This semester has less holidays and long weekends than the last one, so I try to make the most of my time off! I now tutor six of seven days a week (not Friday because I have gate duty at school) so I never have a full day off. I do enjoy being busy though, and the extra cash is always nice. I have had three long weekends though, so here is the gist of them!
In June, two of my good friends from UCSB, Casey and Emily, backpacked Thailand for six weeks! I played hooky for a day and was able to meet them in Bangkok their first day in the country, and we zipped off to an island that I went to back in December called Ko Samet. We were able to meet up with our other UCSBer BC, and Jenna was there the same weekend as well! Gauchos took over the island!!!
Five Gauchos!
Ko Samet!
Later in Casey and Emu’s Thai journey, they were able to get off the tourist trail and experience real Isan with me in Khon Kaen! They just so happened to be here for the 4th of July (which also happened to be the same weekend as Thailand’s elections, meaning bars, restaurants, and clubs were closed for the entire weekend as well as a ban on the selling of alcohol). It was SO amazing to have them here and I didn’t realize how much I missed my friends and home. They reminded me that I have SO much to look forward to and SO much to come home to. THANKS CASEY AND EMU!
Chocolate covered banana at the Chatuchak!
Buddhist Lent: Bangkok! For our four day weekend in July, Jess and I spent a day in Kanchanburi to see the famous Seven Falls (seven tiered waterfalls), then spent three days in Bangkok. Bangkok mostly consisted of being a lot of farang food (Mexican, Hardrock Café, Subway.. anything good we could get our hands on). But we also went to Bangkok’s famous Chatuchak Market, one of the worlds biggest street markets. Every Saturday, this huge arena/parking lot thing is filled with thousands of people, food stalls, vendors, and huts selling everything from art to animals to purses to clothes to incense to watches.. EVERYTHING and its seriously HUGE! Anything you could ever imagine is at this market. We spent a few hours strolling around and Jess bought numerous souvenirs to bring home in October and I bought a purse to use in the real world. We visited the Jim Thompson house, a museum in Bangkok. It is a complex of various old Thai structures that the American businessman Jim Thompson collected in from all parts of Thailand in the 1950s and 60s. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Thailand. Then of course, we spent our last night in Bangkok wrecking havoc on Khao San Rd., the backpacker hub of Bangkok. Overall, it was a great weekend get-away.
Waterfalls in Kanchanburi
Queen’s Birthday/Mothers Day: Three day weekend in Chiang Mai! I love love LOVE Chiang Mai and haven’t been back since Songkran in April. Jess and I took the 12 hour bus ride and arrived in Chiang Mai bright and early on Friday morning. The first thing we did was go up to Doi Suthep, a temple up high on a mountain that over looks the entire city of Chiang Mai. After, we went to the farang used book stores (I picked up the next three True Blood books.. YEEES!), ate some AMAZING food (Mexican and farang), and did a full day Thai cooking course. We spent all Saturday out on the farm where we cooked a seven course Thai meal.. EACH! Each participant made their own appetizer, stir fry, noodle, curry paste and curry dish, soup, dessert. I made papaya salad, fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, massaman curry, som tam, and mango with sticky rice. All pretty tasty and now I can make Thai food back home (hopefully)! I spent Sunday strolling the famous Sunday Night Bazaar with Jenna, Katie, and Bradley, two girls that teach at the same school as Jenna! I’m so glad that we were all able to meet up and spend parts of the weekend together. The night bazaar was AMAZING, I’ll definitely be going back to Chiang Mai to buy all my gifts and souvenirs here! More handmade items and crafts, much nicer than Bangkok. Now that I know how easy it is to get to Chiang Mai, I expect to be going back a time or two more while I’m in Thailand. Jess and I were very tired for school on Monday (and an hour late since our bus arrived back to Khon Kaen Monday morning), but our Thai teachers held down the fort until we arrived.
Doi Suthep
Out on the farm!
