I’m in Cambodia!

How surreal does that sound?!

So today early morning we departed from the bustling road of Khao San and hit the road to Cambodian border. With all that we’ve read about annoying scams we were anxious not to overpay for everything. The boarder was indeed sketchy. We got hunted down by someone with a governmental ID card who led our way through the border just to put us in the “government approved safe and free” shuttle bus to the bus station in Poipet city. It was dodgy to take it with only 2 more people and them repeating constantly that it’s so safe and free made us very suspicious. At the bus station they seemed to have an eye on us so that we didn’t leave the premises but since they told us we have to wait 2 hours we said we’d go out and “discover the city and come back, yes, we will come back in 2 h” and got ourselves a taxi for half price and we got to drive with a very friendly driver who really tried to teach us some of Khmer language, but we just failed. The driving here is exactly the same as in the whole Asia. Crazy fast with no regard for the vehicles coming from the opposite direction, signaling overtaking with a honk and driving the imaginary lane between the regular ones. Anyways, we got to the lovely city of Battambang, checked-in and left to discover the whereabouts.

It’s nothing like I expected. Not a barely developed jungle village, but a very much developing town! There are construction sites everywhere, good roads and a decent infrastructure! Might be better than some of the same sized Polish cities!!

Money in Cambodia is crazy…I’ve never had few hundred thousand nominated bills in my hand. Everything seems to be very affordable here too. And those people, OMG are just sooo nice! We were just resting on a bench and one guy, medicine student came up to chat with us and practice his English! He gave us some insider tips and we ended up watching locals on their aerobics class in the middle of a park. So funny to see the instructor in his Nike’s and audio system, that he brought with him on a wheelbarrow!!

Another thing I noticed was how proud of their country they are. They always say “in my country” and “we” with such paternal pride – a thing rarely observed nowadays…

To end the day well after walking around a bit we found a very well equipped internet café, had a nice dinner and now at 10pm about to pass out… Time for Motorbike tour tomorrow!!

Oh and btw, I jumped into one of my Taiwan Uni co-exchange students:] Seems there are a bunch of us travelling around SEA and I might be bumping into some of them on the way. Love, how small is the world :]

Thailand: day 1,2&3

Bangkok! Arrived delayed, but so did my friend Ewa so we just met up at the airport. Visa on arrival seemed like such a big deal for the offiers! It's pretty obvious we just want to be good tourists, spend some money, support the economy and leave! But since none of us had a departing flight from Thailand it took a lot of explaining, documents and patience to make it through the border – that was a tiny bit stressful. Than the positively crazy taxi driver, who danxed to MJ songs whilst drivinh, found our hostel and as we were both exhaysted we just went to bed straight so we could start the next day fresh. On our first day we managed to see most of the city’s highlights. We were lucky to catch up with the free guided tour around the National Museum (which was free too – Happy New Year!). Lynda, our tour guide was a volunteer and a wife of a diplomat from New Zeeland. Her stories were a bit chaotic but enjoyable nevertheless. Funny enough, she did the touring because, as she put it: "there’s only as many massages one can get" ;) So we toured that museum (lots of Buddhas and chariots etc.), some temples (Wats) and shrines. We shopped on a textile market in Chinatown and took a tuktuk home. The bargaining is required everywhere here. At the beginning its fun but later it’s just a headache trying to not allow the savvy sellers to rip us off. And believe me, everyone gives inflated prices to tourists… You can knock off more than 50% sometimes. Oh, and the taxi ride with a meter is much CHEAPER than a tuktuk! Although, not all of the drivers like to use it, when we insisted we either got what we wanted or had to look for another one. Around our hostel in Silom, it was very quiet and ... well, boring. The hostel was very uneventful, especially comparing to Frendz Resort on Boracay. Anyways, since there was not much to do we decided to experience the famous Thai massage – after all, we deserved it after walking the whole day! We also tried to get into a rooftop lounge to admire the city by night, but they due to “inappropriate attire” (meaning our flip-flops and shorts) we were turned down :[ . Ah well, we still walked the not very interesting neighborhood.

