SumTingWong's VirtualTourist Home Page

current updates :

University keeps me pretty busy, i should drop in a bit more often and I'll try, I promise, but if i dont respond to vt e-mails quickly, im sorry (but If you really need an e-mail answered urgently - meaning that I will be sure to see it, send it to my e-mail address matthew_reichel@brown.edu and ill try and get back to you quickly, i check my mail almost everyday there except when im away.) I live in Providence, RI now and am a student at Brown University I also understand that my page - especially my home page is outdated - i do appoloigize for this, i'll try and reconstruct it soon. See y'll later!!!

O need to put some China and Mongolia info up too, I spent all last year in Beijing and all summer in Mongolia. I'll try to get to that, time allowing.

Oh, some upcomming adventures:
1) Summer07 - China, Nepal, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan
2) december 07 - Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, DR Congo???

I love to travel and explore the world. However, I like to be more than a tourist by living and volunteering all over the world. To see some of my volunteer projects visit my Nepal, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son pages. Photography is one of my biggest hobbies, check out some of my picts from around the world. Although I am not a photographer by profession, I have had a few published, so I guess I can be considered a freelance photographer. By the way, I am not Thai or Chinese or Nepali. I was born and raised in New Jersey, USA.

I speak English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Chinese (mandarin), fluently and can somewhat speak/understand Thai, Lao, Italian and Nepali. Feel free to comunicate with me in any of those languages, although ill be much better with the first five!

Note that SumTingWong is not my name, just "some thing wrong" asian style. I used to tell people that 'sum ting wong' was Chinese for 'there's a problem", the sad thing is that many of them fell for it too. dan shi mei wen ti ;-)

THANK YOU ALL, IT IS A HUGE HONOR!!! YOU NOMINATED MY CHIANG MAI PAGE AS A TOP 10 VT PAGE, THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!!!

My Comment Disclaimer feel free to leave comments on my pages, they are always enjoyable to look at: good or bad. Or should I say positive or constructive.

SaWatDee, NiHao, Hello, Hola, Ola, Oi, Bonjour, Salaam, HunJambo, KoNiChiWa, Bonjourno, Hallo, Guten Tag, KuMuStaKa, Dta'Blu, SaBaiDee, Namaste...!!!!!

KoDtonRup, HuanYingGuangLin, Welcome, Bienvenidos, BemVindo, Bienviennu, Marhaban, Youkoso, Willkimmen, Benvenuto, NyinDeeDtonLap, Swaagatam...!!!!!

KwamSaNgop, HePing, Peace, Paz, Salaam, Paz, Paix, Frieden, Pace, KwamSaNgopSa'nDtiPap, Shaanti!!!

1) New Jersey, USA
2) Caceres, Spain
3) Chiang Mai, Thailand
4) Siruwari Balami Gau, Nepal
5) Ghoom, India
6) Beijing, PR China
7) Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
8) Providence, RI

Places that I must mention:

Favorite conutry to visit: China and India, can't decide
Friendliest country: Thailand
Safest country: Singapore
City that never sleeps: Rio de Janeiro
Most mind blowing country: Nepal
Best wildlife: Masai Mara, Kenya
Historian's paradise: Luxor and Giza
Natural beauty: Costa Rica
Best small city: Chiang Mai
Most beautiful waterfall: Iguazu, Argentina Iguacu, Brazil
Most dangerous city: Sao Paulo
Safest capital city: Vientiane and Singapore
Noisiest city - New York City
Dirtiest city - Mexico DF
Most beautiful volcano: Mt. Fuji and Mt. Arenal
Most interesting volcano: Ngorongoro
Best mountain: Mt. Everest, Nepal
Most beautifly mountain range: Ganesh Himal west face Himalayas, Nepal
Best beach town: Cancun
Best beaches: Koh Chang and Krabi
Best snorkeling: St. Lucia
Best SCUBA: Bay Islands, Honduras and Belize
Best US city: Boston
Best trekking: Nepal, Myanmar, India, and Laos
Countries that need a lifetime to explore: India and China
Cleanest city: Singapore
Most interesting body of water: HaLong Bay
Most intresting river: Ganges, Amazon
BEST CITY : BEIJING
Vastest Country: Mongolia
Mose Life-Changing expreience: Rwanda
I wish I had more time to Explore: Congo
Will visit over and Over again: Vietnam and China
Nicest People: Myanmar

