In the past four months in southeast Asia I have found myself saying in my head many times a day "That shit would NOT fly in the States!" There aren't really rules or regulations on a lot of things here and you just have to learn to deal with it. I have compiled a short list of some of the things I know would not fly in the States. The list is bound to get longer and I'm missing a bunch of things, but here are some examples:
**4 people on one motorbike. This often includes at least one child sitting in the front with a parent's hand barely on them. Also at least one of the people is riding side saddle.
**Menu Clip Art. On the menus here they don't take pictures of the actual food they produce, they for sure just Google "spring rolls" and paste that picture on their menu. No citation, no truth behind the picture, just don't ever order based off of a picture.
**People (often children) coming to your table at a restaurant trying to sell you things. The restaurant owners don't even care, they just let people come in and harass you while you're trying to eat.
**Border officials forcing bribes and making up prices. I've already written some blogs on border scams. There is just no regulation for making an extra buck.
**Throwing your garbage on the road/river. We have consequences for those things! There is so much garbage on the roads and in the rivers here it is just heartbreaking.
**While we're talking about it, showering/going to the bathroom in the river...and then eating the fish. We saw a toilet that was a seat just over the river. Also the bathrooms in the boats definitely just go straight through to the water!
**Toilets without toilet paper. Sometimes you'll be in a bathroom in the States where the TP runs out, but here you just have to always carry it with you, and throw it away in a garbage can, not the toilet.
**Taking shoes off before entering a store. I highly doubt many people in the States would like to take their shoes off before going into a lot of stores, especially when the floor seems as dirty as the streets you just walked on.
**Meat tables at the market. There are just giant slabs of meat laying in the hot sun with flies all over them. That would NOT fly at the St. Paul Farmer's Market!
**Aggressive and persistent hassling. There is nothing you can really do about people coming up to you and literally grabbing you. I have a feeling though that the majority of people in the States would not let that happen on a regular basis.
**The hundreds and hundreds of stray dogs all over Southeast Asia. They often are missing patches of hair, have big bellies full of more stray dogs and just look so sadly disgusting.
**The general lack of traffic rules. It's even hard to explain. There are NO rules of the road. Just survival.
**Selling liquor on the streets next to Ritz Crackers. No liquor license necessary.
**Napkins=Toilet Paper at restaurants. They try and cover it with a festive (or sometimes not festive) box, but when you use napkins at a restaurant it is often times just a roll of really cheap toilet paper.
**Really loud announcements everywhere. People in the States would freak out with all of the loud announcements that are everywhere. They seem completely unnecessary and there will often be competing loud announcements.
**No tipping. In Cambodia and Vietnam more than Thailand people just don't tip. Yeah the food is really inexpensive, but tipping is just not a way of life here. Sometimes when you leave extra they'll chase you down and make you take the change.
**Powdered coffee. Self explanatory...ick.
**Foreigner price mark-up/segregation. Often times we get put in special areas and pay special prices for being foreigners. I guess it's not that big of a deal, but I have a feeling that shit wouldn't fly in the States.
**Barefoot children playing in the streets. Not to mention the dirtiest streets i've seen.
**Sweaters at 90 degrees F. White skin is considered very beautiful so people go to great lengths to cover up their skin here, even when it is boiling hot outside. You will often see pants, sweaters, gloves and a hat while I'm wearing a swim suit and sweating.
**Foreigners coming into the country expecting everyone to know their language. We sadly expect people to speak English and get mad (well not us, but others) when they don't. In the States we aren't expected to speak Vietnamese, why should they be expected to speak English?
**Not being able to complain about travel agencies or get money back. We've had some bad travel company experiences, but the deal is you just have to grin and bear it. You can't call and complain, and if you do i'm sure nothing will happen with it.
There are a lot of other things that I know would never fly in the States. It can get annoying learning to deal with the annoyances and not be able to fix them, but what i've realized while here is that is the fun of it! I love trying to figure out daily life and we have so much fun laughing about the crazy things happening everyday around us. No, these things wouldn't fly in the States, but they DO fly here, so deal with it and have some fun!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Our Vietnamese Family
On our three day excursion on the Mekong from Cambodia to Vietnam we decided to go with a homestay option. We were excited to share some meals with and learn about the country from our new Vietnamese family.
The first step to getting to our family was a bus ride to a larger city. Next came something I had feared would happen at some point on my four month adventure--we had to take motorbikes. We each strapped on a helmet, had our backpacks on and hopped on. My initial instinct was to grab this man around his waist and hold on for dear life, but that's not what people do here, so I held the back of my seat, said a short prayer and we were off! We were dropped off 10 minutes later at a market and found our man, on a boat.
The man, Dua, took us down the Mekong for about 30 minutes until we reached his house. It was definitely higher class than the corrigated tin sided and bambo roofed houses that we passed all day on the river. It was a large house with many rooms and obviously many people living in it. We were shown into a big room with many Buddhist shrines , a row of benches and chairs and two beds for us. After dropping our gear it was time for our family lunch...except there were only three bowls at the table. In the kitchen area we met a few other family members who didn't speak English, including a girl who looked about my age and was cooking our lunch. We asked Dua if he was going to eat with us and he said no, he had plans to eat later and that would spoil the plans. Whatever. Then he explained the food: a hot cucumber soup, cooked cabbage, rice and catfish from the Mekong. We dutifully spooned the food into our bowls but stopped when it came to the catfish. We saw people bathing and going to the bathroom in the river, garbage flowing freely like lily pads...we did not want to eat the catfish. Leah took one for the team though and took a polite bite. On the way out of the dining area, through the kitchen, we saw Dua sitting and eating some great looking soup with another guy his age. Some plans Dua!
After lunch no one was around the house and we had nothing to do. We sat by the river, read and tried to figure out what the heck was going on. Eventually we walked back to the house and a young Vietnamese boy spoke to us in English to come follow him and his two friends. We did, through the house, past the puppy playing with roosters and to this structure in their backyard that looked like a mausoleum/pagoda. The three boys, 12 years old, had us sit and wait while they giggled and ran away. At first I thought that they must be playing some 12-year-old boy trick on us, but then they returned, proud as ever, with a plate of pineapple for us. We gladly ate it while the boys showed us their "hip hop" by doing handstands to music playing from a phone/MP3 player. Our little brother ran away again and came back with the least ripe mango I have ever seen. It was so sweet of him to get it, peel it and cut it for us, so we choked down those tart-as-ever pieces of love. The third time he ran away and came back with three glasses of water. Uh oh. This was not bottled water, this was spooky, floating bits, poop-your-pants water. We couldn't figure out a way to dump it without him noticing, but we certainly couldn't drink it. We draw the line somewhere. Luckily we were saved by the rain and we all ran inside, "spilling" water along the way.
The first step to getting to our family was a bus ride to a larger city. Next came something I had feared would happen at some point on my four month adventure--we had to take motorbikes. We each strapped on a helmet, had our backpacks on and hopped on. My initial instinct was to grab this man around his waist and hold on for dear life, but that's not what people do here, so I held the back of my seat, said a short prayer and we were off! We were dropped off 10 minutes later at a market and found our man, on a boat.
I'm actually trembling here...
The man, Dua, took us down the Mekong for about 30 minutes until we reached his house. It was definitely higher class than the corrigated tin sided and bambo roofed houses that we passed all day on the river. It was a large house with many rooms and obviously many people living in it. We were shown into a big room with many Buddhist shrines , a row of benches and chairs and two beds for us. After dropping our gear it was time for our family lunch...except there were only three bowls at the table. In the kitchen area we met a few other family members who didn't speak English, including a girl who looked about my age and was cooking our lunch. We asked Dua if he was going to eat with us and he said no, he had plans to eat later and that would spoil the plans. Whatever. Then he explained the food: a hot cucumber soup, cooked cabbage, rice and catfish from the Mekong. We dutifully spooned the food into our bowls but stopped when it came to the catfish. We saw people bathing and going to the bathroom in the river, garbage flowing freely like lily pads...we did not want to eat the catfish. Leah took one for the team though and took a polite bite. On the way out of the dining area, through the kitchen, we saw Dua sitting and eating some great looking soup with another guy his age. Some plans Dua!
Brit in our bed in our room...note the rows of chairs...our sister's room is the one right behind us
After lunch no one was around the house and we had nothing to do. We sat by the river, read and tried to figure out what the heck was going on. Eventually we walked back to the house and a young Vietnamese boy spoke to us in English to come follow him and his two friends. We did, through the house, past the puppy playing with roosters and to this structure in their backyard that looked like a mausoleum/pagoda. The three boys, 12 years old, had us sit and wait while they giggled and ran away. At first I thought that they must be playing some 12-year-old boy trick on us, but then they returned, proud as ever, with a plate of pineapple for us. We gladly ate it while the boys showed us their "hip hop" by doing handstands to music playing from a phone/MP3 player. Our little brother ran away again and came back with the least ripe mango I have ever seen. It was so sweet of him to get it, peel it and cut it for us, so we choked down those tart-as-ever pieces of love. The third time he ran away and came back with three glasses of water. Uh oh. This was not bottled water, this was spooky, floating bits, poop-your-pants water. We couldn't figure out a way to dump it without him noticing, but we certainly couldn't drink it. We draw the line somewhere. Luckily we were saved by the rain and we all ran inside, "spilling" water along the way.
