Day 24 - A Whole Day on Buses

Forgive me for I actually had a thought that I'm too old for this type of travel.  More specifically, I wondered if I were too old to have to put up with this type of backpacker-type travel.

We got up at 5:25 and we're picked up at 6:45 for a departure of 7:30 from the bus station.  We spent over five and a half hours getting back to Phnom Penh.  It wasn't direct as we were told, so we needed to hang around and have lunch for a 2:00 pm departure.  By the time we had been shuffled to another bus by van, it was a 2:30 departure.  There were more people than seats, so around eight passengers had to sit on folding chairs in the aisle.

The bus had air conditioning that hardly kept up with the sun and heat.  By around 5:30 pm we were at the border.  Getting out of Cambodia was easy even though the line was long.  Getting into Vietnam was ridiculous.  The bus drivers for all busses collected all passports and then tried to find one of the three or four officers who'd stamp the whole pile.  Of course we had all luggage to be scanned as well.

At around 7:15 we were on the road again.  Some local pasengers apparently without proper paperwork were dropped off in advance of the border post but we picked them up a few kilometers on the other.  I can only ass e they arranged to be snuggled across.

It got dark.  We stopped in Saigon at 10:15.  We were close to downtown and just hailed a taxi for a 70,000 dong and were at the hotel in a few minutes. 

Let me sleep.

Day 23 - A Little Red

After yesterday's long walk on the beach, I found my skin a little burnt today. That didn't keep me from going in the water though. W e primarily just walked around our bay.  Oh, and as the buses to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) were full from here tomorrow night, we will be leaving Sihanouk Ville early in the morning.  Tickets cost $20 each.  We have to be ready for hotel pickup at 6:30 am and won't cross into Vietnam's southern city for at least 12 or 13 hours.  Phew.

I will miss the seafood, cheap drinks, and easy life at the beach.

Day 22 - Visa and Otres Beach

Today's accomplishments involved getting a visa to Vietnam and walking a few of the local beaches.

We started by scouting for breakfast.  Hotels don't seem to serve them in Cambodia.  We were going to eat at a restaurant next door but they didn't,t look crowded enough to good.  We walked down our entire Ochheutel Beach back to Serendipity Beach.  In fact we were almost near the Lions roundabout before we chose one in which to eat. 

Then we asked a tuk-tuk driver how much it'd cost to take us the three Vietnam Consulate.  He said he wanted to take us both ways and that he'd wait.   We grudgingly accepted.  Filling out the application took longer than the processing.  The fee for each single entry visa had gone up from the $45 we had read.  We have never paid $60 to enter a country.  The driver brought us all the way back to the Jasmine Hotel.

I put on my swimming trucks and we crossed to our beach.  The plan was to take a dip in the beautiful looking sea.  Instead, we ended up walking to the far end of our own beach, over a hill and into the next bay and Otres Beach.  That is a little less developed by there were tons of people.  Apparently kids must come here on college winter breaks.  Of course, because of its history we see and hear a lot of French holiday-makers.  Jay ate chicken amok but mine we shrimp.  Of course, there is great deal of fresh seafood here.

It had taken us hours to walk the beaches, so we waned a ride back.  A tuk-tuck wanted $4 so we both got on the back of he drive on a small scooter and came back to the hotel for $2.50.  We headed back to the pier after it got dark.  We had BBQ on the beach for $3 each.

Day 21 - Life's a Beach, Again

We're near surf at long last.

Last night a telecommunications glitch in our hotel caused a phone out y the elevator to periodically ring every hour or so.  That surely interfered with sound sleep.  Nevertheless, we had no trouble making the 9:00 am bus to Sihanouk Ville.  It was not a very beautiful trip to the coast and took approximately our and a half hours.  We chipped in on a tuk-tuk with a German tourist guy to come to one of the well-known beaches.  We settled on the Jasmine Hotel and he continued with the looking for another place.

We ate a late lunch nearby and peeked at the beach.  As we didn't get enough sleep last night, a nap was more than a luxury.

The main beach near the town is called Serendipity.  It's probably around a kilometer and a half walk.  We went via the road and returned via the beach.  Oh, I do enjoy beach towns!  This one was full of both young and old tourists.  The bars are up at that end of the bay near a wharf.

Day 20 - Cambodia's Hot!

