Bali, Indonesia Pt.1

Finally, my long await trip to Indonesia! I call this post Pt.1 because my entire trip to Indonesia was centered around a visit with my mother, and then later on a friend from Canada. I arrived at Denpasar airport on July 11 after my quick 5 day visit to Kuala Lumpur. I was picked up at the airport by my mother and her (at the time) fiance, and after a short drive we arrived at our villa in Seminyak. I have to admit, my first impression of Bali was not the tropical island paradise that I expected. DPS airport is actually located just south of Kuta and not actually in Denpasar. The whole area of South Bali is incredibly touristy, especially the long strip between Kuta/Legian/Seminyak. Completely over-run with tourists, and extremely busy with tons of traffic. Not quite what I expected Bali to be like. Although, to be fair, my initial visit coincided with the high season so this should've been expected.
I spent lots of time down at the beach, taking in the amazing Bali sunsets, but the highlight of this part of my trip was just being able to spend some time with my mother. We did some wonderful things, such as the Balinese cooking course we took at Amika. We took a day trip to Nusa Dua and took a glass bottomed boat over the reefs and over to the Turtle Conservatory (and also had the opportunity to hold some very strange creatures!). Later in the day we made a stop at Padang Padang Beach, the later to the monkey temple of Uluwata, where we saw a great Kecak performance right as the sun was setting just beyond the cliffs the temple is situated on.
We also had the opportunity to sample some of the many great restaurants in the Seminyak area, played lots of very competitive games of Rummy 500, and watched a few of the many bootleg movies that you can buy for less than $1/each. The villa we stayed at was wonderful, with an outdoor living area and kitchen, and a pool shared by the other two villas right next to us. I think we pretty much had the pool to ourselves any time we wanted to use it.
Unfortunately, my visit with mom was too short. They left around a week and a half later, and I stayed in the Seminyak area for another week after that. Luckily I had met some great friends - 4 girls from the states who I spent many a wild night out on the town with. Good times for sure, but I was certainly lonely when everybody had to leave. I stayed around until July 29th, then decided that I needed to do some scuba diving and headed out to Nusa Lembongan and Gili Trawangan, some beautiful islands located just to the east of Bali. More on this coming next...

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Wow... do I ever have some catching up to do on my posts. I haven't posted anything since Vietnam, and that was over 2 1/2 months ago!!!

Well, I finally left Vietnam around July 6 working my way to Indonesia by way of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I needed to get a 2 month visa for my stay in Indonesia because of visits with my mom and a friend from Canada who were both coming to Bali a little more than a month apart from each other. The only way to do this is to get your visa ahead of time from one of the consulates or embassies in one of the major cities in SE Asia. I initially tried to do this while I was in Ho Chi Minh city, but in order to do this I needed to have all my flight information on when I was arriving and departing, etc. At that point in my trip I knew none of this. By the time I knew exactly when I needed to be going to Indonesia to meet up with Mom, I was in the middle of Vietnam. China Beach, near Danang to be exact. And nowhere near and Indonesian Embassy. Hence the stopover in Kuala Lumpur. My flight from Danang was to Ho Chi Minh City, so it seems logical that I could've gotten the visa there, but at this point my visa for Vietnam was running out and I couldn't afford to spend the time there waiting for the application to be approved.
It all worked out perfectly in the end as Kuala Lumpur is a very easy city to get an Indonesian Visa (except of course if there are holidays, or an election going on - which was the case when I was there). All in all, I spent 5 days in KL arranging my visa - which I actually got in one day, once I had all the logistics worked out on my flight information.
Not much exciting to write about KL. Arrived in the city late at night - around 1am. So finding a place to stay at this hour wasn't easy. Just so happened that this Swedish couple, who also flew all the way to KL from Danang on the same flights as me, asked if I wanted to share a taxi into the city - 75 Km away. Good thing they asked or this would've been an expensive cab ride for me! Once in the city, we headed to China Town where all the budget places to stay are. We ended up at this funky (and I do mean Funky, in every sense of the word!) little guesthouse called "Le Village". They were full, but actually managed to accommodate us in this tiny little room with two beds and a mattress on the floor. We made do for the night, although it was quite strange sleeping in a room with two (almost) complete strangers walking around in their underwear! Quite funny looking back on it. They checked out the following day, and I decide to keep the funky room since I was only going to be staying a few more nights. Certainly not the nicest place I've stayed in, actually probably one of the worst. But anything else certainly would've been much more expensive. And I hate to pack up and relocate any more than is absolutely necessary.
So other than running around making arrangements for my visa, I did manage to take in a few sights. The Petronas Towers are quite amazing! Until recently they were the tallest buildings in the world. An equally impressive shopping mall is situated at the base for those who are looking to part with some cash. But the best views of the city actually is from the KL Tower, which appears taller than the Petronas Towers, but only because it is located on a hill. One of the other guests from my guest house took me to a chinese temple one day where I had a "numerology" reading. That was cool too. Otherwise I spent most of my time just wandering around Chinatown.

China Beach, Vietnam

China Beach, just outside of Danang, was my last stop my tour through Vietnam. One would think that 6 1/2 weeks would be enough to cover just about everything, but one thing I've learned about myself over the last few months is that I'm a slow traveler... when I find a place I like, I tend to stay longer than I initially intended. Unfortunately, that meant I had to cut some other things out of my trip through Vietnam. I skipped over the mountainous region of Dalat, only saw Danang for one night, and had to completely skip Hue and everything north of Danang. I've been to Vietnam once before on a previous trip to SE Asia, but during that trip I only visited Hanoi. I've yet to see Halong Bay and Sapa, or anything else other than Hanoi in N. Vietnam.... Oh well, ideas for another trip in the future I guess. Or maybe I'll pass back through that way somewhere later on in this trip. Who knows...
I chose to visit China Beach purely on the recommendation of two guys from Finland that I had met during the very beginning of my trip through Vietnam. I'd only been in Vietnam for a few days, staying on the island of Phu Quoc, and Pirkka and Tony insisted that China Beach was the best place they'd been so far in Vietnam. Considering they had traveled all the way down the coast (and I was just begining my trip going north), I found this to be both intriguing and disconcerting. First, I was intrigued by what they found so appealing about China Beach, and second, I was concerned that everything else in between would basically suck. Well, as I've said before in other posts... never believe everything that you hear or read, find out for yourself.
I stayed at a place recommended by Pirkka and Tony called Hoa's Place, and almost immediately realized why they enjoyed China Beach so much. Hoa's Place is the kind of place that makes you feel instantly at home. Before I even had a chance to take my bags to my room and get settled, a group of people staying there invited me to sit down and play cards with them and proceeded to teach me a game called "shithead". China beach itself is beautiful, but it was the camaraderie of the people staying at Hoa's that made the visit so special. Unfortunately I only had a couple of nights to spend here, but they were great nights and it was the people that made it so great. Everyone has dinner together at Hoa's, family style, and during the day people hang out and play cards, go to the beach, or go off and do their own thing. But whatever it was, something about the place just worked.
One night the whole group took a trip to Danang to play pool. Another time a group of us took a trip to the nearby Marble Mountains, which were absolute beautiful... One of the most amazing places I've seen in Vietnam. Unfortunately the pictures didn't turn out so well since we visited in the evening, trying to catch the sunset. The mountains are exactly what they sound like - mountains made completely of marble. One of which has many elaborate temples and caves carved right into the mountain itself. Quite amazing, but being dark and smokey (from the burning of incense inside the temples) made for not so good picture taking. The view from the top was quite spectacular. But again, being that it was dusk made it difficult to take a decent picture.
The following morning I finally had the chance to meet Hoa (he was away on business when I first arrived), and said my goodbye's to everyone else and left for the airport in Danang to fly back to Ho Chi Minh City where I would be catching an evening flight to Kuala Lumpur. Goodbye Vietnam...

Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An, my second to last stop on my tour through Vietnam, was quite a pleasant surprise after the torturous bus ride from Nha Trang. The bus ride was supposed to be about 11 hours so I decided that I would take an overnight sleeper bus so that I could sleep through most of the journey. I was to be picked up from my hotel to be taken to the bus at around 7pm, but once again nobody showed. This was the second time I hadn't been picked up from my hotel in Nha Trang, maybe because my hotel was in a somewhat obscure location, but I have a feeling its more likely just the way business is handled with tourism in Vietnam. Unfortunately the tourism industry is fairly new to Vietnam and the bugs haven't quite been worked out like they have in places like Thailand, where things run like a finely tuned BMW.
Anyway, back to the bus... Luckily I was able to contact the booking company and they immediately sent a motorbike to come get me. The bus was running late so I was still able to go. But as I got on the bus, I immediately had the feeling that maybe taking the bus wasn't such a good idea. I suggest to anyone who may be making the trip from Nha Trang to Hoi An or Hue to definitely take the train (or fly), you're body will thank you for it. The bus was completely packed, and the sleeper seats were so small that anyone over 5'8" almost wouldn't fit. The arrangements of the seats reminded me of fallen dominoes, all stacked on top of each other with your legs cramped underneath the seat in front of you. We finally got on our way, but less than an hour later the air-con on the bus stopped working. We stopped, there was some fiddling with the fuse box, fuses replaced, and we were quickly on our way... until about fifteen minutes later when it happened again, then again shortly after that. We finally pulled over at a rest stop and sat there for hours while we waited for somebody to come out and make the required repairs. We eventually got on our way, but that wasn't even the worst of it. The sleeper bus is supposed to have a toilet on board, which it did, to make the journey shorter as they wouldn't need to make as many stops, but it was pad-locked so that nobody could use it. Apparently to keep the smell down. So everybody was at the complete mercy of the drivers who would only stop when THEY needed to go, and this generally meant somewhere along the side of the road along the way. Not so bad for the guys, but I definitely felt sorry for the girls. All in all the journey took over 17 hours!
After the rough journey, I took my time trying to find a comfortable place to stay and found a nice little hotel in the center of Old Town Hoi An, balcony and swimming pool included. I relaxed for a while, grabbed a bite to eat, and spent the evening strolling the streets of Old Town amongst the glow of all the busy restaurants and cafes. Hoi An is also an excellent place to get affordable custom-made clothing. In this town of only 80,000 residents there are over 500 tailors!
Worth checking out in Hoi An is the Japanese Covered Bridge. The bridge has a temple built into one side of it, and a roof over it for shelter. It was constructed in 1593 and could use a fresh coat of paint once again. But according to legend, construction began on the year of the monkey and finished in the year of the dog, which would explain the monkeys guarding one side of the bridge and the other side by dogs... statues, not real ones of course.
Hoi An is situated on the Thu Bon River and is an excellent example of Vietnam's yester-year as it was left relatively untouched by the damage from the Vietnam war that took its toll on so much of the rest of the country. And although Hoi An is situated riverside, beautiful Cua Dai beach is only a short 5km ride away, and bikes are available everywhere for about $1/day.
Hoi An is a beautiful and charming town, and a must stop for any itinerary on a trip through Vietnam!

Kite-surfing in Mui Ne and Scuba Diving in Nha Trang

The last two weeks have been all about water-sports for me. Kite-surfing in Mui Ne, Vietnam and Scuba Diving in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
After leaving Ho Chi Minh City, my next stop was in Mui Ne, Vietnam, about a five hour bus ride away. I took a late afternoon bus out of HCM, so by the time I arrived in Mui Ne it was already late. It's not much fun searching around for the perfect place to stay in the middle of the night, so I just picked a place that sounded good from what I had read in Lonely Planet. It was a beautiful room with a balcony that hung over the water and I spent a good couple of hours just sitting out there listening to the waves crash upon the shore. Very peaceful. Mui Ne is a beatiful little beachtown, very well set up for tourism with accomodations ranging from budget to very high-end. I was there during the low-season so the place was somewhat quiet, but this just made the beautiful beaches all that more enjoyable. Mui Ne is also the premier water-sport destination in Vietnam with the weather and location making in ideal for wind sports such as kite-surfing and windsurfing.
The following morning I took a nice long walk for my never ending search for a good cup of coffee and came across a place called "Fly Kite-surfing school". I was intrigued. Kite-surfng is something that always appealed to me, so I thought I would stop in and take a look at what was going on. Wasn't much wind that morning so I wasn't able to watch anybody kite-surf, but Liz, one of the owners/instructors of "Fly" came over and started giving me the sales pitch. At this point I was only curious and had no real intentions of signing up for lessons right away, so I told her I would think it over and get back to her. I continued on my walk thinking about how cool it would be to learn how to kite-surf and within 20 minutes had convinced myself that if I didn't do it now, then when? I turned around and went back to Fly and signed up. Liz told me to come back in about an hour as there was somebody else who was thinking about taking lessons as well and it would be nice to get us started at the same time. She also told me where I could get a good cup of coffee - about a half kilo. up the road at a place called Joe's Art Cafe. Great coffee and a very friendly staff with whom I became good friends with over the following week and a half.
I returned an hour later for my first lesson. I had signed up for a 5 hour package and the first hour was spent just on learning about wind conditions, kite set up, and self-rescue. No actual water time involved at this point. The following day, when the wind was cooperating, we practiced flying the kites on the beach, then later took them out into the water to "body-drag", which is basically flying the kite while in the water, tacking back and forth while the kite drags you through it. It was quite fun actually, but at this point I had realized that kite-surfing wasn't something I was going to master in just a five hour course. This was going to take some practice!
I spent the next week hoping the wind and weather would cooperate so that I could continue my lessons, but after being in Mui Ne for about ten days I realized that I could spend the next month waiting for that to happen. My visa was about to expire in a few days and I still had places I wanted to visit. It was time to move on. I did manage to complete 4 of the 5 hours I signed up for and got a real good taste for what kite-surfing is all about. Definitely something I will continue to persue.
Mui Ne was great. The place is beautiful, but often times its the people you meet along the way that make a place what it is. Bruce, the fellow Canadian taking lessons with me; Jeff and Liz our instructors who told us about the poker tournaments we played in and later took our money; Twee and John, the owners of Vietnam-Austria House (a place I moved to later to be closer to where I was taking lessons) with whom I had dinner and beers with on many nights; and Nhieu from the coffee shop, who also worked at the restaurant next door from me where we played many a game of pool. All these people helped make my stay in Mui Ne just that much better! I will be back to visit you all one day.

Nha Trang was nice too. Also a beach town, but more of a city-like atmosphere and all the tourists to go with it. The beach was ok, but the sand is very coarse and there is the constant flow of people trying to sell you books, fruit, gum, cotton-swabs, or whatever. I quickly learned that the best way to enjoy the beach in Nha Trang was to dish out a little cash for one of the comfy lounge cairs offered by the many bar/huts along the beach. The hawkers aren't allowed to bother the customers there so it makes hanging out at the beach much more peaceful.
After a couple of days lounging on the beach, I decided I would do some diving. I had heard that Nha Trang has some of the best diving in all of Vietnam so I wanted to check it out. I went to Amigos Divers and signed up for a dive trip the next day. They were to pick me up at my hotel the following morning at 7:15 am, but by 8 am nobody had showed up. Turns out they couldn't find my hotel (to their credit, it was a little hard to find), so I re-scheduled for the following day. The diving that day was quite nice, so I decided to stay another day and go out diving again. I convinced the owner to let me go the second day for half-price. The second day there were only two of us diving (a russian guy that was with us the day before), so we went out to a more remote dive site. Day two turned out to be even better than the first - definitely worth hanging around for. And certainly cant beat the price - two days of diving for only $60.
After diving I hung out on the beach for a bit, then went back to my hotel to pack up. I had booked an overnight sleeper bus for the trip to Hoi An and it was time to go. The bus trip turned out to be a nightmare... more on that later.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

