Security had closed it to cars, but I was still able to walk down it. It was a pretty cool experience to walk down the street that President Obama would walk down just the next day.

I don’t know much, but I know that Tuesday is going to be a special day.

Note: I will update with pictures soon. I left the cable to get them off my camera at home.

I am writing this just a mere 12 hours away for the moment Barack Obama will become our President. The best two words to sum up this moment in history are - historic and hopeful.

Patrick and I are still hanging out up here in the freezing snowy land that is Rochester, but my brother, Jerry Votava, has braved the crowds to spend inauguration day right down on Pennsylvania Avenue. Jerry arrived in Washington, DC this afternoon and has already spent the evening walking the streets to witness all the anticipation and preparation for this moment.

Jerry has very kindly accepted our invitation to share some thoughts about tomorrow’s festivities right here on the blog. Just like in the United States, on our trip thus far we have met people from all over the world who care very deeply the outcome of this election and we think it is very fitting to be able to share an eye witness account of Barack Obama’s inauguration with everyone here in the U.S. and around the world who cannot be there. I am very proud that the whole world will be watching us tomorrow.

Thanks for the patience in our hiatus. We will be back on the road soon…

[Note on us: Patrick has been healing up from his surgery really well. We are so thankful for all the progress he has made. We are safe to get back out on the road and plan to do so on February 5 for a flight to Bangkok, and another three months on the road. Before then, we'll also do a little domestic test-travel, with a trip next week to Austin, TX and Minneapolis, MN to check out some new possible homes and law schools.]

Hey y’all state-siders, Happy Turkey Day!  We woke up this morning and I could almost swear that I smelled dressing baking somewheres.  Today is just an ordinary day in Peru and we’re headed off to school in a few minutes.  For tonight, we’ve found a great chicken roaster that will cook a whole chicken, potatoes, salad and avacadoes for $10.  We figured we’ll split this between the two of us (or maybe with another guy from the states) and then have left overs for tomorrow (or late night fridge raid).

We asked the Canadians about their traditions for Thanksgiving and they told us that Quebec-ians don’t have a holiday for that.  Ohh well, at least we KNOW a couple Cannucks that enjoy a bit of Turkey with us… We both miss you all a bunch and hope that your holiday is fun and blessed.  Feel free to drop a comment about your favorite Turkey story or the antics from Wednesday night’s annual pilgrimage to East and Alexander Sts.

Gobble GOBBLE!!  There I said it.

After resting our muscles from the wear-and-tear of the Inca Trail, Mary and I have begun to notice that our plans seem so much smaller in light of our recent experiences. We’d been talking about the idea of finding a volunteer opportunity somewheres along the way, but hadn’t settled on anything. We were both moved by the trail to give something back to the gorgeous country of Peru. [Actually, Mary had always wanted to have a chance to volunteer and it only took 7 weeks to convince me.] Regardless, we’ve found a fantastic organization and have decided to switch directions — head back North, through Lima to Huaraz, Peru. We have tickets on the safest bus-cama company, Oremeño, to leave Cuzco tomorrow morning (Friday) for the 30 hour ride back to Lima via Puno, Arequipa, Nazca and Ica. We should arrive in Lima round about 3PM on Saturday, spend the night in Lima and then swoop up to Huaraz.

We’ve been in contact with Isabelle, of Seeds of Hope, Peru, to arrange our time and brief us on their school program. Check them out on the web and specifically their section on International Volunteers.

Unfortunately, our decision to switch directions will mean that we will miss out on plans to head down to Patagonia. We may still visit Copacabana, La Paz and the Bolivian Salt Flats, but will head very quickly through Argentina. Our tickets remain solid to fly out from Buenos Aires in January, but think it’s totally worth switching directions to lend a hand at S.O.H. I don’t think that we’d expected to enjoy Peru so much and are both REALLY excited to have this opportunity.

We were hiking down from La Luna Hostel into Otavalo when we witnessed some indigenous, Ecuadorian, honest-to-God, totally free range, organic, if-not-but-totally-wild, cage free, yes-we´re-cool-with-the-street-dogs chickens. We´d just read the blog comment from Rick and Mary Sheils asking for some sweet pics, and here those bueuties are:


Enjoy!

Today is the first business day that I haven’t been working in a while.  On friday, I left my job, packed up my desk and headed out to begin our grand adventure.  We are here in Rochester during the beginning of this week and are getting prepped for our first stop on the trip: New York City!  We’re taking the train down from Rochester to NYC on Thursday to stay with Jerry and Caitlin for our final days of USandA.  On Sunday, we’ll scoot out to JFK for a 10AM flight to Ecuador; Quito by way of Guayaquil.

This past Sunday, we had a lovely Bon Voyage party, hosted by Sue and Mike Moore.  Thanks to everyone who could make it out for the well-wishes and all the great questions.   I”ve included our contact information into this post and you can also use the link to “Contact” if you’re looking for our Skype information or phone number.

Mary + Patrick
585-286-1265
http://www.PatrickandMaryGoRound.com
Skype Name: marypluspatrick

I had a long chat with Billy last night and heard about him and Cara’s month-long trip round the world. Sounds like they’ll leave in late December, head to Isreal, Palestine and Jordan for a week, spend a week in India, jump over to SouthEast Asia (Thailand/Cambodia) for a week and spend the final week in New Zealand. Wow! Makes me exhausted just thinking about it!

They are planning to be in Thailand from the 17th-24th of January, the tailend of which lines up with the beginning of our 2 month excursion right there. Billy and I agreed that meeting up in Bangkok was not only pheasible, but a must-do. He mentioned that a picture of us with our travel/life partners would rival the one we took of an RV with Mt. Rushmore on the side at Mt. Rushmore… that’s right… we drove through the night (dodging deer) to take the ultimate advertisement picture for Cruise America:

So, since it’s a must-do, we’ll meet you two in Bangkok!

I had exchanged facebook messages with Dan Hill last week and we are pumped to hear from him all the way from Jakarta! I’m not sure if we’ll be able to cross paths while we’re over in Southeast Asia, but it would be awesome to catch-up regardless of which country we find eachother.

Then, last night, I was checking into the Google Analytics from the GoRound and was highly amused by the visitor geography to the site:

Dan Hill from Jakarta

This is a shout out to my main man in Indonesia!