Retrouvez-moi ici pour mes aventures au Congo - c'est un blog séparé tout en soi.
The mass e-mails sent during my MSF mission in Shamwana can be found here.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Les boules, épilogue
Hauts faits des quelques jours pré-départ:
Moi qui préfère partir comme une voleuse, j'ai été servie! Trois partys de départ, organisés par d'autres, où je ne m'habitue pas de voir autant de gens venus me voir... Merci les amis, honnêtement, j'ai vraiment beaucoup apprécié, et d'avoir toutes les photos avec moi va m'aider à me souvenir de la vie qui m'attend à mon retour.
Défier les lois de la physique afin de mettre dans mon packsack tout ce que j'aurais voulu, peur d'oublier un morceau essentiel, peur de m'oublier moi...
Regrets brefs de ne pas m'être acheté mon propre téléphone satellite Thuraya juste parce que, comme ça, pour savoir qu'on peut se raccorder à la famille et aux amis n'importe quand. C'est quand même une idée qui m'a été suggérée indépendamment par deux personnes différentes. Mais bon, j'avais le sentiment que ça ne plairait pas à mon équipe, que ça me démarquerait un peu trop...
Pourquoi, sur le pré-départ, tout est plus bruyant, plus coloré, plus intense que ça n'en a jamais eu l'air? Pourquoi les heures se décuplent-elles, les journées sont immensément longues et les nuits de sommeil si courtes? (moi la marmotte normalement, yeux grands ouverts à 5h du mat!) Pourquoi chaque rencontre avec ma famille est-elle douce-amère, parce que je voudrais tellement les rassurer sur leurs inquiétudes, parce qu'ils me regardent avec incompréhension? Pourquoi à chaque fois que je vois un ami proche ou que je lui parle au téléphone, j'ai comme un coup dans la poitrine?
Tête de bourrique pendant un bon moment. Je ne tenais plus en place. Je devenais insupportable. En fait même, j'aurais voulu être catapultée directement là-bas, dans la jungle, afin d'en finir enfin avec l'attente interminable. C'est la peur de l'inconnu qui est le pire, car une fois sur place on voit de quoi il en retourne et on gère.
Qu'est-ce qu'on fait avant de partir pour six mois en Afrique? La fiesta au festival Eclipse, Summer electronic music festival dans la bouette québécoise:
Moi qui préfère partir comme une voleuse, j'ai été servie! Trois partys de départ, organisés par d'autres, où je ne m'habitue pas de voir autant de gens venus me voir... Merci les amis, honnêtement, j'ai vraiment beaucoup apprécié, et d'avoir toutes les photos avec moi va m'aider à me souvenir de la vie qui m'attend à mon retour.
Défier les lois de la physique afin de mettre dans mon packsack tout ce que j'aurais voulu, peur d'oublier un morceau essentiel, peur de m'oublier moi...
Regrets brefs de ne pas m'être acheté mon propre téléphone satellite Thuraya juste parce que, comme ça, pour savoir qu'on peut se raccorder à la famille et aux amis n'importe quand. C'est quand même une idée qui m'a été suggérée indépendamment par deux personnes différentes. Mais bon, j'avais le sentiment que ça ne plairait pas à mon équipe, que ça me démarquerait un peu trop...
Pourquoi, sur le pré-départ, tout est plus bruyant, plus coloré, plus intense que ça n'en a jamais eu l'air? Pourquoi les heures se décuplent-elles, les journées sont immensément longues et les nuits de sommeil si courtes? (moi la marmotte normalement, yeux grands ouverts à 5h du mat!) Pourquoi chaque rencontre avec ma famille est-elle douce-amère, parce que je voudrais tellement les rassurer sur leurs inquiétudes, parce qu'ils me regardent avec incompréhension? Pourquoi à chaque fois que je vois un ami proche ou que je lui parle au téléphone, j'ai comme un coup dans la poitrine?
Tête de bourrique pendant un bon moment. Je ne tenais plus en place. Je devenais insupportable. En fait même, j'aurais voulu être catapultée directement là-bas, dans la jungle, afin d'en finir enfin avec l'attente interminable. C'est la peur de l'inconnu qui est le pire, car une fois sur place on voit de quoi il en retourne et on gère.
Qu'est-ce qu'on fait avant de partir pour six mois en Afrique? La fiesta au festival Eclipse, Summer electronic music festival dans la bouette québécoise:
Monday, July 30, 2007
Pourquoi un blog?
Il y a quelques jours, Brigitte, une amie datant de l'irc en 1995, a été sujet d'un article paru dans le Figaro: Blogueuse avant l'heure.
Elle avait commencé à bloguer avant que le terme ne soit même inventé lors de son passage à l'UQAM. Ses textes, qui partageaient ses états d'âme, ses opinions et un peu de poésie, paraissaient en BBS sous Montréal, Soleil et Pluie, i.e. MSP entre 1995 et 1998.
Ce qui m'a intriguée, c'est qu'elle a arrêté de publier après trois ans parce que sa célébrité l'incommodait. Elle le dit elle-même, le fait que de parfaits étrangers la lisent et se sentent proches d'elle la rendaient inconfortable.
Douze ans plus tard, moi j'écris ce blog avec les mêmes sentiments partagés. Je présume sincèrement qu'il se perd dans l'océan de blogs inachevés sur le 'Net. Et donc, très paradoxalement, Brigitte et moi écrivons pour la même raison: pour n'être que peu lues, ou lues que par les gens qui comptent...
Elle avait commencé à bloguer avant que le terme ne soit même inventé lors de son passage à l'UQAM. Ses textes, qui partageaient ses états d'âme, ses opinions et un peu de poésie, paraissaient en BBS sous Montréal, Soleil et Pluie, i.e. MSP entre 1995 et 1998.
Ce qui m'a intriguée, c'est qu'elle a arrêté de publier après trois ans parce que sa célébrité l'incommodait. Elle le dit elle-même, le fait que de parfaits étrangers la lisent et se sentent proches d'elle la rendaient inconfortable.
Douze ans plus tard, moi j'écris ce blog avec les mêmes sentiments partagés. Je présume sincèrement qu'il se perd dans l'océan de blogs inachevés sur le 'Net. Et donc, très paradoxalement, Brigitte et moi écrivons pour la même raison: pour n'être que peu lues, ou lues que par les gens qui comptent...
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Trampoline
Encore une fois, je jongle mes mondes. Je suis présentement à l’été nordique, plutôt pluvieux, et je complète un petit séjour de deux semaines ici dans le Nord. De vagues échos me disent qu’il fait beau et chaud dans le Sud et que la saison des festivals bat son plein. Mais juillet me plaît ici-haut. Je prends le temps de vivre ici, et soirée après soirée entre amis se sont succédées, que ce soit pour essayer une nouvelle recette d’outarde aux baies, de se faire bouffer par les moustiques dans le bois un des rares soirs ensoleillés, de zigonner sur un nouveau Mac, ou d’améliorer mes stratégies hasardeuses au jeu de société Porto Rico. On a même réussi à se faire une session de bronzage dehors en bikini s’il-vous-plaît la semaine passée – alors que cette semaine je mets ma tuque et viens de m’en acheter une autre, très Inuit, en me promettant de la mettre à bon usage à l'hiver 2008.
