We met a guy who had been to Burma and was telling us how amazing it was, so I decided that I would try for the visa and if I was accepted, I would go no matter how much it was since I don't know when I'll be in this part of the world again.
So we quickly packed up, checked out and booked our ticket to Bangkok.
It was a lucky thing that we did. The place where we were staying was full of creepy old white men and we also found out later that we got bed bugs and possibly lice from the place.
We took a bench pickup to the border. I knew that we were back in thailand the second they shoved us all into the back of an old pick up truck to take us to the bus that was about 15 min away. The bus was quite fancy, but as for always, way too cold. I never did figure out why every country in asia insists on cranking the air con so high. You could possibly make popsicles in there!
It was really interesting to see Thailand for a second time after benign to Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. I remember Thinking when I first got there that it was not western looking at all, but after coming from Laos, everything looked quite new, fancy and western. There were highways and 7/11's on every corner.
In true Asia style, we were ripped off once again. We paid 100b extra so that the bus would drop us off in the main part of town rather than the bus station, but they said because of the floods, the bus could not go there.
It seems the only times the busses are early is when you want them to be late. We arrived before 5am and were right away swarmed by different taxi drivers all yelling in our faces and trying to get us to come with them. It as so overwhelming, I just wanted to be bake in Laos where they wait politely for you to make your own decisions and then come tell them what you decided.
All of the taxis were extremely over priced, telling us that because of the floods, they had to take longer routes and that none of the busses were going.
We were 5 people, John from the Netherlands and Charlotte and Matt from England, so finally we were able to convince a taxi driver to take all 5 of is for 100b each. Still way over priced, but it was the cheapest one we could find since they were all refusing to use the meter.
Just as we expected, there was no water on the way. But we made it there anyway.
It was John's birthday the next day, but he was going to be flying to India, so we decided that since he would be alone on his actual birthday, we would celebrate his pre birthday by breakfast. After breakfast, we decided that we would all sneak into Matt and Charlotte's hotel to swim in the pool before John had to leave for his flight.
Bangkok was a lot more dead this time. Not nearly as packed as the last 2 times I'd been there. I still didn't like the city too much, but it was a lot more relaxing then before!
A different John from Canada who I had meet in Laos messaged us and said he was also in Bangkok as asked to meet up.
I had to wake up early the next morning because I needed to go to the embassy to apply for my visa. When I got downstairs, I saw Matt and Charlotte there with a friend of theirs who had just arrived from India. They were also going to go to Burma, so we all decided that it would just be easier to share a taxi together and get it at the same time.
It was Vanessa's last night in Asia and we had many different people who we said that we would meet up in Bangkok with including a local guy, Robby, a clothes stand guy who we'd met the night before.
We couldn't figure out most of the people, so we messaged John and told us to meet us in the same place where we had met the night before, told the others to join us there if they could and then went to Robby's stand.
When we got there, they bought us a bunch of fruit and different Asian snacks that we'd never seen before.
When it was time for us to leave to meet up with John, we were abut to get a taxi when Robby and one other guy said that they would drive us there on their motor bikes for free. So we took him up on the deal.
Someone once told me that a motor bike in Bangkok was a must do and now I know why.
Everyone in Bangkok seems to drive way too fast, really crazy and 1/2 the time on the wrong side of the road. It may have been stupid of me to get on the back of a bike driving like that without a helmet, but we made it out alive and it was probably one of the most thrilling rides of my life! Better than any amusement park I've ever been to anyway.
When we got there, John was already waiting for us. He told us that his friends all decided to go to Kohsan road, which is where we'd just came from, but he had no way of contacting us. So we got in a taxi and back we went.
After the taxi dilemma from the day before, we had our strong heads on. When we didn't recognize where we were going, we thought that the taxi as taking us on a wild goose chase trying to get the meter higher.
When the meter got to 70, I asked him if he was sure he knew where he was going because we still weren't there yet and the last time we'd paid only 70. He just said ok and kept driving. When he stopped, only a little bit after, the meter said 80, but he told us '70 ok.' it was that moment that I remembered that we'd paid 79 the last time. I felt stupid for not trusting him, but it was a good reminder to me that most people are genuine and not always trying to rip you off. He was just a young guy trying to do his job.
I apologized to him and gave him the full 80 anyway.
As we were walking, a lady selling crickets gave us one free to try, so I ate it. It tasted a little bit fishy and was crunchy. I didn't really like it. Especially when one of the legs decided that it would break off and just stand in my wind pipe for a little while.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
The death of my camera
The next day we went to the blue lagoon that was near by with the same couple.
It was so The was truly Devine! The water was a pure blue and so clear that you could see all the little fish swimming around at the bottom.
There was a tree bending over the lagoon. Vanessa and I climbed up it and as we were up there, Mark, the guy that we were with, asked if we wanted a photo on my camera. We said sure and handed over the camera. After the photo was taken, he handed the camera back. Just as the camera touched my fingers, he let go. In complete slow motion, my camera dove into the water. I let out a fearful cry, but it was too late. The camera had sunken into the deep, blue, mysterious lagoon.
Just as I thought the life of my camera was over, a Lao guy with grubby goggles came running to the rescue. Before I knew it, he came up, camera in hand. The camera wouldn't turn on, but at least the memory card was saved.
After the tragic event of my waterlogged camera, we did an intense hike up to a dark and muggy but awesome cave.
After our hike to the cave, we cooled off by jumping from the tree into the lagoon and swimming around in the refreshing water.
We walked to the bus station to take the local bus to Vientiane. This bus was way nicer than the first local bus that we took in Laos! The seats were soft and we were the first ones on the bus so we sat in the very front seats so that we had room to stretch our legs.
One guy got on as started trying to talk to us, but as we don't understand any Lao, we just ended up playing a really funny game of charades. Even the driver got involved. At one point, he stopped the bus, cranked the music and started a mini dance party in the bus before continuing on our journey.
After we found a place to stay, we went out to find something to eat.
Just after we'd finished eating ,we saw a giant parade coming down the street, so we followed it. They were tons of people with flowers, candles and money trees all marching to the temple. When they got there, they marched around a few times, singing to the jolly music the whole time.
After the parade was a festival. Everyone was so happy, it was impossible not to smile. There was a mini dance circle and being some of the only foreigners there, we immediately got shoved in. Every time we tried to leave it, someone else would just grab our arms and drag us right back in. So we gave up trying, let loose and just enjoyed the experience.
It was so The was truly Devine! The water was a pure blue and so clear that you could see all the little fish swimming around at the bottom.
There was a tree bending over the lagoon. Vanessa and I climbed up it and as we were up there, Mark, the guy that we were with, asked if we wanted a photo on my camera. We said sure and handed over the camera. After the photo was taken, he handed the camera back. Just as the camera touched my fingers, he let go. In complete slow motion, my camera dove into the water. I let out a fearful cry, but it was too late. The camera had sunken into the deep, blue, mysterious lagoon.
Just as I thought the life of my camera was over, a Lao guy with grubby goggles came running to the rescue. Before I knew it, he came up, camera in hand. The camera wouldn't turn on, but at least the memory card was saved.
After the tragic event of my waterlogged camera, we did an intense hike up to a dark and muggy but awesome cave.
After our hike to the cave, we cooled off by jumping from the tree into the lagoon and swimming around in the refreshing water.
We walked to the bus station to take the local bus to Vientiane. This bus was way nicer than the first local bus that we took in Laos! The seats were soft and we were the first ones on the bus so we sat in the very front seats so that we had room to stretch our legs.
One guy got on as started trying to talk to us, but as we don't understand any Lao, we just ended up playing a really funny game of charades. Even the driver got involved. At one point, he stopped the bus, cranked the music and started a mini dance party in the bus before continuing on our journey.
After we found a place to stay, we went out to find something to eat.
Just after we'd finished eating ,we saw a giant parade coming down the street, so we followed it. They were tons of people with flowers, candles and money trees all marching to the temple. When they got there, they marched around a few times, singing to the jolly music the whole time.
After the parade was a festival. Everyone was so happy, it was impossible not to smile. There was a mini dance circle and being some of the only foreigners there, we immediately got shoved in. Every time we tried to leave it, someone else would just grab our arms and drag us right back in. So we gave up trying, let loose and just enjoyed the experience.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Surviving the super man swing and conquering the slide of death
Our second day in Vang Vien, we saw a couple who we had met in Luang Probang and decided to join up for the famous tubing experience, one of the most well know things to backpackers in Laos. It was actually a lot of fun!
As soon as we got on our tubes and started floating down the river, there were objects on strings flying at us form all directions as different people tried to drag us into their bars. We skipped most of them, stopping at a few only long enough to eat some free peanuts until we got to the one with the superman swing.
We'd heard many horror stories about these swings of people hitting the bottom or trees poking out of the water. But after we watched a few others do it, we figured it was safe enough and gave it a whirl.
It was awesome! I felt like I was flying! We ended up staying there for quite awhile, going on the swing several more times.
Our next stop was the famous 'slide of death'! I survived death, but I could see how some didn't. The giant, deathly slide was made of tile. It had water running down it to make you fly faster and a jump at the end to launch you into the air before hitting the water. All was fine and dandy. Until you hit the water. As soon as you hit, you had the wind knocked completely out of you. Then as soon as your head was out of the water, the guy would throw a tube at you, trying to ring you in, but usually just bouncing it off the top of your head leaving you even more stunned. But after you got back on the dock and could breathe again, you forgot about the pain and were ready to do the whole thing all over again!
To get your deposit for the tube back, you had to have it back by 5 and it took about 2 hours to float back down the river to the end.
The float back down was a chill and a bit bumpy; occasionally scraping rocks at the bottom or crashing into trees, but it was very beautiful!
We got back with 15 mins to spare. We returned our tubes, showered up and met up with the couple again and 2 boys from Japan that we had met earlier for dinner at a nice little restraint near the river. A nice way to end a day on the river.
As soon as we got on our tubes and started floating down the river, there were objects on strings flying at us form all directions as different people tried to drag us into their bars. We skipped most of them, stopping at a few only long enough to eat some free peanuts until we got to the one with the superman swing.
We'd heard many horror stories about these swings of people hitting the bottom or trees poking out of the water. But after we watched a few others do it, we figured it was safe enough and gave it a whirl.
It was awesome! I felt like I was flying! We ended up staying there for quite awhile, going on the swing several more times.
Our next stop was the famous 'slide of death'! I survived death, but I could see how some didn't. The giant, deathly slide was made of tile. It had water running down it to make you fly faster and a jump at the end to launch you into the air before hitting the water. All was fine and dandy. Until you hit the water. As soon as you hit, you had the wind knocked completely out of you. Then as soon as your head was out of the water, the guy would throw a tube at you, trying to ring you in, but usually just bouncing it off the top of your head leaving you even more stunned. But after you got back on the dock and could breathe again, you forgot about the pain and were ready to do the whole thing all over again!
To get your deposit for the tube back, you had to have it back by 5 and it took about 2 hours to float back down the river to the end.
The float back down was a chill and a bit bumpy; occasionally scraping rocks at the bottom or crashing into trees, but it was very beautiful!
We got back with 15 mins to spare. We returned our tubes, showered up and met up with the couple again and 2 boys from Japan that we had met earlier for dinner at a nice little restraint near the river. A nice way to end a day on the river.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Getting the local experience
We were going to take the mini van back to Luang Probang the next day, but when we got to the bus station, we found out that there was a pickup leaving right then with 2 seats left and it was cheaper, so we decided to go with that.
I wasn't the most comfortable ride and the exhaust turned everything black, but it defiantly could have been worse.
When we got back to Luang Probang, we went back to the same guest house that we'd stayed at before and the old man was thrilled to see us again. He charged into our room to stuff us with fruit.
We heard that the waterfalls around were really nice, so we found a Polish couple who also wanted to go and joined with them to get a better price.
They were heavenly! Absolutely stunning! I've seen quite a bit in these past few years, but nothing quite like these. There were many mini falls all along leading up to a huge one. The water was so blue and crystal clear. I could have spent days on end there, but unfortunately, the others didn't want to stay as long, so we had to leave.
When we got back, the old man greeted us with a handful of sticky rice demanding us to 'eat, eat.' so we ate, ate and he made us promise that we would walk to the temple with him at 5 the next day.
At 5 sharp the next day, we showed up only to find that he'd already left us about 45 min ago. So we waited for him to come back, and as soon as he did, he went and grabbed some fruit and sticky rice handing it to us, telling everyone else at the table that we were his family.
He was devastated when he heard that we were leaving the next day. He told us to come in and sit down. Then he put a bracelet on us both saying that it was for good luck. He didn't speak English very well, so he blessed us first in Lao and then tried to translate it back into English for us. His translations were as follow: "Laura, you stay at my guest house. Very cheap. Thank you very much. Good luck and thank you very much. You stay at my guest house. Very cheap." then he continued to show us photos of his real family telling us that we were now part of his family.
He offered us dinner, but we had already promised our waiter from the day before that we would meet up with him for dinner, so unfortunately we had to decline.
Sai and his friend took us on their motorbikes to a local place to eat. We were the only foreigners in the whole place and felt like everyone was starting at us. I guess they weren't used to seeing red headed and blonde giants who were 3 heads taller than then walking around in that part of town. We were hoping and pretty sure that it wasn't meant to be a double date, rather just a group getting dinner together, although we did see the boys receive several high fives and sly grins as they smugly walked in with us.
We had to get up at 6:30 the next morning since we hadn't bought our ticket yet to Vang Vien.
I wasn't the most comfortable ride and the exhaust turned everything black, but it defiantly could have been worse.
When we got back to Luang Probang, we went back to the same guest house that we'd stayed at before and the old man was thrilled to see us again. He charged into our room to stuff us with fruit.
We heard that the waterfalls around were really nice, so we found a Polish couple who also wanted to go and joined with them to get a better price.
They were heavenly! Absolutely stunning! I've seen quite a bit in these past few years, but nothing quite like these. There were many mini falls all along leading up to a huge one. The water was so blue and crystal clear. I could have spent days on end there, but unfortunately, the others didn't want to stay as long, so we had to leave.
When we got back, the old man greeted us with a handful of sticky rice demanding us to 'eat, eat.' so we ate, ate and he made us promise that we would walk to the temple with him at 5 the next day.
At 5 sharp the next day, we showed up only to find that he'd already left us about 45 min ago. So we waited for him to come back, and as soon as he did, he went and grabbed some fruit and sticky rice handing it to us, telling everyone else at the table that we were his family.
He was devastated when he heard that we were leaving the next day. He told us to come in and sit down. Then he put a bracelet on us both saying that it was for good luck. He didn't speak English very well, so he blessed us first in Lao and then tried to translate it back into English for us. His translations were as follow: "Laura, you stay at my guest house. Very cheap. Thank you very much. Good luck and thank you very much. You stay at my guest house. Very cheap." then he continued to show us photos of his real family telling us that we were now part of his family.
He offered us dinner, but we had already promised our waiter from the day before that we would meet up with him for dinner, so unfortunately we had to decline.
Sai and his friend took us on their motorbikes to a local place to eat. We were the only foreigners in the whole place and felt like everyone was starting at us. I guess they weren't used to seeing red headed and blonde giants who were 3 heads taller than then walking around in that part of town. We were hoping and pretty sure that it wasn't meant to be a double date, rather just a group getting dinner together, although we did see the boys receive several high fives and sly grins as they smugly walked in with us.
We had to get up at 6:30 the next morning since we hadn't bought our ticket yet to Vang Vien.
Unspoiled beauty
Simon had told us about a town called Muang Ngoi, so we decided to check it out for ourselves.
To get there, we first had to take a mini van to Nong Khiaw and then from there a boat to Munang Ngoi. The mini van took about 5 hours and the boat about 2, but I loved them both so much! The roads were windy and bumpy, but breathtakingly beautiful and all around the river were small villages with little children splashing around and warmly greeting us wearing nothing but giant smiles on their faces.
Muang Ngoi is a tiny town with one dirt road, no cars and only 3 hours of electricity per day.
There were only a few places to eat in the town, so all the tourists were all in one place at the same time. We met a couple from Belgium who told us about their recent traveled to Burma. Although my plan was to go to Malaysia and then over to the Philippines, after hearing what they had to say about Burma, I'm thinking of possibly spending my last few weeks in Burma rather than spending too much time in Malaysia and the Philippines.
The next day we wanted to do a hike to some of the villages, so we asked our German neighbor, Mark, if he wanted to join us. The hike was absolutely superb! We didn't leave till early afternoon, so the lighting was perfect!
