<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/">
  <channel>
    <title>WitchDoctors</title>
    <description>WitchDoctors</description>
    <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/</link>
    <pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 22:04:08 GMT</pubDate>
    <generator>World Nomads Adventures</generator>
    <item>
      <title>Team America Does New Zealand</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/aphs.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/1664/100_1781Medium.jpg"  /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;This is a repeat for some of you...but skip down to the World Horizontal Bungy Competition part where Team America (&amp;quot;Fuck Ya&amp;quot;) shines.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;So--the Kiwi Adventure began in Auckland when AP and Schaiman woke us up from our daily nap.  Let me put this into perspective: before we met up with them, we would hit 3 -5 cities in 1 month.  Because they had time limitations (12 days), we embarked on the Team America (F-- ya!!!) Whirlwind Tour of NZ.  There were to be no more naps in New Zealand--except for Phong who has a supernatural ability to sleep for hours in cars or any other mode of transportation for that matter (even local buses on unsealed flooded roads).  &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;Auckland is a small city of 1 million but the NZ only has 3 million people. Mike being himself calls a friend of a friend of a friend to recruit her as our tour guide for the evening.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;He recruits a young pretty girl (of course!), Melody, to show us around town.  We enjoyed the waterfront, won some Kiwi bucks at the Sky Casino, and started our research on New Zealand wines.  &lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;The next day we went to Rotorua--- hiking, mountain biking and hot springs.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Lisa mountain biking down hill while using only her front brake equals facial trauma (they reverse their brakes here down under).&lt;span&gt;  In one day, we drove &lt;/span&gt;to Waitomo to spelunk with cave gnat larva shit (glow worms) and then to Taupo where we hiked up Mount Doom (MORDOR) of Lord of the Rings.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;The next day we drove to Wellington--as AP and Schaiman moved on a bit faster to Picton to fish.  We needed to slow down the pace!  Thankfully, we had &amp;quot;business&amp;quot; in Wellington (no really, we did have to get our visa for India). &lt;span&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span&gt;Wellington is a much cooler town&lt;/span&gt; with lovely outside cafes and bars.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;In less than a week, w&lt;span&gt;e d&lt;/span&gt;rove from the northern part of the south island down to the south.&lt;span&gt;  We hiked&lt;/span&gt; along the beach at Abel Tasman.&lt;span&gt;  We &amp;quot;crushed&amp;quot; the NZ roads to get to Greymouth to go rafting and play with giant eels with Josh of Eco-Adventure (one of the best storytellers in NZ--Josh and his Uncle Wally are some crazy folk--we definitely need to dedicate an article to Uncle Wally and Josh).  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span&gt;After celebrating Hanukah in Greymouth, we &amp;quot;crushed&amp;quot; the NZ roads again--stopping only to let Mike and Phong walk to the edge of the Fox Glacier (AP and I stayed safely behind the ropes marked danger and took fotos).  We rushed to get some wine tasting before landing in Qu&lt;/span&gt;eenstown--home of the bungy and crazy ass Kiwis--where the extreme part of our trip begins.&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span&gt;            &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;u&gt;The World Horizontal Bungy Championship BY PHONG&lt;/u&gt;:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;Now let me start off by saying that I think bungy jumping is probably the stupidest thing a person can do.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Basically you are attaching a rubber band to your legs and then jumping off an object.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;At anytime this so-called bungy cord can break and you will plummet to your death.&lt;span&gt;  I am also deathly scared of heights (Lisa is just scared of falling to her death).  &lt;/span&gt;That being said--Schaiman was adamant about canyon jumping in NZ.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;This consists of bungying off a cliff 104 meters and then swinging towards a cliff face.  For the entire time we travelled, the rest of us all said we would never ever do such a stupid thing.  We had no desire to confront death--we were happy sane people.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;So, the first night we are in Queenstown, home of the dumbest man on earth~ AJ Hackett, founder of bungy, we go out to a bar.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;What do you know--they are having a contest and the winner gets a trip on the NEVIS.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;The NEVIS you ask?  Well, it’s a bungy jump.&lt;span&gt;  T&lt;/span&gt;he contest starts after the first happy hour and at midnight during the second happy hour.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;It’s called the World Horizontal Bungy Championship.&lt;span&gt;  It&lt;/span&gt; entails the contestant running the length of the bar with a bungy cord strapped to their ass.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Once you reach the end of the bar, you grab a yard of beer and get slung back to the other end.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Then, you have to pound the yard of beer and the timer stops.