On koh tao we finished our last couple days exploring the island next to koh tao and had the opportunity to spend our second last night on a small pubcrawl around the island! The island right next to koh tao is beautiful and is actually made up of three islands all connected to the same beach, apparently it is one of a kind! White sand and bright blue waters made it paradise and in the bay you can see small black tip sharks on a good day! I was feeling under the weather the day we went so i hung out in the shade while Aspen explored the waters. She didn't see any sharks but she saw a turtle. I was sad i missed that!
After we finished on the island we were supposed to be picked up by our taxi boat driver at 4 so we hung out on the dock at about 345 waiting. And waiting. And some more waiting! Finally at 435 another driver told us that our driver probably wasn't coming if he hadn't arrived yet and that he informed us that he was the last taxi boat leaving the island at 5 or we would have to spend the night on the island!
We were not impressed our taxi forgot about us, especially since we paid for a round trip to the island! Our new taxi boat driver couldn't drop us off in our town either and dropped us off one town over. It wasn't a bad walk but we were trucking it to get the company which sold us the ticket for a return ride.
Turns out they were super cool about it and gave us our money for the new taxi boat we had to take. I was impressed.
The next night we went on the crazy pub crawl, we started at a little bar way up in the hills that overlooked everything and had a drink at sunset. It was so pretty I could have spent all night hanging out there! Then we went back to town and had dinner and games. They split us up into teams and we played games for prizes(shots).
After that we went to another special lady boy show put on just for us, it was funny because at the end of the show the ladies or boys however you want to put it, grabbed some girls from our pub crawl and pulled them up on stage. They were asking the girls their names and the lady boy doing it had a really high voice, fake obviously. Ahe kept asking the girl her name but the girl on stage didn't here and kept asking what? Finally the frustrated lady boy dropped her fake voice and in his real deep voice was like, " what's your name!?" it was the funniest thing ever!
The rest of the night was more mellow after that, some great local music at one bar(they were doing mash ups of songs on acoustic guitar and it was unreal!) and finished the night at a dancing bar, the boys were having a little dance of breaking down moves and such and one guy jumped in and did the worm. I turned to Aspen and said I can do that too! So i went in the circle and did the worm! It was so fun and everyone cheered!
The next day we laid on the beach and took our last day easy. We ended up getting different boat tickets because I was too cheap to buy a fast boat ticket. Her boat ended up arriving a few hours ahead of me giving her time to find a cheap hotel. when I finally arrived to the island of koh samui I told my cabi our hotel and we began the hour ride to the hotel. We dropped off everyone in the van slowely and finally all that was left was me and another couple. The driver stopped at their stop and they looked at me and said do you wanna get off here and we can find your hotel cause it doesnt seem like he knows where he is going. I looked at the cabi and asked him if he knew where my hotel was one more time and e said yes yes its right up here! So i trusted him and hopped back in, my brain was thinking though this could be a replay of taken. But lone and behold we found it and i met aspen!
We explored our new area and ended up getting thai massages, which ended up being similar to the vietnamese massage. Their hands got too close to certain areas and they massaged our stomachs which was weird. Never again although it did feel great on my sore feet and calves which have been used to full extent in cheap flip flops.
Today we went shopping and tonight we are going to have a nice dinner! I love shopping and especially finding the perfect gifts for people back, so fun although my bank account disagrees. Tomorrow we take an island tour so I'm sure i will have plenty of stories and information to share with you all!
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Friday, 24 June 2011
Things that are missed the most on my travels
Flushing toilet - At almost every place we have been in Thailand, including restaurants and such, every single place has a toilet and then a bucket of water beside with a cup to fill up after you use it. Now that was all fine and dandy for the first few days but its really starting to wear a girl down! For example, you wake up in the middle of the night and you need to use the washroom. Well you do your business, at 4 in the morning, and go to fill the toilet up only to notice that the bucket of toilet water is empty! So now you have to be all noisy and wake your half asleep self up and fill the bucket with water and then proceed to fill the toilet. And to make things that much better you are now wide awake at 4 in the morning from your little bathroom run.
Drinkable water - You don't want to drink any water here unless it comes from a bottle, only of course if you want to catch malaria or typhoid or maybe both. Brushing your teeth is a real chore and you have to waste your precious bottled water on your teeth. I now have developed a way to brush my teeth without any water what so ever, although it does create plenty of extra pasties in your mouth. Just do your business with the toothbrush and then at the end when you would rinse, just suck all the excess toothpaste of the brush and spit. Everyone should actually do this and we all could be a little more green by saving water! Try it out, I dare ya.
My bed! - Its always a little exciting moving to a new hostel or hotel because there is always that possibility you can get a super comfy bed or who will luck out between Aspen and I and score the better bed. Its safe to say that throughout the trip so far we haven't had too many terrible beds. Actually the worst one would have to be one of the recent places we stayed at. It was a dorm style room that we got to stay for free at because it was the company that we were diving through. There were 3 bunk beds in this room and I managed to get stuck with the top bunk. Normally I don't mind the top bunk either, but because hot air rises and its already hot as hell here I think I sweated off ten pounds there. And the bunk bed didn't feel so sturdy so everytime I would turn I would shake the entire bed and make enough noise to wake my fellow room mates. Once again this made bathroom runs in the middle of the night super fun. I only managed to fall of the bunk bed a few times and bruise my elbows minimally. At one point in the middle of the night I woke up and I was facing a dude who was just sleeping in his tidy whities and from then on I made a effort to always face the wall.
My dog - There are the cutest dogs hanging around everywhere we have been! The only issue is that most of them are infested with a ton of fleas. That means you can't exactly pet them or cuddle them unless you want to catch the friendly little critters too. I'm going to snuggle my dog for a full 24 hours when I get back home! And right here on Koh Tao island they have this adorable beagle running around, I'm certain he is fleas free so I might sneak the buddy on the flight home with me...
A fridge - It's just a great peice of equipment to have at your leisure anytime! Mostly its great when the tempurature rises above 30 and your water goes warm before you have the chance to finish the bottle. Or to store some yummy ice cream treats, which by the way I feel I have been deprived of. It's nice to have a fully stocked fridge back at home as well, with snacks magically waiting all the time for me to munch on. It's great how that works back home.
Ok and yes I miss all you folks back home too, although I might just stay on Koh Tao forever and give you all a reason to come for a nice vacation here and visit me! I can just become a scuba instructor and swim with the fishies and sharks and whales and turtles allllll day. Sound like a good plan? I don't think flights are too expensive here..
Drinkable water - You don't want to drink any water here unless it comes from a bottle, only of course if you want to catch malaria or typhoid or maybe both. Brushing your teeth is a real chore and you have to waste your precious bottled water on your teeth. I now have developed a way to brush my teeth without any water what so ever, although it does create plenty of extra pasties in your mouth. Just do your business with the toothbrush and then at the end when you would rinse, just suck all the excess toothpaste of the brush and spit. Everyone should actually do this and we all could be a little more green by saving water! Try it out, I dare ya.
My bed! - Its always a little exciting moving to a new hostel or hotel because there is always that possibility you can get a super comfy bed or who will luck out between Aspen and I and score the better bed. Its safe to say that throughout the trip so far we haven't had too many terrible beds. Actually the worst one would have to be one of the recent places we stayed at. It was a dorm style room that we got to stay for free at because it was the company that we were diving through. There were 3 bunk beds in this room and I managed to get stuck with the top bunk. Normally I don't mind the top bunk either, but because hot air rises and its already hot as hell here I think I sweated off ten pounds there. And the bunk bed didn't feel so sturdy so everytime I would turn I would shake the entire bed and make enough noise to wake my fellow room mates. Once again this made bathroom runs in the middle of the night super fun. I only managed to fall of the bunk bed a few times and bruise my elbows minimally. At one point in the middle of the night I woke up and I was facing a dude who was just sleeping in his tidy whities and from then on I made a effort to always face the wall.
My dog - There are the cutest dogs hanging around everywhere we have been! The only issue is that most of them are infested with a ton of fleas. That means you can't exactly pet them or cuddle them unless you want to catch the friendly little critters too. I'm going to snuggle my dog for a full 24 hours when I get back home! And right here on Koh Tao island they have this adorable beagle running around, I'm certain he is fleas free so I might sneak the buddy on the flight home with me...
A fridge - It's just a great peice of equipment to have at your leisure anytime! Mostly its great when the tempurature rises above 30 and your water goes warm before you have the chance to finish the bottle. Or to store some yummy ice cream treats, which by the way I feel I have been deprived of. It's nice to have a fully stocked fridge back at home as well, with snacks magically waiting all the time for me to munch on. It's great how that works back home.
Ok and yes I miss all you folks back home too, although I might just stay on Koh Tao forever and give you all a reason to come for a nice vacation here and visit me! I can just become a scuba instructor and swim with the fishies and sharks and whales and turtles allllll day. Sound like a good plan? I don't think flights are too expensive here..
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Certified Scuba Diver!
Yup, that is exactly what has consumed our days on the island of Koh Tao so far! Our friends ended up talking us into taking our scuba certification with them so we did and it was the best decision of the trip. I'm getting a little ahead of myelf though because our first day on the island was an adventure in itself.
Aspen and I decided to rent ATV's to explore the island. We were going to rent scooters but there are dirt roads all over the place here and a scooter probably wouldn't be the best idea on a dirt road. After picking up our ATV's we hit up a 7-11 and got a map of the island. On the map we noticed there was a site that had a whale skeleton inland and we wanted to see that. Our first try to find the whale was a fail because we took off in the totally wrong direction. Whoops. After we got our location figured out we took off and were driving for about 15 minute when we got to the north end of the island and the road ended. We pulled out our map and checked our new location only to find we somehow passed the turn and had to back track. This is where things get interesting. When we rented our ATV's the sale lady told us we both had enough gas to go for awhile so we didn't fill up. The ATV's don't have gas gauges either. When we had stopped to find out where the whale skeleton was, both Aspen and I turned our ATV' off. When we went to start them back up again, Aspens didn't start. We tried and tried to get it to turn on but it wouldn't and the only solution to the problem we figured would be to find more gas. I had seen some gas on our way so I went back to find it. I was a little worried I would run out of gas too so I kept my fingers crossed that I would make it. I did and I saved the day by returning and giving Aspen the gas. But after she filled up her tank with this little water bottle full of gas I bought, her ATV still didn't start!