(l) our little brother
(r) the face you would make too if you just had the most tart mango of all time
(r) the face you would make too if you just had the most tart mango of all time
During and after the short rain we had nothing to do. We were at a home with no one around, in a remote village on the Mekong River. We killed a solid 45 minutes by walking down the small dirt path that goes through the village, waving to the locals as we passed. We were clearly more out of place there than anywhere else we have been.
The village was cute. It was right next to the river, really, only feet away. Little kids running around barefoot. Small houses with their doors wide open, displaying religious shrines right next to blaring TVs. Every so often a motorbike would beep its horn and pass us on the road, narrowly missing us every time.
After our walk we sat. Still nothing to do, no one to talk to. We read, played Scrabble, and waited for something--anything--to happen. Finally, seven hours after lunch, we were called in to eat dinner. There was a new, slightly older (we're talking 30s only) woman now who also didn't speak much English. We have presumed her to be the head of the household. We were ushered, once again, to a table set with three bowls. So much for the meals with our Vietnamese family! Dinner was "Make Your Own Spring Roll" night--like the Asian version of "Make Your Own Taco" night. The guest of honor was a giant Mekong River fish in the middle. Ugh. The younger hostess kept urging us to try it, so we said our prayers, tried to connect with the food on a cerebral level (Brit's yoga trick) and took our polite amounts. The spring rolls were fabulous and the fish was fish. It ended up being a fun dinner. Who needs more company when you have us three girls anyways?
After dinner we retreated back to our room, now filled with mosquitoes. Eventually we found bright pink mosquito nets and managed to put them up with some hard work and determination. With nothing else to do, we began our nightly ritual of speed Scrabble. While playing, the younger hostess sat next to us to watch. She speaks no English so after trying to politely make conversation we continued to play while she watched. Next, our 12-year-old brother came in and looked eagerly at the letters. He didn't care that we were in the middle of a game (maybe he didn't even realize it was a game!) and he just grabbed the tiles and started spelling English words that he knew. We would praise him after each word and help him with a few misspellings. We showed the English words to the girl and our little bro translated them.
Before I go any further I have a confession to make. I call these two "younger brother" and "sister" or "girl" only because we don't remember their names. Yes they told us, probably a handful of times even, but we have forgotten. Many names in Vietnam are short and difficult for us to pronounce and, obviously, remember. They usually are 3 or 4 letters long and are on a tonal level I just don't perceive well. I apologize for not remembering them, but "brother" and "sister" will just have to do!
We got through a handful of words and our sister, who we found out during all of this was 20, ran off to get something to write these new words down with. We tried to teach her basic nouns, adjectives, etc and I thought about words that I was glad I learned in Thai. This went on, with lots of laughter, for a good 30 minutes when the older woman came in, said something in Vietnamese, and escorted us all into the living room to continue playing. We were finally accepted! At one point, Dua and some other guys his age came into the room and started making fun of our sister. He said she's not smart and that he has tried to teach her Englih before and she just doesn't remember anything. I instantly disliked him.
It soon came time for bedtime and we taught her "good night." She, in turn, taught us the phrase in Vietnamese: Ngu Ngon. We tried it. Wrong! They worked for over five minutes trying to get us to pronounce 'ng' correctly. It ended in fits of laughter from both parties and them finally accepting our attempt as good enough.
We went back to our temple of a bedroom and got ready for bed. Our sister's room was located right off of ours so she came through with us. She showed me where the night light was and then noticed my toenails--nicely painted with little flowers on them (you gotta love $4 pedicures with free nail art!) She ran to her room and showed me her collection of nail polish. I was in the middle of oooing and ahhing when she grabbed my hand and started painting on a pale pink. I felt a little awkward, but went with it. When she finished, I thanked her, and she said "no." Homegirl did a full french manicure with a sparkle top coat! We giggled, I thanked her profusely and she kept yelling at me (via charades) to keep blowing on my nails to dry and not touch anything. I'm pretty sure if we spoke the same language we would be best friends. Lights went out and I felt like I had at least made a small connection to part of my homestay family.
The next morning we woke up, packed our belongings, and ate breakfast. Luckily there were not runny eggs or Mekong fish to worry about. Just bread, jam and butter; a great breakfast combo. We gathered our things, made our beds and headed to the boat. That's when we found out we weren't taking the boat back, but motorbikes--this time on small dirt paths. Brittany and Leah got the really big nice new bikes with the older (more experienced) drivers and a place to put their backpacks. Because I was the smallest I had to strap my backpack on, attach my helmet with chewing gum (okay not really, but that's what it felt like) and hop on the rusting small Honda with young hot-shot Dua. Let's also not forget to mention that I'm the one in the group that is terrified of motorbikes!
The village was cute. It was right next to the river, really, only feet away. Little kids running around barefoot. Small houses with their doors wide open, displaying religious shrines right next to blaring TVs. Every so often a motorbike would beep its horn and pass us on the road, narrowly missing us every time.
After our walk we sat. Still nothing to do, no one to talk to. We read, played Scrabble, and waited for something--anything--to happen. Finally, seven hours after lunch, we were called in to eat dinner. There was a new, slightly older (we're talking 30s only) woman now who also didn't speak much English. We have presumed her to be the head of the household. We were ushered, once again, to a table set with three bowls. So much for the meals with our Vietnamese family! Dinner was "Make Your Own Spring Roll" night--like the Asian version of "Make Your Own Taco" night. The guest of honor was a giant Mekong River fish in the middle. Ugh. The younger hostess kept urging us to try it, so we said our prayers, tried to connect with the food on a cerebral level (Brit's yoga trick) and took our polite amounts. The spring rolls were fabulous and the fish was fish. It ended up being a fun dinner. Who needs more company when you have us three girls anyways?
After dinner we retreated back to our room, now filled with mosquitoes. Eventually we found bright pink mosquito nets and managed to put them up with some hard work and determination. With nothing else to do, we began our nightly ritual of speed Scrabble. While playing, the younger hostess sat next to us to watch. She speaks no English so after trying to politely make conversation we continued to play while she watched. Next, our 12-year-old brother came in and looked eagerly at the letters. He didn't care that we were in the middle of a game (maybe he didn't even realize it was a game!) and he just grabbed the tiles and started spelling English words that he knew. We would praise him after each word and help him with a few misspellings. We showed the English words to the girl and our little bro translated them.
Scrabble with the whole gang (minus Brit who is taking the picture)
Before I go any further I have a confession to make. I call these two "younger brother" and "sister" or "girl" only because we don't remember their names. Yes they told us, probably a handful of times even, but we have forgotten. Many names in Vietnam are short and difficult for us to pronounce and, obviously, remember. They usually are 3 or 4 letters long and are on a tonal level I just don't perceive well. I apologize for not remembering them, but "brother" and "sister" will just have to do!
We got through a handful of words and our sister, who we found out during all of this was 20, ran off to get something to write these new words down with. We tried to teach her basic nouns, adjectives, etc and I thought about words that I was glad I learned in Thai. This went on, with lots of laughter, for a good 30 minutes when the older woman came in, said something in Vietnamese, and escorted us all into the living room to continue playing. We were finally accepted! At one point, Dua and some other guys his age came into the room and started making fun of our sister. He said she's not smart and that he has tried to teach her Englih before and she just doesn't remember anything. I instantly disliked him.
It soon came time for bedtime and we taught her "good night." She, in turn, taught us the phrase in Vietnamese: Ngu Ngon. We tried it. Wrong! They worked for over five minutes trying to get us to pronounce 'ng' correctly. It ended in fits of laughter from both parties and them finally accepting our attempt as good enough.
We went back to our temple of a bedroom and got ready for bed. Our sister's room was located right off of ours so she came through with us. She showed me where the night light was and then noticed my toenails--nicely painted with little flowers on them (you gotta love $4 pedicures with free nail art!) She ran to her room and showed me her collection of nail polish. I was in the middle of oooing and ahhing when she grabbed my hand and started painting on a pale pink. I felt a little awkward, but went with it. When she finished, I thanked her, and she said "no." Homegirl did a full french manicure with a sparkle top coat! We giggled, I thanked her profusely and she kept yelling at me (via charades) to keep blowing on my nails to dry and not touch anything. I'm pretty sure if we spoke the same language we would be best friends. Lights went out and I felt like I had at least made a small connection to part of my homestay family.
The next morning we woke up, packed our belongings, and ate breakfast. Luckily there were not runny eggs or Mekong fish to worry about. Just bread, jam and butter; a great breakfast combo. We gathered our things, made our beds and headed to the boat. That's when we found out we weren't taking the boat back, but motorbikes--this time on small dirt paths. Brittany and Leah got the really big nice new bikes with the older (more experienced) drivers and a place to put their backpacks. Because I was the smallest I had to strap my backpack on, attach my helmet with chewing gum (okay not really, but that's what it felt like) and hop on the rusting small Honda with young hot-shot Dua. Let's also not forget to mention that I'm the one in the group that is terrified of motorbikes!