Mon départ pour la République Démocratique du Congo est incroyablement abstrait. Avec l’âge, on dirait qu’on prend plus conscience du présent, et je ne me projette plus dans le futur, aussi proche soit-il. Car dans trois semaines, je suis quelque part dans l’ex-Zaïre, affrontant brousse, serpents, et maladies tropicales. Et, j’imagine, une grande misère humaine et de nouveaux défis dont je n’ai présentement aucune idée. Mais pour l’instant je ne veux pas y penser, et c'est en grande partie du déni. Je remplis tranquillement la paperasse pour le départ. Je pense à tous les amis à qui il faut que je parle avant de partir. Je pense à mes proches qui vont s’inquiéter et qui présentement m'inquiètent. Je pense de manière pratique au travail qui m’attend encore à mon retour dans le Sud, ô joie à la pénurie de personnel et aux nouveaux résidents tout verts...
Si je pense trop à ce qui m’attend en RDC, je risque de lâcher la patate. Les boules, qui avaient fait leur apparition en mai, étaient parties pour un temps lorsque le départ avait été repoussé, mais elles viennent de me revenir depuis hier. Quelques petites crises de mini-anxiété m’ont prise: l’inimaginable, les risques, les dangers dont je n’ai pas connaissance. Mais je me ressaisis en pensant au présent et en m’accrochant aux croyances, sans doute fausses mais rassurantes comme un vieil édredon, que rien n’arrive pour rien, que c'est mon chemin, et que ce qui arrivera arrivera. Un peu de fatalisme mêlé d'humilité et de bras baissés. Et ce don de fragmenter les jours en instants afin d'étirer le présent me protège un peu du souci insondable du futur.
C'est le saut avant le départ qui se prépare et je me défends en pensant plus à l'organisation des amis qui vont se rencontrer à Eclipse et aux vacances au Mozambique prévues pour janvier, qu'à ma mission MSF. Un bon déni tout ça!!! If I don't see it, it's not there...
Friday, July 13, 2007
No MSF blog - Pas de blog MSF
Après mûre réflexion, j’ai fait le choix de ne pas demander de faire un blog MSF public. Pour plusieurs raisons. D’ordre mondain: il y a deux blogs sur la République Démocratique du Congo déjà – donc je me vois mal réinventer la roue. D’ordre moins louable: après le blog littéraire de James Maskalyk sur le Soudan, le mien serait pâle en comparaison. D’ordre plus pratique: j’aimerais laisser cours à ma libre expression lors de la tenue de mon journal de bord, or je ne sais pas jusqu’à quel point MSF censure ce qu’il se passe, que ce soient les problèmes de sécurité ou la politique. A l’instar des amies DC et SF déjà passées par leurs premières missions MSF (et DC à sa deuxième, en Somalie), je vais envoyer des courriels de masse en anglais et en français, dépendamment de l’audience. Ecrivez moi pour me dire que vous voulez être rajouté sur ma liste, et laquelle (ou les deux). Je vous préviens que les missives risquent d'être longues puisque j'ai l'intention d'amener mon Ibook, une pile supplémentaire, et une clé USB à Shamwana. Ceux qui me connaissent bien savent que je tape plutôt vite. Et je vais faire un effort pour conserver tous les accents et les çédilles pour les puristes francophones entre vous. Le tout se retrouvera éventuellement sur ce blog, sans doute en 2008. D'ici là, on se reverra électroniquement via ligne satellite MSF!
After some careful thought, I’ve made the decision not request a public blog on the MSF site. For several reasons. The most mundane one is that there are already two MSF blogs on the Democratic Republic of Congo, so it may be repetitive. The weakest one is that after James Maskalyk’s incredibly written blog in Sudan, I am afraid that my blog will be somewhat colourless. And the most practical one is that I wish to express myself freely, but I do not know to what point MSF will put some censorship on their public blogs, whether it be concerns with security, politics or image issues. Hence, just like my friends DC and SF who have come back from their first MSF missions, I will send mass e-mails in both English and French, depending on the audience. Write me if you would like to be included to either lists or both. I would like to warn you that the letters may be long because I am planning on bringing my Ibook, an extra battery, and an USB key to Shamwana. And those who know me well will remember that I am a fast typist. The letters will eventually be posted on this blog sometime in 2008. Hence, see you all electronically via the MSF satline!
Addendum - 2008
Retrouvez-moi ici
After some careful thought, I’ve made the decision not request a public blog on the MSF site. For several reasons. The most mundane one is that there are already two MSF blogs on the Democratic Republic of Congo, so it may be repetitive. The weakest one is that after James Maskalyk’s incredibly written blog in Sudan, I am afraid that my blog will be somewhat colourless. And the most practical one is that I wish to express myself freely, but I do not know to what point MSF will put some censorship on their public blogs, whether it be concerns with security, politics or image issues. Hence, just like my friends DC and SF who have come back from their first MSF missions, I will send mass e-mails in both English and French, depending on the audience. Write me if you would like to be included to either lists or both. I would like to warn you that the letters may be long because I am planning on bringing my Ibook, an extra battery, and an USB key to Shamwana. And those who know me well will remember that I am a fast typist. The letters will eventually be posted on this blog sometime in 2008. Hence, see you all electronically via the MSF satline!
Addendum - 2008
Retrouvez-moi ici
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Lectures sérieuses
Pré-départ pour la République Démocratique du Congo, dans le petit village de Shamwana au Katanga, où j'ai été confirmée pour au moins six mois avec MSF. Mission retardée d'un petit mois donc encore la Baie James et Montréal pour juillet. Le grand départ sera en août via Amsterdam.
Pré-départ, je viens de lire Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures, de Heidi Postlewait, Kenneth Cain and Andrew Thomson, sur la recommandation facebookienne d'une grande érudite, Brigitte. Une critique vitriolique de l'administration bureaucratique de l'ONU et de la politique étrangère américaine récente - ça a créé tout un tabac et Kofi Annan avait banni le livre, ce qui a aidé à sa publicité - et des commentaires qu'on pourrait étendre sur les autres grandes ONG. Tout ça venant de trois travailleurs dans les tranchées, sur le terrain, à travers plusieurs missions onusiennes sur tous les continents. Bref, je suis bien contente de partir avec MSF comme ONG, quand même. Mais il serait naïf de penser que MSF ne souffre pas aussi de néocolonialisme et n'en attire pas des adeptes. Les trois M de l'humanitaire: missionary, money-maker, et misfit ;)
Et maintenant je lis en même temps:
Heart of Darkness, de Joseph Conrad - un classique de la littérature anglaise du début du siècle, le squelette du film Apocalypse Now, et une lecture de base sur le Congo où je m'en vais. Tous mes amis ayant passé par un cégep anglophone connaissaient ça... je ne suis que plutôt ignare en littérature anglaise classique :)
In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo, de Michela Wrong- une analyse politico-humaine des temps de Mobuto Sese Seko, ie. Le Léopard, le dictateur de l'ex-Zaïre qui étrangement ressemble à l'anti-héros de Conrad, le Mr. Kurtz.