We've been kicking around tropical and semi tropical locations for months.  Yet, today we really noticed the heat.

We went to the distinctively-shaped market this morning and just walking there and back about wiped me out.  The area of Phnom Penh called the Riverfront is older and where most tourists stay.

Click to see a larger copy of this image of Phnom Penh's Riverfront Quay.

The evening was complete after a long long walk on the riverfront quay.  Near the palace we could still see evidence of the peoples's respect for their recently deceased King Sihanok. There are a nice choice of restaurants. It still seems odd spending US dollars to buy everything!

Day 19 - Planes to Phnom Penh

Although only in the air for a total of 2:35 hours, we did spend the better part of the day flying from Rangoon, Burma to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It all went rather effortlessly. Thank you, AirAsia for taking off and landing on time in both instances. The stopover in Bangkok was a little longer than necessary but it is better to have it that way than to not have enough time!

Jay posted three photos on Facebook for today. He was eating breakfast at the airport in Yangon, lunch at the Don Mugang terminal in Bangkok, and dinner in a restaurant in Phnom Penh. I shall just include the photo of my lunch in the airport in Thailand. I first heard of American Fried Rice as a breakfast as a tourist to Thailand in the 1980's. It was generally breakfast.

We made it to the hotel and this seems like a real tourist area. How nice to run be roughing it a little less obviously than in Burma. They're not set up for visitors yet, really!

Personal Quote #6

"Within a span of less than two days, it's physically possible to visit nearly any destination on our globe. So, what has been keeping you from going there?"

Dennis Sylvester Hurd (1959- )

In front of Cambodia's Angkor Wat complex in October 2009.

Loan $25 to Make a Difference

I accidentally hit a bookmark for Kiva when selecting from my browser menu. It was then I found out I have $25 I can re-lend to a poor, struggling entrepreneur. I think I'll wait this time, and rather than the minimum $25 towards a loan, I'll lend $50. I do have to say though that when looking over the candidates, it would've been easy to select one.

I often mention Kiva. I think it it a fantastic way to give back a little. As said before, the loans are not handouts. The recipient pays them back. As two of my initial loans were paid back, I reinvested that $50 into two newer loans. If I'd wanted I could have taken the cash back.

Seeing that I had one loan to a lady in Cambodia, reminded me that I still have pictures from our October trip to upload to Flickr. I accomplished getting a few more days online. Here's one of a lunch we had on a day trip from Siem Reap to the River of 1000 Lingas, Banteay Srei. and Kbal Spean. Jay is next to our tuktuk motorcycle driver for the day. The meal was cooked in a big coconut.

A Nearly Indescribable Location

I have finally uploaded a few photos from our October 2009 trip to Cambodia. As of this minute, there's only one from the temples from Angkor.



Perhaps, it's just the trip's immediacy, but I think Cambodia was one of the most interesting vacations of late. We enjoyed the people and travelling there was the perfect type of journey. Our day spent in the temple complex of Angkor has got to be one of the places I'll always remember. In the photo above I'm standing inside the Bayon Temple. It was tiny in comparison to the monumental Ankor Wat proper. Yet, the Bayon Temple has to be the very most interesting architectural achievement I have ever witnessed. If I had means to instantly jump to any worldwide GPS position, this location would be on my Top-10 list of places to go.

When writing today's entry, I also re-discovered the superb BBC Ankor Wat YouTube documentary in my eJournal and images. It's over fifty minutes long but you can watch bits when you have the time. Just click the CAMBODIA tag (label) below and scroll to the bottom entry.

Out of Bus Windows

Today, we were picked up by a van at 7:20 am to be taken to a bus heading back to Bangkok.  Other vans and tuk-tuks slowly brought people to the same bus, so we didn’t get moving until 8:45.  It took us to the border.  It stopped at the government run tourist bus area where we got a short ride to the border on another free bus.  We had to exit Cambodia there.  We also had to get another free visa for Thailand there.  There were many tourists and it took nearly an hour.

On the Thai side we waited until another nine tourists got through and a new van brought us to a hotel to wait for the ‘big bus’.  It was 2 o’clock by then so we ate.  Eventually, all the other passengers arrived and we were shepherded onto the  ‘big bus’.  The air conditioning was pretty weak but it was fairly comfortable.  We hit Bangkok at rush hour but then this city is in constant rush hour.  It dropped us off in a different part of the city at 7:15.  We had to take a tuk-tuk to the National Stadium Sky Train Station, so we could get to our hotel at Chong Nonsi.  It was nice to get a shower after a little over 12 hours of travelling.  It was a bit easier getting to Siem Reap on our own but today our tickets were only $7.50 each.

