Followers of my dispatches on Twitter will know that my brother C and I have been in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and the surrounding area all of this week. I have many things to say about this great city. I really love it. And I shall be sharing some images of people, sights, and (most of all) food next week.
We return to Bangkok tomorrow (Fri.) afternoon local time, so if there are any of you in this neck of the woods who’d like to meet up, please email me: newley [at] gmail.com
Rolf Potts recently posted a Q&A on travel writing with author and essayist Gary Shteyngart. Here’re a few snippets I like:
How did you get started writing?
I’ve been writing since I was a kid in Russia. My grandma paid me in little pieces of cheese for every page I wrote. That’s how you create a writer. By paying him or her with something edible.
What is your biggest challenge in the research and writing process?
I usually don’t find this part very challenging, unless the language is very difficult (see: Thai) and the address system of the place I’m writing about is very strange (see: Seoul).
Have you ever done other work to make ends meet?
Well, I’m primarily a novelist. That’s my main bread and butter. But the travel writing is very important to me, because it gets me out of the house. I still believe that writers need to see the world to understand their own place in it.
What is the biggest reward of life as a traveler and writer?
Life is short and our planet is finite. What can be more important than seeing the totality of the human condition in this awful and wonderful world of ours?
I have a story in the July issue of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia about luxury developments on Thailand’s Ko Chang and Ko Kood. The article isn’t online, but it’s called “Sea Change,” and it starts on page 79. Cedric Arnold did a great job with the photography.
If you’re here in Bangkok, you can pick up T+L Southeast Asia at BTS stations and in bookstores. Here’s more info on the magazine.
(Incidentally, I was happy to see that the Letter of the Month was submitted by a reader in The Philippines who enjoyed my story about motorbiking in the north of Vietnam, which appeared in the April issue.)
I’m back in Bangkok. My marathon return trip included a car ride, a taxi trip, a four-hour Amtrak ride, 21 hours of flights aboard Singapore Airlines, and nine hours of waiting for planes in airports that steadily improved as I journeyed east: JFK, Frankfurt, and then Singapore.
I may write more, in future dispatches, about my month at home in the US. But for now, let me just say to the friends, family, and colleagues I saw: ole uncle Newley is happy to have caught up with you.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some eating to do. First up, I shall attempt to consume my body weight in krapow moo with extra fish sauce. I’ve really missed the food here in Bangkok.
I’m home in the US now. Arrived here on Monday. Spent some time in central PA. Currently in Beaufort, SC. Heading up the coast to Charleston in a few minutes. Visits to NYC and DC will come next.
Friends here in the US: email me for my local mobile number.
Posting here will be light for the time being, but I’ll be sending brief dispatches to Twitter.
For now, I can say this: I just had a quintessential South Carolina Lowcountry meal of fried chicken, okra, mac and cheese, banana pudding, and sweet tea.
It’s good to be home.
Stay tuned, mis amigos.
![Bangkok's Khao San Road Goes Upscale [NY Times illustration]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1420/1169556586_b66cfdd6cb_m.jpg)
Over at the New York Times’s Travel Q&A Blog, David G. Allan recently pointed out some resources for two inexperienced travelers coming to Thailand. I was happy to see that my Khao San Road story was among the highlighted articles.
Q
I am 18 and not a terribly experienced traveler. I have traveled in the United States, Spain and Portugal. This May a friend and I are braving our way to Thailand. The tickets have been purchased, but the itinerary is not yet set, and we have our anxieties, as do our mothers. Do you have any advice on where to go? We are doing the trip on a budget, and we are looking for a very cultural, and exciting, experience.Polly Peterson,
Olympia, Wash.A
Thailand is quite safe in terms of crime, very inexpensive and culturally exciting. You should have an experience that eases your (and your mothers’) anxiety by sticking to well-worn travel paths yet avoiding any elements that cater to foreign tastes in illicit sex or drugs (which is strictly prosecuted).You will no doubt fly into Bangkok, and you should stay long enough to visit such sites as the Grand Palace and Wat Arun and take a boat ride along the Chao Phraya. If you want to meet fellow backpackers, you might explore Khao San Road as Newley Purnell did in “A Hippie Haven Goes Upscale” (Aug. 19, 2007). For good (and inexpensive) food options, read “Street Smarts in Bangkok” (Jan. 6, 2008) by Joshua Kurlantzick, and for a glimpse into the lives of the city’s up-and-coming artists, read “To Be Young and Hip in Bangkok,” by Matt Gross (Nov. 20, 2005)…
There’s more info in the complete blog post.
The Onion: “Southwest Airlines Now Taking Passengers To Destinations By Shuttle Bus”
DALLAS—In what the company is calling a “bold new leap” in comfort, convenience and overall quality of travel, Southwest Airlines announced Monday that it would be replacing its entire fleet of passenger jets and planes with daily shuttle buses.
The shuttle buses, which will depart from airport runways to over 200 destinations nationwide, represent a major breakthrough in commercial aviation.
“The future is now,” announced Southwest CEO Gary Kelly, gesturing to a 30-foot bus painted in the company’s signature red, yellow, and blue. “With these amazing new buses, traveling from New York to Los Angeles takes as little as three days. That’s less than half the time it took passengers to get there on our old planes.”
Equipped with a 70-gallon tank and a four-stroke engine capable of speeds up to 60 miles per hour, the innovative buses will reportedly reduce travel time by 75 percent on average. In addition, cushioned plastic seats and easy-to-hold metal poles will present passengers with a level of comfort never before experienced on Southwest flights.
(Via World Hum.)
My mom and step-dad arrived in Bangkok yesterday for a visit from the US. Here’s how their visit has shaped up, numbers-wise, so far:
Thai Foot Massages
Thai Cuisine Consumed
Kimchi Consumption Requests Made By Me
Bowls of Lot Chong Devoured
Shopping Achievements
Songkran Soakings
I have an article in the April issue of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia magazine about a recent six-day trip I took through the northeast of Vietnam on a Soviet-era motorbike. The issue isn’t online, but if you’re in the region you can find the magazine on newsstands. If you’re in Bangkok, look for it in bookstores and at BTS stations. The article is called “Riding High” and it starts on page 91. Here’s more info about T+L Southeast Asia.
The image above is a pic of me and a friend I met during the trip.
Here are some pics from a recent three-day beach trip A and I took to the Pranburi region, just south of Hua Hin on the Gulf of Thailand.
Our stretch of beach
Shell-eye view
Bottle
Vittles
Beach dog
A
Yours truly