Et mon 'psycho-pop' (pas très pop en fait) du mois: Man's Search for Meaning, de Victor Frankl. Un livre important du 20ème siècle écrit par un psychiatre ayant survécu à l'Holocauste. Quelques notes sur ce livre ici et ici.
Que de lectures sérieuses en ce pré-départ! Ça renforcit mon côté tragique :)
Pré-départ, je viens de lire Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures, de Heidi Postlewait, Kenneth Cain and Andrew Thomson, sur la recommandation facebookienne d'une grande érudite, Brigitte. Une critique vitriolique de l'administration bureaucratique de l'ONU et de la politique étrangère américaine récente - ça a créé tout un tabac et Kofi Annan avait banni le livre, ce qui a aidé à sa publicité - et des commentaires qu'on pourrait étendre sur les autres grandes ONG. Tout ça venant de trois travailleurs dans les tranchées, sur le terrain, à travers plusieurs missions onusiennes sur tous les continents. Bref, je suis bien contente de partir avec MSF comme ONG, quand même. Mais il serait naïf de penser que MSF ne souffre pas aussi de néocolonialisme et n'en attire pas des adeptes. Les trois M de l'humanitaire: missionary, money-maker, et misfit ;)
Et maintenant je lis en même temps:
Heart of Darkness, de Joseph Conrad - un classique de la littérature anglaise du début du siècle, le squelette du film Apocalypse Now, et une lecture de base sur le Congo où je m'en vais. Tous mes amis ayant passé par un cégep anglophone connaissaient ça... je ne suis que plutôt ignare en littérature anglaise classique :)
In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo, de Michela Wrong- une analyse politico-humaine des temps de Mobuto Sese Seko, ie. Le Léopard, le dictateur de l'ex-Zaïre qui étrangement ressemble à l'anti-héros de Conrad, le Mr. Kurtz.
Et mon 'psycho-pop' (pas très pop en fait) du mois: Man's Search for Meaning, de Victor Frankl. Un livre important du 20ème siècle écrit par un psychiatre ayant survécu à l'Holocauste. Quelques notes sur ce livre ici et ici.
Que de lectures sérieuses en ce pré-départ! Ça renforcit mon côté tragique :)
... et furetages moins sérieux!!!
Mon Dieu! Et si c'est vrai que la dame tient pignon sur rue à Baie St-Paul, c'est qu'elle a des clients! Au secours!!!
Lynda Tremblay, décoration Tremblay
capsules qui auraient paru à TV Charlevoix-Ouest jusqu'en 1996
ou directement ici sur youtube.
Lynda Tremblay, décoration Tremblay
capsules qui auraient paru à TV Charlevoix-Ouest jusqu'en 1996
ou directement ici sur youtube.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Venezuela para una semana
Los Roques, Venezuela, 6-13 mai 2007
Pourquoi le Venezuela?
Gsc voulait faire son cours de plongée PADI quelque part. So et moi revenions d'Asie plus tôt cette année et voulions voir autre chose. J'ai déjà été au Honduras. So a été au Belize. On a été au Mexique côte Caraïbe ensemble l'été dernier. L'autre G ne plonge pas, donc il faut de la plage. Restaient Bonaire, et les petites îles de Las Roques au Venezuela, qui étaient reconnues pour la plongée. En plus, de par les six degrés de séparation, un local de Caracas est lié à notre Nord et s'est proposé de nous accueillir chez lui à notre arrivée...
Atterries à Caracas très tard le soir, on retrouve après quelques moments de confusion notre hôte qui a la gentillesse de nous conduire chez lui. Après quoi on découvre que ladite hospitalité relève du dortoir d’université, avec en extra un peu d’eau dans le frigo. Nous nous excusons donc le lendemain, ne voulant pas déranger, et cherchons un hôtel pour la nuit suivante. La deuxième journée se passe donc en fait principalement à découvrir le meilleur moyen de se rendre à Los Roques à prix abordable pour le lendemain: on aura tout vu, entre autres 3000 $ US en spécial deux pour un! Le gros de la journée se déroule dans des taxis vénézueliens où au grand dam de G nous nous relayons toutes pour dormir paisiblement. Et on essaie de trouver un hôtel à Caracas, grosse ville urbaine, pour le retour de ces dames la semaine d'après. Finalement on se trouve enfin un vrai lit même s’il est à Macuito, centre de villégiature peu recommandable mais où nous étions bien contentes d’aboutir.
Le surlendemain nous voit bien heureuses de prendre un petit avion Aerotuy de Caracas à Los Roques, archipel paradisiaque sur la côte Caraïbe du pays - et sans doute retraite secrète de monsieurs mafieux italiens et de leur maîtresses. Enfin, nous allons plonger!
Un des grands mystères du Venezuela est le taux de change. Chavez parviendra-t-il à en prendre le contrôle? Les banques et guichets automatiques vous offrent environ 2000 bolivars au dollar estadounidense. Les ptits mossieurs à l’aéroport vous offrent 3000 bolivars, ce qui nous semblait bien. On a su par la suite qu’il est même possible d’obtenir 3600 bolivars ailleurs en ville. Le coût des vacances passe donc du simple au double selon le taux de change! A los Roques, village de pêcheurs isolé, on nous avait dit de n’apporter que des bolivars. Surprise! Rendues aux centres de plongées, on aurait eu un meilleur taux de change en ca$h zétazunien qu’en bolivars.
A Los Roques, on a tout exploré et réservé sur place. Posada assez luxueuse, boutiques de plongée - il n’y en a que trois dont une à notre posada qui était fermée. La plongée a été super. Pas de foules, petits bateaux, et jolis poissons. Parfois entrées un peu acrobatiques ou houleuses mais Gsc notre héroïne PADI s’est bien débrouillée. Los Roques sont bien loin du commercial-industriel de Cozumel ou même de Roatan – peut-être que le fait qu’on était complètement hors-saison a contribué au sentiment paradisiaque de la chose. 'Pas de violence, c'est les vacances', répète Gsc, tout droit sorti de Brice de Nice...
Aller à la plage est par contre plus compliqué, comme le découvre G. Il faut prendre des taxi-bateaux locaux. Encore une fois, l'échelle de prix est variable, entre 10$ pour la journée aux îles proches, si réservé indépendamment, à 60$ pour la totale arrangée par la posada, avec parasol, lunch et choix libre d'île. Étant donné que j'ai passé mon temps à plonger, je n'ai vu que la plage de Francisquin, dont j'ai été plutôt satisfaite. Plage de sable blanc peu creuse, au large des yachts et du kitesurfing... sans doute la plus belle plage que j'ai vue jusqu'ici...
