How to begin my trip to Cambodia and Thailand…
First off, for all of my friends and family who actually read this and haven’t spoken to me in the past year, I’M REALLY SORRY for neglecting the blog. Around September of last year, I was “not fired, but I could not come back” to my old school, Elite. The school was really struggling for money and I was the most junior teacher. So, for financial reasons, (and they found out I was teaching the kids about where to get a hotdog for a quarter after midnight and phrases like “God, Country, Notre Dame.”) I was "politely" asked not to return to school after my vacation in Japan last year. I am still extremely bitter about this as I lost a rather large chunk of money from it and I was treated very disrespectfully. However, a new leaf was turned, doors opened, blah blah blah and here we are, a year later. I was able to find a job in a timely fashion in an area very close, and very central in Seoul. Scholar Academy is a private school that teaches high school age kids who are planning to attend university in America. All of my kids are completely fluent in English and for the past year, I have been teaching English Literature, Language and Philosophy. The management of the school is American and I have been infinitely lucky with how my situation this time of last year has panned out. SO LUCKY, in fact, to have been able to afford an amazing trip to Southeast Asia…. Which is really what everyone wants to hear about. So without further ado…
I have divided this into different sections of the blog for reader convenience and it was too long for me to figure out how to post pictures with this size of post:
1. Cambodia
2. Bangkok
3. Koh Tao
Read some, read all, read none. I care not, but reader beware, I’m off my blogging game, so this may be a bit dry until I get my blog-mojo back.
We’re off to Cambodia.
A friend here once said to me, “Cambodia is my happy place.” An interesting sentence, but what does that mean? I hear that and I immediately think of the magic thought that was so elusive to Peter Pan (portrayed by master of the screen, Robin Williams) when he was trying to remember how to fly in the American 1991 classic Hook. One thought that can send him soaring through the air. As I traveled through Cambodia, even though I was only there for a short time, this became more and more true. Cambodia is a land that has been wrought by wars and genocide, subjected to cruel, abusive rulers, and plagued with disease and famine. But everywhere I looked, everyone I spoke to, every day I spent with them, the vibrancy and beauty of the people overwhelmed me. Mind you, the sadness and despair of a country with mountains of hardship to overcome was brutally ubiquitous. But through the sadness and despair, I saw the spark of determination; and I was buoyed with respect for the beautiful people of this beautiful country.
A few years ago, I spent a few months living and working in New Orleans. I saw the same type of spark. A city completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Everywhere you looked were not just buildings, but former offices, shops, and homes that still bore the signs of water damage. I could literally see the level to which the water rose, settled and then receded. Most buildings still had the spray paint marks from when the coast guard searched the house after the storm. Driving through the streets and looking at houses was a crapshoot. One house was rebuilt and a car in the driveway, and to either side of it: abandonment. I lived in that city, worked with its people, and helped its children. One question kept occurring to me: why? Why return? Why come back? The answer is simple, but noble. This was home; they had roots; and for them, the question was: Why not? Why not come back? This spark of determination is the same spark I recognized in Cambodia. In New Orleans, it would have been easy to stay with your aunt in Texas or your grandparents in Alabama; but people returned and rebuilt. Think about the efforts that have gone to restore New Orleans to its former glory. Billions of dollars, thousands of volunteers. Cambodia doesn’t have anything near the amount of aid or resources that Americans have; yet they, too, fight. Every instance of contact with a native Cambodian, I felt humbled. Every time I stopped and asked for directions, was approached to buy a bottle of water, asked if I needed a taxi or some postcards, I was humbled. The resiliency of these people is something I came to envy and admire.
Now that I’ve really set the upbeat and lighthearted atmosphere…
I arrived in Phnom Penh from Seoul around 9pm and found a tuk-tuk from the airport to my first hostel of the trip. A tuk-tuk is like an open-air taxi. It’s a motorbike that has a covered seat attached to the back; not the safest way to travel, but cheap and fun. I was only in Phnom Penh for the next morning and the rest of the first full day in Cambodia was spent on a bus, making my way to Siem Reap.
What I saw of Phnom Penh was lovely. The buildings definitely have strong French influence in their architecture from when Cambodia was a part of the French Indochina colony. Immediately outside of Phnom Penh is all rural countryside until Siem Reap, where the temples of Angkor Wat are located. The countryside is breathtaking. Looking out of both sides of the bus was a postcard shot the entire way to Siem Reap. The landscape is luscious and pure green, the trees tall and houses quaint.
