Return to sender

I'm going back to Thailand today. I was going on the cheapest rate possible, meaning taking the bus back to Bangkok(17/18dollars). Then I was informed that the bus takes 15 hours. 15! I've done that much and more on a bus, I mean, I did go from Latvia to Russia on a bus. However, that bus did not include karaoke music blasting my ear drums away nor did it include a Jackie Chan film in Cambodian loud enough for the astronauts to hear. Besides since I already blew off my budget I might as well have a bit of confort. So this afternoon I'll be back in Thailand, yay for me.

Is it me?

Through the years I've had some strange events, some weird adventures, even some very surreal experiences. However my stay at The Drunken Frog is hard to describe.

The bathroom is literally sliding down, both the sink and the toilet and leaning so much that you have to repress the urge to run and try and catch it before it crashes.

I got bitten by several things, even sleeping on my sleeping bag.

Because the rooms are all connected by wooden boards (tiny wooden bridges that are over and around the lake) every time someone went past my door my bed shook like it was earthquake time.

Around 23h as I turned off the light and tried to fall asleep the few other guests and the Cambodian family that runs the place decided to start a party. Faithless, Chemical Brothers and the lot dancing the night away. At one point I really did think the floor was not going to take it anymore and I was going to end up in the water. No, I didn't get much sleep.

And I'm sure me staying there also is not working out for the family as one of my first moves was to drop the room key in the lake...

Back in Phnom Penh

It was yet another painfully long bus ride. It was supposed to be 7h long but thanks to the great access into the capital it took 8h35m. 8 hours and 35 minutes of Cambodian karaoke music, oh joy.

After talking to another traveler I decided to try out the lakeside area of this strange capital. It took some shopping around, I finally decided to stay in The Drunken Frog for 3$. The room is more than shabby, it's weird as well. I hope that tomorrow after going to the Thai embassy I can go to another area or hotel. It's fine if you want to save money but let's just say that I'll be sleeping on my sleeping bag...

The lakeside area is the closest to a backpacker area there is. As a result there are tons of tuk-tuk drivers around but you do get to see some locals houses in between the guesthouses. Several places have rooms from 2$, some include a very nice view. If you manage to forget everything else you'll be happy.

Apparently there is a street party in the neighborhood tonight, it sounds nice but I'm not sure I can stay awake.

Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom

Angkor's archeological park was named after the main temple Angkor Wat, it was also the one that historians and archeologists took more interest upon, that helps to explain (I think) why Angkor Wat gets the crowds out of all the temples and citadels. Due to it my visit was a far less nice experience than Ta Prohm.

The sign says "3 possibilities of visit". All will have tons of people in Angkor Wat.

Dear tourists, if you have kids under the age of 10 please leave them at home or don't come until they have a reasonable age. 5 year olds screaming that it's too hot or that everything is boring does annoy the crap out of other travellers. Also, British and Australian girls please read up about Asia before travelling. Bare shoulders, tank tops and short-short shorts are used in Asia only by prostitutes, not ok in temples... Even if they are very old temples. It would be the same as having someone dressed in what we consider prostitude clothing in a Western church. Ah, yes, and whether or not you have those clothes please don't touch the Budha statues as if He's an old friend.

As much as I loved my visits, I wouldn't like to be in one of the temples alone at night. There are long dark tunnels, narrow passages, decapitaded Buddhas and some have bats (you can hear them but not see them, brrrr).

Angkor Thom is/was a citadel, it's hard describing its size: it has one big temple, Bayon, and four small ones withing its walls plus four amazing gates. Apparently it was self-suficient and hosted 1 million people.
So Ta Prohm is my favorite, followed closely by the Bayon.


So ends my 3 day tour of Angkor Wat. I have hundreds more pictures but I am trying my best not to become one of those annoying travellers that comes back with a 650 photo slideshow...

ANgkor Wat: Ta Prohm temple

I woke up at 5 am in order to beat the heat and the crowds. The Ta Prohm temple is outside of town and I had a uncomfortable motorbike ride there. If you can get a tuk-tuk so you can sit down, my ass did not enjoy that ride.

The jungle has slowly and effectively taken over the structure. It adds to the atmosphere. There are also tons of birds chirping away around you.
This was the only temple I could walk around alone and quietly.

After all the temples and citadels I can honestly say that this one is my favorite. I took a lot of pictures, I prefer it when the trees were taking over the space but not all of the temple is like that.I am very envious of the discovers who got to see this in its prime, or at least when it was more in one piece, engulfed by the jungle.

I suppose this wouldn't be pratical in a real house. It's really a shame.


And because some of you got confuse as how I ate snake and crocodile here is a photo of the grill:
There is coal in the bottom and water boiling to cook the vegetables and grill the meat. It was ok but not my best meal here.

Angkor Wat temples during Khmer New Year

I should really create a tag in this blog called "learn from my mistakes" or "think before you go". In it I could include going to a tropical country in its hottest month and drinking beer for breakfast with a Cambodian family.

The black things behind the fruits are fried spiders, the brown things in the front are fried crickets. A local delicacy...

