Well, after an incredible four months, my SouthEast Asia trip has come to an end. I've had some pretty amazing experiences; I've learned to ride a motorcycle and bought my first bike, I discovered the joys of scuba diving and dove as often as I could (often to the detriment of my wallet), I learned about and experienced many different cultures, I spent time on more beautiful beaches than anyone ever deserves to, and I met many awesome backpackers who I will hopefully be able to keep in contact with and perhaps even visit again if I ever find myself, well, almost anywhere around the globe.
Of course there has been the occasional downside as well, as I've alluded to a bit in this blog. Travel is not always glamorous or exciting and sometimes things go wrong, your stuff may be stolen or you may find yourself exhausted, cranky, and cramped in a bus you didn't even know could be this uncomfortable. Regardless of any downside though, this trip will still remain one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Reunited with my lovely mother
Now that I'm back home I am currently enjoying catching up with friends and family, organizing my apartment, petting my kitties, and enjoying little pleasures, like water presure in a shower, soft clean carpet, understanding the conversations of everyone around me, or having transportation leave on schedule. I'm also getting a chance to go through my records and receipts and I've compliled a list of a few stats from the trip, just for fun. I suppose this is a good way of summing up the blog as well. I started the blog just to keep a few friends and family updated, and I never expected to enjoy writing it as much as I did. If some of you enjoyed reading it even a fraction of the amount that I enjoyed writing it, then I think I've done my job. Perhaps if I ever do another big trip, I will have to restart it again :-)
My trip: Some numbers and lists
No. of countries visited: 8 (Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia)
No. of days: 119
No. of scuba dives: 21
Levels of diving accomplished: 2 (PADI open-water and PADI advanced)
No. of Visas extended: 1 (Vietnam)
No. of countries that I rented motorbikes in: 5
No. of motorbike accidents: 0
Dollars lost in buying/selling my motorcycle: $20 (Bought the bike for $250US, sold it for $230US)
No. of hostels/guesthouses/hotels slept in: 57 (Not including airport floors, empty beaches, nightbuses/trains, etc)
No. of flights (individual take offs and landings): 14
No. of nightbuses: 4
No. of nighttrains: 3
Some types of transportation: Plane, taxi, tuk-tuk, night train, regular train, motorbike taxi, long-tail boat, fast speedboat, remorque (Cambodian covered wagon thing pulled by a motorbike), elephant, local bus with chickens in the isles (and where no-one bats an eye when someone brings an AK-47 with them onto the bus -actually happened in Laos!), my own motorcycle, horse, "Super VIP" bus with personal gaming consul/television, bicycle, and public bemo (Like a pick up truck taxi that just drives around aimlessly picking up locals and dropping you off at your destination...eventually).
No. of times where I felt sick enough that I altered my plans (at least for that day): 2. Not too bad, I think!
Number of days spent truly travelling alone: Somewhere between 3 and 7?
As my trip comes to a close, I've been finding myself rather reflective this past week. This has been an incredible trip with some of the most intense highs I have ever experienced, and of course, some lows. I went on this trip by myself because I couldn't find a travel buddy who wanted to go for the same amount of time, same budget, countries, etc, and I was sick of waiting to do something I had always wanted to do. But I'm not going to lie -there were definitely some knots in my stomach when I left! Travelling alone, I was unsure of what I would experience, where I would go, and who I would meet. As these four months now draw to a close I have to say though, solo travel is not NEARLY as intimidating, and the world not nearly as big and scary as one might believe. Despite any downsides of solo travel and any lonely days or inconveniences I have had: I would do it again in a heartbeat.
So here you have it -just a few thoughts that have been bouncing around my head this past week.
Solo travel....
Forces you to learn to rely on yourself in a way that you never have before. It forces you to always think of your own safety first, whether that means always knowing where your valuables are, or just considering how you will get home from a night out if no-one wants to leave at the same time. No matter how awesome new people you meet are, you just can't put your full faith in them when you've just met. I have found that learning to rely on yourself and doing it successfully makes me feel empowered and strong, and it makes me feel like there isn't really anything that I can't do.
It allows you to be flexible, to change your plans at a moment's notice, and to have experiences that you would have never had otherwise. If I hadn't been travelling solo, I never would have bought a motorcycles with a friend I met travelling, or changed my plans to stay an extra long amount of time in Koh Tao to get my Open Water and my Advanced diving certifications. I would never would have been able to reunite so frequently with or change my plans almost daily to actually travel with so many people I met along the way. It seems scary to travel alone, but it is surprising how many other solo travellers are out there, and how like minded so many of them are. This is actually probably my most favourite part of solo travel -you meet so many other travellers all the time, that very rarely are you ever actually "solo".
You meet people with the most fascinating stories. You meet people who couldn't be more different from you in how they've grown up. You meet people that you feel like you've already known all your life. Travel is the number one way (I think) of meeting interesting people with even more interesting stories. From the Urologist working on patenting new surgical techniques to the Thai bartender with 3 children at 23 to the semi-pro soccer player, to the investment banker who quit his job to become a dive instructor, to the American student who became fluent in Bahasa Indonesian in only 3 months, to the local artist who has been exhibiting worldwide and is excited about that -travelling solo really gets you out there and allows you to meet people that you likely wouldn't meet if you were only travelling with a group.
A downside: having to re-explain your story to every new person you meet. Occasionally you can feel jaded, ie: "Why do I even bother talking to this person, when in 20min from now I will never see them again?". Sometimes it is hard to force yourself to care about making those first few steps to get to know someone when you meet so many people in a day, and when you know that many you will not see again (This of course, all depends on the day and the circumstances).
It forces yourself to learn to like yourself, as you'll be the one constant source throughout your trip. In these past four months I have met some of the most incredible people and honestly, there have been very few days that I've actually travelled alone. However, there have been days where I have only met honeymooning couples, or there has been a complete lack of foreigners/people who speak English, or I have met someone who I just don't really click with and I just have to make the best of it. I think learning to enjoy your own company is an important aspect to learn in general, but especially so while travelling solo. Although, that being said, I am still an extrovert and do still get antsy if I go a day or two on my own without meeting anyone!
