Same Same But Different

When still in Bangkok I went shopping to a real mall and bought some real "Western" clothes rather than any of the "same same but different" tourist crap they sell in all the markets in every country and city, or the locals' clothes which, incidentally, wouldn't fit me no matter how hard I tried to suck it in. Had to pay big bucks for the imported high street brands, but I had no beach wear and desperately needed some - I didn't think combat trousers would be all that comfortable on the beach!

When I got to the Philippines I realised I was kind of more excited about my new beach clothes than being in a new exotic country. I suppose after a while it all becomes "same same but different" - and I don't by any means mean that I am not loving every second of my journey. What I mean is that there have been and will be so many new and unique experiences to take in that they become the norm rather than the exception. Each new city is equally as special as the last and therefore "the same" whilst still being different - you couldn't compare the temples of Angkor to the beach life in the Philippines. Instead, the real new thing for me is a brand new piece of clothing in my wardrobe that has otherwise remained same same for five weeks.

I have finally reached that point where I am super organised. I know exactly which side and how deep I need to reach in my backpack to get anything. This order of things developed progressively so that the things I need the most are always easily accessible. In this process I have identified which things are the most important to me and I couldn't do without.

My most valued possessions :
- Hand sanitizer. I go through about a bottle a week
- Baby wipes. I wipe everything; fruit, forks, hands, toilet seats....also perfect to freshen up on long days of hiking
- My pink Ikea inflatable neck pillow - can't remember the last bus / train / plane ride I didn't use it
- Swiss Army knife. In all honesty I should call it the bottle opener. But also good for opening plastic bags and containers, cutting bread, spreading butter / cheese on bread
- Peg less washing line. Set it up anywhere to dry towel, bikinis etc
- Microfibre towel. Works as a towel, moonlights as a blanket and shield from the wind.
- Super water and sweat resistant aerosol sport sunscreen. A lot may go to waste but I prefer it over creams and spays; doesn't stick or make you greasy, plus don't have to get your hands dirty. Nothing worse than having to apply sunscreen with your hands when you're on the beach and there's sand and dust everywhere.
- My iPad. Typing on it right now, use it every single day. Perfect for entertainment (movies, TV series, reading books) on long bus rides as well as for booking travel and accommodation. And Facebook.
- My over-the-top organised travel document folder. I can find any piece of paper in seconds.

Things I am not using but still lugging around:
- Yoga matt. Ah, the dilemma of the yoga matt..... Still haven't used it but I'm hoping one day I will need it as I'd like to take a yoga course, or perhaps go on a meditation retreat. A bit of a pain to lug around when you're not using it though.

Like almost every night, I'm enjoying my evening coffee on the terrace feeling the light breeze on my face looking forward to the next day.

Same same. But different.

The Burger I Ate in Angeles, Philippines

I shall never forget the burger I ate in Angeles, Philippines. And the reason I will never forget the burger I ate in Angeles, Philippines, is because as a consequence of my own stupidity of eating this burger in Angeles, Philippines, I stayed up all night suffering with severe "Traveller's tummy" only to have had to board a plane to fly to Palawan the next morning, and having to go to ER straight from the airport. Who in their right mind eats a quarter pounder when they've been having trouble with their stomach for a solid two weeks? Oh that's right, me. Could have eaten an apple, or some crackers, but no; since my stomach was feeling ever so slightly better I went for the burger. Half way through I realised it had been a mistake but there was no turning back.

Angeles wasn't a place I much cared for. I was only there "in transit" as I flew there from BKK and a day and a half later onwards to Puerto Princesa in Palawan. If you are looking for a cheap flight to the Philippines, you will most likely fly to Angeles rather than Manila. There's not really much to say about Angeles but then again I am not sure I can say that I gave the place half a chance to impress me either. To me it seemed like a pretty rough town.

By the time I got to Angeles I had had a bad tummy for the best part of two weeks, progressively getting worse but with some good days too. I decided to take this time in Angeles and use it for resting before flying further to Palawan. A good plan in theory, but unfortunately I have a very short memory and rationale when I'm hungry. I hadn't had stomach problems for a whole six hours so I declared myself healthy and decided to have a massive burger at the hotel for dinner, idiot.

