Manila to Bangkok - 03 April
Manila Airport still had one more surprise for me on my way out of the Philippines. I was traveling with Philippines Airlines, which flies out of a different terminal than we've used this whole time (Terminal 3). So I had to get on a bus and pay 20 Philippine Pesos (40¢) to get to Terminal 1 which was a little too far to walk given the time I had to catch my flight. Unfortunately, my flight was out of Terminal 2, so I ended up with a 15 minute walk anyways. Nonetheless, I made my flight which was mostly westerners or other Asians rather than Filipinos or Thais.
I arranged for the hostel to get a taxi to transfer me from the Phuket Airport to Patong. I was thoroughly exhausted but took a walk down Bangla Street to the beach. It was very crowded and not what I was looking for in a beach. It was like having Bourbon Street right next to Daytona Beach and looked like fun but I was partied out after the Philippines. Many people at the hostel were going out to Bangla Street at midnight but I passed out and opted to catch up on much needed sleep.
The Thai version of Myrtle Beach...although I'm impressed they built little recliners out of sand
I would hate to be an electrical lineman here
Bangla Street at night
Usually a group of a dozen ladies are barking at you for massages every twenty feet, but this shop took a different approach. Although I'm not sure what wife would trust these women to "take care" of their husband...
Patong - 04 April
I wanted to take a day off to relax and it started out that way. After sleeping in, I had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and thought about the friends I had in Germany and how we tried to eat at this restaurant in each country we visited. I was relaxing in the Bodega Hostel lobby and slowly slipped into day drinking. I ended up playing many riddles and drinking games like "Jackpot" with James (New Zealand), Jacob (Australia), Bank (Thai) and some random British, Canadian and US travelers. Of course, we ended up going out to Bangla Street but I didn't last long since I'd been drinking for hours by this point. I attempted to wonder back to the hostel alone and got jumped by three Thai guys. I lost my shirt and sandals and ended up with a black eye, sore head and bruised ribs (of which took two months to heal).
The "Jackpot" game
The hostel's "Hitler cat"
Phuket - 05 April
After sleeping off the previous evening, I got some lunch and rented a scooter for only 300 Thai Baht ($8.50). Riding scooters is so much fun, especially in great weather. In Thailand, you drive on the left side of the road which I didn't expect for some reason. I rode through the curvy hills east of Patong to Phuket Wake Park. For 1500 Baht ($42.50) I had two hours to ride which is about the same price I've seen in the U.S. or Europe. However, I only did a couple of runs since I was still hurting from the previous evening, particularly my bruised ribs which severely limited how much fun I was having. Nonetheless, I was able to land a "backroll" and hit a few sliders.
I then rode back through Patong to Kata Beach to the south where the Surf House is located. There wasn't any swell during my time in Phuket so artificial waves would have to do. Unfortunately my board shorts had a zipper and they wouldn't let me ride. Rules in Thailand are a lot more strict and especially enforced here than in the Philippines. The western coastal road is beautiful, a lot of fun and reminds me of the Pacific Coast Highway in California.
Kata Beach
Karon Beach
My sweet whip by the sea
Even Patong Beach looks innocent enough from afar
Many of the working class people that support the tourism in Phuket living along a river much like the rest of their countrymen
Calm before the storm on Patong Beach
I chose not to go out again despite the urging of Dain, the hostel owner from Seattle, and fellow backpackers. This has to be some of the roughest traveling I've done in terms of partying and it's definitely taking its toll on me. Getting jumped was the wake up call I needed.
I'll be happy to leave Patong since it's a huge party town for Aussies, Russians and Koreans and proudly boasts the seedy underbelly of a proper society. Kata or Karon beaches to the south would have been better, more chill choices for me. At least I'm leaving before "Phuket Bike Week" begins in a few days. I can only imagine how much crazier it can get here.
Bangkok - 06 April
The flight from Patong to Bangkok was uneventful. I opted to take the train and metro to the hotel instead of a taxi and I'm glad I did. It was only 70 Baht ($2) instead of 500 Baht ($15) and was an elevated train that gave great views of the city. Upon arrival, I dropped things off in the room and headed towards the famous temples. I tried to get a bus but after 20 minutes of waiting I decided to try the ferry instead. Again, it was a great decision and reminded me of the river cruise I took up the Seine River in Paris.
