2 People, 23 Countries, 187 Interviews, 12 Global Issues...Fasten Your DreamBelt

Tipping Point

One thing that is against nature to the "Cheap Frenchman" I am is the "obligation" to tip. Btw it's funny how being a bad tipper has become a little like being homophobic or communist. It says something about you...yeah that you're a poor guy that enjoys eating out?
First of all let's talk about cabs.
I think they don't give it to me because of my accent but from what our NY friends report, you get called cheap if you don't tip 10% at the end of your ride!
I paid 71$ for a 25 minute ride from Newark airport and I should feel bad not tipping the guy? Someone even made a racist comment to one of our friends!
I just don't get that.

I am the 1st to agree that nice service at a restaurant should be rewarded. Now you yankees are going to love this, I went to dinner in the west village with friends and it all added up to 2 hundred something $. Don't get me wrong the service was great. We tipped 45$ to our waitress. Everyone tells me it's because they don't get paid much otherwise. Well I checked: the minimum wage in the food industry in NYC is 4.65$/hour. Not much but then again they don't require candidates hold a PhD...

You see where I come from we don't tip everyone, but only if the service is great (OK that's not very often). Although it still strikes me as odd that waiters and bartenders in NY often make thousands of $ a month.Our waitress that night made more an hour than I did. Maybe I should rethink career options and become a cab driver or waiter in NYC!

One more thing that i discovered about civilization is that in the year while we were gone people have decided to stop pickinp up their phones. It's interesting and in my view very revealing of an attitude. People want to be connected, to see what is going on in the world and among their friends' lives. But we don't want to be disturbed. Texts and emails are preferred since you can ignore them and respond what and when you want. It's easier to make up an excuse or lie in a text than on the phone.

I'm sounding old now (and getting there) but after we started communicating less because of phones at least we were still talking. Now it's reduced to a few words on a screen that basically anyone could have written. You don't really know who typed that message. I just take it very personally.
You can't even text back "don't call me anymore" so we both save some time?

While I understand people are busy and don't have time for much anymore I still think there's more to it than that. My generation is for the most part crazy scared of confrontation  (It might mean admitting you were WRONG). We do not want anyone to know we don't like them. Try confronting one of your friends next time you feel strongly about something. If you get the balls to do it you will realize how tough it is to have an actual conversation with someone.

That's a big problem when you think about it because you never know how people feel and nothing ever gets done. Whether it is the National Debt ceiling, the amount of the waiter's tip or something worse... Problems just keep being pushed to the side because we are to busy, life is too fast, short, and sweet to worry about these tough issues.

To finish off I'm going to be generous and give you a tip: If the service is bad don't be afraid to leave a bad tip, you're doing the guy a favor. By confronting him and letting him know he sucks you're probably going to increase his future earnings. That's how people get better, by putting themselves on the line.

Know Your Rights!

New Pics Posted on Website!

Mui Ne, Vietnam

Cochabamba, Bolivia

If you want to learn more about our documentary series or simply see some of the amazing places and people we have met along the way...click here

Lesson from Bolivian Preschoolers

Just had a great week in Cochambamba, Bolivia, interviewing volunteers, teachers and NGO personnel from a Community Based project called Proyecto Horizonte. It consists of a school, preschool, IT Lab, HealthCenter and other services to the community. Though funded by it´s genrous founder for the most part, it has started to tap into a new source of income. Recently , volunteers are asked to make a donation of 150$ as participation. This could seem like a scam at first but when we discussed with Eliza Wall, the volunteer manager she explained the rationale.
Most people do want to give money to a cause but are not sure that it is going to be efficiently spent. For having visited a few this year Ihave to say those concerns are grounded. However if one of your relative or friends is going to see where the money is spent, you  will get feedback and access to an insiders perspective. So far every volunteer has far exceeded the minimum amount required.