We had to go meet up with the other girls to book our diving too and now we were stuck way at the north end of the island with only one ATV. We ended up ditching the broken one and took of to book diving. When we stopped at the place where we rented the ATV from we informed them it was not starting and we didn't do anything to it. Luckly they said they would send someone up there to check it out. We ended up getting diving booked and had to start class that night as well! After booking diving we went back to the ATV and were told it wasn't starting because it was out of gas. Which was stupid because we had already put gas in but we put more in and it started fine. I thought I had seen the turn when I was looking for gas so we went back and went up this random road which wasn't the right one again. It just happened to be the most steep and twisty road ever. We stopped halfway to get directions and once again Aspen's ATV wouldn't start. A nice guy pulled up and helped her try and start it and when that didn't work he helped her turn it around so she could coast down the hill. I hate going down steep hills and I had the breaks pumped the entire way down this puppy. When we got to the bottom the guy helped Aspen start it and we realized it wasn't out of gas, it just wouldn't start if it was on a hill because the gas would all go to one side. The man also informed us of where to go to find the whale skeleton. I noticed the clouds were looking pretty mean that were coming in our direction but we continued on, determined to find this site we had been searching for all day. We were halfway up the right road when the down pour began. We were so close to our destination! But the rain was coming down too hard so we turned around and went back to town. I was soaked right to the bone and freezing. The rain wan't letting up anytime soon and we didn't want our rented ATV's to go to waste so we drove around in the rain for awhile but I couldn't handle how cold I was so I went back to take a hot shower. On the way to the room I bumped into one of the girls we were diving with and she said my lip were blue! So needless to say the hot shower felt like the best thing ever.
After the craziness of the ATV's we just took it easy until the scuba course started. It was pretty interesting, we watched some videos introducing us to diving and had to sign some forms. After we finished that stuff we had to take the ATV's back. and when we did they inspected them to see if we crashed them or anything. Luckly all the jumps and backflips I was doing didn't wreck it. We hit the sack pretty early because scuba school started at 8 the next morning.
In the am we started with more classroom stuff to help prepare us for a written exam we had to take the following day. I am on summer break and not in test mode anymore so that was intimidating! After going through the gear and how to wear it and what it was for we jumped on a boat and went to a little cove to start learning skills. It was an awesome day and our group aced all the skills. Some of the skills included clearing your mask, taking your mask off completely underwater and putting it back on, taking your scuba gear off and putting it back on underwater, emergency ascents, and a couple other important things to know how to do under the water. It was awesome because our group consisted of Aspen and I and then our three friends from Vancouver. Our instructor was awesome too and I'm going to have to say the best one we could have gotten.
We were in the water all afternoon and by the end of the day I was exhausted. We swam to the boat and we had to practice one more skill before we could get on. As we were floating there someone on the boat yelled shark!! I nearly died, I was trying to scramble up the side of the boat and other people were jumping off and trying to swim toward them! It turned out they were just baby black tip sharks and completely harmless to people. But really anytime someone says shark all I can picture is a big great white in my head!
So that was day one of scuba and then day two we did more classroom stuff and finished the morning with the test, which I aced. We were totally stressing out for the test too and it was super easy. After the classroom stuff we had our first dive to 12 m. It is absolutly beautiful under the water. So much life and the colors are vibrant. It's a lot of fun just swimming around and checking everything out.
We were under for about 50 minutes for our first dive and then we hit up a second dive site and practised some more skills and then explored a bit. Diving really takes a lot out of you though and when we got back to the hotel we went straight to bed.
Day three started bright and early at 6 am for our big 18 m dive. It was insane! The waters were really rough though so when you were on the surface you were just being tossed around but under the water its a completely different world. We ended up seeing a large school of barracuda! We saw plenty of fish and after a dive we wrote everything we saw in a log book. On our 18 m dive we also had someone following us around taking a video! After the big dive we did another shallower dive and then came back and I took a long power nap all afternoon. In the evening we got to watch our video which turned out awesome! Both Aspen and I got copies of it to show everyone back home.
We went out to celebrate being fully certified and we ended up making it to a lady boy show. Apparently they still have male parts and then most of them get implants. It was insane though, they just dance around and lip sang to music and the entire time I was trying to figure out how they could wear such tiny costumes while still being a dude. It blew my mind! And they were all so gorgeous too! It was a great experience though and it was funny. The night was a ton of fun with everyone from diving including our instructor.
Today is a sad day because our friend from Vancouver are leaving and continuing their travels outside Thailand so its goodbye. So I better go now so I don't miss out on seeing them before they leave! More to come soon though!
Aspen and I decided to rent ATV's to explore the island. We were going to rent scooters but there are dirt roads all over the place here and a scooter probably wouldn't be the best idea on a dirt road. After picking up our ATV's we hit up a 7-11 and got a map of the island. On the map we noticed there was a site that had a whale skeleton inland and we wanted to see that. Our first try to find the whale was a fail because we took off in the totally wrong direction. Whoops. After we got our location figured out we took off and were driving for about 15 minute when we got to the north end of the island and the road ended. We pulled out our map and checked our new location only to find we somehow passed the turn and had to back track. This is where things get interesting. When we rented our ATV's the sale lady told us we both had enough gas to go for awhile so we didn't fill up. The ATV's don't have gas gauges either. When we had stopped to find out where the whale skeleton was, both Aspen and I turned our ATV' off. When we went to start them back up again, Aspens didn't start. We tried and tried to get it to turn on but it wouldn't and the only solution to the problem we figured would be to find more gas. I had seen some gas on our way so I went back to find it. I was a little worried I would run out of gas too so I kept my fingers crossed that I would make it. I did and I saved the day by returning and giving Aspen the gas. But after she filled up her tank with this little water bottle full of gas I bought, her ATV still didn't start!
We had to go meet up with the other girls to book our diving too and now we were stuck way at the north end of the island with only one ATV. We ended up ditching the broken one and took of to book diving. When we stopped at the place where we rented the ATV from we informed them it was not starting and we didn't do anything to it. Luckly they said they would send someone up there to check it out. We ended up getting diving booked and had to start class that night as well! After booking diving we went back to the ATV and were told it wasn't starting because it was out of gas. Which was stupid because we had already put gas in but we put more in and it started fine. I thought I had seen the turn when I was looking for gas so we went back and went up this random road which wasn't the right one again. It just happened to be the most steep and twisty road ever. We stopped halfway to get directions and once again Aspen's ATV wouldn't start. A nice guy pulled up and helped her try and start it and when that didn't work he helped her turn it around so she could coast down the hill. I hate going down steep hills and I had the breaks pumped the entire way down this puppy. When we got to the bottom the guy helped Aspen start it and we realized it wasn't out of gas, it just wouldn't start if it was on a hill because the gas would all go to one side. The man also informed us of where to go to find the whale skeleton. I noticed the clouds were looking pretty mean that were coming in our direction but we continued on, determined to find this site we had been searching for all day. We were halfway up the right road when the down pour began. We were so close to our destination! But the rain was coming down too hard so we turned around and went back to town. I was soaked right to the bone and freezing. The rain wan't letting up anytime soon and we didn't want our rented ATV's to go to waste so we drove around in the rain for awhile but I couldn't handle how cold I was so I went back to take a hot shower. On the way to the room I bumped into one of the girls we were diving with and she said my lip were blue! So needless to say the hot shower felt like the best thing ever.
After the craziness of the ATV's we just took it easy until the scuba course started. It was pretty interesting, we watched some videos introducing us to diving and had to sign some forms. After we finished that stuff we had to take the ATV's back. and when we did they inspected them to see if we crashed them or anything. Luckly all the jumps and backflips I was doing didn't wreck it. We hit the sack pretty early because scuba school started at 8 the next morning.
In the am we started with more classroom stuff to help prepare us for a written exam we had to take the following day. I am on summer break and not in test mode anymore so that was intimidating! After going through the gear and how to wear it and what it was for we jumped on a boat and went to a little cove to start learning skills. It was an awesome day and our group aced all the skills. Some of the skills included clearing your mask, taking your mask off completely underwater and putting it back on, taking your scuba gear off and putting it back on underwater, emergency ascents, and a couple other important things to know how to do under the water. It was awesome because our group consisted of Aspen and I and then our three friends from Vancouver. Our instructor was awesome too and I'm going to have to say the best one we could have gotten.
We were in the water all afternoon and by the end of the day I was exhausted. We swam to the boat and we had to practice one more skill before we could get on. As we were floating there someone on the boat yelled shark!! I nearly died, I was trying to scramble up the side of the boat and other people were jumping off and trying to swim toward them! It turned out they were just baby black tip sharks and completely harmless to people. But really anytime someone says shark all I can picture is a big great white in my head!
So that was day one of scuba and then day two we did more classroom stuff and finished the morning with the test, which I aced. We were totally stressing out for the test too and it was super easy. After the classroom stuff we had our first dive to 12 m. It is absolutly beautiful under the water. So much life and the colors are vibrant. It's a lot of fun just swimming around and checking everything out.
We were under for about 50 minutes for our first dive and then we hit up a second dive site and practised some more skills and then explored a bit. Diving really takes a lot out of you though and when we got back to the hotel we went straight to bed.
Day three started bright and early at 6 am for our big 18 m dive. It was insane! The waters were really rough though so when you were on the surface you were just being tossed around but under the water its a completely different world. We ended up seeing a large school of barracuda! We saw plenty of fish and after a dive we wrote everything we saw in a log book. On our 18 m dive we also had someone following us around taking a video! After the big dive we did another shallower dive and then came back and I took a long power nap all afternoon. In the evening we got to watch our video which turned out awesome! Both Aspen and I got copies of it to show everyone back home.