I recently spent a week or so in Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City as it is now known. HCM City is a sprawling city with somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 million residents (and about 3.5 million motorbikes!). I stayed in an area called Pham Ngu Lao, the heart of the backpacker ghetto, full of other travelers on their way to wherever, and bustling with action and energy. A week is not nearly enough to see everything of course, and my walks around the city were concentrated mostly on Districts 1 and 10 (out of 22). Some of the sights I saw included a very somber visit to the War Remnants Museum, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Xa Loi Pagoda, the Jade Emperor Pagoda, a local art gallery, and many of the beautiful parks spread throughout the city. I also took a tour outside of HCM for a visit to the Cao Dai Temples. There are an estimated two to three million followers of Cao Daism worldwide, although the majority are in Vietnam. Cao Daism is an interesting fusion of East and West, born in 20th century Vietnam (around 1926), and incorporates elements of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, native Vietnamese spiritualism, Islam, and even Christianity. It even includes the use of Mediums, or seances, to communicate with the spiritual world. I was very intrigued when I first read about this unique religion and found the temples themselves to be absolutely fascinating and very beautiful.
This trip to the Cao Dai Temples was also part of a tour to the Cu Chi region to see the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels became legendary during the 1960's for its role in giving the Viet Cong control of a large rural area about 40 km outside of HCMC. At its peak, the tunnels stretched all the way from the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, to the Cambodian border and in the Cu Chi district alone there were more than 250km of tunnels. The tunnel network, some of which was barely enough to crawl through, while other parts were several stories deep, contained living quarters and kitchens, storage facilities, weapons factories, hospitals and command centers. The tunnels made possible communication and coordination between areas controlled by the Viet Cong, which were often separated from each other by South Vietnamese and American air and land operations. They also provided a means for the VC to launch surprise attacks, often within the perimeters of US military controlled areas, and were responsible for a very large number of US casualties. The tour itself was quite interesting and provided the opportunity to crawl through some of the tunnels and even shoot various weapons used in the war. I opted to try shooting an M-60, a machine gun capable of shooting 850 rounds in a single trigger pull.
Overall I found HCMC to be a fascinating city and look forward to a time in the future when I will be able to explore it some more...

A homestay in the Mekong Delta - Vinh Long, An Binh Island

After leaving Can Tho and prior to coming to Ho Chi Minh City, I decided to spend one more night in the Mekong Delta region and do a homestay on the island of An Binh, just outside of Vinh Long. Getting there was half the adventure as I decided to go by motorbike. I was riding on back of the bike with my small backpack while my driver, a very fit 62 year old vietnamese man, held my very large backpack in front of him between the handle bars. The ride to Vinh Long and An Binh would normaly only be about 30km, but we took the small side roads in order to do some sight seeing along the way, adding an additional 30km to the trip. The ride took us through endless rice paddies and fruit orchards and along the way we stopped at some factories that produce some of the local products of the region. This included a stop at a factory where they make joss sticks (incence), used when making offerings at the temples, a stop at a tofu making facility, and a stop at a local brick manufacturer. We also stopped at a couple of temples along the way, a buddhist temple and a Cao Dai temple. The journey also included two short ferry rides to finally bring me to An Binh island.
An Binh is primarily used for agriculture and there are many fruit orchards on the island. I was brought to my homestay and thanked my driver for the very informative journey as I said goodbye and parted ways. The "master" of the homestay then showed my to my bungalow - a little bamboo hut over a canal where I could hear the fish jumping underneath. I spent the hottest part of the afternoon lounging in a hammock and reading a book. Later on, just before dinner and after it had cooled off a bit, I took a short ride on a bicycle around the area and picked some fresh fruit. I returned a short while later, showered, and sat down to a feast of a meal prepared by my hosts. It consisted of elephant fish spring rolls, grilled pork with steamed rice, soup, fresh vegetables, and fresh dragonfruit for desert.
I retired early that night since theres not much to do on the island after dark and my hosts had shut the power off around 9:30 pm. I slept very well. The next morning, I woke fairly early and looked out the back opening of my bungalow - only to notice a tomb not more than 10 feet behind where I was sleeping!!! Good thing I didn't notice this the day before or I might not have slept so well. It kind of creeped me out, but this is actually very common in Vietnam. Family members are often buried on their property and many times you will see caskets right in the middle of a rice paddy. Certainly underscores the importance rice plays in the daily lives of the people of the Mekong region.
Shortyly after I ate breakfast - another wonderful meal prepared by my hosts, and we departed via motorbike back to Vinh Long where I caught a bus to Ho Chi Minh City. All in all it was a very memorable experience, and one i would recommend to anyone who has the opportunity to visit the Mekong Delta region.

The Mekong Delta, Can Tho, Vietnam

Just a quick post today. Been hanging around Can Tho, Vietnam for the last couple of days. Spent most of yesterday trying to fix my camera after the humidity in Phu Quoc did a number on it. Haven't been able to take pictures because the lens was all fogged up. It's dried up and seems to be better, but you will notice the pictures have a slight haze to them still. Spent the rest of the day walking around the town. I was surprised at the size of this city, apparently Can Tho is the largest city in the Mekong Delta. Although, besides the waterfront there's not a whole lot to see.
Today was spent on a boat tour of the Mekong Delta region, the Can Tho River in particular. We started out early, 5:30 am, which provided a nice view of the sunrise in the background as we began our trip. We started off with a visit to a couple of the floating markets. First the Cai Rang floating market, then later the Phong Dien Floating market. These "markets" are a sort of organized caos of boats loaded with fresh produce, all bumping in to one another. Had the opportunity to sample some of the delicious local fruits: pinapples, pomellos, mangosteens, rambutan, and dragon fruit amogst others. We continued down the Can Tho river for about 25km, and later turned off into some of the side canals, with a visit to a local fruit orchard that had hundreds of pink ducks. I was amazed to see pink ducks! Who ever heard of a pink duck? Further inspection around the area showed signs of pink on the bushes and ground. Then I noticed the hands of one of the children at the orchard and saw that they were pink as well. They dyed their ducks! Why, I have no idea. Very strange. After a short walk through the orchard, we continued through the canals working our way back, stopping for a delicious lunch later along the canal. We stopped just in time as a major rain storm passed through, but by the time we finished it had passed. The one nice thing about the rain is that it cools the temperature down considerably and made for a very pleasant and comfortable journey back. All in all the trip was about 8 hours and gave some excellent insight to life in the Mekong Delta.
Will probably spend another day here since I'm not sure where I should go next. Maybe a homestay at another location in the delta, most likely Vinh Long, or whether I should head straight to Ho Chi Minh city. Decisions, decisions...