This one may seem a bit obvious, but I've learned that if you are out somewhere and you just aren't feeling the vibe or enjoying yourself, you are allowed to leave! It's pretty empowering to realize that you don't have any pressure to be any type of person. If you're at a party but you're not really enjoying yourself, and would rather go home, that is ok. Do what makes you happy. Most people you are around have just met you anyways, and there are no preconceptions as to what kind of a person you are. You get to make your own choices about what you enjoy, and then just simply do what you want to do.
You get over eating alone at a restaurant awfully quick. Plus side: Your opinion is the only one that matters when you choose the restaurant. You would be surprised at how many other people you may find there alone -it's really not a big deal. Eat at the bar, and you've almost got guaranteed conversation!
You learn to adapt, to be laid back, and to be ok if things don't exactly go to plan. This of course is not only part of solo travel -it's probably part of backpacking or travelling in general -but it certainly has been true for solo travel as well. Bus leaves 5hrs after it's scheduled? Kind of annoying, but you'll get there eventually. Restaurant misunderstands you because of a lack of english, and sends you something completely random? Well, who said you couldn't eat fried bananas for dinner instead of noodles? (This happened last night.)
It allows you to see how richly blessed you are in general. Sometimes I think about the fact that I came from a country in which women are considered equal and it isn't that unusual for a woman to travel alone. Or, I think about the fact that I have been encouraged by my parents to go to school in something in which I am interested in, and will (hopefully) have a profitable and fulfilling career -something that is not true for much of the world. Or, I think about the fact that I have been able to work at a job that has allowed me to save, and that has paid me enough that saving for travel is a reasonable thing to do. There is no pressure for me to settle down and have children at a very young age, or to work in the family business, and being able to actually think about leisure and what makes me feel fulfilled in life is something that I actually have time for. I don't mean to be saying that people who come from poor or rural areas in many parts of the world don't feel happy -far from it! Many have much closer family and community connections than the average westerner, and some of the problems that exist in the west -like being overstressed, or overworked, or having no time for friends and family because of too much work -don't exist here in the same way. However, travel has still made me feel so incredibly grateful for the life that I have been born into.
Well, I've had about a week now in Bali, and I think it's probably time for an update!
This entire trip has had a real mix of time on the beaten path with other tourists, and of course, a lot of time spent in cities where tourists are a lot more rare, where people don't speak English, and where negotiation, thinking on your feet and constantly feeling like a fish out of water have been common parts of life. And honestly, some of the "off the beaten path" parts of my trip have been some of the best. There's no better way to get to know what a country is actually like than to stay in cities where people look at you like you've gotten lost just for being there. Discovering local culture and how people outside of Canada really live is one of the main reasons why I travel. However, that being said, it can also be exhausting at times.
When I first told people that I was coming to Bali, I was warned by most other backpackers who had been here. "It's verrrrry touristy" some warned. "Don't get sucked in by the Eat Pray Love phenomenon" others cautioned. "Kuta beach is just like Miami or Ibiza. Not the real Indonesia at all", I was told.
And they were right.
Bali doesn't really feel like the "real" Indonesia in many ways. Restaurants and bars are slick, decorative touches are everywhere, and designer stores line the streets. Everything is clean, and sometimes it seems like Westerners outnumber the locals. The busy dusty chaos, local markets, and cheap food stalls seem a lifetime away in some areas in Bali, and in a way I'm glad I didn't start here -it would have driven me crazy to feel like I had just moved from one Westernized country to another. However, after four months of travel, I'm finding some of the touristy things... not so bad. I don't mind that there are Balinese dance performances every night and for tourists to see (as opposed to just on special occasions, for the locals) when it means that the culture continues on and I can see them as well. I don't mind finding restaurants with servers that pay attention to you when you walk in, with menus with prices on them (in Vietnam they often just tell you the price, and this varies dramatically based on whether the "tourist tax" is applied). I don't mind the large amounts of yoga in Ubud, the cheap spas, and the amount of beautiful little bungalows and hostels. I also certainly don't mind the perfect sunny, dry weather, cool nights, and perfect beaches that has attracted this huge amount of tourism in the first place.
Cute bungalow in Ubud
Now, that being said, I have also avoided some of the REALLY touristy stuff -the designer stores and pulsing nightlife of Kuta don't do a lot for me. Instead I have preferred to rent motorbikes with friends and explore the countryside. I stayed in a hostel recommended to me by a fellow traveler way back in Malaysia, and was thrilled to find a cute little spot with a lounge area, pool, and many friendly faces. I got in the almost obligatory (for me) scuba dives where I saw my first sea snake, as well as numerous Manta Rays -definitely a highlight of the trip for me! I also connected with a bunch of other backpackers and we went to a pub with live music, hung around the pool, and later rented motorbikes to explore Ubud. I ended up staying in Ubud for three nights with a lovely Italian girl I had met at the hostel, and we enjoyed going to the monkey forest, seeing some close by volcanos and enjoying the resulting hot springs, seeing a traditional dance performance, and going to the spa. We also enjoyed breakfast on the private terrace of one of the cutest bungalows I think I've stayed in yet, all for the high high price of $7.50 each.
Surfing in Seminyak
We then packed all of our bags back onto the motorbike, and made our way across the island to Seminyak where all the beaches and surfing spots are. It was definitely a bit busier there, but we enjoyed the sun, and I was able to check surfing off of my "to-do" list in Bali. I'm not terribly good and two days later I'm still a bit sore, but definitely a good time!