Somme toute, de belles vacances encore une fois, et de la bonne plongée!
Village de Gran Roque
Plage de Francisquin
Eaux turquoise
Jawfish
Juvenile drum
Plus de photos aqui.
Pourquoi le Venezuela?
Gsc voulait faire son cours de plongée PADI quelque part. So et moi revenions d'Asie plus tôt cette année et voulions voir autre chose. J'ai déjà été au Honduras. So a été au Belize. On a été au Mexique côte Caraïbe ensemble l'été dernier. L'autre G ne plonge pas, donc il faut de la plage. Restaient Bonaire, et les petites îles de Las Roques au Venezuela, qui étaient reconnues pour la plongée. En plus, de par les six degrés de séparation, un local de Caracas est lié à notre Nord et s'est proposé de nous accueillir chez lui à notre arrivée...
Atterries à Caracas très tard le soir, on retrouve après quelques moments de confusion notre hôte qui a la gentillesse de nous conduire chez lui. Après quoi on découvre que ladite hospitalité relève du dortoir d’université, avec en extra un peu d’eau dans le frigo. Nous nous excusons donc le lendemain, ne voulant pas déranger, et cherchons un hôtel pour la nuit suivante. La deuxième journée se passe donc en fait principalement à découvrir le meilleur moyen de se rendre à Los Roques à prix abordable pour le lendemain: on aura tout vu, entre autres 3000 $ US en spécial deux pour un! Le gros de la journée se déroule dans des taxis vénézueliens où au grand dam de G nous nous relayons toutes pour dormir paisiblement. Et on essaie de trouver un hôtel à Caracas, grosse ville urbaine, pour le retour de ces dames la semaine d'après. Finalement on se trouve enfin un vrai lit même s’il est à Macuito, centre de villégiature peu recommandable mais où nous étions bien contentes d’aboutir.
Le surlendemain nous voit bien heureuses de prendre un petit avion Aerotuy de Caracas à Los Roques, archipel paradisiaque sur la côte Caraïbe du pays - et sans doute retraite secrète de monsieurs mafieux italiens et de leur maîtresses. Enfin, nous allons plonger!
Un des grands mystères du Venezuela est le taux de change. Chavez parviendra-t-il à en prendre le contrôle? Les banques et guichets automatiques vous offrent environ 2000 bolivars au dollar estadounidense. Les ptits mossieurs à l’aéroport vous offrent 3000 bolivars, ce qui nous semblait bien. On a su par la suite qu’il est même possible d’obtenir 3600 bolivars ailleurs en ville. Le coût des vacances passe donc du simple au double selon le taux de change! A los Roques, village de pêcheurs isolé, on nous avait dit de n’apporter que des bolivars. Surprise! Rendues aux centres de plongées, on aurait eu un meilleur taux de change en ca$h zétazunien qu’en bolivars.
A Los Roques, on a tout exploré et réservé sur place. Posada assez luxueuse, boutiques de plongée - il n’y en a que trois dont une à notre posada qui était fermée. La plongée a été super. Pas de foules, petits bateaux, et jolis poissons. Parfois entrées un peu acrobatiques ou houleuses mais Gsc notre héroïne PADI s’est bien débrouillée. Los Roques sont bien loin du commercial-industriel de Cozumel ou même de Roatan – peut-être que le fait qu’on était complètement hors-saison a contribué au sentiment paradisiaque de la chose. 'Pas de violence, c'est les vacances', répète Gsc, tout droit sorti de Brice de Nice...
Aller à la plage est par contre plus compliqué, comme le découvre G. Il faut prendre des taxi-bateaux locaux. Encore une fois, l'échelle de prix est variable, entre 10$ pour la journée aux îles proches, si réservé indépendamment, à 60$ pour la totale arrangée par la posada, avec parasol, lunch et choix libre d'île. Étant donné que j'ai passé mon temps à plonger, je n'ai vu que la plage de Francisquin, dont j'ai été plutôt satisfaite. Plage de sable blanc peu creuse, au large des yachts et du kitesurfing... sans doute la plus belle plage que j'ai vue jusqu'ici...
Somme toute, de belles vacances encore une fois, et de la bonne plongée!
Village de Gran Roque
Plage de Francisquin
Eaux turquoise
Jawfish
Juvenile drum
Plus de photos aqui.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Les boules, partir pour MSF!
Je pars avec Médecins Sans Frontières. Fin juin si tout va bien, après un PPD à Amsterdam.
J'ai franchement les boules en bon Français, ou traduit en bon Québécois, je stresse à mort. Pourtant... c’était la raison principale pour laquelle je suis entrée en médecine, et ensuite pour laquelle j’ai choisi de sortir de spécialité et de devenir généraliste et urgentologue. Pourtant... j’étais allée investiguer à la réunion d’information en 2005 avec les amies D et S du Nord qui sont subséquemment parties en Côte d’Ivoire et en République Démocratique du Congo. Pourtant... il n'y a pas plus être égosyntone que ça. Mais... maintenant que ça se rapproche, l’anxiété s’installe, les maux d’estomac aussi. J’ai des doutes tout à coup... ‘Et s’il m’arrive quelque chose?’ ‘Je vais aussi bien que je n’aie jamais été, pourquoi me jeter dans ce truc?’ ‘J’aurais plein de choses à faire ici au lieu de partir encore!’
Après mes courtes vacances d’une semaine qui arrivent, on va commencer à parler missions en Afrique. Au recrutement, on me parle de Côte d’Ivoire et de Tchad pour l’instant - camps de réfugiés du Darfour au Tchad. Là où DC est passée respectivement en première et deuxième missions; et maintenant elle qui part en Somalie pour la deuxième partie de sa deuxième mission, l’incroyable. Je dois parler à des amis anciens de MSF pour partager leurs expériences et surtout me rassurer. Malgré ma documentation assez complète, la lecture et relecture de Hope in Hell (critique ici), mon home site de Mozilla sur BBC-Africa et mes souvenirs du Cameroun il y a presque 10 ans, je me sens plutôt dépassée. Six mois à un endroit est de loin le plus long que j’ai jamais été depuis les cinq dernières années.
Voir les blogs du terrain, dont l’excellent blog de James Maskalyk, un collègue de Toronto qui démontre une belle facilité de la plume.