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Mike and Lisa both sign up for the contest.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;To be honest, we were slightly buzzed at this point and I nudged Lisa to sign up.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;She claims she was unaware of the prize.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Because for 2 months before NZ she said repeatedly “No way in hell will I ever bungy or sky dive!!!” Well, to cut a long story short. They called Lisa out, the crowd booed her because she was from USA, and then she broke the world record at the horizontal bungy contest by 7 seconds.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Now, after winning, we find out the Nevis is not just any bungy jump.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;It’s the world largest bungy at 134 meters.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;It includes a gondola trip to a platform hanging over a canyon, suspended by wires.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;We tried to give the prize away to Schaiman or downgrade to a smaller jump, but there were absolutely no transfers or exchanges.  You had to do the jump you won.  &lt;span&gt;  So, Mike somehow gets AP to agree to do the Canyon Swing with him.  We went along as &amp;quot;observers&amp;quot; (it is easy to watch other people plummet).  Then, on Christmas Eve, w&lt;/span&gt;e jumped and said hi to the  &amp;quot;8 pounds 6 ounces beautiful bouncing baby Jesus&amp;quot;.&lt;span&gt;  We also went to Midnight Mass to thank the Big Man for blessing the bungy cord.  &lt;/span&gt;Like they say in New Zealand.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" size="3"&gt;Embrace the Fear”&lt;span&gt;     &lt;/span&gt;“Feel the Fear, Do it anyway”&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;“Even my shit was scared”&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;After all of that we finished off our trip with some kayaking at Milford Sound (spectacular!!!), winetasting in the Central Otago region (and later in the Marlborough region)--you have to be able to compare your international wines (:,  and finally we went helirafting (1st time in a helicopter--scarier than rafting) down some class 4 rapids (the cherry on our trip!) &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/2536/New-Zealand/Team-America-Does-New-Zealand</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>New Zealand</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/2536/New-Zealand/Team-America-Does-New-Zealand#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/2536/New-Zealand/Team-America-Does-New-Zealand</guid>
      <pubDate>Sun, 7 Jan 2007 19:42:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>i get my kicks above the waistline sunshine</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/aphs.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/1662/100_1732Medium.jpg"  /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sorry again for the long gap in posting a blog.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Since Turkey Day, we rushed through Cambodia stopping only to pretend we were tomb raiders at Angkor Wat.  Then, after the bumpiest bus ride in the East, we landed in Bangkok (now you 80s music junkies know where we are going with this story)!  We did keep it clean in Bangkok--no ping pong shows on Pattaya for us.  We only spent one night on the infamous Khao San Road--going home after sharing one Singha pitcher (we are getting old!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Before we started the big trip, we talked to Bart and Jenny (who travelled around the world years ago) to get some &amp;quot;tips.&amp;quot;  When we asked about Thailand, Bart couldn't remember what they did in Thailand--except that they hung out on the beach a lot.  We always thought this was strange--how do you forget the details of a whole month?  Well, we found out how--visit Thailand!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;For one month, all we did was rent a bungalow on the beach and sit in our hammocks with some activities, like rock climbing, snorkeling and diving, to spice up the lazy days. &lt;span&gt;  We only visited three beach towns--Ton Sai, Ko Lanta and Ko Chang.  By the time, we arrived at Eden Resort on Ko Chang--an island without electricity--we perfected doing nothing all day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;We tried rock climbing for the first time in Ton Sai, apparently the Mecca of rock climbing.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Imagine a bay of an island lined with 200 meter tall limestone faces that have all been mapped for rock climbing.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;You throw in some rain forests, great weather and crystal clear blue water and there you have it.&lt;span&gt;  The diving in Ko Lanta and Ko Phi Phi was phenomenal with visibility better than 30 meters and many little fishies (including Nemo).  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font size="3"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span&gt;Our lazy days quickly ended the minute Alan Palmer and Mike Schaiman knocked on our door at our hostel in Auckland, New Zealand!!!  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/2534/Thailand/i-get-my-kicks-above-the-waistline-sunshine</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Thailand</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/2534/Thailand/i-get-my-kicks-above-the-waistline-sunshine#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/2534/Thailand/i-get-my-kicks-above-the-waistline-sunshine</guid>
      <pubDate>Sun, 7 Jan 2007 19:05:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Gallery: New Zealand</title>