I now only have a week left on my trip (plus a 22hr layover in Bangkok, in which I'll prob get a hostel) before I had back to Canada. It's blowing my mind a bit that my trip is almost over, and I keep thinking about it during random parts of the day -how it will be to adjust to life back home, how it will be so see friends and family and slide back into the life that I had before, and how to share my excitement without being a person who can only ever talk about my trip. I don't want to leave, but I'm definitely excited to see everyone, and to experience simple pleasures like clean laundry hung up in a closet, or soft carpet under the feet. Soon enough I suppose! In the meantime I will enjoy the next 7 days I have booked on the Gili Islands, and I will be home soon enough....
I was all set to write an interesting, descriptive post about why I loved Malaysia and how interesting I found it, until I found myself having a bit of a rough week. I had my lock picked and Ipad stolen, a few days without meeting too many other backpackers (for the very first time on my trip!), lost a boat ticket and so had to pay again, blew up my phone charger, struggled for several hours to book a flight with no success, and spent almost 40hrs on very cramped buses in about a week. I suppose its reasonable to expect crappy weeks once in awhile though, with travelling for so long. Everyone has their ups and downs at home and it's only natural to expect that once in a while, that happens on the road as well. Thankfully, there have been some big ups as well, especially in the past few days, so things have really balanced out. I'm back to my regular, cheerful self and really: I'm in Indonesia, and living the dream so I guess I really can't complain!
Mosque in Kuala Lumpur
To back up a bit, I left Siem Reap Cambodia, for Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, with about a week in Malaysia planned. After that, it would be two days and one night in Singapore, and then on to Indonesia, with the rest of my travels spent surfing and diving and exploring in Bali, the Gili Islands, and if my money held out, Komodo National park. I found Kuala Lumpur to be very interesting and quite different from anywhere I had travelled so far in that it was very multicultural, had a distinct lack of backpackers (relative to some of the other places I had been that is) and was clearly quite well off financially. I found it fascinating to hear my first hauntingly beautiful call to prayer, and to observe Malays, Indians, Chinese and various other ethnic groups living amicably beside each other. I walked around quite a bit, learned to negotiate public transit to get to my next stop in Malaysia, and checked out markets and temples and landmarks (the KL Bird Park was a huge hit!). I befriended a student who was around my age who was from Nigeria, and found it interesting to talk with him about his experiences as a student and worker in KL. I also enjoyed having a bit of a personal tour guide who spoke some limited Malay!
My next stop was in the Perhentian Islands, in the North East section of the mainland West Malaysia. These islands were absolutely stunning with perhaps the clearest water, whitest sands and best diving I had experienced yet.
Here I must note that when I first started planning my entire trip, I knew for sure that I would be going to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, but was unsure about other countries. As such, I made sure I knew all of the main sights in the four countries I mentioned but didn't spend a lot of time looking into things to do in others. It was definitely an experience having landed in Malaysia with having done my research on the country just the day before, and as well as while on my flight. It turns out, there are numerous interesting things to do and I didn't have nearly enough time. I hummed and hawed, but when I found myself in the Perhentian islands I felt like I had found paradise. That combined with a really good group of travellers I fell into, and I didn't want to leave! I ended up spending 5 or 6 days there in total, fitting in maximum diving (including my second night dive!) and beach time. I saw my first turtle, several black tip reef and bamboo sharks, metre long bumbhead parrot fish, moray eels, octopus, squid, and more small colourful fish and soft corals than I could count. We were blessed with beautiful weather and other than the iPad theft, which to be fair, was a serious downer, I really enjoyed my time and didn't want to leave.
The next part of my adventures I will skim over, as I had a few days of maximum travel time, a bit of do-nothing time to recoup, and too much time spent in the inside of a mall searching for another iPad. I travelled from the Perhentians back to KL, then from KL to Singapore. After only two days and one night in Singapore (it was supposed to be more, but the Perhentians ate into my time), I flew to Jakarta Indonesia. I'm excited for Indonesia and now I can say that the country is really beautiful, but for anyone who has been to Jakarta.... it is not. After one night, I boarded one of the worst night buses I have ever taken, and a cramped 13hrs later, stumbled into Yogyakarta.
It took a day or two to get settled into Yogya and at first I found it a bit frustrating. I arrived during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, a three day National holiday which celebrates the end of Ramadan. I didn't realize how big this holiday was: almost all muslims make an effort to visit family so shops were closed, traffic was crazy, and accomodations and transport were really booked up. I found a really nice, clean and modern hostel, but found that it was completely filled with locals and their children. Definitely a different vibe than I had become accustomed to in other hostels!
Shitty photo, wonderful girls!!
However, things definitely improved. Eid al-Fitr ended and I was able to get things like laundry done again. The traffic was still pretty terrible, but I met several fellow solo female travellers, and we really connected. There is something so refreshing about meeting fellow women who are travelling by themselves! We have all had similiar experiences in that people thought we were crazy, wondered about our safety, or thought that we just liked alone time. In reality, the women I have met have been some of the friendliest, positive people I've ever met, who have been safe for their entire trip, have spent minimal days alone, and have counted solo travel as one of the best decisions of their life. We spent the next two days packing as much sightseeing and fun in as possible, and I was sad when I had to leave them to fly to Bali.
Several highlights from my time with the girls included a sunrise trip to the Borobodour temples (a massive Buddhist monument and UNESCO world heritage site) and the Prambanan temples, a Hindu temple complex from the 8th century that are the nation's best examples of Hindu art. It was strange here -we were asked for photos countless times with locals, and heard "Boule!!" (foreigner/westerner!) shouted at us everywhere we went. It was strange having a separate entrance (paying more of course), getting free tea and coffee, using nicer washrooms and using the train for free. We also used the foreigner's que for entering the temple, saving about 30min of wait time. At first I felt very bad about this privilege that I had been given, just based on the colour of my skin, but when I realized I paid three times more than the locals... I stopped feeling quite as bad. It was still very strange though, and I'm not really sure what to think. Indonesia is a different place, that's for sure.
