Have you ever totaled up the number of countries that you have visited in your lifetime? Furthermore, how many times have you traveled to each particular country? Breaking it down even further, what places/cities have you visited (with at least one overnight stay) in each destination/country? If you answer all these questions carefully, you’ll have put together your own TRAVELER’S RESUME.

Let’s start out with yours truly. My inaugural trip as a traveler happened in Dec. 1973 when I went to Mexico for 3 weeks. Over the ensuing 35 years, I have traveled to 25 different countries. If you look at my RESUME, you will see that I’m very partial to the tropics. Call me the tropical traveler if you may.

NORTH AMERICA:

• Mexico (18)

Puerto Vallarta (3), Mexico City (3), Guadalajara, Villahermosa, Merida,
Mexican Caribbean – Cancun (4), Playa del Carmen (2) and Tulum; Oaxaca (5),
Puerto Escondido (5), San Blas(2) Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo,
Baja California - Cabo San Lucas (4), La Paz and Loreto,
Costa Alegre - La Manzanilla (2) and Bahia de Navidad

CARIBBEAN:

• Jamaica (30+)

Kingston, Blue Mountains, Port Antonio, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril,
South Coast - Black River, Treasure Beach and Milk River Bath; Cockpit Country,
Mandeville and Christiana

• Barbados (6)
• St. Lucia (2)
• Antigua
• Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo and Sosua Beach

• Cuba

Havana and Varadero Beach

• St. Vincent
• Trinidad
• St. Maarten/St. Marten
• Bahamas

Nassau and Eleuthera

• Caribbean/Panama Canal Cruise

SOUTH AMERICA:

• Colombia

Bogota, Cartagena and San Andres Island

• Peru

Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley including Machu Picchu, Amazon basin

• Ecuador

Quito, Otavalo and Mindo

CENTRAL AMERICA:

• Costa Rica (6)

San Jose (6), Heredia (2), Sarapiqui (2), Manuel Antonio (3), Dominical,
Pacific Lowlands – Carara ; Guanacaste – Canas and Palo Verdes NP (2), Tamarindo Beach (2), Ocotal and Los Innocentes; Jaco, Tortugero, Monteverde (2), Osa Peninsula, La Fortuna and Arenal (4),
Caribbean Coast- Cahuita (2) and Puerto Viejo; Wilson Botanical Gardens
(San Vito), San Gerardo de Dota and Nicoya Peninsula - Playa Samara

• Guatemala (2)

Guatemala City (2), Antigua (2) and Lake Atitlan

WEST AFRICA:

• Ghana

Accra, Gold Coast, Kumasi

• Togo

Lome

• Mali

Bamako and Mopti

• Ivory Coast

Abidjan

SOUTHEAST ASIA:

• Thailand (7)

Bangkok (7), Chiang Mai (5), Mae Sa Valley (2), Phuket (3), Koh Lanta, Koh Jum,
Koh Samui (2), Koh Chang (5), Pattaya (3), Khao Sok National Park, Chiang Rai Province – Doi Tung (2), Mae Salong (2) and Chiang Kong; Kanchanaburi (2),
Sangkhlaburi, Sakaeo, Sukhothai (2), Ayutthaya and Mae Hong Son Province-Pai (2), Soppong and Mae Hong Son (2)

• Laos

Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Mekong River Cruise

• Cambodia

Siem Reap(Angkor Wat)

EUROPE

• England

London Area

Please note: Number in Parentheses () indicates the number of visits

Feel free to submit your Travel Resume here!

While perusing the Travel section of the San Francisco Chronicle, I came across this interesting blurb by Larry Habegger on the impact of tourism on the small fishing villages of Tonie Sap Lake in Cambodia

In a bizarre twist on the Chinese proverb “Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” fishermen at the floating village of Chong Kneas have found panhandling is far more lucrative than casting nets as the odd community becomes increasingly popular with tourists.

Chong Kneas, a collection of houseboats and floating thatched huts on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake, is a popular side trip from Siem Reap, the jumping-off point for Angkor Wat. Its popularity, however, has had predictable consequences, with locals now swarming the tourist boats in motor vessels, rowboats and even bathtubs and plastic buckets. Authorities said they do not have the facilities to detain the flotilla of beggars.

The article really it home - when I was in Siem Reap a couple of years ago, I went on one of these “so called boat tours” of nearby Tonle Sap Lake. When my tour boat docked at shore to visit the crocodile farm, a couple of young girls from the nearby village came paddling up to the boat in small tubs to beg for money. Jai dee that I am, I gave them a dollar or two.