Making Papaya Salad
I love long weekends :) and thank GOODNESS there are like ten next semester!
I’ve been in Thailand for over ten months now, and I’ve come to realize there are a number of things that made my jaw drop when I first arrived that no longer have that effect.
Motorbikes
What I used to think of as a dangerous toy, is now a way of life. With multiple functions!
A means of transporting a family of 1,2,3,4,5,6...the possibilities are endless! Two grown adults, a teenager, a newborn, and the dog on the same bike! And not a single one of them wearing a helmet. Who needs a car seat or seatbelt when you have.. nothing. Mom is often driving the motorbike with one hand and holding the baby with the other. Or Dad driving with the toddler standing between his legs.
Thai people are very comfortable on motorbikes, so comfortable in fact that the people sitting on the back multitask. As well as hanging on for the ride, they can eat a bowl of rice, text, read, or do homework, all at the same time (helmet free of course).
Wearing a skirt? You better side saddle it!
Interested in having a mobile restaurant? Of course! Just hook on a grill and drive around town looking for hungry customers. Easy as hook and ride!
Need to move anything? Heavy bag of rice? Furniture? Buckets of vegetable? Its as easy as 1,2,3.. load it on the motorbike!
My morning tutoring job on Sundays picks me up at my house. I was shocked when I saw that Mom was picking me up on her motorbike for our first session, with no helmet for teacher! I still get a little nervous, but now, I look forward to sitting on the back of the bike every week and its normal. (Don’t worry Mom, it’s a very short ride and she drives extra careful with Teacher Chelsea on the back. Uh oh, I guess I should prepare for a lecture on this one).
Thanks Google!
Again, Google.
This is a little extreme, but I wouldn't doubt it!
Honking
Cars, songtells, motorbikes, and tuk-tuks are always honking their horns. The horn has a very different meaning here than in America. Back home, you lay on the horn in frustration and anger to say “YOU *&%$#!*&!!!!” In Thailand, they use the horn to say a friendly “Hey! I’m here on your right.” Or “hey, need a ride?” While standing out on the street, I hear constant waves of honking horns and I’ve gotten very used to it.
Your name is whaaaat?
Punch. Dream. Gun. Premier. Title. Fifa. Kungfu. Radar. Monkey. Boss. Words I picked out of a hat? Nope, names of my students! Other kids at my school include G-Force, Disney, Tomcruise (one word), Pot, Pretty, … Bizarre celebrity baby names no longer seem so far-fetched.
Bugs
Pre-Thailand, if a fly or ant had been on my dinner plate, I would have pitched the meal and would have rather been hungry than to eat it. In Thailand, bugs are unavoidable and I’m constantly being bitten my mosquitoes if I don’t wear repellent and have even gotten a few ant bites. So a fly on my rice is the least of my worries. I shoo it away and continue eating. Normal.
Photo Flash: Pictures
Every once in a while (more so while traveling), someone will ask to have their picture taken with us, and I have gotten very used to this happening. Whats weirder though is when they take candid pictures of us out and about. At least give me some warning so I can give you my good side! I always wondered what they did with these pictures.. show them to their friends saying “Ha, look at these farangs!” maybe? Recently, the founder of my school informed Jess and I that she came across our picture on the internet, someone had snapped a candid photo of us while in a public bus/mini van on the way to see some waterfalls in Kanchanburi last month and posted the picture on their blog. Strange? Yes. The fact that my head boss came across it on some random Thai blog.. even stranger. So strange in fact that I should have expected it.
80-20 rule of understanding
I’ve been here for over ten months, and I still only understand about 20% of what is going on around me, being left clueless for the other 80. I am pick of the gist of a conversation, but for the most part, I’m pretty much in the dark about whats being said. Along with me not understand much of what’s going on, the 80-20 rule may also at times apply to my students. So we have a mutual understanding of not understanding.