After checking in, we went out to a nice outside seafood restaurant for dinner.  I will remember feeding a cat the ends of all my shrimps.  I am happy to be eating anything this time here.  My stomach was not up to ‘real food’ during the first days here.

Short Time Left in Cambodia

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been in Siem Reap, Cambodia for almost a week.  Today, we had to buy tickets to get back to Bangkok tomorrow.  We’ll be ready at 7:30 am for the arrival of the tuk-tuk.  Then one bus company will take us all the way back. The first is only to the border where we must exit Cambodia and get another visa into Thailand, then we will pick up a bus from the same company on the Thai side.  The arrival in BKK could be as early as 3:30 pm but I shant count on it.

Today, there’s not much to do.  We don’t want to ‘see’ anything else.  After breakfast out, we spent at least an hour in the Old Market.  It is fun to walk around as it’s a curious mix of food, meat, and souvenirs.  I bought a CD of MP3 Cambodian pop music.  Yesterday I bought an eight-by-five inch wall hanging of the Bayon Temple faces.  It is made of wood and I’m sure I could have haggled a better price than $10 but it is worth it as it’s something that cannot be bought in other places.  I now try to avoid global souvenirs.  Why do some people buy souvenir-type items for their houses if they haven’t actually visited that place?  Export of such items cheapens their value.  For example, I often see similarly carved Kenyan giraffes for sale in shops in Canada while ours were actually purchased from a Kenyan.  I don’t even have to mention the silliness of buying supposed local souvenirs which are, in fact, made in China.   I limit junk to one item per trip nowadays.  It’s really past time to spend $1000 on a good curio-cabinet for the apartment in Vancouver.

Adaptation is Key

This morning we finished up our ‘breakfast supplies’ of jam, cheese, juice, and most of the bread.  Tomorrow will be our last full day here and we’ll just try eating out for breakfast.

After eating, as soon as we headed toward the old market, our tuk-tuk driver of yesterday came by.  Ever since getting here, Jay has really wanted to go to the “Floating Village”.  As it’s not far, we agreed to a price of just $5.

Both on yesterday’s long trip and today’s shorter one, it is interesting to see how people live by driving past the houses and neighbourhoods.  It is surprising how quickly the new scenery become familiar.  Most of the houses are on the second storey with the first floor just up on sticks or pillars.  This keeps the living quarters dry during flooding.

The most peculiar phenomenon is the annual enlargement of the Tonle Sap Lake.  It can increase 4.5 fold during the rainy season.  That’s now.  The change in the biosphere is amazing.  Both flora and fauna have to adapt to areas being underwater for half the year.  The village we took a boat to was made up of boats and floating houses.  I have, of course, seen old movies about Vietnam but seeing folks up close living out their lives in such different circumstances is quite amazing.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned in our travel experiences is that people have an amazing capability for adaptation.  People do change clothes, abodes, and beliefs to fit their  circumstances.   I often hear from a particular type of intelligent but misguided person that they think “people are all the same everywhere”.  These statements are simplistic and wrong.  These mushy sentiments are usually heard from well-meaning people who have, themselves, been nowhere.

Over a Hundred Kilometers

We didn’t arrange to go on today’s trip through the hotel.  There are literally hundreds of tuk-tuk drivers trying to find customers.  Here, there are not the Indian type of 3-wheel vehicles.  Rather they use an ordinary 125 cc motorcycle and tow an attached type of rickshaw seat, cover, and wheels.  They have leaf springs and are quite roomy.  We knew that going to the River of 1000 lingas would take quite a long time as it’s 60 kilometers from downtown.


We found a friendly driver with whom we’d talked with yesterday.  He actually found us on our way to the location where he parks.  He agreed to take us to Banteay Srei and Kbal Spean.

We left Siem Reap at around 9 o’clock in the morning.  We weren’t back from the interesting trip until nearly 4:00 pm.  He had agreed to take us for $17 this morning but we gave him a $20 bill.

