100 Days In Asia

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Originally uploaded by audra26.

Check out the red platform shoes…

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Originally uploaded by audra26.

This is a “cyclo” - the drivers pedalled us 4 km one way there in the blazing heat (luckily we had some shade). We paid each driver $3 round trip, which was more than they agreed to do it for.

     

IMG_1855Originally uploaded by audra26.

 

According to our Lonely Planet guidebook, this pagoda was a hotbed of anti-government protest in the 60’s. In the 80’s, a murder occurred nearby and many anticommunist demonstrations started here. We did not see it, but supposedly behind the monestary is the car that transported a monk to Saigon to his self-immolation (he set himself on fire) in protest to the government’s suppression of Buddhism in 1963. His public act inspired other monks to do the same.

People were even more shocked at the president’s sister-in-law’s response. She called the self-immolations a “barbeque party” and said, “Let them burn and we shall clap our hands.”

A picture of the monk’s self-immolation in Saigon appeared on front page newspapers worldwide, and was used on the cover of a Rage Against the Machine album. You can see the pictures and more info on Wikipedia (click here)

(I learned this trick/shortcut referencing Wikipedia from Chris Harvey’s absorbing blog

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Originally uploaded by audra26.

She was great at helping me pick everything out and spend lots of $! Everything was pretty inexpensive, though — a silk/cashmere suit for $45 and a winter coat for $30. I only bought 28 items.

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Originally uploaded by audra26.

Thai, Jonathan and Phonesalin - Phonesalin owns a massage/spa business in Pakse, Laos. We had patronized her business a few days earlier and went out for noodle soup with them that night.

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Originally uploaded by audra26.

Jonathan wanted me to get one, but I didn’t think I could pull it off!