Crossing the Cambodian/Vietnam border, Hon Chong and the island of Phu Quoc…

A week or so ago I left Sihanoukville, Cambodia for the Vietnam island of Phu Quoc. What I thought would be a fairly straight forward, half day journey, turned out to be much more. The morning of May 27, the day my Cambodian visa expired, I was to take a hired mini-van straight to the border of Vietnam near the town of Ha Tien. After crossing the border, I would be taking a moto to the town’s ferry terminal where I would then catch a boat across to Phu Quoc. Sounded easy enough and I was looking forward to the trip. I was picked up around 8am and there were only a handful of other passengers on the mini-van. We drove for a couple of hours and soon arrived in Kampot, Cambodia. All the other passengers on the mini-van got off here and it looked as if I would be the only one making the trek all the way to the border. Upon realizing this, the driver of the van started making all kinds of excuses about having problems with the van and that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the border. I knew this was B.S. and he was just making excuses so that he wouldn’t have to take only one person the rest of the way to the border. He told me he would hire a moto to take me the rest of the way. I was livid. We were only about half way there at this point, and I had paid a considerable amount to be taken all the way to the border in that van and wasn’t about to spend the next several hours on the back of a motorbike, with a huge backpack, and in the rain, the rest of the way to the border. I tried to explain this to the driver and refused his offer. After some back and forth discussion, I compromised with him and agreed that I would take a tuk-tuk the rest of the way – at his expense of course. At least I could sit in the covered carriage and be reasonably comfortable and dry. My journey continued. The closer we got to the border, the worse the conditions of the road were. Soon we were driving on narrow dirt roads, filled with potholes and I began to wonder if I was even being taken to the border at all. We came to a small intersection with another small dirt road where an awaiting moto (motorbike) was sitting. My tuk-tuk driver explained to me that he could go no further due to the conditions of the road, and that his friend would then take me the remaining 10km to the border. At this point I really had no choice but to get on the motorbike as the road really were bad. The 10km turned out to be more like 30km, but soon I was at the Cambodia/Vietnam border. I was then transferred to yet another moto driver as the moto drivers do not cross borders. I knew that this border crossing does not issue visas, but I had arranged my visa while in Sihanoukville so I didn’t expect any problems. There were none, other than the 1 hour wait for an officer to come back from lunch or whatever and actually check and stamp my visa. This border crossing is tiny! Nothing more than a dirt road with a gate, a couple of small buildings, and some heavily armed officers.
Finally I was in Vietnam! I told my new moto driver that I needed to get to the ferry terminal in Ha Tien so I could catch an afternoon boat over to Phu Quoc. To my dismay, I was informed that there were no afternoon boats (contrary to what I was told when planning this trip), and that the only boats leaving in the afternoon left from the town of Hon Chong, another 45km away. Not really wanting to have to spend the night in Ha Tien, I opted to take the moto all the way to Hon Chong. It was still raining, and it would be a long ride, but at least I would be on Phu Quoc by early evening as there was a boat scheduled to leave Hon Chong at 2:30. We should just make it, so I pressed on. The driver provided a pullover type rain jackets for himself and I, so at least I was reasonably dry. I arrived at the ferry terminal in Hon Chong with about half hour to spare, only to find out that there were no more boats for the day and the next one wasn’t until 10:30 the following morning. Its slow season now and apparently the boat schedules had cut back. I was stuck. I was going to be spending the night in Hon Chong. I had my driver take me to a guesthouse. It was cheap, but somewhat dirty. Frustrated and too tired to care, I checked in and took a nap. Woke up a few hours later, went for a walk around town to find some dinner (unsuccessfully), but I did come across a beautiful pagoda built into a mountain at the edge of the sea. I took some photos and returned to my guesthouse. They fixed me a plate of really bad fried rice. I ate it and retired to my room for the evening where I watched TV. I had 5 channels, 4 of which were showing the same thing. I watched the news, pretending like I understood Vietnamese, and drifted off to sleep.
Well rested, I awoke early the following morning, anxious to get to the ferry terminal and secure my seat on the boat just in case it was to sell out. The guesthouse owner was kind enough to take me to the ferry terminal. I arrived an hour early and bought my ticket. Three Indonesian seamen, excited to see a westerner, invited me to sit with them while I waited. I had some coffee and we engaged in some funny conversation. This was nice and my mood had definitely improved from the day before. Soon it was time to go and I walked the short distance to the dock, where I was surprised to see that the boat we would be taking was a hydrofoil. This boat moved! The inside cabin was very similar to being on an airplane – seats, sounds, and all. 1 hour later (29 hours after I initially left Cambodia), I was at my destination. What an ordeal, but things like this are to be expected when traveling in this part of the world
As I mentioned, it’s now slow season in this part of S.E. Asia. I hired a taxi to take me to Long Beach where I wanted to stay. He was very insistent on taking me to a particular set of bungalows on the beach, telling me that it was the best deal for a bungalow that would be right on the beach. Knowing that there was probably a commission involved for him, I agreed to see the place he suggested but wanted to check out a couple of others as well. “No problem”, he said. I checked out the others, which were completely deserted, and ended up going with his recommendation. I was quite happy I did. This place, called Nhat Lan, seemed to be the only place that had anyone staying at it and I met a handful of other really cool travelers. The island is really nice, with beautiful beaches, and at least I would have some good company while I stayed here.
Spent the first two days just relaxing on the beach and catching up on some reading. Went on a snorkeling trip another day to some neighboring islands and another beautiful beach, Bai Sao, with pristine waters and sand the consistency of talcum powder. A huge seafood lunch was prepared consisting of crab, octopus, fish, sea urchin, snails, squid, some sort of soup, and fresh fruit. Very nice! One night we celebrated the birthday of another traveler, Pierka from Finland, and pretty much everyone staying at the bungalows came out to celebrate. Another day was spent getting lost on motorbikes while touring the island with a couple of people from Australia, Emma and Ryan from Tazmania. That was an exhausting but fun adventure, but it was very late and dark by the time we found our way back. The next day was spent chillin’ on the beach again and more reading. Last night a huge storm blew through and it is still raining today. Perfect for catching up on this computer stuff.
Phu Quoc is a beautiful island and I’ve met some really great people while here. I’ll probably spend another day here, then head back to the mainland and tour the Mekong Delta a bit before making my way to Ho Chi Minh City. More adventures to come…

Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Tonight is my last night in Cambodia. It's 12:30 am and I just finished packing my backpack, only to realize that half of my clothes are still at the place I dropped them off to have laundered. Hopefully they open early, I'm leaving at 8am. I stayed here in the port/beach town of Sihanoukville for a nice, relaxing and lazy eight days. Not a lot of sightseeing, partly because its been raining almost everyday (mixed in with blistering sunshine), but mostly because there's not a lot to see. Spent some of my time at the beach, Sihanoukville has several decent ones, and most of it by the swimming pool that is just steps from my room. I also spent a few days riding around on motorbikes checking out the area. There's a small mountain in Sihanoukville, at the top of which sits a beautiful temple, Wat Leu. The temple has a nicely landscaped garden with several interesting sculptures, as well as sweeping views of the Sihanoukville peninsula. I visited a beautiful waterfall, Kbal Chhay, about 15 km outside of town. On the way back, I stopped for lunch at an interesting place, the Snake House and Crocodile farm, where a live crocodile sat about 8 feet away from me watching me eat my lunch. They had dozens of displays of live snakes from all over the world as well.
I have my visa for Vietnam in hand, and tomorrow morning I leave for the island of Phu Quoc. Should be an interesting travel day as there's no real direct way to get there from here and I will have to wing it from the Cambodia/Vietnam border. Once I cross the border, I will be taking a boat from the town of Ha Tien. Hopefully there are several trips a day or I may have to spend the night and catch one in the morning.

The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Today I took the opportunity to visit two sites of great importance to Cambodia's grim and brutal history, the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.
Tuol Sleng, formerly know as security office 21, or S-21, was created under the orders of Pol Pot and designed for the detention, interrogation, inhumane torture, and killing after confessions of the detainees were received and documented. S-21, formerly Toul Svay Prey high school in which the classrooms were turned into small cells, was created on April 17, 1975 after the forced evacuation of the entire city of Phnom Penh - at this time a population of about 3 million. Between 1975 and 1978, more than 17,000 people were imprisoned, tortured, and later taken to the killing fields of Choeung Ek. The Khmer Rouge leaders kept meticulous records and each prisoner was photographed. These photographs are displayed in room after room of the prisons walls, and serve as a very important reminder of the atrocities faced by the people of Kampuchea.
As I arrived at Choeung Ek, an ominous thunderstorm loomed in the distance providing an erie backdrop to the already somber experience of walking amongst 86 communal mass graves, now large pits in the ground. 43 others remain untouched. It was strangely peaceful walking around the well kept grounds and hard to imagine that such horrors took place at this very spot. Although, it was a bit discomforting knowing that the remains of thousands of victims still lie in the pits I was walking among, as only the skulls were removed when the mass graves were exhumed in 1980. These skulls, more than 8,000 of them, are on display behind the glass enclosure inside the Memorial Stupa, built in 1988. Many of these skulls belong to the faces in the pictures on display in the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

The Royal Palace and National Museum of Cambodia

Today was my first full day in Phnom Penh, a nice change after Battambang. Being the capital of Cambodia, it's considerably larger and much more lively. The hotel that I'm staying at, Her Royal Highness (yes, that's the name), is only a couple of blocks away from the Tonle Sap river and also the Royal Palace and the National Museum of Cambodia. Since I was so close, I decided to make these my first visits during my stay in Phnom Penh.
My first visit was to the National Museum. The museum consists of four pavilions surrounding a gorgeous courtyard and houses the finest collection of Khmer sculptures anywhere. Some dating to as early as the 4th century. There is also a permanent collection of post-Angkorian Buddhas, most of which were rescued from Angkor Wat when civil war broke out. Unfortunately most of the collection is off limits to cameras, but the pavilion and courtyard were definitely worth a few snapshots.
My next visit was to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, located right next door to the National Museum. Its massive compound is located along the riverfront, hidden behind a huge protective wall. Being the official residence of King Shamoni (it was his birthday the day I visited), most of the compound is off limits to the public. Visitors are only allowed to visit the palace's Silver Pagoda and its surrounding buildings, and picture taking was not allowed here either. Probably for good reason. The Silver Pagoda is named in honor of the floor - covered in over 5,000 tiles made of pure silver, each weighing in at about 1kg or about 5 tonnes total! Inside you will find the Emerald Buddha, believed to be made from Baccarrat crystal, as well as a life-size gold Buddha decorated with 9584 diamonds - the largest being about 25 carats. Although more than half of the pagoda's contents were destroyed under Pol Pot's regime, the Silver Pagoda was preserved by the Khmer Rouge to "demonstrate its concern for the conservation of Cambodia's cultural riches". How thoughtful of them...