But enough about money let´s talk about the kids. The community of Ushpa Ushpa in Mineros San Juan about 10km from Cochabamba is poor. There is no running water (it is not drinkable in Bolivia anyway), parents and kids often live in the living room/kitchen and of course have no toilets.
In partnership with the Solis Foundation, Proyecto Horizonte has started a scheme to provide eco toilets to the community. Can you imagine having to borrow money to pay for your toilet?
At the school we met with many teachers (all of them are local) and asked them what their best moment was. One of them answered that when she was sick the kids came to her house after school and brought her milk and cookies. Another teacher Veronika, 24, worked as a teaching assistant while going to night school for 4 years. Another teacher gets up at 4am to tend to her Tienda (a mini grocery store) before going to school from 8 to 4 and then tending to her shop again til late. When we asked her why she was a teacher, she told us it was because she knew what it felt like not to have any opportunities and didn´t want her kids to go through the same thing.

Of course the kids favourite time was playtime and when while we were filming the heaps of fun they were having we were both struck by a very simple fact. As all kids do, these fell, knocked their heads, where headbutted by a football and fought. But they didn't cry and wine about it as we do...
Anyway here is an example of a good project where you volunteer virtually for free, live in a great city in the center of South America and develop your own projects while you are there!

Want to see more pictures of Proyecto Horizonte!
And if you want to be put in touch with Eliza the volunteer manager you can either visit the organisations website or contact me.
Peace
Will

Ipad on the road: Man's best friend

So as some of you know we have acquired a quite wonderful piece of technology along our way this year...the Ipad. While Emily had her back turned I snook an Ipad out of the Melbourne Duty Free Airport and since then we have both been addicted. I must admit it was an impulse buy but...it proved to be a pretty handy one!

So for all those of you out there thinking about it here is my Top 10 Free Travel Apps and a few pro's and con's of travelling around the world with an Ipad.

1. The Economist: If you have a subscription you can just activate it and get all your issues for free, the format was specifically designed for the Ipad and it looks pretty good. The best way to keep current on the news where you are and everywhere else. 

2. Skyscanner: A Simple Ipod app I just had to include. It allows you to search flights in every country, set your currency and book them. Doesn't get much better than this...After having taken over 30 flights in 23 countries this year I have checked and it's never been beat!

3. XE Currency Converter: get real time exchange rates on over 180 currencies...for Free. Exchange rate scams are now a thing of the 20th century.

4.TRVL: A beautiful travel guide that gives you an alternative to the LP trail and is full of ideas to plan your next vacation with pictures that will make you drool!
5. The Weather Channel: Plan ahead to pack wisely on that hike in Patagonia or before you go biking round the countryside in Lao.

6. Skype: Call and be called everywhere. Convenient to change you flights (1-800 numbers are free), give Mum a shout and wish you bestie her Bday in person.
7. Us Weekly: For all of you that want to keep up with the home gossip for free...this is the one app that won't let you down. You can load it up and use it offline on one of those long bus rides through Bolivia.
8. Kindle: Instead of packing in those heavy volumes of HP, LOFTR or the latest Grisham, keep some backpack space to bring back your shopping! Comes with sepia and night mode and a couple free classics!
9. Nightstand: For those early wake ups to get the sunrise on Angkor Wat and to make sure you don't miss that morning flight, this app helps you wake up with smooth sounds of a waterway (will make you get up to go to the loo), or birds chirping.
10. Tower HD: This one has made many 2 digit-hour flights bearable. Probably more for the guys out there, this game is simply addictive!

First I have to mention most of these will work fine with Iphone. Second I didn't mention some of the native apps like Google Maps that can be used as a GPS if you load up the instructions while online. It will also give you the walking times and distances so you know if you'll need to pack in your headlight!
Obviously it's been pretty handy to book hostels, hotels, find camping sites and more. As a Bonus the app Offline Reader allows you to save webpages for offline usage for maps, flight confirmations and more!
If you haven't bought the Ipad yet, beware! It is highly addictive and has got something for everyone, but if you are planning to work on holiday I would recommend you bring that old computer to keep you company.

Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

This week we arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay - to be honest, a place I had never thought or heard much about. Just a small country nestled next to Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay on the east coast of South America. Though upon arriving in its capital - home to 1.8 of its 3.5 million people - I was more than pleasantly surprised at its beauty and charm: tree lined streets, grand plazas, cherib dancing fountains, and a wide boardwalk bordering the coast that looks at the bluest of oceans. For anyone in need of vacation ideas, I would highly recommend visiting Uruguay (especially if you can speak spanish)! Its the best of Europe and Latin America combined!