We also rented motorbikes (surprise, surprise) to go visit to Parangtritis beach where I finally understood why Indonesia is known as a surfing capital of the world -I've never seen such insanely huge waves! It was a massive flat beach absolutely packed with locals standing around, laughing, and splashing in the waves fully clothed, and with horse carts moving in and out of the crowds. Children laughed and shrieked, and we would go from standing on sand to being thigh deep in water in about one minute -and then back to dry land again in the same amount of time. I've never seen anything like it.
We visited the bird market which I was quite interested to see, but found it to be a bit depressing. No-one wants to see baby owls, scared out of their wits, crammed into a cage for sale. There were many different birds and animals too: pupppies, kittens, snakes, turtles, roosters, pigeons, and of course numerous species of songbird. I did find it cool to see black Java finches, like I had once sold when I worked at SuperPet in high school, and to remember that they are native to this area. We also checked out the Kraton (the Sultan's Palace), Malioboro St, a chaotic and energetic street jammed with street vendors of every kind and food stalls, and went for dinner when our plans to see the Indonesian ballet failed -misunderstanding of dates on our part! Our night ended with beers on the roof of our hostel, from one of the few corner stores licenced to sell alcohol in Yogya. There tends to be a limited nightlife in muslim countries :-P
I am currently writing this from the air, on my flight to Bali -in about one hours time I will be landing. Time has just been flying by (pun not intended), and I can't wait to make the most of my last few weeks in SouthEast asia!
It's always difficult planning and dividing up time in a trip such as this one. The entire length of my trip is 4 months, and this initially sounds like a long amount of time. However, when you actually get to down to dividing those 4 months into managable parts and balancing what attractions or activities you can't live without, while adjusting plans to travel with new friends (or meet up with old ones), learning to take a day off here and there, and realizing that distances need to be accounted for and that 9 hour bus rides can eat into a lot of time, well, by the end of it, things can certainly get tricky! I constantly find myself talking to other travellers and finding out about amazing places and wanting to see more, while simultaneously falling in love with some of the places that I am already in and just not wanting to leave. This has been the case with the last week or so, as I've finished up with Cambodia and started my travels in Malaysia.
Cambodia is an amazing country, and I would love to go back. The locals are so genuine and so friendly, everything is so cheap, and there are so many things to do and see. I was sad to have only two weeks but really enjoyed them. The last week in Cambodia I spent in Kampot, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. In Phnom Penh I shot a gun for the first time at a shooting range (an AK-47, on my 25th birthday!), met up with friends I had met in Vietnam, rode around in tuk tuks and bartered for everything. I also went to the Killing Fields and S-21, two sobering but very important memorials/museums that remember the horrific genocide that happened in Cambodia. Not a "fun" visit per say, but an important part of understanding a truly abhorrent part of Cambodia's history.
Kampot was a quaint and sleepy riverside town that I spent two nights in. It was a bit rainy, but I enjoyed some delicious food, admired the beautiful French architecture, and reunited with Deneca -a Canadian girl I travelled with during the very start of my trip. I also did a tour that covered the National Park, an abandoned French Hill Station, and included a riverboat ride. I was happy to discover that 6 of the 8 other people doing the tour were all solo travellers as well, so this ended in a fun night of dinner and drinks.
Siem Reap is where Angkor Wat is, an incredible city of ancient ruins from 1100AD. Here, I was fortunate enough to meet up with two very close friends from home who were kind enough to swing by from Thailand so we could see Angkor Wat together. During it's height, Angkor had over one million people who lived within it's gates. Today, it is mostly the temples and palace that remain, but even they are so big that they require a tuk tuk to get around. We had an amazing although very hot and sweaty day exploring the temples of Angkor. The pool at our hotel was definitely appreciated! We also went horseback riding through some small villages on a different day, stuffed ourselves while learning a ton at a Khmer cooking class, and went to get massages. Really, it was just nice to catch up with friends from home. The night after horseback riding, we met up with a couple I had met in Vietnam and they surprised me with a cake with sparklers, and some lovely birthday singing. I felt so blessed being able to celebrate my birthday with such a great group of people!
Birthday night silliness
So, there you have it. Just when I started to get a really good feel of Cambodia and just when I started to hear from other travellers about all the other things I could do there (Irrawaddy dolphin spotting, pepper plantation tours and elephant rehab come to mind...), it was off to Malaysia. Thankfully, that has not been a problem yet, as I am finding it to be very interesting place, much different than the rest of my trip. To be continued....
For those who are interested, I have a bit of an updated itinerary, for right up until the end of my trip.
I'm currently in Cambodia, heading to Siem Reap. This is the city where Angkor Wat is, and I plan on meeting some friends and seeing Angkor Wat with them for a few days. On July 30th, I have a flight booked to Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do in Malaysia, but I've been told that the Perhentian islands in Northeast are beautiful and good for diving, so perhaps I'll take a night bus there. I'll only have approximately a week to see Malaysia and to make it to Singapore overland, because I've got a flight from Singapore to Jakarta, Indonesia on August 6th. I'm not too worried about only having a day or two to see Singapore, as I've heard that it is quite expensive with not much to do.
From the time I land in Jakarta (Aug 6), to the time that I have to catch my Bangkok flight back to Canada (Aug 28), I'll have just a bit over 3 weeks. In that time I'll probably take the train to Yogyakarta, a university town and a centre of Indonesian arts and culture, before making my way to Bali, to take in some surf and nightlife, and the Gili Islands, to dive. My only other goal for the trip is to see the Komodo dragons in the wild (provided my funds don't run out! :-P).
I'll probably fly from Denpasar airport in Bali back to Bangkok around the 27th, and soon after it will be time to return to real life. Although I'm having the time of my life and don't want this trip to end, it will also be really nice to reconnect with my friends and family (and of course my kitties!) back home. And... that's the update folks!