It's unbelievable how strong the people here are. Sometimes we would be struggling to climb us a hill and behind us would come a little old lady with about 50kg of stuff attached to a string in her head walking up like there was nothing to it.
It took about 3 hours to walk to the nearest village which was more of just a cluster of about 5 houses and a restaurant. We were all starving, so we decided to get something to eat. Mark and Vanessa ordered fried rice and I got a vegetable curry. When the food came, there was 2 plates of rice and 1 plate of vegetables, but no curry. Vanessa and Mark started to eat, and we finally figured out, after it was 1/2 gone, that what they thought went on the top of their rice was actually my curry!
Since it gets dark quite early here, we had to hurry back. We didn't make it back before dark, but lucky for us, the moon was nearly full so we were able to get back with only a few slight complications.
To get there, we first had to take a mini van to Nong Khiaw and then from there a boat to Munang Ngoi. The mini van took about 5 hours and the boat about 2, but I loved them both so much! The roads were windy and bumpy, but breathtakingly beautiful and all around the river were small villages with little children splashing around and warmly greeting us wearing nothing but giant smiles on their faces.
Muang Ngoi is a tiny town with one dirt road, no cars and only 3 hours of electricity per day.
There were only a few places to eat in the town, so all the tourists were all in one place at the same time. We met a couple from Belgium who told us about their recent traveled to Burma. Although my plan was to go to Malaysia and then over to the Philippines, after hearing what they had to say about Burma, I'm thinking of possibly spending my last few weeks in Burma rather than spending too much time in Malaysia and the Philippines.
The next day we wanted to do a hike to some of the villages, so we asked our German neighbor, Mark, if he wanted to join us. The hike was absolutely superb! We didn't leave till early afternoon, so the lighting was perfect!
It's unbelievable how strong the people here are. Sometimes we would be struggling to climb us a hill and behind us would come a little old lady with about 50kg of stuff attached to a string in her head walking up like there was nothing to it.
It took about 3 hours to walk to the nearest village which was more of just a cluster of about 5 houses and a restaurant. We were all starving, so we decided to get something to eat. Mark and Vanessa ordered fried rice and I got a vegetable curry. When the food came, there was 2 plates of rice and 1 plate of vegetables, but no curry. Vanessa and Mark started to eat, and we finally figured out, after it was 1/2 gone, that what they thought went on the top of their rice was actually my curry!
Since it gets dark quite early here, we had to hurry back. We didn't make it back before dark, but lucky for us, the moon was nearly full so we were able to get back with only a few slight complications.
Free things: a cure all
When we got to Luag Prabang, we decided to walk from the bus station instead of taking a tuk tuk again. We didn't make it very far before I managed to twist my ankle and take a granny tumble to the ground. It hurt a little, but nothing bad enough to keep us from saving the $2 tuk tuk ride! We marched on.
We found a really cheap guest house, that offered free bananas and free coffee, so we decided to stay there. Noting cures a twisted ankle like a bunch of free stuff.
The next day, my ankle was twice the size and a bit painful. We still hadn't figure out where to go next, so we decided to stay another night to give my ankle a rest and to figure a few things out.
Even though the free things made me feel better on the inside, they couldn't stop me from hobbling around like a injured one legged chicken, Unfortunately, so walking far distances was out of the question. Instead, we rented some bikes and whet around the countryside for most of the day. When we got back to our guesthouse, we were sitting in our room when suddenly the door bust open. In walked the old man who owned the place, in his hand, a giant grapefruit for us. We thanked him and he went back out only to come back in 2 seconds later with a bowl of salt (Asian people tend to eat fruit with salt for some reason)
We found a really cheap guest house, that offered free bananas and free coffee, so we decided to stay there. Noting cures a twisted ankle like a bunch of free stuff.
The next day, my ankle was twice the size and a bit painful. We still hadn't figure out where to go next, so we decided to stay another night to give my ankle a rest and to figure a few things out.
Even though the free things made me feel better on the inside, they couldn't stop me from hobbling around like a injured one legged chicken, Unfortunately, so walking far distances was out of the question. Instead, we rented some bikes and whet around the countryside for most of the day. When we got back to our guesthouse, we were sitting in our room when suddenly the door bust open. In walked the old man who owned the place, in his hand, a giant grapefruit for us. We thanked him and he went back out only to come back in 2 seconds later with a bowl of salt (Asian people tend to eat fruit with salt for some reason)
Halloween in Laos
Neither of us liked Vientiane too much and we were coming back down before leaving to Thailand for Vanessa's flight and running out of time, so we only stayed one night.
It was Halloween. We managed to gather up a few other travelers and search for a Halloween party. We found one, but it was nothing compared to Halloween in the states. A few people put a wig or some wings on and called it dressing up.
The bus to Luang Prubang was supposed to take 8 hours, but ended up taking 19 instead. My longest bus ride yet. We did get a free meal, though, so nothing to complain about.
Around midnight, the tire popped. After they got it switched and got going again, I fell asleep. When I woke up, we were at a bus station. I figured it was probably just a bathroom stop, so I fell back asleep again. The next time I woke up, we were still there. Thinking that it'd probably been just about 10 mins, I went to sleep again. This time when I woke up again, I knew there must have been a problem. It was already light out and our bus was scheduled to arrive around 5am.
Turns out the bus had been broken down for 4 hours and we had to wait for another. It took awhile, but it was a free tour of the beautiful countryside that we would have otherwise missed out on.
It was Halloween. We managed to gather up a few other travelers and search for a Halloween party. We found one, but it was nothing compared to Halloween in the states. A few people put a wig or some wings on and called it dressing up.
The bus to Luang Prubang was supposed to take 8 hours, but ended up taking 19 instead. My longest bus ride yet. We did get a free meal, though, so nothing to complain about.
Around midnight, the tire popped. After they got it switched and got going again, I fell asleep. When I woke up, we were at a bus station. I figured it was probably just a bathroom stop, so I fell back asleep again. The next time I woke up, we were still there. Thinking that it'd probably been just about 10 mins, I went to sleep again. This time when I woke up again, I knew there must have been a problem. It was already light out and our bus was scheduled to arrive around 5am.
Turns out the bus had been broken down for 4 hours and we had to wait for another. It took awhile, but it was a free tour of the beautiful countryside that we would have otherwise missed out on.
In Laos and in love!
The people in Laos were so much different from those of Vietnam! We checked the book to see how far the bus station was from the city. It was only 2 km away, so we'd walk, but we didn't know the way. When a tuk tuk driver asked us if we wanted a ride we said no thanks we'll walk. As soon as we said that, he said 'ok, thank you' and then proceeded to give us exact directions to get into the city center. It was this moment that I knew I was going to love this country! I was so surprised, because if you told that to a driver in Vietnam, they would yell at you, tell you that it's 20 km away, too far too far, or even possibly send you walking in the completely wrong direction.
On the way into the city, we found a little market with food, so we decided to stop since, besides the small animal on a stick, we hadn't eaten all day. I still had my Vietnam mind on where you have to argue to get a fair price for everything. You can imagine my surprise when I asked the price and the girl told me the exact price I'd seen the local lady before me pay. We got a really good rice meal for about 75 cents.
Savannakhet was a really small town with not a whole lot to do, but it was nice to have nothing to do for once.
We met a French guy, Simon, and spent most of the time walking around, talking to people and trying out the Lao food. As we were walking down the street, a little 2 year old boy came up to me, took my hand and kissed it. In this moment, I knew I was falling in love with Laos.
Though we both liked the warm feeling of Savannakhet, we knew that if we wanted to have enough time to see more of Laos, we'd have to leave. So we went to the bus station and were thankfully able to get the last 2 tickets on the night bus to Vientiane. The bus was different than the night busses in Vietnam. Instead of seat like beds, these ones had actual beds, but 2 people had to share a one person sized bed. It's a wonder one of us didn't fall out.
On the way into the city, we found a little market with food, so we decided to stop since, besides the small animal on a stick, we hadn't eaten all day. I still had my Vietnam mind on where you have to argue to get a fair price for everything. You can imagine my surprise when I asked the price and the girl told me the exact price I'd seen the local lady before me pay. We got a really good rice meal for about 75 cents.
Savannakhet was a really small town with not a whole lot to do, but it was nice to have nothing to do for once.
We met a French guy, Simon, and spent most of the time walking around, talking to people and trying out the Lao food. As we were walking down the street, a little 2 year old boy came up to me, took my hand and kissed it. In this moment, I knew I was falling in love with Laos.
Though we both liked the warm feeling of Savannakhet, we knew that if we wanted to have enough time to see more of Laos, we'd have to leave. So we went to the bus station and were thankfully able to get the last 2 tickets on the night bus to Vientiane. The bus was different than the night busses in Vietnam. Instead of seat like beds, these ones had actual beds, but 2 people had to share a one person sized bed. It's a wonder one of us didn't fall out.
Goodbye; Vietnam style
When we were in Hue, Taylor decided that he wanted to go to Cambodia instead of Laos, so Vanessa and I booked our tickets. Normally I never book anything through my guest house unless I've looked around for hours, know exactly what I'm getting and it really is the cheapest price.
I should have stuck with this, but the lady seemed so nice, Giving us some fruit, so we figured that we could trust her. She told us that there were cheaper busses, but those ones would be local busses and probably wouldn't take us all the way. I don't mind the local busses at all; In fact, I actually prefer them, but I did want to make sure that my ticket would take us all the way.
We were scammed. One final goodbye to Vietnam. We got picked up and stuffed into a packed mini van. Or seat was in the very back and was horrible! My feet didn't even reach the floor and the back of the seat was pushed up a bit so that it was like we were sitting at like a 75 degree angle the entire time.
When we got to the border, the lady told us that we'd have to take a motorbike to the bus after we'd made our visas. She told us that we had to pay for the motorbike ride even though our ticket was supposed to be all the way through. We refused to pay anything more and walked the 2 km to the next town where the bus was supposed to be.
When we got there, we saw many nice looking busses lined up. Getting excited that maybe we'd gotten at least 1/2 of what we were promised, we went to find the lady.
Of course it wasn't. When we found her, she gave us a ticket and pointed to a rickety old blue bus stuffed full of people and boxes. We literally had to climb into the bus and had boxes of sardines at our feet. These busses are defiantly built for the Asian legs. We could not even sit strait because our legs didn't fit.
Though we got royally ripped off (we could have arranged everything our selves for 1/2 the price) it was a funny experience. I was just glad that we actually were getting all the way and getting mad about it wouldn't do anything. In the end, it's just another story.
The bus drove with only stops to pick up people for a few hours. Since we hadn't eaten at all, we were starving. At one stop, people came onto the bus with sticks of meat, so Vanessa decided that she'd get one. We had no idea what it was, but it looked safe enough.
We still don't know for sure what it was, but we figure it must have been some sort of small animal ground up and put on a stick. Perhaps frog, or rat, or maybe cat. A soon as you bit into it, you got a mouthful of small bones. I think it had more bones in it then meat. She ate it for a bit until she got sick of spitting out the bones and then chucked it out the window.
I should have stuck with this, but the lady seemed so nice, Giving us some fruit, so we figured that we could trust her. She told us that there were cheaper busses, but those ones would be local busses and probably wouldn't take us all the way. I don't mind the local busses at all; In fact, I actually prefer them, but I did want to make sure that my ticket would take us all the way.
We were scammed. One final goodbye to Vietnam. We got picked up and stuffed into a packed mini van. Or seat was in the very back and was horrible! My feet didn't even reach the floor and the back of the seat was pushed up a bit so that it was like we were sitting at like a 75 degree angle the entire time.
When we got to the border, the lady told us that we'd have to take a motorbike to the bus after we'd made our visas. She told us that we had to pay for the motorbike ride even though our ticket was supposed to be all the way through. We refused to pay anything more and walked the 2 km to the next town where the bus was supposed to be.
When we got there, we saw many nice looking busses lined up. Getting excited that maybe we'd gotten at least 1/2 of what we were promised, we went to find the lady.
Of course it wasn't. When we found her, she gave us a ticket and pointed to a rickety old blue bus stuffed full of people and boxes. We literally had to climb into the bus and had boxes of sardines at our feet. These busses are defiantly built for the Asian legs. We could not even sit strait because our legs didn't fit.
Though we got royally ripped off (we could have arranged everything our selves for 1/2 the price) it was a funny experience. I was just glad that we actually were getting all the way and getting mad about it wouldn't do anything. In the end, it's just another story.
The bus drove with only stops to pick up people for a few hours. Since we hadn't eaten at all, we were starving. At one stop, people came onto the bus with sticks of meat, so Vanessa decided that she'd get one. We had no idea what it was, but it looked safe enough.
We still don't know for sure what it was, but we figure it must have been some sort of small animal ground up and put on a stick. Perhaps frog, or rat, or maybe cat. A soon as you bit into it, you got a mouthful of small bones. I think it had more bones in it then meat. She ate it for a bit until she got sick of spitting out the bones and then chucked it out the window.
Honking and Hanoi
Erkka had to be out of the country the next day, so I decided that I would go back to Hanoi to meet up with Vanessa, Taylor and Stephen and then go from there somehow over to Laos.
We bargained down the price to get to the train station, I bought my train ticket, we had lunch and then Erkka walked off to China and I was left for a few hours waiting for my train. He figured that after our hike the day before, he could conquer the 3 km walk to the border with breeze.
It's always strange and a bit sad when you part ways with someone that you have been traveling with for awhile.
Surprise, surprise, I choose to go by hard seat again back to Hanoi even though I swore to myself that I'd not do it again. İ couldn't help myself. İt as a fraction of the price. İt was not so bad this time, though, except for the old man sitting next to me who kept on trying to pet my leg.
I arrived at the Hanoi train station a few hours late, but Vanessa had said that they would meet me at the station so that I wouldn't have a problem finding the guest house that they were staying at. When I got there, I got completely lost. I seem to always loose my sense of direction when I'm traveling with someone because usually they are better than me, so I just depend on them. Then when İ'm no longer with them, İ'm completely hopeles.
Finally I found the lobby, but no Vanessa. I figured that I'd wait for a bit to see if she'd show up, but after waiting for an hour and being swarmed with people trying to help me find her/the guest house, I finally decided to give up and walk.
Just as I was about to do so, an older guy from Alaska started talking to me. He'd overheard my conversation with the other guys and offered me to come in his taxi with him to his hotel and then the staff their could look up mine.
He was very friendly and even offered me breakfast, but I'd just eaten and i figured it'd be best to find Vanessa and them so they don't worry or anything.
We figured out where my hotel was finally and even though I said that id be perfectly fine walking on my own, Sid instated on paying a cab for me. He said that he wouldn't want his daughter walking alone, lost, in a big city. I didn't have the heart to remind him that that was exactly the story of my life for the past couple of years.
The taxi driver didn't know where he was going and spoke no English. He got so lost and kept on driving around and around aimlessly. A bit edgy from lack of sleep, I was just about to get a little bit frustrated when he called a guy and made me talk to him. This guy spoke English, but said he had no idea what I was talking about. I showed the map once again to the driver and finally he was able to figure out where it was.
Though he tried to charge me more than double the price, and it took double the amount of time, I finally made it! I was so nice to see Vanessa and Taylor again and it was funny that they had met and started traveling together. It didn't take long to feel like everything picked back up right where we'd left it last time.
It was also funny to meet Stephen because i could speak german again and i was happy to know that I hadnt lost it completely. Also, Vanessa and Erkka had both met him in Kampot and he was also there when I met Erkka for the first time in Kampot, but somehow, we'd missed each other. Another funny story is vanessa and Erkka were one time in cambodia at the same town in not only the same guesthouse, but the same dorm room and hadn't met until Dalat when Vanessa was traveling with me and we bumped into Erkka. People say that everybody has a lookalike somewhere. I feel like every traveler has some sort of mutual connection somewhere in the world.
Vanessa, Stephen and Taylor wanted to go to Halong bay, but since I'd already been there with Erkka, I decided not to go, but Vanessa and Taylor were both thinking of joining me to Laos, so I said I'd wait for them.
Hanoi is a very noisy and polluted city. Motor bikes everywhere honking at you. I was Definitely ready to get out of there when they got back. I did some research and some looking around to finally find the cheapest/smartest way to get to Laos. Vanessa, Taylor and I took the night bus to Hue and spent one night there.
A girl from couchsurfing messaged me to meet up for coffee the day before I left Hanoi, so Taylor and I went to meet her before we left. She took us to a cafe that had the best coffee ever. I was really glad to meet her because it changed my views on the city. Gave me a good impression right before leaving. The only pity was that she wanted to show me around some local places of Hanoi, but since I had already booked my bus to Hue, I couldn't.