In and around Battambang, Cambodia

Left Siem Reap Friday morning for the boat trip to Battambang. I was picked up at my hotel around 6:20am and we arrived at the ferry terminal near the floating village of Chong Kneas on the Tonle Sap Lake, about 11 km away, just in time for our 7am departure. As I mentioned in a previous post, I had reservations about taking this trip, and upon seeing the boat that we were about to be making this journey on, my fears certainly were not alleviated. The trip could take anywhere from 5-10 hours, depending on the water levels, and there were about 10 more people than this boat could comfortably hold. After piling all the luggage on the roof of the boat, 25 people somehow managed to squeeze on to one of the two benches on either side of the boat. Once we started moving, the boat was so loaded down that the wake from the front of the boat was almost coming over the side. Very unsafe. But this is Cambodia, if they can make it work, they will.

The trip took about 8 hours, but after 20 minutes I abandoned my seat on the crowded bench and went on top of the boat with the luggage, dried fish, and who knows what else. Much better as far as comfort and room went, but now I was sitting directly in the sun. Good thing I have a decent tan already, this could be a long journey. I put on some sunscreen anyway and got comfortable. The journey certainly was scenic - crossing the expanse of the Tonle Sap Lake, passing through protected wetlands and floating villages, and following narrow waterways, and brushing past overhanging trees. Every few minutes I would have to wave back at one of the many children seen along the way swimming who were always so excited, yelling "helloooo" to the foreigners. About halfway along we stopped briefly at a floating village for a lunch and toilet break. Some people ate the dish that was on offer, I opted to stick with the baguette and bananas I bought from a child at the boat dock before we left. The "toilet" was interesting. As I walked around to the back of the dock to this outhouse looking building, I enter to see nothing but a hole cut out in the boards of the dock with a bunch of fish swimming around below, eagerly awaiting for whatever it was I was about to deposit. Too bad for them I only had to pee.
We soon were on our way again. I got caught in the rain briefly, but 20 minutes later the sun was blazing and dried me right out. Several more hours later we arrived at the "ferry terminal" in Battambang, which was nothing more than a set of metal stairs on the hill of the riverbank. The awaiting tuk-tuk and moto drivers were all there, competing for your business and offering free rides to whatever hotel it was that is paying their commission. To tired after the long ride to be walking around for the perfect place to stay, I chose a driver for a hotel that sounded decent from what I had read in my (somewhat) trusty Lonely Planet Cambodia guidebook. It was just so-so. Stayed there for two nights and moved to the Seung Hout Hotel, which I found while just roaming around one day. It was much nicer. Newer and cleaner and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Not to mention it was cheaper, and they had the best view around from their rooftop chill area - a completely unobstructed 360 degree view of all of Battambang and the surrounding areas. Great for watching the lightening and storms that came through.

Overall, there's not a lot to do in Battambang. The selection of restaurants or bars is extremely limited, and a nightlife of any kind here is almost non existent. Very unlike Siem Reap, which of course is a direct reflection on the amount of tourists the two areas see. I would have to say one of the highlights of my visit to Battambang was the boat trip itself. Although, I did spend three of my days there riding around the countryside on a motorbike. The countryside can be absolutely stunning at times, but this also provided me with the opportunity to visit some very amazing sites outside of Battambang as well. One of them, Phnom Banon, resembles Angkor Wat to some extent, but sits at the top of a large hill (Phnom means mountain in Khmer). There are stone and cement stairs all the way to the top. 358 to be exact. A bit of a climb, but the views from the top are great and the temple itself is very beautiful. At the top, I had a handful of little Cambodian children following me as I looked around. They were there with their families and were very sweet, and I was thankful they weren't bugging me to buy something or asking for money. They had these little woven reed fans and seeing that I was very hot, they followed me around fanning me trying to keep me cool.

Another place I visited was the Killing Caves at Phnom Sampeau. At the summit of Phnom Sampeau are several temples - some of which are fairly new, being built with donations from Khmer who live and work overseas. Unlike Phnom Banan, I was able to ride my motorbike to the summit. However, there are a series of stairs/steps and trails that allow you to be able to climb to the top if you are feeling energetic. The summit provides more spectacular views of the countryside. Most interesting though are the Killing Caves, found about 300 meters off the access road, halfway to the top. A staircase descends down into a cavern with an opening at the top, kind of like a skylight. At the bottom of the cavern you find a golden reclining Buddha sitting blissfully next to a glass walled memorial filled with the bones found here of the victims of the Khmer Rouge. Many of the victims were bludgeoned to death before being throw into the cavern via the overhead "skylight". I took a few photos, nothing around saying I shouldn't, but I still didn't feel right about it. A monk nearby handed me some burning incense, so I placed them in the urn and said a prayer for the victims of this terrible tragedy.

The Cities and Temples of Ancient Angkor (part 3)

Today is my last day here in Siem Reap. I just made my travel arrangements for tomorrow's trip from Siem Reap to Battambang by speedboat. I was a little apprehensive about these travel arrangements as I've heard that the boats are prone to breakdowns and that during the dry season (which were just now coming out of), the trip can take up to twice as long because of low water levels. I've also learned on this trip not to believe everything you hear or read, and that it's always best to find out for yourself, so I booked it anyway. Besides, the trip to Battambang is "arguably the most scenic in all of Cambodia". We'll see. I'll let you know in a couple of days. Back to the temples...

Day 3 - Banteay Kdei, Banteay Srei, Kbal Spean, and Pre Rup (click for pictures)
For my third and finally day of visiting the temples, I decided not to torture myself again by mountain biking out to the temples and opted for my original mode of transportation - the Tuk Tuk. This also provided me with the opportunity to visit a couple of the more remote temples, Banteay Srei and Kbal Spean, located about 40 and 50 km respectively outside of Siem Reap. My tuk-tuk driver picked me up around 11am, and we head out. Along the way we passed by Banteay Kdei so I decided to stop for a quick look. The temple, being Buddhist, is similar in appearance to the Bayon, with face-towers at its entrances. Its ruined state appears much as discovered, giving it the same mystical feeling as that of Ta Prohm. Although being much smaller in size, making it for an easy visit.
After leaving Banteay Kdei we continued the ride on to Banteay Srei, still about another 25 km away. This gave me the opportunity to take some good photos of the countryside while wizzing by on a tuk-tuk. Banteay Srei wasn't even discovered until 1914 and while not a royal temple, is still a temple of remarkable beauty. It was built by one of Rajendravarmans's counsellors, who had been granted this land by the king. I was surprised at how small this temple is compared with the other I'd seen so far, but what it lacks in size is more than made up for in its beauty. Nearly every surface of this temple is completely decorated in intricate carvings.
Next, we continued on for another 12 km or so until we reached Kbal Spean. Kbal Spean actually isn't a temple, but a series of rock-cut sculptures in which all three gods of the Hindu trinity are represented. Some washed by rapids, others submerged in natural pools along the river, and still others cut into the rock faces above the water line, covering a stretch of about 150 meters between a natural stone bridge and a waterfall. Reaching this place requires hiking/climbing about 1.5 km up a steep hillside and makes the waterfall a nice refreshing reward for your efforts.
Along the way back to Siem Reap I took more photos of the country side and stopped at one last temple, Pre Rup, to catch the sunset. This was a quick visit though, as I arrived just in time to climb to the upper terrace of this temple-mountain to catch the sun dipping below the horizon. This marked the closing of the temple, and the end of my whirlwind three-day visit to the Cities and Temples of Ancient Angkor.