For more specifics on Uruguay you can visit www.uruguay360.com.uy - a website developed by the Sartori brothers, who are currently students at ORT in Montevideo. We met up with them and a number of other students yesterday at the university who have been engaged with the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Founded by Professor Enrique Topolansky (aka Topo)- a passionate, charismatic leader...the kind of professor that makes you want to go back to school or even start teaching yourself - the CIE supports budding entrepreneurs and gives them the wings to get to their destination. In my opinion, every university in the world should have such a center, supporting fresh business ideas and the energetic determination of students everywhere.

The interviewees - entrepreneurs and future employers - will be appearing in our piece on "unemployment and globalization." stay tuned to hear their advice on how to make it in today's marketplace! Special thanks to everyone from CIE!

Hiking the Patagonian Andes - The W Trek

After a week relaxing in Vaparaiso, we left for Punta Arenas, the hub of Chilean Patagonia. We took a bus to Puerto Natales, bought a couple pairs of socks and left for Laguna Amargas the base camp for most expeditions through Torres Del Paine National Park.
There are many treks one can do in this area but the W is arguably one of the most rewarding. So we set off on a patagonian misty morning  with our adventure spirit, a camera, tripod, and...a heavy backpack full of energy bars.

The views were amazing at the end of each day, the expensive simple food tasted delicious and the old expensive beds felt like the best we had ever slept in. It is the end of the season here so we didn't see too many tourists (...we are adventurers, don't get confused).

Perfect conditions...by perfect I mean 0 degrees celsius (FYI drains all the battery out of our Ipad).We filled up our water bottles from the streams and for a few days lived "d'amour et d'eau fraiche" as we say in french.

I never liked hiking as a kid but I know realize why our parents enjoyed it so much, the whole clearing your mind and body, losing yourself in the natural state of things. Guess I'm getting older...(wiser? ;-)


For anyone wishing to do the hike, here is a little advice:

• Itinerary: The full circle isn't as rewarding in terms of scenery so I would reccomend taking your time for the W. Ideally 5 nights and 6 days in the park is comfortable. You can travel from one end (Las Torres) to the other by boat and bus (3 hours total), or walk it (10hours). It's a fun walk but if you have any kind of heavy backpack you might want to avoid it as there are some river crossings where you will have too do some rock hoping...or get wet.
• Timing: Mid/Late March is the best but you might want to pack a tent as some Refugios are closed by then. We did it in April and it was getting cold. Los Cuernos closed on the 13th April 2011 and Chileno was closed.
• Refugios: Mainly 3 places you can stay if you don't want to camp. 2 Different companies to book ahead. Book them individually through there websites as packages and agencies will incur a commission. 
• Paine Grande (Pehoe): http://www.verticepatagonia.com/precios-y-reservas/
• Las Torres and Los Cuernos: http://www.fantasticosur.com/refugios_in_torres_del_paine/
• Prices: Refugios are not cheap. Count about 40 US/night per person for a bed. +10 US for a sleeping bag (worth it depending on the season). 20 US/dinner which are usually bread, entree, main, desert. Camping is usually 8 US/person and some places rent out tents for 12 US/night but having tried it I would recommend you bring your own.

Oh and here is our website where you'll find tons of info about FYDB - The Series, Raw video footage of our trip and more... www.fastenyourdreambelt.com


 