We bargained down the price to get to the train station, I bought my train ticket, we had lunch and then Erkka walked off to China and I was left for a few hours waiting for my train. He figured that after our hike the day before, he could conquer the 3 km walk to the border with breeze.
It's always strange and a bit sad when you part ways with someone that you have been traveling with for awhile.
Surprise, surprise, I choose to go by hard seat again back to Hanoi even though I swore to myself that I'd not do it again. İ couldn't help myself. İt as a fraction of the price. İt was not so bad this time, though, except for the old man sitting next to me who kept on trying to pet my leg.
I arrived at the Hanoi train station a few hours late, but Vanessa had said that they would meet me at the station so that I wouldn't have a problem finding the guest house that they were staying at. When I got there, I got completely lost. I seem to always loose my sense of direction when I'm traveling with someone because usually they are better than me, so I just depend on them. Then when İ'm no longer with them, İ'm completely hopeles.
Finally I found the lobby, but no Vanessa. I figured that I'd wait for a bit to see if she'd show up, but after waiting for an hour and being swarmed with people trying to help me find her/the guest house, I finally decided to give up and walk.
Just as I was about to do so, an older guy from Alaska started talking to me. He'd overheard my conversation with the other guys and offered me to come in his taxi with him to his hotel and then the staff their could look up mine.
He was very friendly and even offered me breakfast, but I'd just eaten and i figured it'd be best to find Vanessa and them so they don't worry or anything.
We figured out where my hotel was finally and even though I said that id be perfectly fine walking on my own, Sid instated on paying a cab for me. He said that he wouldn't want his daughter walking alone, lost, in a big city. I didn't have the heart to remind him that that was exactly the story of my life for the past couple of years.
The taxi driver didn't know where he was going and spoke no English. He got so lost and kept on driving around and around aimlessly. A bit edgy from lack of sleep, I was just about to get a little bit frustrated when he called a guy and made me talk to him. This guy spoke English, but said he had no idea what I was talking about. I showed the map once again to the driver and finally he was able to figure out where it was.
Though he tried to charge me more than double the price, and it took double the amount of time, I finally made it! I was so nice to see Vanessa and Taylor again and it was funny that they had met and started traveling together. It didn't take long to feel like everything picked back up right where we'd left it last time.
It was also funny to meet Stephen because i could speak german again and i was happy to know that I hadnt lost it completely. Also, Vanessa and Erkka had both met him in Kampot and he was also there when I met Erkka for the first time in Kampot, but somehow, we'd missed each other. Another funny story is vanessa and Erkka were one time in cambodia at the same town in not only the same guesthouse, but the same dorm room and hadn't met until Dalat when Vanessa was traveling with me and we bumped into Erkka. People say that everybody has a lookalike somewhere. I feel like every traveler has some sort of mutual connection somewhere in the world.
Vanessa, Stephen and Taylor wanted to go to Halong bay, but since I'd already been there with Erkka, I decided not to go, but Vanessa and Taylor were both thinking of joining me to Laos, so I said I'd wait for them.
Hanoi is a very noisy and polluted city. Motor bikes everywhere honking at you. I was Definitely ready to get out of there when they got back. I did some research and some looking around to finally find the cheapest/smartest way to get to Laos. Vanessa, Taylor and I took the night bus to Hue and spent one night there.
A girl from couchsurfing messaged me to meet up for coffee the day before I left Hanoi, so Taylor and I went to meet her before we left. She took us to a cafe that had the best coffee ever. I was really glad to meet her because it changed my views on the city. Gave me a good impression right before leaving. The only pity was that she wanted to show me around some local places of Hanoi, but since I had already booked my bus to Hue, I couldn't.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Homestay in Sapa
We chose the hard seat night train to Sapa because it was less than 1/2 the price of the regular sleeping train.
We found out why as soon as we got on. The hard seats were exactly what they said they were. Wooden benches. It may have been one of the worst nights sleep in a really long time. Every time I would start to drift off to sleep, my head would fall or would be jolted awake by the people next to me.
Finally around 3am, the people across from us got off of the train so we were able to each have one bench and get a little sleep for the last few hours.
We had read about a really nice home stay on couchsurfing and thought it would be a cool experience, so we'd arranged to meet the lady, May, at 10am near the church in Sapa.
As we were sitting there waiting for May, we realized that neither of us knew what she looked like and she would have no idea what we would look like. We hoped that some way she would be able to recognize us as the 2 foreigners and come to us.
We weren't there for too long before 2 ladies came up to us and started chatting with us. They asked our names and then we asked theirs. One of their names was May, so we thought that it must me the May. I told her that I think we had talked on the phone and she seemed to know what we were talking about right away. She invited us to the market to buy some food so that we could cook dinner together after getting to her village.
After we got everything from the market we started walking to her village only to be stopped by someone else asking us our names. I told her our names and she asked if we were planning on doing a home stay. We told her yes, that we had called May a few days ago and were now going to do a home stay with her. Only to find out that this lady was also May and actually the May that we and been talking to on the phone. Awkward situation. The 2 May's argued for a bit until we came to the conclusion that we would give the first May the money for the food, she would give it to the second May and we would go with the second May to her village since that is what we had originally planned on doing.
We walked about 4 hours to May's village passing many other villages along the way. Some of them were swarmed with tourists. I know that I am a tourists myself, but I still find it kind of sad how much tourism can change a culture so much and almost corrupt it sometimes.
The last stretch to May's house was all uphill and pretty strenuous. I think my face matched the color of my bright red shirt by the time that we made it up.
When we got there, May's husband made us some dinner and we all ate together. Eating with May and her husband was almost worse than eating at an all you can eat buffet. Every time our bowls were 1/2 empty, they would pile more in there. Even when I said I was full, they said 'one more' and filled it up again. I think I ate the equivalent to 2 large horses that night. Or perhaps 4 of those dwarf horses.
After dinner was finished, I was ready for bed. It was so dark out, I thought it must be at least 10pm. I looked at the clock and it was 7:30. The bed was just a wooden slab with a blanket over it, but after the night in the train and 4 hours of hiking, I slept like I'd been knocked in the head.
When a girl in May's tribe gets married, she moves in with the husband's family, so also living in the house were May's husband's dad and sister, plus their 3 children. May, her husband and their 3 kids all shared one bed, the dad slept in the loft and the sister had a bed in the corner.
For breakfast we also ate the equivalent to multiple large animals and then we helped May and her husband sort the rice before walking down to go back.
We weren't sure how much you were supposed to offer for a home stay, but since we had also paid for all of the food, we came up with an amount. Awkwardly she told us it was not enough, so we scrounged through our wallets trying to find enough money.
We didn't expect the homestay to cost as much as it did, so when May told us that we could ride with a motorbike back to Sapa with one of her friends for 40,000D we declined, deciding that we would just walk to make up for the extra money that we had just spent. We had no idea how far it was on the road, but since it took 4 hours to hike out there, we figured it must be shorter on the road and there was only one road so it would be highly unlikely that we get lost. Plus, we had only 12,000D left between us unless we wanted to cut into Erkka's backpack that we had surely bound shut.
We started walking, going up and up. We had ran out of water, but there was nowhere to buy any along the way and when we finally found a place, it was much too expensive, so we kept on going. We thought that the first mile marker we'd seen said that Sapa was 9km away, but after walking for about another 1/2 hour or so we saw another saying that Sapa was 14km away.
I was dying of thirst, so the next station that we saw I decided that we should go in and check how much the water was. The lady said that it was 25,000D, but then an older lady came up behind her and told her to give it to us for 5,000. We must have looked like we were dying.
Finally, pooped and sweating, we made it back to our hotel in Sapa. After 2 days on a boat with no working water, 8 hours on a train, 4 hours of hiking, one night sleeping in a wooden house with mud floors, and 3.5 hours of hiking back, a shower has never felt more heavenly!
After we were relaxed in and able to move again, we thought about it and figured out that we had walked around 3.5 hours, 19km uphill the entire way, all to save $1 each.
We found out why as soon as we got on. The hard seats were exactly what they said they were. Wooden benches. It may have been one of the worst nights sleep in a really long time. Every time I would start to drift off to sleep, my head would fall or would be jolted awake by the people next to me.
Finally around 3am, the people across from us got off of the train so we were able to each have one bench and get a little sleep for the last few hours.
We had read about a really nice home stay on couchsurfing and thought it would be a cool experience, so we'd arranged to meet the lady, May, at 10am near the church in Sapa.
As we were sitting there waiting for May, we realized that neither of us knew what she looked like and she would have no idea what we would look like. We hoped that some way she would be able to recognize us as the 2 foreigners and come to us.
We weren't there for too long before 2 ladies came up to us and started chatting with us. They asked our names and then we asked theirs. One of their names was May, so we thought that it must me the May. I told her that I think we had talked on the phone and she seemed to know what we were talking about right away. She invited us to the market to buy some food so that we could cook dinner together after getting to her village.
After we got everything from the market we started walking to her village only to be stopped by someone else asking us our names. I told her our names and she asked if we were planning on doing a home stay. We told her yes, that we had called May a few days ago and were now going to do a home stay with her. Only to find out that this lady was also May and actually the May that we and been talking to on the phone. Awkward situation. The 2 May's argued for a bit until we came to the conclusion that we would give the first May the money for the food, she would give it to the second May and we would go with the second May to her village since that is what we had originally planned on doing.
We walked about 4 hours to May's village passing many other villages along the way. Some of them were swarmed with tourists. I know that I am a tourists myself, but I still find it kind of sad how much tourism can change a culture so much and almost corrupt it sometimes.
The last stretch to May's house was all uphill and pretty strenuous. I think my face matched the color of my bright red shirt by the time that we made it up.
When we got there, May's husband made us some dinner and we all ate together. Eating with May and her husband was almost worse than eating at an all you can eat buffet. Every time our bowls were 1/2 empty, they would pile more in there. Even when I said I was full, they said 'one more' and filled it up again. I think I ate the equivalent to 2 large horses that night. Or perhaps 4 of those dwarf horses.
After dinner was finished, I was ready for bed. It was so dark out, I thought it must be at least 10pm. I looked at the clock and it was 7:30. The bed was just a wooden slab with a blanket over it, but after the night in the train and 4 hours of hiking, I slept like I'd been knocked in the head.
When a girl in May's tribe gets married, she moves in with the husband's family, so also living in the house were May's husband's dad and sister, plus their 3 children. May, her husband and their 3 kids all shared one bed, the dad slept in the loft and the sister had a bed in the corner.
For breakfast we also ate the equivalent to multiple large animals and then we helped May and her husband sort the rice before walking down to go back.
We weren't sure how much you were supposed to offer for a home stay, but since we had also paid for all of the food, we came up with an amount. Awkwardly she told us it was not enough, so we scrounged through our wallets trying to find enough money.
We didn't expect the homestay to cost as much as it did, so when May told us that we could ride with a motorbike back to Sapa with one of her friends for 40,000D we declined, deciding that we would just walk to make up for the extra money that we had just spent. We had no idea how far it was on the road, but since it took 4 hours to hike out there, we figured it must be shorter on the road and there was only one road so it would be highly unlikely that we get lost. Plus, we had only 12,000D left between us unless we wanted to cut into Erkka's backpack that we had surely bound shut.
We started walking, going up and up. We had ran out of water, but there was nowhere to buy any along the way and when we finally found a place, it was much too expensive, so we kept on going. We thought that the first mile marker we'd seen said that Sapa was 9km away, but after walking for about another 1/2 hour or so we saw another saying that Sapa was 14km away.
I was dying of thirst, so the next station that we saw I decided that we should go in and check how much the water was. The lady said that it was 25,000D, but then an older lady came up behind her and told her to give it to us for 5,000. We must have looked like we were dying.
Finally, pooped and sweating, we made it back to our hotel in Sapa. After 2 days on a boat with no working water, 8 hours on a train, 4 hours of hiking, one night sleeping in a wooden house with mud floors, and 3.5 hours of hiking back, a shower has never felt more heavenly!
After we were relaxed in and able to move again, we thought about it and figured out that we had walked around 3.5 hours, 19km uphill the entire way, all to save $1 each.
On a boat
We wanted to go to Halong Bay and we were thinking that it would be cheaper to arrange everything by ourselves, but when we started looking at tours, we were able to find one for $35 for 2 days, 1 night. We calculated if we arranged everything our own, it would probably come out to about $40, so we decided to just take the tour.
We rode in a mini van from Hanoi for about 2 hours to Halong city and then got on our boat. We had a really nice group, a couple of girls from England, a guy from England, 2 Dutch boys, one family from New Zealand, a guy from Japan and a couple from France.
Halong bay was really pretty, but it was a bit more polluted then I would have imagined. Big boats were everywhere and the water was quite filthy.
We went to some caves. They were huge and really cool.
The sunset over the bay was really nice. The islands looked like they were going on forever.
We wanted to wake up early for the sunrise, but when the alarm rang, I looked out the window and it was cloudy so decided to go back to sleep until breakfast.
After breakfast we went kayaking around the bay a little bit. We found this really cool under the rocks and kayaked in, but apparently we weren't allowed to be in there because our guide came and fetched us out.
After we got back, we had dinner with the English girls and Dutch boys before we had to make our way over to the train station to catch our night train to Sapa.
Our plan was to walk to the train station, but since we were running a little late, we decided that if we could find a moto for a decent price we would take that. We were able to find one finally, but it as a bit of a trick. He out Erkka's big bag in front, got on, Erkka got on behind him, and then me with my big backpack, our small backpacks hanging off the side. Before coming to Asia, I would have never imagined how much could fit onto one small motorbike!
We rode in a mini van from Hanoi for about 2 hours to Halong city and then got on our boat. We had a really nice group, a couple of girls from England, a guy from England, 2 Dutch boys, one family from New Zealand, a guy from Japan and a couple from France.
Halong bay was really pretty, but it was a bit more polluted then I would have imagined. Big boats were everywhere and the water was quite filthy.
We went to some caves. They were huge and really cool.
The sunset over the bay was really nice. The islands looked like they were going on forever.
We wanted to wake up early for the sunrise, but when the alarm rang, I looked out the window and it was cloudy so decided to go back to sleep until breakfast.
After breakfast we went kayaking around the bay a little bit. We found this really cool under the rocks and kayaked in, but apparently we weren't allowed to be in there because our guide came and fetched us out.
After we got back, we had dinner with the English girls and Dutch boys before we had to make our way over to the train station to catch our night train to Sapa.
Our plan was to walk to the train station, but since we were running a little late, we decided that if we could find a moto for a decent price we would take that. We were able to find one finally, but it as a bit of a trick. He out Erkka's big bag in front, got on, Erkka got on behind him, and then me with my big backpack, our small backpacks hanging off the side. Before coming to Asia, I would have never imagined how much could fit onto one small motorbike!
Late night bus rides
The bus ride from Hoi An to Hanoi was 18 hours long and I hardly slept at all. We played cards for awhile and around 10pm, 2 Vietnamese guys got on the bus and sat down right in front of us and were staring at us the whole time, and trying to look into our bags every time we opened them up. We put all of our valuable stuff in Erkka's bag since it could lock, tied it to the seat and put our arms over it, but I still too paranoid to sleep much.
Thankfully the bus was 2 hours late, so instead of being in Hanoi at 6am we got there around 8.
We found a place to stay and went for a walk around the city.
For dinner we found this place where they give you a mini grill and you cook everything yourselves.
We were sitting beside a few Vietnamese people and they started chatting with us. They gave us some corn water and some popcorn. The popcorn tasted just like puffy, dried up field corn.
Thankfully the bus was 2 hours late, so instead of being in Hanoi at 6am we got there around 8.
We found a place to stay and went for a walk around the city.
For dinner we found this place where they give you a mini grill and you cook everything yourselves.
We were sitting beside a few Vietnamese people and they started chatting with us. They gave us some corn water and some popcorn. The popcorn tasted just like puffy, dried up field corn.
River ride
When we got to Hoi An, we walked from the bus station since it wasn't too far from the city. We wanted to rent bikes for the day and bike around, but our plans changed when we got attacked by people trying to sell us boat tours. We said that we'd go if we could find one for $1. one guy offered us to got for one hour for $1 so we had to take it.
The boat tour was not quite what any of us had imagined. We drove down the river, stopped for a bit and then drove back. Vanessa actually fell asleep for 1/2 of the time. There was not a whole lot to see, but it was quite funny.
We went for an evening walk around the city later. The whole city as lit up with lanterns and it looked a bit like a Disney town with the lights reflecting in the river.
Erkka and I wanted to go to Hanoi the next day, but Vanessa had to stay in Hoi An to meet up with a friend of hers, so we decided to get up early and rent bikes before Erkka and I had to catch the bus, but we over slept. By the time that we got up and ready, it was practically already time for Erkka and I to find our tickets and leave.