Et en lisant les blogs, mon estomac se serre. La chaleur, l’isolement, le temps long, les tragédies quotidiennes, le manque de sommeil et la fatigue chronique, et le sentiment d’impuissance devant les morts et les destins injustes. Et ce fossé que tout le monde décrit au retour, le sentiment d’aliénation profonde de son propre monde occidental et moderne. Que les gens qu’on aime le plus ne pourront jamais comprendre ce que l’on vit. C’est étrangement ce qui m’effraie le plus, car à l’instant même, je suis très en paix avec ma vie à Montréal, je vis d’un bon souffle, je me sens bien installée et bien entourée, je m’habite bien pour une fois. Le paradigm shift de MSF va changer ma vie, or pour l’instant ma vie est bien. Mais je sais que si je ne le fais pas maintenant, je le regretterais, et il n’y a pas meilleur moment que maintenant pour mille et une raisons, la plus importante étant que je ne le fais pas par fuite.
Mais mon Dieu que j’ai les boules. Les pires scénarios jouent dans ma tête, tous plus dramatiques les uns que les autres: que je perde la tête et devienne psychotique (au Lariam?!??!), que je tombe en dépression, que je lâche après deux mois, que l’équipe soit horrible et ne supporte pas une femme médecin, que je perde un bras en marchant sur une mine, que je me séroconvertisse en me piquant, que je me fasse kidnapper par des rebelles... Mais bon, comme une amie me disait l'autre jour, si on obéissait à nos peurs irrationnelles, on ne sortirait jamais de chez soi de peur de se faire frapper par une voiture ou un météore!
Blogs sur le site MSF:
James Maskalyk's Suddenly Sudan
Les autres blogs du terrain
Blogs pas sur le site MSF
Amy Osborne, sage-femme au Darfour
Heidi Chestnut, médecin en RDC
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
One day in Singapore
After leaving GF in Phuket for the final time on this trip, I arrived in Singapore where I had booked myself a boutique hotel to end the trip nicely. Singapore was as I'd expected and read about - squeaky clean, very modern, as hygienic as say, Japan, but with a more interesting mix of ethnicities and history. Being located in Chinatown, I got to enjoy some really good hawker stall food, and walked around town and took the MRT around to go shopping. I met up with RL, an old dive buddy from Layang-Layang in 2004, and we caught up the last 3 years on some sushi off Orchard Road. It is always one of life's pleasures to catch up with a friend and realize that not much had changed since we'd left off. The dive-the-world club is ever expanding as RL and I must now go to the Philippines and Indonesia in the future to find some mola-mola and thresher sharks.
The following morning was spent at the Asian Civilisations Museum, which was very interesting. Then I walked about for a bit, and took the plane home - well not quite home yet, as I will be in Toronto to visit a 2 month old baby for a few days before I head home back to reality.
Kampong Glam, the Muslim quarter
Shark fin shop, which is deplorable. The size of the fin makes me guess it must have been a tiger, a great white or even a whale shark.
Downtown modern Singapore with some leftover stalls on the Singapore River
Les Québécois francophones comprendront pourquoi j'ai trouvé ceci divertissant:
The following morning was spent at the Asian Civilisations Museum, which was very interesting. Then I walked about for a bit, and took the plane home - well not quite home yet, as I will be in Toronto to visit a 2 month old baby for a few days before I head home back to reality.
Kampong Glam, the Muslim quarter
Shark fin shop, which is deplorable. The size of the fin makes me guess it must have been a tiger, a great white or even a whale shark.
Downtown modern Singapore with some leftover stalls on the Singapore River
Les Québécois francophones comprendront pourquoi j'ai trouvé ceci divertissant:
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Back to the Similans! And more tsunami stories...
So on a bit of a whim, back to the Similans with a different bunch of divers!
Interesting post found in Patong
This time it was with GF from Vancouver and IG from Malaga, met in Kapalai. A mere 3 days on the South Siam 3 boat, elbowing the day-trippers, and the same playful mantas as in January in Koh Bon. Actually, there was even a whale shark which we must have missed by about 2 minutes. The managing team of the boat seemed to enjoy producing decibels and ordering about. Thankfully we got N, a Thai divemaster who was like Buddha in the water - he would come back from the dives at 100 bars while GF and I were at 50 bars!
The boat manager J recounted us his experience with the tsunami in 2004. It was rather interesting. They were diving off Breakfast Bend, one of the famous dive sites, and because of strange currents the dive had been cut short. They were doing their 5 m surface interval when the tsunami arrived. Breakfast Bend was literally falling apart: reefs were torn away, and fish and sea snakes were dying in front of them. The water became dark and all of a sudden the computers indicated 40 m depth when they had been at 5 m seconds previous. J grabbed the least experienced diver, who had saucer-size eyes by that time, and took control of his buoyancy. He indicated to everybody that they were to fin as strong as possible to surface, which they all did. They had to fight some serious currents as it happened, and from the surface, they could see the boats fighting strange vortexes and doing roundabouts. Finally after 20 min the boat picked them up and still, nobody knew what was going on. Only when the boat got closer to shore did they hear from the Thai navy, and even then, they thought that there would be another wave, not that they had already gone through it. The liveaboard continued its trip onto other undamaged reefs in the Similans. Paradoxically there was minimal damage to the dive sites (except for Breakfast Bend which had been thoroughly destroyed) but the season was ruined as everybody cancelled their trip afterwards.
On South Siam 3, there was also T from Germany who was a divemaster on South Siam when the tsunami hit. The boat was on Koh Bon when it happened and they were on surface interval. T was turning his back to the Koh Bon opening when one of his guests said 'Look! The hole has disappeared!'. He didn't believe it. But indeed the hole was sunk under 8 m of water, upon successive waves. Not much else happened - no vortex here, just higher water than usual. It also took them a while to realize what had happened. This is T's first time coming back since the tsunami. Thankfully he was greeted in Koh Bon by a whale shark, his first sighting!
The hole in Koh Bon
Elephant Head Rock, Similan no. 7 - Hin Pusa
Where's that boat picking us up?
IG checking out the manta
In Fiji in 2002, I learned that this little critter is quite skittish. Finally I managed to capture one on digital film:
Long-nose Hawkfish
Interesting post found in Patong
This time it was with GF from Vancouver and IG from Malaga, met in Kapalai. A mere 3 days on the South Siam 3 boat, elbowing the day-trippers, and the same playful mantas as in January in Koh Bon. Actually, there was even a whale shark which we must have missed by about 2 minutes. The managing team of the boat seemed to enjoy producing decibels and ordering about. Thankfully we got N, a Thai divemaster who was like Buddha in the water - he would come back from the dives at 100 bars while GF and I were at 50 bars!
The boat manager J recounted us his experience with the tsunami in 2004. It was rather interesting. They were diving off Breakfast Bend, one of the famous dive sites, and because of strange currents the dive had been cut short. They were doing their 5 m surface interval when the tsunami arrived. Breakfast Bend was literally falling apart: reefs were torn away, and fish and sea snakes were dying in front of them. The water became dark and all of a sudden the computers indicated 40 m depth when they had been at 5 m seconds previous. J grabbed the least experienced diver, who had saucer-size eyes by that time, and took control of his buoyancy. He indicated to everybody that they were to fin as strong as possible to surface, which they all did. They had to fight some serious currents as it happened, and from the surface, they could see the boats fighting strange vortexes and doing roundabouts. Finally after 20 min the boat picked them up and still, nobody knew what was going on. Only when the boat got closer to shore did they hear from the Thai navy, and even then, they thought that there would be another wave, not that they had already gone through it. The liveaboard continued its trip onto other undamaged reefs in the Similans. Paradoxically there was minimal damage to the dive sites (except for Breakfast Bend which had been thoroughly destroyed) but the season was ruined as everybody cancelled their trip afterwards.