After a sleepless night I had no choice but to drag my dehydrated self, backpacks and all, to the airport. Luckily during the night I had managed to expel the whole meal including the last of the french fries so my stomach was empty and the flight went without any embarrassing incidents.

I bet you I was a funny sight, sitting in the tricycle with my bags looking like I had no clue, being chauffeured to ER! Not a totally unpleasant experience, the hospital. I was seen within 10 minutes of arriving and had antibiotics in my hand within the next 10. I felt better within hours, ready for action! I do hope I learned my lesson from this experience although knowing myself and my fish memory I doubt it. I was already considering having some delicious looking street food from a food cart down the street. Speaking of which, it is dinner time....

And that is the story of the burger I ate in Angeles, Philippines.

The travelling itself in Southeast Asia

Like I've said before, arranging travel in Southeast Asia is extremely easy, far easier than anywhere in Europe. Every hotel, hostel, and guesthouse will have a travel desk, and in addition to that there are travel agents on every street, and normally more than one. There are a huge number of trips and tours for very affordable prices and transport wise they can get you anywhere! And what's even better is that you really don't have to plan far ahead, I normally get my bus or train tickets the day before if not on the same day of travel and only once so far have they told me the train was full (and even then I managed to get on the train, just not an official seat as such). Border crossings in my experience have also gone fantastically well, as most times the tour organiser sorts out visas for you so you don't even need to worry. There's usually a lot of "what the hell is going on?" in the air, but the truth is you don't even need to know - just relax, be patient, and eventually you'll get to wherever you're going.

At the border, on the Cambodian side

But that doesn't mean it's by any means stress free, and there will always be exceptions to the rules, like my journey from Siem Reap to Bangkok taught me. I decided to take the bus which I was told took 8 hours including border crossing and cost $10 - perfect! The bus to the border was relatively painless, as buses tend to be very comfortable and have aircon, but unlike the other times I have crossed borders this was anything but smooth and quick. First of all let me rewind a little. About a mile before the border the bus driver pulled over to the side of the road and told everyone to get off the bus. "Ticket change, ticket change" he shouted. Ticket change? Why am I meant to change my ticket? To what? Did he mean bus change? Are we at the border? If not, where the hell are we? So I decided to ask him - except he was nowhere to be seen. For about 15 minutes we all stood there next to the road, no one knowing what was happening and what this ticket change was all about. When he came back without a word he started collecting everyone's tickets and in exchange gave us a sticker, the color depending on our final destination (red for Bangkok, yellow for Pattaya, etc). Ok, so there was my ticket gone. Should be interesting if anyone was to ask for it later as proof of purchase.

We got back on the bus and five minutes later arrived at the border. I knew it was bad news when I saw that the line of people queuing up to immigration was way longer than the waiting area. It gets better. It smelled like someone had left dead fish out in the sun right next to the queue - about a week ago. Oh yes. It didn't help matters that I was kind of experiencing the famous traveller's stomach problems. Many swearwords went through my head during that hour and a half's wait in the sun in the immigration line.

Finally through the Cambodian border I was so happy I almost kissed the old Asian lady in front of me! The joy was short lived as I soon realised I still had the Thai border to cross.... So skipping the part where I swore a lot out loud, another hour and a half later we were in Thailand! At this point my back and shoulders were killing me from carrying my backpacks, and my stomach felt like someone was electrocuting me from the inside but hey, we were about to get on an air conditioned luxbus, right?

Wrong.

From the border we had to walk up the road for a while where a, I'm going to use the word minibus (it was more like a cage on wheels), was waiting on the side of the road. In the hassle of getting our bags into and onto the car and getting ourselves in the car I was left last and due to there not being enough space I was told to wait for the next one whilst my backpack was driven off to the unknown. All I hoped for was that this man got the colour of the stickers right and that I was indeed going to the same place my bag was.

