It is 6 in the morning right now and I am unable to close my eyes. I have been battling a mosquito all night and the itching and scratching has ceased to stop. I could get ready now or I could awaken myself and slowely get myself together. I think I will get up. Ugh.... my floor is wet with water and if im not careful enough I might slip, fall, and risk getting injured before I even take off. Scattered around my room, hanging on a light, curtains, and my ac, are my clothes that I washed the night before. Little did I think that they would drip drip drip and the water would slosh slosh slosh all over my room. As I turn on my lights, I see that the room is flooded but at least the shirts are dry.
I walk out of my gated house with some wet clothes on. They were the ones that were unable to dry the night before. I turn my head to the right and luckily there is a tax driver who notices my face. His face quickly gets extremely excited and a smile rises from him. "Sous s'day" I tell the gentleman. "Do You know the okay house?" He looks at me with a look of uncertainty and confusion. His english is non-existent and the okay house, said 5 more times, does not ring a bell. So, instead I tell him to drop me off at the biggest hotel in Cambodia which is a 5 minute walk to where I need to go anyway.
Phnom Penh is very nice in the morning. The sun is not fully up and the air is nice and cool for a change. Since the city is laden with shadows and some darkness it can even be difficult to notice the smog and pollution that usually fills ones view and face. The city gives off a calmming feeling that no other part of the day can achieve. There are less people on the road and most people appear too tired to even honk their horns. As the wind blows through my hair I am awakened and refreshed as I zoom through the streets of Phnom Penh on the back of a moto equipped with my camera and packpack. Some boulevards, some paved, some dirt roads, and some bumpy.
It was only a 50 minute flight and I arrive in Thailand. The airport looks deserted for the most part. There are seldom seen any planes and most of the docking stations are empty. The airport is new but does not give off that vibe. It appears cold, dark, and damp. It is a great steel and concrete structure that resembles the opera house in Sydney, but a thousand times bigger. Even with the few planes in the airport, we still have to get off on the tarmak and take a bus. The bus ride takes about 10 minutes, then immigration, then exit the terminal just to re-check in for my plane that departs in about 4 hours. As I enter the main terminal I am thrust back into the modern world. I see electronics, technology, food stands, and cleanliness. I see advertisements, commercials, and capitalism. It is a wonderful feeling. The western world is upon me. The airport more resembles a gourmet market and luxurty shopping mall inside. It is filled with many wonderful shops and restaurants that are tempting me at every corner. I resist the initial temptation to eat and hold off until I get my new ticket and enter the terminal.
I go through the airport security with littlemore than a wave through. No x-ray, no metal detector. If only the US flights could be this easy. Then, I walk down some flights of stairs into a tunnel that leads to my flight. Once again the airport has taken on the cold feeling in my body as the dimly lit corridors lead me to my destination.
Along the way there is a wonderful food station. I get a pre paid card to get food and drinks for 500 baht. Its about 35 to the dollar, you can do the math. I get sushi. Something I have not had for a very long time. I have lived long enough on rice and vegetables. I am on vacation and deserve to indulge a little bit. It is quite delicious and the tastes appear to excite my taste buds and awaken them from the somber sleep they have been experiencing over the past 3 months.
The lounge is very quant and it has internet which is extremely important for such a long layover. It gives me the chance to sit back, relax, and plan what beach I will stay at and look for some nice budget accomodations, after all, I am backpacking and what would be the fun if everything was planned and there was no uncertainty ahead?
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Aloha...