Feelin hot hot HOT
Its hot and humid, ALL THE TIME! Rainy season, cold season, hot season, it all feels the same to me, hot, hotter, and even hotter. I wont bring home any of the clothes I’ve been wearing here and my hair is unmanageable. I’ve come to accept the fact that while I’m in Thailand, I’m always sweating and my hair always going to be more of a mad-scientist style.
L = N
T. Chelsea: “Dream, what did you do this weekend?
Dream: “I go to CentrAN!”
It used to drive me crazy, but now I even call Central Plaza mall “Centran”. I’m not exactly sure why, but Thai people often pronounce the “L” as the “N” sound. My student Title spells his name T-I-T-L-E but it is pronounced “Titan”, which is a cooler name anyways. Pineapple is pineappun. The girl I tutor on Monday in fifth grade spells her name Gal Gal but we call her Gun Gun.
Magical White Powder
I often arrive to school in the morning and instantly greeted by a dozen or so white-powdered-faced children. Did they get in a fight with a sack of flour? Nope, baby powder to absorb the moisture and beat the heat! I've even grown accustom to this trick and often splash a little of the magic white powder on myself while running out the door to stay fresh.
Ice in Beer I'm still not a fan of this one. But its hot. It makes sense. Cool your beverage down with some cubes of ice. Better that than warm.
Tonight, my Thai friend invited Jess and I to dinner at her house. She prepared an amazing Thai dinner for us, massaman curry (because she knows I love that curry dish), a tofu and pine nut dish, spicy pork, and a pork stew. Pat is a teacher at the university and invited seven of her students to join us so Jess and I could meet some Thai students our age. One of the girls spoke excellent English because she lived in New York for three months earlier this year through a work study program at Khon Kaen University. Even with the little Thai that I know and the little English the other girls knew, we were able to relate on a few key topics.
Harry Potter. Jess asked if they liked it, and they were so excited and told us they saw the movie already. Personally, I’m not too into Harry Potter, so I asked them if they liked “Twilight” (I LOVE Twilight) and the girl next to me looked me in the eyes and said “You like werewolf or vampire?” “OOOH, werewolf!!” They are vampire fans, of course. Because of the pale skin and everything.
The girls asked what state Jess and I were from. When I tell them I’m from California, the girl next to me breaks out in “California Girls”. Katy Perry is constantly giving me an instant reputation and standard to live up to.
The Biebster.. Justin Bieber. They love him! “Eeenie Meenie Miney Mo, what does that mean?” I had a fun time explaining the Justin Bieber’s lyrics of “Eenie Meenie“ and how it’s a children’s game in America, but the meaning of it in the song.
Boys. Apparently they think Korean men are more attractive than Thai men, because they supposedly get a lot of plastic surgery to be better looking. They also think Captain America is VERY handsome.
We continued dinner with some more pop culture, Taylor Swift, and other celebrity gossip. Note: If you’re not sure what to talk about with a young Thai adult, bring up either a. Justin Bieber. Or b. Any other celebrity/pop hit song, I guarantee they know more about them than you do!
After getting resettled back in Khon Kaen and into my school routine after having two months of traveling, I was faced with a new unexpected decision. Jess and I often enjoy fantasizing and discussing our ideas about the places we want to go and the things we want to do when we’re done with Thailand and we both realized that this time was nearing. I use to think I only had two options, go home to California or go somewhere else. But then I realized that I had another choice, to stay in Khon Kaen. It was an option I never even considered considering but here I was at the beginning of the semester, actually thinking about it.
From the very first day of school, my Thai teacher T. Nim, would at some point during the school day say to me “Teacher Chelsea, stay one year!” At first I’d laugh it off and say, “I don’t think so T. Nim.. I miss my friends and family.” She was very persistent with presenting the idea (but never in a pressing way, just making it clear that she thought I should stay).
The next week.. “Teacher Chelsea, stay one year! I get you A LOT of special class, make A LOT of money then can go to America.” I’d respond with “Maybe T. Nim, not sure. Need to think.”