Retrospective australienne

Apres presque 2 mois en oceanie, il est grand temps de partager un peu ce que nous avons vu, senti et entendu depuis que nous sommes ici!
Nous avons commence par une petite semaine a Melbourne et je dois dire que le calme, la proprete et le confort dont nous avons profite ont ete d'autaut plus appreciable que nous arrivions de Delhi! L'open d'Austrlie est super moderne compare RG et Wimbledon mais l'ambiance etait tout aussi belle. Apres ca 2 semaines de voyage en australie du sud, le premier etat a interdir les sacs plastiques dans les supermarches. Et pas le dernier a produire des vins superbes.
Nous poursuivons avec 3 semaines sur la cote ouest dont 2 passees a apprendre les rudiments du surf, a apprecier les joies du camping et a prouver que meme avec des moyens limites on peut quand meme cuisiner du tres bon. BLT, pates thon moutarde, sandwichs tomates seches mozza... Et bien sur un bon cubi de vin rouge local pour accompagner tout ca a moindre cout!
Nous avons eu la chance de voyager dan un "wicked van" et pour ceux ui ne savent pas, ce sont de tres vieux vans toyota (780 000 km au compteur du notre) couverts de grafs et en locs a un prix tres concurrentiels. Certes la 3eme ne marchait pas, la conso est proche des 15litres/100km, la radio hs et la clim...n'existait pas a sa date de prod.
Bref apres ces 3 semaines idylliques loin de toute pollution visuelle et olfactive nous avons du rentrer a Perth ou nous avons eu le plaisir de rencontrer une fille de 13 ans qui coordonne le nettoyage annuel des plages dans son quartier nous avons pris le "red eye", le vol de nuit pour sydney.
Apres 48h et 4interviews, ecrasage sur notre lit et gros dodo bien merite apres une nuit blanche qui m'a fais realise que je suis plus vieux et moins resistant que je ne le pensait. Mardi gras a Sydney c'est l'equivalent local de notre gay pride et c'est une fete enorme. Sympa mais le prix de la chambre a l'auberge de jeunesse moisi (90$/nuit) s'en est resenti. Passage oblige par bondi beach pour un cafe et un trempe d'orteil,le soleil n'etant pas de la partie ce jour la.
Retour a Melbourne pour quelques jours d'interview, une session de beer & bash (driving range version australienne ie decomplexee). D'une facon generale j'ai trouve les australiens tres relax, ouverts et acceuillants. Mais attention aux apparences, sous ses airs de societe parfaite, l'australie cache de gros problemes de racisme et d'integration des populations aborigenes. Comme quoi il n'y a pas de miracles.
Pour finir, voici quelques expressions relevees sur les differents vans croises pendant notre voyage (en anglais desole) ou lu/entendu ici et la.

Prayer is asking for rain, faith is carrying an umbrella
Forgiveness is a lot easier to get than permission
Men are like mascara as soon as you get emotionnal they start running

Courage pour les quelques mois qu'il vous reste avant l'ete, moi j'y restes, demain saut en parachute au programme, j'espere que ceci ne sera doncpas mon dernier blog, si c'etait le cas ce fut un plaisir!
Salutations
Will

In my place

Hi boys & girls,

We've been a little out of touch recently, it was nice to be relatively isolated from the outside world for a couple weeks although we bought and frantically read Newsweek, Times and The Guardian weekly last night after making our first stop in a town with international news in a week!

Life in WA is as some people describe it here "backwards". Back from what? Well No public transportation, No big hotels or any building higher that 2 floors, nothing on the coast but white sand and clear water. As one of the surfers we interviewd said: "If this is being backwards then I want to be!".

Before I hear you say I'm going hippy don't owrry I am getting sick of the insects and the heat so I will be happy to return to civilization gradually tomorrow (Perth then Sydney).

On our trip we have been all the way north up to Geraldton where we had to turn back because of floodings due  to another cyclone. So we headed back through Perth and stopped in Bunbury to swim with the dolphins that literraly come up a few meters away from you at feeding time. Again an amazing interaction that made me realize my place which is fitting since the seaside cafe I'm writing from is playing this classic (yes I'm calling it that!) by Coldplay.

Generally speaking I would say that was the highlight of my trip to Australia  was that it made me realize how much nicer it was to be able to feel like I was adapting to my environment.
It made me realize that while we must tame nature in order to make room for our comfortable lifestyles and all the necessities of modern life that come with it, we it should remember that we also need our environment to lead this lifestyle. I think we can easily forget the fact that everything we have, it has given us or at the very least enabled.


To think we have dominated our environment is a mistake. We must remember that our relationship with our surroundings is like our relationships with one another. To be succesfull they must be a healthy balance of give and take. And be based on respect.