I managed to get on the next cage on wheels and was successfully reunited with my bag at a, I'm going to use the word restaurant (plastic chairs next to the road, dead fish smell, Thai ladies selling questionable looking food). And there we waited. And waited. And then we waited some more. At this point it had been five hours since we had gotten off the previous bus at the Cambodian border, and eight hours in total since we left Siem Reap. Then a man came and spoke to some travellers wearing red stickers, pointed at a bus across the road and sent them off. When I tried to follow them as I too had a red sticker he told me to stay put. I could see the other red-stickered tourists across the street next to the bus, whilst I remained at the 'restaurant.' No idea where I was supposed to be, nor who I could ask? Everyone else in the restaurant looked just as puzzled and some even resorted to asking the random food ladies on the street if they knew where we were meant to be. Green, red, yellow stickered tourists all over the place, no one knowing where to go. I decided to go over to the other side of the road to see what was happening but not surprisingly everyone was just as clueless there. They hadn't been let on the bus, and no one was telling them anything either. Some 15 minutes of cluelessness later we were told to get on the bus - me not knowing still if this was where I should be but anything was better than staying at the rotten fish restaurant. Although the bus did smell very strongly of toilet which we had to endure for the remaining several hours of the journey so now I'm not sure which was better.....

Finally got to my hostel dorm at around 8 pm, in other words 12 hours later. All I had to eat all day was a small bag of salted cashew nuts, I was tired, my shoulders and my back hurt like hell and my stomach was not pleased.

Making travel arrangements and travelling in Southeast Asia really is as easy as everyone says it is. But it's the bad experiences that make the great stories.

At the border on the Thailand side waiting to board the bus.

Angkor, the Holy City

Angkor Wat

I was doubting whether or not to write about Angkor at all. After all, how could I possibly describe what some people like to call 'the eighth wonder of the world' and do it justice? I don't even think any of my photos come close to portraying the true beauty of the temples and structures.

But how could I not write about it?

I will start by saying it was loads of fun, just like being a kid again and coming across a fascinating site you can't wait to explore every corner of. Angkor is like every child's dream hide and seek playground! What I really liked about it was that there were really no official pathways nor were there many restricted areas. You could freely walk around the ruins, jump over blocks of stones and tree trunks, and climb up the very very steep and narrow stairs to the tops of the temples.

Angkor contains the remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire. The Angkorian era lasted from AD 802 to 1432, and the empire that flourished was made possible through their reservoirs and irrigation works. The Angkor area is believed to have supported over a million people at its peak, and there are over 1,000 temples. The temples built during this time vary a lot in architectural style and in religious beliefs, the first ones portraying characteristics from Hinduism and the later ones more so from Buddhism.

Ta Phrom

The temples are very widespread over an area of 400 square kilometres but the main ones are scattered around the core, including Angkor Wat which is the most famous one. So to get around, I had my own personal tuk tuk driver for $12/ day who took me wherever I wanted to go - and more. On the second day, the day I had gotten up at 4.30 am to see the sunrise, I was insanely exhausted come the afternoon with sweat running down my face and back (it was about 30 degrees and the sun was merciless), covered in dust and dirt and all I wanted to do was to go home. I had just finished my expedition at Ta Prohm (the temple renown for all the huge trees growing 'out' of' it) and was dreaming of the cold water in the swimming pool when I climbed into the tuk tuk with my last remaining energy reserves and asked the driver to take me back to the hotel. But he just turned around, smiled and said "nooo two more temples!" and before I could even make a sound off he was driving me in the opposite direction to my hotel to the next temple! I almost cried. My legs were so tired they were shaking when I got off the tuk tuk at the next temple. I said to him that perhaps I could see these other temples the next day at which he burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing he had heard in his life and gestured me to 'get on with it.' And on with it I got. Feeling sorry for myself.

The area between the temples is mostly jungle-like vegetation. I could perfectly imagine The Jungle Book being filmed in these woods, Mowgli swinging from one treetop to the next, and the king of the monkeys ruling the ruins. Some of the trees are the size of five storey buildings, and it is quite a sight seeing them grow on top of temples with their enormous web of roots intertwined in the structure of the temples.




Talking about filming, scenes from Tomb Raider were actually shot at Angkor.

Before visiting Angkor I had read and heard plenty about it, but none of it lived up to the grandiosity when you see it first hand. That is why I will not even attempt to describe it but will say it's worth a visit. Or two.

Phnom Penh and Siem Reap

Tuk Tuk Driver

Before I headed to Siem Reap Alicia and I spent a day in Phnom Penh wandering about. I immediately liked the city, and most definitely preferred it over the insanely busy HCMC. It felt good to be "back" to the laid back lifestyle which I had experienced in Laos and Thailand.