We went out to celebrate being fully certified and we ended up making it to a lady boy show. Apparently they still have male parts and then most of them get implants. It was insane though, they just dance around and lip sang to music and the entire time I was trying to figure out how they could wear such tiny costumes while still being a dude. It blew my mind! And they were all so gorgeous too! It was a great experience though and it was funny. The night was a ton of fun with everyone from diving including our instructor.
Today is a sad day because our friend from Vancouver are leaving and continuing their travels outside Thailand so its goodbye. So I better go now so I don't miss out on seeing them before they leave! More to come soon though!
Friday, 17 June 2011
Full Moon Mayhem
Partying on a beach is ten million times better than any other location. Especially when you pack 15 000 crazy individuals onto one to celebrate the full moon once a month. There were parties every night on the beach leading up to the big one though, and to be honest they were more enjoyable than the full moon party itself. Just for the fact that it wasn't as packed and pure crazyness.
On the night of our friend Stephs birthday we went down and hung out on the beach and it was a great time. They had a giant skipping rope lit on fire going and anyone could jump in so Aspen and I tried it out! It was strange because if you got hit by the rope you didn't get burnt. It was a lot of fun except when I was jumping in the rope the guys didn't speed it up like they had been doing for the guys so I jumped out cause it was getting boring.
The night ended well and the following day we caught some rays and took it easy until the night hit and once again went to the beach. I don't understand how people don't drown at this massive parties because so many drunk people were swimming in the ocean. The street food at night is top notch, probably some of the best stuff we have had. All out there for the hungry drunk people. I was walking home from the beach and one guy was so drunk he couldn't speak english anymore and he was trying to ask me something and I had no clue what he was saying. He then pointed to his head and said I had nice hair. I think he was attempting to hit on me regardless of the fact he couldn't even speak.
The day of full moon was even crazy, boats of people from the neighboring islands came and the shop owners were setting out their buckets for the thirsty individuals. A bucket here consists of a little sand castle bucket, a micky of alcohol, a red bull, a pop, and a ton of straws. It is the universal drink of choice for the full moon parties. Although you do have to be careful who you buy from because sometimes you can get "Thai" alcohol which is normal alcohol just watered down. I love the clothing worn for the party. Everything was day glow colored and then body paint that was neon as well. It would be pretty awesome to fly over the beach during a full moon just to see the massive amount of people all in neon colored clothing. So bright.
Aspen and I managed to dance until the sun came up and then hit the hay. It was fun attending the legendary full moon party but I'm about ready for some down time and maybe some treking through a jungle or riding an elephant. Our Vancouver friends are heading to Kho Tao tomorrow to get certified in diving and we are joining them. It sounds like lots of people are leaving this island for that one so hopefully it won't be too hard to find a place to stay.
Oh and by the way our Vancouver friends have said I have such a funny accent! I even can hear my accent now and I laugh everytime I say words like toast and oh no because apparently I over pronounce my "o". Everyone usually has a pretty good laugh when I order toast at restaurants.
Tonight will be an early one and tomorrow the ferry leaves at 830, bright and early. I'm sure we will do a few more exciting things on the next island so all you reading this don't think I'm turning into a raging alcoholic!
On the night of our friend Stephs birthday we went down and hung out on the beach and it was a great time. They had a giant skipping rope lit on fire going and anyone could jump in so Aspen and I tried it out! It was strange because if you got hit by the rope you didn't get burnt. It was a lot of fun except when I was jumping in the rope the guys didn't speed it up like they had been doing for the guys so I jumped out cause it was getting boring.
The night ended well and the following day we caught some rays and took it easy until the night hit and once again went to the beach. I don't understand how people don't drown at this massive parties because so many drunk people were swimming in the ocean. The street food at night is top notch, probably some of the best stuff we have had. All out there for the hungry drunk people. I was walking home from the beach and one guy was so drunk he couldn't speak english anymore and he was trying to ask me something and I had no clue what he was saying. He then pointed to his head and said I had nice hair. I think he was attempting to hit on me regardless of the fact he couldn't even speak.
The day of full moon was even crazy, boats of people from the neighboring islands came and the shop owners were setting out their buckets for the thirsty individuals. A bucket here consists of a little sand castle bucket, a micky of alcohol, a red bull, a pop, and a ton of straws. It is the universal drink of choice for the full moon parties. Although you do have to be careful who you buy from because sometimes you can get "Thai" alcohol which is normal alcohol just watered down. I love the clothing worn for the party. Everything was day glow colored and then body paint that was neon as well. It would be pretty awesome to fly over the beach during a full moon just to see the massive amount of people all in neon colored clothing. So bright.
Aspen and I managed to dance until the sun came up and then hit the hay. It was fun attending the legendary full moon party but I'm about ready for some down time and maybe some treking through a jungle or riding an elephant. Our Vancouver friends are heading to Kho Tao tomorrow to get certified in diving and we are joining them. It sounds like lots of people are leaving this island for that one so hopefully it won't be too hard to find a place to stay.
Oh and by the way our Vancouver friends have said I have such a funny accent! I even can hear my accent now and I laugh everytime I say words like toast and oh no because apparently I over pronounce my "o". Everyone usually has a pretty good laugh when I order toast at restaurants.
Tonight will be an early one and tomorrow the ferry leaves at 830, bright and early. I'm sure we will do a few more exciting things on the next island so all you reading this don't think I'm turning into a raging alcoholic!
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Back to the beaches!
We left Bangkok pretty soon after we arrived but we figured we can spend more time there on our way back right before we catch our flight. The beaches are calling our name too loudly. So we hit the road for Ko Phangan, where the legendary full moon party takes place. It was a good idea we decided to leave soon too because places to stay were filling up fast with the full moon party of June happening on the 16.
Overnight buses are usually the way to go because you don't have to pay accommodation and you arrive in the morning to your destination with the entire day to burn. Wow, were we wrong. The overnight bus first of all was freezing! I am so acclimatized to warm weather everything below 30 feels freezing though. So I couldn't exactly fall asleep while I felt like an ice cube so I popped my ipod in and tried to get comfortable. The driver decided to keep all the lights on in the bus as well so it was nice and bright and freezing. Finally I grabbed a bandana and threw it over my eyes and snuggled under my blanket and maybe got a hour of rest before the bus stopped for a food break. After the food break I was nearly wide awake the entire trip to the bus station before we caught a ferry over to the island.
It was 6 am so we had to stop at the bus station and hang out there for a bit until our next bus arrived to take us to the ferry, which was scheduled to leave at 930. I had to run to the bathroom so Aspen got on and was saving a seat for me. I guess I was too slow because the bus filled up and I didn't make the cut to be on it. Luckily we had made some friends already and I hung out with them for 45 minutes till the next bus came for us. Our new friends turned out to be from Vancouver and we decided it would be smart for all of us to find a bungalow and split the cost. The cheaper the better! I was a little nervous as the bus left to go to the ferry though because it was already 830 and the drive was supposed to take an hour so we were cutting it close to making the ferry to the island!
Thankfully we arrived at the dock and the ferry hadn't left, so I found Aspen and we all jumped on the boat. Aspen and I sat at the front on the deck to catch some rays as we went sailing across the ocean. When we were sitting on the front waiting to go we noticed bus after bus arriving and the ferry was continueing to cram people aboard. I actually was starting to get nervous it was going to sink, so Aspen and I made a plan of action in case it did. Grab the life ring and hold the camera memory card above water until we swam to land. I didn't say it was a good plan, but it was a plan. Thankfully we didn't have to use it, we made it to the island in one piece. Although I did manage to get burnt to a crisp, again.
Some cute little bungalows right near the beach were calling our name so we ended grabbing a room for 5 nights there. It even had AC, something Aspen and I haven't had in a long time! The night ended pretty early for us because of all our sun and traveling so we crashed pretty early. Today started out great with breakfast on the beach and then some shopping in the local town. They have awesome neon colored clothing here, I love it all! So i picked up some new stuff for myself and a few gifts and then we decided to get pedicures. It was lovely and now my toes don't look so dirty and mangled from all the walking we do.
The full moon beach is the happening place so Aspen and I grabbed some supper there and had a drink. One of the girls we are staying with is lucky enough to be celebrating her birthday today so we have some plans to hit a pool party up tonight and possibly a beach party. It should be an interesting night for sure! More sunburns and stories to come soon for you all!
Overnight buses are usually the way to go because you don't have to pay accommodation and you arrive in the morning to your destination with the entire day to burn. Wow, were we wrong. The overnight bus first of all was freezing! I am so acclimatized to warm weather everything below 30 feels freezing though. So I couldn't exactly fall asleep while I felt like an ice cube so I popped my ipod in and tried to get comfortable. The driver decided to keep all the lights on in the bus as well so it was nice and bright and freezing. Finally I grabbed a bandana and threw it over my eyes and snuggled under my blanket and maybe got a hour of rest before the bus stopped for a food break. After the food break I was nearly wide awake the entire trip to the bus station before we caught a ferry over to the island.
It was 6 am so we had to stop at the bus station and hang out there for a bit until our next bus arrived to take us to the ferry, which was scheduled to leave at 930. I had to run to the bathroom so Aspen got on and was saving a seat for me. I guess I was too slow because the bus filled up and I didn't make the cut to be on it. Luckily we had made some friends already and I hung out with them for 45 minutes till the next bus came for us. Our new friends turned out to be from Vancouver and we decided it would be smart for all of us to find a bungalow and split the cost. The cheaper the better! I was a little nervous as the bus left to go to the ferry though because it was already 830 and the drive was supposed to take an hour so we were cutting it close to making the ferry to the island!
Thankfully we arrived at the dock and the ferry hadn't left, so I found Aspen and we all jumped on the boat. Aspen and I sat at the front on the deck to catch some rays as we went sailing across the ocean. When we were sitting on the front waiting to go we noticed bus after bus arriving and the ferry was continueing to cram people aboard. I actually was starting to get nervous it was going to sink, so Aspen and I made a plan of action in case it did. Grab the life ring and hold the camera memory card above water until we swam to land. I didn't say it was a good plan, but it was a plan. Thankfully we didn't have to use it, we made it to the island in one piece. Although I did manage to get burnt to a crisp, again.