Dirt road view from the motorbike
The ride was relatively painless, but I can't imagine wanting to do it ever again. We were dropped off at a huge outdoor market. We all followed Dua through more scents and sights that I thought imaginable. We walked to a pier where the water was met with piles and piles of garbage, and waited for another boat to pick us up. After about 20 minutes a tour boat of Westerners came to the dock and it was officially time for our homestay to end.
Going into our homestay I think I was expecting something different. I thought we would have a family to eat with, one to tell us all about living in Vietnam, one who we would stay connected with forever. Once I lowered all of those expectations and looked at it as a day away from all other Westerners, a day spent peacefully right off of the Mekong, then it became worth it--and eventually even fun!
Going into our homestay I think I was expecting something different. I thought we would have a family to eat with, one to tell us all about living in Vietnam, one who we would stay connected with forever. Once I lowered all of those expectations and looked at it as a day away from all other Westerners, a day spent peacefully right off of the Mekong, then it became worth it--and eventually even fun!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Day 1 of 3 on the Mekong
We all knew it was time to leave Cambodia behind us in order to meet our new home, Vietnam. We decided to have a 3-day transition period on the Mekong. What did we know about this trip ahead of time? We thought: a lot. In reality: little to nothing.
The first step was to hop on a bus and get to the boat. We were staying at a hotel on the river, so we thought it would take maybe 15 minutes to get to the pier. It took us almost 2 hours. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The drive first took us through morning traffic in the nation's capitol. I've said it before and I'll say it again: traffic in Southeast Asia is crazy, an organized chaos...chaos being the key word. We spent at least 10 minutes trying to get over a bridge. The width of the bridge was about 3 cars and 8 motorbikes deep. Each vehicle within millimeters of one another. The pollution seeped through any open crack in our van and I wanted to borrow one of the face masks that a big number of motorbike drivers wear.
After getting out of the city we had a long ride through the country. There was cattle grazing by the side of the road, uniformed children biking to school, tractors filled with people on them and many other sights that we have now become familiar with. We passed a few towns, temples, markets and schools along the way.
At minute 105 we barrelled down an alley and stopped outside of a shed where our boat company was housed. No time to stop for a bathroom, there was one on the boat--that's what I was afraid of. We passed by a man dressed only in a scarf and walked down a hill to the river. There she was, our boat, The Green Monster, on the Mighty Mekong. (Little did we know that this was one of about 8 boats we would be on in the next 3 days.) We walked on two thin slats of wood to the boat: green-painted wood framed with industrial strengh, green, water proof curtains. The room in the back marked W.C. had a toilet bowl that I'm sure just emptied straight below. No swimming and no fish for me! I sat down on a folding chair, filled out my Vietnam entry papers and looked around.
Besides Brit, Leah and I we were joined by 4 other tourists: a mid/late 20s Australian couple, a solo French girl with dreadlocks, and a 30-some British man. It was a pretty standard group and made me wonder who would play what role if we were stranded a la Gilligan's Island.
The Mekong is wide, brownish-green-grey and lined with jungle trees. Just as I was collecting my thoughts about the trip, we were being flagged down by another boat. This was a large boat carrying some sort of rice. We soon found out (not verbally of course, just observationally) that they had bottomed out and were stuck. Our trusty crew circled around a few times, used some rope, and freed them.
The first step was to hop on a bus and get to the boat. We were staying at a hotel on the river, so we thought it would take maybe 15 minutes to get to the pier. It took us almost 2 hours. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The drive first took us through morning traffic in the nation's capitol. I've said it before and I'll say it again: traffic in Southeast Asia is crazy, an organized chaos...chaos being the key word. We spent at least 10 minutes trying to get over a bridge. The width of the bridge was about 3 cars and 8 motorbikes deep. Each vehicle within millimeters of one another. The pollution seeped through any open crack in our van and I wanted to borrow one of the face masks that a big number of motorbike drivers wear.
After getting out of the city we had a long ride through the country. There was cattle grazing by the side of the road, uniformed children biking to school, tractors filled with people on them and many other sights that we have now become familiar with. We passed a few towns, temples, markets and schools along the way.
At minute 105 we barrelled down an alley and stopped outside of a shed where our boat company was housed. No time to stop for a bathroom, there was one on the boat--that's what I was afraid of. We passed by a man dressed only in a scarf and walked down a hill to the river. There she was, our boat, The Green Monster, on the Mighty Mekong. (Little did we know that this was one of about 8 boats we would be on in the next 3 days.) We walked on two thin slats of wood to the boat: green-painted wood framed with industrial strengh, green, water proof curtains. The room in the back marked W.C. had a toilet bowl that I'm sure just emptied straight below. No swimming and no fish for me! I sat down on a folding chair, filled out my Vietnam entry papers and looked around.
Besides Brit, Leah and I we were joined by 4 other tourists: a mid/late 20s Australian couple, a solo French girl with dreadlocks, and a 30-some British man. It was a pretty standard group and made me wonder who would play what role if we were stranded a la Gilligan's Island.
The Mekong is wide, brownish-green-grey and lined with jungle trees. Just as I was collecting my thoughts about the trip, we were being flagged down by another boat. This was a large boat carrying some sort of rice. We soon found out (not verbally of course, just observationally) that they had bottomed out and were stuck. Our trusty crew circled around a few times, used some rope, and freed them.
The boat we 'freed'
We kept along the river for about an hour or so until we got to immigration. We stamped out of Cambodia and kept on going. Next, we got to Vietnam immigration. We were all herded into a room and then waited for about 15 minutes while Mr. Bean played on a TV overhead. A man with a briefcase showed up and asked for our passports and a 2,000 Vietnamese Dong "health fee." This is roughly 12 cents. We all awkwardly fumbled with our new money and had no denomenation less than 50,000 (about $3). He said he'd take our 50,000s and pay us back later. First bad sign. Luckily our travel-savvy UK friend came to the rescue. He told the man we all had our health checked before we came and we did not need them to varify it. The Vietnamese man got very angry and started yelling at us. Yelling, completely uneccessarily, like a man who had been caught mid-scam. He told us, angrily, that he'd just have to pay it himself and then demanded our passports. Seeing as how no one else was in the building, we had no choice but to hand them over. He shooed us outside to wait and then waddled back inside.
We sat in the heat for what felt like an eternity and he waved us inside. We walked to a different boat, our Vietnam boat. We asked for our passports, he said he would give them to us later. This time our Aussie travel-savvy duo said we wouldn't get on the boat until we had our passports in hand. He reluctently gave them to us and we got back on the Mekong.
The next 3 hours on the boat definitely seemed like more than 3 hours. We were all a little tired, hungry and annoyed at first but those feelings eventually wore off with the breeze. There were many sights along the Mekong. The river narrowed and the water became more of an opaque brown color with garbage floating around intermittantly. We saw lots and lots of people swimming and bathing. Many fishing boats, cargo boats and wrecked boats. Houses on stilts, bridges on stilts, docks on stilts. The heat was oppressive and the smells sometimes fishy at best. There was no doubt in our minds that we were in the jungle. At the end of the 3 hours we started seeing houses literally floating, on rafts, and a larger city in the distance.
We sat in the heat for what felt like an eternity and he waved us inside. We walked to a different boat, our Vietnam boat. We asked for our passports, he said he would give them to us later. This time our Aussie travel-savvy duo said we wouldn't get on the boat until we had our passports in hand. He reluctently gave them to us and we got back on the Mekong.
The next 3 hours on the boat definitely seemed like more than 3 hours. We were all a little tired, hungry and annoyed at first but those feelings eventually wore off with the breeze. There were many sights along the Mekong. The river narrowed and the water became more of an opaque brown color with garbage floating around intermittantly. We saw lots and lots of people swimming and bathing. Many fishing boats, cargo boats and wrecked boats. Houses on stilts, bridges on stilts, docks on stilts. The heat was oppressive and the smells sometimes fishy at best. There was no doubt in our minds that we were in the jungle. At the end of the 3 hours we started seeing houses literally floating, on rafts, and a larger city in the distance.
We floated up to the city, walked up a wooden plank, and took a breath of fresh-ish air. Our guide told us to put our bags on a bike taxi and we would walk to the hotel. We opted to carry them ourselves and walked the 5 minutes to our hotel.
At the hotel we were asked to forfeit our passports for the night so a policeman could look at them--hotel protocol. We said that we would like to keep them and would be happy to go to the police station with them later. I don't think they liked us too much.
The man gave us our key, we walked upstairs, and entered The Sauna, also known as our room. It was pretty much the hottest room ever. Not to mention pretty gross too--Brit had various spots of hair on her bed. It was not an ending to the already hard and long day that we wanted.