The Cities and Temples of Ancient Angkor (part 2)

Ok, my last post was getting a little long and I needed a break, so I took a mt. bike ride and went and had a late lunch. Back to the temples...

Day 2 - Ta Prohm (click for pictures)
Feeling inspired by my first days visit to Angkor, I decide that for my second day I would rent a mt. bike and ride out to the temples on my own. Initially I planned to ride out there early enough so that I would be able to catch another sunrise, this time from another temple's perspective. But after that first full day of exploring the temples in the hot Cambodian sun, my legs were tired and I just couldn't see getting up at 4 am again. Lucky for me it was raining that morning, so I decided I would ride down in the early afternoon and stay through sunset instead. Back to sleep I went.
I awoke several hours later and prepared for my ride out to the temples. My intentions were to visit the temple of Ta Prohm and maybe a few of the other nearby minor temples, then try to catch the sunset at the Bayon. The weather that day, however, couldn't make up its mind and just as I was heading out of Siem Reap it started to downpour. I stopped and waited it out at a restaurant, and soon it was sunny again. Although now the roads were a soupy mess and the humidity just increased dramatically. One thing about Siem Reap - it's either dusty or muddy, depending on whether its sunny or rainy. I continued my ride, but by the time I reached the outskirts of Angkor I seriously considered abandoning the ride all together and turning around. The tank... I mean bike, I was riding weighed a ton, gears didn't shift properly, had a broken pedal, and I was drenched in sweat. Not sure what made me think that riding 20+ km's in mid-day sun of 35 degree (celcius) weather was a good idea. Anyway, I pressed on, but abandoned any thoughts of visiting any temples other than Ta Prohm that day. Eventually, I arrived at Ta Prohm, tired and sweaty, and just in time for another downpour. I waited this one out at one of the many vendor stalls that are outside all of the major temples, bought a large bottle of water, and sat down to cool off. Spent the next hour waiting for the rain to stop and being accosted relentlessly by little children trying to sell me everything from bracelets and wooden flutes, to tee-shirts, post cards and books about the temples. The children are amusing though, once you get past the constant harassment for your dollar, and will amaze you with their knowledge of the country you come from.
Finally, the rain stopped and I was able to visit the temple I most looked forward to. There's something very magical and mystical about Ta Prohm. The Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient (French School of the Far East), who's efforts are largely responsible for Angkor being visitable today, chose this temple to be left in its "natural state" as an example of how most of Angkor looked on its discovery in the 19th century. This involved a huge amount of work, to prevent further collapse, and enough clearing of vegetation to allow access. Ta Prohm has been maintained in this condition of apparent neglect ever since.
The trees, growing intertwined among the ruins, are largely responsible for the mystical atmosphere of Ta Prohm. These trees, the larger silk-cotton tree and the smaller strangler-fig, initially take hold in a crevice somewhere in the superstructure of the temple, usually where a bird has deposited a seed, then extends roots downwards towards the earth. In the process, the roots work their way between the masonry and stone, eventually growing thicker and gradually wedging open the blocks of stone. Over time, the tree becomes a support structure for the temple , but when it dies, or is felled by a storm, the loosened stones collapse as well. Sadly, these trees - now the support structures for large portions of the temples, will eventually become the cause for their destruction.
I spent the rest of the afternoon, up until around sunset, at Ta Prohm, then proceeded with the long ride back to Siem Reap. The weather that day made the chances of a decent sunset next to zero, but at this point I didn't care. Exhausted and over-heated, I was just glad to have made it back.

The Cities and Temples of Ancient Angkor

After a few days spent around Siem Reap, I was feeling ambitious and decided it was time to visit the temples. Rather than giving long, detailed accounts of the history and backgrounds to all the temples, I will leave it to you to do a web search for any additional information you may want to know. Here is a brief synopsis of the temples I visited with links to pictures:

Day 1
For my first visit to the temples of Angkor, I opted to hire a tuk-tuk driver to take me to the temples. The temples are about 10 km outside of Siem Reap and this seemed to be the best option as I wanted to arrive in the early dawn hours so I would be able to catch the sunrise over Ankor Wat. My driver picked me up at my hotel at 5am and we headed out. Upon the approach to the Angkor Archaeological Site, you are required to purchase a visitor pass for access to the temples. The passes cost $20/40/60 for a 1/3/7 day pass. It's not possible to see everything in 1 day, but 7 days seemed a little much, so I opted for the 3 day pass. There is no way around purchasing a pass either - all roads leading into Angkor are guarded and all the major temples have security that check tickets upon entering. The area itself is so vast and surrounded by dense patches of jungle that it's not possible to get close enough for a quick peek. And getting caught in the area without a ticket will incur a hefty fine. Since I decide to get only a 3 day pass I knew there wouldn't be time to see everything and decided to focus each day on some of the "heavy hitters" that I knew I wouldn't want to miss.

Angkor Wat (click for pictures)
The first temple I decided to visit. I arrived early enough that all I could see of Angkor was a dark silhouette of the temple against the purple/blue background of the pre-dawn sky. This in itself was pretty amazing, but as the sun slowly started to reveal itself in the horizon behind Angkor, so did the amazing detail and grandness of the temple itself. Angkor Wat, not only the largest and most important temple in all of Angkor, was also a city. Built in the first half of the 12th century under the reign of Suryavarman II, both as the capital and the State Temple dedicated to Vishnu, the Protector, the God who preserves universal order and fights to restore harmony in the Hindu Trinity. While it is frequently (and mistakenly) said that Angkor was "discovered by the Europeans", the Khmers themselves never forgot the existence of their treasures. And while the majority of their temples were overtaken by the jungles and fell to neglect, the temple of Angkor Wat itself always remained occupied and a place of worship.

Angkor Thom: The Bayon and Royal Palace group (click for pictures)
It's impossible to absorb everything you are seeing in one visit to Angkor, and subsequent visits I'm sure would reveal much more of the details and intricacies that the temple has to offer. But after several hours of exploring Angkor, I decided I should move on and come back to Angkor Wat later if time allowed. Besides, I was getting quite hungry and needed a cup of coffee so I stopped at one of the many food vendors outside the temple and had a terrible omelet and an even worse cup of coffee. After breakfast, I met up with my driver and we proceeded to the South gate of Angkor Thom, one of the largest of all Khmer cities. This is the first point of entry to the city from the road from Angkor Wat and Siem Reap. There are 5 gates that enter the city, but the S gate has been the most extensively restored and the most complete as most of the heads from the statues at the other gates have been stolen.
Upon entering the south gate you will approach the Bayon. The Bayon, widely recognized by its numerous carved faces, is one of the most enigmatic and powerful religious structures in the world. The temple is extremely complex, both in its structure and in its religious symbolism, having passed through different religious phases from Pantheon of the Gods, Hindu worship and Buddhism. Angkor Thom itself was so well fortified that subsequent kings found it easier to just re-model the Bayon rather than remove it and build their own State Temple - resulting in several architectural changes over the centuries that have contributed to this complexity.
After a couple of hours exploring the Bayon I moved on to the Royal Palace. The site where Suryavarman I built his royal palace continued in use through from the 11th to the end of the 16th centuries, and like many structures in Angkor, also underwent many restorations and transformations during this period. Recent excavations however, have revealed remains that date back even before this time.
A quick visit to a couple of nearby minor temples, Thommanon and Chao Say Tevoda (click for pictures), afterwards left me quite exhausted. This, in addition to a dead battery in my camera, prompted me to call it an afternoon. I decided to go back to the hotel and charge the battery for my camera, rest a bit, then come back in the evening for the Night Festival at Angkor Wat. This allowed me the opportunity to see some of the performances by the Apsara dancers and Angkor Warriors, as well as see Angkor one more time - this time lit up in all its glory at night.

Siem Reap, Cambodia...

