Phnom Penh & Siam Reap

Am in dusty brown Siam Reap at the moment, sweating away, trying to edge the computer closer and closer to the fan ... and am getting the evil eye from the receptionist.

Bangkok was great, even if Manuel did come back complaining bitterly after a Thai Massage. Apparently he had been sadistically mistreated by some Rambo-type Thai guy... pushing his knees and elbows into his upper and lower back, leaning on his legs and practically killing him. Told him he should have gone for the Oil massage, but when in Rome...!
We spent hours and hours (or what felt like hours) wandering round BKK, enjoying the sights until we got fed up with Wats (temples), palaces and suchlike. No prizes for guessing what we did next... yes, why not support the local economy? Manuel gallantly offered to carry any excess shopping... before going completely crazy at the Mall! I, of course, bought nothing (apart from the odd pair of shoes.)

Flew out to Phnom Penh two days ago and really enjoyed zooming around with the TukTuks. Visited the Toul Sleng (S21) Prison and the Killing fields. The atrocities (torture) committed in the not so recent past were so horrific that I felt quite faint and had to step out. It was quite a contrast to the Silver Pagoda (silver floor) and the Palace afterwards. Couldn't really take it all in. The images still haunt me. Am actually really surprised I did not have any nightmares.

Tomorrow morning will see us up bright and early at the frightful hour of 04:50am - we are off to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat! So excited!

Off to Cambodia

Manuel arrived safe and sound in Bangkok and I flew up from Koh Phangan to meet him. Spent ages waiting at the airport... at least they had cheap internet!
His first sentence was along the lines of "my God, there are so many people who look just like you...!" (Nine years and he still can't recognize me! what does that say about our relationship?!) Apart from that it was great to see him again.
He fell in love with a satay stall on his first night (yup, he has his priorities! I swear, sometimes I think he would be better suited to my brother Mark). But calamity! yesterday, when we tried to find the stall again it had moved. Poor guy. The woman had been replaced by someone selling deep fried bugs and snails. Ugh!

We were originally planning to go down to Ko Chang for a few days of rest and relaxation before hitting Cambodia, but he appears to be fit and rearing to go, so we're off to Cambodia either tomorrow or the day after. Can't wait to finally see Angkor Wat.

pics

I have finally managed to upload some pics. Beware though, efforts to improve them / delete the blurry ones have been severely hampered by my having to pay for a shitty internet connection, so you'll just have to take the good with the bad...!

Update

I've been in Koh Phangan for some days now, living on Mango shakes, soaking up the sun (well, sweating like a sunburned pig is closer to the truth) and just enjoying life. Travelled down to the island with Mick, who I met by chance in Bangkok, and met up with Lizzie & Mary & George (trio I met in Hanoi) and roomed with two Irish girls, Cuiva (phonetic spelling!!!) and Ger (short for Geraldine). Mary's brother was on the island with a bunch of friends and the group befriended some Aussie guys as well. All in all, quite a number of people. Great to party!

The full moon party itself was not really marvellous - just an ordinary rave on the beach with far too many people. The night before and especially the night after were an absolute hit though. Far better music, fewer people, I really went wild. My legs hurt sooo much from dancing in the sand - was absolutely fantastic. They sell buckets of drink over here - and I never want to taste a drink that comes out of a bucket again. Ugh.

Fire is a big thing over here - a fiery skipping rope, a ring of fire to jump through, twirling sticks, ... you name it, they had it. Unfortunately I don't have any pics from my time here on the island - was too lazy and afraid my camera would get stolen.

Am flying out to Bangkok tomorrow - Manuel is coming down for a few days and I CAN'T WAIT! I guess I'll drag him over to Koh Chang and from then on to Cambodia. But we'll see, don't really want to plan too far ahead, as I am sure you'll agree, it's a complete waste of time with my spontaneity!

Saigon

So much has happened since I left Hoi An... met a bunch of people a few hours after I arrived and the group just seemed to swell until last night where we were a huge crazy bunch, being told off by the Irish Pub's manager to get off the furniture - there was no reason we couldn't dance on the floor. True enough. Was great fun, it got to the point that we had this "dance off", one group against another, like a really bad music clip. But as usual can't sleep, so have been hounding people on Facebook since 9am and am now waxing lyrical here.

