Made a split second decision to take the night train down to Bangkok after getting heavily bitten by mosquitoes. Now here I am, back in in Khao san Road. ;-)
The train was really nice, I was quite impressed with the comforts of a second class sleeping berth. The two English girls I was travelling with undertook the futile mission of instructing me in London street slang... absolutely incomprehensible gobbledygook, innit!!!
A few hours after arrival I met up with a couple of old (from Hanoi) and new faces and went out to explore the crazy weekend market, Chatuchak. It is absolutely huge, sells everything under the sun and my "add-one-dump-something" rule (to reduce the weight of my backpack) went right out the window! We found a mall just off the market with fixed prices and full of Thai people, practically no tourists. Soon found out why... prices were a third of what was being charged outside at the market... jackpot! Don't worry back home, won't ship back any furniture... although I am tempted by some of the artworks!
Went for a relaxing foot reflexology massage after having provided moral support to a friend fighting with a tailor. Apparently he had misunderstood my friend's directions at the fitting and the dress was cut too low... So she panicked because her flight home was in few hours and she had already paid for the garment up front. Hopefully the manager will be true to his word and post her the dress after the alterations have been made... we'll see!
Have booked my ticket out to Bali and am off tomorrow for three weeks... sunshine, beaches and volcanoes, here I come!
Monday, 16 June 2008
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Chiang Mai
I am really enjoying myself here in Chiang Mai.
Booked myself on a one day tourist trap trek, which was surprisingly interesting and very enjoyable.
We visited a butterfly and orchid farm first, which was absolutely beautiful. The variety of orchids was amazing. I was particularly mesmerised by the blue ones. Unfortunately our bus broke down just before we set off, so we had to wait around 30 minutes in the glaring hot sun which gave me quite a headache.
Our next stop was an elephant ride. The Thais do love their elephants and it was very much like riding a big horse! A couple of baby elephants were ambling around and one of them joined us on our 1h tour down a river and through the jungle. In the water it went absolutely mad, diving and rolling over, trying to spray us with water. But it ended up spraying the other elephants instead as we were too high up! They didn't appreciate it one bit and our elephant gave it a sly kick when it came too close (!).
After that we visited two indigenous hill tribes, appropriately named long neck and big ear. The long neck women add a ring around their necks between the ages of 5 and 22. They had a sample which we could put on and it is quite a weight they are carrying! The big ears have large rings in their earlobes which they decorate. All the women were weaving scarves and looked bored out of their minds. Needless to say, we didn't stay long!
A bit of jungle trekking (on foot) was up next... we climbed up some hill to a hidden waterfall. It was so peaceful sitting by the water, listening to it rushing down. Felt quite relaxed and in need of a nap!
But some action was up next: they took us white water rafting and bamboo rafting. I was having great fun with this gorgeous Danish model who was on a break from the fashion shows in Milan. On the downside I have never felt so squat and unattractive in all my life! But I guess that's just the luck of the draw... and am not really complaining about my lot just now!
The white water was a lot of fun, even if we did get stuck on stones all the time and nearly fell in. The water was so dirty thanks to recent rainfalls that I really didn't want to bathe, despite the heat! The bamboo raft was really leaky and much to my disgust there were spiders everywhere! Nearly jumped off the raft when I saw the first one! But it was ok, just kept to the bits under water... figured they couldn't get me there!
Today I was in dire need of some TLC (tender loving care) and so wandered up to the local women's prison. They have a kind of rehabilitation program which teaches the prisoners various kinds of massages, so that when they leave they are trained masseuses. All the money they earn, they receive when they are released. When I arrived at 10am there was no one there and when I left, it was packed. They do up to 13 customers a day, with massages costing 100 Baht per hour (ca. Fr.3.30).
I opted for the herbal massage but was told that the herbs take one hour to be prepared. She offered to do 1h of Thai massage whilst the herbs were boiling. So with slight apprehension (bearing in mind what Manuel had gone through) I agreed to that plan. The Thai massage was great (contrary to his experience). Even if she did jump on my back at one point and started kneading away with her elbows and knees. I nearly DIED! Actually, I nearly threw her off with my violent reaction - it hurt soooo much! But her grip was surprisingly tenacious. Must be used to customers reacting like that. Then it was time for the herbs. They were packed into excruciatingly hot pouches, and she pummelled me with them for about an hour. The herbs dyed my skin yellow and she laughed when she saw that I was wearing a yellow tshirt. At least the discoloration wouldn't be that obvious.