      <description />
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1664/New-Zealand/New-Zealand</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>New Zealand</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1664/New-Zealand/New-Zealand#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1664/New-Zealand/New-Zealand</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 5 Jan 2007 22:51:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Gallery: Thailand</title>
      <description>Beaches</description>
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1662/Thailand/Thailand</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Thailand</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1662/Thailand/Thailand#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1662/Thailand/Thailand</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 5 Jan 2007 22:34:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>happy thanksgiving</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;by Phong:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We are in Cambodia right now and basically flew through the country in 10 days. Going to the Killing Fields and to S-21 (a prison where over 20000 people where &amp;quot;reeducated&amp;quot; to death) was disturbing--to say the least. Though more Jews died in the Holocaust, Pol Pot killed a greater percentage of his people. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cambodia became ruled by fear and paranoia--everyone (including supporters of the Khmer Rouge) believed that they could be &amp;quot;sold out&amp;quot; at anytime. In order to save their own lives or advance their place in the regime, family members would tell false stories of villagers, friends and family serving as spies or agents of the CIA. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some historians say that Pol Pot achieved in Cambodia what Mao failed to do in China. He wanted his people to be governed by the peasants--which meant killing off the educated and returning to the stone age. The Khmer Rouge (KR) would kill teachers, politicians, white collar workers, people wearing glasses, people who spoke multiple languages, foreigners --they also would kill their immediate and sometimes extended families. A sad fact was that the KR recruited 8-10 year old boys and girls and trained them to be his army. They were illiterate and poor. At such a vulnerable and impressionable age, they were trained to torture their elders. Their humanity was stolen from them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Shockingly, the KR seemed to find it acceptable and necessary to torture their victims before killing them. At the Killing Fields, which is the site of the liquidation of prisoners, there is a stack of 8000 skulls that have been retrieved from multiple mass graves sites. Where the Nazis used gas rooms and crematoriums, the less &amp;quot;resourceful&amp;quot; Cambodians had to resort to garden tools, DDT and burying alive their victims. They actually had loud speakers to drown out the cries from the victims. There were over 2000 deaths to children at this site alone. To see their photographs, then to see their skulls bashed in by blunt and sharp objects can cause one to think whether humanity exists. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phnom Penh, a city of over 1,000,000 people was reduced to less than 20,000 people during 1975-1979. Like he said, Pol Pot wanted a country ran by the peasants and peasants don't live in the cities. At one point , all his adversaries and their families were killed and all the intellectuals so who was left to kill. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Like a parasite who kills his own host, all that is left is self digestion. Where was the UN, where was the US , where was anybody. It took the damn Vietnamese communist government to stop this genocide. Their motive was not altruistic but fueled by greed. How easy is it to take over a country that has done half the work for you? Who is going to stop the Vietnamese in taking over the country, a bunch of peasant teenagers who only know sadism...who couldn't read an order or coordinate an attack if their life depended on it? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cambodia today can be said to be a mixture of the new and the old. The Khmer people who live here today are the peasants who survived their holocaust. They are nice people but reserved. They live for today--because only two decades ago no one knew if there would be a tomorrow. This might be attributed to the back stabbing , the conspiracy, the suspicion of others nurtured during the hard times. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;....................................................................&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;to all of our family and friends,&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;we miss and love y'all! we are so thankful for all of the love and support that you have given us during the past 3 decades (we are getting old!!!) happy thanksgiving! eat lots of turkey and CANNED cranberry sauce (preferably oceanspray) for us.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;love lisa and phong&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1967/Cambodia/happy-thanksgiving</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Cambodia</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1967/Cambodia/happy-thanksgiving#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1967/Cambodia/happy-thanksgiving</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 16 Nov 2006 23:47:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>leaving lazy laos</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/aphs.