Blog no.5: TWO MORE COUNTRIES - PASSING THROUGH CAMBODIA AND A GLIMPSE OF VIETNAM

October 8 2015

Blog no.5: TWO MORE COUNTRIES - PASSING THROUGH CAMBODIA AND A GLIMPSE OF VIETNAM

Marija's next coutry after Laos was Thailand and mine Cambodia. In the morning after my last boat right to the pier I took a bus to the border.

To get an exit stamp in the passport they wanted a few dollars. I knew about this scam as this is not an official fee. I didn't want to pay, because I knew it was a bribe for the officials. I told them I have money just for the visa and I couldn't pay this. It was only after more than 5 minute talk with them (I was the last in line, so I could afford this) they took my passport and stamped it, with an angry face. I was very satisfied. Not because I spared a few dollars but because I suceeded stooding up against something that is wrong, although it was just a small thing ☺. I had already reserved a sit in a van with Asia Van Transfer to take me from the border to Siem Riep. I was really lucky and got the only sit in the van that had enough room for legs, others were really really tight.

SIEM RIEP (5.2. - 8.2.2015)

Siem Riem is a total contrast from Laos. A lot of people, big buildings, luxury accomodation, noise and too much light. Shininess is writen all over it and at first I was really bothered by it. To much of everything as opposed to the simplicity I enjoyed so much in Laos - modest living conditions, small builldings, silence in the nights, connection with the nature and people who are satisfied with simple things. It was only after I had arrived in Siem Riep I reallised Laos holds a really special place in my heart ☺.

It took me some time to adjust to the new surroudings. It helped a lot that my room at the lovely Green Park Village Guesthouse was amazing as opposed to the rooms I was used to sleep in. It was clean, spacious with a big bed and wonderful bathroom. The food and the service was great there and it cost only 10 USD for a night, including the breakfast. The only bad thing was the location, a bit outside the centre, I used a tuk-tuk, a bike or just my legs to get there. I decided I wanted to spend more than one day exploring Angkor Archeological Park, so I bought a three days pass for 40 USD.

I rented a bike for two days and had a very active explorings of the themples. I biked from the guesthouse to the complex and there I did a small circle and the bigger one too. I was quite tired in the end, but the freedom and the wind in my hair as I was pushing the pedals were well worth it . I met a lovely girl from Switzerland, Jacqueline, and we had a great time discovering the themples, some were really lovely. I loved the big, famous ones, but also the small ones, which a lot of people passed by, so there were more peaceful and I could enjoy them on my own ☺. One day I rented a tuk- tuk with Jacqueline to take us to the further themples like Banteay Srey and a place in the woods where there were beautiful carvings in the river. We started the tour with a sunrise at Angkor Wat, which was nice but a bit overcrowded. I wasn't feeling the best, I think I ate something bad the previous day, so I was really weak and walked slowly, but I enjoyed it anyway. I was lucky that the bad feelings passed before the night, especially as I spent it on the night bus ☺. One afternoon I wanted to go with a bike to the lake Tonle Sap. I followed the road going south and in a few minutes I saw a different side of Siem Riep. Not a ot of tourist came here and this part wasn't so different than Laos ☺. It was beautiful, green rice fields, I stopped to let a bunch of monks do their ritual, I admired lotus fields and enjoyed relaxing in the hammock☺. I didn't get to the lake, because it was already a bit late, but the ride was wonderful. In the evening I walked through the very much alive city, got some food, checked out many markets and relaxed during the masages, which was absolutelly a must do after so much pedalling.

RABBIT ISLAND (9.2. - 12.2.2015)

As I was slowly coming to the end of my journey I wanted to spent some time at the sea. I decided upon Rabbit Island (Koh Tonsay), a small island close to Vietnam. I took a comfortable night bus from Siem Riep to Phnomm Penn with Giant Ibis company - a bit more expensive but well worth it. I arrived in Phnom Penn early in the morning where I got some fruit, a Cambodian phone card to plan my onward journey and a bus ticket to Kep. In the first 10 minutes of the drive we had an accident when we bumped into another van. We had to wait for another van to take us to our destination. The ride wasn't really comfortable but when I saw the sea I forgot about the long drives that were behind me. The tuk-tuk drivers were so intrusive that I didn't have the energy to deal with them, so I just walked about 40 minutes to the pier ☺. The boat to Rabbit Island was short and soon I landed in a place that was actually very perfect for me. There are not a lot of bungalows which means not a lot of people. The food was amazing, I ate so much sea food, fresh and delicious. The beer tastes better if you drink it in the hammock with a sea view. In the mornings I got fresh ripe fruit platter and green tea which was cooled with ice. The first day I slept in a bungalow where I had to ask to turn on the water to shower, but that was ok. Everything was ok there ☺.

The second day I found a perfect home for a few days - it was the last place on the right on the beach, very private, delicious food, nice owners and great company. I met two smiling guys from Netherlands, one older interesting guy from Australia and two older ladies that had an idea to collect the shoes that get washed on the island. One day I went to discover the island, it takes less than 2 hours to go around it, and along the way we colllected the shoes. It was so much fun - there are so many shoes that are washed on the beach that we collected only the interesting ones ☺. We saw how they catch the fish by going in the water with a net and circling the fishes inside. The island was a wonderful relaxation after a lot of travelling, I didn't do much there, mostly I just enjoyed and relaxed. I did go to the top of a small hill where the view wasn't the best, but I was pumped with adrenaling going through the jungle alone with a stick to scare the snakes away ☺. They say there can be snakes, but I didn't see any, actually I didn't want to look around too much ☺. In the evenings I got a massage and we hung out in the restaurant where the coctails and the beer were cheap and good. At about 11 o'clock they turned off the lights and then we went swimming with the plankton, it was beautiful, so shiny! I had only a few days there, but they were lovely! As I was just leaving this magical place on the boat arrived two Italians I had met in the van to Siem Riem, it was so funny so see a familiar face in a foreign land ☺.