I arrived in Siem Reap in the early afternoon and easily found my hostel. The tuk-tuk driver from the bus station to the hostel was named October, a name he had chosen to adopt because Westerners, like myself, always disfigured his Khmer name. He was also my driver the next two days around to all the different temples. Accommodation, food, drink, internet, laundry and literally everything you need backpacking through Cambodia is available for about a dollar. The room was about 6 dollars/night, breakfast 2 or 3 dollars/morning, internet free in most restaurants and cafes, laundry was a dollar/kilo. October charged 10 dollars a day to drive me around to all the temples. He dropped me off at the entrance of a temple and just waited for me to take my time looking around and taking pictures, and then take me to the next temple. As affordable as any vacation is going to be.
The temples themselves were astounding. The oldest temples are Hindu and the, not newer, but less old temples are Buddhist. To the untrained eye, some of these temples are just piles of rubble, architectural child’s play in today’s world. However, these temples were built between 800 CE and 1400 CE, which is, give or take, about 1,000 years ago. The scale, size and complexity of the temples, and the surrounding cities were technologically impossible during their time. Actually walking through the temples was like reconnecting with people over a thousand years ago. The thought occurred to me, “Someone put these stones here and someone worked tirelessly to create what I’m now standing in, and that someone existed over a thousand years before I was born.” What could give you more perspective than that?
The temples of Angkor number in the thousands and I saw maybe ten over two days. The first day of temple exploration was spent on the bigger temples, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and a few others. I spent the second day touring the smaller temples. What’s most striking about these temples is not just the absolute mammoth size but also the tiniest carving details. Many of the stones used to build the temples were built to the Hindu god Vishnu or Shiva and the engravings on almost every stone are not just impeccably detailed but surprisingly well-preserved.
Each path to and from a temple was lined with dozens upon dozens of women and small children trying to sell visitors anything from bottles of water to postcards to bracelets to paintings. Obviously, I wanted to buy water from every single one of them not just because I wanted each of them to have one of my dollars, but also because Cambodia is HOT. I mean, HOT. And air-conditioning is proof that God loves us. But seriously, it was hot. So hot that I was humorlessly considering moving to Alaska.
Anyway, I have two stories to share about these precious children who were trying desperately to sell me things. The first was a very brief encounter with a small girl. As I was walking through one of the temples a few girls came up to me with dozens of small trinkets, trying to entice me to buy one of them. Almost immediately upon arriving in Siem Reap, I became really well acquainted with the “welcometomcdonaldsmayitakeyourorder”-Cambodian equivalent of “Hello pretty lady, you want bracelet? You want water? Cold water, I have cold water?” From a very young age, these children are taught to speak conversational English in order to sell things to tourists. They know their numbers, hello, where are you from, and so on. I passed this particular group of girls, trying my best not to get sucked in and then I came upon the smallest girl of the whole bunch. She was half-hiding behind a tree whispering to herself in the tiniest voice, “Hello pretty lady, you want postcard? Ten for one dollar. One, two, three…” and so on. But it didn’t sound like that and her eyes were following me as if she were working up the courage to approach me. It sounded like “heyo prey lay, you wan poseka? Ten fo un dolla, un two ree…” and so on. She had the most innocent eyes as she followed me walking and then I heard her say it over again, but she got the numbers out of order. Then she got the look, as if she had just farted in church, and then started over again. I wanted to give her a big hug and say, “Here, take all my money. And take the credit cards too. Actually, I don’t need these shoes; they’re too big for you, but you’ll grow.”
The second story happened on the second day as I was exploring one of the smaller temples. Of course, approaching the temple, there was a handful of girls trying to sell me things. In my mind, I had already decided I would buy a painting from one little stand and the girl there saw me looking. “Pretty lady, you’re so pretty. Pretty painting for pretty lady!” I said to her, “I’m sorry. I don’t speak English.” She looked at me like I was an absolute idiot, “Why you say you don’t speak English; you speak English to me right now!” And the way she said it was hilarious, almost like she was annoyed at me for saying something so outrageously stupid. And she was about 12. I don’t know if you’ve ever been spoken down to by a 12-year-old, but it’s a pretty great experience. So she starts asking me where I’m from and what’s my name. And I kept saying things like “I wish I understood you, but I can’t because I’m not from America and my name is not Meg and I don’t speak English!” The smiles she gave me were priceless. Finally, I said, “Ok, I’m going to go visit the temple, and when I come back, if you remember my name and where I’m from, maybe I’ll buy something.” So she said, “Go! You go. You come back. I remember. You go. You come back. I remember.” I went. I came back. And she remembered. As I browsed the paintings to see what I wanted, she gave me a coke, a chair to sit in and she started playing with my hair. She asked me what my job was and I told her that I was a teacher. She looked at me and she said, “Me too. When I get big, I want to be a teacher.” I felt my heart break a little; I smiled and I said, “Good. We need smart teachers, just like you.”