We went out and had our first experience of real Vietnamese food...very good! Then we walked around. The city, Chu Doc, is definitely not a tourist city. Nothing was in English and there was nothing really for us to do except walk around. One of the best parts is how all of the children get excited to see Westerners so they wave frantically and shout "hello!" repeatedly. It makes you feel like a rock star. After walking around the city we stopped at a park and watched groups of men playing the Vietnamese version of hackey sack. They play with a plastic toy that slightly resembles a badmitton birdy. These men are amazing. They can even kick it right to one another while falling into a handstand or a pushup.
Eventually we made our way back to the hotel/sauna. After a little while in our room we got a rousing knock on the door. It was time to go to the police station with our passports. We made the 5 minute walk with someone who works at the hotel and the police quickly checked our passports to make sure we were legit. We have since learned that this is protocol at every hotel here, so we have given up on the fight to go to every police station.
The night ended with a round of Saigon Beer followed by a round of Speed Scrabble. Welcome to Vietnam!
**Side note: We have also since realized after Cambodia and Vietnam that border crossings are not accurate depictions of the rest of the country. It is too bad that we have to go through scams and annoyances, but the rest of the country has much greater things to offer!
At the hotel we were asked to forfeit our passports for the night so a policeman could look at them--hotel protocol. We said that we would like to keep them and would be happy to go to the police station with them later. I don't think they liked us too much.
The man gave us our key, we walked upstairs, and entered The Sauna, also known as our room. It was pretty much the hottest room ever. Not to mention pretty gross too--Brit had various spots of hair on her bed. It was not an ending to the already hard and long day that we wanted.
We went out and had our first experience of real Vietnamese food...very good! Then we walked around. The city, Chu Doc, is definitely not a tourist city. Nothing was in English and there was nothing really for us to do except walk around. One of the best parts is how all of the children get excited to see Westerners so they wave frantically and shout "hello!" repeatedly. It makes you feel like a rock star. After walking around the city we stopped at a park and watched groups of men playing the Vietnamese version of hackey sack. They play with a plastic toy that slightly resembles a badmitton birdy. These men are amazing. They can even kick it right to one another while falling into a handstand or a pushup.
Eventually we made our way back to the hotel/sauna. After a little while in our room we got a rousing knock on the door. It was time to go to the police station with our passports. We made the 5 minute walk with someone who works at the hotel and the police quickly checked our passports to make sure we were legit. We have since learned that this is protocol at every hotel here, so we have given up on the fight to go to every police station.
The night ended with a round of Saigon Beer followed by a round of Speed Scrabble. Welcome to Vietnam!
**Side note: We have also since realized after Cambodia and Vietnam that border crossings are not accurate depictions of the rest of the country. It is too bad that we have to go through scams and annoyances, but the rest of the country has much greater things to offer!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Cambodge
Cambodia, Cambodia, Cambodia, how we love thee.
Our trip in Cambodia has been great thus far. We quickly brushed the sketchy border crossing off our shoulders and immediately started enjoying this country. We stayed in Siem Reap for four nights and could have easily stayed longer. Let me tell you some of my favorite things about where we are.
1. There is French everywhere. Having a French minor isn't always useful in the US. To say that I don't hear or use the language often is an understatement. However, Cambodia was part of the Southeast Asia French colonization in the late 1800s early 1900s and stayed until the 50s (don't quote me on any of this, most things I've learned are from people whose first language is not the same as mine!) Because of the colonization French was taught in their schools and became one of the most widely spoken languages in Cambodia...or in French, Cambodge (hence the title). Anyways, there are many French tourists here to listen in on and many Khmer adults speak French as well. It's a beautiful language and I love hearing it!
2. Angkor. Just outside of Siem Reap are the ruins of the ancient city, and once capitol of Cambodge, Angkor. The ruins are all temples, the oldest being from the 800s. Dang. The most massive, and most famous, is Angkor Wat. This temple is absolutely breathtaking. We first passed by it at night, all lit up. It is massive and makes you think back to who built it, who used it and who died for it. We got a three day pass to go through the Angkor ruins and a tuk-tuk driver named Thierry. We saw only just over 10 temples and were in complete awe at every one of them. There are no ruins of homes, markets or anything else, just the 60-70 religious buildings. It shows you how important their religion was to them that they made these buildings so that they would last. One of my favorite temples has now become overrun by trees. Huge roots and trunks of trees are now one with the walls, monuments and images of Buddha. It was quite the sight to see. The temples have gone through many changes by each new Khmer king. They've changed from Buddhist to Hindu and back to Buddhist. Their exteriors have changed but the heart hasn't. We were able to see both a sunset and a sunrise at the ruins and it just made them all the more powerful. If anyone is ever considering a trip to Southeast Asia I will tell you that Angkor is an absolute must-see.
3. The scenery. A tuk-tuk ride through Siem Reap is a great way to see various parts of the city. We took tuk-tuk rides everyday and saw new things each time. We would start in the morning by driving down "River Road" right outside of our guesthouse. The river, and the road, was lined with trees and gave off a serene vibe. We would turn the street and find it filled with Khmer children fitting three-deep on a rickety bicycle that is even too big for me to fit on. They would be biking by all of the fruit stands selling the exact same goods is one another. It forces you to wonder if they ever get any business and why they sit so close to a replica stand. But, maybe, spending a day laughing and sitting with your friends, eating pineapples and looking out at beautiful jungles and forests beats ever getting a sale (and aren't the men the ones who are supposed to make the money anyways?...only kidding/being facetious!) We would take another turn and find ourselves sharing a dirt road with a few other tuk-tuks and bicycles. There are forests on either side and a giant ancient temple looming in the background. You get lost in the view, consumed by it, until you almost hit three other vehicles and are in a market with people yelling "Lady, you buy something""Lady, cheap cheap for you""Lady, where you from? I know your prime minister Barack Obama""Lady, you want cold water."It can get on your nerves. We are dropped off in between a stand of books being sold by a man who lost both of his arms from a landmine and an old woman with a flat cart of spiced and salted snails that she is selling and that we saw her dig out of the opaque-mud-colored river earlier. You can't beat the sights and the smells you encounter during your day on a tuk-tuk.
Our trip in Cambodia has been great thus far. We quickly brushed the sketchy border crossing off our shoulders and immediately started enjoying this country. We stayed in Siem Reap for four nights and could have easily stayed longer. Let me tell you some of my favorite things about where we are.
1. There is French everywhere. Having a French minor isn't always useful in the US. To say that I don't hear or use the language often is an understatement. However, Cambodia was part of the Southeast Asia French colonization in the late 1800s early 1900s and stayed until the 50s (don't quote me on any of this, most things I've learned are from people whose first language is not the same as mine!) Because of the colonization French was taught in their schools and became one of the most widely spoken languages in Cambodia...or in French, Cambodge (hence the title). Anyways, there are many French tourists here to listen in on and many Khmer adults speak French as well. It's a beautiful language and I love hearing it!
2. Angkor. Just outside of Siem Reap are the ruins of the ancient city, and once capitol of Cambodge, Angkor. The ruins are all temples, the oldest being from the 800s. Dang. The most massive, and most famous, is Angkor Wat. This temple is absolutely breathtaking. We first passed by it at night, all lit up. It is massive and makes you think back to who built it, who used it and who died for it. We got a three day pass to go through the Angkor ruins and a tuk-tuk driver named Thierry. We saw only just over 10 temples and were in complete awe at every one of them. There are no ruins of homes, markets or anything else, just the 60-70 religious buildings. It shows you how important their religion was to them that they made these buildings so that they would last. One of my favorite temples has now become overrun by trees. Huge roots and trunks of trees are now one with the walls, monuments and images of Buddha. It was quite the sight to see. The temples have gone through many changes by each new Khmer king. They've changed from Buddhist to Hindu and back to Buddhist. Their exteriors have changed but the heart hasn't. We were able to see both a sunset and a sunrise at the ruins and it just made them all the more powerful. If anyone is ever considering a trip to Southeast Asia I will tell you that Angkor is an absolute must-see.
3. The scenery. A tuk-tuk ride through Siem Reap is a great way to see various parts of the city. We took tuk-tuk rides everyday and saw new things each time. We would start in the morning by driving down "River Road" right outside of our guesthouse. The river, and the road, was lined with trees and gave off a serene vibe. We would turn the street and find it filled with Khmer children fitting three-deep on a rickety bicycle that is even too big for me to fit on. They would be biking by all of the fruit stands selling the exact same goods is one another. It forces you to wonder if they ever get any business and why they sit so close to a replica stand. But, maybe, spending a day laughing and sitting with your friends, eating pineapples and looking out at beautiful jungles and forests beats ever getting a sale (and aren't the men the ones who are supposed to make the money anyways?...only kidding/being facetious!) We would take another turn and find ourselves sharing a dirt road with a few other tuk-tuks and bicycles. There are forests on either side and a giant ancient temple looming in the background. You get lost in the view, consumed by it, until you almost hit three other vehicles and are in a market with people yelling "Lady, you buy something""Lady, cheap cheap for you""Lady, where you from? I know your prime minister Barack Obama""Lady, you want cold water."It can get on your nerves. We are dropped off in between a stand of books being sold by a man who lost both of his arms from a landmine and an old woman with a flat cart of spiced and salted snails that she is selling and that we saw her dig out of the opaque-mud-colored river earlier. You can't beat the sights and the smells you encounter during your day on a tuk-tuk.