The boat tour was not quite what any of us had imagined. We drove down the river, stopped for a bit and then drove back. Vanessa actually fell asleep for 1/2 of the time. There was not a whole lot to see, but it was quite funny.
We went for an evening walk around the city later. The whole city as lit up with lanterns and it looked a bit like a Disney town with the lights reflecting in the river.
Erkka and I wanted to go to Hanoi the next day, but Vanessa had to stay in Hoi An to meet up with a friend of hers, so we decided to get up early and rent bikes before Erkka and I had to catch the bus, but we over slept. By the time that we got up and ready, it was practically already time for Erkka and I to find our tickets and leave.
Heads or tails
We were planning on heading to Hoi An strait after getting to
Nha Trang, but when we were in Nha Trang it was so hot, so we thought maybe we could stay one night to go to the beach. None of us could decide what to do, so we flipped a coin. The coin said that we were staying.
Nha Trang is meant to be the party central of Vietnam, but we didn't see it at all. It seemed actually pretty dead. It was a nice beach, but was being built up everywhere with huge, Florida style resorts. I imagine in a few years that it will be nothing like it is today.
We took the night bus to Hoi An the next day. The bus wasn't completely full, so we were able to take up the back row of 5 beds to play cards. Since there was so much space, we were all able to sleep pretty well. The only unfortunate thing is that Erkka lost his expensive phone. Either it fell down and then out the window (which is highly unlikely) or someone stole it while we were sleeping. We were lucky not to loose anything else.
Nha Trang, but when we were in Nha Trang it was so hot, so we thought maybe we could stay one night to go to the beach. None of us could decide what to do, so we flipped a coin. The coin said that we were staying.
Nha Trang is meant to be the party central of Vietnam, but we didn't see it at all. It seemed actually pretty dead. It was a nice beach, but was being built up everywhere with huge, Florida style resorts. I imagine in a few years that it will be nothing like it is today.
We took the night bus to Hoi An the next day. The bus wasn't completely full, so we were able to take up the back row of 5 beds to play cards. Since there was so much space, we were all able to sleep pretty well. The only unfortunate thing is that Erkka lost his expensive phone. Either it fell down and then out the window (which is highly unlikely) or someone stole it while we were sleeping. We were lucky not to loose anything else.
Pinching pennies
Erkka was planning on taking the day bus to Nha Trang and then the night bus from Nha Trang to Hoi An the next day because it was cheaper then taking the night bus all the way from Dalat. Vanessa and I were planning on going to Hoi An anyway, so we decoded to just join him.
We set off to find the cheapest bus tickets and it started to pour. We walked around for quite awhile before finally finding the best prices. It was only after we were soaking wet and walking back that we realized that we'd gone on a wild goose chase to save 50cents each.
It was cold and rainy and we wanted something hot to drink, but none of us wanted to pay much, so we decided to go to a street stand to buy some tea bags in hopes that one of our hotels would provide us with some hot water for free.
We found a little stand out on the street and were trying to explain to the lady that we wanted some tea, but she did not understand us so we had to play the hot, cold guessing game. She kept reaching for everything on the shelves except for the tea. One point she even picked up the tea, we all yelled yes, yes, but then she just moved the tea so she could grab the coffee behind it. It was so funny and even if we were over charged for the tea, her laughter and watching her try to figure out what we were trying to say made it all worth it.
We set off to find the cheapest bus tickets and it started to pour. We walked around for quite awhile before finally finding the best prices. It was only after we were soaking wet and walking back that we realized that we'd gone on a wild goose chase to save 50cents each.
It was cold and rainy and we wanted something hot to drink, but none of us wanted to pay much, so we decided to go to a street stand to buy some tea bags in hopes that one of our hotels would provide us with some hot water for free.
We found a little stand out on the street and were trying to explain to the lady that we wanted some tea, but she did not understand us so we had to play the hot, cold guessing game. She kept reaching for everything on the shelves except for the tea. One point she even picked up the tea, we all yelled yes, yes, but then she just moved the tea so she could grab the coffee behind it. It was so funny and even if we were over charged for the tea, her laughter and watching her try to figure out what we were trying to say made it all worth it.
Brain Freeze
Since it was already so late when we got there and we were a bit wiped from the bus journey, we didn't do much except for going to the night market to try different types of cheap food.
Dalat is so much cooler than anywhere I've been yet in southeast Asia. It was like a whole different country. Instead of the markets having thin dresses and flip flops, all of the stands were selling thick socks and winter coats.
We were freezing, thinking that it must be pretty cold until we saw that it was in the high 60's-low 70's. I think Minnesota winters are going to kill me after this trip!
The next day we wanted to see the Elephant waterfalls, so we got a 1/2 tour to take us around. When we got to the waterfalls and were about to climb down, we saw a Vietnamese family having a picnic, so we waved at them. They waved us to come over, and as soon as we did, started shoving different foods and drinks at us and then taking photos with us.
As we were there, I saw someone else coming down the trail and I recognized him. He was a Finnish guy, Erkka, that I had met briefly in Kampot. Since our guides had been too lazy to come to the waterfalls with us, we went with him and his guide.
After the tour, we had agreed to meet up with Erkka for dinner. We were able to finally find a cheap place to eat that we all agreed on and that had no 'tourist' prices. It seems Vietnam always puts an extra charge on everything if you are a tourist.
Dalat is so much cooler than anywhere I've been yet in southeast Asia. It was like a whole different country. Instead of the markets having thin dresses and flip flops, all of the stands were selling thick socks and winter coats.
We were freezing, thinking that it must be pretty cold until we saw that it was in the high 60's-low 70's. I think Minnesota winters are going to kill me after this trip!
The next day we wanted to see the Elephant waterfalls, so we got a 1/2 tour to take us around. When we got to the waterfalls and were about to climb down, we saw a Vietnamese family having a picnic, so we waved at them. They waved us to come over, and as soon as we did, started shoving different foods and drinks at us and then taking photos with us.
As we were there, I saw someone else coming down the trail and I recognized him. He was a Finnish guy, Erkka, that I had met briefly in Kampot. Since our guides had been too lazy to come to the waterfalls with us, we went with him and his guide.
After the tour, we had agreed to meet up with Erkka for dinner. We were able to finally find a cheap place to eat that we all agreed on and that had no 'tourist' prices. It seems Vietnam always puts an extra charge on everything if you are a tourist.
Life's a journey
I went for dinner with the two English guys, Taylor and Callum, that were in the dorm with me. W found a place with a bunch of different foods, so we just ordered a few different things and all shared.
The difference between Ho Chi Mhin and any city in Cambodia is crazy! I would have never expected such a change in such a small distance! It was so much more modern and built up.
We went to the war museum the next day and then later Callum and I met up with Mark, a guy who's couch I'd asked to surf, for dinner. He was an English teacher there, so he and some of his teacher friends took us to a small place to eat that was local and cheap. It was the best food ever for under $1!
We spent the next few days wandering around the markets and the city and chilling. We met another girl who's travel companions were leaving and she was looking for a place to stay, so we told her to come to our dorm.
She did and the next day we decided that we would go to Dalat together.
The bus ride to Dalat was supposed to be 6 hours, but it ended up taking more like 9, but it didn't matter because I've come to love bus journeys. Just sitting there, having no idea what will be on the other end of your journey and watching the different landscapes as they pass by you.
The difference between Ho Chi Mhin and any city in Cambodia is crazy! I would have never expected such a change in such a small distance! It was so much more modern and built up.
We went to the war museum the next day and then later Callum and I met up with Mark, a guy who's couch I'd asked to surf, for dinner. He was an English teacher there, so he and some of his teacher friends took us to a small place to eat that was local and cheap. It was the best food ever for under $1!
We spent the next few days wandering around the markets and the city and chilling. We met another girl who's travel companions were leaving and she was looking for a place to stay, so we told her to come to our dorm.
She did and the next day we decided that we would go to Dalat together.
The bus ride to Dalat was supposed to be 6 hours, but it ended up taking more like 9, but it didn't matter because I've come to love bus journeys. Just sitting there, having no idea what will be on the other end of your journey and watching the different landscapes as they pass by you.
Rain and rats
After I got my visa, I headed down to Kampot intending on crossing the border into Vietnam from the south.
I found an alright place to stay that was a reasonable price and was satisfied with it until I woke up in the morning to find the jar of peanut butter that I had finally broke down and bought chewed open by a rat.
I stayed 2 nights in Kampot and it rained the whole time. I wanted to go to Vietnam by bus, but I found out that the only way to go strait to Vietnam without going back to Phnom Penh was to hire a moto to take you to the border. So that's what I did, I took my bags, checked out of my guest house and walked around till I was able to find a moto driver who was willing to take me from Kampot, across the Vietnamese border and then to Ha Tien, the closest town to the border for $10.
The driver put my big back pack in front of him, then got on. I got on behind him wearing my small backpack. He gave me what looked like 1/2 of a giant ping pong ball to wear as a helmet and off we went.
The drive took about 2 hours to the border, but I really liked it. It's such a different experience to travel by moto rather than bus all the time. Yu can actually see everything that is going on around you.
In true Cambodian style, my driver stopped a few times to do some of his personal business on the way.
The border was pretty strait forward, no one spoke English well, but somehow everything was figured out by playing gestures.
Ha Tien was a very small town with not a whole lot to see, so I only spent one night. I took the mini bus the next day to Ho Chi Mahn City.
The bus took about 7 hours with a few random stops along the way. One time when we were stopped, I really had to use the toilet. Some of the other people had gotten out, so I figured it was safe to also get out. I went to use the toilet, and when I came back, the van was gone. Apparently they weren't stopping, but we were in the middle of a traffic jam and the van had moved on, so I had to walk up the street until I found my van. Thankfully one of the ladies in my van had a very memorable face.
Every time the van would stop, people from the streets would actually climb into the van and try to sell different stuff to you.
When I got yo Ho Chi Mihn, I didn't have a place to stay, but I did know the name of one place that I had seen on the Internet, so when the people cam swarming at me asking if I had a place to stay already, I said that name. No one had any idea where it was. They spent a 1/2 hour at least asking different people and calling all over the place to try to find out where it was. Finally they got the address and by this point I felt so bad for all the hassle that I just decided to take the expensive moto ride anyway.
The driver spent forever trying to find the place, driving up and down the same street multiple times. Finally I told him that it didn't matter and I would just get off and find a place on my own.
It didn't take me long at all to find a place with cheap dorms.
I found an alright place to stay that was a reasonable price and was satisfied with it until I woke up in the morning to find the jar of peanut butter that I had finally broke down and bought chewed open by a rat.
I stayed 2 nights in Kampot and it rained the whole time. I wanted to go to Vietnam by bus, but I found out that the only way to go strait to Vietnam without going back to Phnom Penh was to hire a moto to take you to the border. So that's what I did, I took my bags, checked out of my guest house and walked around till I was able to find a moto driver who was willing to take me from Kampot, across the Vietnamese border and then to Ha Tien, the closest town to the border for $10.
The driver put my big back pack in front of him, then got on. I got on behind him wearing my small backpack. He gave me what looked like 1/2 of a giant ping pong ball to wear as a helmet and off we went.
The drive took about 2 hours to the border, but I really liked it. It's such a different experience to travel by moto rather than bus all the time. Yu can actually see everything that is going on around you.
In true Cambodian style, my driver stopped a few times to do some of his personal business on the way.
The border was pretty strait forward, no one spoke English well, but somehow everything was figured out by playing gestures.
Ha Tien was a very small town with not a whole lot to see, so I only spent one night. I took the mini bus the next day to Ho Chi Mahn City.
The bus took about 7 hours with a few random stops along the way. One time when we were stopped, I really had to use the toilet. Some of the other people had gotten out, so I figured it was safe to also get out. I went to use the toilet, and when I came back, the van was gone. Apparently they weren't stopping, but we were in the middle of a traffic jam and the van had moved on, so I had to walk up the street until I found my van. Thankfully one of the ladies in my van had a very memorable face.
Every time the van would stop, people from the streets would actually climb into the van and try to sell different stuff to you.
When I got yo Ho Chi Mihn, I didn't have a place to stay, but I did know the name of one place that I had seen on the Internet, so when the people cam swarming at me asking if I had a place to stay already, I said that name. No one had any idea where it was. They spent a 1/2 hour at least asking different people and calling all over the place to try to find out where it was. Finally they got the address and by this point I felt so bad for all the hassle that I just decided to take the expensive moto ride anyway.
The driver spent forever trying to find the place, driving up and down the same street multiple times. Finally I told him that it didn't matter and I would just get off and find a place on my own.
It didn't take me long at all to find a place with cheap dorms.
Killing fields and S21
I bumped into Henry and John again in my guest and were were both going to go to Phnom Penh, so we decided to just go together.
The bus ride took a few extra hours because of the flooding. In some places, it looked like people had to actually swim to get to their houses.
Since it was the last day of the holiday, there were parades and stuff in practically every town. One place had a bunch of guys in monkey masks who were just chasing the bus and grinning their monkey faces in the window.
Henry and John only wanted to stay one night in Phnom Penh, but I wanted to get my visa for Vietnam sorted out, so I decided to stay on, but we went to the killing fields together before they left. It was a field where the Khmer Rouge would take people to kill them. The whole thing was pretty horrific, but the one thing that stuck out to me the most was a tree. The tree was standing in the middle of the fields and looked like any other tree, but when you looked closer, you saw a plaque on the tree. The plaque told that there used to be a speaker on the tree and the Khmer Rouge used to play loud music over it to attempt to drown the noises of the people being beaten.
Henry and John left the next day, so I found a German girl (from Oldenburg!) to go to the S21 museum with.
The museum was even more horrific then the actual killing fields. Before it was used for a prison, it was a school, so all of the guy equipment and so on was somehow used to torture the prisoners.
I spent the next days waiting for my visa and hanging out with Julia in Phnom Phen. She was also very careful with her money, going to the grocery store instead of out to eat and walking to save a few bucks, so we got along quite well.
The bus ride took a few extra hours because of the flooding. In some places, it looked like people had to actually swim to get to their houses.
Since it was the last day of the holiday, there were parades and stuff in practically every town. One place had a bunch of guys in monkey masks who were just chasing the bus and grinning their monkey faces in the window.
Henry and John only wanted to stay one night in Phnom Penh, but I wanted to get my visa for Vietnam sorted out, so I decided to stay on, but we went to the killing fields together before they left. It was a field where the Khmer Rouge would take people to kill them. The whole thing was pretty horrific, but the one thing that stuck out to me the most was a tree. The tree was standing in the middle of the fields and looked like any other tree, but when you looked closer, you saw a plaque on the tree. The plaque told that there used to be a speaker on the tree and the Khmer Rouge used to play loud music over it to attempt to drown the noises of the people being beaten.
Henry and John left the next day, so I found a German girl (from Oldenburg!) to go to the S21 museum with.
The museum was even more horrific then the actual killing fields. Before it was used for a prison, it was a school, so all of the guy equipment and so on was somehow used to torture the prisoners.
I spent the next days waiting for my visa and hanging out with Julia in Phnom Phen. She was also very careful with her money, going to the grocery store instead of out to eat and walking to save a few bucks, so we got along quite well.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Meetings With the Monks
I was only planning on staying in Battambang for a night or 2, but when I was there, I felt so comfortable that I just ended up staying for a week. I got along well with the monks and their friends, so I went to the temple every day just to chat.
It was a holiday while I was there, so one of the monks asked me if I would join them for the celebration, but I would have to get there at 4:30am. So I woke up at 4, convinced the guy at the guest house to unlock the door, that I was just going to the temple and walked there.
When I got there, there were tons of people already. The monk gave me a plate of rice, a candle and an incense stick. He light my candle and my incense stick and told me that he couldn't come with me, but told some young boys to have me follow them and show me what to do. The boys were very confused as to how a foreigner could possibly get up so early.
First we sat on the ground for a bit while someone chanted something. Then after a bit, everyone stood up, so I did too. They started to walk around the temple dropping some rice into different buckets that were lined up along the walls of the temple, eventually emptying their plates and setting down their incense sticks and candles. After 2 laps around the temple, they went inside a different temple. I wasn't going to go in because I stuck out like a sore thumb and everyone was staring at me, but as I was standing by the door, a young family called me to join them. The dad spoke pretty good English, so he told me what to do and sort of what was going on.