Well, it has been a while and for that I am sorry, but I have been very busy and for that I am not too sorry. So Laura came with her family a week ago and it was great to see some familiar faces as well as get a little hint of american culture. It was really a wonderful week filled with a lot of excursions to the countryside to visit different orphanages that Global Children works with. The one orphanage that stuck out teh most in my mind was definitely one that had a painting program. At a lot of orphanages the children do not have an outlet after school so the kids usually sit around and do nothing. However, at this one in particular they painted. I was walking in expecting some amateur art work and walked out with two paintings in my hand. The work was truly wonderful and captured the landscape and essence of cambodia to the "t". The children really did have a lot of talent and 3 students in particular made most of the paintings and collages that we took with us. It was a very quiet and peaceful place that was a welcome relief from the heat and crazyness of the outside world. I felt that if every orphanage had a program like this it would have a dramatic effect on every children's life. Aside from that it was just good to have Laura around. Hearing about her adventures and what Cambodia used to be like gave me a better perspective and feeling that the country really is one the move and in a much better state than yesterday. However, as quickly as Laura had come she had to go back to teh states. The following week was nothign special just a lot of class and working out. I went pretty smoothly until the weekend. I got extremely sick starting staturday. I had a cambodian breakfast that consisted of dim sum because I was tarving and thats when it started to hit me. I was very sick and feverish by the middle of the day. All I knew was to drink a lot of water and try and sweat it out. Although id felt like this before I could not get the asian bird flu out of my head and started to freak out, but not enough to venture to a cambodian hospital. I figured I would give it a day or two and make my decision. Luckily for me, I was feeling pretty well by the following night and it was just a matter of getting my strength back. I survived the asian flu! Unfortunately I was not able to survive the asian barber. Ponlok took me to a barber and after I explained for 20 minutes to just shave my head he gave me a 1985 haircut that makes me look like Brandon Walsh from 90210. So today I bought my own haircut machine for $15 us and will be cutting short upon my arrival home. So things are pretty good, I plan to try and make some sort of trip in February. I am thinking either a 10 day trip to Thailand or a short long weekend trip to Sihanoukville to relax at the beach town in Cambodia. Take care and write when you have a chance, spence
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Angkor What!?!?!?
It has been a while and I apologize for the time in between posts. However, this is due to a lot of things happening. So here we go. I embarked to Siem Reap after New Years in Phnom Penh. After falling asleep at 10:30 in th evening on New Years eve, with 2 beers in me, I awoke feeling great on January 1st for the first time in many years. I spent the day getting some last minute things together and ventured to my students party that night. It was great to go to a real Khmer party and see how things are here. There werer about 25 people and we all had a dinner on the floor. We sat cross legged and ate some great food provided by the host. After dinner, I talked to two Americans who are living in Phnom Penh. They seemed like some really cool people and I plan to meet up with them on a regular basis from here on out.
The next day I had to wake up early and was off onmy adventure. I awoke very early in the morning to catch a bus from Phnom Penh to Battambang. (pronounced battambOng). The reason I did not want to go directlyto Siem Reap was to take a nice boat ride that would be shorter from Battambong than Phnom Penh. Boy was I wrong. Anyway, the busridetook 6 hours and I could not drink that much water because there was no bathroomon the bus. Jac would never have been able to handle this bus, haha. There were only tweo stops on the bus and I took full advantage of them. Battambong was nothing special. It was a small town that seemed to be a hub for Siem Reap and Bangkok. I got a hotel room, had dinner, some drinks with a great Australian couple and went to bed.
I awoke very early the next mornign and got onto the boat for Siem Reap. The boat was for about 30 people and I decided to stay on top with a french couple and some scandinavian couple as well. It was the right choice by far. The trip was disturbing at first. It went through extremely polluted waters and to see people bathing in the river and using it as their drinking water was hard to watch. You could litteraly see dead fish floating around it was so bad. As the boat went further along the river got extremely narrow but the landscape became more environmentally tidy. It was so narrow that at points the boat bounced off the banks on every turn. After a long morning bouncing off the shore, the river finally opened up and we entered a village that was litterally floating around. We stopped for a nice lunch and were quickly on our way. The trip was extremely long and hot. Th elonely planet guide book said 4-5 hours. Well, they were very wrong. It took a grueling 9 hours. I am very glad I took the boat because you are able to see what Cambodia is really like in the middle of the country. However, I do not plan to take the boat ever again because of the time and the burn that I recieved.
When I arrived a swarm of tuk tuk drivers jummped onto the ship and begged to be my driver. So what did I do? I exited the boat and found the one moto driver that was somewhat respectful of my long journey and did not harass me. At that point it was onward to the hotel, a great burger, and a few days with Sam and Josie.
The first day we saw four temples in all. They were all amazing in their own way. Angkor Wat and Angkor Tom were the most famous temples and it is easy to see. They are gigantic structures that are built three stories high. It is amazing to think how these were ever created. I kept wishing that I was one of the first explorers to come accross these temples. It would have been an amazing feeling to trek through a forest and stumble upon such an amazing architectual accomplishment. I would go into further detail but really its something to experience. So, instead of being the first explorer I had to walk through the temples with a million Japanese toursists that travel in groups of 50. It was still amazing nontheless. So the temples were just an amazing experience with the over grown temples in the forest being my favorites.