It is July 26th today. Two days from now, only July 28th, Cambodia will have an election. Everywhere we go, motorbike parades are happening, young people crowded into open-air trucks shout, wave, fly flags and drive around, and everywhere you look there are signs posted. The city is alive, electric, although things like traffic are quite affected. Even minor things like my normally included complimentary guesthouse pickup to the bus station have been cancelled, as there are simply too many passionate political demonstrations.
Cambodian People's Party
I find this all very interesting, although it all does make me slightly nervous. I've had a few conversations with locals here about the political situation. One was our tour guide who is educated and used to be a reporter until he had a gun put to his head about a story he was publishing (he quit after that), and the other being a female university student who was watching one of the parades and who excited told me, in rushed but quite good English, what was going on.
A passing bus of National Rescue Party supporters
According to them, the party in power right now is the Cambodian's People's Party, and they are the same party that has been in power since the Khmer Rouge genocide. Cambodia does not have rules about how long a party can keep it's power, so the same party has continued to rule. There are allegations of vote buying in rural villages where people cannot read or write (my new university-going friend told me that it was for only 10,000r -that's only $0.25/vote) and there are many allegations of corruption. In fact, Transparency International, an anticorruption watchdog, ranks Cambodia a lowly 158 out of the 180 countries ranked. Both of the locals I spoke to told me similiar things: the government allows the wealthy or well-connected certain privileges, they make it difficult to suceed in school unless you have the money necessary to buy your marks, they are selling Cambodia's resources at unstainable rate, allowing foreigners to buy land in the National Parks, etc. The opposition party is called the National Rescue Party, and they really seem to have a lot of supporters (in Phnom Penh at least). Many of these political demonstrators are city dwellers, often educated, and young. An ex-pat I was talking to said that some older folk don't want a new party and find the prospect of political change quite scary. This, of course, is a product of living through the genocide. I suppose their view is that even though things aren't perfect at least they are not the Khmer Rouge, and they think that the younger generation just doesn't understand this.
As interesting and currently peaceful as all the demonstrations are, I can't help but feel a little bit glad to be getting out of the capital on election day just based on the sheer amount of demonstrators alone. I'm currently on a bus to Siem Reap, the city where Angkor Wat is. There I will meet two close friends from back home for a few days, as well as some Belgian friends I met in Vietnam (potentially!). I'm really looking forward to seeing all of them, belatedly celebrating my birthday, and exploring some world famous ancient ruins but I think it's probably wise to lay low on the 28th. Siem Reap isn't the capital but it is a large enough city. Regardless, I'm definitely interested in seeing the results!
A couple beers at the bar costs more than your accomdations for the night.
You get legitimately excited when a washroom not only has western toilets (as opposed to squats), but also provides you with soap and toilet paper. Bonus points if its free to use.
You find yourself checking out 8 different hotel rooms in hopes to save $1 for night. You return to the very first one you looked at in the first place.
You develop your haggling skills, and later realize that the 15 minutes you spent haggling saved you 30 cents.
You bump into the same other western travellers 15 times, in 15 different cities.
You have a bracelet tan and a sandal tan.
There is a good chance you have a SE Asia tattoo: a large wound/scar from a motorbike accident (Don't worry Mom and Dad, I've emerged entirely accident free!)
Your english has taken a considerable turn for the worse. Thankfully, your skills in hand gestures have tripled.
"Same same but different" has become an important part of your vocabulary.
So many of your conversations start with the famous 5 questions: Whats your name, where are you from, how long are you travelling, where are you going, and where have you been.
Free water makes your day.
You have found yourself "researching" your next destination (Lonely Planet of course!) while on the bus/train/boat, 45min before arrival, each and every time you reach a new city.
You have become a pool SHARK.
You happily plunk ice cubes into your beer, just to do anything to improve the non-refrigerated beer you are served on 38 degree days.
You have a tank top/vest/singlet from every country you've been to.
You've learned that prices are flexible for everything. Clothes, alcohol, hotel rooms,buses, tour group prices....
I am now on my third day in Cambodia, and honestly, my first impression right now is RAIN. ...actually, maybe that's not quite my first impression, although it very rainy today. To back up a bit, I sold my motorcycle in Ho Chi Minh city a few days ago to a British backpacker. It took 5 days of having it on the market for it to sell, and if I had been willing to accept any of the numerous low-ball offers I received from almost every Vietnamese guy we met, I would have been able to sell it on the first day. After selling my bike at 11am, I booked a bus to Cambodia at 12pm, and by 3pm was happily on my way to Phnom Penh.
Goodbye motorcycle -I'll miss you!
Vietnam has been wonderful in many ways, but after spending almost a month and a half exploring the country I became accustomed to certain aspects of the country that are distinctly Vietnamese. Coming to Cambodia served as a big reminder of the cultural differences and differences in how tourism is viewed by the locals.
Without further ado, some initial impressions of Cambodia:
- Honking prevalance. Or rather, lack thereof. In Vietnam, the locals honk to tell others they are there when passing someone; they honk when turning; they honk when pissed; and they honk while happy. They honk when driving the wrong way up a highway; they honk to show off their custom horn and they honk because everyone else is honking. After experiencing the absolute noise and chaos of Vietnam's roads and highways, it was a real shock to arrive in Cambodia to relatively quiet streets.
- Entire jugs of draft beer for a hefty $2.
- Everyone (almost) speaks good English. Apparently English is a bigger focus in schools here than it is in Vietnam, and this very noticeable upon even a few minutes here. As much as I enjoyed the adventure of trying to learn a new language, and as much as I appreciated (ha!) greatly increasing my skills in both gesturing, using picture dictionaries, and Google Translate, there is also something very refreshing about speaking English to people in the tourism industry.
One of MANY examples.