You can see temples like this all over Bangkok and pretty much the few parts of Thailand I saw. Not sure if there's any significance to most of them but they are distinctly Thai.
If you need a spare motor for race day, downtown Bangkok has you covered
River ferry is the way to go!
I've seen pictures of Wat Arun at night that look really cool but I had to meet up with the tour group and it looks like it's under renovation anyways.
I toured Wat Pho for 100 Baht ($3) and had to buy a strawberry banana smoothie to break a 1000 Baht ($30) note that is distributed from all the ATMs because they only accepted exact change. The temple was nice and the intricate tile work was truly impressive.
I couldn't help but think that this is the epitome of idolatry likely surpassing that expressed at the Vatican. I'm sure there's a good reason for it but I didn't bother to ask the monks. There were little golden Buddhas everywhere in this place...
And then there were huge golden Buddhas including the 150 foot long "Reclining Buddha" below
People could make donations to Buddha or the monks or whoever and then got to throw a bunch of coins in these pots lining the wall. It was an interesting technique for an offering and a little noisier than passing the offering plate at church.
Looks like I have a fallback option in Bangkok
Cool little tricycle. I think I'd like to make a coffee table book of all the different types of transportation people fabricate throughout the world. Of course, I'd need to drive all of them as well for good measure.
Bangkok architecture sure is unique with pink elephants at traffic circles and colorful government buildings including a yellow Ministry of Defence
The adjacent Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha were closed by the time I got there so I took a "tourist" ferry back upstream for only 40 Baht ($1) or twice what I had paid for a regular ferry.
Little junk boat
Where old Bangkok meets new
The only church I saw in Thailand. At least it had good real estate!
I met Jack in my hotel room who is one of the people on the "G Adventures" trip. He's a guitar teacher from Suffolk, England. Sunny is our tour guide from Hanoi, Vietnam who gave us a long-winded 1.5 hour brief about the tour.
After a group dinner we grabbed a tuk tuk and headed to the Sky Bar where they filmed a scene in Hangover II. While it was a nice view, I think I'm getting spoiled because I didn't have the same awestruck reaction that my travel companions did. The 400+ Baht ($11) drinks didn't help my mood either.
Our guide, Sunny
On top of Bangkok
Bangkok to Siem Reap - 07 April
We had an early start at 0630hrs (which I would later discover to be the M.O. for this tour) on a private bus with everyone having an extra seat which was a welcome surprise (though not an M.O. for this tour). It was about four hours to the border and we secured visas en route from a road-side shop. The border crossing was busy but there were practically no lines so we got through rather quickly. It was interesting to see the difference between the gates to Thailand and Cambodia but I failed to take a picture highlighting this contrast. Also, the vehicles had to switch which side of the road they drove on as they crossed the bridge on the border.
Overall, I found the Thai people to be rude, loud and obnoxious while constantly trying to rip-off tourists despite their reputation for being soft spoken and respectful.
A weird thing I noticed at the restaurant we stopped at for lunch was that they used pineapples as urinal cakes.
More cool motor vehicles are on the roads throughout Cambodia. Tuk tuks here have a pintle and tow the carriage like a trailer. There are also tractor/choppers that look awesome but I never got the opportunity to ride in or drive one.
Upon arriving at the hotel we had some drinks by the pool before going to a dinner at a local place sponsored by G Adventures that provided education to kids for free in the village. We ate seated in a patio and the food was incredible and a warm welcome to a new country. I especially enjoyed the chicken dumplings wrapped in banana leaves, dragon fruit, stir fry noodles with chicken, curry vegetable soup with rice and the vodka guava drinks. After dinner, some of the local kids that attend the village school came to practice English with us. They knew a few simple words and sayings but were more interested in playing with our phones and cameras than talking to us. After the village experience, we went to Pub Street in downtown Siem Reap where there is an outdoor market and plenty of pubs of course.
