Asia - A Wake Up Call on Reality

I'm on a real writing vibe at the moment with this blogging so I've decided to roll just straight on in to number two blog of the day!

I wanted to write some of my perceptions on the small amount of Asia (specifically South East Asia) that I have seen. In light of the fact that two of my ex-flatmates Hayley and Tim have been in Thailand and Vietnam respectively; I would find it particularly interesting to get everyone's perceptions on this part of the world. If you care to share...

Arrival to Asia

Frankly, arriving to Bangkok's huge Suvarnabhumi Airport alone at 10pm was terrifying. Thank God Elf was arriving shortly afterwards or as a first time traveller I would have fought the temptation to hide in the bathrooms indefinitely. But with Elf's arrival I knew it was my responsibility to look after him (he needs it sometimes!) so I had to suck it up and together we found the hotel I had booked.

But all of the daily activities have been posted in a travel log on Facebook (under my Notes section) so I'm not going to go over all that again. This blog is for my perceptions on the experience.

South East Asia (SEA) specifically Thailand, Laos and Cambodia as I went to these places, is a culture shock to most people only familiar with the western world. I felt slightly better prepared because during the time I was over-planning every little detail or thing that could go wrong I read up on some of the culture and history, not only to gain a better appreciation while there but to avoid making cultural faux pas and the tourist scams.

While exhilarating, SEA does not allow you to let your guard down (unless you are staying exclusively in a 5 star hotel, in which case you are not seeing a fraction of the story the country has to tell). I will be the first to admit I played it safe and barely scratched the surface but what I saw was an alternating mixture intoxicating, mysterious, terrifying and heart-breaking - a backpacker's dream adventure. It really grabs you and confronts you with things you hadn't expected to find - but a great deal of that interesting stuff that you find is inside. For that reason I would say visiting is a fantastic way to challenge all your old ways of thinking and discovering new thoughts you had never considered before.

I hadn't really planned on going to SEA. My first plan was to head straight to London and spend all my money on Europe. It was my friend Rob (a travel veteran) who suggested to break the travel up and go via SEA; his reason being, "you should see something completely different from Europe first and actually have your money be worth a lot before you're poor in Europe" (not verbatim but that's the gist) and thank God I took his advice.

So what did I discover in SEA other than the fact that I dislike Bangkok taxi drivers?

1. That you should always haggle, but try and let go that feeling of paranoia about how much you are getting ripped off. (You still paid waay to much for that thing you just bought).
2. A sense of humour helps immensely, conduct all social activities with a smile and a soft voice. People find you embarrassing to be around and ignore you if you are legitimately upset and start crying/shouting in frustration etc...
3. Having your food spicy and following it with a shot of moonshine reduces your chances of contracting a tummy bug. In the event this happens - drink some moonshine.
4. People are friendlier the further away they are from big cities.
5. That some people are legitimately poor, starving and suffer from horrendous injuries and disease and that you have the power to help them today. Don't leave it up to their local governments. A lot of governments don't give a shit about the people they are supposed to be looking after.

Confronting my own ignorance

These points are just a few of the tiny lessons I learnt a long the way. But what SEA really made me realize was that I know shit all about the world. A major lesson was that what I considered as "being poor" was not accurate at all.

Now, I had heard about what "poverty" means through the media, stats and doing the 40 hour Famine - but actually going to Laos and Cambodia in particular was the most powerful teaching method. Poor does not mean that you don't have enough money to go out this weekend or buy the latest Smart phone. Being truly poor means that no one is there for you to help you when you have nothing to eat, drink, you are sick and have no skills or education to help you shape your future. These people have no freedom they are totally dependent on people who choose to notice them and help and even now there are places in the world where systems and programmes have not yet been implemented to assist the truly poor.

If this doesn't bother you - IT SHOULD. Here is why:

The sympathetic reason....

Because it very easily could have been you to be born to this existence and for no other reason than human empathy we should strive to make the world better for people outside our small bubble of existence. New Zealand is not my only home. We live on planet Earth and we share it with many other people. Our reality of what kind of world this is, is like living in the Matrix; we can only see what we choose to see and breaking yourself out of your beliefs about what you think life is all about is the scariest part of travelling.

The selfish reason...

As I have come to understand through travelling, reading, watching and many "brain happenings inside my head" (bad quote from King Julian - Madagascar) - people often become assholes when they want something they can't get (*cough* London riots). Their government has failed its people and has allowed millions to fall by the wayside. Whatever the reason as to how this came about (personally I blame the way world economics operates but that's a debate for another time and place) people are pissed off. And if enough people get pissed off a lot then shit hits the fan (*cough* Middle East uprisings). So if you think you can go through life being happy as Larry (however happy that dude is) thinking that you're an island and this can't possibly affect you in some way one day - you are dead wrong. Your own self-interest should inspire you to invest in keeping the underdog happy.

When something that doesn't fit in your understanding is shoved rudely in your face, you either do the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" monkey pose or you face it and try to work it out. Clearly you will see that my belief is that EVERYONE should face what they don't understand and TRY to understand it.

Okay - that's enough of a rant for today! I hope everyone had fun. There was more I picked up from Asia, but this was the kicker.

Hope to hear your thoughts, if anyone is listening...