Climbing the two kilometers up the mountain to see the waterfall and river carvings was quite intense.  It reminded me again why it is important not to put off travel until retirement.  An older person may have had quite a difficult time doing the things we’ve done this week.  Perhaps an older person has the interest, time, and money; however, they very well may no longer have necessary the physical ability.

I will be a little sore tomorrow but I’m so glad we’ve already taken on a lot of the world before it becomes more physically difficult with our increasing years.

Spreading Around a Few Dollars

We needed a day of rest between temple visits. We ended up walking around Siem Reap. After such a hectic day yesterday, it was nice to have little to think about today.

One of the bigger questions of the day was simply where to eat. There are many upscale restaurants where meals can be bought for $8. While that may sound pretty inexpensive, there are also more down-to-earth restaurants where the entrees cost average $1 only. Honestly, it’s not just my wallet that is happy to eat at the latter. I would much rather eat where locals do. I want to experience where I am. It seems silly to come somewhere different but live as if one were home. Of course, we could have eaten at a French or Indian restaurant but I got more satisfaction by going Khamer.

Even then, there are times when I have to think hard about cash. For example, I avoided the mother with child who were begging. I was just returning after eating a $2 pizza and $2 bottle of beer. Just a fraction of that $4 could have fed them for a week most probably.

Dealing with beggars is not something new for me. It is strange how one can get used to it. One really cannot help out ever single one or the wallet would be empty before the day was done. Still, of course in Canada, I refuse to give any handouts. I know we have social institutions set up to help those in need. There is simply no reason for a person to have to resort to begging on the street. However, when travelling in poor sections of Asia, it’s important to remember there is no safety net. A person who has lost his leg from a landmine cannot work and may have no access to a pension. Some are out on the street begging because they have no other option.

I didn’t give money to that woman with a baby but I did have to try harder to make sure that fact didn’t negatively affect my memory of the great dinner.

People Must Travel to Know

We spent the day at Angkor, Cambodia. Some visitors get there before dawn but we left at a more reasonable time of 7:30 am. The tuk-tuk driver delivered us back at the hotel at around 4:00 pm. Without previous travels in India and Asia, I don’t think I would have been ready to really get much meaning from the massive amounts of stone I saw today. These great civilizations were powerful when Europe was in the dark ages and the Americas 'undiscovered'.

Perhaps I’ve been affected by Buddhist philosophy or perhaps it’s just wisdom that comes with age, but it’s hard to escape the temporal quality of existence. Huge cities, temples, and places of education come but are erased with the mere passage of time. Some civilizations peak but eventually, always, the importance moves to other regions. Humans stumble around thinking they are the end result of progress but in fact, all they know will one day be lost or considered irrelevant.

Today I looked at enormous rocks that once created walls and shrines that time has tossed around and that gigantic trees now straddle. I saw temples of such scope that their grandeur still amazes but they are no longer living places; they are simply empty husks no longer connected to the lives of those who once inhabited them. One temple in particular made me feel sad. I was overwhelmed almost to the point of tears. Bear in mind, I’m usually a pretty butch guy. I saw the crumbling walls, the forgotten effort, and the dead dreams of some ancient peoples.

Life is not one continuous procession of progress. History lurches backwards as often as forward. We think of ourselves as the end product of linear evolution. A few centuries ago, though, European power shifted to the Americas, and now a newer shift is rapidly rejuvenating China. Some life grows and old things dwindle.

This process shouldn’t really make me sad at all; it is, more simply, what makes me a part of humanity.

Hanging ‘round Town

We could have gone to the Floating Village or Angkor Wat today but we chose to just take it easy. After all, that is what a vacation can be about! Sometimes on these 'always-on-the-go' ones, it’s good to remember that fact.

We are sort of playing this part of the trip by ear. For example, although the idea of heading to Phnom Penh is on the table it looks increasingly possible we may stay right in this town for our whole week. Seeing Angkor Wat may well take several days. And in this heat and humidity, it’s best to take things slowly.

Today we walked around the city of Siem Reap. Unfortunately, too many tuk tuks are plying for the tourists in town. It’s impossible to walk fifty feet without being asked if we want to be taken somewhere. It could be annoying to some, but I quickly learned to smile and just say no. After all, the dollar they earn by the luck of having a ride may mean a huge difference to them and their families. After all the lot of us are here flashing around cash on seeming extravagances.