Some cute little bungalows right near the beach were calling our name so we ended grabbing a room for 5 nights there. It even had AC, something Aspen and I haven't had in a long time! The night ended pretty early for us because of all our sun and traveling so we crashed pretty early. Today started out great with breakfast on the beach and then some shopping in the local town. They have awesome neon colored clothing here, I love it all! So i picked up some new stuff for myself and a few gifts and then we decided to get pedicures. It was lovely and now my toes don't look so dirty and mangled from all the walking we do.
The full moon beach is the happening place so Aspen and I grabbed some supper there and had a drink. One of the girls we are staying with is lucky enough to be celebrating her birthday today so we have some plans to hit a pool party up tonight and possibly a beach party. It should be an interesting night for sure! More sunburns and stories to come soon for you all!
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Bangkok!
Cambodian cooking class was a success! Apsen didn't blow anything up and I still have all 10 of my fingers! We learnt how to make a spicy shrimp salad and some traditional Khmer food for our main course. It was a lot of fun doing the shopping before the meal as well. Aspen and I had the opportunity to try crickets! They tasted decent but the texture threw me off and I had a hard time swallowing it. I don't think bugs are exactly my forte of food. When we prepared our meals we had to make little bowls from banana leaves and my bowl was special. It didn't turn out so well and everyone was having a time and a half making fun of me. But in the end my bowl held my food without leaking while Aspens leaked all over the place. So I like to think of my bowl as a success.
Afterwards we were stuffed from all the food we ate so we did some shopping in the market and then went back to our hotel and showered and went out for our last night in Siem Reap. We went for supper and then to a little place that gave you free popcorn when you ordered a drink! Now that hit the spot. After we hit up a little club and danced the night away. We met a Contiki tour and the guy in charge of the tour remembered two of our friends that did a tour through Europe last year! What a small world.
The next morning was a rough one though. The grand finale of a night dancing and drinking seemed like a fun idea the night before but it made for a rough one in the morning. Luckly I slept the entire way to the boarder and then almost all the way to Bangkok after as well! By the time we arrived I was starving though because I didn't eat a single thing all day and we found a Subway. They have fastfood places on every corner here! It was pretty crazy though, people everywhere and stores all over the place. The shopping is unreal here, its very hard to hold myself back until we come back here to fly out. My bag has already begun to way more than I do and I don't think I could lug anymore extra stuff around with me.
After an early night we got up and went to one of the temples. It has this massive statue of a Budha lying down and its covered in gold! As well, at these temples a young boy was becoming a monk. That was interesting to see. All the buildings here are beautiful, so much detail put into them. And they are very colorful. When we finished at the temple we were walking back to our hotel and saw two of our friends from back home! They are on a tour trip right now and we hung out with them all morning and planned to meet up for the full moon party.
The full moon party happens this week and it made getting a bus down to the islands hard because all the tourists are migrating down for it. Luckly we found a night bus for tonight and will get there a few days early to find a good hotel to stay at. Time to try and find some hotels that are available online, more stories to come soon!
Afterwards we were stuffed from all the food we ate so we did some shopping in the market and then went back to our hotel and showered and went out for our last night in Siem Reap. We went for supper and then to a little place that gave you free popcorn when you ordered a drink! Now that hit the spot. After we hit up a little club and danced the night away. We met a Contiki tour and the guy in charge of the tour remembered two of our friends that did a tour through Europe last year! What a small world.
The next morning was a rough one though. The grand finale of a night dancing and drinking seemed like a fun idea the night before but it made for a rough one in the morning. Luckly I slept the entire way to the boarder and then almost all the way to Bangkok after as well! By the time we arrived I was starving though because I didn't eat a single thing all day and we found a Subway. They have fastfood places on every corner here! It was pretty crazy though, people everywhere and stores all over the place. The shopping is unreal here, its very hard to hold myself back until we come back here to fly out. My bag has already begun to way more than I do and I don't think I could lug anymore extra stuff around with me.
After an early night we got up and went to one of the temples. It has this massive statue of a Budha lying down and its covered in gold! As well, at these temples a young boy was becoming a monk. That was interesting to see. All the buildings here are beautiful, so much detail put into them. And they are very colorful. When we finished at the temple we were walking back to our hotel and saw two of our friends from back home! They are on a tour trip right now and we hung out with them all morning and planned to meet up for the full moon party.
The full moon party happens this week and it made getting a bus down to the islands hard because all the tourists are migrating down for it. Luckly we found a night bus for tonight and will get there a few days early to find a good hotel to stay at. Time to try and find some hotels that are available online, more stories to come soon!
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Angkor Wat?
With a 4 am wake up call, Aspen and I headed to the Temples of Angkor to catch a sunrise behind the beatuiful temples of Angkor Wat. It was very beautiful in the town of Siem Reap even at 430 in the morning as we drove through, so quiet and peaceful.
There The name Angkor Wat means "City Temple" and the temples of Angkor Wat were built for a king back in the 12th century as his state temple and capital city. Now it stands to be the largest religious building in the world. And wow this temple is massive, all I could think as we wandered through is how more people don't go missing in these giant ruins. Just the entire area that encloses all these ruins is over 100 square km.
After we finished wandering around Ankor Wat, we headed out to find our tuk tuk driver we hired for the day to head to another ruin. The entire temple of Angkor Wat is surrounded by walls and outside those walls is a giant moat! So to enter and leave the area you have to cross an old stone bridge. We headed outside and were about to cross this bridge when we saw a monkey. And it wasn't the cute kind either, it had a scary looking face with sharp teeth and a bright pink butt. Both Aspen and I grabbed our video cameras and took pictures and what not, when a Asian boy went to get a closer picture with the monkey. The monkey ran away at first and then finally let the kid get close to him. He opened his mouth and it looked like he was yawning but no, he was not an impressed monkey. When the boy sat down to take a picture the monkey jumped at him! He got out of the way fast enough and was just laughing. I was just thinking wow, you are stupid. Aspen and I got out of there pretty fast after that because we both haven't recieved our rabies shot, and we didn't want any close calls with monkeys.
Once we got outside it turned out every tuk tuk driver in the area of Siem Reap was waiting outside the ruins to offer rides to the tourists exiting. We walked around for 25 minutes trying to find our driver. All I could remember is that he had a white helmet and Aspen remembered he was wearing blue. Finally we found him surrounded by other tuk tuk drivers playing a game of chess. The day has already begun to feel long at this point and its only 630 in the morning!
We went to Angkor Tom and explored some more and had to walk to another area to meet our tuk tuk driver. We were walking there when I saw an old ruin that looked like you could climb it, and I wanted to go to the top for some great photo opportunities. Aspen was pooped so she sat down and waited for me while i treked over to the ruins. It turned out to be another old castle for a king. This king was very lucky or dirty whichever way you want to look at it. Every night he got to sleep with a different woman that represented the nine headed snake that was the god of the kingdom. Anyway the stairs for this thing were totally worn out and they rebuilt some wooden ones to take up. They were steep and by the time I got to the top I was sweating enormous amounts. It turned out to be pretty boring at the top, not even any good photo opportunities! I was climbing back down when I saw a girl who was obviously thinking of doing the climb up. She asked me if it was worth it and I bluntly told her no, unless you want to nearly die from the heat and sweating so much!
After we headed to a another huge temple that you could climb. I don't know where all my energy came from but I wanted to climb this one too. Aspen took a seat at the bottom and I began my adventure up. These stairs were the old original stairs, so they were very narrow and steap rock ones that had worn out edges. After the first level I ditched my shoes and climbed up barefoot. I was halfway up and looked down and nearly died, I don't like heights and I began to think I got myself into a situation. How was I going to get back down? I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and kept climbing anyway. I finally got to the top and was walking around taking some pictures and trying to cool down. I was about to trek back down the side I came up when a man came up to me and told me that side was hard and showed me an easier side. It was a ton easier and I didn't have to worry about my death when I went down that side. Thankfully.
After a few more temples and ruins, Aspen and I were tuckered out. It was only ten in the morning but we had been going non stop since 4 am! We decided to head back to the hotel. We had only done a mini tour of all the temples but that was good enough for me. After awhile it felt like we were looking at the same thing over and over. Pretty soon all I was looking for was big spiders hiding in the shadows of the hallways of the ruins. I was ready for a power nap when we got back to the hotel but I ended up chatting with some friends from back home all afternoon and then we went to a little Mexican restaurant and I grabbed some nachos. They were pretty tasty for being Cambodian/Mexican nachos.
A cold shower was calling my name so we went back to the hotel. I had my beautiful shower and crashed for a little bit. After we got up for our nap we were going to head back to the market and pub street to wander around. It started to pour though and a massive thunderstorm. The power went out and we just sat there and watched the streets fill with water and turn into mini rivers! People were trying to drive through them with their bikes and scooters and most of the time ended up having to push them. We thought we would wait until the rain let up to go to the market but it never did. It continued all night and we fell asleep so early, probably as a result of our 4am wake up.
Today we have a Cambodian cooking class lined up! So that will be interesting, hopefully Aspen doesn't blow the place up or something. Time for some breakfast now!
There The name Angkor Wat means "City Temple" and the temples of Angkor Wat were built for a king back in the 12th century as his state temple and capital city. Now it stands to be the largest religious building in the world. And wow this temple is massive, all I could think as we wandered through is how more people don't go missing in these giant ruins. Just the entire area that encloses all these ruins is over 100 square km.
After we finished wandering around Ankor Wat, we headed out to find our tuk tuk driver we hired for the day to head to another ruin. The entire temple of Angkor Wat is surrounded by walls and outside those walls is a giant moat! So to enter and leave the area you have to cross an old stone bridge. We headed outside and were about to cross this bridge when we saw a monkey. And it wasn't the cute kind either, it had a scary looking face with sharp teeth and a bright pink butt. Both Aspen and I grabbed our video cameras and took pictures and what not, when a Asian boy went to get a closer picture with the monkey. The monkey ran away at first and then finally let the kid get close to him. He opened his mouth and it looked like he was yawning but no, he was not an impressed monkey. When the boy sat down to take a picture the monkey jumped at him! He got out of the way fast enough and was just laughing. I was just thinking wow, you are stupid. Aspen and I got out of there pretty fast after that because we both haven't recieved our rabies shot, and we didn't want any close calls with monkeys.