Thanks for reading my rant,
Chill out and stay safe
Will

Why first impressions are not always right

If Indian food is a religion,
then I'm a follower

On our way back to Delhi, in the fading light of a long, lethargic day in the car, a white on red sign came up repeatedly as I was gathering my thoughts on India. It said: “Six laning in Progress. Any Inconvenience regretted.”

One of the small pleasures I’ve had on this month long trip to India is reading signs which almost invariably have a spelling mistake. A good one I read recently was ”Jents Only” printed on a watered down piece of wood in front of a tiny barbers shack with no door, 2 swiveling chairs that must of seen the time of maharajas and a strong smell of barbers cream. Anyway that’s where I got my haircut in Pushkar. It was a swift, professional haircut followed by a 10 minute ayurvedic head massage for the joke price of 150 rupees (3$).

The sign added something to my experience.

No Vanilla in the sky of Khuri at sunset

 “Six laning in Progress. Any Inconvenience regretted.” To me that’s India in a nutshell. At this point I must confess my knowledge of India is based on a short and limited experience in the country. To understand what I mean let’s go back in time a little. I think it is fair to say the Indian “sub-continent” is a political miracle. It went from 532 kingdoms during WWII to 1 country in 1946. It is also a testimony to the greatness of what can be achieved by visionary leaders.

But then again as someone said: You get the politicians you deserve.

Alleys in Pahar Ganj, Delhi

Like a poem by Baudelaire or a Nietzsche philosophy book, India can be be intimidating at first. Its depth, complexity and diversity so hard to grasp for a child of the "culture pub" (advertising generation) like me who is hammered with the message that appearances are what matters. The numerous scammers, touts and hawkers probably won’t help either. You get suspicious and even cynical pretty quickly around here. But once you get past that and if you are lucky enough to have time to meet and enjoy a non commercial relationship with Indians it is worth it. We met here with people like Dr Vandana Prasad, who is among the most generous, spiritual and graceful people I have met.

The feeling I had when sharing with these people was privilege and it somehow made me feel at home, among all this exoticism, bright colors, startling smells and human chaos.

Trying to understand what I love about India, it is simply its character and dignity; I guess that's what reminds of my home "La France". It reminded me of my best friends favorite movie quote: “Just remember the sweet is never as sweet without the sour”

Take Care,
Will

SMIIIIIILE!!

Last week in Delhi, we met with the minds behind the Smile Foundation….and it gave us something to smile about.  Not only was it refreshing to learn about their “business model” approach to philanthropy, but their heartfelt call to arms for all successful business people within India to help their fellow citizens.  Their focus: children’s health and education, two key factors that lie at the core of development.

Smile’s “social venture philanthropy” model allows them to approach effective peanut-sized NGOs as if they were budding entrepreneurs.  They don’t talk charity, they talk business - partnering with NGOs and expecting a socially-rewarding return on investment (that being better access to health and education programs for marginalized children).  Aware that community-based NGOs often know what’s best for the community - as it’s usually theirs as well - the Smile Foundation has sought out over 100 health and education NGOs to “seal the deal.”

Will and I were able to visit two of their partner projects during our time in India and were more than impressed.   Not far away from our hotel in Delhi, was the Salaam Balaak Trust, which educates, supports and shelters some of the 100,000 street children in India’s capital city.  They offer tours of Delhi and an insight into street life from former street children for only $4, which I recommend to everyone.  We were surprised to learn from our guide that the majority of kids that take the street are NOT orphans, but children that have run away from abusive homes.  They value their independence, above anything, and find ways to survive with next to nothing.  Considering their strength of character and fighting spirit, just imagine the enormous potential of such children when given an opportunity to go to school, to improve their situation…

Another partner project we were able to visit was the Smile on Wheels mobile hospital in Jaipur. Their team graciously allowed us to tag along for a day to film them in action as they traveled to various slums. There, they announced their arrival over loud speakers, and waited for some of Delhi’s poorest to line up outside their truck, awaiting medical consultation and prescriptions.   It was on this day when I truly understood why the Smile Foundation had picked their name.  One could think that it refers to a child’s face once they are given access to education and proper health care, but in fact, it refers to the children BEFORE the help ever arrives.