On South Siam 3, there was also T from Germany who was a divemaster on South Siam when the tsunami hit. The boat was on Koh Bon when it happened and they were on surface interval. T was turning his back to the Koh Bon opening when one of his guests said 'Look! The hole has disappeared!'. He didn't believe it. But indeed the hole was sunk under 8 m of water, upon successive waves. Not much else happened - no vortex here, just higher water than usual. It also took them a while to realize what had happened. This is T's first time coming back since the tsunami. Thankfully he was greeted in Koh Bon by a whale shark, his first sighting!
The hole in Koh Bon
Elephant Head Rock, Similan no. 7 - Hin Pusa
Where's that boat picking us up?
IG checking out the manta
In Fiji in 2002, I learned that this little critter is quite skittish. Finally I managed to capture one on digital film:
Long-nose Hawkfish
Monday, April 2, 2007
Kuala Lumpur and Malacca
After a very nice week in Sipadan-Kapalai, I went to Kuala Lumpur for the umpteenth time to visit my friend MH who has been living there. It was interesting to reflect between the first time that she went to Asia in 2003, to now in 2007, where she is really, a local living in Kuala Lumpur. Since her return home is planned this year (and will happen, I am sure!), I predict that she will miss the variety of Asian foods that she has grown accustomed to in Kuala Lumpur.
We went to Malacca on the West Coast, part of the Straights Colonies. It is a beautiful city full of history, where the Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, British, Malay and Indian cultures have all mingled. We visited the Baba-Nyonya house; the Peranakan (men= Baba, women=Nyonya) are the ethnic Chinese who mixed with the Malays back in teh 1500's and created their own culture. DK from work had referred me to her brother there but I didn't think of bothering him; it's too bad as it turned out he is the president of the Baba-Nyonya in Malacca!
Typical Baba-Nyonya architecture on Heeren Street:
Then the following day we took a day trip to FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia), located in the rainforest adjoining Kuala Lumpur. We did a canopy walk amongst the greenery. I'd done a jungle walk in Borneo before and didn't meet the dreaded leeches. This time too, I was looking for them, and they were not around!
Canopy Walk
We went to Malacca on the West Coast, part of the Straights Colonies. It is a beautiful city full of history, where the Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, British, Malay and Indian cultures have all mingled. We visited the Baba-Nyonya house; the Peranakan (men= Baba, women=Nyonya) are the ethnic Chinese who mixed with the Malays back in teh 1500's and created their own culture. DK from work had referred me to her brother there but I didn't think of bothering him; it's too bad as it turned out he is the president of the Baba-Nyonya in Malacca!
Typical Baba-Nyonya architecture on Heeren Street:
Then the following day we took a day trip to FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia), located in the rainforest adjoining Kuala Lumpur. We did a canopy walk amongst the greenery. I'd done a jungle walk in Borneo before and didn't meet the dreaded leeches. This time too, I was looking for them, and they were not around!
Canopy Walk
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Return to Sipadan-Kapalai
Fourth time to Kapalai since my first visit in 2003. Obviously I can't get tired of the place. Located in Malaysian Borneo, Kapalai is the most beautiful diving resort that I've been to, on the most amazing dive site of the world that I've been so far. The island of Sipadan is this drop-off in the open sea, to about 900m deep. It is a marine turtle sanctuary, attracts large pelagics like hammerhead sharks and schools of barracudas, and has a resident school of huge bumphead parrotfish. More info here. Things have changed a bit, we cannot stay on Sipadan since 2005 hence the best shore diving and night dives in the world, right off the drop-off, are no longer available. But since it is because the Malaysian government wants to keep the island clean and the marine turtles nesting undisturbed, it's all in good faith.
This time, my dive buddies were ZL, an old high-school friendship rekindled in the strangest of conditions, and GF from Vancouver, met on a boat in the Big Island last year. As in January in the Similans, I was worried about strangers not getting along - but let's say that my fears evaporated quite quickly ;)
We met really nice divers from the UK, Spain, Hong Kong and Belgium. P from the UK reported that the hammerheads were missing from Layang-Layang, probably because it was still too early in the season. Maybe I jumped the gun - the reports by one of the Layang-Layang divemasters can be found here. But P also happened to know South Siam and said that they had had the best season there. So it was an easy choice to extend my trip and return to... the Similans. With GF next week, April 6-9. We convinced IG from Spain to join us as well (like that was so hard!!!).
For some strange reason, even though there are no more resorts on the island, the marine life wasn't around much this year. Less than 5 turtles per dive, no bumphead parrotfish the size of me, absent school of jacks, no vortex, and no school of hammerheads. The seahorses have disappeared from Mabul. Is this cyclical or global warming or due to too many divers, I ask? But the large school of barracudas by the drop-off has returned after having gone missing for 2 years or so. So there is hope. I suppose I can only find out the answer to this by coming back next year with the ever-expanding dive club!!!
Home for a week
Moonlight over Kapalai
The sunset mandarin fish dive at Kapalai - they're still there!
Ain't he so ugly he is cute???
Hmmm.... where's that boat again?
Divemaster training pledges safety first (can you see me?!?!?!?!)
Usual Sipadan inhabitant
More pictures here.
This time, my dive buddies were ZL, an old high-school friendship rekindled in the strangest of conditions, and GF from Vancouver, met on a boat in the Big Island last year. As in January in the Similans, I was worried about strangers not getting along - but let's say that my fears evaporated quite quickly ;)
We met really nice divers from the UK, Spain, Hong Kong and Belgium. P from the UK reported that the hammerheads were missing from Layang-Layang, probably because it was still too early in the season. Maybe I jumped the gun - the reports by one of the Layang-Layang divemasters can be found here. But P also happened to know South Siam and said that they had had the best season there. So it was an easy choice to extend my trip and return to... the Similans. With GF next week, April 6-9. We convinced IG from Spain to join us as well (like that was so hard!!!).
For some strange reason, even though there are no more resorts on the island, the marine life wasn't around much this year. Less than 5 turtles per dive, no bumphead parrotfish the size of me, absent school of jacks, no vortex, and no school of hammerheads. The seahorses have disappeared from Mabul. Is this cyclical or global warming or due to too many divers, I ask? But the large school of barracudas by the drop-off has returned after having gone missing for 2 years or so. So there is hope. I suppose I can only find out the answer to this by coming back next year with the ever-expanding dive club!!!