Once we got outside it turned out every tuk tuk driver in the area of Siem Reap was waiting outside the ruins to offer rides to the tourists exiting. We walked around for 25 minutes trying to find our driver. All I could remember is that he had a white helmet and Aspen remembered he was wearing blue. Finally we found him surrounded by other tuk tuk drivers playing a game of chess. The day has already begun to feel long at this point and its only 630 in the morning!
We went to Angkor Tom and explored some more and had to walk to another area to meet our tuk tuk driver. We were walking there when I saw an old ruin that looked like you could climb it, and I wanted to go to the top for some great photo opportunities. Aspen was pooped so she sat down and waited for me while i treked over to the ruins. It turned out to be another old castle for a king. This king was very lucky or dirty whichever way you want to look at it. Every night he got to sleep with a different woman that represented the nine headed snake that was the god of the kingdom. Anyway the stairs for this thing were totally worn out and they rebuilt some wooden ones to take up. They were steep and by the time I got to the top I was sweating enormous amounts. It turned out to be pretty boring at the top, not even any good photo opportunities! I was climbing back down when I saw a girl who was obviously thinking of doing the climb up. She asked me if it was worth it and I bluntly told her no, unless you want to nearly die from the heat and sweating so much!
After we headed to a another huge temple that you could climb. I don't know where all my energy came from but I wanted to climb this one too. Aspen took a seat at the bottom and I began my adventure up. These stairs were the old original stairs, so they were very narrow and steap rock ones that had worn out edges. After the first level I ditched my shoes and climbed up barefoot. I was halfway up and looked down and nearly died, I don't like heights and I began to think I got myself into a situation. How was I going to get back down? I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and kept climbing anyway. I finally got to the top and was walking around taking some pictures and trying to cool down. I was about to trek back down the side I came up when a man came up to me and told me that side was hard and showed me an easier side. It was a ton easier and I didn't have to worry about my death when I went down that side. Thankfully.
After a few more temples and ruins, Aspen and I were tuckered out. It was only ten in the morning but we had been going non stop since 4 am! We decided to head back to the hotel. We had only done a mini tour of all the temples but that was good enough for me. After awhile it felt like we were looking at the same thing over and over. Pretty soon all I was looking for was big spiders hiding in the shadows of the hallways of the ruins. I was ready for a power nap when we got back to the hotel but I ended up chatting with some friends from back home all afternoon and then we went to a little Mexican restaurant and I grabbed some nachos. They were pretty tasty for being Cambodian/Mexican nachos.
A cold shower was calling my name so we went back to the hotel. I had my beautiful shower and crashed for a little bit. After we got up for our nap we were going to head back to the market and pub street to wander around. It started to pour though and a massive thunderstorm. The power went out and we just sat there and watched the streets fill with water and turn into mini rivers! People were trying to drive through them with their bikes and scooters and most of the time ended up having to push them. We thought we would wait until the rain let up to go to the market but it never did. It continued all night and we fell asleep so early, probably as a result of our 4am wake up.
Today we have a Cambodian cooking class lined up! So that will be interesting, hopefully Aspen doesn't blow the place up or something. Time for some breakfast now!
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
You think your getting a deal with a 5 dollar bus ride...
Wow, 5 dollars from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap? Why not, right? Wrong. Firstly there were two busses, one was more expensive (8$) and was for the tourists and went directly to your destination while the 5$ bus was the local bus and apparently stopped in every tiny town, random road, and even the middle of no where to pick people up and drop them off. The ride started out okay enough, although we were told we were leaving at 745 and never did pull out of Phnom Penh till closer to nine. The bus then decided the best music to play was some Cambodian style of music videos at the top level of their speakers. Thats when things started to go downhill. I was lucky enough to grab the window seat so I sealed myself off from the rest of the bus and popped my earphones in, crossing my fingers that my ipod wouldn't die by the time we arrived at Siem Reap. The language barrier stopped us from finding out how long the bus would be so we had to sit there and hope every town we pulled into was finally our destination. The roads we were traveling along were terrible. For a accurate comparison, these roads made Saskatchewan roads back home seem like perfectly paved, smooth sailing highways. About a half an hour into the ride Aspen informed the lady next to us was throwing up and needed the plastic bag that was stuffed into the seat in front of me. Perfect. I was just thanking god the bus was AC and hoping no funky smells would waft over to our side of the bus.
We made a stop in a little town for a bathroom break. I went into the bathroom only to discover it was my personal favorite of foreign toilettes. The hole in the ground style. I go into the first stall and shut the door. I look up and sitting in the corner waiting to eat me is a GIANT spider. I got out of that stall pretty quickly and found a new one that didn't have too many critters inside.
Afterwards while we waited for the bus to leave Aspen pointed out the giant basket full of tarantulas to eat. I should have told them about the one in the bathroom, I'm sure they would have caught it and ate that one too. Eventually before we leave Cambodia I'll try to get my courage up enough to try a tarantula (dead and cooked).
Another couple hours into our a bus ride we ended up having some tire troubles so we all got off and walked around in the middle of no where for a bit. There was no wind at all, so it made it very hot and I didn't want to drink any water because I wasn't sure when our next bathroom break would be! I was nearly dying. The AC bus was very nice, even with the pumping Cambodian music and cookie throwing guests.
Finally we made it to Siem Reap! The bus station was mayhem. Every tuk tuk driver was there and trying to offer anyone a ride for cheap cheap, no scam! But we had a driver picking us up already, one we had arranged from our last hotel. We ended up scoring a nice hotel for 4 dollars a night each with wifi and a real shower! A nice little walk away is a market and a street full of great looking restaurants, we just grabbed some street food for a dollar though.
Wake up call is bright and early tomorrow for the Temples of Angkor Wat to catch a sunrise! I'm excited it's going to be a long day but a good one as always!
We made a stop in a little town for a bathroom break. I went into the bathroom only to discover it was my personal favorite of foreign toilettes. The hole in the ground style. I go into the first stall and shut the door. I look up and sitting in the corner waiting to eat me is a GIANT spider. I got out of that stall pretty quickly and found a new one that didn't have too many critters inside.
Afterwards while we waited for the bus to leave Aspen pointed out the giant basket full of tarantulas to eat. I should have told them about the one in the bathroom, I'm sure they would have caught it and ate that one too. Eventually before we leave Cambodia I'll try to get my courage up enough to try a tarantula (dead and cooked).
Another couple hours into our a bus ride we ended up having some tire troubles so we all got off and walked around in the middle of no where for a bit. There was no wind at all, so it made it very hot and I didn't want to drink any water because I wasn't sure when our next bathroom break would be! I was nearly dying. The AC bus was very nice, even with the pumping Cambodian music and cookie throwing guests.
Finally we made it to Siem Reap! The bus station was mayhem. Every tuk tuk driver was there and trying to offer anyone a ride for cheap cheap, no scam! But we had a driver picking us up already, one we had arranged from our last hotel. We ended up scoring a nice hotel for 4 dollars a night each with wifi and a real shower! A nice little walk away is a market and a street full of great looking restaurants, we just grabbed some street food for a dollar though.
Wake up call is bright and early tomorrow for the Temples of Angkor Wat to catch a sunrise! I'm excited it's going to be a long day but a good one as always!
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Big city life in Cambodia and big rats
I am pre warning you all that this is a long post, do not feel the need to read the entire thing right away, pause and have an intermission in-between, grab a coffee or pop or whatever floats your boat and return for the rest of my story!
We arrived in Phnom Penh yesterday and walked around and became familiar with the place. Its quite crazy here, and although the population is less than that of Ho Chi Minh city, I found it more congested and busy. It's a nice change of pace from the beach town though. After exploring around the streets a bit, we headed to the local shopping mall and got our first taste of Asian malls. Insanity if you ask me. The mall consisted of about 7 levels and each floor was dedicated to something different. First floor was some clothes and a grocery store, second was perfumes and clothes, third was a food court, fourth was shoes (my personal favorite ), fifth was electronics, sixth was household items, and finally seventh was an arcade and a rollerblade rink! It was pretty neat watching the people rollerblade because there were jumps and stuff for them to go off, I definitely would break a bone attempting some of the things we saw them doing.
We headed back to our hotel with empty stomachs and ended up grabbing grub from a vendor on the street. Stir fry and an egg for 50 cents. Not too shabby, and it was delicious. At 630 at our hotel they were playing a film called the killing fields, and since today we went to the actual killing fields we decided to watch it. I recommend everyone who reads this blog to watch it. It actually was such an educational film about a reporter and his assistant who were in Phnom Penh in 19767 when the Khmer Rouge had briefly taken over the government and committed genocide on a mass scale of anyone they believed to be going against their style of government. Millions of people died during this stage of Cambodia's history whether they had been Cambodian or foreign individuals. The movie lasted two hours and afterwards we just crashed from our day of walking in the heat.
Today my day started out fabulous. A little facetime back home to the family, the entire family at that one, and then our tour. Our first stop had been the Tuol Sleng genocide museum. This was once a high school but once the Khmer Rouge took over the city, and mass evacuated the entire population of Phnom Penh to the countryside, they turned this school in a torture facility designed for detention, interrogation, torture, and finally the killing of the individuals they kept imprisoned there. The name they gave the detention facility was S-21 to prevent suspicion about what occurred there. The facility held up to nearly 6 000 prisoners at one time. When the government put an end to the Khmer Rouge rule, and collected what was left in the Tuol Sleng facility, they found 14 victims corpses, photographs of all the prisoners that had been held there, films, prisoner confession archives, shackles, and torture tools.