The second day we travelled to the ancient city of Ayuthaya. We took a train – 3^rd class (fan, no aircon) for 20 Bath (an equivalent of maybe 0,5euro for 1,5hour ride) just for the thrill of it but we enjoyed it enough to get back the same way (15 Bath). Discovering the ancient ruins on bicycles was a blast! Especially that I haven’t ridden one in maybe a year, especially that they drive on the right side (we sometimes did too) and especially that we had the crappiest bikes available. Sooo much fun! I think the locals already got used to tourists driving the wrong direction so we got honked only a few times ;) The temples and Buddhas were amazing! At least the first 3 or 4 were…than it became ... some temples and more Buddhas. We cruised around the parks, ancient roads and the whole ruins. It was awesome to realize that I might ride on a roof and chill in somebody’s backyard - I mean some ancient Thai aristocracy … We got to see some elephants too! The roads seem to submit to the rule of the strongest. The scooters give way to the tuktuks, the tuktuks to cars and trucks, but where do elephants fit? My guess: somewhere between cars since they did seem to give them way ;] – really funny sight!

And took a boat ride for 3 Bath - prices here are amazing when outside of touristy Bangkok areas! Sitting down after the tour with an ice-watermelon shake and chilled on the bank of one river observing the daily life of locals, the pointy boats cruising up and down the river….surreal! I don’t want to hear ever again: “why do you travel so far, there are so many interesting things at home!”… sorry, but this does not compare! After coming back we wanted to see the touristy road where all the pubs, restaurants, street vendors – Khao San Road it was! And we were amazed by the bustling, lively atmosphere and decided to move there for our last night. One can not resist the charm of this road! Unfortunately, we were so tired that after cruising around a bit, a dinner and a beer we just had to go back and pass out! Love the feeling when in the evening you can lay down and say: That was a very well spent day!

Day three. Got lazy getting up, managed to get lost looking for the pier, but saw the princess arriving in the Grand Palace. The whole palace complex was humongous! And sooo beautiful! As we discussed with Ewa, what do we Polish have to boast about: Wawel? It’s probably not even half the size and not merely as astonishing as this place. Tired with the heat we sought shade in the Buddhist temple (shoes off!)! Than we took the boat to the other side of the river to see the Wat Arun – one of the most beautiful Wat’s so far I think. And then back to Khao San road where we moved earlier in the morning. We tried to shop some more but the dresses and swim suits didn’t look merely as good in the daylight as at night, and the price, even after bargaining was way too much (we got used to paying 1,1 euro for bags and 3 euro for pants). All the American tourists spoilt the venders with their no-bargaining purchases (how can you pay 10 euro for a dress?!?). So instead we decided to indulge a bit and gout ourselves a Spa treatment. Still didn’t get the fish feet peeling (that’s when you sit with your feet in an aquarium full of funky fishes that bite off the dead skin) – still looks too gross for our taste.

We had several deeper thought moments throughout the day. Namely, talking about world religions and how similar they are! But I already forgot our outcomes :[

So here I am, in the backpackers heaven hostel, got my Cambodian Visa ready and about to travel to the boarded to Battamang tomorrow. After reading all the dangers & annoyances that we will meet on the way I ask everyone to cross their fingers. We will need luck not to get ripped off. But for now, let’s get some good dinner and enjoy the last night in Bangkok. We did a good job exploring the city, but surprisingly didn’t make friends :[ let’s hope next stop will be more abundant with friendly travellers!

p.s. sorry for the lack of new photos, but I took something like 500 during the past days, and its soo much work uploading them! And time flies like crazy when you’re having fun. Plus there’s so much to do!