Unfortunately this tourism development has gone unregulated and the tour operators who conduct these tours make some very good money, the primary attraction being the quaint (but poor) fishing villages that surround the lake - most families in these transient communities live in ramshackle houseboats. To my knowledge, the Cambodian tour operators share none of the tourism revenues with these people; despised by Cambodians as a whole, they are immigrants from Vietnam and represent the poorest segment of the Cambodian population.

This is just another example of tourism gone awry – to be more blunt, it is simply exploitation. To eliminate the rampant panhandling that the author speaks of, there must be a better way to integrate these fishing villages into the tourism product.

I pride myself as being a veteran world explorer, having traveled extensively throughout Thailand and Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica and Central America and having journeyed to parts of West Africa and South America. However, after reviewing the recently proclaimed ’ New 7 Wonders of the World” - Chichén Itzá (Mexico), Christ The Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu (Peru), Petra (Jordan), The Roman Coliseum (Italy) and The Taj Mahal in India - I realize how truly impoverished I am in the travel department.

I admit to having visited only one of these legendary historical sites. In January 1974, while traveling through Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, I took a day tour from Merida to the nearby Mayan archaeological site of Chichen Itza. This huge spiritual-metropolis complex was the heart of the Mayan empire during its postclassical era in the 9th century. While 1974 seems like another lifetime, I remember my day at Chichen Itza as if it was yesterday. As part of a mixed Gringo-Mexican tour group (mostly tourists from Mexico City), we were led around the site by a tour guide who gave us his canned narration of the history of the site and of the Mayan empire. The guide gave the whole spiel in Spanish; fortunately one of the gals from Mexico City gave me the translation in English. We walked the length of the famous ball court and climbed up the steep stairs to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun where we had a birdseye view of this massive complex which towered high above the rainforest. I imagined myself being one of the human sacrifices to the Sun God, my heart being torn out by the one of the Mayan Shamans. By the way, did you see Apocalypto, Mel Gibson’s film?

Needless to say, I was quite impressed with the grandeur and history of this ancient city-temple complex. One thing that I was quite disturbed about was the number of large tour buses in the parking lot. Hey, if Chichen Itza was a tourist trap in 1974, I can only imagine in the ensuing 33 years, how its popularity has truly gone off the charts. If there were 20 tour buses in the parking lot in 1974, I can easily imagine 60-100 tour buses sitting there in 2007. The old Mayan Gods would literally be salivating at the chops if they saw their old spiritual stomping grounds being overrun by gringo tourists. More sacrificial lambs to choose from. Talking about the Kathmandu Syndrome, this is an excellent example how tourism has spoiled and desecrated a place of magnificent grandeur. Oh well……

In my humble opinion, Angkor Wat, the massive Hindu-Buddhist archaeological complex located in the jungles of Northwestern Cambodia, was even more impressive than Chichen Itza. The city of Angkor was built in the 12th century and was the capital of the powerful Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia. There are over 100 temples in a 10-20 mile radius - that number is literally astounding. The Khmers were the mother culture of this region and have significantly influenced all the civilizations that followed in its wake. Angkor Wat was nominated as one of the finalists for the 7 new wonders of the world but for some reason it failed to make the top seven. While visiting Angkor Wat in November 2005, I was literally awestruck by its magnificence and grandeur.

OK, I have visited two of the seven wonders - that leaves me five more to visit before I leave this planet for good. The good news - I am going to Peru and Ecuador in late August, and of course this intrepid traveler will explore both the legendary Incan capital of Machu Picchu located high in the Peruvian Andes as well as the Galapagos Islands. Stay Tuned…

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There are about 14 million people living in Cambodia, a very poor country in SE Asia wedged between Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. In the last 5 years or so, Cambodia has been making a serious comeback from the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot, the regime’s murderous dictator. Many tourists are discovering the charms of this relatively untouristed country. Most of the tourists like myself, visit Siem Reap for 3-4 days, the gateway to the magnificent archaeological site of Angkor Wat and then return to the more westernized and tourist friendly confines of Thailand for the remainder of their vacation.

While in Siem Reap, I did a day tour to Angkor Wat and then went on to visit one the Vietnamese floating villages at Tonie Sap Lake. Funny thing, my Taxi driver, a very likeable young guy and aspiring tour guide, gave me some insight on race relations between the Vietnamese and Cambodians,. According to him, there are e about 4-5 million Vietnamese in Cambodia; a lot of migrated to Cambodia after the Communist regime toppled Pol-Pot’s Khmer Rouge in 1979, thereby liberating Cambodia of one of the most brutal regimes of the 20th century. Most of the Vietnamese in Cambodia, are poor and relatively humble people, many of them eke a living from fishing and live in floating villages like the one I was visiting at Tonie Sap. Officially, the numbers of Vietnamese living in Cambodian is only 100,000 but it is has been estimated there are up to 5 million; a more realistic number is about 2-4 million, but as far as the exact number, no one really knows.