We are often overwhelmed with commercials from humanitarian organizations, urging us to give money to “little Johnny” in X country, appealing to our emotional guilt while watching tears roll down his face.  Yes, I agree, it is completely depressing!  The commercial ends leaving viewers with the idea that these children should be pitied, that they are simply sad, poor kids, waiting for you to rescue them.  I assure you this is not the case.  While we visited the slum neighborhoods in Jaipur with the Smile on Wheels team, tons of smiling children came out to meet us – curious, energetic, and playful.  After many “I like you”s in broken English, a few kisses on the cheek, and numerous requests for our signatures (don’t ask me why), I was having so much fun I almost forgot about the dire conditions surrounding us.  A goat and some pigs poked around the hills of garbage lining the road, the smell of urine wafting by us, the filthy clothes the children were wearing.   But to them, none of that really mattered, they were happy with what they had, they were smiling.  And I was smiling just being around them.

The Smile Foundation bases its work on five core principles: scalability, accountability, sustainability, communication, and transparency.  To me, their method is effective because they are supporting pre-existing small-scale NGOs, who have already carefully addressed how to solve and approach the needs of their community (ex. The mobile hospital).  The funding they are given isn't for laptops or 4x4s but basic needs to get them off their feet.  I would recommend anyone visiting India, to get in touch with the Smile Foundation and learn more about their projects!

Smile Foundation's Website
*** - Check out the "I am Kalam" trailer, sponsored by the Smile Foundation.

Why we travel...

The blog you are about to read probably won’t be very satisfactory...

Have you ever been on holiday that doesn’t feel quite like you had imagined? I have. Something my friends and I learned and used a lot when we did door to door sales a few years ago is the “expectations gap”.  It is the gap between your expectations and reality.

The ethics of triggering an expected reality to enhance a person’s later appreciation of say…a blog, are arguable but beside the point. Let’s get back to that weekend you took off where the church wasn't as beautiful as your guidebook led you believe, the sky not as blue, the room not as new, etc.

I have had this feeling at some points in my past travels and tried to understand why… I keep reminding myself how fortunate I am to be on such an adventure. I am sharing it with my favorite person and we have had less than 5 days of rain in the past 8 months of our lives. Not to mention the unique places, people, foods, etc…In a nutshell, I am spoiled. So what could be missing?

I love learning. My favorite way of learning is reading books! I’ve found that the place I am greatly influences the book I choose and the light in which I apprehend it. And in turn the books I read excite my imagination about new places I want to understand. I think turning pages in an unfamiliar setting makes me more receptive and in touch with my emotions therefore more prone to appreciate my surroundings.

So I now make more time for picking and reading books while I am travelling. Some people could argue that you are missing out on the place you are by reading a lot while on holiday. If you spend the week in your room reading the Harry Potter series this is true. However I found reading in Udaipur made me more in touch with the city, more appreciative of its architectural wonders, street action and atmosphere and eliminated any expectations gap. You start noticing lots of little things that didn't mean anything before…

Next time I go on holiday I will ask myself what books turned my imagination and curiosity on and why. There is no rule to choosing my next destination. My parents dragged me on walks their whole life. I recently read about Van Gogh’s new vision of Provence and how it transcended his predecessors approach to depicting it. I would now love to take a walk down the Van Gogh trail. It visits the main places the painter chose as symbols of his new home, compare them to his paintings and analyze what he decided to emphasize as representative of the place. See Mom, Dad, your efforts finally paid off …

If I am a fan of Jet Li movies a boxing school in Bangkok will be a kick ass holiday for me. If I am really into Asian food why not volunteer as a language teacher at a school in Laos for a couple weeks. The kids will teach you the local names of the ingredients and teach you to master the wok and chopsticks!

My only rule is: No plan. Because planning means building expectations. Take the time you need to really see, live and breathe the place you are in. And follow your instinct. You might find you don’t like it but you will hopefully be more aware of why. You might also never want to leave.