- Entire restaurants dedicated to happy pizzas (Ganja-fortified, for the unitiated). Most of these restaurants have large, clear signs out front detailing what it is exactly that they sell, and there is zero shame in their advertising standards. Many even have this in their names -"Happy Herb Pizza" is one such example. I knew that Cambodia was fairly lawless when it came to drugs, but I wasn't really expecting it to this extent. It's almost more rare in tourist areas to find restaurants that do not have drug menus than those that do.
- Friendliness of the people. The Cambodian people survived one of the most horrific genocides in recent history, and it was less than 40 years ago. When I look around it blows my mind that many people here still likely remember the genocide or were affected by it. Two million people were murdered by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime, a full one-quarter of the country's population. As the Lonely Planet reports, the Cambodian people have been to hell and back but "thanks to an unbreakable spirit and an infectious optimism, have emerged with their spirits and smiles still intact". From my very preliminary encounters with the people here, this sounds very accurate. The street peddlers have left us alone when we said we weren't interested, and even wished us a pleasant meal. When you ask someone (like a tuk-tuk driver) to give you a minute to think, they actually stop pressuring you for a moment and do so. People look you in the eye, smile, and even start up conversations without trying to sell you something. I think there is a greater appreciation of or awareness of tourists here than there is in Vietnam, and I have found it very noticeable right from the beginning.
- Quality of rooms. Although it is possible to stay here for a measly $2/night, you definitely get what you pay for. Even for "nicer" rooms, I think that the quality of what you get for your money has decreased a bit compared to Vietnam. That being said, other things (like food at a restaurant) are cheaper.
- Greater amounts of people begging. This is the poorest country in South East Asia, and it is noticeable. Although it is nice paying rock-bottom prices for everything, it's a complicated issue and makes me wish I could do something.
Anyways, I just wanted to write down a few thoughts for now. I'm spending the next few days in Koh Rong, a 3 hour ferry ride from Sihanoukville, with 4 Brits who I met in Vietnam. It's not a very fancy place, but one of the most beautiful beaches I think I've ever seen (and there's 27 more beaches on this same island!!). It's raining like crazy today so I think the rest of the day will be very laid back but hopefully I'll be able to get some jungle trekking, diving and beach time in soon. Till later, friends!
There are many things that obviously differentiate Canada from Vietnam. People's mannerisms, how business is conducted, how streets are cleaned, even what is considered edible, or what constitutes a social faux pas are just a few differences that anyone would notice from even a few hours here. Sometimes the cultural differences are exhausting and make me miss parts of Canada (there's only so much inane bartering I can do in one day) but other times I run across circumstances that make me very glad to be in Vietnam. My experiences taking a very old motorbike across the entire country have meant that I have inevitably had to meet and use the services of countless hardworking motorbike mechanics.
The typical mechanic shop is unlabelled, but obvious to identify based on the large amount of dark, greasy parts in what appear to be unsorted piles. A few we've been in also sell what every shop/house ever seems to sells: a few drinks, processed snack foods, laundry detergent or cigarettes, but the majority of the shops are mostly just random tools, bikes, hoses, and tires spilling out of a tiny 10x10ft space on the side of the road.
Problem situations that we've had with the bikes have all followed a similiar trajectory. The first step occurs when we notice that something has gone wrong. Perhaps we've looked at the chain, and remembered that it needs oil, or tightening. Perhaps the bike isn't starting properly, or we've noticed a nail through one of the tires. Next, we look around for one of the aforementioned mechanic shops. Usually, there is one within a few meters. It does not matter what part of the country we are in, the longest we've ever had to walk to get to a mechanic has been around 50m. Sometimes we gather a small group of Vietnamese guys who tinker with the bike first, as everyone seems to know how to do minor repairs, but if not, it off to the mechanic we go.
When we get to the shop, we are usually met with our mechanic, a thin Vietnamese man with grease stained fingers and an ever present cigarette dangling from his mouth. We gesture at the part of the bike that doesn't seem to be working that well, and soon enough, we are sitting on a small plastic stool he has provided, watching him tinker with the bike. Never have we had to wait more than a minute or two to be helped, and never has the complete lack of english stopped our mechanic from operating effectively. It blows my mind how well these guys know bikes, and how quickly they get to the root of the problem. If something doesn't work right the first time, they adapt and adjust and do whatever is necessary to create the fix. I've watched them hot glue gun a cracked plastic gas tank grip -maybe not the prettiest fix ever, but the best option for a necessary part that you can't order anymore! No appointment is ever necessary, never do we have to wait to get helped, and never have we had to leave the bikes and come back later. Occasionally, we've even had iced coffees and cigarettes (for Brandon at least) shared with us, with smiles and gestures being the only real way of communicating.
After 10-20 minutes, give or take, our bikes are in perfect working order again, and we are left with a bill that is usually only a few dollars. I think my biggest bill was $30, for a complete engine rebuild with numerous new parts (that took the better part of the morning), and the smallest, only $0.50 for chain tightening and oiling. Vietnam is really known for its scams and for consistently overcharging tourists, but the one industry that could overcharge without us being able to fight it much seems to be the only one that is more or less honest. I'm not sure if its because of how few tourists own bikes here -maybe the mechanics just not used to dealing with tourists -but I am grateful. Vietnamese motorbike mechanics, you have made tour through Vietnam so much more safe and have put my mind at ease numerous times -for that, I salute you!
After spending the last few days on a motorbike riding all day, I am currently writing this post from Nha Trang, a beautiful beach town where I hope to stay for a day or two. Spending a full day on a bike is tiring! The sun is incredibly hot and constant vigilance is required at all times because of the drivers here. We pull over frequently, usually once an hour, just to give our ancient motorbikes a brief rest so they don't overheat. A brief reprieve from the sun is also necessary for us -overheating is definitely a risk people people as well as bikes! By the end of the day we pull in dusty, dirty and exhausted, into the town we are staying, and never has a shower and bed sounded so good. I am really enjoying this type of travel because of the people and cities we go through, the incredible scenery we see every day and just the freedom of going where we want, and I would definitely rank this one of the best decisions (if not THE best decision) of the trip, but it certainly is draining. Oh well -I suppose that just means less money spent trying to find things to entertain ourselves during the day. It also makes you appreciate places more when you do stop.