But let's go back a few days to when I arrived in Saigon (refuse to call it Ho Chi Minh City):
When I arrived I was a bit overwhelmed, hadn't really planned to be in Saigon for another week. But I guess I'm back on form (was pretty tired & grouchy in Hoi An), because my plans seem to have regained their uncanny knack of changing every second, so I'm loving it again.

Met a really nice girl (ok, woman, she's 34) who has been travelling for 8 months and has finally found what she is looking for - was so inspiring. Made me feel like I'm not such a lost cause after all...! (May be exaggerating a bit about the lost cause.. every second person I meet seems to be on a soul searching mission. It is just nice to finally meet someone who knows what she wants from live, love, job, etc.)

Saigon is wild and wacky, although I must admit I thought it would be crazier than it is. I think I could actually live here, not that I'm actively pursuing that thought (calm down you guys, breathe!).

Went to the war museum which was very disturbing. The pics of the victims and torture scenes were bad but the quotes by the photographers below the pics really rammed the horror home: "I saw this group of woman & children [about to be shot] and said "hold it", took my picture and turned to walk away. I heard the shots and out of the corner of my eyes I saw bodies fall to the ground but I didn't look back." Terrible.

Yesterday saw me creeping around the Cu Chi tunnels - an intricate system of tunnels used by revolutionary fighters (viet cong) during the war. Very impressive - the tunnels & chambers are either 3m, 6m or 10m underground. It was amazing how tiny the tunnels were - Mark would just about fit.

An Irish trio has convinced me to join them for the full moon party in Thailand. Will leave Vietnam tomorrow, am flying out to Koh Samui and then planning on catching the speed boat over to Koh Phangan.

Off to Saigon

Made the split second decision yesterday morning at 8am after 4h sleep to jump ship (was getting a bit "clique-y" over here, too many women with nothing to do, if you get my drift) and move on to Saigon by plane today. Not the cheapest flight (USD 67.- incl. taxes) but taking into account that I only gave them a day's notice, I can't really complain.

Now why was I up so early after so little sleep? Well, we went out for a "night out" which (in my opinion) turned out to be an utter disaster - too much drink, bad music, true characters coming out to the fore, and I wasn't intoxicated enough to enjoy utter stupidity on display.

Anyway, a new addition to Hoi An brought a breath of fresh air - Mick, an Australian guy (who incidentally looks exactly like one of the Hendriksons) is interested in everything local and we managed to motivate some people to get motorbikes and drive out to Marble Mountains to look at caves and suchlike. Was pretty fantastic. The ride out there was exhilarating, the scenery absolutely beautiful. The caves were seriously majestic - full of sleeping Buddhas and shrines with everything made out of marble (hence the name) - such a serene place. We were climbing up a cave, following a light, when suddenly we were standing on top of the mountain, looking out at the sea. Wonderful!

For lunch a local girl led us to a great seafood "restaurant" (shack would be more appropriate) where unfortunately Kristal managed to dislocate her knee cap when climbing off the bike. Was a really interesting experience seeing this local fisherman alternately massage and bash it back into place. The poor girl. It hurt so much. And now I'm off.. taxi's waiting...!

Insomnia

My natural body clock is such a pain - am really tired but cannot sleep past 8am, even if I try. Spent an hour wandering through Hoi An, watching people shitting into the river, fishing, preparing their stands, eating breakfast at the roadside on tiny little stools, all in all just getting ready for another day. Was quite peaceful actually, so peaceful that I ended up wandering blindly, dreaming with my eyes open and promptly got lost. Then again Hoi An isn't really that big a town, it's more of a village, so you eventually just turn a corner and pass a landmark that you "seem to think that you slightly remember"... and voila, you're in front of your hotel.
Although we did have quite an interesting trek last night: this English guy led us round in circles in the pouring rain (tropical rain, mind you) for about half an hour before finally finding what proved to be a marvellous restaurant - and only just around the corner from our hotel. Could have shaken him! Ah well, but I'm on holiday... but I learnt one lesson: never let a drunk lead, especially if he has no sense of direction!