Home for a week
Moonlight over Kapalai
The sunset mandarin fish dive at Kapalai - they're still there!
Ain't he so ugly he is cute???
Hmmm.... where's that boat again?
Divemaster training pledges safety first (can you see me?!?!?!?!)
Usual Sipadan inhabitant
More pictures here.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Back to vacation mode in Khao Lak
We said goodbye to the Aussies yesterday and went to Khao Lak, which is the city where the boat from the Similans trip (in January) was departing from, North of Phuket. We spoiled ourselves with a little stay at a five-star hotel. The next day, still in hyperactive mode from racing, PV and I went elephant-trekking in the nearby Ko Sok National park. Our elephant was a 34 year old female named Thandee; she used to be a wood-logging elephant somewhere in the North of Thailand; there were still scars on her forehead from when her old trainers used to hit her (with spears and knives!) to make her work more. Thank God she is here now at an elephant-trekking facility!
We learned a few things from the little guide who accompanied us in the Songthaew to the elephant trek site. Back in 2004, they had 8 elephants at the time; the morning of Dec 26 2004, at 5 o'clock in the morning, 2 elephants started crying, which was very unusual. Then 10 minutes before the first tsunami waves hit, some elephants managed to get out of their chains and climb up the hill. Business has been bad ever since so they had to rent out the rest of their elephants, but it is slowly picking up. They are acquiring new elephants slowly - only 2 right now. Each elephant usually has his own 'mahood' or trainer to whom he responds best. Thandee's trainer was out of town so there was another guy who was doing it, but we could certainly feel how passive-aggressive she was - she was really lagging behind going uphill.
This is the end of my stay in Thailand this time and I am saying goodbye to RP, Vini and PV to head off to Malaysia with other diving friends in my other favourite playing ground: Sipadan. My housing disappeared in the fifth dimension in my new apartment so you will have to put up with pictures taken with the old camera which will hopefully still work.
We learned a few things from the little guide who accompanied us in the Songthaew to the elephant trek site. Back in 2004, they had 8 elephants at the time; the morning of Dec 26 2004, at 5 o'clock in the morning, 2 elephants started crying, which was very unusual. Then 10 minutes before the first tsunami waves hit, some elephants managed to get out of their chains and climb up the hill. Business has been bad ever since so they had to rent out the rest of their elephants, but it is slowly picking up. They are acquiring new elephants slowly - only 2 right now. Each elephant usually has his own 'mahood' or trainer to whom he responds best. Thandee's trainer was out of town so there was another guy who was doing it, but we could certainly feel how passive-aggressive she was - she was really lagging behind going uphill.
This is the end of my stay in Thailand this time and I am saying goodbye to RP, Vini and PV to head off to Malaysia with other diving friends in my other favourite playing ground: Sipadan. My housing disappeared in the fifth dimension in my new apartment so you will have to put up with pictures taken with the old camera which will hopefully still work.
Friday, March 23, 2007
A little interlude
My friend SCG from Malaysia has sent me this link. It is horrible to watch; all the worse for all of you my diving friends. Please sign the petition, for the Japanese government has been breaking international law about this for a while.
Dolphin killing in Taijin
Please sign the petition here
Dolphin killing in Taijin
Please sign the petition here
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The end of the Amazing Race
Greetings from Khao Lak!
The Amazing Race ended yesterday with a very busy day. We basically spent the day at Railey Beach, near Krabi. The day consisted of a lot of physical challenges. The first involved swimming 400 m out to sea. Then there was a time challenged based on a (supposedly) Thai game where the teams were attached by the feet and had to perform various acts like finding Menthos in a pile of corn starch, eating a whole bunch of Durian-flavoured cookies, cutting a pineapple the Thai way and then tying it to a tree, then eating it without using hands. Here are a few pictures.
Trying to eat pineapple without hands
Corn starch and pineapple on RP
I didn’t do so well, not having trained for a while (yes my LiveWellFit friend, I will get back to it!) . Poor Vini had to eat all the Durian-flavoured cookies followed by a complete chili pepper (!) and was sick twice afterwards, quite understandably so. PV impressed us by swallowing a WHOLE chili pepper in less than 5 seconds.
Then we had to hike in jungle between two beaches, climbing up and down. Finally we had to attempt rock-climbing a practice wall (none of us had climbed very much before). RP managed to get to the top on both sides, and made it look easy although it was his first time rock-climbing! PV managed to beat me and get the first stop! Finally we had to sea-kayak across the bay with one partner being blindfolded. Apparently PV was paddling blindfolded while speaking loudly “this is the stupidest thing I’ve done, I can't believe I'm doing this” etc etc… Other sea-kayakers on the bay were baffled at seeing us do so, let me tell you! We had to go to the Princess cave, realize that it was a Linga that was the symbol there (a phallic symbol!), paddle blindfolded back to the main beach and then run on rocks to the flag. The final bonus was that throughout the day, we had had to carry an egg around with us all the time and not break it while doing all these fun-filled activities! That was kind of funny, especially during the rock-climbing and sea-kayaking part!
Overall it was an exhausting day!
Railey Beach was also very pretty. The clouds came in the afternoon to give us a nice sunset:
At the end of the day, we had the pleasure to submit our tour organizers Tina and Damian to our own little Race. We had them running all over the hotel with clues. It was quite fun to sit on the other side for once! Vini had the Jackfruit Food Challenge for them.
In the end, well, I must say that we finished sixth. Mostly because we hadn’t played our Wild Card very well and that the last day was mostly physical challenges that we weren’t really up to. But really, it was all in good fun! And the winning team, McHappy, will buy a brick at the Ronald McDonald’s house in Melbourne with the winning prize and put all of the trip’s team names on it. So really it is all for charity!
We all talked about the highlights of the trip. It was a nice contrast to two weeks ago in Saigon when we all introduced ourselves and had mentioned the craziest thing that we’d done. Most people had outdone the craziest thing in their life – need we compare skydiving/bungee jumping vs. eating locusts and tarantulas???
The Amazing Race ended yesterday with a very busy day. We basically spent the day at Railey Beach, near Krabi. The day consisted of a lot of physical challenges. The first involved swimming 400 m out to sea. Then there was a time challenged based on a (supposedly) Thai game where the teams were attached by the feet and had to perform various acts like finding Menthos in a pile of corn starch, eating a whole bunch of Durian-flavoured cookies, cutting a pineapple the Thai way and then tying it to a tree, then eating it without using hands. Here are a few pictures.
Trying to eat pineapple without hands
Corn starch and pineapple on RP
I didn’t do so well, not having trained for a while (yes my LiveWellFit friend, I will get back to it!) . Poor Vini had to eat all the Durian-flavoured cookies followed by a complete chili pepper (!) and was sick twice afterwards, quite understandably so. PV impressed us by swallowing a WHOLE chili pepper in less than 5 seconds.