Empty bar, free beer. What is this madness?!
So: a few descriptions or highlights from the last few days.
Hue was an interesting town where we rejoined the majority of tourists (many of whom have purchased a hop-on, hop-off bus ticket with Hue as a major stop).We stayed in a hotel called "The Google Hotel", where for $8/person, we enjoyed a free breakfast, free fresh fruit when we arrived, free laundry, and free beer from 5 until midnight! Sometimes the prices of things in Asia blow my mind.
Hoi An at night
Hoi An is a graceful and atmospheric town that was once a major port in the early 19th century. Because Vietnam was still under French colonial rule at this point, many of the buildings that still exist are in a beautiful and interesting French architectural style. However in the late 19th century, the river that Hoi An is located on silted up. Ships couldn't access the town the way they had before, and Hoi An was left frozen in time, without the continued development that inevitably would have come. In the 90's, a tourism boom began which transformed the city into the cosmopolitan and wealthy town that it is today.
Hoi An
While in Hoi An, I enjoyed some of the best food I had had in a long time (a much needed change from my three times daily noodle soup!), explored the beautiful old buildings lining the river, and checked out the local day and night markets. I also had a few items of clothing custom made. Hoi An has something like 700 tailors, who can make anything your heart desires and for quite a cheap price. I discovered that it can be quite fun to have clothing made to measure. As per usual, I fit in some beach time, some socializing here and there, and a few lazy morning in the hotel's lovely in-ground pool -one of the first I've seen in Asia! All in all a lovely town -walking along the peaceful river at night with the entire town lit up by lanterns convinced me that this town is probably the most beautiful I've seen on my travels.
Nha Trang is a beach party town, and probably the most modern, slick city I've seen in some time. We only stayed here two days and although the beach was stunning and I enjoyed the atmosphere and food, the highlight was a trip to VinPearl, Vietnam's biggest (and only?) theme park. I kept running into the same people throughout Hue and Hoi An, and when we all found ourselves in Nha Trang we decided that spending the day on rollercoasters and at the waterpark was the best use of our time. The 7 of us spent the day joking around, riding amusement park rides and cooling off in some pretty awesome waterslides. My only regret of the whole day was the lack of photos, as my phone was in for a minor repair. Maybe not the most cultural of experiences, but one of the most fun and silly days I've had in awhile!
Nha Trang beach
Next is on to Saigon, where I will sell my bike (so sad!) and bus on to Cambodia, before flying to Kuala Lumpur. Another change in the trip, in the style of travel, and in company, but that's the joy of this kind of adventure!
Finally, FINALLY I am able to write a blog post again! My charger broke in Hanoi the day before I left on my trip, and my shitty knock-off charger that worked for my iPhone somehow did not work for my ipad as well. It's taken several knock-off chargers (including one that sparked rather loudly and then melted in a mess of black charred white plastic), but I am finally able to use my ipad again and write a post. I'm maybe a little bit more excited than I should be!
So, where to start? I feel like so much has happened in week and a bit that I've been travelling on motorbike. This is the first time that I've truly felt like I've seen the real country that I've visited, and really gotten off the beaten path. The majority of towns that I've stayed in during the last week and a half almost never get tourists and for them, seeing a Western face is a really a shock. I can't count the number of times that people have waved at us, or turned to stare, or that we've gathered a crowd just by stopping somewhere to get a drink. People are a lot more friendly in towns that are completely untouched by tourism -they haven't grown accustomed to using tourists as their source of income, and when people invite you to have drinks with them or share their food, they are motivated by nothing more than an interest in the unusual and genuinely just wanting to talk to you. There are no hidden scams to surface hours later. There have been many times when we've been invited to drink with the locals (for free), had food shared with us, or had random people at the "restaurant" where we were eating want to cheers our glasses or shake our hands. It's amazing to see how much communication is still possible when neither side speaks any of the other's language.
Travel here has been really interesting. Things that you typically hear about, but maybe don't see in the main tourists hubs are on main display here. Countless cows and waterbuffalo are led around by their owners literally all day. It's a big deal for a family to have a cow here, and they make sure to take very good care of them. We've driven by endless kilometers of empty sand beaches, and watched as fields of florescent green rice paddy's whistle by. Huge karst mountains rise and fade into a bluish haze, and the roads are smooth and sun, HOT. Almost every Vietnamese woman who we have met has expressed concern for my bare arms and legs, where the dominant beauty standard is for pale skin and where the majority wear jackets and face masks to avoid the sun. It's funny how cultural differences surrounding beauty are so strong. Even though I like having a tan and don't want to be white, the constant disaproving comments can have an impact as they occur multiple times a day for days on end. They almost make me want to cover up just to avoid them!
Enjoying tit cho -before I knew it was dog.
We've also seen some parts of the culinary scene here that many westerners would find shocking. Many times we've passed through some small village somewhere and seen dog, or "Thit Cho", in various stages of butchering. I've got some pretty gruesome photos that I think I'll refrain from posting, but it really makes you realize how cultural views of animals here can vary so much from country to country, and it's something that you just kind of have to accept. In Thailand and Laos, dogs typically weren't pets but they weren't eaten. Here, the dogs cringe, growl or run away if you go to pet them, and it's clear that they are a normal part of the diet in some towns and something that's been going on for eons. I'm still travelling with a friend, Brandon, and the commonality of eating dogs really came close to home on a particuarly long driving day. We had been on the road for maybe 5 or 6 hours without any real break, so when we smelled roasting meats on a grill in a local market far off the main highway, we decided to pull over and take a look. Most heads in the market turned to look at the unusual sight of two very dusty and dirty foreigners get off their bikes and wander over to get food, and with some help from a calculator to write down the price, we were able to buy what looked like grilled pork ribs. Looking back, I suppose we should have taken a closer look at what we were eating, but the meat was chopped up for us and in our famished haze we gobbled down our food and tossed the scraps to the stray dog hanging around (!!). It was only when our dinner was half eaten did we realize that the texture was a bit off -too much fat, but too tough in between the ribs. We walked back and investigated, and discovered that our meal very closely matched the rib cage with paw still attached that was being sold a few stalls over. Ugh. Normally I'm fine with adventurous eating, and really, I probably would have even been fine with this, except for the fact that many Vietnamese believe that dog tastes better when the dog is afraid when it dies. As a result, dogs are usually killed in front of the other dogs, and are often beaten first. Not exactly something I want to support! I'm taking solice in the fact that I didn't know - I'll just have to be more careful next time.