4. The people. I know it sounds cliche (and who deemed cliches so bad anyways?) but I am surrounded by great people here. I have two traveling companions: my sister Brittany and her best friend Leah. There are typically tears shed due to laughter at least once a day in this group. They are also a lot more aggressive than I am and get things done! We have been having a blast together. We have also met some great Khmers along the way as well. Our two drivers, Vanna and Thierry, roll with the punches and have been great to us. They have given us a lot of information on a country we knew so little about ahead of time. The guesthouse we stayed at in Siem Reap (Shadows of Angkor) had a wonderful staff. At first we thought it was a little bit weird that every single person knew which room we were staying in, but we soon came to love them for that. Our Willy Wonka-esque friend, who we initially thought was the manager, is the best thing to happen to Siem Reap since Angkor Wat. He spoke French and Khmer as his native language, was fluent in Thai, and was almost fluent in English. He would practice his English by telling us three girls a legend/story/'conte' about Cambodia almost every day. These stories would end up taking about 20 minutes and we never had a clue what he was talking about. One day he even took Leah fishing in the river, where they caught two catfish. We've only been gone from the city for a day and I miss him already!
Okay I guess that is only 4 things, but I elaborated quite a bit. I guess we can all conclude that I really enjoyed my time in Siem Reap. This morning we took a 6 hour bus to the capitol of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. It is very different here. Phnom Penh is a lot busier and a much bigger metropolis. There are no serene rides down 'River Road' or 20 minute story sessions with an elder Khmer. It is put your head down and go time. I have great faith that I will nestle into this little home for the next few days as well though and enjoy it thoroughly. We have 2 more days left in Cambodia and then we hop on a three-day boat ride down the Mekong River to Vietnam.
Thanks for letting me gush about my new love!
Thanks for letting me gush about my new love!
Monday, March 16, 2009
How to Get to Cambodia
Getting to Cambodia is no easy feat. Our first stop in the country was decidedly Siem Reap, the location of Angkor Wat. Unfortunately Bangkok Airways has the air monopoly there so the flights were stupidly expensive. Our next options were 1. by train or 2. by bus/tuk-tuk/taxi. The train, although at $0.60 was our cheapest option, was a longer trip and meant a possibly overnight at the border. After plenty of research we opted for trip number 2. I did a lot of research on this route: the prices we should expect, the places to go and most importantly the scams we were to come across. We came across plenty.
We woke up early, 4:45 AM, so we would have plenty of time to get to the border. I found out online what time the best buses left, so we went on one of those. That meant air-conditioning and a relatively clean bus to sleep in. The trip was a little over four, problem-free, hours and I slept most of the way.
We arrived, as expected, not at the border, but at a bus station near by. From there we took a tuk-tuk (cart on the back of a motorcycle) intending to go as close to the border as it was allowed. Here is where we ran into our first scams. Luckily, I had read that this would happen, so we were prepared. While driving to the border our tuk-tuk driver made a sudden right hand turn, taking us right into the parking lot of a travel agency. We were bombarded by men trying to sell us packaged deals to Cambodia. We repeated "no," "u-turn," and "take us to the border" but our driver just sat there. Finally they realized that we weren't going to give in and our driver drove us next door, to a large gated building labeled "Cambodian Consulate." I knew this would happen and I knew we did not need to go in. Our driver kept insisting that we needed to get visas there (so he could no doubt pocket the extra cash we would be charged for our fake visas), but we kept insisting that he drive us to the border. Finally, he gave in.
Upon arrival he fed us to the sharks. We were swarmed by men trying to carry our bags, help us find the offices, hold a sun umbrella, etc. They, if accepted, would expect money in return or possibly run off with our things. We told them, repeatedly, that we could do it on our own.
We made it to the building at the border without being hassled too much. We got into the much shorter 'Foreign Passport' line and went inside. A man wearing a pink shirt and baseball cap agreed with our decision on the foreign line and then disappeared. I was told, online ahead of time, that he would be there...and show up again later. After a short wait we were stamped out of Thailand and were officially in Cambodia!
We followed the researched directions, and those of the man in the pink shirt who had reappeared, and walked to the Cambodian visa building. This scam, as we knew ahead of time, would be our most difficult to deal with. We looked for our visa forms and made sure that we didn't receive them from anyone who would expect money for helping us out. The men in uniforms made us show them our passports and then gave us the forms. We filled them out and gave a crisp $20 bill, the price for a visa. Let me give a little side information here. The Cambodian currency is Riel (about 1,000 Riel=$0.25). Despite having their own currency US dollars are more often accepted there. So, after having used Thai Baht for the past 3 months, it was back to US Dollars. So, we handed over the 20 dollars and the men in uniform told us that we had to give 1,000 Thai Baht extra ($30!). I had read before hand that with the corruption in Cambodia, particularly that of the border town Poipet, it is very common for the Cambodian officers to lie about prices and pocket the money. Bribes are also a very popular form of currency. We stood our ground (or should I say, Brittany stood our ground) and said that we would only pay the $20 fee. They did not like this. They said that if we weren't going to pay the 1,000 Baht express fee then we had to pay the regular 200 Baht ($6) fee to get our visa in a single day. This is also not true. They would pocket that money. We said no. They were a little bit more mad. They said that we HAD to pay the 200 Baht fee otherwise we would have to wait for 2-3 days. We called their bluff and said we would wait.
We woke up early, 4:45 AM, so we would have plenty of time to get to the border. I found out online what time the best buses left, so we went on one of those. That meant air-conditioning and a relatively clean bus to sleep in. The trip was a little over four, problem-free, hours and I slept most of the way.
We arrived, as expected, not at the border, but at a bus station near by. From there we took a tuk-tuk (cart on the back of a motorcycle) intending to go as close to the border as it was allowed. Here is where we ran into our first scams. Luckily, I had read that this would happen, so we were prepared. While driving to the border our tuk-tuk driver made a sudden right hand turn, taking us right into the parking lot of a travel agency. We were bombarded by men trying to sell us packaged deals to Cambodia. We repeated "no," "u-turn," and "take us to the border" but our driver just sat there. Finally they realized that we weren't going to give in and our driver drove us next door, to a large gated building labeled "Cambodian Consulate." I knew this would happen and I knew we did not need to go in. Our driver kept insisting that we needed to get visas there (so he could no doubt pocket the extra cash we would be charged for our fake visas), but we kept insisting that he drive us to the border. Finally, he gave in.
Upon arrival he fed us to the sharks. We were swarmed by men trying to carry our bags, help us find the offices, hold a sun umbrella, etc. They, if accepted, would expect money in return or possibly run off with our things. We told them, repeatedly, that we could do it on our own.
We made it to the building at the border without being hassled too much. We got into the much shorter 'Foreign Passport' line and went inside. A man wearing a pink shirt and baseball cap agreed with our decision on the foreign line and then disappeared. I was told, online ahead of time, that he would be there...and show up again later. After a short wait we were stamped out of Thailand and were officially in Cambodia!
We followed the researched directions, and those of the man in the pink shirt who had reappeared, and walked to the Cambodian visa building. This scam, as we knew ahead of time, would be our most difficult to deal with. We looked for our visa forms and made sure that we didn't receive them from anyone who would expect money for helping us out. The men in uniforms made us show them our passports and then gave us the forms. We filled them out and gave a crisp $20 bill, the price for a visa. Let me give a little side information here. The Cambodian currency is Riel (about 1,000 Riel=$0.25). Despite having their own currency US dollars are more often accepted there. So, after having used Thai Baht for the past 3 months, it was back to US Dollars. So, we handed over the 20 dollars and the men in uniform told us that we had to give 1,000 Thai Baht extra ($30!). I had read before hand that with the corruption in Cambodia, particularly that of the border town Poipet, it is very common for the Cambodian officers to lie about prices and pocket the money. Bribes are also a very popular form of currency. We stood our ground (or should I say, Brittany stood our ground) and said that we would only pay the $20 fee. They did not like this. They said that if we weren't going to pay the 1,000 Baht express fee then we had to pay the regular 200 Baht ($6) fee to get our visa in a single day. This is also not true. They would pocket that money. We said no. They were a little bit more mad. They said that we HAD to pay the 200 Baht fee otherwise we would have to wait for 2-3 days. We called their bluff and said we would wait.
Our scammers
We sat down and talked about possibly just giving them the 200 Baht. Leah ran to the bathroom. Leah hadn't even come back yet and they already had processed our visas and given them back to us. Really? 2-3 days? At least for their own dignity/integrity we thought they would make us wait for 30 minutes. Nope. That is how corrupt things are.
With our fresh 20 dollar--not 50 dollar, not 26 dollar--visas we walked, with the pink shirted man next to us of course, to the immigration office. Here we filled out another form and waited in another line. I didn't really know what to expect here. The websites told me that sometimes they ask for money for unnecessary stamps and sometimes they let you by. I didn't know if we would get scammed or not. We didn't! We got stamped into Cambodia and were one step closer to finishing our trip.