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/1230/1_laosphonglisa080.jpg"  /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;don't you love the alliteration!  since our last entry, we have done very &lt;table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_align_left.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_align_center.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_align_right.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_align_justify.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_list_num.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_list_bullet.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_indent_less.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_indent_more.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_hr.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_link.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_image.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_html.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;img src="/htmlarea/images/ed_help.gif" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;very little...thankfully we don't have bed sores because we have spent most of our time on hammocks...we went straight from luang prabang to the land of 4000 islands (we picked just one to visit--DON DET)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;we stayed at a place called Mr. Man's Magical Moments...and boy was it magical!  we stayed in a thatched bungalow on the mekong delta (with 2 well placed hammocks on the balcony to discourage movement)...it is very difficult to leave your bungalow when an amazing australian pastry chef visits you every afternoon with delicious chocolate cake made from scratch (the man crushes his own cocoa beans!)...i became like cartman in south park--&amp;quot;i cannot possibly eat one more bite of its chocolatey goodness...oh wait wait...i'll try!&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;life was good in laos but after spending almost a month there (a country that wasn't even part of our original itinerary) we headed onto cambodia...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;our first couple of days in cambodia were much like laos except the scenery changed dramatically.  we travelled down to the mondulkiri province to a town called sen monorom...it reminded us of our safari in kruger national park (south africa) more than anything we have seen so far in SE asia...the landscape was stunning.  vast grasslands speckled with clusters of pinetrees...we stayed in a hut and ate in a treehouse (very rustic).  phong earned the right to drive the moped again (my burns are now scarred over--people think i intentionally branded myself since part of the scar looks like claw marks).  we drove almost all of the way to his motherland but the road got dodgey (new brit term we picked up). &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;we also got to ride an elephant to a hidden waterfall...life really is sweet sometimes.  and, i finally got to eat a proper breakfast of oatmeal--yes oatmeal with honey, bananas and raisins (three days in a row--it was wonderful).  i will never again take for granted the variety of foods that we have in the states--we are spoiled.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;now we are in transit to the capital Phnom Penh for a few days (maybe we will find some proper cheese there).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;peace out cub scout&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;lisa and phong&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1918/Cambodia/leaving-lazy-laos</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Cambodia</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1918/Cambodia/leaving-lazy-laos#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1918/Cambodia/leaving-lazy-laos</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:18:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Gallery: Laos</title>
      <description />
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1230/Laos/Laos</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Laos</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1230/Laos/Laos#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1230/Laos/Laos</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 4 Nov 2006 12:05:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Phong's SoapBox(:  China</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/aphs.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/1077/100_0978.jpg"  /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;

&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;How can I describe China to a person who has never
been there? It &lt;i&gt;is&lt;/i&gt; a land of contradictions.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;They claim to be a socialist country but only
the top 10 percent have health care, vacation time or the ability to
purchase a home.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Well, 10 percent of
2 billion is&lt;i&gt; 200 million people&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;After travelling from Beijing
to Tibet to
Tiger Leaping Gorge to the Island of Sanya
and countless other cities, I believe I can make an informed opinion of what I
have seen.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;By no means is China
underdeveloped or a developing nation in the context we describe third world
countries.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;They have over 100 cities
with over 1 million people.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;And each of
these cities is as modern as any western city with computers, construction,
banking, internet, gas, machinery, energy use and etc.&lt;span&gt;..  &lt;/span&gt;What differs is the lack of efficiency on how