At one point she told me that they were trained by nurses from the local hospital. Which was very reassuring. I'd recommend this "prison spa" to anyone, even if my toes still feel as if they have been dislocated!
On my way back to the guesthouse, I had to duck into a Wat (temple) to avoid pouring rain. The monk (every Wat has at least one monk looking after it) was keen to practice his English, so we chatted about Buddhism. After about an hour we were joined by a (drenched) Belgian philosopher. Apparently he had been coming to the temple for the last three months to chat with this monk. Said it was really enlightening. We talked for about another hour before the rain let up. I left quite enlightened! It almost made me sign up for the meditation retreat offered at one of the Wats. May actually still do so.
Booked myself on a one day tourist trap trek, which was surprisingly interesting and very enjoyable.
We visited a butterfly and orchid farm first, which was absolutely beautiful. The variety of orchids was amazing. I was particularly mesmerised by the blue ones. Unfortunately our bus broke down just before we set off, so we had to wait around 30 minutes in the glaring hot sun which gave me quite a headache.
Our next stop was an elephant ride. The Thais do love their elephants and it was very much like riding a big horse! A couple of baby elephants were ambling around and one of them joined us on our 1h tour down a river and through the jungle. In the water it went absolutely mad, diving and rolling over, trying to spray us with water. But it ended up spraying the other elephants instead as we were too high up! They didn't appreciate it one bit and our elephant gave it a sly kick when it came too close (!).
After that we visited two indigenous hill tribes, appropriately named long neck and big ear. The long neck women add a ring around their necks between the ages of 5 and 22. They had a sample which we could put on and it is quite a weight they are carrying! The big ears have large rings in their earlobes which they decorate. All the women were weaving scarves and looked bored out of their minds. Needless to say, we didn't stay long!
A bit of jungle trekking (on foot) was up next... we climbed up some hill to a hidden waterfall. It was so peaceful sitting by the water, listening to it rushing down. Felt quite relaxed and in need of a nap!
But some action was up next: they took us white water rafting and bamboo rafting. I was having great fun with this gorgeous Danish model who was on a break from the fashion shows in Milan. On the downside I have never felt so squat and unattractive in all my life! But I guess that's just the luck of the draw... and am not really complaining about my lot just now!
The white water was a lot of fun, even if we did get stuck on stones all the time and nearly fell in. The water was so dirty thanks to recent rainfalls that I really didn't want to bathe, despite the heat! The bamboo raft was really leaky and much to my disgust there were spiders everywhere! Nearly jumped off the raft when I saw the first one! But it was ok, just kept to the bits under water... figured they couldn't get me there!
Today I was in dire need of some TLC (tender loving care) and so wandered up to the local women's prison. They have a kind of rehabilitation program which teaches the prisoners various kinds of massages, so that when they leave they are trained masseuses. All the money they earn, they receive when they are released. When I arrived at 10am there was no one there and when I left, it was packed. They do up to 13 customers a day, with massages costing 100 Baht per hour (ca. Fr.3.30).
I opted for the herbal massage but was told that the herbs take one hour to be prepared. She offered to do 1h of Thai massage whilst the herbs were boiling. So with slight apprehension (bearing in mind what Manuel had gone through) I agreed to that plan. The Thai massage was great (contrary to his experience). Even if she did jump on my back at one point and started kneading away with her elbows and knees. I nearly DIED! Actually, I nearly threw her off with my violent reaction - it hurt soooo much! But her grip was surprisingly tenacious. Must be used to customers reacting like that. Then it was time for the herbs. They were packed into excruciatingly hot pouches, and she pummelled me with them for about an hour. The herbs dyed my skin yellow and she laughed when she saw that I was wearing a yellow tshirt. At least the discoloration wouldn't be that obvious.
At one point she told me that they were trained by nurses from the local hospital. Which was very reassuring. I'd recommend this "prison spa" to anyone, even if my toes still feel as if they have been dislocated!
On my way back to the guesthouse, I had to duck into a Wat (temple) to avoid pouring rain. The monk (every Wat has at least one monk looking after it) was keen to practice his English, so we chatted about Buddhism. After about an hour we were joined by a (drenched) Belgian philosopher. Apparently he had been coming to the temple for the last three months to chat with this monk. Said it was really enlightening. We talked for about another hour before the rain let up. I left quite enlightened! It almost made me sign up for the meditation retreat offered at one of the Wats. May actually still do so.
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Cambodia & Thailand
It's been a long time...