Kalibo airport

Time to sum up Boracay and the Philippines. I had amazing time, met some interesting and inspiring people, got a good tan, celebrated New Years Eve with a blast and experienced the laid back culture of the Pilipino. The past few days were great and even though the weather wasn’t that great, I still managed to enjoy the day with Starbucks’ hot chocolate on the beach, a good book, and a relaxing massage. Sunsets here were beautiful too. Generally, my impression of the island changed 180deg. I believe that on the first day I was shocked to see the sex tourism in the open: old gross men with young Pilipino girls. I don’t know who do I feel more sorry for – the girl who is selling herself or the guy who has to pay to feel better about himself. The issue is overwhelming and shocking to be so widely accepted. I did talk with one of such girls, not in here but in Cuba, and even though I still consider it a bad thing, I understand that this is their only way to get education and have a better life one day. I am very lucky to have been borne in a more “civilized” country. Also, there is a bit amusing side too, the Transvestitism is quite popular too, so sometimes those men looking for girls end up with a surprise – well serves them right! Also, I noticed that I was perfectly safe there. It was the men who had to fear dark alleys where the lady-boys waited to harass their victims.

Other observation is of the country’s infrastructure. There are no trains here, but transportation is very well developed. No, I don’t mean technologically advanced or well organized. The airports are small, chaotic, yet it took me 30 min from arrival to resting on a bench in front of the gate. That included a huuuge line to security check, check-in and dealing with terminal fees. Not to mention that there are more airports on one island than in the whole Poland – shame on the “civilized” country! The bankas (small ferries) might be scary-looking, but one has to realize that it’s the ferryman’s whole life and he just cannot afford to sink it – this thought helped me to actually enjoy the ride ;) Buses are a hassle and can give a tourist a headache but once you get accustomed, it all starts to make sense!

Then there is Cebu Pacific – Philippine low fare airline that serves flights domestically and internationally. I am very impressed with their differentiation strategy. Their flight attendants dance during the safety instructions, they make games and quizzes on the flight so that no one is bored, and ne can even win prizes!! This way they made their way into no.1 carrier in the region (no data supporting my assumption). There were Cebu Pacific flights nearly every 30 min flying into Kalibo, they have one of the terminals in Manila nearly solely at their disposal and you can see their ads everywhere. Landing in Manila, it was easy to see their dominance over other carriers.

People here have a very flexible approach to time, but then something has to be done they don’t shrug like the Taiwaneese and say “mei you banfa” (not possible), they just do everything in their power to get the job done. A perfect example was the laundry service: They were late, but when I told I am leaving early morning they delivered it to the hostel as soon as they got it! All this with a smile and pleasant attitude. No wonder, they are desired emigrants in the whole world – they are hardworking and pleasant to be around of.

Manila airport update: Ok, maybe not always when the taxi drivers try to rip you off, random people jump in the line taking advantage of me letting small kids with mom go through or when at Manila airport before check-in suspicious looking men of different age eye my backpacks even more suspiciously (after all bad and dangerous stories I heard about Manila, I decided to restrict my visit to the airport). So, what can one do with a huge burdening backpack for 5 hours in a low-security airport, with no free wifi available? Let’s hope for a miracle and look for my long lost hoodie! ;)

Hoodie has not been found unfortunately :( Looks like someone took liking in my German university ;) hope it serves them well… There is no post office to send out postcards, wifi still not working and after inquiry at the information they told me with a jaw-dropping smile “yes, there is free wifi but it usually doesn’t work”. Booooreed!!!

As for Seoul: looks, like it got a speed passage on my travel list for the next semester! After all the great things I’ve heard about it from various people I fear that I might even consider a teaching job for a while ;)

A good life!

How wonderful life can be? I am on a paradise island, live in a bamboo shack, I meet wonderful and interesting people and spend the day sunbaking, swimming and wandering around!! It's only the beginning of the trip and I have already made some good friends and got invited to Seoul :) Maybe by the end of the trip I won't have to stay at hostels any more ! But I think that even if I'm a milionare, I will still choose hostels - those backpackers are just too interesting people - living in what seemes like the most bizarre places on earth like teaching sailing Qatar or teaching english in Korea!

The New Years Eve was truly amazing! The whole island turned into a huge party experience. The fireworks were amazing too – nothing like I’ve ever seen before! Suddenly, everyone on the island seemed to know each other, wishes of luck, good life etc. seemed to roam around.

Today, the weather isn’t that great, but it’ll be perfect to climb the mountain!