projects are completed. Where we would hire a union laborer at $50 an hour to
sand blast a wall with a $250 dollar machine,&lt;span&gt; 
&lt;/span&gt;the Chinese would hire 100 Chinese men each with a piece of sand paper to sand
down the wall at less than 1 dollar a day.&lt;span&gt; 
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;My preconception of China was starving people living in villages. I thought that inevitably there would be a peasant revolution for equality of living
wages.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;It is not easy to stop a
revolution (as exemplified in Iraq)
but it is easy for China to prevent a revolution.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;The first thing I see is keeping the masses
happy.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Either through religion, sports, entertainment
and / or consumerism.&lt;span&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;Religion has no
place in the world of communism.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;This
was effectively stamped out by Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;So what is left is entertainment and
consumerism.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;Consumerism in China is
much different than in the western world.&lt;span&gt; 
&lt;/span&gt;These people love to shop but don’t ever buy anything.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;There are a plethora of shops from Adidas, Nike,
Carrefour, Wal-Mart, DG, Guess etc but only the top 10% can afford this.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;But the masses feel happy in window
shopping.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Maybe this is an extension of
their previous inability to even have the opportunity to purchase these things.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;There other method of stamping out subversives--imprisonment.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;There is not such thing as
individualism or human rights.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;To the
government, what is a thousand lives compared to 1.5-2 billion people they have
to control?&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;This is a story which is told around
town in Tiger Leaping Gorge:&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;  the government for a fact has decided to dam
this river at 8 locations to fulfill the deficiency in drinkable water.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;This will lead to hundreds of thousands of
fertile land being flooded and displacing millions of farmers.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Apparently these farmers will be compensated
but minimally and with money and not land.&lt;span&gt; 
&lt;/span&gt;Well the local journalist printed some articles suggesting these farmers
send representatives to Beijing to
voice their concerns about relocation and compensation.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;Their government proceeded to relocate these representatives
to prison with their journalist compatriots.&lt;span&gt; 
&lt;/span&gt;Any more complaints.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;Overall this was a great experience to actually see a
country changing and growing by leaps and bounds almost daily.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;The people here are very friendly, helpful,
honest and genuinely nice.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;If we as a
nation do not get on the ball of the economic race, I fear we will fall behind
this nation and it will not take a hundred years but in a decade.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;They have galvanized its population to become
a lean, mean economic machine.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="MsoNormal"&gt;While we
take for granted the natural resources of the land and of the people and become
complacent,&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;while we sit at home on our
&amp;quot;made in China&amp;quot; sofa, while we wear &amp;quot;made in Thailand&amp;quot;
clothes and watch &amp;quot;made in China&amp;quot; TV, the Chinese are building up their force to reclaim their position as world power (a position they held for thousands of years before the rise of the Western world).  The Chinese&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; are not driving the &amp;quot;made in the USA&amp;quot;
ford explorer and are consuming very little “made in USA” anything for that
matter.&lt;span&gt;  &lt;/span&gt;I am crying wake up! Wake-up! We
must educate our people and encourage ingenuity and recapture what made our
country great—hard work!&lt;span&gt;   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1802/China/Phongs-SoapBox-China</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>China</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1802/China/Phongs-SoapBox-China#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1802/China/Phongs-SoapBox-China</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:24:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Lovely Laos</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/aphs.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/1230/laosphonglisa029.jpg"  /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font size="3" face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span&gt;we are in laos!  we bought some
whitening suntan lotion--so we should be more white by the time we get home
(it seems to be working)...we escaped China to the Luang
Nan Tha (LNT) region--a ecofriendly tourist site that is not frequented often by the