According to my friend, a lot of the Vietnamese have displaced Cambodians in the workplace, which has generated a lot of animosity of Cambodians. What really was disturbing was the remark my guide made - if he was in power, he would try to exterminate or liquidate all the Vietnamese from his country a la Pol Pot style. Now, I know he was joking when he made this comment but it does reflect the prevailing attitude of Cambodians visa vis the Vietnamese.

Funny thing, all the gals who worked in the karaoke bar and massage parlors that my restaurant buddy took me to were Vietnamese. Let’s face it, about 20-25% of the inhabitants of Cambodia are Vietnamese, and insomuch as the Khmers and the Vietnamese never got along historically, there is a lot of hostility between these two groups.

Hanuman admits that in all his travels around the world that he has never (and I mean never) been in a Karaoke bar. Well there is always a first time and that first time was in Siem Reap, Cambodia (the gateway to the ancient city of Angkor Wat). It all started innocently enough as he was having dinner at a local restaurant on his first night in Siem Reap. The young waiter at the restaurant-cum guesthouse, struck up a conversation with ‘the big ape’, and seeing that Hanuman was all alone, suggested that I go with him to sample a little bit of the indigenous nightlife. Karaoke he asked? I said why not, I’m game. So I sponsored the young man (Mr. T) who was the nephew of the proprietor. Mr.T was very westernized and spoke English and Cambodian fluently. I knew this the whole thing was a hustle and that I would be picking up the tab, but even ’ royal monkees” like Hanumann need to have to have some fun from time to time.

So after dinner, we left on his motorbike to the other side of town (the Zona Roja) where the Karaoke club was located. Entering the club, we were escorted into a private room by the club manager. The room was very comfortable with plush sofa, red curtains, a TV monitor and sound system. You all know the set up? Soon thereafter, the manager ushered into the room a bevy of young ladies, most of them appeared to this very experienced eye to be between 18-20 years in age. My friend chose a real cutie, while after surveying the ladies, I chose the most mature gal in group(who says that Hanumann does not like older women) and who I sensed might have a good singing voice. I learned later in the evening, all the ladies/hostesses who worked at the club were from Vietnam.

Being the gracious host that I am, I ordered a round of drinks for my new found friends and a bottle of mineral water for yours truly. Now that the table was set , it was time for the games to begin.
We all chose our favorite songs from the karaoke selection. While the two Viet gals, (who spoke both Vietnamese and Cambodian) sang their favorite Vietnamese love songs and Mr. T (my buddy from the restaurant) sang a mix of Western and Cambodian tunes, “the big ham” himself, Hanumann, gave outstanding renditions of such love songs as I left my heart in San Francisco (Tony Bennett), For the Good Times (Ray Price) and Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole) in addition to such rock standards as House of the Rising Son (The Animals) , Papa was a Rolling Stone (the Temptations) and I shot the Sheriff (Bob Marley). Of course, there was a big cultural divide - the ladies had never heard of the songs I was singing and I had no absolutely no familiarity with their music. And of course, ladies did not know more than 6 words of English; that is where, Mr. T, my westernized Cambodian friend, came in handy as a translator. My hostess was very friendly and genuinely affectionate (and actually had a decent voice), but Hanumann’s big brain kept him in the control the whole time and kept the session PG

After ordering another round of drinks for Mr.T and the lovely young hostesses (and more water for myself), the action was heating up but as it was reaching Hanumann’s bedtime, his big brain decided it was time bid adieu to the young ladies and head back to the hotel for some zzzzzzs

Total damage for a night of Karaoke was about $35USD And a fun and safe time was had by all!

Like I stated earlier, meeting fellow American tourists in Southeast Asia was indeed a rare event. The following are some stories of my encounters with some very interesting foriegners (exotics).

While I was ordering some ice cream in a stylish cafe in Siem Reap, Cambodia, a very attractive young Asian lady who was working on her laptop computer caught my very discriminating eye. With a very stylish short haircut, a lovely complexion and dressed casually elegant, I found her extremely attractive. Moving forward, I introduced myself and inquired about her background; she was from Singapore and had relocated to Cambodia to get away from the more westernized society and lifestyle of her homeland. As she indicated that she was quite busy with her work, I decided not to ‘pursue her” any further, so I left the café with unrequited passion.
Oh well…