A little over a week ago I left Ko Chang for Siem Reap, Cambodia. The journey was long, about 10 hours, and except for a few attempted scams upon crossing the border, was fairly uneventful. I was picked up from my bungalow at 7am and after picking up a mini-van full of other passengers we headed for the ferry terminal on Ko Chang. It was a somewhat somber ride as I watched Ko Chang get smaller and smaller as the ferry terminal pulled away and headed for Trat. We arrived at the Aranya Prather/Poipet border crossing a several hours later. However, right prior to reaching the border, our driver stops at a restaurant (like they do every hour or so along the way because they get commissions) where a lady insists that we must get our visas there before crossing the border. I knew this wasn't true, so I informed everyone that we can get our visas at the border for about half of what she was trying to charge us. We told our driver that we'd take our chances and get our visas at the border. The lady wasn't happy, and I'm sure he wasn't either - no doubt he was getting a commission from that as well. We leave and a little while later pull into the Cambodian Embassy just down the road from the border and go in to get our visas. Even here we were charged about 300 baht more than we would've paid at the border, but were told that it was a fee for "express service" and that we could do it at the border if we choose but it may take several hours as the people at the border have to come back here to get the visas anyway and sometimes wait until there are several to get. Whatever, we paid the extra amount and got on with it. Sometimes the hassle isn't worth the couple of extra dollars. Finally, our driver drives us to the border, at which time our he hands us over to his Cambodian counterpart who proceeds to lead us through the border crossing. Upon departing Thailand, I paid my 500 baht fine for overstaying my visa for one day, which I expected, but cringed when I had to sign a form with a statement stating that I "have resolved this matter with Thailand police". We cross in to Cambodia without incident, and our new driver takes us to the bus station where we will transfer to a bus for the rest of the ride to Siem Reap. When we arrive at the bus terminal, the driver tells us that we should exchange our money here. I asked him about the exchange rate and he immediately starts trying to tell me that I wont be able to change it once I get to Siem Reap because of "problems between Thailand and Cambodia" and they wont accept baht. Immediately my bullshit alarm went off and I ignored him. Later, at another restaurant stop on the way to Siem Reap, I was talking with a couple of the people who were on the bus with me. They paid in Riel (the Cambodian currency) so I asked them what the exchange rate was at the bus terminal. It was horrible, they lost about $60 on $250 exchange, and I'm sure there were more commissions to be had by the taxi driver because of it. Ok, you've been informed, enough about the scams.
My first impression of Cambodia was that of impeccably manicured rural farmlands and rice paddies interspersed with sugar-palm. The road to Siem Reap is now completely sealed so the journey was smooth and went quicker than I expected. We arrived in Siem Reap around sunset which put a nice glow on everything and I was immediately impressed with how well set up the town is. Being the backbone for Angkor's tourism, I can easily see why it is one of the most popular destinations on the planet. Accommodations here can run from as low as $3 a night to several thousand. I'm staying at a wonderful little mini-hotel, run by an incredibly friendly and attentive family, called the Encore Angkor. It's in a very convenient location, near the Old Market, the Night Market, Pub Street, and the Stung Siem Reap (Siem Reap River). The room was extremely clean, with crisp linens, satellite t.v., air con, and nicely tiled bath. Not to mention the amenities such as free wi-fi, swimming pool, laundry, daily cleaning svc, and free breakfast. Certainly a bargain at only $15 a night! Highly recommend.
Rather than rushing off to see the temples of Angkor immediately, I spent the first few days just checking out Siem Reap and lazing by the pool trying to keep up my tan from Ko Chang. I spent a lot of time wandering around the markets or dining in one of the may restaurants found on Pub Street or the "The Alley". I found a good deal on a much needed 8GB flash drive then proceeded to go to the "Boom Boom Room" (not that kind of boom-boom), where I purchased some much needed music. The Boom Boom Room is a store that sells iPods, accessories, t-shirts, and music downloads of pretty much anything. Up till now I've had no music with me, and being a dj this has been torture. I NEED music. Right now I'm chillin' in my sweet little hotel room, working on my blog, and listening to a Bargrooves compilation - one of the 30 cd downloads I picked up for less than 75 cents a piece.
The last few days were spent exploring the temples of Angkor and some of the rural Cambodian country side. Tommorow will be my last day here in Siem Reap so I will be making travel arrangements for my next destination, Battambang, and will also post a blog entry about the temples with pictures. If you want to see pictures from around Siem Reap, click here. The pictures taken in the rural country side were taken while cruising by in a tuk-tuk, but still give a good impression of what the country outside of Siem Reap and around Angkor is like.

Goodbye Ko Chang... until we meet again.

It's been a long time since my last post. Nine and a half weeks, and two visas later I finally left the island of Ko Chang. My initial visa, which I obtained in Vancouver prior to leaving for Thailand, was good for two months. It expired a couple of weeks ago, right at the begining of the celebration of the Thai New Year, Songkran. I realy didn't want to miss this so instead of moving on in my travels, I made a quick run to the Cambodian border and renewed my visa for another two weeks so I would be able to stay just a little longer.
The Songkran celebration was fun, although much more subdued compared to the celebrations in Bangkok or Chang Mai. In Thailand, the new year is celebrated over 3-5 days and consists of lots of partying and lots of water throwing. Squirt guns, buckets, hoses, etc., whatever is necessary. And EVERYONE is fair game, at anytime. Its basically a three-day water fight. Lots of cell phones and cameras getting ruined during this time. But when you get a bucket of ice-cold water dumped on you by a five year old making a sneak attack, you cant help but smile. It's all in the name of fun.
So finally my second visa expired last Sunday and I felt that this was a good time to move on in my travels. After nine and a half weeks on Ko Chang, I saw a complete change in the seasons. It went from high season to low season for tourism during this time, and week by week there were less and less people. This was ok with me though, by this time most of my friend were either locals or other travelers who had been around as long as me, and I kind of enjoyed the new quiet feel the island had to it. Even the seas changed considerably during this time - they went from being dead calm to almost surfable. And over the last couple of weeks I watched the beach completely change shape as the seas pulled all the sand back into them until the next change of seasons. That's how my days were spent on Lonely Beach - swimming in the sea, laying on the beach, playing frisbee, watching the sunsets, and observing mother nature at work. Definitely time well spent.
It was hard to leave Ko Chang and I know I will definitely return again one day. Maybe a month or two from now, maybe not for several years. But Ko Chang is one of those islands that makes you not want to leave, and when you do it makes you promise that you'll be back. I look forward to seeing the successes of friends who have set up lives for themselves on this island and to them I wish all the best of luck. And to all the friends I've met there from all around the world, who knows where we'll meet again, maybe in Holland, Spain, England, Sweden, Turkey, Canada... or wherever, I'll always have the memories of all the good times that we shared on this little slice of paradise... Until we meet again.
(Photo album for Ko Chang has been updated with lots of new photos. Click on the slideshow link to the right)

Reggae Music... Thai Style!

It's hard to believe that it's already been more than a week since I last wrote. In my last post, I mentioned that I would be leaving for Cambodia in a couple of days. Well, those couple of days have come and gone and I'm still just chillin' here on Ko Chang. That's the beauty of being able to travel without time constraints dictating where you have to be next and when. It took me a while to realize this and since it's been so long since I've been able to just relax on the beach, I decided I was better off just enjoying the moment I'm in.

I've been in Ko Chang for almost three weeks now, but there's just only so much you can write about riding around on motorbikes, exploring the beaches, or watching amazing sunsets and so I've not posted anything lately. Tanya from Magic Garden Bungalows has left Ko Chang for Cambodia to make a visa run and so three girls from Sweden have been keeping me entertained, along with several other travelers who've been here as long or longer than I have. Last night a bar here in Lonely Beach, Ting Tong Bar, threw a big reggae festival with several live bands. One of the bands that was performing is very popular here in Thailand and gets quite a bit of air play on the Thai radio stations and so people came from all over to hear them. Quite an impressive crowd for such a little bar - they had to clear out some of the jungle behind the bar earlier in the week to make room for a stage and the expected crowd. Good times!

Last week I also had the opportunity to DJ a bit for a party thrown at Magic Garden. And even though I hadn't touched turntables in the two years prior and was playing from someone else's music collection, the crowd was feeling it and dancing right from the gate. I was in heaven and loving that I was given the opportunity to do something that I've not been able to do for quite some time now. More good times!