This is where our pink shirted friend comes into play and another lesson on Cambodia is necessary. I don't really understand it completely myself, but I'll try to explain. Apparently Poipet, Cambodia's border town, is a sort of fiefdom. This comes into play with the transportation service. The people of Poipet know that many foreigners come through their town daily. Instead of allowing each foreigner to barter for low taxi prices to the city of Poipet they made a "rule/law" saying that all foreigners have to go through the Taxi Association at a fixed, expensive, price. It is in fact not illegal to use a non-association taxi, but it is not always a good idea. Apparently the Association will hassle the driver, possibly follow it, possibly do worse and often times you won't even make it all the way to your destination. Like I said, things are a bit corrupt here, and there is some sort of taxi mafia. But, back to our story.
Our pink shirted friend was a member of the association. He told us that we had to take the free shuttle from the border to the Transportation Terminal. It was decided, although corrupt and expensive, that it was smartest to comply. We took the shuttle and arrived at this huge building that was just about empty. We had done the border crossing pretty early, but it was still eerie how empty the place was. They told us that for the three of us the cost was $45 dollars. We were ready to pay but then heard the bad part of the deal. We would have to sit all three in the back seat of a Toyota Camry and they would pick up a hitchhiker along the way to sit in the front seat. Yeah right! We tried to argue for a long time about our extra passenger. We threatened to return to the border and find a different way of transportation. After a lot of discussion we begrudgingly complied.
We walked out to a display of beat-up cars. Brittany pointed to the cleanest one and said, "we want that one." They all laughed and said there was an order to the cars and we needed to take the next one. The next one ended up being the clean one and a bubbly Khmer (Khmer is same same as 'Cambodian') man hopped out of the driver seat. Leah jokingly demanded we see his license and everyone laughed. He seemed to be a fun guy and we were put at ease.
With our fresh 20 dollar--not 50 dollar, not 26 dollar--visas we walked, with the pink shirted man next to us of course, to the immigration office. Here we filled out another form and waited in another line. I didn't really know what to expect here. The websites told me that sometimes they ask for money for unnecessary stamps and sometimes they let you by. I didn't know if we would get scammed or not. We didn't! We got stamped into Cambodia and were one step closer to finishing our trip.
This is where our pink shirted friend comes into play and another lesson on Cambodia is necessary. I don't really understand it completely myself, but I'll try to explain. Apparently Poipet, Cambodia's border town, is a sort of fiefdom. This comes into play with the transportation service. The people of Poipet know that many foreigners come through their town daily. Instead of allowing each foreigner to barter for low taxi prices to the city of Poipet they made a "rule/law" saying that all foreigners have to go through the Taxi Association at a fixed, expensive, price. It is in fact not illegal to use a non-association taxi, but it is not always a good idea. Apparently the Association will hassle the driver, possibly follow it, possibly do worse and often times you won't even make it all the way to your destination. Like I said, things are a bit corrupt here, and there is some sort of taxi mafia. But, back to our story.
Our pink shirted friend was a member of the association. He told us that we had to take the free shuttle from the border to the Transportation Terminal. It was decided, although corrupt and expensive, that it was smartest to comply. We took the shuttle and arrived at this huge building that was just about empty. We had done the border crossing pretty early, but it was still eerie how empty the place was. They told us that for the three of us the cost was $45 dollars. We were ready to pay but then heard the bad part of the deal. We would have to sit all three in the back seat of a Toyota Camry and they would pick up a hitchhiker along the way to sit in the front seat. Yeah right! We tried to argue for a long time about our extra passenger. We threatened to return to the border and find a different way of transportation. After a lot of discussion we begrudgingly complied.
We walked out to a display of beat-up cars. Brittany pointed to the cleanest one and said, "we want that one." They all laughed and said there was an order to the cars and we needed to take the next one. The next one ended up being the clean one and a bubbly Khmer (Khmer is same same as 'Cambodian') man hopped out of the driver seat. Leah jokingly demanded we see his license and everyone laughed. He seemed to be a fun guy and we were put at ease.
Brittany and Vanna, at the start of our drive
We soon learned that our driver's name was Vanna (pronounced Wanna) and that he spoke English very well. We had heard horror stories of the road from Poipet to Siem Reap. It has only recently began to be paved. The first 30 minutes ran, literally, smoothly. Vanna made us laugh and we made him laugh. It turned out that he was married and spent half his time in Poipet and half in Siem Reap. He made the 3+ hour drive multiple times a day. At one point we asked him what he liked to do for fun at night. He told us sometimes he does karaoke with his friends. We asked him to sing and he refused, but then showed us that his rear-view mirror doubles as a karaoke machine. It was hilarious!
When we got a bit more into the drive the pavement started to vanish and dusty dirt roads appeared. We shared these roads with motorbikes, bicycles, tractors, pedestrians, you name it. Every time we came upon another person/vehicle in the road Vanna would honk 15 times and then pass them. He explained to me that honking in Cambodia is different than honking in the U.S. In Cambodia it is not a bad thing and is just meant to tell someone else you are behind them and ready to pass. It might be done for a different reason, but it is just as annoying to me!
the semi-paved part of the road; a man with a live pig on the back of his motorbike
We never ended up picking up a hitchhiker on the side of the road and Vanna eventually let me sit in the front seat. What a sweetie. We entered Siem Reap in under 4 hours and were just about finished with the journey. Leah and Brittany were sitting in the backseat, looking through the Lonely Planet guidebook, trying to find a guesthouse to tell Vanna to drop us off at, when he stopped the taxi.
We were in a small lot, outside of the city, full of tuk-tuks. I was afraid this would happen. Now we were going to be fed to the tuk-tuk drivers. We asked Vanna to bring us to a guesthouse but he said that the company had to drop us off there and that the tuk-tuk would be a free ride. Nothing is ever free. We reluctantly hopped in and a small Khmer man (teenager?) hopped in with us. Ugh.
We told him we didn't want him in there and wanted to go to a specific place (otherwise they pick the place and get a nice commission.) He said he had to come because the driver didn't speak English. I don't know if that was true or not, but it looked like we had no choice. We told our newest traveling companion to take us straight to the guesthouse, but I could tell he took a roundabout way as he told us his business. Yes, the tuk-tuk ride was free but he wanted us to employ him for the next few days. He wanted to take us around the Angkor temples or anywhere else we wanted to go. During his sales pitch our driver ran into a woman driving a motorbike. Her bike fell over and scraped the leg of our new friend. They tried to brush it off as no big deal and then he continued his pitch with a bleeding leg.
Conveniently, we arrived at the guesthouse just as he was finishing his sales pitch. Brittany and Leah went in to check it out while I guarded the bags. He told me that he hates when people go to guesthouses he doesn't choose because then they tend to use the tuk-tuk drivers that are stationed at the hotel. He started to get desperate.
Leah with our threatening tuk-tuk driver
Brittany and Leah concluded it was a good place to stay and when Leah approached the tuk-tuk our guy said to her, "Leah are you going to do me right or do me wrong?" He asked what time we wanted him to pick us up tomorrow. We kindly told him we didn't know our plans yet and couldn't make that decision. Now he got angry. He was saying that we were just going to use the guy and the hotel and that's not fair and he brought us there and blah blah blah. We asked for a phone number and said we would talk to him when we knew what our plans were. He didn't like that. We all started to leave then but Leah stayed and insisted we get his number. Apparently when it was just him and Leah he told her that if he, or any of his guys, saw us with another tuk-tuk driver we would have a problem on our hands. Nothing like a scary threat from someone when you're just getting settled into a new place!
After our threat we were nestled into our new place with three beds, free internet, and a Khmer manager that speaks French and acts a lot like Willy Wonka (the Johnny Depp version!) We haven't been using the tuk-tuk driver that threatened us, and have seen no problems yet!
Siem Reap/Angkor is a beautiful place. We have loved every minute of it thus far. The scams/corruption we encountered on the way here are in no way representative of the rest of the trip or country. Cambodia has a deep and dark history that we are learning more about everyday. However, despite the major problems it has had we have found nothing but great people and hospitality.
When we got a bit more into the drive the pavement started to vanish and dusty dirt roads appeared. We shared these roads with motorbikes, bicycles, tractors, pedestrians, you name it. Every time we came upon another person/vehicle in the road Vanna would honk 15 times and then pass them. He explained to me that honking in Cambodia is different than honking in the U.S. In Cambodia it is not a bad thing and is just meant to tell someone else you are behind them and ready to pass. It might be done for a different reason, but it is just as annoying to me!
the semi-paved part of the road; a man with a live pig on the back of his motorbike
We never ended up picking up a hitchhiker on the side of the road and Vanna eventually let me sit in the front seat. What a sweetie. We entered Siem Reap in under 4 hours and were just about finished with the journey. Leah and Brittany were sitting in the backseat, looking through the Lonely Planet guidebook, trying to find a guesthouse to tell Vanna to drop us off at, when he stopped the taxi.