Every year in Cambodia in September they celebrate this holiday for 15 days honoring the spirits of their ancestors. The spirits are said to come back to earth during this time, so people make offerings to them of food and money. It is one of the most important holidays in Cambodia. On the last day of the holiday, there is a feast. People make big meals, offer the first dish to their parents and take the rest to the temple to offer it to the monks. The monks will eat the food, and when it is finished, the public can eat the rest for free.
It was so cool to see this. You always here about different holidays around the world, but it's so different to actually be a part of it. Even though I didn't blend in and I was the only non Cambodian, non Buddhist person there, they tried to make me feel as comfortable as possible.
It was a holiday while I was there, so one of the monks asked me if I would join them for the celebration, but I would have to get there at 4:30am. So I woke up at 4, convinced the guy at the guest house to unlock the door, that I was just going to the temple and walked there.
When I got there, there were tons of people already. The monk gave me a plate of rice, a candle and an incense stick. He light my candle and my incense stick and told me that he couldn't come with me, but told some young boys to have me follow them and show me what to do. The boys were very confused as to how a foreigner could possibly get up so early.
First we sat on the ground for a bit while someone chanted something. Then after a bit, everyone stood up, so I did too. They started to walk around the temple dropping some rice into different buckets that were lined up along the walls of the temple, eventually emptying their plates and setting down their incense sticks and candles. After 2 laps around the temple, they went inside a different temple. I wasn't going to go in because I stuck out like a sore thumb and everyone was staring at me, but as I was standing by the door, a young family called me to join them. The dad spoke pretty good English, so he told me what to do and sort of what was going on.
Every year in Cambodia in September they celebrate this holiday for 15 days honoring the spirits of their ancestors. The spirits are said to come back to earth during this time, so people make offerings to them of food and money. It is one of the most important holidays in Cambodia. On the last day of the holiday, there is a feast. People make big meals, offer the first dish to their parents and take the rest to the temple to offer it to the monks. The monks will eat the food, and when it is finished, the public can eat the rest for free.
It was so cool to see this. You always here about different holidays around the world, but it's so different to actually be a part of it. Even though I didn't blend in and I was the only non Cambodian, non Buddhist person there, they tried to make me feel as comfortable as possible.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
If You're Happy and You Know It
After visiting with monks, I went to go find something for dinner. As I was looking at a menu at one place, 2 English girls invited me to join them.
One of the girls was talking about how she found something in her guest house saying how you could teach English in an orphanage/school just outside of town and said that she was going to do that the next day and asked me if I wanted to go along as well.
The next day I met Mandy at her hotel where we were picked up by 2 ladies on motor bikes and brought about 15 mins out of town to the school.
When we got there, we were politely greeted by all of the students, ranging from ages of about 4-10. They stood up and all said at the same time "hello teacher." we said hello back and they said "how are you today, teacher?"
"good, thank you. And you."
"I'm fine thank you."
Neither of us was actually prepared to actually teach. We thought that we would just go and watch and help the kids by just speaking to them. But the one lady separated the class and sent me with 1/2 of them and Mandy with the other, giving us each a lesson plan. And that was it.
The second class was not as bad, because they did not separate the class this time, but the students in this class didn't know English as well, so it was a bit difficult.
By the end of the second class, we were completely wiped out. Who ever knew teaching your native language could be so exacting!
By the time the 3rd class rolled around, we were more prepared. Mandy was a much better leader than I, so we kind of adapted roles. She would lead the class and I would go around the class helping the students out and giving her different ides of different games that we could play to help the visual learners.
The last class of the day was my favorite. They were 10-15 years old and really good at English by this point. So the lesson was a breeze and only took 1/2 the hour, so when we were finished, they asked us if they could teach us a game called 'I Went to the Zoo'. It was pretty much like a form of musical chairs. But instead of the loser getting out, the looser had to stand in the middle of the circle and sing a solo. It was so much fun to see all of the kids getting into the game so much, walking around as monkeys, elephants and bears. Although, I think Mandy and I possibly got into it the most.
At the end of every class, they would sing a song together to say goodbye. They sang at the top of their lungs, 'if you're happy and you know it clap your hands.' I clapped my hands loudly. Because I was happy. And I knew it.
As we were leaving, all the kids came up to us one by one and thanked us for coming to their class, telling us it was so nice to meet us.
I know that one day doesn't do much, but I was very satisfied with what we had done, we had gone in there not knowing what to expect, and just had to stand up and make the best of the situation. I was very glad that Mandy was there tho, because I know I would have never been able to do it on my own.
I have heard many people debating if programs like this are good for the kids of not, some saying that it's really bad for the kids to have different teachers every week or every day, but after seeing this class, I disagree.
The kids have learned strictly from the tourists. The tourists were their only teachers. I agree, it would be better for them if they had one teacher there all the time, but a different teacher everyday or every week is so much better then no teacher at all.
I know in the big picture, we didn't do much, but I was happy that we could take what knowledge we did have and put it to some use.
One of the girls was talking about how she found something in her guest house saying how you could teach English in an orphanage/school just outside of town and said that she was going to do that the next day and asked me if I wanted to go along as well.
The next day I met Mandy at her hotel where we were picked up by 2 ladies on motor bikes and brought about 15 mins out of town to the school.
When we got there, we were politely greeted by all of the students, ranging from ages of about 4-10. They stood up and all said at the same time "hello teacher." we said hello back and they said "how are you today, teacher?"
"good, thank you. And you."
"I'm fine thank you."
Neither of us was actually prepared to actually teach. We thought that we would just go and watch and help the kids by just speaking to them. But the one lady separated the class and sent me with 1/2 of them and Mandy with the other, giving us each a lesson plan. And that was it.
The second class was not as bad, because they did not separate the class this time, but the students in this class didn't know English as well, so it was a bit difficult.
By the end of the second class, we were completely wiped out. Who ever knew teaching your native language could be so exacting!
By the time the 3rd class rolled around, we were more prepared. Mandy was a much better leader than I, so we kind of adapted roles. She would lead the class and I would go around the class helping the students out and giving her different ides of different games that we could play to help the visual learners.
The last class of the day was my favorite. They were 10-15 years old and really good at English by this point. So the lesson was a breeze and only took 1/2 the hour, so when we were finished, they asked us if they could teach us a game called 'I Went to the Zoo'. It was pretty much like a form of musical chairs. But instead of the loser getting out, the looser had to stand in the middle of the circle and sing a solo. It was so much fun to see all of the kids getting into the game so much, walking around as monkeys, elephants and bears. Although, I think Mandy and I possibly got into it the most.
At the end of every class, they would sing a song together to say goodbye. They sang at the top of their lungs, 'if you're happy and you know it clap your hands.' I clapped my hands loudly. Because I was happy. And I knew it.
As we were leaving, all the kids came up to us one by one and thanked us for coming to their class, telling us it was so nice to meet us.
I know that one day doesn't do much, but I was very satisfied with what we had done, we had gone in there not knowing what to expect, and just had to stand up and make the best of the situation. I was very glad that Mandy was there tho, because I know I would have never been able to do it on my own.
I have heard many people debating if programs like this are good for the kids of not, some saying that it's really bad for the kids to have different teachers every week or every day, but after seeing this class, I disagree.
The kids have learned strictly from the tourists. The tourists were their only teachers. I agree, it would be better for them if they had one teacher there all the time, but a different teacher everyday or every week is so much better then no teacher at all.
I know in the big picture, we didn't do much, but I was happy that we could take what knowledge we did have and put it to some use.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Chhum Reap Sou: How Do You Do?
From Siem Reap to Battambang I took a boat. The boat was not very big and the seats small, but the 7 hours was very scenic. We went first through some floating villages and then the floating forests.
Going through the floating forest felt like a computer game. Every time a branch came by you either had to duck or you would get whipped across the face by it.
When we got to Battambang, we were swarmed my tuk tuk and moto drivers trying to get us to go to different hotels and guest houses. I choose one that had dorms for $2 a night.
There was only 1 other person in my 4 person dorm room for the first night, a girl from China named LiYa who I got along really well right away and she invited me to go to the temple with her to take photos. When we got there, I realized that she actually knew some of the monks and was just going for a visit.
One of the monks had an English class and he asked me to go and talk to his students, so I went to attempt to teach English, although, I'm not much of a teacher. I think that they actually taught me more Khmer then I English:
Chhum reap suo- how do you do? (when you first meet someone)
Suesday- hello
Soksuby te- how are you?
Arkun- thank you
Man I te- you're welcome
Som nang laaw- good luck
Chhum reap lear- goodbye
LiYa left the next day, so I hired a motor bike driver to take me around for the day, first to the bamboo train, then to the killing caves, then to a temple on top of a hill and through the country side and small villages.
The bamboo trains are exactly what they sound like. Literally, a bamboo plank with wheels and a motor.
When I got there, I had to wait for about 1/2 hour for other tourists to come to share a train with. I shared with a couple from Adelaide.
Our driver looked like he could have been 12 years old. We all got onto the plank and he drove us off. It was so much fun! On the way back, we met an oncoming train, so we all had to get off while the drivers disassembled the train, the other one went past, they put the triangle back together again and then we could go again.
I picked he right driver for the tour. When we got to the killing caves, he actually came with me, explained everything to me and even shared his heartbreaking, personal story about the Khmer Rouge years.
After he'd shown me the temple, we spent about an hour just driving around the country side, stopping every once in awhile to take photos or watch kids fish.
After I got back, I had promised the monk that I would come back again to his English class so I went again and ended up having a chat after with a few of the monks and a few of the students.
Going through the floating forest felt like a computer game. Every time a branch came by you either had to duck or you would get whipped across the face by it.
When we got to Battambang, we were swarmed my tuk tuk and moto drivers trying to get us to go to different hotels and guest houses. I choose one that had dorms for $2 a night.
There was only 1 other person in my 4 person dorm room for the first night, a girl from China named LiYa who I got along really well right away and she invited me to go to the temple with her to take photos. When we got there, I realized that she actually knew some of the monks and was just going for a visit.
One of the monks had an English class and he asked me to go and talk to his students, so I went to attempt to teach English, although, I'm not much of a teacher. I think that they actually taught me more Khmer then I English:
Chhum reap suo- how do you do? (when you first meet someone)
Suesday- hello
Soksuby te- how are you?
Arkun- thank you
Man I te- you're welcome
Som nang laaw- good luck
Chhum reap lear- goodbye
LiYa left the next day, so I hired a motor bike driver to take me around for the day, first to the bamboo train, then to the killing caves, then to a temple on top of a hill and through the country side and small villages.
The bamboo trains are exactly what they sound like. Literally, a bamboo plank with wheels and a motor.
When I got there, I had to wait for about 1/2 hour for other tourists to come to share a train with. I shared with a couple from Adelaide.
Our driver looked like he could have been 12 years old. We all got onto the plank and he drove us off. It was so much fun! On the way back, we met an oncoming train, so we all had to get off while the drivers disassembled the train, the other one went past, they put the triangle back together again and then we could go again.
I picked he right driver for the tour. When we got to the killing caves, he actually came with me, explained everything to me and even shared his heartbreaking, personal story about the Khmer Rouge years.
After he'd shown me the temple, we spent about an hour just driving around the country side, stopping every once in awhile to take photos or watch kids fish.
After I got back, I had promised the monk that I would come back again to his English class so I went again and ended up having a chat after with a few of the monks and a few of the students.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
You Want Buy Something, Lady?
Siem Reap is much more intense then I expected. Unlike Bangkok, people will actually grab you as you are walking along the street and try to shove you toward their stand saying 'you buy something lady. I make good price. Just for you, just today. Tomorrow too late.'
I was planning to go to the temples of Angkor alone the next morning, but when I woke up, I met another girl and she asked me if I wanted to come along with her, so I did.
The temples were cool, but I can say that I was pretty templed out by the end of the day. My favorite part of the day day was the sunset.
As we were watching the sunset, a bunch of kids came up to us trying to sell us stuff, but ended up just chatting with us for a long time. It made me realize how lucky I was to have the childhood that I did. At 15 years old, I used to complain about having to wake up at at 6:30am to milk cows or babysit in the evenings, but here was this 14 year old girl who got up every morning at 3am, went to work trying to sell things to tourists until 5:30pm, then went home to watch her baby brother until 8:30 or 9pm only to do it all over again the next day.
Since Karen and I were both pretty over temples, we decided to just go there for the sunrise and then go to the floating villages afterward, so we had to wake up at 4:30.
Our tuk tuk driver knew of another floating village that was not as full of tourist and he highly recommended it, saying that it would be a more cultural experience for us, but it was a little further out. After our experience in Koh Lanta, I was a bit skeptical, but we took his word anyway, and I'm glad that we did. They were amazing.
We had to drive for about 1/2 hour to get there on the red, dirt roads, passing little villages along the way. Then we took a boat to the actual village.
The houses were all built on bamboo rafts so that, depending on the season, they can be moved according to the water level.
We stopped first at a little school. The kids there were so much different from the ones in Siem Reap. Nobody was begging. No one even dared to look at us hardly. They were so shy.
After the school, our driver asked if we wanted to go for a swim. Thinking he was joking, I said of course. He wasn't joking. The boat stopped and he jumped in. The water looked nice, so we decided to jump in too, clothes and all.
Before jumping in, we forgot to think about how we were going to get back up. After we'd finally managed to get back on, we went to a little island which was the 'city center'. This is where all the people who lived in the village would come to meet up. There was a doctor there that day, selling medicines and giving shots.
We stayed there for a few hours playing with the kids and looking around before heading back.
On the way back we heard a loud pop. One of the tires had exploded, so our driver asked us to get out and walk for a bit to a nearby bench where he left us to go find a new tire.
It was such a cool day. There was not one other tourist in sight and we got to see the real way that the real people live without being changed by tourism. It was exactly what I as hoping for when coming here; a true cultural experience.
I was planning to go to the temples of Angkor alone the next morning, but when I woke up, I met another girl and she asked me if I wanted to come along with her, so I did.
The temples were cool, but I can say that I was pretty templed out by the end of the day. My favorite part of the day day was the sunset.
As we were watching the sunset, a bunch of kids came up to us trying to sell us stuff, but ended up just chatting with us for a long time. It made me realize how lucky I was to have the childhood that I did. At 15 years old, I used to complain about having to wake up at at 6:30am to milk cows or babysit in the evenings, but here was this 14 year old girl who got up every morning at 3am, went to work trying to sell things to tourists until 5:30pm, then went home to watch her baby brother until 8:30 or 9pm only to do it all over again the next day.
Since Karen and I were both pretty over temples, we decided to just go there for the sunrise and then go to the floating villages afterward, so we had to wake up at 4:30.
Our tuk tuk driver knew of another floating village that was not as full of tourist and he highly recommended it, saying that it would be a more cultural experience for us, but it was a little further out. After our experience in Koh Lanta, I was a bit skeptical, but we took his word anyway, and I'm glad that we did. They were amazing.
We had to drive for about 1/2 hour to get there on the red, dirt roads, passing little villages along the way. Then we took a boat to the actual village.
The houses were all built on bamboo rafts so that, depending on the season, they can be moved according to the water level.
We stopped first at a little school. The kids there were so much different from the ones in Siem Reap. Nobody was begging. No one even dared to look at us hardly. They were so shy.
After the school, our driver asked if we wanted to go for a swim. Thinking he was joking, I said of course. He wasn't joking. The boat stopped and he jumped in. The water looked nice, so we decided to jump in too, clothes and all.
Before jumping in, we forgot to think about how we were going to get back up. After we'd finally managed to get back on, we went to a little island which was the 'city center'. This is where all the people who lived in the village would come to meet up. There was a doctor there that day, selling medicines and giving shots.
We stayed there for a few hours playing with the kids and looking around before heading back.
On the way back we heard a loud pop. One of the tires had exploded, so our driver asked us to get out and walk for a bit to a nearby bench where he left us to go find a new tire.
It was such a cool day. There was not one other tourist in sight and we got to see the real way that the real people live without being changed by tourism. It was exactly what I as hoping for when coming here; a true cultural experience.
You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello
Just as quickly as people come into your lives, it seems, they leave again. Cat had to go back home to England, so for the fist time since I'd arrived in Asia, I was alone again; having to make all of my plans and decisions on my own.
I was supposed to meet up with a girl and we were planning to travel to Cambodia together, but her friend had an accident, so she had to change her plans last minuet.
I didn't know what to do and I was sick of Bangkok, so I decided that if I woke up early enough the next morning, I would leave to Cambodia regardless.
I woke up at 4am, so I decided that it was as good a day as any to go to Cambodia. So I collected my belongings, got an overpriced taxi to the train station and bought my ticket to the border.
Since the border is said to be pretty intense and full of scams, I was relived when I saw another backpacker get on the train.
The train ride was long, but very scenic.