Anyways, I suppose that's enough of a summary for now. More to come soon, now that the iPad is in commission again! :-)
For those of you who know me, most of you probably know about my affinity for two-wheeled transportation. I currently own 3 bikes in Canada -I commute everywhere I go year round, and have a road bike that I adore. During my travels in Asia, I have been renting automatic and manual scooters everywhere I go. A few days ago, I decided to take this one step further: I bought my first motorcycle.
Such a beaut! (Sorta...)
Now, before everyone begins to think I've knocked a few screws loose in the head, let me back up and bit and explain. Vietnam is a very long and narrow country, with (relatively) well built roads between the North and South. The main form of transportation here is the "motobike" as the locals refer to them -mostly scooters, with some motorcycles thrown in, and it truly boggles the mind how many people here ride them. This invariably includes backpackers and travellers, as the country seems to be built for motorcycle riding. It is possible to drive from one end to the other in only 2 weeks(ish -this depends on how you rush), and getting out on your own two wheels really allows you to see parts of the country that are rarely frequented by tourists. There is a surprisingly big market for cheap used bikes in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and it is common for people to buy a bike in one of the two, ride through the whole country, and sell it again at the other end when they're done. Our hostel was plastered with various ads for bikes, and many of them had already been sold when we contacted them! Repairs rarely cost more than a few dollar and almost never more than $20, mechanics are everywhere, and it can be a pretty economical way of travelling the country -not to mention, it's an absolute blast as well!!
I've been travelling on and off with a friend from the US, Brandon, and we decided to get bikes together. This kind of travel is not all that condusive to doing alone. Being in an area where no one speaks English during mechnical trouble is not all that fun, so I was fortunate that he wanted to do this kind of trip as well. We ended up buying two old Honda Wins from an English backpacking couple. We paid $250 each, including a full tune up with a bunch of minor repairs, helmets, maps, raincoats, and bungee cords. Not a bad deal I think! They're not exactly the sexiest bikes I've ever seen but they're still bikes and they still give us independence. I'm really just excited to have my first real vehicle that is actually 100% mine. Kind of cool that it's a motorcycle in Vietnam!
Some more highlights from my visit with Amanda in northern Vietnam: Hanoi, Haiphong, Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay and Sapa....
Halong Bay
- Seeing the beauty of Halong and Lan Ha Bay via boat, and kayak. This was a great day, but ended in a bit of a bizarre way. We bought a tour that started on Cat Ba island where we were staying that included a typical tour through the islands. It was then supposed to move on to Halong City, where we planned to catch a bus back to Hanoi. The tour itself was beautiful -the limestone karsts rise eerily from the water, and we enjoyed a full day with kayaking, good food, a cave tour, and a fun group of people whom we met on the boat. However, when we transferred on to another boat which was supposed to bring us to Halong City, it became clear that we were being... smuggled? I'm still not even sure what was going on, but the 5 Westerners who transferred onto the new boat were corralled into the luggage spot when we pulled away, and when we arrived into port. The boat captain and employees on this boat spoke no english, but we gathered by their yelling, pushing and hand gestures that they wanted us to hide on exit and arrival. Other than that though, we were allowed to walk around freely with the Vietnamese tourists on the boat. It was so strange! It would have been easy to get frustrated, but we were all in a good mood, and it just became a joke. I do have to say though, it is frustrating feeling like complaining about a company's business practices will get you nowhere though, and this is a bit too common in the tourist industry here.
Corralled in the luggage area
- Motorbiking everywhere. I am addicted to this mode of transportation. With almost every city I go to, I try to keep my eyes out for a place that rents "moto's". There simply is no better way for seeing the countryside, getting to out of the way restaurants, and experiencing the true beauty of the country we are in. Thankfully Amanda was up for motorbiking with me, and even drove the automatic bike we had one day by herself. We've been really lucky weather wise as well -although it is technically wet season, most of the rain we've gotten has been at night and we've had lots of beautiful days weather wise. Hopefully things will continue this way.
- Getting on to one of the most luxurious sleeper trains on our way to Sapa. We didn't bother booking a train ahead of time, and instead chose to just show up at the station. Unfortunately all of the regular sleeper trains were already full, but we weren't sure if this was true or if there was just a lack of communication as the train employees barely spoke any english. Not wanting to spend an extra night in Hanoi, we redoubled our efforts to get on the train and ended up talking to an employee of a very fancy hotel in Sapa that has a private car attached to the regular train. Normally they only allowed hotel guests to book this car, and for a lot of money, but because it was so last minute and they wanted to fill the car they gave us a bargain. At the time we were travelling with two friends, and so the four of us enjoyed a very luxurious ride through the Vietnamese countryside, warm towels on a plate and free slippers included.
- Meeting hill tribe women in Sapa, and touring through a local village with the motorbikes where we stopped for lunch. Some of the traditional clothes they wore were very ornate and beautiful -even if tourism contributes to them choosing to still dress traditionally, it was pretty neat to see.
And that's it so far! It's been great to get in some cousin time. Hopefully in the last few days that she is here we'll be able to add to our list of highlights!
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