usual backpacker gang...Laos and China are polar opposites--where China has 6+million in 100+ cities, Laos has 6 mil in the whole country...it is sleepy and peaceful (except for the 4am rooster/pig alarm clock).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;font size="3" face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span&gt;in LNT, we did a 2 day kayaking trip where we
stayed overnight in the village of the Lanten people (one of the many recognized minority groups in Laos)...the Lanten don't speak Lao--they speak their own language which is a derivative of Chinese (their previous home a few centuries ago)--the village is right out of a national geographic special...we stayed in a lovely thatched hut--we ate river fern, fried bamboo worms, and
a duck that we saw slaughtered/plucked/chopped to bits...and
then drank some local spirits (lao lao) with the village chief--it was amazing!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Phong has now bonded with his asian
people in such a deep way that he now is &amp;quot;driving while
asian&amp;quot;  DWA might be a worse crime then DWI...in LNT, we rented a moped and drove through lovely rice fields and villages--as we came upon a patch of mud, i tell him that i wanted to GET OFF (&lt;i&gt;very clearly&lt;/i&gt; for those who hear his version of the story) the bike before he attempts to drive
through...phong, in true DWA fashion, floors it--the bike fishtails and we fall into mud--thankfully no bones broke and we weren't maimed--he has been left with bruised ribs and i have a lovely 3rd degree burn on my leg!  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Right now we are in Luang Prabang...an awesome French Colonial town with no roosters (we get to sleep late again)...We went on a 2 day mountain biking/kayaking trip with a bunch of Americans and a Californized (much to his dismay) Brit (:  It was a great group of people (intelligent, open minded, adventurous, athletic and &amp;quot;non annoying&amp;quot; Americans/Brit--a rare find!)...it was an awesome time (after I recovered from a battle with the Commish!) [the Commish is High Commissioner--after learning that lao lao is more like anti-freeze we switched to cheap Scottish whisky--a poor decision]...after 21 km of biking, we hung out in a village, ate some traditional lao food, drank a JW imitation/beerlao, and sang My Country Tis of Thee for the locals (our British ambassador shared his version of God Save the Queen)...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We are now headed south for Cambodia...we probably have another week or so in Laos...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We miss and love y'all!  Keep in touch!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;font size="3" face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;p /&gt;&lt;div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1801/Laos/Lovely-Laos</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Laos</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1801/Laos/Lovely-Laos#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1801/Laos/Lovely-Laos</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:45:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Technical Difficulties</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/aphs.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/1077/100_1266.jpg"  /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Since the last posting (sorry still no pix yet...China doesn't let you upload and Laos--where we are now--is in the slow lane of the internet highway), we visited two of our favorite places in China--Tiger Leaping Gorge and Sanya.  Sorry for the delay...the WebMaster (yeah you got that right MASTER!) needed a vacation from the vacation...the cacaphony of China caused a minor nervous breakdown on an overnight train from Kunming to Nanning.  Phong held me back and told me to find my &amp;quot;happy&amp;quot; place.  Dr. Nguyen saved the lives of a little Chinese brat who had a 4 hour temper tantrum and 10 smoking senior citizens who were up at 5am competing for the spitting championship.  China's population is still safe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tiger Leaping Gorge is the land of &amp;quot;happy plants and happy people&amp;quot;...It is a mini grand canyon in the Yunnan Province...about 100 years ago, grandma was minding her business and herding her goats at night...then an earthquake (one of many that affected the area during the past century) caused the mountain to split in half...as the mountain was separating, grandma saw a tiger &amp;quot;leaping&amp;quot; over the gorge with one of her goats in its mouth to the other side [the gorge is 5000 meters deep and 500 meters long--it is HUGE]...THIS CAN'T BE TRUE...probably not...what they don't tell you about the gorge in the guide books is that the area is a forest of marijuana...it grows right along side the road...we think grandma was probably smoking the shizza before she witnessed the &amp;quot;LEAP&amp;quot;...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was our first truly natural experience away from the madness of Chinese tour groups, pagodas, and cable cars (the Chinese don't like to hike--they like the most direct route to the top of the mountain).  We spent 5 days hiking thru the Gorge-there are guest houses all along the way--one with a panaromic view of the gorge--amazing views of the stars.  This was the beginning of our vacation from the vacation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We then escaped to SANYA...the Hawaii of China.  We did nothing for a week except flip   to even out
the sun exposure...the water was like a bathtub (which is necessary for us to swim since Miami thinned out our blood).  it took us 6 days total of travelling to get there but it was completely worth it. 