When we got to Aranyaprathet, we had to take a tuk tuk for about 7km to the border market. As soon as we got there, people started yelling at us, telling us that we had to buy our visas there, charging double the price. We ignored them and walked to the Thai customs, and then to the Cambodian one. There was a sign that said Cambodian visa $20, but the guy still asked us for $20+100B. I'd read before that they might ask you that, and you just tell them that you have only $20, so that's what we did and it seemed to work for us.
Once we got through everything, we were going in different directions, so Henry found a taxi to the place where he was going to and I found a few people who were also going to Siem Reap.
I was supposed to meet up with a girl and we were planning to travel to Cambodia together, but her friend had an accident, so she had to change her plans last minuet.
I didn't know what to do and I was sick of Bangkok, so I decided that if I woke up early enough the next morning, I would leave to Cambodia regardless.
I woke up at 4am, so I decided that it was as good a day as any to go to Cambodia. So I collected my belongings, got an overpriced taxi to the train station and bought my ticket to the border.
Since the border is said to be pretty intense and full of scams, I was relived when I saw another backpacker get on the train.
The train ride was long, but very scenic.
When we got to Aranyaprathet, we had to take a tuk tuk for about 7km to the border market. As soon as we got there, people started yelling at us, telling us that we had to buy our visas there, charging double the price. We ignored them and walked to the Thai customs, and then to the Cambodian one. There was a sign that said Cambodian visa $20, but the guy still asked us for $20+100B. I'd read before that they might ask you that, and you just tell them that you have only $20, so that's what we did and it seemed to work for us.
Once we got through everything, we were going in different directions, so Henry found a taxi to the place where he was going to and I found a few people who were also going to Siem Reap.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Teacher For a Day
After we got to Bangkok, we went back to the guest house that we'd stayed the first few nights, dropped our big bags off, ate breakfast and wondered around for a bit before catching the bus to Damnoen Saduak, a town about 2 hours out of Bangkok that is famous for it's floating markets.
When we got to the bus station, we couldn't figure out where to go, so an officer just told us to follow him. He took us to a random street corner and waited with us until our bus came. He flagged it down and told the driver where we wanted to go.
It was a local bus, so were were the only tourists, which I kind of liked. I felt like I was getting the full experience.
The floating markets were really cool. We hired a boat to take us around for about an hour. Since most tourists only do a day trip, we were the only ones there for most of the time.
There were boats just floating around the canal with different foods and other random stuff, and if you wanted to buy something, they would float up to your boat and give it to you.
We didn't know what was good, so we just bought random things wrapped in banana leaves. I don't knew what they were, but they were good.
After we came back from the market, we saw a sign in our hotel asking for help with English in a Thai school. We didn't knew what else to do for the day, since neither of us had any real desire to spend much more time in Bangkok, so we called the school up and went spontaneously.
The teacher was Slovenian guy and he had 2 different English classes that day. The first class was really shy and didn't say much, but for the second class, he split then up into two groups, putting me with one and Cat with the other. He made them all ask us questions and write down our answers.
Most of the time, it was just 1 or 2 kids asking all of the questions and the others telling them what to ask.
That day happened to be a retirement party for one of the teachers, so they invited us to join. They had really good Thai food and preformed a traditional dance.
It was very funny as the guy was showing us around. I couldn't even count the amount of good morning's, how are you's, your beautiful's, or hello's that we got from giggling kids of all ages.
As we were passing the music hall, the music teacher snatched us up, pulled us inside and insisted on taking photos of us pretending to play instruments that we don't play. For some reason, he thinks it inspires his students to see foreigners who play instruments.
When we got to the bus station, we couldn't figure out where to go, so an officer just told us to follow him. He took us to a random street corner and waited with us until our bus came. He flagged it down and told the driver where we wanted to go.
It was a local bus, so were were the only tourists, which I kind of liked. I felt like I was getting the full experience.
The floating markets were really cool. We hired a boat to take us around for about an hour. Since most tourists only do a day trip, we were the only ones there for most of the time.
There were boats just floating around the canal with different foods and other random stuff, and if you wanted to buy something, they would float up to your boat and give it to you.
We didn't know what was good, so we just bought random things wrapped in banana leaves. I don't knew what they were, but they were good.
After we came back from the market, we saw a sign in our hotel asking for help with English in a Thai school. We didn't knew what else to do for the day, since neither of us had any real desire to spend much more time in Bangkok, so we called the school up and went spontaneously.
The teacher was Slovenian guy and he had 2 different English classes that day. The first class was really shy and didn't say much, but for the second class, he split then up into two groups, putting me with one and Cat with the other. He made them all ask us questions and write down our answers.
Most of the time, it was just 1 or 2 kids asking all of the questions and the others telling them what to ask.
That day happened to be a retirement party for one of the teachers, so they invited us to join. They had really good Thai food and preformed a traditional dance.
It was very funny as the guy was showing us around. I couldn't even count the amount of good morning's, how are you's, your beautiful's, or hello's that we got from giggling kids of all ages.
As we were passing the music hall, the music teacher snatched us up, pulled us inside and insisted on taking photos of us pretending to play instruments that we don't play. For some reason, he thinks it inspires his students to see foreigners who play instruments.
Train in Thailand, Take 2
It was not sunny in Koh Tao until the day we left. We didn't have to leave till around 2pm, so were were able to enjoy a bit of the sunshine, at least.
We took a ferry, then a shared taxi to the train station and then the train back to Bangkok.
We had to wait a few hours for our train, so we pulled out a deck of cards and started to play. As we were playing, an old lady and a little girl just came, plopped them selves in front of us and watched us play.
We started to make silly faces at the little girl, and before long, she was hyped up, running around, making faces at us and trying to get us to tickle her.
Our train wasn't late this time. If anything, it was even a bit early. We were hoping that it would be, because we didn't really feel like getting to Bangkok at 5:30am with nothing to do.
We tried fan this time, since it's quite a bit cheaper. It wasn't too bad, but it was a bit noisy, stuffy and they didn't turn out the lights.
I felt like just as I'd managed to fall asleep, a guy came, ripped my curtain open, told me good morning and that I had to get down so that he could change the bed into a seat.
We took a ferry, then a shared taxi to the train station and then the train back to Bangkok.
We had to wait a few hours for our train, so we pulled out a deck of cards and started to play. As we were playing, an old lady and a little girl just came, plopped them selves in front of us and watched us play.
We started to make silly faces at the little girl, and before long, she was hyped up, running around, making faces at us and trying to get us to tickle her.
Our train wasn't late this time. If anything, it was even a bit early. We were hoping that it would be, because we didn't really feel like getting to Bangkok at 5:30am with nothing to do.
We tried fan this time, since it's quite a bit cheaper. It wasn't too bad, but it was a bit noisy, stuffy and they didn't turn out the lights.
I felt like just as I'd managed to fall asleep, a guy came, ripped my curtain open, told me good morning and that I had to get down so that he could change the bed into a seat.
When it Rains, It Pours
The next day, we wanted to see the north side of the island, so set out to find a taxi to take us there.
A very hyper looking young man came up to us offering us a taxi. He seemed very rushed and really determined.
We got in and as soon as we started going, wee realized that maybe he wasn't the best choice. He was a complete lunatic. In all my years of living, I've never rode with a crazier driver! He would whip around blind corners, driving into oncoming traffic, passing cars with hardly no leeway. this was not a normal taxi either. Most of the taxis on the island are just basically a pickup truck with two benches stuck in the back and a canopy cover.
In the brief moment where I thought my life could possibly come to an end that day, I looked over at the taxi citification paper that was taped onto the window. Unless he'd recently undergone some major plastic surgery in the recent past, the guy in the picture was most definitely NOT the guy who as inside the truck, driving us around the island.
The guy in the picture was an older looking chap, bald on top with a thick mustache. Someone who could possibly be seen as a high school teacher.
I have never been more happy in my life to set my feet on solid ground that I was the moment the taxi stopped.
We spent the rest of the day walking back down the road to where we came from, stopping along the way at different beaches that we passed.
A very hyper looking young man came up to us offering us a taxi. He seemed very rushed and really determined.
We got in and as soon as we started going, wee realized that maybe he wasn't the best choice. He was a complete lunatic. In all my years of living, I've never rode with a crazier driver! He would whip around blind corners, driving into oncoming traffic, passing cars with hardly no leeway. this was not a normal taxi either. Most of the taxis on the island are just basically a pickup truck with two benches stuck in the back and a canopy cover.
In the brief moment where I thought my life could possibly come to an end that day, I looked over at the taxi citification paper that was taped onto the window. Unless he'd recently undergone some major plastic surgery in the recent past, the guy in the picture was most definitely NOT the guy who as inside the truck, driving us around the island.
The guy in the picture was an older looking chap, bald on top with a thick mustache. Someone who could possibly be seen as a high school teacher.
I have never been more happy in my life to set my feet on solid ground that I was the moment the taxi stopped.
We spent the rest of the day walking back down the road to where we came from, stopping along the way at different beaches that we passed.
Taxi Drivers
The next day, we wanted to see the north side of the island, so set out to find a taxi to take us there.
A very hyper looking young man came up to us offering us a taxi. He seemed very rushed and really determined.
We got in and as soon as we started going, wee realized that maybe he wasn't the best choice. He was a complete lunatic. In all my years of living, I've never rode with a crazier driver! He would whip around blind corners, driving into oncoming traffic, passing cars with hardly no leeway. this was not a normal taxi either. Most of the taxis on the island are just basically a pickup truck with two benches stuck in the back and a canopy cover.
In the brief moment where I thought my life could possibly come to an end that day, I looked over at the taxi citification paper that was taped onto the window. Unless he'd recently undergone some major plastic surgery in the recent past, the guy in the picture was most definitely NOT the guy who as inside the truck, driving us around the island.
The guy in the picture was an older looking chap, bald on top with a thick mustache. Someone who could possibly be seen as a high school teacher.
I have never been more happy in my life to set my feet on solid ground that I was the moment the taxi stopped.
We spent the rest of the day walking back down the road to where we came from, stopping along the way at different beaches that we passed.
A very hyper looking young man came up to us offering us a taxi. He seemed very rushed and really determined.
We got in and as soon as we started going, wee realized that maybe he wasn't the best choice. He was a complete lunatic. In all my years of living, I've never rode with a crazier driver! He would whip around blind corners, driving into oncoming traffic, passing cars with hardly no leeway. this was not a normal taxi either. Most of the taxis on the island are just basically a pickup truck with two benches stuck in the back and a canopy cover.
In the brief moment where I thought my life could possibly come to an end that day, I looked over at the taxi citification paper that was taped onto the window. Unless he'd recently undergone some major plastic surgery in the recent past, the guy in the picture was most definitely NOT the guy who as inside the truck, driving us around the island.
The guy in the picture was an older looking chap, bald on top with a thick mustache. Someone who could possibly be seen as a high school teacher.
I have never been more happy in my life to set my feet on solid ground that I was the moment the taxi stopped.
We spent the rest of the day walking back down the road to where we came from, stopping along the way at different beaches that we passed.
Under The Sea
Koh Phangan is most famous for 2 things; beautiful beaches and it's crazy full moon party every month.
The beaches were in fact nice, but it was hard to compare after Railay. We were able to find a nice hut to stay in right on the beach a little bit away from the main beaches on the island.
Most of the time we were on the island, it was overcast. The first day, we got a taxi to take us to Sunrise Beach, one of the most famous beaches on the island.
We were on there for a few moments before a guy came up to us trying to convince us to go on his 'amazing snorkeling tour. Free lunch. Best one on the island.'
He won. We didn't have anything planned for the day besides going to the beach and since it was a bit overcast anyway, why not?
The boat was a bit rickety. They seemed to be fixing up so something or another as we were driving along the entire time and the 'on board bathroom' consisted of a tiny wooden box with a sheet covering the front in which, if you stood up strait, your head would poke out the top. You literally had to climb on in.
They took us to a few different places that are hard to reach otherwise. First to a waterfall that we had to hike out to and then to a few different nice beaches. On one of the beaches, the only things besides us were one horse, 2 dogs, a few chickens and the old lady that lived there.
We didn't see too many fish while snorkeling besides the usual, but as soon as we got out, we spotted a huge, white, jellyfish fluffing about in the water. I think I was a bit relieved that I didn't see it until after I as already out of the water.
After we got back, we went to the night market to eat. A majority of the time, I had no idea what it was that I was eating, but it was really good and really cheap. I splurged a little and bought dinner, a drink and dessert. I was feeling a little guilty about spending so much on one meal until I calculated it out and realized that my total had come to just under$2.
The beaches were in fact nice, but it was hard to compare after Railay. We were able to find a nice hut to stay in right on the beach a little bit away from the main beaches on the island.
Most of the time we were on the island, it was overcast. The first day, we got a taxi to take us to Sunrise Beach, one of the most famous beaches on the island.
We were on there for a few moments before a guy came up to us trying to convince us to go on his 'amazing snorkeling tour. Free lunch. Best one on the island.'
He won. We didn't have anything planned for the day besides going to the beach and since it was a bit overcast anyway, why not?
The boat was a bit rickety. They seemed to be fixing up so something or another as we were driving along the entire time and the 'on board bathroom' consisted of a tiny wooden box with a sheet covering the front in which, if you stood up strait, your head would poke out the top. You literally had to climb on in.
They took us to a few different places that are hard to reach otherwise. First to a waterfall that we had to hike out to and then to a few different nice beaches. On one of the beaches, the only things besides us were one horse, 2 dogs, a few chickens and the old lady that lived there.
We didn't see too many fish while snorkeling besides the usual, but as soon as we got out, we spotted a huge, white, jellyfish fluffing about in the water. I think I was a bit relieved that I didn't see it until after I as already out of the water.
After we got back, we went to the night market to eat. A majority of the time, I had no idea what it was that I was eating, but it was really good and really cheap. I splurged a little and bought dinner, a drink and dessert. I was feeling a little guilty about spending so much on one meal until I calculated it out and realized that my total had come to just under$2.
What They Say and What They Mean
From Raialy, we decided to go to Koh Pangan. We were told that we would take a long tail boat to Kraby, then a bus and then a ferry. In reality, I think they meant to say; first they would put us onto a long tail boat, we would wait about an hour for our minibus to Kraby. In Kraby, we would wait about another hour for a second minibus to arrive. That minibus would drive us for a few hours (with a break so that the driver could get out, smoke and get something to eat) and then drop us off at a random restaurant, where we would wait for another hour or so before they would then shove us (10 people, 10 big backpacks and 10 small backpacks) into the back of a pickup truck to take us to yet another bus to take us to the pier were we would finally get onto the ferry.
Most of the people in the group that I was in started to freak out. I don't think that they realize that in Thailand, time seems to have a whole different meaning to it. They started to yell at the lady running the restaurant, demanding that she get someone to come and pick us up earlier. I don't know what they were so worried about. Like that one hour that we had to spend there was going to change their whole life dramatically.
I felt really sorry for the lady, so as we were leaving, I apologized to her for all the yelling. Despite the craziness of my fellow travelers, she was so sweet to me. She just told me 'it's ok. Crazy people. Crazy people. Have fun.'
I hate it when backpackers act like they can come into a different country, expect everything to be run just as it is in their country, and then start demanding everyone around like they own the place. It sort of ruins the reputation of all backpackers.
Most of the people in the group that I was in started to freak out. I don't think that they realize that in Thailand, time seems to have a whole different meaning to it. They started to yell at the lady running the restaurant, demanding that she get someone to come and pick us up earlier. I don't know what they were so worried about. Like that one hour that we had to spend there was going to change their whole life dramatically.
I felt really sorry for the lady, so as we were leaving, I apologized to her for all the yelling. Despite the craziness of my fellow travelers, she was so sweet to me. She just told me 'it's ok. Crazy people. Crazy people. Have fun.'
I hate it when backpackers act like they can come into a different country, expect everything to be run just as it is in their country, and then start demanding everyone around like they own the place. It sort of ruins the reputation of all backpackers.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Just Another Day in Paradise
Even though our originally plan was to go to Koh Lanta instead of Railay Beach to avoid the tourists, we'd heard so much about Railay and how amazing it was and that it was not actually that busy this time of year, so we went anyway and Alison came with us.
I think we were all pretty happy that we did.
For me, it was love at first sight. When I thought Thailand, this is one of the pictures that would come into my head. The water was amazingly blue and surrounded by high cliffs on every side.
We wanted to go up to the view point, but when we got there, we saw that it was really steep, and I was just wearing backless sandals, so they told me to stay down with the stuff and they would see how difficult the climb was; if I'd be able to conquer it without proper shoes or not.