At night Siem Reap had one street. This was called pub street and for a good reason. I would go there each night and have a beer or two. As shallow as it might sound, it was really nice to go out and see tourists. I have been living in an environment with no interaction with westerners. It was great to not stand out of the crowd and just be able to blend in. Siem Reap was a great place and a wonderful expereicne. From the moment I left I was excited to return and see more of the temples. I could easily have stayed two weeks and not been bored with temple exploring. My wallet would have been light, but my soul full.
After a wonderful couple days it was time to say goodbye to everyone and head off back to Phnom Penh. This time I spent more money so I would have a bathroom on board. Of course I did not have to use the restroom this time. As I re entered Phnom Penh it was a great feeling. I felt as though I was comign home. I quickly got off the bus, got a moto driver, and was home shorty after. It was a great feeling to think of Phnom Penh as home and have that familiar setting again. The next two days are Cambodias independence form the khmer Rouge so it should be an interesting couple days. Write with questions or comments and sorry for the post. I know it goes all over the place. I just have so much to write and am trying not to forget things. Ciao!
The next day I had to wake up early and was off onmy adventure. I awoke very early in the morning to catch a bus from Phnom Penh to Battambang. (pronounced battambOng). The reason I did not want to go directlyto Siem Reap was to take a nice boat ride that would be shorter from Battambong than Phnom Penh. Boy was I wrong. Anyway, the busridetook 6 hours and I could not drink that much water because there was no bathroomon the bus. Jac would never have been able to handle this bus, haha. There were only tweo stops on the bus and I took full advantage of them. Battambong was nothing special. It was a small town that seemed to be a hub for Siem Reap and Bangkok. I got a hotel room, had dinner, some drinks with a great Australian couple and went to bed.
I awoke very early the next mornign and got onto the boat for Siem Reap. The boat was for about 30 people and I decided to stay on top with a french couple and some scandinavian couple as well. It was the right choice by far. The trip was disturbing at first. It went through extremely polluted waters and to see people bathing in the river and using it as their drinking water was hard to watch. You could litteraly see dead fish floating around it was so bad. As the boat went further along the river got extremely narrow but the landscape became more environmentally tidy. It was so narrow that at points the boat bounced off the banks on every turn. After a long morning bouncing off the shore, the river finally opened up and we entered a village that was litterally floating around. We stopped for a nice lunch and were quickly on our way. The trip was extremely long and hot. Th elonely planet guide book said 4-5 hours. Well, they were very wrong. It took a grueling 9 hours. I am very glad I took the boat because you are able to see what Cambodia is really like in the middle of the country. However, I do not plan to take the boat ever again because of the time and the burn that I recieved.
When I arrived a swarm of tuk tuk drivers jummped onto the ship and begged to be my driver. So what did I do? I exited the boat and found the one moto driver that was somewhat respectful of my long journey and did not harass me. At that point it was onward to the hotel, a great burger, and a few days with Sam and Josie.
The first day we saw four temples in all. They were all amazing in their own way. Angkor Wat and Angkor Tom were the most famous temples and it is easy to see. They are gigantic structures that are built three stories high. It is amazing to think how these were ever created. I kept wishing that I was one of the first explorers to come accross these temples. It would have been an amazing feeling to trek through a forest and stumble upon such an amazing architectual accomplishment. I would go into further detail but really its something to experience. So, instead of being the first explorer I had to walk through the temples with a million Japanese toursists that travel in groups of 50. It was still amazing nontheless. So the temples were just an amazing experience with the over grown temples in the forest being my favorites.
At night Siem Reap had one street. This was called pub street and for a good reason. I would go there each night and have a beer or two. As shallow as it might sound, it was really nice to go out and see tourists. I have been living in an environment with no interaction with westerners. It was great to not stand out of the crowd and just be able to blend in. Siem Reap was a great place and a wonderful expereicne. From the moment I left I was excited to return and see more of the temples. I could easily have stayed two weeks and not been bored with temple exploring. My wallet would have been light, but my soul full.
After a wonderful couple days it was time to say goodbye to everyone and head off back to Phnom Penh. This time I spent more money so I would have a bathroom on board. Of course I did not have to use the restroom this time. As I re entered Phnom Penh it was a great feeling. I felt as though I was comign home. I quickly got off the bus, got a moto driver, and was home shorty after. It was a great feeling to think of Phnom Penh as home and have that familiar setting again. The next two days are Cambodias independence form the khmer Rouge so it should be an interesting couple days. Write with questions or comments and sorry for the post. I know it goes all over the place. I just have so much to write and am trying not to forget things. Ciao!
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