Said goodbye to Manuel on Sunday at the unearthly hour of 5am... so sad that he had to go. We had such a great time. But, well, can't dwell on what ifs, so on a happier note, I ended up meeting an American who had just spent two (!) days in Shanghai airport thanks to a bad connection and nearly missing my flight up to Chiang Mai (Thailand) thanks to a very late football match (Germany vs someone).
Had been grappling with the decision of either 1. going up to Chiang Mai, for some rural life and then, weather permitting, over and on to Laos, OR 2. going off to Japan to explore urban jungles and tea ceremonies, OR 3. fly down to Bali (Indonesia) for some sun, sand and volcanic action. Am actually really planning to do No. 3 (2 is too expensive) as I have quite a bit of time until Mark turns up!
But let me just recap what went on in the past few days...
Manu and I arrived in Siam Reap after a long and thankfully not very bumpy bus journey from Phnom Penh.
Tired and grumpy with heavy grey skies overhead we decided NOT to enjoy the sunset at Angkor Wat (MISTAKE! we thought a few hours in, but learnt that everyone had gotten kicked out early because the King of Malaysia was visiting the site, so not too bad in the end) and went off to explore instead.
Siam Reap was, to be honest, a bit disappointing... Mostly western restaurants and bars, with just about everything geared towards tourists. For example, we hid out in this one bar (air con heaven!), held completely in white, with lounging sofas and free WIFI that looked like something out of a lifestyle / best bars magazine. Surreal, especially after a very dusty tuktuk ride in from the bus station. The roads are full of holes and we were hanging on to our bags, getting sand blown in our faces, weaving in and out of motorbikes, passing all these UN Development buildings on our left and right.
Our hotel was alright, only a short minutes walk away from the (tiny!) city center and we booked our overly enthusiastic tuktuk driver for the next day.
The morning began bright and early (just imagine who was complaining about being on holiday!) at 4:50am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat... was really beautiful. We charged into the temple while everyone else (especially all the Japanese tourists) stayed outside to watch the sun rising and had the place to ourselves for around half an hour. It was quite magical and at times eerie to be zooming around this dusky complex alone, with shadows everywhere. My imagination began to run away with me and I half imagined seeing tigers in the shadows (don't ask me why!) and mistook a tourist for a priest coming around the corner. (Yes, crazy, I know!) Shortly before lunch we had had enough and with the sun beating down we decided to call it a day.
Back at our hostel the receptionist greeted us with the news that the whole town was out of electricity and running water for the moment and he didn't know when it would come back. So dusty, sweaty and hungry we crashed into what was thankfully a relatively cool room (hotel was in a shady spot) and managed to fall asleep. About 30min to 45min later, the electricity came back on and soon after that, water started pouring out of the tap.
Refreshed we went out for lunch/dinner. After being fed and watered we came to the conclusion that, even though the temples were fantastic, we didn't really want to spend any more time Siam Reap. So we booked a bus down to Sihanoukville for the next day!
Sihanoukville is a really small coastal town, south of Phnom Penh and has quite a few lovely beaches. It's set to become to Cambodia what Koh Samui is to Thailand, but that may take some years yet. The builders are no way as efficient as, for example, in Dubai. We never saw them working, neither during the day nor at night!
We spent a peaceful week there, despite daily threats by Khmer children selling bracelets and fruit (you buy my bracelet or I kill you!). Lounging around, getting some sun and eating fresh barracuda for 3.- USD at night. There weren't many people around so we spent mellow evenings sitting on the beach, gazing at stars (can really see why they thought the earth was flat!) and eventually rolling home to watch the tennis. Beautiful!
On our third day, we took a boat tour to Bamboo island, which was absolutely stunning. A day of white sand and clear water with a bbq lunch, it was picture perfect. Despite some bouts of lightning and a roll of thunder in the distance. However the storm kept far away from us, moving off in another direction. The only hiccup was the boat's motor: it kept stalling and left us wondering if we would get there and back safely. But luck was on our side and surprisingly enough we didn't even sport serious sunburns at the end of the day.
Time flew by far too quickly and soon we were booking our airasia flight back to Bangkok for some serious shopping. Unfortunately 'someone-who-will-not-be-named' got pick-pocketed and lost his phone and wallet to pinching fingers. Thankfully he lost nothing really important, so in Bangkok we headed straight to MBK shopping center and invested in a new Sony Ericsson.
That day proved to be quite a record for us: we arrived at the mall at around 10:30am and left at 8:30pm... a full days shopping! (Ok, they do have a cinema in the building). Because most shops weren't really up and running before midday, we had brunch and went to see the Sex and the City film. (No, I am not some kind of sadist, making Manuel sit through it, there was just nothing else on watch!)