VIETNAM: Chau Doc, Sa Dec, Ho Chi Min (11.2. - 14.2.2015)

At the pier I got a transport to the bus station across the border. It was an interesting experience, in between the borders there were hammocks where we relaxed while waiting, now that's taking it easy ☺. At Vietnam border one guy and me had to wait for quite some time and they checked us a lot, they asked me where I live, I guess I was suspicious ☺. Well they let me in Vietnam anyway, jeeey ☺! I decided to stay in Chau Doc so I took a bus there. I was lucky that there were two more tourists on the bus because it was quite weird - they took us to somebody's house where they spend quite some time working on the engine and if I would be alone there it wouldn't be very relaxing, being in the middle of nowhere with people with whom you can't communicate easily. The drive was as usual - full bus, not a lot of space or air and people were travelling with all sorts of weird things (even a bag of smelly dead fish). I rented a room in Chau Doc and went to explore it a bit, it was nice, I loved the fruit market. It was interesting because sometimes I was the tourist attraction there - they were saying hello to me a lot, but they weren't intrusive, so it was nice☺. This teritory is very fertile and alive as it is close to the Mekong delta. I bought a bunch of fruit and left it on the hotel outside stairs up in the 4th floor where there were not many people. In the morning I got up early because I had tours and wanted to have breakfast, but my fruit was gone! I tried explaining at 6 o'clock in the morning in sign language to and older vietnamese lady that my fruit was gone, but she thought that I need a toothbrush ☺. Finally she woke up the girl who speaks English and after about 15 minutes they brought me my fruit, without explanation ☺. After getting my delicious fruit back I started with a two hour tour on the Bassac river to see the floating market, the Cham villages and the Mosque Masjid Al Ehsan - which they are now lifting up, because of the floods, very fascinating :). Afterwards I also took a tour to Tra Su Bird Sanctuary - and this was amazing! Ms San from the Mekong Chau Doc Travel Agency drove me there with a motorcycle, the drive itself involves so much beautiful scenery. On the way there she showed me monkey bridge and we stopped to see the rice plantations upclose.

We had a little accident with the motorbike at the crossroads with one guy who was also on the motorbike - we didn't hit each other, but he turned the wheal and fell a little bit. Nobody got really hurt, so it was ok. It is interesting to see how they drive there - it looks like no rules apply, they honk a lot and as I understood the rules - the one that honks has the right of way ☺. But inspite all that it seemed that the strange rules worked, so I guess it was an organised chaos ☺. And it was also interesting how they settle when it comes to an accident - the guy was showing us where he got hurt and my driver gave him a little money, smiled and we continued our tour. The Sanctuary was such a special place, they take you with the boat to go around and you can see so many beautiful birds and trees! Ms San was really amazing - she speaks English perfectly and she is so passionate about the nature and she is always explaining about the things you see or showing you the birds in the trees ☺! She brought different fruit for me to try and I could ask her anything! Later we went to one village where I could see a woman weaving and be around locals, we drank some tea and I also we had a drink with palm meat and palm sugar, very nice. I tried a milkfruit and I liked it. We also went to Sam mountains' Pagoda with beautiful views! I really recommend to do this tour!

As this was my last night before my flight back home, I wanted to stay close to Ho Chi Min City, so with an advise of Ms San I went to Sa Dec after the tour. I arrived after 8 o'clock in the evening and she told me I wil not have trouble getting a room to sleep in. Well, as it turned out I was lucky, Sa dec was quite alive at that hour, but it is not a small village. So I walked quite a lot in the direction of a hotel that Ms San wrote down on a piece of paper. People didn't speak a lot of English there, but they were really friendly and showed me the direction of the hotel. Probably I was looking a bit lost as one guy on his motorbike stopped and wanted to help. I told him what I was loooking for and he left his girlfriend there and drove me to the hotel. I was really lucky to meet this guy, because as the hotel was full he drove me around and tried to find a room for me that wasn't too expensive. He drove me to a motel where it was nice and cheap and I wanted to thank him so later he came with his girlfriend and we walked around a little bit. They had some flower festival there and it was nice, flowers and bonsai trees everywhere. We talked a little bit, mostly with him because the girlfriend didn't speak English much, but it was nice just to be aroud so friendly people! And in the morning I couldn't find a bus to Ho Chi Min, so he took me to the bus station. I was so happy to find an English - Vietnamese dictionary in the shop to give him to thank him for everything!

The drive to Ho Chi Min was nice, observing many bridge crossings over the Mekong Delta. I had only one afternoon to explore the largest city in Vietnam, so I left the luggage where I ate and walked around a bit. I saw a few parks, pink church and of course a market where I bought Jasmine tea and delicious dried mangoes ☺! I wanted to go to the airport by bus, but one guy told me that it would be better by taxy because of the busy roads, so we split a ride and talked a little bit. I realised that vietnamese people are really nice and friendly. But their driving isn't friendly at all. There are a lot of motorbikes and they don't stop at the road crossing. The only way to cross the road is to just walk while they drive almost right next to you - they don't stop, they just go around you. You just have to trust that they don't drive through you, and they usually don't ☺!

Coming back home after a travel like this isn't easy. I was happy to see the people that I love and also Slovenija, my beautiful country. But a part of me wasn't ready to go home yet and wanted more ☺! I realised that during a month of travels I learn so much about people, places, history, but most of all about myself. Every day I enjoy and explore new things, I step outside my comfort zones and also discover my secret wishes. I have learnt that anything is possible ☺!