Every single prisoners photo was up for display around the museum. As well they still had torture tools up for display, ropes, shovels, hammers, nearly anything was used as a torture device. There were pictures that displayed victims that had died from their injuries as well as torture victims. Three stories from survivors of the torture facility were also up for individuals to read. It sounded terrible, one man arrived at the facility with his wife, only to never see her again afterwards. He went on to describe how when he arrived he had hope it would be OK but after being thrown into the cells his hope vanished instantly. It was sad, there were tiny children's pictures all around that held been held there and tortured. There were four different buildings for the prisoners, each with various uses. Building A was constructed for individuals who were thought to have been leading an uprising against the Pol Pot revolution (Khmer Rouge rule) and were thrown into rooms that were 6 by 4 meters with glass on the windows to prevent outsiders from hearing the screams of the prisoners while they were tortured. The other three buildings had smaller cells made of brick where more people were stuffed into the cells all together. S-21 had employed 1684 staff to maintain the facilities, security, torture, etc. In the very last room of the museum, they held remains from the torture victims. Mostly skulls, all of which had suffered injuries to the head. Some of the skulls were torn apart, others had tiny holes in the top, most likely caused by some sharp object smashing them on the head. It definitely made the entire tour sink in that much more.
After leaving the museum we headed to the Choeung Ek killing field just outside Phnom Penh. There were numbers of killing fields in Phnom Penh at the time of Pol Pot revolution, this was a place where individuals were taken and murdered on a mass scale. They would arrive blind folded and arms tied behind their backs usually at night, to prevent anyone around the area from knowing what was actually going on. Previous to be taking to a killing field an individual would be told they were being forgiven for their crimes and their slate was being wiped clean. Sadly, they were just one of the many who created some of the mass grave cites that are all around the area. When the grave sites were excavated after the revolution they found 400 skulls and remains in the largest mass site. At another site they found over 150 headless corpses and another site consisted of naked women and babies. They would tear the babies away from their mothers and smash them against trees. One eyewitness who managed to survive the fields said that the trees had hair and brains all over them from the guards doing this. At the center of the killing fields today, they have a beautiful monument built to preserve the skulls and remains that have been found of the victims of the killing fields. There were over 20 000 people killed there and within the monument they have 8000 skulls of the victims. They are arranged on levels depending on age and gender. As well they have various other bones they had found. Many of the skulls they found were lacking jaws or teeth because as torture they would pull teeth and blunt force would remove the jaw. Its almost sickening the things the people went through during these dark times in Cambodia.
So after some dark war and genocide history we headed to the local market. That definitely picked my mood up! I love shopping, and the shopping there was great! I picked some gifts up and some things for myself and had a time just walking around and checking their stuff out. We ended our tour by heading to the Royal Palace only to be turned away because both Aspen and I were wearing tank tops and shorts. Apparently you needed clothing that covered your shoulders and your knees.
We headed back to our hotel to drop our loot off and search for some food. We wanted to find the street vendor that we stumbled upon last night but he wasn't out yet so we grabbed some food from the mall. After we decided we want to shoot some guns, yes after all the war and terror we saw all day we decided that was a good idea. Since tuk tuks are so readily available we hopped in one and took off to the other side of town where the shooting range was. It absolutely blew my mind, not literally. You could shoot nearly any gun you wanted including a grenade launcher AND a rocket launcher! The grenade launcher was 60 dollars and for the cheap price of 350 dollars you could shoot a rocket launcher at the side of a mountain. Also you could throw grenades and shoot hand guns. Aspen and I decided to go with the AK-47, the M6 did have our attention too but it was the same price as the AK-47 and you got less bullets. Wow, talk about adrenaline rushes. My first pull of the trigger on that Ak-47 shocked me, it had quite the kick back. After shooting it one at a time, I'm not sure what that is called, the guy watching came over and switched my gun to automatic. He held my back while I laid on the trigger. It made it all happen so fast! I managed to hit the target quite a bit though, so that was nice. Afterwards we had a nice little photo shoot with all the different artillery they had laid out for display. Aspen managed to pose with the grenade launcher going the wrong way, good thing she didn't pay to do that today!
Our tuk tuk driver dropped us off at the Royal Palace because after we dropped our stuff off at the hotel we changed into proper attire. I was sweating twice as much in capris and a t shirt though. The Royal Palace was massive, we didn't even have the opportunity to go through the entire thing because the clouds were looking dangerous and we decided to head back to the hotel. Sorry my history knowledge of the palace is not up to speed, but I do have some pretty pictures!
Aspen and I power walked back to our hotel where we made it seconds before the rain started to pour. And wow it was the biggest rain I have seen in awhile. Currently the streets are nearly flooded with water right now, making me happy our room is three floors up. Although at first the stair climb was going to be the death of me. All the rain was scaring the critters inside our little internet cafe too, and as I was sitting here a big old rat ran in, right up to my bag. I pulled my feet up so fast and nearly drew blood from biting my tongue so hard to prevent myself from screaming, it noticed me moving and scampered off under the fridge. I'm sure its still hiding there along with the mouse that ran in right by me too! I guess I was asking for it by picking the computer right by the open door. So that was our fabulous day in Cambodia's capital city, one of the most exciting ones so far. Heading to Siem Reap tomorrow to check out Angkor Wat. Going to be really cool, anyways its getting to be supper time and the rain is slowing so we can search for some cheap street food. Hopefully no mice/rats come near me again cause I might let a scream out, those rodents really gross me out not going to lie. Dinner time, later skaters.
We arrived in Phnom Penh yesterday and walked around and became familiar with the place. Its quite crazy here, and although the population is less than that of Ho Chi Minh city, I found it more congested and busy. It's a nice change of pace from the beach town though. After exploring around the streets a bit, we headed to the local shopping mall and got our first taste of Asian malls. Insanity if you ask me. The mall consisted of about 7 levels and each floor was dedicated to something different. First floor was some clothes and a grocery store, second was perfumes and clothes, third was a food court, fourth was shoes (my personal favorite ), fifth was electronics, sixth was household items, and finally seventh was an arcade and a rollerblade rink! It was pretty neat watching the people rollerblade because there were jumps and stuff for them to go off, I definitely would break a bone attempting some of the things we saw them doing.
We headed back to our hotel with empty stomachs and ended up grabbing grub from a vendor on the street. Stir fry and an egg for 50 cents. Not too shabby, and it was delicious. At 630 at our hotel they were playing a film called the killing fields, and since today we went to the actual killing fields we decided to watch it. I recommend everyone who reads this blog to watch it. It actually was such an educational film about a reporter and his assistant who were in Phnom Penh in 19767 when the Khmer Rouge had briefly taken over the government and committed genocide on a mass scale of anyone they believed to be going against their style of government. Millions of people died during this stage of Cambodia's history whether they had been Cambodian or foreign individuals. The movie lasted two hours and afterwards we just crashed from our day of walking in the heat.
Today my day started out fabulous. A little facetime back home to the family, the entire family at that one, and then our tour. Our first stop had been the Tuol Sleng genocide museum. This was once a high school but once the Khmer Rouge took over the city, and mass evacuated the entire population of Phnom Penh to the countryside, they turned this school in a torture facility designed for detention, interrogation, torture, and finally the killing of the individuals they kept imprisoned there. The name they gave the detention facility was S-21 to prevent suspicion about what occurred there. The facility held up to nearly 6 000 prisoners at one time. When the government put an end to the Khmer Rouge rule, and collected what was left in the Tuol Sleng facility, they found 14 victims corpses, photographs of all the prisoners that had been held there, films, prisoner confession archives, shackles, and torture tools.
Every single prisoners photo was up for display around the museum. As well they still had torture tools up for display, ropes, shovels, hammers, nearly anything was used as a torture device. There were pictures that displayed victims that had died from their injuries as well as torture victims. Three stories from survivors of the torture facility were also up for individuals to read. It sounded terrible, one man arrived at the facility with his wife, only to never see her again afterwards. He went on to describe how when he arrived he had hope it would be OK but after being thrown into the cells his hope vanished instantly. It was sad, there were tiny children's pictures all around that held been held there and tortured. There were four different buildings for the prisoners, each with various uses. Building A was constructed for individuals who were thought to have been leading an uprising against the Pol Pot revolution (Khmer Rouge rule) and were thrown into rooms that were 6 by 4 meters with glass on the windows to prevent outsiders from hearing the screams of the prisoners while they were tortured. The other three buildings had smaller cells made of brick where more people were stuffed into the cells all together. S-21 had employed 1684 staff to maintain the facilities, security, torture, etc. In the very last room of the museum, they held remains from the torture victims. Mostly skulls, all of which had suffered injuries to the head. Some of the skulls were torn apart, others had tiny holes in the top, most likely caused by some sharp object smashing them on the head. It definitely made the entire tour sink in that much more.
After leaving the museum we headed to the Choeung Ek killing field just outside Phnom Penh. There were numbers of killing fields in Phnom Penh at the time of Pol Pot revolution, this was a place where individuals were taken and murdered on a mass scale. They would arrive blind folded and arms tied behind their backs usually at night, to prevent anyone around the area from knowing what was actually going on. Previous to be taking to a killing field an individual would be told they were being forgiven for their crimes and their slate was being wiped clean. Sadly, they were just one of the many who created some of the mass grave cites that are all around the area. When the grave sites were excavated after the revolution they found 400 skulls and remains in the largest mass site. At another site they found over 150 headless corpses and another site consisted of naked women and babies. They would tear the babies away from their mothers and smash them against trees. One eyewitness who managed to survive the fields said that the trees had hair and brains all over them from the guards doing this. At the center of the killing fields today, they have a beautiful monument built to preserve the skulls and remains that have been found of the victims of the killing fields. There were over 20 000 people killed there and within the monument they have 8000 skulls of the victims. They are arranged on levels depending on age and gender. As well they have various other bones they had found. Many of the skulls they found were lacking jaws or teeth because as torture they would pull teeth and blunt force would remove the jaw. Its almost sickening the things the people went through during these dark times in Cambodia.
So after some dark war and genocide history we headed to the local market. That definitely picked my mood up! I love shopping, and the shopping there was great! I picked some gifts up and some things for myself and had a time just walking around and checking their stuff out. We ended our tour by heading to the Royal Palace only to be turned away because both Aspen and I were wearing tank tops and shorts. Apparently you needed clothing that covered your shoulders and your knees.