After they got back down, we went to a beach that is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches. It didn't let us down. The water was even more clear than the first beach and it was right next to a cave.
For dinner that night, we found this little restaurant with tables on the floor and candles. Later they had a free fire show, which was amazing! The youngest fire artist was just 16 years old.
Sitting there, I noticed how calm I've felt lately. Like I don't have a worry in the world and the only thing I have to think about in the moment is living in the moment itself.
I am in a place I would have, years ago, never imagined being in, with people I've only met while being here, and yet, I feel so comfortable to be here with them. That is the beauty of travel.
I think we were all pretty happy that we did.
For me, it was love at first sight. When I thought Thailand, this is one of the pictures that would come into my head. The water was amazingly blue and surrounded by high cliffs on every side.
We wanted to go up to the view point, but when we got there, we saw that it was really steep, and I was just wearing backless sandals, so they told me to stay down with the stuff and they would see how difficult the climb was; if I'd be able to conquer it without proper shoes or not.
After they got back down, we went to a beach that is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches. It didn't let us down. The water was even more clear than the first beach and it was right next to a cave.
For dinner that night, we found this little restaurant with tables on the floor and candles. Later they had a free fire show, which was amazing! The youngest fire artist was just 16 years old.
Sitting there, I noticed how calm I've felt lately. Like I don't have a worry in the world and the only thing I have to think about in the moment is living in the moment itself.
I am in a place I would have, years ago, never imagined being in, with people I've only met while being here, and yet, I feel so comfortable to be here with them. That is the beauty of travel.
Beaches, Bottles, Coconuts and Cameras
Since we were kind of stuck on the island with no where to go and no way of getting there, Alison, Cat and I decided to go on the street, walk toward the nearest town and see if we could find a tuk tuk or someone who would be able to take us around the island cheap for the day.
Across the street, we saw a man in a skirt trying to hail a tuk tuk. The tuk tuk stopped and some words were exchanged. I don't know what they said, but the tuk tuk started going again and the man in the skirt started yelling and then looking franticly through the trash, picking out a large beer bottle and waving it at the tuk tuk driver. The tuk tuk driver had stopped by this point, and got out, starting to walk toward the man. Just as he did, the man in the skirt turned to us and threatened to chuck it at us with this creepy smirk on his face. We bolted, and the tuk tuk driver ran over to the guy and grabbed the bottle out of his hand and shoved him toward the house.
We were a bit skeptical to keep going after that, but we really wanted to make the most out of being sent to this island, so we did. Before long, a taxi truck drove up to us and asked if we needed a ride anywhere. The driver looked like he was about 16 years old. We told him our plan and were finally able to get him down to a reasonable price for him to take us to the best parts of the island for the entire day.
We heard that long beach was one of the best beaches on the island, so we headed there first, only to find an abandoned beach chuck full of trash and little crabs.
After that, we headed to the pier and main part of the town. It was a ghost tourist town. Since its apparently slow season, most of the tourist shops were closed down and being worked on. The majority of the people in the town were construction workers.
The next beach that we went to was not quite was trashy as long beach, but still pretty dirty and just as abandoned.
I found a coconut on the beach and tried to smash it open with a rock, but it didn't work. I really wanted to open it, so I brought it back to our driver to see if he had a machete or something to open it up with. He didn't, but he went into a little gas station across the street, and they gave one to him. He cracked it open for us, we drank the milk and then he cut some meat off for us. The rest, we wanted to save for later when we got back.
Our little driver was so cool. He brought us to some high points where we got a really good view and through little Thai villages.
I don't think there is a driving age here. At one point, there was a motorbike behind us with 4 little boys packed on. I don't think they could have been much older than 10. They were grinning at us and waving the whole time. I love it how happy everyone seems to be here.
Our last stop was at the national park. Once again, since its low season, it s practically deserted except for a few monkeys. There was one munching in something. I was watching it for a bit, and as I was leaving, my natural instinct was to wave at it. So I did. Bad idea. As soon as I did, the monkey let out a loud hiss, flashed his vicious teeth at me and started running toward me. I didn't wait long enough to see what he was gonna do. I was out of there. I don't think I like monkeys anymore. They're scary.
The best beach that we found on the island was in the national park, so we stopped for a quick swim. We were the only ones on the beach except for a Thai family having a little picnic, but we didn't trust the monkeys, so we had to take turns swimming.
At the end of the beach, we saw a light house with a view point, so we decided to go check it out. On our way up there, we passed a group of waving, teenage, Thai boys. We went up, took a few photos and went back down. A we were coming back down, the boys were going up.
They swarmed us with cameras, iPhones and blackberries, taking photos of and with us. They were literally lined up and taking turns being in photos with us. Our 5 minuets of fame.
After our little photo session, we went back to find our drive sleeping inn the back of the truck on a hammock and a monkey happily eating our cocoanut. The monkeys had also bitten a hole in my water, but didn't take it.
Across the street, we saw a man in a skirt trying to hail a tuk tuk. The tuk tuk stopped and some words were exchanged. I don't know what they said, but the tuk tuk started going again and the man in the skirt started yelling and then looking franticly through the trash, picking out a large beer bottle and waving it at the tuk tuk driver. The tuk tuk driver had stopped by this point, and got out, starting to walk toward the man. Just as he did, the man in the skirt turned to us and threatened to chuck it at us with this creepy smirk on his face. We bolted, and the tuk tuk driver ran over to the guy and grabbed the bottle out of his hand and shoved him toward the house.
We were a bit skeptical to keep going after that, but we really wanted to make the most out of being sent to this island, so we did. Before long, a taxi truck drove up to us and asked if we needed a ride anywhere. The driver looked like he was about 16 years old. We told him our plan and were finally able to get him down to a reasonable price for him to take us to the best parts of the island for the entire day.
We heard that long beach was one of the best beaches on the island, so we headed there first, only to find an abandoned beach chuck full of trash and little crabs.
After that, we headed to the pier and main part of the town. It was a ghost tourist town. Since its apparently slow season, most of the tourist shops were closed down and being worked on. The majority of the people in the town were construction workers.
The next beach that we went to was not quite was trashy as long beach, but still pretty dirty and just as abandoned.
I found a coconut on the beach and tried to smash it open with a rock, but it didn't work. I really wanted to open it, so I brought it back to our driver to see if he had a machete or something to open it up with. He didn't, but he went into a little gas station across the street, and they gave one to him. He cracked it open for us, we drank the milk and then he cut some meat off for us. The rest, we wanted to save for later when we got back.
Our little driver was so cool. He brought us to some high points where we got a really good view and through little Thai villages.
I don't think there is a driving age here. At one point, there was a motorbike behind us with 4 little boys packed on. I don't think they could have been much older than 10. They were grinning at us and waving the whole time. I love it how happy everyone seems to be here.
Our last stop was at the national park. Once again, since its low season, it s practically deserted except for a few monkeys. There was one munching in something. I was watching it for a bit, and as I was leaving, my natural instinct was to wave at it. So I did. Bad idea. As soon as I did, the monkey let out a loud hiss, flashed his vicious teeth at me and started running toward me. I didn't wait long enough to see what he was gonna do. I was out of there. I don't think I like monkeys anymore. They're scary.
The best beach that we found on the island was in the national park, so we stopped for a quick swim. We were the only ones on the beach except for a Thai family having a little picnic, but we didn't trust the monkeys, so we had to take turns swimming.
At the end of the beach, we saw a light house with a view point, so we decided to go check it out. On our way up there, we passed a group of waving, teenage, Thai boys. We went up, took a few photos and went back down. A we were coming back down, the boys were going up.
They swarmed us with cameras, iPhones and blackberries, taking photos of and with us. They were literally lined up and taking turns being in photos with us. Our 5 minuets of fame.
After our little photo session, we went back to find our drive sleeping inn the back of the truck on a hammock and a monkey happily eating our cocoanut. The monkeys had also bitten a hole in my water, but didn't take it.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
It's a Small World After All
As we were about to board our plane from Chiang Mai to Phuket, who do I bump into, but Allesandro, my couch surfing host from Rome and his 2 brothers.
The flight didn't get into Phuket until around 1 am and we didn't have a place to stay in Phuket, so we just decided to follow the guys and these 2 girls from Israel to the place where they were staying and spend one night in Phuket before going over to Koh Phi Phi.
We went to the pier the next day hoping to find a cheap ferry ticket. We couldn't find one, so we just bought a regular priced ticket that went first to Phi Phi and then onto Railay beach. Seconds after we bought our tickets, someone told us how we could have gotten then for 1/2 the price, but it was already too late.
Since we didn't have anywhere to stay in Phi Phi either, we spent about an hour or so walking around looking for a cheap accommodation. We were finally able to find a place that wasn't too bad and in our price range. It looked and smelled a bit like a damp basement and didn't have a sink, but it was good enough for us.
Since it was already pretty late, we only had time to go for a quick wander around before dinner. We met up with the Italians and Israelis for dinner and went down to the beach afterward.
We found a nicer guest house that was the same price while we were walking around, so we moved there the next day. We were planning on spending the days biking around checking out different view points, but when we went to get some information about Railay Beach, we found about a snorkeling tour, so decided to do that instead.
There were about 9 people in our boat for the tour. I'm pretty sure that we missed out on the first leg of the tour because our engine wouldn't start, so our first stop was Monkey Beach. The monkeys were crazy! Someone was feeding them bananas and they were jumping out trying to snatch the in tire bunch of bananas out of her hand.
The actual snorkeling bit of the tour was not very long, but it was really cool. There were tons of different types of fish and at one point I saw a big, pink and blue jelly fish floating by.
We Heard that Koh Lanta was supposed to be better than Railay, so we decided last minuet to switch our tickets to there instead of to Railay. When we were getting onto the ferry, a guy came up to us telling he would give us a really good on accommodation 'one day sale. Just for you. Shhh.' usually we don't like to do that, but we met a girl on the ferry who was going to the same place, so we decided to all go together.
We got a free ride to the place, which was actually really nice and a pretty good deal. Until we realized that it was practically in the middle of nowhere and the only way to get around was taxi or tuk tuk.
It was alright though, we just spent the day relaxing on the beach. It was nice to have a chill day after all of the running around we'd been doing.
In the evening, we convinced the owner to take a group of us to this free BBQ in a nearby town that we had heard about, and then pick us up later. It felt like I was in middle school again when he said he'd pick us up no later than midnight. So we piled in, ate our free BBQ and then got picked up again at midnight.
The flight didn't get into Phuket until around 1 am and we didn't have a place to stay in Phuket, so we just decided to follow the guys and these 2 girls from Israel to the place where they were staying and spend one night in Phuket before going over to Koh Phi Phi.
We went to the pier the next day hoping to find a cheap ferry ticket. We couldn't find one, so we just bought a regular priced ticket that went first to Phi Phi and then onto Railay beach. Seconds after we bought our tickets, someone told us how we could have gotten then for 1/2 the price, but it was already too late.
Since we didn't have anywhere to stay in Phi Phi either, we spent about an hour or so walking around looking for a cheap accommodation. We were finally able to find a place that wasn't too bad and in our price range. It looked and smelled a bit like a damp basement and didn't have a sink, but it was good enough for us.
Since it was already pretty late, we only had time to go for a quick wander around before dinner. We met up with the Italians and Israelis for dinner and went down to the beach afterward.
We found a nicer guest house that was the same price while we were walking around, so we moved there the next day. We were planning on spending the days biking around checking out different view points, but when we went to get some information about Railay Beach, we found about a snorkeling tour, so decided to do that instead.
There were about 9 people in our boat for the tour. I'm pretty sure that we missed out on the first leg of the tour because our engine wouldn't start, so our first stop was Monkey Beach. The monkeys were crazy! Someone was feeding them bananas and they were jumping out trying to snatch the in tire bunch of bananas out of her hand.
The actual snorkeling bit of the tour was not very long, but it was really cool. There were tons of different types of fish and at one point I saw a big, pink and blue jelly fish floating by.
We Heard that Koh Lanta was supposed to be better than Railay, so we decided last minuet to switch our tickets to there instead of to Railay. When we were getting onto the ferry, a guy came up to us telling he would give us a really good on accommodation 'one day sale. Just for you. Shhh.' usually we don't like to do that, but we met a girl on the ferry who was going to the same place, so we decided to all go together.
We got a free ride to the place, which was actually really nice and a pretty good deal. Until we realized that it was practically in the middle of nowhere and the only way to get around was taxi or tuk tuk.
It was alright though, we just spent the day relaxing on the beach. It was nice to have a chill day after all of the running around we'd been doing.
In the evening, we convinced the owner to take a group of us to this free BBQ in a nearby town that we had heard about, and then pick us up later. It felt like I was in middle school again when he said he'd pick us up no later than midnight. So we piled in, ate our free BBQ and then got picked up again at midnight.
Friday, September 2, 2011
It' a Jungle Out There
For our trek, we had a very nice group. There was one couple who were in the circus from France and Belgium, 2 French girls, 2 Dutch boys, 2 English boys, 1 girl from Poland, Cat and I.
We all piled into a truck that had 2 benches in the back and drove about an hour to an elephant farm. We went on an elephant ride for about 1/2 hour and then hopped back in the truck for about another 2 hours where we stopped in a little village to look around and have lunch. Just as we were getting ready for lunch, it started to downpour, and the rain wasn't giving up. It continued to rain the entire day drenching us from head to toe as we hiked through the jungle. The paths were muddy and steep, so we were all sliding around, grasping for anything stable to keep us from summersaulting down the hill.
We stopped after awhile to set rat traps made out of bamboo using rice and ginger as bait.
When we arrived at our camp for the first night, we realized that our bags were not water proof and everything inside including all of our clothes and sleeping bags were completely drenched, so we made a fire and everyone hung their clothes over it in attempt to get them dry.
We cooked a nice and big dinner together, which was the perfect reward for hiking all day in the jungle in the rain.
After dinner, the guide asked if anyone wanted to go on a night walk to look for snakes. I decided that I'd already paid for the whole trip, so I might as well get my money's worth, so I went. Only 1/2 of us went. We didn't end up seeing any snakes, unfortunately, but we did see a giant tarantula.
The next morning, we got up, had breakfast and started off again into the jungle. It didn't rain, but the trek was more strenuous this time.
Even though it wasn't raining anymore, the ground was still slippery and wet from the day before. We had to balance on logs over rivers, jump from rock to rock, duck underneath branches and squeeze between trees. One part was so steep that the only way to get down was to hold onto a vine and slide down hoping you don't slip and tumble to your death.
At the bottom of the hill was a waterfall where we stopped for lunch. Just as we got there, it started to rain again.
We had caught one rat in our traps from the night before, so we cooked that up along with some Thai noodles. Not everyone dared to taste the rat, but it actually wasn't too bad. It was a bit salty, but other than that, tasted pretty normal.
By the time we were ready to go again, the rain had stopped, which is a good thing. The next part of our journey, I'd like to be known as the Miley Cyrus part because it was all up hill and the song 'it's the climb' kept running repeatedly through my head with the occasional 'climb every mountain' from the Sound of Music.
Our guide was a machine. duracel duracel battery, he just kept going and going. Most of the people were falling behind, but he never looked back, so I don't think he even noticed.
We finally arrived at our camp; sweaty, starving and 1/2 dead. We were staying in a slightly larger village this time, so there was even a (cold water) shower, and they cooked dinner for us.
After dinner, we hung around the fire for a bit, playing music and traditional Thai games before we all passed out.
I woke up the next morning to a little boy with a giant bug on a string. It appeared as if he was taking his prt out for a fly.
That day was just as strenuous, up hill most of the way. W were all climbing, huffing and puffing, and as we were, the little kids from the village who had left after us, came skipping up behind us wearing flip-flops. We walked with them the rest of the way to the village where their school was (about a two hour walk from where they lived) passing a few other small villages along the way. At each of the villages that we would pass, there would be a kid or two, standing outside, yelling 'Bye! Bye! Bye!'
We had lunch in the school village. The whole time we were eating, this group of young girls was sitting there, watching us, giggling the entire time.
They continued to watch us as we piled into the truck, and as well pulled away, they came running after us, waving franticly and blowing kisses at us.
We drove to the river where we were going to do our bamboo rafting. This is Thailand. Anything goes. They just took us, gave us a bamboo stick, put us on the rafts; no life jackets, no helmets, nothing, just sent us down the river. We did have have a guide on the front, but if anyone fell off, there was no possible way to stop the raft. We kept crashing into the sides had to duck every few seconds to avoid getting brushed off by a branch. Thankfully, we had the circus guy on the back of our raft, so he was able to maneuver his way back onto the raft every time he fell off.