The following week.. “Teacher Chelsea, stay! Good for you and good for kids!” "Maaaaybe T. Nim, maybe." She could sense I was caving in.
Finally after a few weeks of bringing it up, I told T. Nim after lunch.. “Teacher Nim, I want to stay one year.” T. Nim squealed with delite, she was ecstatic and rushed to tell the other teachers. She basically single handed talked me into staying another five months.
So you may have already heard but its true.. I decided to commit to another five months to finish the school year. Instead of coming home in October/November, I’ll be coming home in March/April. This decision was a very tough one for me, I made numerous pros and cons lists weighing many different options, I talked to numerous friends and family members and of course had lengthy conversations about it with Jess, who had already booked her flight home in October. I was beginning to get very overwhelmed and anxious when thinking about what to do after Thailand, then with the thought of if staying longer was right for me. My body began responding to this stress by breaking out in not one but TWO fever blisters (that’s often how my body responds to stress and also when my immune system is weak), as well as different colds/infections that I needed to make different trips to the pharmacy for. After I sat down with the Head of the English Program and committed to teach the second semester, it was like a weight was lifted. Its funny, I remember when I first arrived, two girls that were teaching at my school said they had been teaching here for two or three years. My instant reaction: my jaw dropped and I thought to myself “WHAAAT?! Why?! Khon Kaen for three years? That’s just crazy”. Now here I was, making the commitment to stay longer.. but I’m leaving in March, I promise.
At first I thought I made this decision just to put off “real world” and to prolong the decision of “whats next?”. But I had many other factors play into this decision.
One: I’ve grown very attached to my kids! I can’t imagine leaving them half way through a school year to a brand new teacher, I feel like I would be abandoning them. I care about all my kids so much, I have a GREAT group this year and I think they are the cutest/smartest/funniest Kindergarteners in all of Thailand.
Two: My Thai teacher.. T Nim is AMAZING! We teach more as a team than two separate teachers. I know I wouldn’t be staying longer if I wasn’t with T Nim. She’s an amazing teacher, she is very patient, warmhearted, generous, and very creative with her teaching methods. She helps me be a better teacher by constantly giving me new ideas of how to teach. She very fun to work with and is even helping me out with my Thai! I couldn’t be happier in the classroom! Plus, she brings me surprised about once a week, sometimes with fruit (she gave me half a watermellon on Friday), snacks (she knows I like ham sandwiches), and bracelets from a Thai town she visited on the weekend. Yep, she's amazing.
Three: Special Class.. T Nim sure stayed true to her word and has hooked me up with LOTS of special class (special class is just another word for tutoring). I’m making practically double what I made last semester and will get a raise for staying over a year next semester. I’ve made myself a budget and I’m hoping to be able to stick to it and come home with a little money, as well as have some extra money to do some traveling in October, Christmas, and March. If I were to come home in October like originally planned, I would come home with a big empty wallet.
Four: Travel! I’ve been to most places that I want to go in Asia, but I would like to do Malaysia and maybe another country. When’s the next time I’ll be in Asia after this teaching experience? Probably not for a while, so may as well go to as many places as possible!
Five: Various things.. Khon Kaen International Marathon in January! I’d like to get PADI (scuba diving) certified here, do more Thai islands, learn more Thai, and I’m looking to create some sort of community service project.. still brain storming ideas on that one but hopefully I’ll find something!