We headed back to our hotel to drop our loot off and search for some food. We wanted to find the street vendor that we stumbled upon last night but he wasn't out yet so we grabbed some food from the mall. After we decided we want to shoot some guns, yes after all the war and terror we saw all day we decided that was a good idea. Since tuk tuks are so readily available we hopped in one and took off to the other side of town where the shooting range was. It absolutely blew my mind, not literally. You could shoot nearly any gun you wanted including a grenade launcher AND a rocket launcher! The grenade launcher was 60 dollars and for the cheap price of 350 dollars you could shoot a rocket launcher at the side of a mountain. Also you could throw grenades and shoot hand guns. Aspen and I decided to go with the AK-47, the M6 did have our attention too but it was the same price as the AK-47 and you got less bullets. Wow, talk about adrenaline rushes. My first pull of the trigger on that Ak-47 shocked me, it had quite the kick back. After shooting it one at a time, I'm not sure what that is called, the guy watching came over and switched my gun to automatic. He held my back while I laid on the trigger. It made it all happen so fast! I managed to hit the target quite a bit though, so that was nice. Afterwards we had a nice little photo shoot with all the different artillery they had laid out for display. Aspen managed to pose with the grenade launcher going the wrong way, good thing she didn't pay to do that today!
Our tuk tuk driver dropped us off at the Royal Palace because after we dropped our stuff off at the hotel we changed into proper attire. I was sweating twice as much in capris and a t shirt though. The Royal Palace was massive, we didn't even have the opportunity to go through the entire thing because the clouds were looking dangerous and we decided to head back to the hotel. Sorry my history knowledge of the palace is not up to speed, but I do have some pretty pictures!
Aspen and I power walked back to our hotel where we made it seconds before the rain started to pour. And wow it was the biggest rain I have seen in awhile. Currently the streets are nearly flooded with water right now, making me happy our room is three floors up. Although at first the stair climb was going to be the death of me. All the rain was scaring the critters inside our little internet cafe too, and as I was sitting here a big old rat ran in, right up to my bag. I pulled my feet up so fast and nearly drew blood from biting my tongue so hard to prevent myself from screaming, it noticed me moving and scampered off under the fridge. I'm sure its still hiding there along with the mouse that ran in right by me too! I guess I was asking for it by picking the computer right by the open door. So that was our fabulous day in Cambodia's capital city, one of the most exciting ones so far. Heading to Siem Reap tomorrow to check out Angkor Wat. Going to be really cool, anyways its getting to be supper time and the rain is slowing so we can search for some cheap street food. Hopefully no mice/rats come near me again cause I might let a scream out, those rodents really gross me out not going to lie. Dinner time, later skaters.
Last of Sunny Sihanoukville!
So last time I was in touch, our game plan had been a Mexican fiesta night with our newfound friends. Well we were supposed to meet them at 7 and we showed up a tad late, 730 and still no one was there. So we did what any starving individuals would do, and went for grub without them. We hit up a little restaurant that served us the best meal ever. For the great price of 3 dollars, we got to eat a type of meat BBQ'd and a salad and either french fries or garlic bread. Needless to say, we went there for supper the following night as well because it was that amazing. Although the first night we sat back in the corner of this outdoor restaurant and Aspen spotted a rat hiding under a chair. We moved locations and ate near the road the next night.
After our fantastic meal, we headed to Monkey Republic for a drink. We ended up seeing our friends and it turned out they had a work thing for supper anyway and couldn't make it either. We hung out at the bar for a bit and then went down to the beach bar, JJ's to see how it was. It was amazing. So crazy and the music was pumping and not to mention they were doing limbo. It was the crazy Cambodian style though which consisted of the limbo stick being lit on fire and then attempting to go as many rounds as you could while they lowered the bar each round. Normal limbo I guess with an added thrill. Aspen and I had a go at it though because if you made it you got a free shot! We only went the first round though because after that the stick was getting pretty low and I didn't want any eyebrows being burnt off.
After JJ's we just went and played some rounds of pool at our newfound friends hotel and after kicking some butt a few rounds we headed back to our place to crash. Solid night all in all, the beach bar was definitely my favorite bar of them all at Sihanoukville.
Our last day consisted of finally making it to Otre's beach and lounging in the sun for awhile. I went walking down the beach for a bit looking for shells and found some interesting ones, as well as sand dollars! But I wasn't thinking and threw them in my backpack and well once we got to Phnom Penh, my sand dollars had turned into sand powder. Too bad. After nearly getting burnt to a crisp for the second time on this trip we headed back to our hotel to have a cold shower and water. The cold showers are great but it sucks when you dry off because you immediately start sweating again!
After our short lived cool down, we went back down to the beach by our hotel and had the opportunity to have fish "massage"our feet! You put your feet in water about half a foot deep filled with all sorts of fishes, some were pretty large actually, and they would come up and nibble o your feet! It felt so weird at first I almost pulled my feet out, it tickled! Especially when those little guys would nibble the ends of your toes or the bottom of your feet. After awhile it started to feel like a light vibration all over my feet. We got to do that for 20 minutes and when I pulled my feet out they felt strange. I guess they did help out and make my sore feet feel a little better. Obviously smelly feet didn't scare them away from munching on my feet either.
Along the way to Cambodia we had met a couple who were from Australia that had been at a resort called Cloud 9 in Sihanoukville and had taken pictures when they went there last year. They didn't have the time to go there again this year so they asked us to drop some pictures off for them at the resort. Obviously we agreed and so after fish feet fest (try saying that ten times really fast) we took the photos down there. The resort was beautiful, little bungalows built into the hillside right at the ocean front. Almost tempted us to stay another night..But we had our bus ticket already booked. So the next morning we hopped a bus and headed to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh!
After our fantastic meal, we headed to Monkey Republic for a drink. We ended up seeing our friends and it turned out they had a work thing for supper anyway and couldn't make it either. We hung out at the bar for a bit and then went down to the beach bar, JJ's to see how it was. It was amazing. So crazy and the music was pumping and not to mention they were doing limbo. It was the crazy Cambodian style though which consisted of the limbo stick being lit on fire and then attempting to go as many rounds as you could while they lowered the bar each round. Normal limbo I guess with an added thrill. Aspen and I had a go at it though because if you made it you got a free shot! We only went the first round though because after that the stick was getting pretty low and I didn't want any eyebrows being burnt off.
After JJ's we just went and played some rounds of pool at our newfound friends hotel and after kicking some butt a few rounds we headed back to our place to crash. Solid night all in all, the beach bar was definitely my favorite bar of them all at Sihanoukville.
Our last day consisted of finally making it to Otre's beach and lounging in the sun for awhile. I went walking down the beach for a bit looking for shells and found some interesting ones, as well as sand dollars! But I wasn't thinking and threw them in my backpack and well once we got to Phnom Penh, my sand dollars had turned into sand powder. Too bad. After nearly getting burnt to a crisp for the second time on this trip we headed back to our hotel to have a cold shower and water. The cold showers are great but it sucks when you dry off because you immediately start sweating again!
After our short lived cool down, we went back down to the beach by our hotel and had the opportunity to have fish "massage"our feet! You put your feet in water about half a foot deep filled with all sorts of fishes, some were pretty large actually, and they would come up and nibble o your feet! It felt so weird at first I almost pulled my feet out, it tickled! Especially when those little guys would nibble the ends of your toes or the bottom of your feet. After awhile it started to feel like a light vibration all over my feet. We got to do that for 20 minutes and when I pulled my feet out they felt strange. I guess they did help out and make my sore feet feel a little better. Obviously smelly feet didn't scare them away from munching on my feet either.
Along the way to Cambodia we had met a couple who were from Australia that had been at a resort called Cloud 9 in Sihanoukville and had taken pictures when they went there last year. They didn't have the time to go there again this year so they asked us to drop some pictures off for them at the resort. Obviously we agreed and so after fish feet fest (try saying that ten times really fast) we took the photos down there. The resort was beautiful, little bungalows built into the hillside right at the ocean front. Almost tempted us to stay another night..But we had our bus ticket already booked. So the next morning we hopped a bus and headed to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh!
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Shark soup, tuk tuk's, and rain!
Shark soup is fantastic for those of you wondering. Although we did play the clueless tourists when they brought out a pot to the table that consisted of broth and some strange looking bones floating in it and was sitting on a little gas burner. We actually almost dug into it too, but then the waitress came out with a plate heaping with vegetables and then another plate with what we believed to be the shark meat and a egg on top of it. She then proceeded to throw it all into this pot of broth Aspen and I had almost started to eat, thinking that was our soup. Pretty much this waitress was our savior when it came to our shark soup. She kept coming to our table and stiring it and turning the burner up and down. I think she was scared of what we would do if she left so she kept a permanent post right behind me throughout our entire dinner experience. It was a great experience though, and the soup was fantastic, but we threw a couple too many chillis in it. It was mighty spicy! The chillis here are a whole different league of hot compared to what I have had back home.
After our meal they brought us desert too! It was 4 random looking fruits that were red and green. We had seen these outside at fruit markets already but we didn't have the slightest clue how to eat them so we never bought them to try. Now we had our opportunity to! The outer peel was very tough and there were no knives at our table, I was just about to use my teeth when our savior waitress grabbed a knife and cut them open for us. I enjoyed them a lot, very sweet little guys with a strange pit in the middle. The pit resembled a almond but deffinetly didn't taste like one!
With bellys full of shark soup we headed to monkey republic for some beverages and ended up meeting a crew of construction workers that travel to third world countries and build schools and hospitals for the poorer communities. They are away from their homes for 9 months at a time! Real funny group of guys though, they had Aspen and I laughing all night.
A couple of them actually asked us to go to a Mexican restaurant tonight once they head Aspen is part Mexican. A Mexican restaurant in Cambodia, hmm interesting. The food around here is great though so I have no worries it won't be tasty.
Today started out on a lazy foot. We originally had planned a beach day at a beach called Etres beach. But after waking up and grabbing a bite to eat, we crashed and took a giant nap! It was raining anyways so not too much to do and I probably shouldn't become any darker shades of red or I'll create a new race of skin color. Then we picked up our laundry, which smells great and is awesome to have clean clothes once again. Sadly, no surprises in either or our bags.