The journey there from HCMC was relatively painless too, the Mekong Express Limousine service do an excellent job and make the trip smooth and effortless, even sorting out visas on the way.

Royal Palace

We visited the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda where the floor was made with 1000 silver tiles. The beloved King who had led Cambodia to independence from France had recently passed away so the city was in mourning with many people coming to show their respect at the palace where there was an altar dedicated to him.

We had the most amazing dinner on our last night at a French bistro down the road from our four star luxury hotel (in true backpacking style). I am going to have some serious adjustment issues after our cocktails-by-the-pool-beach-resort and this over the top fancy pants hotel life I have grown used to over the past ten days. Anyway, with our supreme T-bone steaks and copious amounts of Merlot it felt like we were back in London at our old local Sands End pub having our giggle-filled girl talks for hours just like we used to in the days we were flatmates! I can't wait to do it again soon. Might have to swing by Melbourne on my way home.

On my way to Siem Reap

I said goodbye to Alicia the next morning, shed a few tears of farewell, and jumped on a bus to Siem Reap. That's another 300 km to cover in over six hours, so that should give an indication of the condition the roads are in when you're averaging below 50km an hour... I sat next to a lovely 80 year old German gentleman Walter who didn't speak a word of English but we made it work with a combination of my broken German and his notepad we used for drawings! He was a professor and had first come to Cambodia in 1980 as part of a scholarship scheme, bringing young people to Germany for a three year education programme to learn the skills needed for a better future in their homeland. He told me lots of interesting anecdotes about Southeast Asia, like the fact that if you look at the houses on stilts, you can tell which ones belong to the rich and which to the poor just by the shape of the stilts. The poor people have houses sitting on stilts that are round like a pole, whereas the rich people's stilts are square. The difference in shape means snakes cannot slither up the stilts if it has corners but can easily manage their way up a round stilt. He very kindly invited me for dinner the next day which I agreed to do after a day spent exploring The Wats. Did I just agree to go on a date with a man 50 years my senior?

Sneaky Professor Walter

As it turned out the next evening no, it wasn't a date - at least not with Professor Walter. Professor Walter did however have something up his sleeve. Just as we were about to sit down for dinner the son of his old Cambodian friends conveniently showed up to join us for our evening meal. Also very conveniently, just as we finished dinner the professor felt very tired and wanted to retire but insisted it shouldn't stop us youngsters from continuing our evening - perhaps this charming young man could take me for a drive around town to give me a personal tour; wink wink! Sneaky old professor Walter...

I think health and safety would have had something to say about the hostel I stayed at in Siem Reap. My room was on the third floor but the last set of stairs, made of iron, were questionable in terms of stability and durability. They were extremely narrow, wobbled when used, and the railing was the height of my knees...nice one. It was a pleasant place though, had a clean fresh swimming pool too which was a real treat for body and soul after hours of getting covered in dust and sweat from playing archeologist at Angkor. I stayed in an eight people dorm and met a bunch of lovely people including two other Finnish girls to my surprise!

Amok

A typical Khmer dish which I tried is Amok, freshwater fish (although you can have it with chicken, prawn, or beef too) covered in herbs such as lemongrass, kaffir lime, garlic, and others I don't know, coconut milk, and egg. It is then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed until it's very thoroughly cooked. Yum!

Cheeky old German professors, charming young Cambodian men, delicious food, $0.50 beer, naps by the pool and the amazing Angkor. Good times!

Pitstop on the way to Siem Reap

Train from Phan Thiet to Ho Chi Minh City

We had called the train station a couple of days earlier with the intention of buying tickets to HCMC but were told to just do it at the station when we get there as this would be easier and the would be plenty of space on the train. Well, not quite the case as we soon found out. We rocked up at the station, got to the ticket counter and casually asked for two train tickets to HCMC - and not just any seats, I specifically asked for the nicer softer seats in the air conditioned carriage. The response: "Train full."

Ah....pickle...