This may now account for the fact that I am LONGING to wear high heels and am sick to the back teeth of my travelling clothes... but apart from that tiny negative side effect, the film was a typical AMERICAN feel-good girlie movie (like Legally Blond or Clueless). Manuel, of course, nearly fell asleep. Or he may have, actually. I was oblivious to anything but the "I want to go to NYC"-urge that befalls me when I see the four girls. ;-)
Today I spent the day learning how to cook Thai!
According to my certificate, I am now a master chef (hehehe), able to create:
.Pad Thai (fried noodles)
.Rice rolls (like spring rolls)
.Papaya Salad
.Stir fried morning glory (Chinese spinach)
.Penang curry
.Fried banana & sweet potato
We went to the market first for a lesson on tropical fruits, herbs and spices before plunging head first into Thai cuisine. Our teacher, Meow, was quite a crazy woman, but in a funny way. She showed us the difference between the curry pastes and we made the green curry paste she would use for the next day's class.
To my surprise, I absolutely loved the cooking. Wonder how long that will last?!
Even learnt how to do the "big flame" for a smokey effect. Admittedly my flame bore more of a resemblance that one of a matchstick, rather than to a bonfire, but the food was still very tasty.
Random notes:
1. Every time I walked past a bakery, either in Cambodia or Vietnam I did a double take: thanks to the French all their cakes and pastries on display look exactly like those in Colmar, Paris, Geneva... really rams history home. Though it is a bit odd seeing monks and chickens cross by in front of lemon tarts and eclairs. Kinda surreal.
2. I was suffering from an earache and managed to get some ear drops which didn't really work. Sick with my grumbling and groaning, Manu offered to take a look and discovered that I had a tiny cut in my ear (no idea how that happened!) and after putting a bit of Merfen (disinfectant) I was right as rain again.
3. I tried to upload the pics of Angkor Wat but kept getting kicked out... so you'll have to wait until I get a more reliable connection somewhere else :-(
Said goodbye to Manuel on Sunday at the unearthly hour of 5am... so sad that he had to go. We had such a great time. But, well, can't dwell on what ifs, so on a happier note, I ended up meeting an American who had just spent two (!) days in Shanghai airport thanks to a bad connection and nearly missing my flight up to Chiang Mai (Thailand) thanks to a very late football match (Germany vs someone).
Had been grappling with the decision of either 1. going up to Chiang Mai, for some rural life and then, weather permitting, over and on to Laos, OR 2. going off to Japan to explore urban jungles and tea ceremonies, OR 3. fly down to Bali (Indonesia) for some sun, sand and volcanic action. Am actually really planning to do No. 3 (2 is too expensive) as I have quite a bit of time until Mark turns up!
But let me just recap what went on in the past few days...
Manu and I arrived in Siam Reap after a long and thankfully not very bumpy bus journey from Phnom Penh.
Tired and grumpy with heavy grey skies overhead we decided NOT to enjoy the sunset at Angkor Wat (MISTAKE! we thought a few hours in, but learnt that everyone had gotten kicked out early because the King of Malaysia was visiting the site, so not too bad in the end) and went off to explore instead.
Siam Reap was, to be honest, a bit disappointing... Mostly western restaurants and bars, with just about everything geared towards tourists. For example, we hid out in this one bar (air con heaven!), held completely in white, with lounging sofas and free WIFI that looked like something out of a lifestyle / best bars magazine. Surreal, especially after a very dusty tuktuk ride in from the bus station. The roads are full of holes and we were hanging on to our bags, getting sand blown in our faces, weaving in and out of motorbikes, passing all these UN Development buildings on our left and right.
Our hotel was alright, only a short minutes walk away from the (tiny!) city center and we booked our overly enthusiastic tuktuk driver for the next day.
The morning began bright and early (just imagine who was complaining about being on holiday!) at 4:50am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat... was really beautiful. We charged into the temple while everyone else (especially all the Japanese tourists) stayed outside to watch the sun rising and had the place to ourselves for around half an hour. It was quite magical and at times eerie to be zooming around this dusky complex alone, with shadows everywhere. My imagination began to run away with me and I half imagined seeing tigers in the shadows (don't ask me why!) and mistook a tourist for a priest coming around the corner. (Yes, crazy, I know!) Shortly before lunch we had had enough and with the sun beating down we decided to call it a day.