One of my journeys around the island this week took me to Khlong Phlu waterfall and I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was actually some water still flowing. I had wrongly assumed that they were all dried up at this time of the year. It was quite a refreshing change of pace going for a swim in the pool under the waterfall as the water is considerably cooler than the ocean, which at times feels almost too warm. A little further down from the falls I was able to find more swimming holes but with no people, so I parked my butt on a rock for and read a little while basking in the sun.

Lonely Beaches and Magic Gardens....

Woke up this morning to a very dramatic thunderstorm that sounded as if it was happening right above my bungalow. Since it was raining pretty hard and would not be the ideal day for the beach, I decided to spend some time setting up a photo album of pictures from my trip. Click on the slide show to the right to view the photos from Bangkok and here on Ko Chang.

Spent the last several days exploring the islands beaches, touring the island by motorbike, and helping my new friend Tanya with setting up some new lighting for the bungalows at Magic Garden. Leaving for Cambodia in the next couple of days to see the temples of Angkor Wat... but for now I think I'll just enjoy the tranquility of the beaches of Ko Chang just a little bit longer.

Hat Tha Nam (Lonely Beach), Ko Chang, Thailand

I've been here on the Thai island of Ko Chang now for about 5 days already. Its real easy to kill time here doing absolutely nothing. Since I get can get free wireless internet (most of the time) from the bungalow that I'm staying in, a large chunk of my time during the last few days has been taken up trying to figure out how to set up this blog, with my afternoons being spent on the beach until the sun sets, and my evenings spent catching bootleg movies on the large screen over at this little place called Magic Garden and chattin' up Tanya, the cool Russian chick that owns/runs the place. The sunsets here have definitely provided some pretty awesome photo taking opportunities for sure!

Yesterday I was feeling a bit guilty for being lazy and not seeing more of the island so I decided to rent a motorbike and go riding around the island. The infrastructure here on Ko Chang is fairly well developed, to the point where there is a paved road that goes all the way around the island - almost. There is a small 2 Km gap where there is no road at all. The only way to get to where the road picks back up is to drive all the way back around - about a 2 hour ride!!!

I left Lonely Beach for my ride heading south and when I came to the end of the road I found myself at a place called Grand Lagoona Resort. The resort itself was closed off to the public, but for a small charge (150 baht - or $4) you could come into the resort as a guest. The fee included a soda/beer and a snack, use of the pool, a bicycle to ride around on, and access to the waterfall - which is dried up at this time of the year. Since I was at the end of the road I figured I would check it out. They opened the gate, I rode in, and about 400 meters later I parked the motorbike and traded it in for my trusty, rusty, bicycle to check out the rest of the resort on. The place is pretty big, but I was kinda surprised to find that it was almost completely deserted! Not sure what was going on but there were more staff than guests for sure, and so i practically had the entire place to myself, along with a couple of others who I'm sure just came across the place like I did.

The resort itself consisted of a couple of large lagoons (hence the name), one of which had several houseboats that were set up as accommodations, and the other lagoon had a large ferry/ship that had been converted into a 5 star hotel, which surprised me to hear because my first impression was that it had been shut down. All in all the place certainly had potential and had pretty much everything you need (If you like that sort of thing), the only thing lacking were guests. I had lunch, took a quick swim, and decided to move on.

On the way back, I ventured off on a little side road into the jungle that ended a few kilometers later with the road being washed out and eroded away apparently from the torrential rains during the rainy season. It was completely dry now, so much for seeing any of the waterfalls in the interior of the island. I ventured back the way I came and soon found myself in the little fishing village of Bangbao, took a quick look around and decided to head back to Hat Tha Nam (Lonely Beach) for a swim in the Gulf of Thailand and to catch the amazing sunset.

Thailand at last - Bangkok and Ko Chang

Aahhh the smells!!! As I left Suvarnabhumi Intl. airport in Bangkok, it was the smells that let me know that I've finally arrived on my long awaited trip to South East Asia. While on my last trip to Asia almost 8 years ago at times I found the smells to be somewhat nauseating, but as my nose and Thailand got reacquainted with each other, this time they brought about a sense of joy and happiness as the familiarity of it all came flooding back and i realized what an incredible journey I was about to embark on.

As I sit here in the restaurant of the Lonely Beach Resort in Ko Chang, Thailand, I realized that I've already been traveling for over a week and I've posted absolutely nothing about this trip! Well, it's now or never. A week has gone by and I've not made a single effort to make any sort of documentation of this trip and it is quickly becoming apparent that if I don't do something quickly, then this trip will soon become like the shoeboxes of pictures from previous trips that I've got stored away somewhere - dusty and unorganized! Here's the quick rundown so far...

I departed for this much anticipated trip from Vancouver, B.C. Canada on February 11, 2009 around 1:30 pm. I was traveling to Bangkok on Korean Airlines and so I was to have a short layover in Seoul, S. Korea. Traveling across the international date line is a funny thing. After traveling for almost 11 hours straight, I arrived in Seoul at about 5 pm the following day (Feb. 12), yet I still hadn't seen darkness since we traveled in the direction the of the sun. Somehow, somewhere, an entire evening just disappeared from existence for me. So does that make me younger, or older??? Hmmm...

Anyway, I arrive in Seoul Korea and after about a 2-3 hour layover I travel on to Bangkok and arrive in Bangkok sometime shortly before midnight. Now, my intentions were to have a place to stay already booked upon my arrival, but I ran out of time before I left and was only able to jot down the names of a couple of place that I thought I might like to stay. Normally this would be of concern for me, especially since I was arriving at midnight, but since I've been to Bangkok before and was familiar with the area I was heading to, I knew I would have little trouble finding accommodations once I arrived.

After clearing customs with no problems at all, I grabbed my backpack off the luggage carousel and take a taxi to the New Siam Riverside Hotel in the Banglamphu/Khao-San area of Bangkok. I had no problems getting a room that night, even at 1:30am. Now while the hotel was a bit more expensive - largely due its location right on the Chao Phraya River and the fact that it has a swimming pool - it was still very inexpensive by western standards. And besides, I was just arriving in Thailand and thought it would be good to have a nice place to stay for a few days while I got my bearings.

The first three days were spent lounging by the pool and checking out the walking streets of the Banglamphu and Khao San Road areas. Khao San Road, a major hub for backpackers on journeys in Thailand and SE Asia, has grown immensely since I was here last 8 years ago. All the bars, restaurants, shops, etc. that lined Khao San road have since overflowed onto all the neighboring streets as well. Overall, the feel of the area is still the same - just more of it. Or as they say here in Thailand... "Same Same But Different".

I needed to pick up a new battery charger after zapping it when trying to use it with the wrong current/voltage and was told the place I would find a replacement was at MBK center. So after lounging by the pool for a couple of days I decided I would relocate to the Sukhumvit/Siam Square are of Bangkok. I found a great little guesthouse called Suk11 - due to its location on Thanon Sukhumvit at Soi 11. (note to readers: Thanon = main street, Soi - side street). This is the shopping district of Bangkok so I bought the charger I needed and spent the next three days checking out some of the sights in the area. Thailands tallest building is also in this area, Baiyoke Tower II, where I spent an evening up top getting some photo's of the city. In addition to great shopping, nearby to here are some of the cities more interesting nightlife areas - Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy, essentially the red-light districts of Bangkok - and a great place for people watching!

I flew to Thailand on a one-way ticket, and since I wasn't sure that I would be back through Bangkok for a flight home I thought I would spend a bit of time here doing some sight seeing. But after almost a week in Bangkok and spending day and night walking the city, my lungs were starting to feel like they did when I was a smoker - grey phlegm and all. I had developed a cough that could only be attributed to all the smog I was walking around in. I decided it was time to head off to the beaches and islands for some fresh air and more sunshine. I booked a bus/ferry ticket for the following day to the Island of Ko Chang (where I currently am writing this), and spent a nice evening on a dinner cruise that went up and down the Chao Phraya river. This provided me with an opportunity to get a few good night time photos of some of the temples. I also met this really cool couple from the UK who were on their honeymoon and were about to head off to Koh Samui. They invited me for a beer afterwards and we spent the next couple of hours shooting the shit and having a great chat. Thanks for the beers you guys! Hope your having fun in Samui!