Rain in Hoi An

Took the sleeper bus down from Hanoi to Hoi An yesterday. As soon as we boarded what promised to be a 14 hour journey, it began to pour with rain and hasn't stopped since. The journey was quite comfortable with us being able to lie down flat and get a good snooze. Unfortunately the road was really bumpy, but thankfully the "bed" was well padded.

Hoi An is a tailor's town - apart from clothes you can also get shoes and bags made to measure. Funnily enough, I have absolutely no inclination to do so. Must be subconsciously thinking of the additional weight I'd have to carry.

I travelled down with a group of five English people I met on the tour to Ha Long Bay and we are going to meet up with four others tonight.

This afternoon (true to the saying "only mad dogs and Englishmen") we walked around the whole town looking for a swimming pool in a tropical storm. Found one in the end, was really nice (in a five star complex), paid about Fr. 2.- for two hours of private luxury before it began to get cold. The pool attendants couldn't stop laughing at us as it was an outside pool (they asked us three times if we realised it was raining), but hey, we were wet anyway!

I can't get over the beautiful colonial architecture. Feels like you're in a film or something.

Collection of thoughts

I'm meeting a hell of a lot of pissed English, Canadian and Irish travelers - what happened to all the non-English speaking people out there?!

Met a French-American girl who lives in Germany. She's on a soul-searching mission, trying to determine who she is / where her roots are / does she have any / etc. Had quite a flashback! And am so glad that phase in my life is over. Shared my thoughts, but it was really weird. Like I was talking to myself (does "Back to the Future" ring a bell?). Told her that 1. home is where your heart is and 2. you are responsible for growing your own roots, just pick the culture you're most comfortable in... lecture over.

Sat next to this American guy, Patrick, on the long bus ride back from Ha Long Bay and had a super interesting, if surreal, conversation. He's a Jazz musician and into the theory of simplicity. Was taught how to appreciate death metal and why some day we will insert our brains into robots and live forever. Hmm. Was quite bummed when he left for China. At least he was someone fun to talk to. Have already learned that people like that are unfortunately far and few in between. The only other person I really loved talking to was a girl in Bangkok who had lived in Cambodia for 1.5 years. She was going back to England and planning to set up her own business. Was a hilarious evening.

A few days ago I had this weird experience with a very weird (totally gaga) guy: he kept coming over and touching my leg. First he went for two other girls legs (was out in a group - water puppet show) before he settled for my leg. At first it was quite funny with him kneeling down and sticking his finger out to touch the leg, but it got old pretty fast. Luckily we were moving and he fell behind. Despite it being creepy I felt a bit sorry for the fool.

Went to this Australian festival, "The Big Day Out". Was not really that fantastic, an Australian girl and I left early to go and wander around a Vietnamese supermarket. Found that they were offering plates and glasses as promotional items when you bought L'Oreal shampoo and the like. Doubt that it would go down well in Switzerland!

I'm off to Hoi An tomorrow - a 14 hour bus ride. Am not looking forward to the long trip.

Forgot to say that I cried out of the snake experience last night. Something had turned my stomach so I had a quiet night in. Was quite disappointed but couldn't face the thought of food, let alone snake.

rushing rushing

Time is going by so quickly!
Been hanging out with two Irish girls and have already been asked if I'm Irish..
Have just come back from a three day kayaking / climbing trip to Ha Long Bay. Am completely shattered and have a sunburned hand. Apart from that it was really good fun. I scratched my thighs pretty badly on some rocks and for all my moaning about blood everywhere earned a crisp: "shut up darling! climbers dig women that look half raped! then we're sure that they're up for anything!" from our guide. Then he gave me the disinfectant spray and a wink.

We're off to drink snake blood tonight and eat snake in 10 different ways, so gotta run!