Angkor Wat - 08 April
We left the hotel at 0445hrs to catch the sunrise at the temples. There were hundreds of people there but we were able to get some good pictures.
After that we went to the Jungle Temple where parts of Tomb Raider were filmed.
They used notches like this instead of mortar in temple construction
This is a tree growing at the temple that looks like a butt
More trees growing all over the temple
This is how they find most of the stone. They number them and put the pieces back together like a puzzle. The second picture shows before and after restoration efforts sponsored by other countries.
After breakfast (back at the hotel for some reason), we returned to the temple complex to explore the main temple of Angkor Wat and the smaller Bayon Temple.
Monks chillin'
Not sure if it's an everyday thing, but they look like they were setting up for some kind of festival (I think it was because of the Khmer New Year)
Even lady monks shave their heads
Wait, there's monkey out and about?
Well at least they seem harmless, unlike the one's in Gibraltar...
...and now back to Ankgor Wat. This complex was built with similar precision that can be found in Giza or with the ruins of Central America. They even timed the beginning of construction with the moon and stars to receive good luck during the construction.
Steep climb up to the top. Many of the tourists were less than enthused about this part of the tour.
Monk reflecting on his enlightenment
An example of old Khmer style and the more contemporary red-orange roofed buildings found throughout Thailand and Cambodia.
The top level smelled awful and I couldn't quite place what it was until I saw this...
Small group praying
Young monk (less than ten years old). They can choose to serve their time as monks at any age.
It was a rather hot day and most of the group was less than enthused about continuing when most of the smaller sites looked about the same as the popular ones. We agreed to do one more at the Bayon Temple I kept thinking about how I've seen the pyramids of Giza and Tikal and how lucky I've been.
Interesting tree
The youngest of the temples in the complex with interesting heads carved throughout the stonework.
After a drink at the hotel pool, we went for an ATV ride for only $35. I talked the owner into letting me ride a Honda 230 dirt bike instead. The pace was dreadfully slow but with novice riders it was probably for the best.
At dinner I had a Khmer sampler which wasn't nearly as good as the home-cooked food from the previous evening. "Khmer" is the name of the Cambodian people and language. We returned to Pub Street for drinks with the hostel crowd and that's when I realized I'm a professional "partier." We danced the night away and had a great time.
Amish (UK) helping the girls DJ at the bar
Siem Reap to Phnom Penh - 09 April
Cambodia is incredibly flat and the bus ride was miserable for me as I recovered from the good times of the night before. What made it bearable was a great conversation with Jack about all sorts of things. There were a lot of houses on stilts which doesn't surprise me given how flat it is and in front of the houses were large haystacks for the cattle to eat (again no pictures because we're on a damn bus).
We stopped at a road side market that had all kinds of insects for sale to eat including tarantulas, grasshoppers, crickets, maggots, beetles, tiny birds, strange fruit and tiny bananas.
Dragonfruit
Rambutans
Enjoying a Cambodian maggot
Upon arrival at the hotel we chilled by the pool as usual and walked around that evening and saw the Independence Monument and other statues dedicated to the King of Cambodia. There was a couple of strange outdoor dance parties going on and Phnom Penh looked like a place to have some "honest" fun. We drank at a rooftop bar for a little while before returning to the hotel to play the card game "Mao Mao" with the German-Italians.
Drinking in the pool was a staple in every city
Revolver with the barrel tied in a knot to celebrate the end of violence in the country
Independence Monument
Monument to Norodom Sihanouk who was instrumental in the nation's independence from French colonial rule. He was the King of Cambodia from 1941-1955 and 1993-2004 and the only ruler I can think of to abdicate his throne twice. Although, I guess he cracked down pretty hard on dissent when he was in power, and the first time he abdicated was to his father and the second time was to his son.
Here's one of his sons, the current King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihamoni
Royal Palace
Nearly every establishment had some sort of shrine where people placed things to receive greater favor I guess. This one was pretty funny because it was cigarettes and stacks of fake U.S. currency.