Then we had to hike in jungle between two beaches, climbing up and down. Finally we had to attempt rock-climbing a practice wall (none of us had climbed very much before). RP managed to get to the top on both sides, and made it look easy although it was his first time rock-climbing! PV managed to beat me and get the first stop! Finally we had to sea-kayak across the bay with one partner being blindfolded. Apparently PV was paddling blindfolded while speaking loudly “this is the stupidest thing I’ve done, I can't believe I'm doing this” etc etc… Other sea-kayakers on the bay were baffled at seeing us do so, let me tell you! We had to go to the Princess cave, realize that it was a Linga that was the symbol there (a phallic symbol!), paddle blindfolded back to the main beach and then run on rocks to the flag. The final bonus was that throughout the day, we had had to carry an egg around with us all the time and not break it while doing all these fun-filled activities! That was kind of funny, especially during the rock-climbing and sea-kayaking part!
Overall it was an exhausting day!
Railey Beach was also very pretty. The clouds came in the afternoon to give us a nice sunset:
At the end of the day, we had the pleasure to submit our tour organizers Tina and Damian to our own little Race. We had them running all over the hotel with clues. It was quite fun to sit on the other side for once! Vini had the Jackfruit Food Challenge for them.
In the end, well, I must say that we finished sixth. Mostly because we hadn’t played our Wild Card very well and that the last day was mostly physical challenges that we weren’t really up to. But really, it was all in good fun! And the winning team, McHappy, will buy a brick at the Ronald McDonald’s house in Melbourne with the winning prize and put all of the trip’s team names on it. So really it is all for charity!
We all talked about the highlights of the trip. It was a nice contrast to two weeks ago in Saigon when we all introduced ourselves and had mentioned the craziest thing that we’d done. Most people had outdone the craziest thing in their life – need we compare skydiving/bungee jumping vs. eating locusts and tarantulas???
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Racing in Bangkok
Greetings from Southern Thailand,
After yesterday, the Tortoise and the Hare finished in first place, won the Cambodia segment, and we slipped into fifth. Since all the other teams haven't used their Wild Cards yet (doubling your points for the day) and we have, we can only expect to fight for our spot. But hey, it's all in good fun!
So when we got into Bangkok, there was a manifestation anti-coup on the streets of Bangkok. The democratically voted government of Thaksin was ousted in January by a military government, but then again, the coup had been approved by the King and Thaksin's reputation was mostly of corruption, so it's not that simple. Since the 1930's, Thailand has seen its share of peaceful coups...
Everybody's favourite colour is the royal yellow, to wish King Rama IX, age 89, a long life. I hadn't noticed it in previous stays in Thailand but the yellow t-shirts were everywhere!
The day of racing in Bangkok had us run and sweat everywhere, from Khao Sarn Road all the way to Siam Center and beyond. We had to use boats, tuk-tuks, buses and skytrain.
At the Grand Palace.
Crossing the Chao Phraya on a ferry
A monk on a cell phone at Wat Pho. We went around the Reclining Buddha about... three times looking for our checkpoint!
Offering garlands at the Erawan elephant shrine.
Required photo of a "Khatoey", who is, of course, a ladyboy. We found (with some help) the only ladyboy in Khao Sarn Road! Yellow Royal T-shirt again!
And Vini had to paint his nails for the bonus points:
Because of several detours and because we didn't plan well, we arrived last today. But we shot many of the required pictures and paid attention to the answers, so maybe we can gather some points there.
We took the overnight train at Hualamphong Station last night to head towards the beaches of Krabi, which is located in my favourite playing (diving) grounds: Southern Thailand.
After yesterday, the Tortoise and the Hare finished in first place, won the Cambodia segment, and we slipped into fifth. Since all the other teams haven't used their Wild Cards yet (doubling your points for the day) and we have, we can only expect to fight for our spot. But hey, it's all in good fun!
So when we got into Bangkok, there was a manifestation anti-coup on the streets of Bangkok. The democratically voted government of Thaksin was ousted in January by a military government, but then again, the coup had been approved by the King and Thaksin's reputation was mostly of corruption, so it's not that simple. Since the 1930's, Thailand has seen its share of peaceful coups...
Everybody's favourite colour is the royal yellow, to wish King Rama IX, age 89, a long life. I hadn't noticed it in previous stays in Thailand but the yellow t-shirts were everywhere!
The day of racing in Bangkok had us run and sweat everywhere, from Khao Sarn Road all the way to Siam Center and beyond. We had to use boats, tuk-tuks, buses and skytrain.
At the Grand Palace.
Crossing the Chao Phraya on a ferry
A monk on a cell phone at Wat Pho. We went around the Reclining Buddha about... three times looking for our checkpoint!
Offering garlands at the Erawan elephant shrine.
Required photo of a "Khatoey", who is, of course, a ladyboy. We found (with some help) the only ladyboy in Khao Sarn Road! Yellow Royal T-shirt again!
And Vini had to paint his nails for the bonus points:
Because of several detours and because we didn't plan well, we arrived last today. But we shot many of the required pictures and paid attention to the answers, so maybe we can gather some points there.
We took the overnight train at Hualamphong Station last night to head towards the beaches of Krabi, which is located in my favourite playing (diving) grounds: Southern Thailand.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Crossing into Thailand
We left Siem Reap by taxi one hot morning and had to race to the border. The checkpoint was just past Poipet at the Cambodian border into Aranya Pathet into Thailand. The road within Cambodia was awful, pure unpaved dust with tons of holes. Remnants of the Cambodian Civil War, I assume. Here are some of the required pictures that we needed before our checkpoint in Thailand:
Eating roasted frogs in West Baray, just out of Siem Reap. These Cambodians eat anything!
Fisherman on the way, on the highway
Fixing the (very bad) road
A vehicle that we wouldn't ride for the life of us!
Riding pushbikes
Poney and cart, still common in Cambodia
Scene of Cambodian countryside
Crossing into Thailand at Aranya Pathet was a huge contrast. Paved roads, new vehicles, food without keratin exoskeletons on the streets, and less poor-looking people and no omnipresence of the war or genocides. Cambodia was the country that I knew the least on this trip and on which I've read and learned the most. I wouldn't mind coming back whether to explore Angkor Wat or to do some humanitarian work, which I'm sure they still need.
Eating roasted frogs in West Baray, just out of Siem Reap. These Cambodians eat anything!
Fisherman on the way, on the highway
Fixing the (very bad) road
A vehicle that we wouldn't ride for the life of us!
Riding pushbikes
Poney and cart, still common in Cambodia
Scene of Cambodian countryside
Crossing into Thailand at Aranya Pathet was a huge contrast. Paved roads, new vehicles, food without keratin exoskeletons on the streets, and less poor-looking people and no omnipresence of the war or genocides. Cambodia was the country that I knew the least on this trip and on which I've read and learned the most. I wouldn't mind coming back whether to explore Angkor Wat or to do some humanitarian work, which I'm sure they still need.
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