We managed lunch not on Pub Street but in a rather upscale restaurant. We were so full we ended up just having soup from sidewalk vendors for dinner. I really rather like it here. It must be like what Bangkok was like 60 years ago. Well, perhaps not. Yet, it has the feeling that it is a bit ‘undiscovered’ even though at that very moment a huge tour bus will rumble by.

Every weather forecast I see calls for different conditions for the the next six days. I bet we’ll try checking out Angkor in the morning tomorrow. Or maybe …

Bangkok to Siem Reap

There are tons of scary and complicated stories on the Internet about trying to travel from Thailand to Cambodia.  We read them all.  We tried to figure out how to prepare and decided to come by bus.  Key in getting here was the fact we got e-visas before our trip.  The whole process is pretty straight forward except near the border itself.

(I will leave this space to allow for a more detailed account of how we got here when I have the time.)

It was dark when we got to our hotel.  We had reserved in Canada so we knew, they knew, we were coming.  We must have checked in at around 6:45 or so.  First things first: a shower.  We then walked around looking for something to eat for dinner. 

I think I’m going to like Siem Reap.  It seems a perfect size, at least this part.  There are sufficient numbers of tourists to have a thriving restaurant and bar area.  Lots of folks can throw down $6 for dinner and get a rather upscale meal.  We’ll do that tomorrow.  Tonight we bought from street vendors.  We spent $3.50 in total only because I got a can of Anchor beer.  People bring in US dollars as they are the main form of currency.  There is also local currency called a riel.  At the present time the unofficial exchange rate is 4000 to a buck.  Stores and restaurants price in dollars but will accept riel.

We didn’t venture too far and will be in bed by ten. A little tired, yes.

Potentially, Kids Could Get Smart

I was thinking about Internet privacy earlier in the day. Although a noble concept it never really existed but in theory for many. I grew up in a town of 2,000 people. Some teachers in school had taught my mother. When I checked out a book from the town library, the one librarian knew exactly what I'd been reading (or not reading). If I dropped into the local market for food, then half the town knew what we'd be having for dinner.

Maybe it's just that I don't mind leaving a trail online. In most instances, I don't mind letting the whole world see about me. For example, when I use my Facebook pages, I try to conduct myself with the same civility as I would at a cocktail party. I don't add things that I wouldn't mind putting on a resume. Anyway, that's neither here nor there.

My reference to the town library in an earlier paragraph demonstrates how hard it used to be to get new information. I lived three miles from the Abbott Library. Now kids can sit anywhere, practically, and find anything, practically. I found a little clip of several minutes on Angkor Wat. We're going to Cambodia expressly to see it. The complex should be classed as one of the great wonders of the world, yet many people I know have never heard of it. Don't let the childlike interface of National Geographic fool you, you may learn something if you click the image.

The Details Have Been Altered

I just wanted to you to be able to see a little concrete evidence of expediency. Last night, I visited the website of the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation. The site mfaic.gov.kh offers electronic visas for tourists. I was a little surprised at how quickly the whole process went. We filled in some basic information and uploaded personal photos on the first page. The second step involved receiving preliminary approval. Then, we added more details including passport numbers. After all the information was instantaneously verified, a final step involved paying by credit card. Within a few hours, we got back our visas as an email attachment. We will need to print off two copies to take with us.

Compared to the stories we read about trying to obtain visas in Thailand or at the border, the process was a breeze. The ease was most definitely worth the $5 online processing fee. The only way it could've been simpler would have been if no visas had been required at all.


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Teaching First, Angkor Wat Later

I requested to teach a class which starts on Thursday. (Tomorrow is Canada Day, our national holiday.) The class will be my usual level but it's even a bit more intensive than the usual ones. We'll squeeze in the whole 84-hour course during the month of July. I thought sixteen hours of instruction per week were a lot but this one boasts twenty! This should keep me pretty busy.

After though, it will be time to relax a lot. There aren't any classes which run during August, so I will be idle. Then, I will take off September and October as well. This has been my routine over the last half dozen years or more. The autumn is a wonderful time to travel. The weather is fine in most places and the summer crowds have generally thinned considerably.

We already have tickets for six weeks on JAL. We go directly to Sri Lanka for a month and then we have a few weeks to stopover in Bangkok on our return flights. This will give us a chance to spend about ten days exploring some of Cambodia.


BBC Documentary - Angkor Wat - 52 minutes