Six: This is a special life experience and why not stay an extra four months! I’m happy here, I like school and I love traveling. Plus, I’d rather come home when its warmer (rather than cold winter!). Life is easy here, everything I need to can buy at 7/11 (bus tickets, pay for flights, stamps, credit for my phone), I’ve gotten into the swing of school, and I really have no worries or stresses here, other than how to make my hair work in this humidity. Since I’ve done second semester already, I know that its SUPER easy. We have many long weekends and of the five and a half months, I have 6 weeks off (2 and a half in October and 3ish at Christmas). I’m feeling really good about the decision to stay, I feel that its right for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I miss home SO much! I miss Mexican food, having a kitchen, cheese, working internet, baking, walking the dog, driving a car to work, watching the news in English, shopping for cute clothes and having it actually fit, Taco Tuesdays, American sports, couch time, Trader Joes, exercising outside, listening to music on the radio, normal weather, normal human interactions (normal American interactions I should say.. culture is different here so people interact differently), the Pacific Ocean, blending in, and of course my friends and family!! I’ve officially been in Thailand for nine months and I know one thing is for sure, my friends and family will always be there for me to welcome me home with open arms (and hopefully a burrito in one hand and a margarita in the other). I wouldn’t have made it this far without all of your support and encouragement and I think I have the most amazing friends in the world! So thank YOU for being a positive influence in my life even when I’m across the world, I love getting emails/messages/facebook notifications/ picture comments/ blog comments/skype calls from friends and family, it reminds me that you’re thinking of me and that I have amazing friends/family and support system. And although I’ve made the decision to stay longer, I am extremely looking forward to my epic return in March/April… California better be ready for me by then!
PS. I know where I'll be for the next eight months.. visitors are welcomed and encouraged! :)
PHEW! I’m finally caught up on my blog after two months of being back in Khon Kaen!
KHON KAEN UPDATE!
My Class: The school year in Thailand begins in May and ends in March (meaning their summer break is a few months earlier than ours, March – May.. that’s when its hot season here), so we just started a new semester! I’m physically in the same classroom as I was last semester, but I have a different Thai teacher and new kids. My Thai teacher has been working at Patanadek for a number of years and is so warm and friendly.. I LOVE working with her! My kids are great, not nearly as rowdy as my class last semester and I love coming to school everyday. I have 26 kids in my class, 15 boys and 11 girls.
"Smile, T. Chelsea's Special Class!"
Tutoring: Along with teaching every weekday, I decided to pick up some extra tutoring jobs to make a little extra money. On Mondays, Jess and I take a brother and sister from grade 3 and 5 to Central Plaza for an hour and a half to practice speaking English. Its really a sweet deal, Jess takes one kid while I take the other and we often go to grab dinner (which the kids treat us to), and go to the book store. No worksheets and no need to prep, just conversation! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I tutor at the school. The school sent letters home at the beginning of the semester asking if parents were interested in having their child learn English for an extra hour after school with me and three other teachers. They had more students sign up this semester than ever before so the classes are move overcrowded than usual. I have nine or ten kids each session and I try to make the classes fun by starting out with a movement or song (Hokey Pokey, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, ect), milk break provided by the school, then a game, and finish with an easy coloring worksheet. Some days are rougher than others, the students generally sign up for two days a week so I get a different combination of kids every class. Of course the days with my trouble makers are more of a challenge and an extra hour of school is difficult for some students to handle. On Sundays, I do more tutoring both with students I had last semester, so they are in grade 1 now. On Sunday mornings, JJs mom picks me up on her motorbike and drives me to their shop. The family has a bedding shop near the night market and across the street from a high school, so JJ and I go study at the school. We work on workbooks and worksheets but I always try to bring at least one game. On Sunday afternoons, Tan’s mom drops him off at my place and we decided what we want to do for the next hour and a half, walk to central or play games, whatever we want to do. Tutoring is sure keeping me busy but I love having extra one-on-one time with the kids, its a lot lot of fun!
Wai Kru Day: Wai Kru (“wai” is the Thai respect bow and “kru” means teacher) ceremony is a Thai ritual in which students pay respects to their teachers in order to express gratitude and is held at the beginning of the semester. My Thai teacher helped my students make footed trays out of flowers which were presented to us teachers at the ceremony. The ceremony began with a Buddhist prayer and followed by the students’ recitation of the Wai Rru chant, which expresses respect and gratitude to the teachers and asks for the teachers’ blessing in their studies. After, a representative of each class presented the teachers with an offering of flowers, candles, and joss sticks arranged on the pedestalled trays. It was a special day and I felt very honored and respected as a teacher!