I always wanted to visit Angkor Wat, ever since I was a kid. I don't remember the first time I saw some images or heard about it but I remember thinking it was the most exquisite (I had a very advanced vocabulary for my age) thing on Earth and that I had to see it before I died. And here I am. I've told myself several times I was really here but only after my second day in the temples did I believe it.Thanks to the Khmer New Year (3 day holiday, now it's the year of the Mouse not 2010. Celebrations include throwing water/water fight as water cleanses your sins) the temples are full of people. From all over Cambodia people come to celebrate the New Year, to pray and to make offerings to the monks. So even though the temples are from the 9th - 13th century they are very much still a place of worship. And of drinking apparently.

I was sitting on the floor resting from the 40 degree heat when a local family invited me to join them, I gave them some of my corn and they gave me beer. We talked for more than one hour. They were very curious about the size of Westerners' noses. It was the first time I thought about the topic.

I had snake and crocodile for the first time. Not bad but don't think I'll repeat the experience.

If you come to Angkor Wat (I vividly recommend it) take at least 3 days and try to see temples that are closer together as some are 20km from the city center. Take an extra battery for your camera. Make the sacrifice of waking up early, the temples open at 5am and not only are they emptier then as it's actually cooler. At 7am I was already sweating but it was nothing compared to the sweat at 10am...

Does anyone know the name of this tree? I love it!

Photos of big temples tomorrow, it takes me about 30m to upload 5 photos so by the end of it I'm hungry and well, annoyed.

In Siem Riep

I'll always remember this bus drive. I've done 6 hour rides before, even longer ones, however this one was the first with a Jackie Chan movie dubbed in Cambodian with the volume as high as it could get. If you want to travel cheap in Cambodia prepare for no Ac buses and karoke tunes, not good ones either.

It looks like I'll be in Cambodia for a few days

Outside Bangkok things are quite calm, almost as if nothing is happening in the capital I've been told. However since I need to go through the capital in order to get to my little town I'll wait until things have calmed down.

Tomorrow morning I am going to Siem Riep, north of Cambodia, where the Angkor Wat ruins are. It should be crowded because of the Khmer New Year so depending on how I deal with that I'll know how long I'm staying. Ideally I would be back here in the capital Thursday or Friday to do my Thai visa but we'll see. Is it still tourism when you don't want to stay in the country but have to?

Cambodia is just too hot and I am finding the capital hard to manage in the heat. Hopefully the countryside will make up for it. Despite the heat and the confusion, I found the Royal Palace amazing, if you visit it count at least one hour inside.

Stuck?

First I didn't want to come to Cambodia, I mean I always wanted to visit the country but I was so in love with Vietnam that I wanted to stay there. However Vietnam is expensive and I decided to come to Cambodia to do my visa for Thailand and go back before my budget exploded further.

As soon as I get to Cambodia I was informed that it's the Khmer New Year so everything is closed all next week. That means I have to stay in Cambodia two weeks instead of one and that maybe I won't get to Thailand in time for my school's seminar. Plus I have to stay in time of holidays when most people are not working and things are closed. Oh fun.

I still have to decide where to go in Cambodia, most people will be in the Angkor ruins as from tomorrow and as much as it sounds interesting to see the Khmer New Year, I can't even begin to imagine the crowds.

In Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I arrived yesterday and I can honestly say that I am tired of buses. And bargaining. Today I am taking the day out. No tourist sights, no haggling.

Phnom Penh is a city in the middle of being small and cute and being big and confusing. The traffic is less than in Vietnam but still requires you to advance slowly and carefully.

Photocopied books are everywhere again, oh joy.

It's hot and humid, I'm drinking water like I was drinking vodka in Latvia.

P.S. I tried to upload pictures, I really did. All I got was a eletric shock and an error message.

Leaving Vietnam - Cambodia here I go

Saigon connection.

I must admit my failure with my budget plans. I spent almost twice as much as I wanted too. Never fall in love, people, never fall in love. Even my trick of taking a night bus to save on hotel costs didn't help much. I really have to get couch surfing working again.

I leave for Cambodia today and I should stay there at least a week while preparing my visa for Thailand. The Cambodian visa is done on arrival, I expect queues. I read that in mid-April there is a festival, I hope there aren't too many crowds.

I leave you with some photos of Vietnamese food:

Elephant ear fish. I didn't see any ears or anything resembling it so the name escapes me.

Chicken with fish sauce (delicious!)

I don't know how this is called but you get a mix of herbs, meat cooked with sugar cane and rice paper to wrap it. It's very good. There are a couple of dishes here that require a mix of herbs, it's quite a nice experience. I hope I'll return soon to Vietnam.

Small detail I neglected to mention

In all my days in Vietnam I've seen many pirated CDs, DVDs and even books, it's quite common in Asia but Vietnam seems to overdo it. I've heard Cambodia is worse, I'll let you know.

My only problem with this is that I've been trying to buy a book by a Vietnamese-American called Catfish and Mandala and I can't find a non-photocopied version. Even in normal bookstores they sell photocopies. Same, same? (expression used in part of SouthEast Asia to say it's the same or almost the same, they can't say it only once...)

In case you don't know, I've built up the tradition of buying a book of a local author in every country I visit. It doesn't mean it's a strict rule, by the time I visited the UK I had already read most British classics but I do try to get a book from a native in a language I can read, usually it's English. I couldn't do it in Estonia and Slovakia and Vietnam is making me run for it.