Hanoi

After praying to Buddha with the locals and drinking whiskey with Indians it was definitely time for me to move on before I got stuck in Bangkok. I've discovered the slow life... sleeping, eating and wandering around aimlessly, drifting from table to table (chatting of course!) for hours on end. Lovely!

Being in Hanoi is like being stuck in time. (For those who've been to Malaysia, it is a bit like Melaka - really old & quaint.) After the ultra modern airport in Bangkok (opened in 2006 / looks like something out of the film "Alien" - but in a good way) Hanoi airport is a complete culture shock - an antique! The trip back in time started there! I met this Spanish guy from the Canary Islands on my airasia flight out here and we were both like "wow, this is the Asia we want to see!"

My hostel offers a free airport shuttle service, so there was a tiny guy holding up a sign with my name on it waiting for me. So cute! I asked him how long it would take us to get to town and he was like: "well, ca. 45min". Uff, thought I, Hanoi must be a really long way away. To make some small talk I asked him: "how many km?" "37" he replied, dead serious. I looked at him to see if he was joking. He wasn't! (It was a bit of a shock for me, because I had been averaging around140km/h on Swiss motorways for the past two months!) But as soon as we hit the road I understood why it would take us so long: he never ever, ever went over 60km/h. 50km/h was the average. But I wasn't complaining - there was so much to see! Beautiful derelict & colourful houses, rice fields, scooters whizzing by with interesting cargo... There was this one guy who had a dead pig (!), strapped to the back of his bike. The pig's throat had been slit and the head was lolling back, showing off all the gory details. And no, I didn't take a picture!

I'm in a dorm with 8 other girls and have already decided that although this place has free internet (an absolute bonus! and the keyboard is neither Japanese nor Chinese as it was in BKK) I prefer to sleep alone if possible!

I went out with an English girl just now, who had also taken the same flight from BKK and at the beginning we were like "oh, this is so peaceful" but as soon as we tried to cross a road we changed our minds! The scooters are absolute maniacs and vicious horn honkers to the boot. I nearly got run over by one going down the wrong way... t'is seriously dangerous! The food is ok, a hell of a lot of pork (not my favorite) and I'm wary about the fruit juices, they tend to use ice - a sure death to all just starting out!

The mosquitoes seem to love me, already boast 6 Fr.1.- -sized bites. Very annoying! Ah well, another excuse to shop for long but light clothing!
So, I'm off, there's a free bbq on the roof tonight. Hope they serve something else than pork!

the city of pink taxis

Am completely shattered.
After an enjoyable bus ride around the city ( just hopped on a bus and waited to see where I would end up) I jumped off at the MBK center, Bangkok's largest shopping mall. I met a Swedish girl last night who was raving about the place, so ever the shopaholic I thought, well, why not? Shopping in Asia is so much more fun...! (Even if it is so huge that one tends to get lost! T'is like all the malls in KL combined) The only issue is that now I have to lug all that stuff around Vietnam. But hey, sacrifices have to be made!

Lamphu House - Bangkok

My flight to Bangkok was quite uneventful, apart from the usual screaming child. The movies were good, they had all the current films as well as some classics and girly films. Feeling simple minded, I opted for "legally blond" - and fell asleep in 10 minutes flat. I had a stop over in Doha (went with Qatar Airways) - awful airport, but not as awful as Charles de Gaule in Paris!


On the plane I met a soccer-hating Italian guy and at the taxi stand two girls from Belgium. As I had already booked my first night, they followed me to my hotel (in the middle of the old town Banglampu) and got a room in the same street. We went out exploring and had great fun eating snacks from stalls, smelling the air thick with frying chili and trying to determine which woman was in fact a lady-boy.


I managed to fix my return date - I'm back in Switzerland on Friday, October 3rd. Now all I have to do is find a flight out to Australia...!

Birthday & Goodbye

Mark and I hosted his birthday and my goodbye party at the Noohn in Basel on Wednesday. Check out the pics in my Visual Gallery.

I must admit that I did not have (or make) time to improve the pics, so the album's subtitle is the "red-eye album". T'is not difficult to figure out why!