Finally after having a nice lunch, steamed rice and fried veggies with pineapple :), we caught a tuk tuk ( a motercycle with a little buggy attached) to Etres beach. Only we weren't thinking at all, and when we turned a corner we noticed we were heading right into a giant rainstorm. Perfect.
Just as we arrived at the beach, which is lovely by the way, it started to torrential downpour. Luckly the buggy had little roll down walls and we took cover and got to meet our driver. He was a real friendly man, 38 years old and no family though. He said he doesn't have lots of money so no women want him, poor dude. Aftr chatting a bit he pointed out if Aspen and I were girlfriends! We said no, no, just friends. Aspen told him I have a boyfriend and he took that as I WAS the boy in the relationship! Finally he understood that we were just friends and my boyfriend is back in Canada. After some serious convincing though. Finally the rain cleared up enough to leave and the man hopped on his bike and tried to start it. It didn't start, just our luck.
We ended up getting some other Cambodian men, that had taken cover in the same area as us from the rain, to push us up to a hill so we could coast down and pick up some more gas. We safely made it down the hill and refueled. There was a little hut of people watching us and pointing. We are just so strange and interesting to them, or something. They had little pigs running around though and they were adorable! I want a little pig.
So that's a little taste of some of the adventures we go through daily. Tomorrow we plan to actually get up and hit the beach up before the rain, hopefully the plan falls through. I'll keep you all informed for sure, fiesta time now!
After our meal they brought us desert too! It was 4 random looking fruits that were red and green. We had seen these outside at fruit markets already but we didn't have the slightest clue how to eat them so we never bought them to try. Now we had our opportunity to! The outer peel was very tough and there were no knives at our table, I was just about to use my teeth when our savior waitress grabbed a knife and cut them open for us. I enjoyed them a lot, very sweet little guys with a strange pit in the middle. The pit resembled a almond but deffinetly didn't taste like one!
With bellys full of shark soup we headed to monkey republic for some beverages and ended up meeting a crew of construction workers that travel to third world countries and build schools and hospitals for the poorer communities. They are away from their homes for 9 months at a time! Real funny group of guys though, they had Aspen and I laughing all night.
A couple of them actually asked us to go to a Mexican restaurant tonight once they head Aspen is part Mexican. A Mexican restaurant in Cambodia, hmm interesting. The food around here is great though so I have no worries it won't be tasty.
Today started out on a lazy foot. We originally had planned a beach day at a beach called Etres beach. But after waking up and grabbing a bite to eat, we crashed and took a giant nap! It was raining anyways so not too much to do and I probably shouldn't become any darker shades of red or I'll create a new race of skin color. Then we picked up our laundry, which smells great and is awesome to have clean clothes once again. Sadly, no surprises in either or our bags.
Finally after having a nice lunch, steamed rice and fried veggies with pineapple :), we caught a tuk tuk ( a motercycle with a little buggy attached) to Etres beach. Only we weren't thinking at all, and when we turned a corner we noticed we were heading right into a giant rainstorm. Perfect.
Just as we arrived at the beach, which is lovely by the way, it started to torrential downpour. Luckly the buggy had little roll down walls and we took cover and got to meet our driver. He was a real friendly man, 38 years old and no family though. He said he doesn't have lots of money so no women want him, poor dude. Aftr chatting a bit he pointed out if Aspen and I were girlfriends! We said no, no, just friends. Aspen told him I have a boyfriend and he took that as I WAS the boy in the relationship! Finally he understood that we were just friends and my boyfriend is back in Canada. After some serious convincing though. Finally the rain cleared up enough to leave and the man hopped on his bike and tried to start it. It didn't start, just our luck.
We ended up getting some other Cambodian men, that had taken cover in the same area as us from the rain, to push us up to a hill so we could coast down and pick up some more gas. We safely made it down the hill and refueled. There was a little hut of people watching us and pointing. We are just so strange and interesting to them, or something. They had little pigs running around though and they were adorable! I want a little pig.
So that's a little taste of some of the adventures we go through daily. Tomorrow we plan to actually get up and hit the beach up before the rain, hopefully the plan falls through. I'll keep you all informed for sure, fiesta time now!
Thursday, 2 June 2011
How about that ride in...
Well the trip from Vietnam to Cambodia went smoothly! We took a little van across the boarder and stopped in Kep and Kampot to drop people off, and ended witb Sihanoukville for Aspen and I! It rained the entire trip but thats okay because we drove all day and didn't feel like we missed out on nice weather. Our van was full of interesting people, lots of people have recommended us to go to the north of Thailand. I guess we will see how much time we have!
As soon as we got into Cambodia you could tell it was different than Vietnam. Firstly there are lots of hills and mountains! The scenery was beautiful. Secondly, the roads seem like less care is taken to up keep them. I was riding in the very back and more than once I caught air and thought I would smash the roof. We drove by lots of pigs just chilling in peoples yards and one town we drove through, a little boy threw a rock at the van! He missed though, he was just a little guy, I don't really know what he would have against a van of white people!
We arrived just before dark and ended up with a room for 3.50 a night at Utopia. It was not a very nice place to be honest. The lights didn't work and the room smelled like pee! It turned out though that Utopia is party central at night so that was convenient having our room right there.
We hung out at the bar for the night because drinks were cheaper than water! During happy hour, beer was 25 cents a glass! After happy hour was over the bar tender was feeling generous and kept giving us free shots, he was taking them with us even! What a tough job. Aspen ended up sitting next to a gentleman who was overly friendly and talked her ear off all night! Apparently his english wasn't very good and she only understood he was studying in Australia. I don't know if that studying is paying off.
The next day we found a new place to stay, a little bit away from the party scene. We got a great room with a pool for 5 dollars a night! Its absolutly beautiful. Wthe pool called our name all day yesterday so we hung out there and took a dip to escape the heat. In the evening we got to go see a movie! The hangover two, it was okay but my favorite part was that it was filmed in Bangkok, one of our next destinations! It was a different experience in the area where we watched the movie. All sorts of snacks and substances were available to the movie goers. And once the movie started the air in the room became a little hazy and not from cigerrete smoke, if you know what I mean. So that was interesting.
Today we spent the day at the beach and the pool. The beach is nice but the locals swarm you to buy stuff or use their services. One lady was persistantly trying to get me to let her use her technique to wax my legs! They though Aspen and I were such hairy people!
Another girl tried selling me braclets, and ended up sitting down and chatting with me. She was interesting to chat with. I think she is quite a story teller. She told me she was 18 and wants to study in Canada next year to be a teacher. She hated men though and told me boyfriends were stinky and a waste of time. Whoops. After her rant about boys she told me a man from canada once asked her how old she was and she made up an elaborate story that she was 20 with two kids and a dead husband! Quite a personality on her. Also she mentioned she hated american accents, I then asked her if I had a thick canadian accent and she said no, she though I was american. Ouch.
After chatting with the girl, we went back to the pool and swam to cool of and beat the heat! It started to rain, which turned out to be a blessing because I am slightly burnt. Actually thats an understatement, I am a tomatoe! I think I sweated all my sunscreen off within the first 2 minutes of putting it on. So my gameplan is now going to be avoiding the sun, until tomorrow that is! Lunch time now and shark soup for supper later! I'll let you all know how that one goes..
As soon as we got into Cambodia you could tell it was different than Vietnam. Firstly there are lots of hills and mountains! The scenery was beautiful. Secondly, the roads seem like less care is taken to up keep them. I was riding in the very back and more than once I caught air and thought I would smash the roof. We drove by lots of pigs just chilling in peoples yards and one town we drove through, a little boy threw a rock at the van! He missed though, he was just a little guy, I don't really know what he would have against a van of white people!
We arrived just before dark and ended up with a room for 3.50 a night at Utopia. It was not a very nice place to be honest. The lights didn't work and the room smelled like pee! It turned out though that Utopia is party central at night so that was convenient having our room right there.
We hung out at the bar for the night because drinks were cheaper than water! During happy hour, beer was 25 cents a glass! After happy hour was over the bar tender was feeling generous and kept giving us free shots, he was taking them with us even! What a tough job. Aspen ended up sitting next to a gentleman who was overly friendly and talked her ear off all night! Apparently his english wasn't very good and she only understood he was studying in Australia. I don't know if that studying is paying off.
The next day we found a new place to stay, a little bit away from the party scene. We got a great room with a pool for 5 dollars a night! Its absolutly beautiful. Wthe pool called our name all day yesterday so we hung out there and took a dip to escape the heat. In the evening we got to go see a movie! The hangover two, it was okay but my favorite part was that it was filmed in Bangkok, one of our next destinations! It was a different experience in the area where we watched the movie. All sorts of snacks and substances were available to the movie goers. And once the movie started the air in the room became a little hazy and not from cigerrete smoke, if you know what I mean. So that was interesting.
Today we spent the day at the beach and the pool. The beach is nice but the locals swarm you to buy stuff or use their services. One lady was persistantly trying to get me to let her use her technique to wax my legs! They though Aspen and I were such hairy people!
Another girl tried selling me braclets, and ended up sitting down and chatting with me. She was interesting to chat with. I think she is quite a story teller. She told me she was 18 and wants to study in Canada next year to be a teacher. She hated men though and told me boyfriends were stinky and a waste of time. Whoops. After her rant about boys she told me a man from canada once asked her how old she was and she made up an elaborate story that she was 20 with two kids and a dead husband! Quite a personality on her. Also she mentioned she hated american accents, I then asked her if I had a thick canadian accent and she said no, she though I was american. Ouch.
After chatting with the girl, we went back to the pool and swam to cool of and beat the heat! It started to rain, which turned out to be a blessing because I am slightly burnt. Actually thats an understatement, I am a tomatoe! I think I sweated all my sunscreen off within the first 2 minutes of putting it on. So my gameplan is now going to be avoiding the sun, until tomorrow that is! Lunch time now and shark soup for supper later! I'll let you all know how that one goes..
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