This semester is FLYING by but I’m loving every minute of it!
Food: I ate alot of fried noodles and a lot of chicken satay in peanut sauce
Travelers: I met only ONE other American in Bali! Mostly Australians
Cost: Accommodations were much more expensive in Thailand, probably because the quality was nicer. And everywhere we stayed included a free breakfast!
My Favorite Thing: Beaches and culture, all on one island! Funny occurrence: Multiple Asian people/families (mostly from China) asking for me to join in on their family picture. I'm a celebrity!
Alysha and I took an early flight from Bangkok to Bali on the morning of April 26. We spent the next 12 days running around Bali and spent three of those days on a small island off of Lombok, Indonesia called Gili Trawangan! Here are some highlights from our trip!
After spending our first few days in Kuta (Bali's most touristy destination), we went up North to Pemuteran for snorkeling. We took a tourist bus up north for a town, then a Bemo (Bali's public bus) to the town of Pemuteran. The Bemo is more of a shady van without doors but it wasnt bad. It dropped us off at a guest house which was more of a resort, probably the nicest place I've stayed on the entire 2 month trip! It had a pool and gave us amazing choices for the free breakfast. The next morning, Alysha and I headed out for our snorkeling tour. Along with two couples from Europe that were diving and a solo traveler from A European country I had never heard of, we had the boat to ourselves. We went to three different spots and the Indonesian guides showed us to the cool fish and coral.. it was hands down the most amazing snorkeling I have ever seen in my life! Coral and fish of every color, its going to be hard to beat. It was an amazing underwater world!
Next we went to Ubud, located amongst the rice paddies and the steep ravines in the central foothills. One of Bali's major arts and culture centers, it has developed a large tourism industry due to the movie "Eat, Pray, Love". While in Ubud, we went to see a traditional Balinese dance, ate yummy Bali food, explored the rice fields, and shopped! I figured out how to bargain and finally become comfortable with the currency, and got a few pieces of fabric to bring home. I found many home decor pieces that would have loved to get but didn't have enough space in my bag. We stayed at a small guesthouse that was mentioned in my Lonely Planet that served us free breakfast, wahoo! (Side note: While leaving Ubud, we were at the bus station when I recognized the voice of our President on breaking news on the television announcing the killing of OBL. This was the only TV I saw on the entire trip and the only piece of news I heard. I think this will be a "where were you" moment for me)
Next stop, Gili Trawangan! We took a four hour boat ride to Lombok’s largest island of the set of three Gili Islands. We had heard good things about Gili T from other travelers (as well as from Lonely Planet) and wanted to spend a few days here. The island is truly a tropical paradise, coral-fringed with white sand beaches and crystal turquoisewater and a rainbow assortment of reef fish. There are no motorized vehicles on the island and the main means of transportation are bicycles and cidomo, a small horsedrawn carriage. Gili T has only become popular for travelers sometime in the past twenty years, so it was touristy but not overwhelmingly so in that we felt like we were still in Indonesia (however, we could tell that tourism could possibly ruin the beauty of this place in the future.. we feel really lucky we went when we did!). The island is lined with numerous scuba diving centers (very popular there), places to eat, and accommodations. We spent our days on the white sand beaches, walking around the island, drinking smoothies, and running around the night life. On our day to leave, I had slept through my alarm but miraculously woke up ten minutes before our boat was to leave to take up to Lombok. Alysha and I frantically packed our stuff, which was more an act of rushing to stuff our various belongings in our already stuffed bags, threw them on our backs, and bolted to the boat. We boarded in the clothes we fell asleep in and looked a bit messy but at least we had made it! We spent one night in a small little fishing village, then our last night in Kuta, near the airport.
