How to survive your next bumpy bus ride

by Catherine Bodry on

Bumpy bus rides are never fun. But bumpy, winding, crowded, cross-country bus rides with a driver who might need Ritalin can rattle even the most sedated nerves. And what do you do when the bus breaks down?

One such ride across Laos was scheduled to take my husband and me 8-10 hours. After about 11 hours of braking across muddy turns tighter than my great aunt’s hatpin on Easter, the driver stopped and motioned for us to get off. We filed off into the night and stood around in the muck while the driver put chains on the tires in an attempt to get us through some seriously muddy patches. The jungle hovered over us and it was unusually cold; a few women built sad little fires out of green twigs that did little more than smoke. After about an hour and a half of shivering around on the road, we all filed back on the bus. We traveled about 100 feet before getting stuck again, so we all filed back off the bus. Again came the smoky fires, which we pathetically huddled around. After a good hour we obediently got back on the bus and took our seats. This time we didn’t go far at all, and from what I could understand there was now a mechanical problem. Off the bus. Huddle around fire.

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By now it was after midnight, we were out of water, and the lunch we had 10 hours earlier was long gone from our stomachs. Our backpacks were on top of the bus, along with warmer clothes. At some point in the middle of the night we all filed back on, and we knew it was to sleep. It was so cold that another traveler, in desperation, ripped the pages from his magazine and tried to cover his arms and legs with them. At one point I asked Lael to reach under our seat and grab my purse, and when he did so a shrill SQWWWWAK jolted everyone from their meager slumbers. We had a chicken under our seat, which we lovingly named H5N1.

In the morning, we were still stuck (see photo, and note the sad little fire on the bottom left), and Lael and I contemplated walking the remaining 25 kilometers to Luang Nam Tha, our destination. We got our packs down and readied ourselves to walk a good 20 miles with no food or water, but just as we were ready to go, the bus began working. We all piled on, stepping over the sacks of rice in the aisle, and took our seats. This time, we traveled a good hour before we had to pull over again and when we did, it was to take the chains off.

We were unprepared for this kind of traveling unknown, but we could’ve been. Here’s what I learned (and I had about 29 hours to think about it on that trip):

  • Bring a snack, water, and toilet paper. You’ll be happy you brought all three, even if your bus doesn’t break down.
  • Bring a warm shirt — even if you don’t wear it, it makes a good pillow or backrest.
  • Bring a light, even if you can’t read while in motion. It’ll come in handy for reading maps, checking a guidebook, or helping your driver put chains on in the pitch dark.
  • I’m not advocating sedatives here, but those pills you popped to get through that transatlantic flight? They’ll calm those same nerves that might get a bit ruffled in the face of a driver who continually taunts death.
  • Bring reading material — again, even if you can’t read in a moving vehicle, you’ll be happy you brought it if you find yourself standing around for 13.2 hours.
  • Make friends. The local travelers were our best source of information (only one Laotian spoke English, but he was able to communicate what was happening).

Any tips I’m forgetting? Leave a a comment and share it with us!

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Cosmetic castration for ladyboys banned in Thailand

by Catherine Bodry on

In Thailand, it can be difficult to tell a ladyboy from a lady. The story of the backpacker who thought he was spending the night with a beautiful woman — only to find out later that it was a beautiful man — is practically a cliché in traveler’s circles in Southeast Asia.

Some ladyboys would like to drop the “boy” from their identities, and an easier alternative to a full-on sex change is castration. That’s right. Castration. If that word is sending shivers up spine, don’t fret — Thailand’s Ministry of Health banned cosmetic castration this Wednesday, and doctors performing the operation could face up to six months in jail. Formal sex-change therapy “requires rigorous physical and mental evaluation of the patient,” while castration can be done in 15-20 minutes and can cost as little as $125. The short time frame and cheap cost is why the procedure has become so popular.

The country has become a leader in sex-change therapy, due to its large number of ladyboys (a term which covers anyone from a transvestite to a man who has had a sex change). That’s a whole new form of medical tourism that I hadn’t thought about.

Big in Japan: Japan’s top ramen shop opens up NYC branch

by Matthew Firestone on

If you’re a fan of Japanese soul food, namely the heaven-sent goodness that is ramen, and you happen to live in the New York City area, boy do we have some good news for you!

There is no shortage of truly gourmet ramen in Tokyo, though few bowls can compete with Ippudo (?????), which is widely regarded as one of the country’s best noodles shops. Originating in the city of Hakata (????) on the island of Kyushu, Ippudo pays homage to its roots by serving up some of the best damn Hakata-style ramen on the planet.

Hakata ramen is distinguished by its rich and milky pork-bone broth, thin noodles and unique toppings such as pickled ginger, crushed sesame and pickled greens. However, Ippudo expands on this traditional recipe by adding fiery Tokyo-style red miso, savory black sesame oil and a wide range of toppings such as soft-boiled eggs and thick sheets of nori.