The next day I headed to the border town of Poipet in a taxi. It was only about an hour drive and the time flew as my driver was queuing up such hits as “Grease Lightning” performed by Danny and the T-Birds from everyone’s favorite musical Grease and “Separate Ways” from late (late as in later, not deceased) 70’s American rock band Journey. Two must-haves on everyone’s Road Trip playlist.
The border itself was a bit nightmarish. No one in uniforms, old, worn out signs that were not in English and no lines. But there were lots and lots of people. Going everywhere. It seemed that everyone was trying to get to exactly the opposite of where they were, and in the most unorderly fashion possible. After looking every which way (including up) to see where to go, I found the emigration officer who stamped my passport and then sort of waved his arm toward everywhere except behind me. At this point, all I knew was that I had to go somewhere. Good work, Meg! I started taking the approach of “I’ll walk this way until someone yells at me, and then I’ll walk in a different direction. If no one yells at me, I’m not doing anything wrong.” And it worked out really well. I found the immigration lines to get into Thailand, all of my papers were in order and got my travelers’ visa, no problem.
Here comes the super fun awesome part. Probably my most embarrassing traveling moment ever. After getting through the immigration queue, I had to get in a line to have my bag inspected. Now, as I’m sure all of you are aware, I am a lady and all ladies have a monthly visitor to host, whether they want to or not. Long story short, they found my stash of tampons and were looking at them just like Derek and Hansel tried to figure out a computer from the 2001 thriller Zoolander. The woman inspector, who, by the way, was waving through every single Thai or Cambodian person who came through the line without even a glance inside their bags, was immensely puzzled about why I would have these strange little items. I tried explaining in broken English, but I challenge any of you to get this message across successfully: I need those for my lady issues and if you take those away from me, I will die! After she called over everyone who was working at this place (about 5 or 6 officials), I think someone either deemed them harmless or figured it out. In the end, they let me through and as I left the line I looked behind me to see dozens of other foreign travelers fighting back the giggles. Thanks, Thailand!
The town on the Thai side of the border is Aranyaprathet and finding a bus from there to Bangkok was fairly easy. After exchanging some dollars for baht, I hopped aboard a bus that was about 6 hours to Bangkok. I arrived at a bus station in Bangkok and got a tuk-tuk to my hostel. The hostel was clean and air-conditioned, and located right next to a train station. After an entire day of traveling, I found food and slept like a baby.
I had only one day to spend in Bangkok because I had a flight the next day to the southern province where all of the islands are located. I slept in a bit and then set off in the morning to find the famous reclining Buddha and then like dominos falling, I ended up having one of those days that does not go according to plan but was still pretty awesome. After about 5 minutes of walking while trying to find the reclining Buddha, I was staring at some street signs wondering what they said when a man who spoke English approached me, told me there was another temple worth seeing, very close, and no tourists knew about it. He took my map and started explaining to a tuk-tuk driver where to go. I shrugged my shoulders and went with it. He also told me to tell tuk-tuk drivers I was a student so I could get a discounted rate. Thanks Random Helper #1!
The driver took me to a temple, with a reclining Buddha, not THE reclining Buddha, but really impressive nonetheless, it was very close and there were zero tourists. RH#1, you are awesome. There was an old man working in the temple and he fussed over to me and gave me a handful of Thai pennies and told me to work my way down a long line of bowls, bowing and putting one penny in each bowl. He was very bossy so I shrugged and went with it. Afterwards, he insisted he take my picture with the reclining Buddha, let me explore a bit and then I left and entered the second building of the temple.
This Buddha was in the traditional seated position and there was a man already in there praying. I did not want to disturb him so I quietly tried to admire the temple without his attention. He finished praying and he soon became Random Helper #2. After the customary “where are you from? Oh! America! LA? New York? Chicago? Ah, Chicago! Chicago Bulls! Michael Jordan!”, he proceeded to mark up my already marked up map of Bangkok, saying I should go here, and go there. He recommended a market that was only open for a week out of the year and today was the last day to go. So, I shrugged my shoulders and went with it.