"Really? No seats at all?"
"Train full"
Looked like we weren't getting any seats, let alone the nice soft ones in the cool carriage. Dan had gotten his ticket a few days earlier, and even his wasn't in the cool van with the soft seats but in the non A/C section with hard wooden benches so it made sense now that it was sold out.
"Are there any buses?"
She makes a quick phone call and says "Bus full"

At the train station, Phan Thiet, Vietnam

Potential problem material here, as we really needed to get to HCMC because we were due to travel to Phnom Penh the next day (also tickets we had yet to sort out, so good luck with that) to keep our schedule. Alicia suggested we could rent a car and drive and I thought we could possibly take the night train - so we still had avenues we could explore - but before admitting defeat Alicia took one last shot at getting us on this train by pleading with the ticket lady to see if there was anything else she could do. In this one last desperate attempt to get on the train, as if by miracle a conductor who had heard us appeared behind me holding a little red plastic children's chair, pointing at it, then at me, and then at the train. SHE COULD GET US ON THE TRAIN! We may have to sit in the carriage with the chicken and cattle but we were getting on that train!

On the train - note foldup chair

Dan was with us this whole time, with his pre-purchased ticket feeling a bit sorry for us when it was looking more and more likely that we'd be driving around Vietnam in a rental trying to figure out which way was what.

We didn't have to sit with the chicken, nor did it look like we were the only ones who had gotten our tickets the illicit way. Along the corridors and stairs of the train there were people in all corners sitting on fold up or plastic chairs, stairs, or on the floor and in doorways. Another way for the conductor to make a dollar or two (or a hundred) for themselves. I was just happy to get on the train, but it sure was a big bonus to end up in the air conditioned carriage with our soft, padded, comfortable fold up chairs for a mere $7. We did feel a bit sorry for Dan and his $13 pre-purchased ticket sitting on his hard wooden bench at the back of the train in 30 degree heat.

Happy New Year! Phan Thiet, Vietnam

Ah, heat and humidity how I've missed you! Felt so good to step off the plane from Hanoi and sense the warm air. I may be from Finland but I'm built for a warmer climate for sure. In Ho Chi Minh City I parted ways with my travel buddy Aurea and met up with my beach buddy Alicia. Alicia had booked an amazing beach resort for us close to the town of Phan Thiet on the southeast coast of Vietnam, which was about a four hour train ride away from HCMC.

The Hotel
The resort where we were staying, Rock Water Bay, was relatively isolated in that there were no shops, bars, or restaurants anywhere in the area. There were other beach resorts along the beach, but well separated from each other. Anyone wanting some peace and quiet should consider heading this way. We had the most beautiful room right on the beach, with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the beach and the rocks. At night we would fall asleep with the sound of the fierce waves exploding against the barrier just outside our window.
The minus points came from the ridiculously expensive prices of absolutely everything - but I suppose that is what they can charge when there is nothing else around! I wouldn't mind paying top dollar for good quality but unfortunately the quality of the overpriced products and services was very disappointing. The food especially was a let-down and for a foodie like me that's one huge minus. It was so bad that neither Alicia nor I could even finish our meals on the first night - the only time we ate at the hotel restaurant.
Negative feelings aside, lying by the pool all day drinking one cocktail after another reading my book and napping felt pretty damn good!

Scooter
We rented a scooter for a few days in order to explore the area around the hotel as well as Mui Ne, another 'resorty' area on the other side of Phan Thiet 50 km away which we heard was more happening in the sense that it had shops and restaurants. Driving in the city, in this case Phan Thiet, guarantees an adrenaline rush - it was certainly survival of the fittest that applied. The honking confused the hell out of me. The general idea seemed to be that like in Hanoi, everybody honked at everything, and most times I didn't know if it was to announce their presence in the traffic or a loud way to say "get the hell out of my way." Furthermore, it was just the way they drove in general, with no regard for anyone but themselves (if that).
Bicycles, mopeds and cars would suddenly appear from side streets left and right without first checking if they were getting in front of other vehicles; so at all times you had to keep a watchful eye out for surprise attacks from either side. Also people like to exit a lane with little to no signalling, and drive on the opposite side of the road in the wrong direction for long distances if it meant that was the side the exit was on. So on a two way street you actually ended up having four lanes; one going in one direction, another in the opposite direction; and then additionally on both of those lanes on the outside you would have vehicles going in the opposite direction to the traffic waiting for the exit lane. Oh, and traffic lights? Like they didn't exist. Actually... I guess that's not exactly true; most people slowed down and some even stopped at the lights, but if no one was coming from another direction why sit around and wait for the green light? But I'm not going to lie, I had loads of fun driving around. And so did Mr. Jenkins!