We spent our last day in Bali doing some last minute shopping (a bought a batik fabric duffle bag that I definitely didn’t need), eating, and strolling around the beach. In the afternoon, we made a trip to Pura Tanah Lot, a rock formation off of Bali. We hired a driver, WanWan, to take us for the hour drive and take us around the temple. He filled us in on all the facts and history behind Pura Tanah Lot. It is home of a pilgrimage temple and a popular tourist and cultural icon for photography and general exoticism. The Tanah Lot temple was built and has been part of Balinese mythology for centuries. The temple is one of seven sea temples along the coast of Bali. Each of the sea temples were established within eyesight of the next to form a chain along the south-western coast. At the base of the rocky island, poisonous sea snakes are believed to guard the temple from evil spirits and intruders. Tourists could pay to take a look at the giant snake that protects the temple, but Alysha and I figured we would pass on that one. Although it was too cloudy to see the sunset, it was a beautiful seaside temple! On the drive home, WanWan told us all about the Kuta bombing in 2002, the deadlest act of terrorism in Indonesia’s history. Wan Wan had been working down the street when the suicide bomber walked into the nightclub and first-hand witnessed the devastation. It killed over 200 people, mostly tourists, and was a huge blow to the economy. Another bombing 2005 caused more devastation. Our last night in Kuta was only a few days after the killing of OBL, so we were a little extra vigilant only because we were out of the USA.
We caught a noon flight on May 7th to end our two month adventure!!! Bali was the perfect end to the perfect trip, and besides an AWFUL sunburn (I forgot to put sunblock on my back after a day of snorkeling and got the worst sunburn I've ever had! A week later, my back broke out into hives and I had to seek assistance from the Thai pharmacy), Bali was amazing! I wish I had more time to explore Indonesia, I think I'll need to go back one day :)
Ubud rice fields!
Gili Islands from google! (I stayed on the largest of the three, far right)
Nearly two months later and I’m finally blogging about Cambodia!
One thing I have learned about traveling.. It is sometimes best not to have a strict plan, because they often change… When I started traveling, my original plan was to travel with the girls then head back to Khon Kaen for a day or two after Chiang Mai to repack to have a solo traveling adventure for a week in Bali. While in Chiang Mai, Alysha expressed great interest in traveling to Bali with me. Long story short, the girls easily talked me into going to Cambodia with them and changing my flight so Alysha could stay longer in Asia (she extended her flight date home to the states) and go to Bali with me! Funny thing was, I had only packed for Laos and Chiang Mai, basically a weeks worth of clothes and now needed to make it all last for another month of traveling! I always knew that I am an over packer but this really made it a reality! I made it work with NO problems.. my “week” packing is really a “month” packing. I’m hoping to be a better packer in the future!
The girls and I took an overnight bus from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, then another bus to the Cambodia/Thailand border. We had been warned by other travelers to watch out for scams in Cambodia and we were instantly ripped off at the border. From the bus station on the Thailand side, we needed to take a tuk-tuk to the border to walk across but instead it took us to a visa station which over charged us for our Cambodia visa. We walked across the border in the scorching heat and were directed to a “tourist bus” to take us to a bus station to get to Siam Reap, a city about three hours from the border. Another scam.. these tourist buses over-charge westerners for bus tickets and we were warned of this in the South East Asia Lonely Planet but we didn’t have another option.. The four of us ended up splitting a cab to take us to Siam Reap.
We spent the next three days in Siam Reap, Cambodia’s most popular tourist destination and gate way to Angkor Wat, the worlds most religious monument and one of the wonders of the world! Angkor Wat is surrounded by numerous temples and we spent our first two days exploring them. We broke our days into halves because of the heat so the first day we went out in the morning, and the second in the afternoon. We hired a tuk tuk for about 15 dollars a day and it took us to different temples including the temple “Tomb Raider” was filmed at. My very favorite was the Bayon, a Khmer temple decorated with 216 gigantic faces. When we weren’t running around temples, we were eating delicious food, drinking fruit smoothies, exploring the night markets, and getting pedicures and massages for less than five dollars!