This “market” turned out to be wholesale jewelry. Each piece was on sale for face value and the price of labor was subtracted. Evidently this means that all of it was really cheap, but I can tell you how much time I have for wearing a bracelet that costs more than my school loans: none. But it wasn’t a total waste because there was a souvenir shop on the top floor and I did some shopping up there. Buying handmade scarves for about 15 USD seemed more my style.
After this, I returned to the hostel and booked a dinner cruise trip on the river that goes through Bangkok for that evening and then napped. The dinner on this dinner cruise trip was awful, although they did have kimchi, but the views of the city were pretty spectacular. Bangkok is a lot like Seoul, but dirtier. Packed with people, lots of traffic, but with all the signs of western influence, like a McDonalds, Burger King or Starbucks every so often. But the pollution in Bangkok is a lot worse than Seoul. I felt the congestion as I breathed just walking around. But, just like Seoul, when the sun goes down and the lights are turned on, it was transformed into a city of sparkling buildings and bridges.
After the trip on the river, I again slept really, really, really well in my air-conditioned room.
The next day, I figured out how to get to the airport via the Skytrain, an above ground express train system that is quite new in Bangkok. It took about a half hour and cost me about 30 cents. The flight left at around 2 in the afternoon, arrived in Surat Thani about 3 in the afternoon and then my ferry to Koh Tao left at 11pm. I had about 7 hours to kill before the ferry. 7. I can’t really tell you how I managed to pass the time, but card games and meeting new people were involved.
There are three main islands off the east coast of southern Thailand, Koh Samui, Koh Phangnan and Koh Tao. I chose Koh Tao because after all the research, it was the only place that wasn’t described as a drunken, Dionysian, cesspool of debauchery. Koh Tao is named so for its turtle-shape and has yet to be as developed as other, more popular islands. Part of the reason for this underdevelopment is that it is the farthest from the mainland port city of Surat Thani and it takes a long time to reach. The particular ferry I took lasted 8 hours. The journey can be made in about 4-5 on the nice, luxury line ferry, but I was feeling adventurous… and the last one of those left before my flight landed. So I was stuck on the 8 hour ferry from hell. The ferry is a cargo ship that slowly chugs between the mainland and Koh Tao every night from 11pm to 7am. The upper deck of the ferry was divided right down the middle and passengers were entitled to a width of about 24 inches and a pillow of about 8 inches. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep at all and my face was a lovely shade of green as I arrived in Koh Tao.
Getting off the ferry, I was ambushed by taxi drivers all wanting to know where I needed to be taken. If I had done my research correctly, I could have walked to my hostel so I wearily waved them away… and then walked the wrong way. At about 7:45 in the morning, after backtracking and then finding that the hostel I did book was out of my price range, I settled on the one next door: the Blue Diamond Dive Resort. I found food, relaxed and settled into the next 11 days like I was born to sit on a beach.
The rest of the trip was filled with beach time. And then a little bit more beach time. The sand was almost white; the water was a clear turquoise; the sun was bright, but not too hot. This is my definition of paradise. The bungalow I was staying in was about a 30 second walk from the beach and the timing of my trip was perfectly situated at the end of the rainy season and before the busy tourist season. Perfection.
A few of the fun things I did on the island:
Snorkeling. I went snorkeling three times. Koh Tao is known for its clear reefs and deep water diving sites. It's a popular destination for travelers wanting to get their divers' certification. I, however, barely able to doggy paddle from A to B, forewent having meters and meters of water between me and open air. A lovely alternative is snorkeling, which I enjoyed thoroughly. The fish were gorgeous. Some were yellow, others were electric blue and some were both. I felt a bit like Dr. Seuss. Big fish, small fish, red fish, blue fish.
Water taxi. One of the days, I decided to take a boat taxi around the entire island to see what else there was. I had previously tried to bike around the island (it is that small) but there is not yet a paved road that goes all the way around. The bike trip ended quite quickly when it became unpleasantly clear to my hamstrings that the island wasn't flat. My hamstrings had a word with my lungs and the other organs you need when you exercise, and they decided that a better option is to pay someone to take you around the island in a boat. You know that I'm going to say it was beautiful, but I'll say it anyway. It was beautiful. So much of the island is undeveloped and there were only 2 or 3 more bays that had been built upon. I stopped about halfway around the island and snorkeled for a bit and had lunch. This particular bay had pure white sand and the most breathtaking flowers and trees. You know that God had a great day when He created this. It was probably the same day He invented football, escalators, peanut butter and the food delivery service.