The Cutest Cow, Ever.

Driving on the country side was the exact opposite. It was relaxing, peaceful, and absolutely beautiful. The only disruption to the quietness was me yelling STOP STOP STOP to Alicia so I could jump off the scooter to take a picture (more often than not of a cutie cow). Throughout our expedition I remained in awe of the beauty of the scenery and the most polite and happy people who all waived at us and greeted with a friendly 'hello' every time we came across anyone.

Wifi issues
For the first time in over three weeks I experienced trouble with going online because the wifi at our resort wasn't the best. In fact, for me it didn't work at all! For an Internet junkie (ok, ok, Facebook junkie) it was a bit difficult to get used to not being able to email and stalk on all my friends but it soon became a blessing. I thoroughly enjoyed knowing that I couldn't get in touch with (or obliged to contact) anyone even if I wanted to, and it gave me an opportunity to really relax. But on the flip side I wasn't quite expecting not to have Internet, as we had our onward journeys to book as well as a few flights and accommodations I needed to sort out. Luckily the hotel let us use their computers at reception so we wouldn't have a meltdown.

The randoms
I wasn't sure if I should bring this up at all or not, but decided the Russians deserved a section of their own. So... What is it with Russians and southern Vietnam? Every hotel had signs, menus, and instructions written in Russian, every tourist shop had tags and prices in Russian, even some road signs were in Russian! Oh, and on top of this, there were a bunch of Russians everywhere.

So from one random topic to another. Crabs. On the beach, digging holes. So cute! Alicia and I sat having lunch by the beach just watching these rather big crabs dig enormous holes in the sand for hours. It's even funnier when we went for a walk on the beach with the crabs running around sideways left right and centre trying to get out of our way all the while looking straight at us - there were hundreds of them!

Ever so randomly Alicia found out one of her friends was in Ho Chi Minh City with nothing to do, so he jumped on a train and joined us for our last couple of days. How great is that, el mundo es un pañuelo!

Buddhist Grave

My final random section has to do with swastikas. Driving along the countryside we noticed a few cemeteries where the graves all had something eye-catching about them, and that was the fact that they all had swastika symbols on the gravestones. Next to one of these cemeteries was a temple which had big swastikas on its walls too. Having grown up in Europe, seeing the what to me are Nazi symbols displayed proudly on gravestones and churches startled me. It was only when I looked it up that I understood how common it is in the Buddhist culture to use them, after all, it is a sign that has been used by Buddhists for 3,000 years and is still commonly used.

Oh, and happy New Year!
On this glorious day we got up at 4.45 am (who would have thought) and drove to the countryside to watch the sunrise. Well worth getting up for, it was beautiful to watch the world awaken; cows calling out to be fed, roosters announcing it was time to get up, people coming out of their houses to start the day. And then there was me, half asleep sinking my foot (wearing flip-flops of course) in cow poo trying to cross a field to get the perfect sunrise shot.

Sunrise in the country side. Phan Thiet, Vietnam

Other than that it was a fairly uneventful day with lots of poolside action and champagne. You know, standard Monday stuff.

Reliving Vietnam
I have just looked through my pictures from my Vietnam album and if I ever had a doubt in my little blonde head that bringing my bigass camera with my bigass lens was a mistake.....well that grain of doubt was officially erased. The moments I have been able to capture on file are priceless. What fits in the frame of the picture is a beauty of a memory in itself, and the recollection of what was outside of the frame will stay in my mind forever. Well, there's hoping anyway.

It's night time and I am sitting on the terrace of our hotel in Phan Thiet typing up the events in Vietnam so far, and I can't think of a better place to be. The terrace is right on the beach front with the rising tide and breaking waves a touch away from my feet. There is a gentle breeze blowing in from the horizon bringing a distinct smell of the sea and I can almost taste the salt in the air. The sound of the waves is so loud it seems like there's a storm approaching but the skies are clear and the stars are so bright it looks like there are more of them tonight than I've ever seen before.

Dragon Fruit