We were in a small lot, outside of the city, full of tuk-tuks. I was afraid this would happen. Now we were going to be fed to the tuk-tuk drivers. We asked Vanna to bring us to a guesthouse but he said that the company had to drop us off there and that the tuk-tuk would be a free ride. Nothing is ever free. We reluctantly hopped in and a small Khmer man (teenager?) hopped in with us. Ugh.
We told him we didn't want him in there and wanted to go to a specific place (otherwise they pick the place and get a nice commission.) He said he had to come because the driver didn't speak English. I don't know if that was true or not, but it looked like we had no choice. We told our newest traveling companion to take us straight to the guesthouse, but I could tell he took a roundabout way as he told us his business. Yes, the tuk-tuk ride was free but he wanted us to employ him for the next few days. He wanted to take us around the Angkor temples or anywhere else we wanted to go. During his sales pitch our driver ran into a woman driving a motorbike. Her bike fell over and scraped the leg of our new friend. They tried to brush it off as no big deal and then he continued his pitch with a bleeding leg.
Conveniently, we arrived at the guesthouse just as he was finishing his sales pitch. Brittany and Leah went in to check it out while I guarded the bags. He told me that he hates when people go to guesthouses he doesn't choose because then they tend to use the tuk-tuk drivers that are stationed at the hotel. He started to get desperate.
Leah with our threatening tuk-tuk driverBrittany and Leah concluded it was a good place to stay and when Leah approached the tuk-tuk our guy said to her, "Leah are you going to do me right or do me wrong?" He asked what time we wanted him to pick us up tomorrow. We kindly told him we didn't know our plans yet and couldn't make that decision. Now he got angry. He was saying that we were just going to use the guy and the hotel and that's not fair and he brought us there and blah blah blah. We asked for a phone number and said we would talk to him when we knew what our plans were. He didn't like that. We all started to leave then but Leah stayed and insisted we get his number. Apparently when it was just him and Leah he told her that if he, or any of his guys, saw us with another tuk-tuk driver we would have a problem on our hands. Nothing like a scary threat from someone when you're just getting settled into a new place!
After our threat we were nestled into our new place with three beds, free internet, and a Khmer manager that speaks French and acts a lot like Willy Wonka (the Johnny Depp version!) We haven't been using the tuk-tuk driver that threatened us, and have seen no problems yet!
Siem Reap/Angkor is a beautiful place. We have loved every minute of it thus far. The scams/corruption we encountered on the way here are in no way representative of the rest of the trip or country. Cambodia has a deep and dark history that we are learning more about everyday. However, despite the major problems it has had we have found nothing but great people and hospitality.
A Week of Beach Hopping
Our week in Ko Phangan was a sort of "calm before the storm." It was decided that we would have 5 to 6 solid days of relaxation before our attempt at traveling through Cambodia and Vietnam (which I lovingly refer to as 'Bodes' and 'Nam.') Sun and relaxation is what we had indeed!
After our huge day of traveling Leah and I were looking forward to hanging out, stationary, for a bit with Brittany. We stayed at Beam Bungalows on the beach Hat Thien. Leah had her own bungalow and Brit and I shared one. Not only did we share it with one another, but we shared it with a dragon. I'm not one to exaggerate (...) but it wasn't really a dragon, just the world's largest gecko. It was honestly at least a foot long and as thick as my arm--and I've been lifting the old 5 pounders lately. At this bungalow we had a rusty fan and electricity for only a few hours--conveniently the electricity, and therefore the fan, was not in service during the hottest hours of the day or while we were sleeping at night. It worked though and we spent ample time at the beach and in the ocean.
We spent a day there and were over it. It was very secluded so we decided it was time for bigger and better things. Our next destination was the beach Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai. The plan was to board a cargo boat at 9 AM. When it finally appeared we stood on the beach and watched it turn around and go to the next beach. We ended up having to chase it, up a mountain, and over to the next beach. We caught it and were on our way.
The next beach was bigger than the first and had more options for eating and sleeping. We found a cheap place with 24 hour electricity, a ceiling fan, a flush toilet and a king sized bed for the three of us to share. It was absolutely perfect.
At first we thought we would spend only a little time in Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai and then move on to the next beach, but we decided to stay! This beach had great shopping, great restaurants, a great supply of banana shakes and a great beach. Unfortunately I was pretty burnt from the boat ride over, but I still managed to lay in the sun a bit. It was also a relatively quiet beach. The infamous full moon parties were going on at the other side of the island, so we were surrounded by more families and people looking to relax instead of to party.
One of the days at Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai we took a truck ride over to another beach, Bottle Beach, for the day. We had our standard fruit shakes, Thai food and sunning time. This was also a quiet beach but there wasn't much to do. It confirmed our suspicions that we were staying at the best beach.
Another exciting day-excursion was to our beach's waterfalls. We were told by a German man how to get there in broken English. On our way there we found ourselves in someone's backyard being barked and growled at by some gnarly looking dogs. They could smell my fear, I swear. We got to a creek, where our German friend told us to cross, but when we saw the water quality we changed our minds and turned back...through the death path of dogs. We ran into another man who I refused to talk to because you had to cross a path with a million giant spiders (are my fears coming out in this blog or what?) Brit and Leah found out, from him, a different path to the waterfalls and we went back through the dogs once again. We climbed up a "path" through the jungle. For me it took some nice deep breaths. We eventually reached our waterfall destination. They were a little smaller and dirtier than expected, but still a great sight to see! We turned around and made our way back.
At the end of our 6 day trip to the beaches of Ko Phangan we boarded another cargo boat towards the sister island of Ko Samui. Due to our "interesting" trip at the beginning of the week we booked plane tickets back to Bangkok. The airport is on Ko Samui. We got there early in the morning, layed on the beach for awhile and had some food. Then we made our way to the most beautiful airport. It had all these buildings that gave off a bungalow vibe. There were beautiful flowers everywhere. We had to walk outside, through streets lined with palm trees, to get to the various terminals. When we got to our terminal there were free Thai munchies and fruit juices waiting for us. We eventually boarded our plane and after an hour and a half were back to the chaos of Bangkok.
It was a relaxing week filled with sun and fun.
After our huge day of traveling Leah and I were looking forward to hanging out, stationary, for a bit with Brittany. We stayed at Beam Bungalows on the beach Hat Thien. Leah had her own bungalow and Brit and I shared one. Not only did we share it with one another, but we shared it with a dragon. I'm not one to exaggerate (...) but it wasn't really a dragon, just the world's largest gecko. It was honestly at least a foot long and as thick as my arm--and I've been lifting the old 5 pounders lately. At this bungalow we had a rusty fan and electricity for only a few hours--conveniently the electricity, and therefore the fan, was not in service during the hottest hours of the day or while we were sleeping at night. It worked though and we spent ample time at the beach and in the ocean.
We spent a day there and were over it. It was very secluded so we decided it was time for bigger and better things. Our next destination was the beach Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai. The plan was to board a cargo boat at 9 AM. When it finally appeared we stood on the beach and watched it turn around and go to the next beach. We ended up having to chase it, up a mountain, and over to the next beach. We caught it and were on our way.
The next beach was bigger than the first and had more options for eating and sleeping. We found a cheap place with 24 hour electricity, a ceiling fan, a flush toilet and a king sized bed for the three of us to share. It was absolutely perfect.
At first we thought we would spend only a little time in Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai and then move on to the next beach, but we decided to stay! This beach had great shopping, great restaurants, a great supply of banana shakes and a great beach. Unfortunately I was pretty burnt from the boat ride over, but I still managed to lay in the sun a bit. It was also a relatively quiet beach. The infamous full moon parties were going on at the other side of the island, so we were surrounded by more families and people looking to relax instead of to party.
One of the days at Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai we took a truck ride over to another beach, Bottle Beach, for the day. We had our standard fruit shakes, Thai food and sunning time. This was also a quiet beach but there wasn't much to do. It confirmed our suspicions that we were staying at the best beach.
Another exciting day-excursion was to our beach's waterfalls. We were told by a German man how to get there in broken English. On our way there we found ourselves in someone's backyard being barked and growled at by some gnarly looking dogs. They could smell my fear, I swear. We got to a creek, where our German friend told us to cross, but when we saw the water quality we changed our minds and turned back...through the death path of dogs. We ran into another man who I refused to talk to because you had to cross a path with a million giant spiders (are my fears coming out in this blog or what?) Brit and Leah found out, from him, a different path to the waterfalls and we went back through the dogs once again. We climbed up a "path" through the jungle. For me it took some nice deep breaths. We eventually reached our waterfall destination. They were a little smaller and dirtier than expected, but still a great sight to see! We turned around and made our way back.
At the end of our 6 day trip to the beaches of Ko Phangan we boarded another cargo boat towards the sister island of Ko Samui. Due to our "interesting" trip at the beginning of the week we booked plane tickets back to Bangkok. The airport is on Ko Samui. We got there early in the morning, layed on the beach for awhile and had some food. Then we made our way to the most beautiful airport. It had all these buildings that gave off a bungalow vibe. There were beautiful flowers everywhere. We had to walk outside, through streets lined with palm trees, to get to the various terminals. When we got to our terminal there were free Thai munchies and fruit juices waiting for us. We eventually boarded our plane and after an hour and a half were back to the chaos of Bangkok.