Once we were all back on dry land and safe, we got back into the truck to drive to the largest waterfall in the Chiang Mai area where we stopped for a quick swim before continuing the 2 hours back to Chiang Mai.
For our final day in Chiang Mai, we wanted to do some sight seeing, so we met up with Luke, Tom and Jo, but we were all feeling so dead from the trek that it pretty much just ended up being a restaurant and cafe tour, occasionally stopping to look at something important. Either way, it's nice to have a chill and hang out day every once in awhile.
We all piled into a truck that had 2 benches in the back and drove about an hour to an elephant farm. We went on an elephant ride for about 1/2 hour and then hopped back in the truck for about another 2 hours where we stopped in a little village to look around and have lunch. Just as we were getting ready for lunch, it started to downpour, and the rain wasn't giving up. It continued to rain the entire day drenching us from head to toe as we hiked through the jungle. The paths were muddy and steep, so we were all sliding around, grasping for anything stable to keep us from summersaulting down the hill.
We stopped after awhile to set rat traps made out of bamboo using rice and ginger as bait.
When we arrived at our camp for the first night, we realized that our bags were not water proof and everything inside including all of our clothes and sleeping bags were completely drenched, so we made a fire and everyone hung their clothes over it in attempt to get them dry.
We cooked a nice and big dinner together, which was the perfect reward for hiking all day in the jungle in the rain.
After dinner, the guide asked if anyone wanted to go on a night walk to look for snakes. I decided that I'd already paid for the whole trip, so I might as well get my money's worth, so I went. Only 1/2 of us went. We didn't end up seeing any snakes, unfortunately, but we did see a giant tarantula.
The next morning, we got up, had breakfast and started off again into the jungle. It didn't rain, but the trek was more strenuous this time.
Even though it wasn't raining anymore, the ground was still slippery and wet from the day before. We had to balance on logs over rivers, jump from rock to rock, duck underneath branches and squeeze between trees. One part was so steep that the only way to get down was to hold onto a vine and slide down hoping you don't slip and tumble to your death.
At the bottom of the hill was a waterfall where we stopped for lunch. Just as we got there, it started to rain again.
We had caught one rat in our traps from the night before, so we cooked that up along with some Thai noodles. Not everyone dared to taste the rat, but it actually wasn't too bad. It was a bit salty, but other than that, tasted pretty normal.
By the time we were ready to go again, the rain had stopped, which is a good thing. The next part of our journey, I'd like to be known as the Miley Cyrus part because it was all up hill and the song 'it's the climb' kept running repeatedly through my head with the occasional 'climb every mountain' from the Sound of Music.
Our guide was a machine. duracel duracel battery, he just kept going and going. Most of the people were falling behind, but he never looked back, so I don't think he even noticed.
We finally arrived at our camp; sweaty, starving and 1/2 dead. We were staying in a slightly larger village this time, so there was even a (cold water) shower, and they cooked dinner for us.
After dinner, we hung around the fire for a bit, playing music and traditional Thai games before we all passed out.
I woke up the next morning to a little boy with a giant bug on a string. It appeared as if he was taking his prt out for a fly.
That day was just as strenuous, up hill most of the way. W were all climbing, huffing and puffing, and as we were, the little kids from the village who had left after us, came skipping up behind us wearing flip-flops. We walked with them the rest of the way to the village where their school was (about a two hour walk from where they lived) passing a few other small villages along the way. At each of the villages that we would pass, there would be a kid or two, standing outside, yelling 'Bye! Bye! Bye!'
We had lunch in the school village. The whole time we were eating, this group of young girls was sitting there, watching us, giggling the entire time.
They continued to watch us as we piled into the truck, and as well pulled away, they came running after us, waving franticly and blowing kisses at us.
We drove to the river where we were going to do our bamboo rafting. This is Thailand. Anything goes. They just took us, gave us a bamboo stick, put us on the rafts; no life jackets, no helmets, nothing, just sent us down the river. We did have have a guide on the front, but if anyone fell off, there was no possible way to stop the raft. We kept crashing into the sides had to duck every few seconds to avoid getting brushed off by a branch. Thankfully, we had the circus guy on the back of our raft, so he was able to maneuver his way back onto the raft every time he fell off.
Once we were all back on dry land and safe, we got back into the truck to drive to the largest waterfall in the Chiang Mai area where we stopped for a quick swim before continuing the 2 hours back to Chiang Mai.
For our final day in Chiang Mai, we wanted to do some sight seeing, so we met up with Luke, Tom and Jo, but we were all feeling so dead from the trek that it pretty much just ended up being a restaurant and cafe tour, occasionally stopping to look at something important. Either way, it's nice to have a chill and hang out day every once in awhile.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Transportation in Thailand
It was quite the journey from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.
We stopped along the way for a few hours in a smaller town called Ayutthaya, rented some bikes and biked around the ruins there. It was very interesting to see the ancient architecture and quite an adventure biking on the roads. Since there are no bike paths, we had to bike down the road, sometimes in the middle of highways, in-between the cars and busses. They are such crazy drivers; I don't know what I would have done without Cat guiding me. Thanks goodness also for my intensive biking lessons in Germany! I managed to stay in the up right position the whole time until the very end when I was trying to park it and ended up just stumbling over it, falling bicycle and all, to the ground in front of a bunch of elderly Thai men, who, of course, laughed at me.
Our train from Ayutthaya to Chiang Mai was about 2 hours late, but it didn't surprise me because someone had once told me that the trains in Thailand were almost always late if they even came at all.
We had a sleeper carriage with ac, so the ride was really not too bad at all and we could sleep for most of the time.
About 2 hours before we reached Chiang Mai, the conductor came to us and told us that we had to get off at the next stop because there was water over the tracks so they couldn't go any further, but it was ok, he told us, because they would take us for the rest of the way in an ac bus.
The busses finally came, we packed our bags inside and then all squished in. Apparently, the 'ac' was a few ceiling fans on the bus roof. The bus reminded me of a detasseling bus form back in the day. Bumping along, hot, overcrowded and a bit smelly.
When we were nearly there the bus just suddenly stopped and no one knew why. We sat there for about a 1/2 hour without an explanation. Someone finally went out to check what was going on and apparently it was time for our bus driver to eat lunch, so he'd stopped for a little lunch break.
When we finally got to Chiang Mai, we found a guest house that appears to be quite nice and signed up for what is supposed to be the best cultural trekking experience near Chiang Mai. It's a 2 night, 3 day trek through the jungle and different hill tribe communities where we will learn to cook their food and live their life style.
We stopped along the way for a few hours in a smaller town called Ayutthaya, rented some bikes and biked around the ruins there. It was very interesting to see the ancient architecture and quite an adventure biking on the roads. Since there are no bike paths, we had to bike down the road, sometimes in the middle of highways, in-between the cars and busses. They are such crazy drivers; I don't know what I would have done without Cat guiding me. Thanks goodness also for my intensive biking lessons in Germany! I managed to stay in the up right position the whole time until the very end when I was trying to park it and ended up just stumbling over it, falling bicycle and all, to the ground in front of a bunch of elderly Thai men, who, of course, laughed at me.
Our train from Ayutthaya to Chiang Mai was about 2 hours late, but it didn't surprise me because someone had once told me that the trains in Thailand were almost always late if they even came at all.
We had a sleeper carriage with ac, so the ride was really not too bad at all and we could sleep for most of the time.
About 2 hours before we reached Chiang Mai, the conductor came to us and told us that we had to get off at the next stop because there was water over the tracks so they couldn't go any further, but it was ok, he told us, because they would take us for the rest of the way in an ac bus.
The busses finally came, we packed our bags inside and then all squished in. Apparently, the 'ac' was a few ceiling fans on the bus roof. The bus reminded me of a detasseling bus form back in the day. Bumping along, hot, overcrowded and a bit smelly.
When we were nearly there the bus just suddenly stopped and no one knew why. We sat there for about a 1/2 hour without an explanation. Someone finally went out to check what was going on and apparently it was time for our bus driver to eat lunch, so he'd stopped for a little lunch break.
When we finally got to Chiang Mai, we found a guest house that appears to be quite nice and signed up for what is supposed to be the best cultural trekking experience near Chiang Mai. It's a 2 night, 3 day trek through the jungle and different hill tribe communities where we will learn to cook their food and live their life style.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuk tuk? Tuk tuk? Ping-pong show?
I arrived at the Bangkok airport Monday morning where I was greeted by a swarm of lady-boys and met up with Cat. We took a taxi together to the guest house and then went for a wander around the city. Bangkok is a very interesting city. There is an overwhelming amount of temples and you can buy nearly anything in the streets; from cheap food to knock off sunglasses to fake ID's.
The Thai people seam to be very friendly and funny. If you stop for one second, one will come up to you, ask you where you are from, tell you to come into the shade, welcome you to Thailand, tell you their life story, ask you where you are going, if you've got a ticket, tell you to go to the TAT, snatch your map, write all over it, demand that you go to the TAT, hail a tuk tuk for you, tell the driver that you want to go to the TAT (weather you want to or not), say bye bye and then walk away. I can't even begin to count how many times we've had that happen to us so far and we've only been here for 3 days.
It's hot and humid, I guess to make up for the lack of summer in Germany, and everything is pretty cheap. We are staying at a guest house with a private room for about $5 per night and you can easily get good meals for $6 or less and decent ones for about $1 or 2.
One night we went for a 'massage' where you stick your feet into a big tank of tiny fish and they swim around them eating off all the dead skin. It tickled so bad that it took me about 5 times before I was able to actually hold my feet in there. I probably wouldn't do it again, but it was funny and my feet did feel a bit softer afterword.
I realized after about the first day that I'd packed way too much stuff and wouldn't even need about half the things that I had brought, so I took about 1/4 of my clothes and sold then for $2 to a man with a sign that said 'we buy anything'.
A random but funny story: I was walking down the street and a little boy about 11 or 12 came up to me and handed me a flyer. I took it and walked away. He came running after me saying 'sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry'. Confused, I asked him why. His reply was 'I just call you fat man. Sorry. I meant you are beautiful.'
The Thai people seam to be very friendly and funny. If you stop for one second, one will come up to you, ask you where you are from, tell you to come into the shade, welcome you to Thailand, tell you their life story, ask you where you are going, if you've got a ticket, tell you to go to the TAT, snatch your map, write all over it, demand that you go to the TAT, hail a tuk tuk for you, tell the driver that you want to go to the TAT (weather you want to or not), say bye bye and then walk away. I can't even begin to count how many times we've had that happen to us so far and we've only been here for 3 days.
It's hot and humid, I guess to make up for the lack of summer in Germany, and everything is pretty cheap. We are staying at a guest house with a private room for about $5 per night and you can easily get good meals for $6 or less and decent ones for about $1 or 2.
One night we went for a 'massage' where you stick your feet into a big tank of tiny fish and they swim around them eating off all the dead skin. It tickled so bad that it took me about 5 times before I was able to actually hold my feet in there. I probably wouldn't do it again, but it was funny and my feet did feel a bit softer afterword.
I realized after about the first day that I'd packed way too much stuff and wouldn't even need about half the things that I had brought, so I took about 1/4 of my clothes and sold then for $2 to a man with a sign that said 'we buy anything'.
A random but funny story: I was walking down the street and a little boy about 11 or 12 came up to me and handed me a flyer. I took it and walked away. He came running after me saying 'sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry'. Confused, I asked him why. His reply was 'I just call you fat man. Sorry. I meant you are beautiful.'
Mann trifft sich immer zweimal im Leben
After a year of living in Germany, I have really come to love everything about it (maybe besides the crappy summer). I realize how lucky I've been to have had this great experience; With the job, the location, my host family, my friends and everything. I wouldn't want anything to be different.
For my last night in Oldenburg, my host family had a BBQ for me. A few friends came by and Dieter finally got back from Ecuador. It was a great evening. We sang. We danced. We rode the horse. A perfect way to end a perfect year.
It was a bit hard to say goodbye to everyone, but I do know that I will be back someday and that I will see them again, if not in Germany, somewhere else in this world. It's a small world after all. As they say in German, Mann trifft sich immer zweimal im Leben (you always meet twice in life). I have come to believe, that if you want the saying to be true, it will be true. If you really want to see someone again, you will make an effort to do so and you will see them again, weather it be after a few months, a few years or even 50 years down the road.
For my last night in Oldenburg, my host family had a BBQ for me. A few friends came by and Dieter finally got back from Ecuador. It was a great evening. We sang. We danced. We rode the horse. A perfect way to end a perfect year.
It was a bit hard to say goodbye to everyone, but I do know that I will be back someday and that I will see them again, if not in Germany, somewhere else in this world. It's a small world after all. As they say in German, Mann trifft sich immer zweimal im Leben (you always meet twice in life). I have come to believe, that if you want the saying to be true, it will be true. If you really want to see someone again, you will make an effort to do so and you will see them again, weather it be after a few months, a few years or even 50 years down the road.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Time: in all it's beauty.
Time... how quickly it slips away. At 4 years old, 20 minutes can seem like a lifetime away. But then those 20 minutes pass, and then 20 hours, 20 days, 20 weeks, 20 months, and before you know it, 20 years have gone by.
A while back, I saw scribbled into a bathroom wall somewhere: 'maybe time is not so important.' The older I get, the more I believe this to be true.
It's been nearly 2 years since I boarded the plane for the first time to Europe, 1 year and 11 months since I left for Australia, and 11 months ago I came back to Germany.
Those past 2 years have been both the longest and shortest years of my life. In this time I've seen more than I could ever imagine, learned to think in ways I never knew existed, made amazing new friends, and spoke another language. I've had the highest of highs but also some lows; I've felt lost, confused and homesick, been lost in translation, said goodbye to many people I care about, and found out what it was like, after being robbed, to have nothing but a few clothes, a notebook, a 1/2 jar of peanut butter, a 1/4 loaf of crusty bread, and a bendy tripod stuffed into a pillowcase.
As I pack up my room here in Oldenburg, I can't stop thinking about time and how fast it's gone. The new au pair is arriving on Monday and it brings me back to my first weeks here with Sam. I have yet to come to the realization that my time here is nearly up.
Though I've had an excellent time here in Germany and don't regret for a second the discussion to come here, I'm ready to move on and excited to see what Asia has in store for me. I'm on the last pages of this book, and now it's time to pass it onto someone else, leaving room for another to begin.
We focus so much on time; rushing around, planning, and trying to make every second count for something. but maybe time really isn't so important after all. Maybe it's not about how long you stay somewhere, or exactly how much time you spend with someone, but more the experiences you've had in this certain place and the memories you've created with these certain people that really matter. In the end, time will always abandon us, things will always change, and friends will always leave. But the memories... The memories will stick with us forever... Buried somewhere within our cluttered hearts; where every on-in-awhile, we can pull them out, dust them off, look at them and smile at the life we once had. As long as our memories remain, we'll never lose anything completely.
A while back, I saw scribbled into a bathroom wall somewhere: 'maybe time is not so important.' The older I get, the more I believe this to be true.
It's been nearly 2 years since I boarded the plane for the first time to Europe, 1 year and 11 months since I left for Australia, and 11 months ago I came back to Germany.
Those past 2 years have been both the longest and shortest years of my life. In this time I've seen more than I could ever imagine, learned to think in ways I never knew existed, made amazing new friends, and spoke another language. I've had the highest of highs but also some lows; I've felt lost, confused and homesick, been lost in translation, said goodbye to many people I care about, and found out what it was like, after being robbed, to have nothing but a few clothes, a notebook, a 1/2 jar of peanut butter, a 1/4 loaf of crusty bread, and a bendy tripod stuffed into a pillowcase.
As I pack up my room here in Oldenburg, I can't stop thinking about time and how fast it's gone. The new au pair is arriving on Monday and it brings me back to my first weeks here with Sam. I have yet to come to the realization that my time here is nearly up.
Though I've had an excellent time here in Germany and don't regret for a second the discussion to come here, I'm ready to move on and excited to see what Asia has in store for me. I'm on the last pages of this book, and now it's time to pass it onto someone else, leaving room for another to begin.
We focus so much on time; rushing around, planning, and trying to make every second count for something. but maybe time really isn't so important after all. Maybe it's not about how long you stay somewhere, or exactly how much time you spend with someone, but more the experiences you've had in this certain place and the memories you've created with these certain people that really matter. In the end, time will always abandon us, things will always change, and friends will always leave. But the memories... The memories will stick with us forever... Buried somewhere within our cluttered hearts; where every on-in-awhile, we can pull them out, dust them off, look at them and smile at the life we once had. As long as our memories remain, we'll never lose anything completely.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)