Muay Thai boxing. Muay Thai kickboxing has a 400 year old tradition. It began as an unarmed combat method used by soldiers. It has become known as the "Art of Eight Limbs" because they can punch, elbow, knee and kick. I saw a poster on my first day on Koh Tao advertising an event that would be eight fights. It was in an open-air boxing stadium and nearly the whole island came to watch. The first fight was between a 10 and an 11 year old. Before the fights, each fighter performs his own ritual of bowing and walking around the ring. The fights themselves varied from young boys dancing around each other for 10 minutes to fully grown machines of muscle drawing blood and and bequeathing unconsciousness. It was an incredible experience.
As all times spent on beaches, sipping drinks with little umbrellas end, the date of my departure came too soon. The trip back to Bangkok for my flight home was uneventful and surprisingly quick. The 7 hour bus up to Bangkok was air-conditioned and they showed cinematic masterpieces such as The Prince of Persia and Salt. The best part of this leg of the trip is that the last 10 minutes of The Prince of Persia was in Russian.
Back in Bangkok, it was a quick taxi to the airport and then some sitting around until my 1am departure. I connected through Beijing and then was back in Seoul around 11am.
Similar to my time in Japan, I felt great relief when I returned to Seoul. Finally, back in a land where I could actually read the squiggles on buildings and signs, understand what people are saying, and for the first time in 20 days, I didn't have to wander around trying to sort out which bus to take! I got the bus back to my neighborhood, came home and took a nice, hot, long shower. I was so happy to be back in the land of kimchi, elbowing on the subways, and McDonald's delivery.
A friend here once said to me, “Cambodia is my happy place.” An interesting sentence, but what does that mean? I hear that and I immediately think of the magic thought that was so elusive to Peter Pan (portrayed by master of the screen, Robin Williams) when he was trying to remember how to fly in the American 1991 classic Hook. One thought that can send him soaring through the air. As I traveled through Cambodia, even though I was only there for a short time, this became more and more true. Cambodia is a land that has been wrought by wars and genocide, subjected to cruel, abusive rulers, and plagued with disease and famine. But everywhere I looked, everyone I spoke to, every day I spent with them, the vibrancy and beauty of the people overwhelmed me. Mind you, the sadness and despair of a country with mountains of hardship to overcome was brutally ubiquitous. But through the sadness and despair, I saw the spark of determination; and I was buoyed with respect for the beautiful people of this beautiful country.
What I saw of Phnom Penh was lovely. The buildings definitely have strong French influence in their architecture from when Cambodia was a part of the French Indochina colony. Immediately outside of Phnom Penh is all rural countryside until Siem Reap, where the temples of Angkor Wat are located. The countryside is breathtaking. Looking out of both sides of the bus was a postcard shot the entire way to Siem Reap. The landscape is luscious and pure green, the trees tall and houses quaint.
I arrived in Siem Reap in the early afternoon and easily found my hostel. The tuk-tuk driver from the bus station to the hostel was named October, a name he had chosen to adopt because Westerners, like myself, always disfigured his Khmer name. He was also my driver the next two days around to all the different temples. Accommodation, food, drink, internet, laundry and literally everything you need backpacking through Cambodia is available for about a dollar. The room was about 6 dollars/night, breakfast 2 or 3 dollars/morning, internet free in most restaurants and cafes, laundry was a dollar/kilo. October charged 10 dollars a day to drive me around to all the temples. He dropped me off at the entrance of a temple and just waited for me to take my time looking around and taking pictures, and then take me to the next temple. As affordable as any vacation is going to be.
The temples themselves were astounding. The oldest temples are Hindu and the, not newer, but less old temples are Buddhist. To the untrained eye, some of these temples are just piles of rubble, architectural child’s play in today’s world. However, these temples were built between 800 CE and 1400 CE, which is, give or take, about 1,000 years ago. The scale, size and complexity of the temples, and the surrounding cities were technologically impossible during their time. Actually walking through the temples was like reconnecting with people over a thousand years ago. The thought occurred to me, “Someone put these stones here and someone worked tirelessly to create what I’m now standing in, and that someone existed over a thousand years before I was born.” What could give you more perspective than that?
The temples of Angkor number in the thousands and I saw maybe ten over two days. The first day of temple exploration was spent on the bigger temples, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and a few others. I spent the second day touring the smaller temples. What’s most striking about these temples is not just the absolute mammoth size but also the tiniest carving details. Many of the stones used to build the temples were built to the Hindu god Vishnu or Shiva and the engravings on almost every stone are not just impeccably detailed but surprisingly well-preserved.