S IRUWARI BALAMI GAU, NEPAL IS A PLACE THAT HAD never interacted with, nor seen any other culture besides their own. After descending the steep, winding dirt rock path from the old Rani Paua road, we trekked over the mud-packed rice-terrace walls, until we reached the diminutive village and our new home. The atmosphere in the village was not quite one of excitement or enthusiasm, but rather of disbelief and incredulity. Children giggled and ran about the muddy ground, leaving their small footprints embedded in the earth. They were not indifferent to our presence, but rather turned the situation into a game of who can touch the newcomers first.
The sun had recently set to the west of the hoary white Ganesh Mountain Range, and night swiftly fell upon the village; rendering us incapable of finding our individual homes and meeting our families. Thankfully, Bharat, the local teacher, put us up in his house for the night. We spent the night cuddled together in the warm hearth of the cow-dung abode. The only sound that could be heard was the pitter-patter of drizzle on the bounded slate roof, and the only source of light was produced by the billons of discernable stars in the lucid night sky.
The infamous morning hacking woke us up just after sunrise, and as we began to see the village come alive, our aspirations to meet our host-families grew. Ratna, our Nepali coordinator from Kathmandu, lead us down a landslide prone, precipitous clay trail, which we later referred to as the canyon, to our new home. The goats and chickens parted as my homestay partner Jeff and I approached the house. Suddenly, we saw a hefty amount of hay and silage fly out of an upstairs loft, which was abruptly converted into our room. We were dropped off with a 'good luck' and thus the experience began. Not only had we just become a member of a family, but of a society, caste, and culture as well.
"Food, food, please come." my host brother Santadzyu uttered as he lead me down the small wooden ladder into the hearth, where our mother was divvying up the evening meal. He annunciated his words to make sure I understood them and chuckled at his own pronunciation. It took him several weeks to get the English elocution just right; even so, he still required the assistance of his pointer and middle fingers lodged in his upper lip to produce the alien "f" sound. I slipped two golden iodine tablets into my water before heading downstairs, and Santadzyu bestowed a bemused look. He thought that I was making the water dirty, but I laughed and tried to convince him otherwise.

After about a week in Siruwari Balami Gaũ, everything began to fall into place. Communication got easier as our Nepali vocabularies expanded, and I began to not only converse with my family members, but also understand some of their feelings and emotions. The roosters still produced their deafening crow at the crack of dawn, despite our futile attempts of explaining to our father how delicious rooster meat is. Every morning we would wake up to mom's warm Nepali kadza bread and grilled corn, as well as our four little siblings staring at us from the doorway waiting to play cards. The morning sun would illuminate the various towering peaks of Ganesh Himal and Mount Manaslu as we hiked up the canyon to the school. The clouds would roll in and veil the magnificent peaks as I commenced the daily English lesson, with sometimes up to forty eager children. Then it was off to the school building to join the others and do some work. Working alongside my host father, a regular local volunteer, was always a pleasure, as our workday would sometimes be the topic of our dinnertime discussions.
The afternoon was reserved for some good quality family time. I would join my mother and little brothers and sisters in the rice and corn fields, which lay at the heart of the community. The monsoon rains generated lush, green landscape and marked the time of growth in the village. Rice was the local staple and by far the most imperative aspect to our diets. In fact, there are five different Nepali words for rice, all pertaining to the different stages of rice development; which simply equates to hours of arduous work in the fields for everybody. I must say that our presence did add some color and excitement to fieldwork. As some of my beginning mistakes alone had about thirty people laughing on the floor. From mud fights in the rice patties to telling jokes while husking corn, my family time in the fields was always the highlight of my day.
Life in the rural farming village of Siruwari Balami Gaũ revolves around two fundamental characteristics: family and survival. Siruwari Balami Gaũ is a place I deem my second home. The opportunity to become immersed within another culture, pleasantly secluded four hours by foot from the nearest road, is a chance of a lifetime. To feel like a genuine member of a different society is pleasing in the sense that it teaches one a great deal about life. From helping my host mother plant rice, to teaching English to all my little brothers and sisters, and working along side my host father on the reparation of the local school, I truly felt compassion for life and for humankind.
The true beauty of Nepal lies not within the white Himalayas, but in the culture. Recollection of the snowy peaks will fade slowly from memory, but the faces and emotions of Nepal will burn vividly forever.

This is an old Tibetan tale that I have heard several times here in Thailand...

One day a man went to the monastery and told a respected and wise monk that he heard a word he did not understand. He asked the monk what is "hell"? The monk became furious upon hearing the question. The monk began to yell and scream at the man. The man got very embarrassed and angry. The man tried to yell back at the old monk, but the monk continued screaming at him. Then, the man became so angry that he raised his hand as if to strike the monk. The monk stopped and grabbed the man's wrist before his hand came come crashing down. Everything became silent. The monk then said: "That is hell. When one man is driven to strike another, that is hell."