It was a relaxing week filled with sun and fun.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Longest Day of Travel...Ever!
We began our journey by taking a taxi from our house to Nontamburi Pier. This proved to be quick and painless. We were soon on a water taxi going downtown. The water taxi is an inexpensive way of travel that many locals use. You cut down on traffic time and there is always a breeze, even on the hottest of days. We quickly hopped off at the Phra Atit Pier while the boat stopped momentarily.
Water Taxi
After a 10 minute walk we made it to Khao San road--the backpacker's mecca. It's a street filled with shopping stalls, hostels, restaurants and Westerners. We went to the specific "travel agent" where Brittany got her train ticket...a scam-free place. The only train tickets left for that night's train were for 1 top bed and 1 bottom bed. Bottom beds are supposed to be better, and a little more expensive, but what can you do? We got the joint train-bus-boat ticket and had a refreshing beverage before making our way to the train station.
We took another taxi from Khao San to Hua Lampong--Bangkok's biggest train station. We were a few hours early so we sat our gear down and sat on the floor, like everyone else. Station guards were constantly walking around the big open-aired room making sure there was an aisle down the center of the mass of people and that no one was laying down or sleeping. They were not afraid to use their whistles.
Train Station
Fifteen minutes before our train was scheduled to leave we grabbed our stuff and made our way to Car 9. The inside of the train car was seafoam green. It looked like it had seen better decades. Leah and I found our seats and realized that when the ticket seller informed us our seats would be together she lied. After assuring a Thai man her ticket was also a bottom bunk she switched spots and sat across from me.
There are huge open windows next to the seats and we were practically an arm's length away from the villages that we passed. Every 25 minutes or so the train stopped to let more passengers on. At each stop local vendors walked down the aisles trying to sell food and drinks before the train took off for the next stop. An oscillating fan propped on the ceiling created the only cool-air flow. It's job was to fight against the heat from the hot train and hotter outside air seeping through the huge open window.
Some pictures of the inside/outside of our train.
Leah at her original seat; the narrow aisle in the middle of the train; big window and our neighbors; one of the stops, so close to the tracks
At 7 PM Leah and I started falling asleep in our train seats. One of the men working in our car came up to us and said, "sleep?" We said yes and, like a magician, he turned our seats into a set of bunk beds. 'Little Legs' over here got the top bunk. As soon as I crawled up to it I had my doubts that I would remain safely there for the rest of the night. Despite the feeling of near-derailment many times throughout the night, my bags and I were safe! They were not optimal sleeping conditions, but I managed to crank out a few 20 minute naps during the night.
Top Bunk! Me and my little legs with all my gear--very comfortable
Bottom Bunk and
Oscillating ceiling fan, while everyone else had the blue curtain closed
Oscillating ceiling fan, while everyone else had the blue curtain closed
At 4:30 AM, eleven train ride hours later, we arrived in Surat Thani. We knew that when we got off the train we needed to find a bus. So, we followed the rest of the backpacking Westerners and waited for 30 minutes for our bus. Eventually we all got on and drove somewhere 20 minutes away that was right on the water. We got pink stickers--signaling our final destination as Ko Phangan. It was about 5:30 AM at this point and we knew our ferry wasn't leaving until 8, so we fell asleep on our bags.
The "Holding Pen" Pier
At 7:30 a whistle blew and we were ushered with the other pink stickers into a double decker bus. Apparently we weren't at the pier yet, just a holding station of sorts. Leah and I boarded the bus, exhausted. I assumed this would be a 15 minute ride, so at minute 45 I got nervous. Leah was convinced we were all being shipped off to forced labor camps while I thought we for sure got on the wrong bus and were headed to either Cambodia or a far southern Thailand vacation destination. The bus ride lasted 1.5 HOURS! Plenty of Lex-freak-out-time.
When we got to the pier it was 9 AM, well past when we were told the ferry would leave. We got on the huge boat and snagged ourselves some seats in a non-crowded area. We waited another 20-30 minutes for more bus loads of people and then set off. The breeze felt great and I could barely feel the sun giving my face and shoulders the severe burns I would later find. After 1.5 hours we docked at Ko Samui briefly. Then another 45 minutes until we got to our island, Ko Phangan! At this point we were told by Brit to find an internet cafe and check email to see where she ended up and how to get there. The journey was almost complete--or so we thought.
The Ferry at the Actual Pier
The island of Ko Phangan is relatively remote. There are beaches with accommodations around the perimeter of the island, while inland is just mountains and jungles. Our email told us that in order to get where Brit was we had to take a sathorng (pick up truck with benches in the bed of the truck) to the busiest beach, Had Rin, and then take a boat from there to our beach, Had Thien. We were getting ready to throw the towel in, but we had no choice.
We found a sathorng going to Had Rin with two other Western girls. They told the driver in loud English to follow their two guy friends on a motorbike. After 4 minutes the driver stopped following the motorbike and the girls freaked out. They stopped the driver and yelled at him in English he didn't understand. He followed them back to the pier. More confusion ensued. Leah told them that he probably knew where he was going better than the guys on the motorbike. They didn't get it. After a few more misunderstandings it turned out that they were not really going to Had Rin, just somewhere "on the way." Ugh. He followed the guys "their way" and then we finally made our way to Had Rin.
When we got there the boat drivers said we needed to wait for more people. We waited 30 minutes and no one came. We were hot, tired and frustrated!
A man then approached us saying that he could drive us there but we would also need to wait for more people, so it was less expensive for us, and worth his time. At this point we were willing to pay a whole 9 dollars each instead of wait for others so we could be in an air conditioned truck instead of a sunny boat. So, we took him up on his offer.
We got into the back seat of his pickup truck and took off. Along the way we picked up an older Thai woman that our driver seemed to know. Then we got to the interior of the island. Wow. Now I know why people take boats. The roads are not even remotely paved and go almost completely vertical at some points. This was also clearly the first time our driver had ever driven a stick shift (like I should talk...). We were stalled several times mid-mountain, causing us to roll a little bit backwards down the giant hill. I was almost sure we wouldn't make it. The car was rocking back and forth along the washed out roads, what would keep it from just rolling off the side of the mountain? After a solid 20 minutes, rarely going over 5 MPH, the driver stopped and got out. The woman followed. Leah and I stayed in the truck. They came back and explained, with a language barrier struggle, that they couldn't drive on the road anymore because it was too washed out. Now we had to walk 5 more minutes and follow the woman to our bungalows.
view from our truck, top of the mountain; note the flying position of the item hanging from the rear view mirror as we charge the road; where the driver dropped us off, at the top of the mountain
We reluctantly got out into the midday heat. Our Thai woman popped up her sun umbrella, took off her shoes and jogged down the steep "road." The roads are made of loose dirt/sand and are full of holes. That, mixed with the vertical factor, made them very difficult for Leah and I to go down, especially with all of our gear too. And this barefoot woman was
lightly jogging down. Sometimes it looked like she was just floating in the air with her umbrella, kind of like Mary Poppins. We eventually followed suit, took off our shoes, and headed down the mountain. It was not a 5 minute walk. After almost 10 minutes she led us to a narrow path to the jungle, pointed and said "Beam Bungalows"--the name of the place we were staying. Hell no! We were not about to venture into the jungle by ourselves, so she reluctantly joined us. That whole time I couldn't help but have fits of nervous laughter...and then we reached the barbed wire.
Leah following a barefoot Mary Poppins down the mountain; our next obstacle
Yes, a barbed wire fence blocked us off from the rest of our trail. That didn't stop Mary Poppins. She held down the barbed wire and had us climb over it. It was ridiculous. She pointed again to where we were supposed to go and started headed in a different direction. We saw more barbed wire ahead and dragged her along with us. The woman spoke no more than 20 words in English so Leah and I could freely talk out the whole situation together. Leah kept yelling out things like "and now we are entering the lion's den" and my nervous laughter didn't stop.
We continued for 5 more minutes down the mountain through the jungle until we were walking through the backyard of various huts. Mrs. Poppins was chatting back and forth, in Thai, with people in a few of the huts and then stopped. We made it to the bungalows!
We got a key from the Thai bungalow manager, dropped off our things and went to find Brittany at the beach. We guessed the wrong path to the beach, but eventually made our way through a few trees. We saw Brit, waiting for us, and our journey was finished!
Restaurant on the Beach
After it took us more than 24 hours to get there, we were in paradise. Blue clear waters, white sand beaches, banana shakes!
Needless to say, we bought plane tickets for the return to Bangkok.
Also, for those wondering:
TAXI;
WATER TAXI;
WALK;
TAXI;
TRAIN;
BUS;
SIT/WAIT;
BUS;
BOAT;
SATHORNG;
SIT/WAIT;
TRUCK;
MARY POPPINS HIKE;
WE'RE THERE!
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