What I am looking for in my travels is happiness. And I've found the best way I found to do that is to pull on the thread of my own curiosity and follow it where it leads me. I finally understood that what matters isn't the destination it's the journey. To compensate my inability to express myself, here are a few wise words that sum up my rambling.

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” Robert Louis Stevenson

“The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are." Samuel Johnson

Safe travels,

Will

Le Voyage

Ca fait un bout de temps qu’un “billet” francais n’as pas vu le jour sur ce blog mais la francophonie fait son come back – oups…son retour! Le timing est bon car nous finissons notre tour d’Indochine…

Cambodge

Nous avons commences par 2 semaines magiques au Cambodge ou nous avons eu la chance de ne pas etre sur le mauvais pont au mauvais moment a Phnom Penh. Nous avons pu rencontrer des etudiants/instits dans un quartiers defavorise de la capitale. Attention quand je dis defavorise il ne faut pas imagine la banlieue parisienne…ici pas d’immeubles, d’eau courante ou de système d’egouts. Pas d’allocs du gouvernement. Pas de violence non plus. Mais une population souriante et curieuse de notre presence, de petites echoppes desordonnees et pleines de charme. Des ruelles etroites et encombrees de scooters. Un peu intimide a notre entree, quelques heures plus tard l’atmosphere de cet endroit nous a fait regretter notre depart.

Passage oblige du voyageur consciencieux nous avons passe une semaine a Siem Reap dans le nord-ouest du pays pour visiter les temples, appeles « wat » en khmer.  Les temples étaient construit par les rois khmers en symbole de la puissance de l’empire. A son heure de gloire Angkor comptait environ 1 Millions d’habitants (a l’epoque Londres était une bourgade de 25 000 habitants).

L’impression que je garderais de notre visite est celle d’un pays en convalescence, traumatise par l’horreur des annees de la dictature Khmer. Un peuple aux gouts raffines et une nouvelle generation au sens de la mode tres francais.

Vietnam

Apres un petit tour tres intime avec un groupe de 20 touristes dans le delta du Mekong (je deconseille vraiment)et 2 jours sur les plages de Mui Ne a se dorer la pilule. Nous avons passes quelques jours forts sympathiques a Saigon en compagnie de ma petite sœur et Fabian (son alter ego teuton).

Puis direction Dong Ha, en pleine DMZ (Zone Demilitarise) qui constituait la zone tampon entre le Nord et le Sud Vietnam. Ici nous avons eu la chance de rencontre des enfants et de jeunes adultes qui ont survécus a des accidents lies a des mines anti-personnelles ou d’autres types d’explosifs qui datent de la guerre du Vietnam. En tant qu’americaine je pense que ca a été encore plus dur pour Emily.

Les conséquences des bombes et mines résiduelles, les modifications génétiques provoques par les armes chimiques utilises pendant la guerre forment le quotidien des vietnamiens.  Nous avons receuillis des recits personnels durs a entendre.  La je relativise le fait que j’ai explose mon appareil photo…

Laos

Khao San soup...the best!

Une nuit a Savannakhet, puis direction Vientiane la capitale pour 2 jours de rencontres passionnantes et touchantes avec les dirigeants d’Handicap International et quelques victimes d’explosions. Apres 10h de bus dans la montagne (j’ai vite range le livre) et des vues magnifiques de tous les cotes, arrivee de nuit a Luang Prabang. Cette ville a une histoire riche et fascinante et nous avons eu l’occasion d’apprecier le mode de vie local pendant une semaine. Entouree de montagnes recouvertes d’une couette epaisse de vegetation verdoyante, LP est une melange de nouveau et d’ancien. Relique du temps de l’Empire colonial francais, de grandes maisons blanches aux volets repeints de couleurs pastels traditionnelles locales, sont egalement un symbole de la transition relativement calme qu’a connu le Laos lors de son accession a son independance.

En bon français on se plaint tous le temps a la maison mais une fois partis ce sont les petites choses qui nous manquent immanquablement…

Pour l'enfant, amoureux de cartes et d'estampes,
L'univers est égal à son vaste appétit.
Ah! que le monde est grand à la clarté des lampes!
Aux yeux du souvenir que le monde est petit!

Le Voyage - Charles Beaudelaire