We woke up at 5 am on our last day in Siam Reap to go see Angkor Wat at sunrise. At orientation in Bangkok six months before, Jenna and I went to the Grand Palace where they had a mini model of Angkor Wat. When we saw it, we took a picture in front of it and decided that we would make it there while we were in Asia, and today we had! Angkor Wat is Cambodia’s pride and joy and has become their national symbol, appearing on their national flag as well as having Angkor beer. It was built thousands of years ago in the Khmer Empire and has Buddhist and Hindu influences. We explored the worlds greatest religious site for an hour or two, then headed back to our guesthouse to get ready for our bus ride that afternoon. Even though it was too cloudy to see an actual sunrise, Angkor Wat was AMAZING!
Around 12 30, a janky little blue van that looked like it was about to break down pulled up in the pouring rain to take us to the bus station. We hopped in, it reeked of mold and was a bumpy ride, picking up a few Cambodian people on the way. We arrived at the bus “station” which was more of a dirt lot where the bus pulled up. Five hours later, we arrived in Phnom Penh.
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia and has grown to become the nation’s center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security, politics, economics, cultural heritage, and diplomacy of Cambodia. Phnom Penh has more to offer travelers than a quick, depressing swing to the Killing Fields.. I didn’t know much about the genocide in the 1970s before coming to Cambodia, but after visiting the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng, the actual torture prison where thousands of people lost their lives, I learned more about it. We encountered a huge memorial site filled with thousands of human skulls and it was extremely surreal to realize that this genocide occurred only 30 years ago. (For those interested in learning more about it, google).
We stayed in Phnom Pehn for three days and visited the Russian Market which has good souvenir shopping, ate tasty food, got caught in a huge rain storm while at dinner (it caused numerous of the streets to flood in about an hour and we couldn’t walk through it, we took a tuk tuk which took us around town because the streets were so flooded!), attempted to visit the royal palace THREE times and turned away each time due to strange hours and lack of appropriate attire (needed to have our shoulders covered but can’t wear a shawl, close toed shoes but nice ones), and had Easter linner (lunch/dinner.. with Sangria! The best meal I had in Cambodia!) at an AMAZING Spanish restaurant on the Mekong River.
After Phnom Pehn, we took an overnight bus back to Bangkok. We were slightly nervous as we approached the border because Cambodia and Thailand are currently in disagreement. They aren’t exactly one another’s biggest fans and are in fighting over a temple near the border. It made headline news the day we left Phnom Pehn and a few people had been killed in the battle. Luckily, this wasn’t at the border that we were crossing and the bus ride went very smoothly.. other than they turned on the lights and music at 4am which woke us up.
All in all, Cambodia was a pleasant experience, even with the scorching heat! Cambodia uses the US dollar so it made the conversion extremely easy for us. Everything was very inexpensive and we could easily find lunch or dinner for three dollars a day. However, it was still obvious that the people of Cambodia have been to hell and back and they rely a lot on tourism as a major source of income. Many of the people in Cambodia are uneducated and it broke my heart to have small children grab my arm and ask for money. As westerners, we were often approached and asked to buy sunglasses, books, and were countered with a “Please, miss?” when we declined. I had a little bit of a hard time in Cambodia because I have never seen families in such a struggle and I was heartbroken when feeling like I couldn’t help them.
We made it back to Bangkok and Kianna, Alysha, and I stayed the night on Khao San Rd before our flights the next day. Jenna went back to her town for a few days before her parents arrived to visit, Kianna had a flight to the US the next morning, and Alysha and I were flying to Bali at 6am! Sadly, this marked the end of our adventure together, but I had such an AMAZING time with these girls! I’m so lucky I was able to explore three different countries with them, we all got along so well and it'll be a trip I’ll never forget.