And now, if you happen to be a New Yorker in need of some serious ramen, all you need to do is head to the brand-new Ippudo NY, located at 65 4th Avenue in downtown Manhattan.
Although ramen has always been regarded as something of a blue-collar staple in Japan, Ippudo was one of first major commercial enterprises to vault this hearty dish to truly gourmet levels. The story of Ippudo is really the story of Shigemi Kawahara, who is widely regarded in Japan as the ‘King of Ramen.’ After launching his first ramen restaurant in 1985, Kawahara went on to open up a total of 34 shops throughout the country, and is currently aiming to bring his epicurean noodles to the international stage.

According to Kawahara: “The restaurant is the stage and the business is the art. We are not just making ramen, but creating and instilling a feeling of gratitude. My ambition is to have Japanese ramen take root around the world.”

Kawahara is credited with several ramen innovations, most notably the incredibly refined texture of his handmade noodles, which are made from several different types of blended flour. The ramen master also builds his soup stock from no less than three individually blended mixes, and is extremely proud of his roast pork, which is slow-cooked in a closely-guarded secret sauce. And finally, Kawahara is regarded as the first chef to use color designation (red and white) as a way of defining his signature miso-based ramen soups.

With a history dating back over 300 years, ramen noodles have undergone an incredible transformation from their humble origins as Chinese-inspired fast food. And, needless to say, true ramen is nothing like the Styrofoam-packaged Cup o’Noodles that are something of a staple amongst American college students. With that said, if you’re still unconvinced that ramen noodles can be as gourmet as a finely aged cheese or a hand-plucked wild mushroom, head to Ippudo NY and see what you’ve been missing.

Ippudo NY is located on 4th Ave between East 9th and 10th Streets, and is open daily for lunch and dinner. For more information, check out www.ippudo.com/ny.

Big in Japan: Godzilla, King Koopa and Mother Nature join forces to destroy Tokyo

by Matthew Firestone on

Today at 9:17AM Eastern Standard time, the city formerly known as Tokyo was forever wiped from the world map.

Although this once prosperous Asian megalopolis has weathered the storm of natural disasters and horrific calamities for generations, the events that transpired earlier today are simply impossible to fully comprehend. However, what we do know at this time is that Tokyo was virtually obliterated following a combined attack by Godzilla, King Koopa and Mother Nature.

Tokyo has a long history of rising from the ashes, having survived earthquakes, firebombing and the ever-present threat of Mothra. However, the diabolic cooperation that led to the demise of this once great capital is simply unprecedented.

According to the few remaining survivors, who have since sought refuge on vast manmade islands constructed entirely of empty Cup o’Noodle Styrofoam packaging, the attack commenced when the pre-dawn sky was lit up by the atomic breath of Godzilla. Moments later, legions of Koopa Troopas surrounded the city under the fascist leadership of Bowser himself.

And then, just as the reality of their impending fate began to take hold in everyone’s minds, Mother Nature unfurled a series of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tidal waves.
Tokyoites have long lived in the shadow of danger, and have grown accustomed to fending off the various elements that threaten their very existence. Indeed, Japanese children as young as five know that you should hide under doorways during an earthquake, and that the only way to kill a goomba is to jump on its head or hit it with a fireball. And of course, residents of Tokyo have long sang praises to Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, who’s oxygen destroyer has kept the city safe from Godzilla for decades.

However, residents were simply unable to protect their fair city from the overwhelming forces of destruction that were unleashed in rapid succession. As Godzilla rose once again from the depths of Tokyo Bay, the Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF) was dispatched en masse to drive the creature back into the ocean depths. However, this fatal mistake left the perimeter of the city unguarded, an unfortunate reality that was quickly exploited by the King of the Koopas.

In the end however, the final nail in the coffin came when long-dormant Mount Fuji blew its top, covering the city in a vast cloud of sulfurous ash. The resounding explosion triggered a whopping earthquake that measured approximately 9.5 on the Richter scale, and submerged much of the city beneath the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean.

Reports from the ground are patchy at best, especially since the radioactive clouds emitted by Godzilla have disrupted communication throughout Asia. However, what is known is that the few hundred remaining survivors were clever enough to construct makeshift life rafts out of discarded Cup o’Noodle Styrofoam packaging, and are currently floating southeast towards the Hawaiian Islands.

** From all of us here at Gadling, to all of you out there in Cyberspace, hope you are all having a very wicked April Fool’s Day! **

Angkor Wat video in honor of Dith Pran

by Jamie Rhein on

There are several scenes in the movie “The Killing Fields” that make ones stomach clench. Dished out in the end, though, is a sense that goodness does prevail. The movie, mostly about a Cambodian journalist, Dith Pran’s escape from that country during the rule of the Khmer Rouge is heart-wrenching.

I read that Dith Pran died on Sunday from pancreatic cancer. He wasn’t old, only 65, but what a lifetime of change he witnessed. Pran had become a photojournalist for the New York Times after his escape. He was born near Angkor Wat, so in honor of him, here is a video posted by imorgan10 on YouTube that is simply lovely. I imagine that when Pran made his treacherous journey, he never expected his homeland would become such a tourist destination.