we missed out on some rice paddies..but the palm trees made up for
it.  we partied during the full moon festival, ate dim sum,  and  watched the Chargers kick the Steelers arse!  everyday we got to see a bunch of naked asian men swimming in
the ocean...who doesn't love watching naked asian men?!?!  &lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1800/China/Technical-Difficulties</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>China</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1800/China/Technical-Difficulties#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1800/China/Technical-Difficulties</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 Oct 2006 16:54:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Gallery: Everest</title>
      <description />
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1079/Mongolia/Everest</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Mongolia</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1079/Mongolia/Everest#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1079/Mongolia/Everest</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:25:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Gallery: China</title>
      <description />
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1077/China/China</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>China</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1077/China/China#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1077/China/China</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:24:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Gallery: Tibet</title>
      <description />
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1078/China/Tibet</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>China</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1078/China/Tibet#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/1078/China/Tibet</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:24:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>free Tibet?!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/aphs.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/1078/100_1210.jpg"  /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;By Phong:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tibet, or Shangri La, is very different from my preconception. It is a rough land especially with the chinese occupation. Unlike &amp;quot;mainland&amp;quot; China, there is extreme poverty...mothers, children, and the elderly begging; garbage strewn on the streets.  In a way it is displayed as if to show to the tourist, or to the world, of how the Tibetans are uncivilized heathens.  And, if it were not for the Chinese bringing &amp;quot;development&amp;quot;--roads, schools and modernization--they would still be stuck in the stone age.  The Chinese believe that Tibetans are ungrateful for their &amp;quot;liberation.&amp;quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;[In 1951, Tibet was &amp;quot;liberated&amp;quot; of its independence--a 16 year old Dalai Lama (DL) acquiesced and submitted to Chinese rule--in 1956, a more mature twenty three year old DL &amp;quot;reconsidered&amp;quot; [wrongly and ungratefully according the Chinese] and demanded the independence of the Tibetan people.  He was then forced into exile--and now, according to the official Chinese history, is a man who has become drunk by fame.  Very interesting perspective.]&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In Tibet, one can feel the exploitation and repression when observing Tibetans in their natural environment--the plateau and the Himalayas. They are very kind, inquisitive and free spirited. I hope one day the Dalai Lama will return and try to lead his people to a better environment to live in.  It is starting to seem that Tibet only can hope for continued &amp;quot;autonomy.&amp;quot;  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Though Tibet can make you sad and frustrated, it also reminds you of the strength of the human spirit.  When you gaze at Everest on a clear day (and damn it is huge!!!) or stare at the heavenly milky way in the middle of the night, it puts life into perspective on how some of our life problems can be dwarfed by mother nature. &lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1645/Mongolia/free-Tibet</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Mongolia</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1645/Mongolia/free-Tibet#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1645/Mongolia/free-Tibet</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 23 Sep 2006 15:57:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Engagement at Everest!!!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/aphs.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/1079/100_1182.jpg"  /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;From the ecstasy of engagement to the agony of altitude sickness!!!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;no joke--Paul surprised the shit out of me and proposed at Everest...though he qualified the proposal stating he wasn't responsible for any of his words or actions at such a high altitude...talk about a memorable place to get engaged!!! of course, I said YES YES YES YES (:  unfortunately, the adrenaline of the moment faded as acute mountain sickness took over and squashed our celebration.  even though we acclimated for a few days in Lhasa (4000 meters), Everest Base Camp is over 5000 meters (the peak is &amp;gt;8000 meteres--nuff respect to anyone that climbs her--she is a beast!!!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;the ascent kicked both of our arses.  we tried to celebrate with some Lhasa beer (made at the highest brewery in the world) but i think we each had about 2 sips (you definitely know we were sick)..we were both overcome by severe headaches (worse than a migraine--felt like the impending doom of an aneurysm)...a sweet tibetan lady literally tucked us into bed at 8pm but we were awake all night--i vomited while he suffered palpitations:  it was lovely. the next day we froze on a donkey ride down to our pickup site--we were too sick to hike the 8km (my toes were literally frozen--a nice blue gray hue!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;it was the happiest day of our once in a lifetime trip (:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;ciao!  &lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1644/China/Engagement-at-Everest</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>China</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1644/China/Engagement-at-Everest#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1644/China/Engagement-at-Everest</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 23 Sep 2006 15:57:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Contradictory China</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/aphs.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/1077/100_1068.jpg"  /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;China has been very eye-opening for us...it truly is a country of contradictions...you don't have to worry about finishing the food on your plate because there are &amp;quot;starving people in China&amp;quot;--but there is a lot of poverty here:  especially in Tibet (see next &amp;quot;article&amp;quot;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;China is an ancient country hell bent on modernizing...in a &amp;quot;stepford wives&amp;quot; kind of way...We have now travelled for almost a month--mostly in the North/West/Central parts of China--&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Beijing (Tianamen Square, the Great Wall and the Forbidden City--we are avoiding the dead communists so we just hung outside Mao's current haunts) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pingyao (an ancient walled city) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Luoyang (Longmen Caves and the Shaolin Temple--&amp;quot;ta gou!!!&amp;quot;--those monks are amazing!!!) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Xian (home of the Terracotta Warriors) &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chengdu (where we saw the baby pandas) then to TIBET!!!  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We are now headed to the Yunnan province and working our way east to eat some dim sum. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Beijing was a shock--we were expecting a giant metropolis (Beijing is the size of Belgium) with all of the regular ills of a large city--homeless, garbage, begging, street people...strangely, Beijing wasn't as crowded as we thought it would be (China has distributed their population throughout the country--every city we have travelled to has populations of more than 4 million).  The streets were clean--areas that were probably rough in their day are now covered by banners and getting cleaned up and ready for the big Olympic show (who knows where the people dislocated by this massive renovation are now)...there are no homeless people on the street...everything thing seems pretty ordered and clean--but China is chaotic and contradictory:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It is a rural country with mega-cities...there bustling cities filled with bucolic people...people seem busy but they aren't doing anything...there are sparkling clean attractions amidst piles of dirt...a general disregard of the enviroment but a recycling frenzy (I think there is a deposit system like in the US so the elderly are always after your plastic water bottles)...there is &amp;quot;controlled&amp;quot; westernization...communism overrun by consumers...hectic markets that don't sell anything...buddhist shrines adored by purported atheists...The Chinese are masters of a complex language, but novices of a simple one (English is going to be a big problem for China advancing further)...they are proper but spit everywhere and anywhere (we are talking about texas sized lugeys)...they are reserved but talk loudly...&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But, the world better get prepared for China--it is opening its doors to the world and inviting themselves into every country...all the news on TV is about business in One China and developing &amp;quot;mutually beneficial&amp;quot; relationships with every country (from Benin to Venezuela, Finland to Vietnam) that supports the &amp;quot;One China&amp;quot; policy [forget about Taiwan and Tibet--they are China's now]. China is getting ready to play with the big boys.  They will be successful if they can keep 1+billion people sedated and content (it might be time to invest in the yuan!!!)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1643/China/Contradictory-China</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>China</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1643/China/Contradictory-China#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/story/1643/China/Contradictory-China</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 23 Sep 2006 15:57:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Gallery: Mongolia</title>
      <description />
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/927/Mongolia/Mongolia</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Mongolia</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/927/Mongolia/Mongolia#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/927/Mongolia/Mongolia</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 17 Aug 2006 17:25:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Gallery: Siberia</title>
      <description />
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/926/Russian-Federation/Siberia</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Russian Federation</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/926/Russian-Federation/Siberia#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/926/Russian-Federation/Siberia</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:35:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Gallery: Kazan</title>
      <description />
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/925/Russian-Federation/Kazan</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Russian Federation</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/925/Russian-Federation/Kazan#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/925/Russian-Federation/Kazan</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:26:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Gallery: White Nights</title>
      <description />
      <link>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/924/Russian-Federation/White-Nights</link>
      <category>Travel</category>
      <category>Russian Federation</category>
      <author>phongnlisa</author>
      <comments>https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/924/Russian-Federation/White-Nights#comments</comments>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://journals.worldnomads.com/phongnlisa/photos/924/Russian-Federation/White-Nights</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:14:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>