Back at our hostel the receptionist greeted us with the news that the whole town was out of electricity and running water for the moment and he didn't know when it would come back. So dusty, sweaty and hungry we crashed into what was thankfully a relatively cool room (hotel was in a shady spot) and managed to fall asleep. About 30min to 45min later, the electricity came back on and soon after that, water started pouring out of the tap.
Refreshed we went out for lunch/dinner. After being fed and watered we came to the conclusion that, even though the temples were fantastic, we didn't really want to spend any more time Siam Reap. So we booked a bus down to Sihanoukville for the next day!
Sihanoukville is a really small coastal town, south of Phnom Penh and has quite a few lovely beaches. It's set to become to Cambodia what Koh Samui is to Thailand, but that may take some years yet. The builders are no way as efficient as, for example, in Dubai. We never saw them working, neither during the day nor at night!
We spent a peaceful week there, despite daily threats by Khmer children selling bracelets and fruit (you buy my bracelet or I kill you!). Lounging around, getting some sun and eating fresh barracuda for 3.- USD at night. There weren't many people around so we spent mellow evenings sitting on the beach, gazing at stars (can really see why they thought the earth was flat!) and eventually rolling home to watch the tennis. Beautiful!
On our third day, we took a boat tour to Bamboo island, which was absolutely stunning. A day of white sand and clear water with a bbq lunch, it was picture perfect. Despite some bouts of lightning and a roll of thunder in the distance. However the storm kept far away from us, moving off in another direction. The only hiccup was the boat's motor: it kept stalling and left us wondering if we would get there and back safely. But luck was on our side and surprisingly enough we didn't even sport serious sunburns at the end of the day.
Time flew by far too quickly and soon we were booking our airasia flight back to Bangkok for some serious shopping. Unfortunately 'someone-who-will-not-be-named' got pick-pocketed and lost his phone and wallet to pinching fingers. Thankfully he lost nothing really important, so in Bangkok we headed straight to MBK shopping center and invested in a new Sony Ericsson.
That day proved to be quite a record for us: we arrived at the mall at around 10:30am and left at 8:30pm... a full days shopping! (Ok, they do have a cinema in the building). Because most shops weren't really up and running before midday, we had brunch and went to see the Sex and the City film. (No, I am not some kind of sadist, making Manuel sit through it, there was just nothing else on watch!)
This may now account for the fact that I am LONGING to wear high heels and am sick to the back teeth of my travelling clothes... but apart from that tiny negative side effect, the film was a typical AMERICAN feel-good girlie movie (like Legally Blond or Clueless). Manuel, of course, nearly fell asleep. Or he may have, actually. I was oblivious to anything but the "I want to go to NYC"-urge that befalls me when I see the four girls. ;-)
Today I spent the day learning how to cook Thai!
According to my certificate, I am now a master chef (hehehe), able to create:
.Pad Thai (fried noodles)
.Rice rolls (like spring rolls)
.Papaya Salad
.Stir fried morning glory (Chinese spinach)
.Penang curry
.Fried banana & sweet potato
We went to the market first for a lesson on tropical fruits, herbs and spices before plunging head first into Thai cuisine. Our teacher, Meow, was quite a crazy woman, but in a funny way. She showed us the difference between the curry pastes and we made the green curry paste she would use for the next day's class.
To my surprise, I absolutely loved the cooking. Wonder how long that will last?!
Even learnt how to do the "big flame" for a smokey effect. Admittedly my flame bore more of a resemblance that one of a matchstick, rather than to a bonfire, but the food was still very tasty.
Random notes:
1. Every time I walked past a bakery, either in Cambodia or Vietnam I did a double take: thanks to the French all their cakes and pastries on display look exactly like those in Colmar, Paris, Geneva... really rams history home. Though it is a bit odd seeing monks and chickens cross by in front of lemon tarts and eclairs. Kinda surreal.
2. I was suffering from an earache and managed to get some ear drops which didn't really work. Sick with my grumbling and groaning, Manu offered to take a look and discovered that I had a tiny cut in my ear (no idea how that happened!) and after putting a bit of Merfen (disinfectant) I was right as rain again.
3. I tried to upload the pics of Angkor Wat but kept getting kicked out... so you'll have to wait until I get a more reliable connection somewhere else :-(
Thursday, 29 May 2008
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!
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!
Monday, 26 May 2008
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.
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.
Friday, 23 May 2008
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!
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!
Sunday, 18 May 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, 15 May 2008
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...!
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...!
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
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!
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!
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