Phnom Penh - 10 April
In the morning we visited the Choeung Ek killing fields which were underwhelming in my opinion given the scale of the human atrocities that occurred here. The Khmer Rouge (Cambodian Communists) and their leader Pol Pot killed approximately two million of their own people through execution, starvation or disease during the late 1970s. The killing fields were one of thousands of examples of mass graves that existed all over Cambodia. I felt like the graves were just holes in the ground with bone fragments and tattered clothing everywhere. There was a tower that displayed the skulls of many of the regime's victims.
On of the mass graves where over 100 women and children were killed and buried naked
A stupa that houses the skulls and bones of victims
The gallows and prison blocks of Toul Sleng
One of the survivors on hand to share his experience verbally and with his book
At lunch, Sunny asked for some "spider wine" that was fermented wine with tarantulas in it. It smelled like gasoline and was a bridge too far for my culinary adventures.
We did the Grand Palace and National Museum afterwards and I also felt that while it was a good attempt, there was a lot of room for improvement in the tourism department.
Another example of the ancient Khmer "concrete-looking" style and the more contemporary architecture found throughout the grounds of the Grand Palace
The National Museum had some cool statues
It was hot (over 100ºF) and humid so we decided to do a sunset boat tour on the Mekong River. Phnom Penh has a beautiful riverfront area and not what one would come to expect from this corner of the world.
The commoners live either on their boats or in little shacks on the bank in the shadows of a five star hotel
We played card games including "bullshit" before it got too windy but I enjoyed the trip and can appreciate such things after many nights spent working aboard the Ragin Uptown houseboat.
We ate at yet another rooftop restaurant for dinner before heading to the bars for drinks. We watched Tottenham play Manchester United because those were the favorite English Premier League teams of Jack and Amish, respectively (Tottenham won 3-0). I had on my dancing shoes that evening and even joined the girls up on this little stage thing while the Italian boys played DJ. That's what's kind of cool about some of these places. You can basically take them over if you want to and make it your personal bar/cafe/club/etc. I even helped out the bar staff by bringing pony kegs to the bar since the little Cambodian guy was struggling so much. After awhile we realized this was a bar that seemed to cater to those looking for escorts but they weren't at all aggressive towards our group, probably because we had our own girls. Out in the streets I watched two (western) girls race to eat pineapple off of a string along with other games. Phnom Penh has a very active nightlife.
Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville - 11 April
Another terrible van ride compounded by a hangover and lack of sleep the night before. I had to sit in the front seat and our tour guide Sunny didn't offer to switch with me which I thought was inconsiderate. On top of that, he took of picture of me passed out and posted it in our group's Facebook page. It's safe to say I'm not a big fan of his at this point. The sun beat on me the whole ride and the A/C did little to make things more comfortable. However, southern Cambodia actually has some elevation which did provide some variety in the scenery. We stopped at a nice little roadside restaurant that had unique decorations.
When we arrived in Sihanoukville, I rested in the room instead of joining the group for lunch and the beach. I lucked out by getting a room to myself facing the sea while some people didn't even have windows. After a little nap, I ran 4.5 miles to get the rest of the toxins out of my body and it hurt. Like much of Cambodia, the beach was beautiful but littered with trash. After an Italian dinner with giant pizzas, we played the "bullshit" card game again on the beach and had drinks. Instead of going out, I hung out with Jack on my balcony while having beers and learning about astrology--one of his favorite subjects.
Sihanoukville - 12 April
We took a boat ride out to a snorkel spot on Deer Island then continued to another island for a few hours. We played volleyball, frisbee and ate lunch on the beach and it was quite enjoyable and reminded me of times at LKN or in the OBX.
At least it is easy to work on the engines...
There were a lot of preparations going on for the Khmer (Cambodian) near year the following day and I was bummed we weren't going to be around for it. Sihanoukville is a strange town because there's a lot of westerners doing the promotion of restaurants, bars, nightclubs, etc. It just felt strange and weird to me to have white people standing by the street urging you into their establishments instead of locals. I played a virtual reality game on the beach that I was skeptical about and thought it would be lame but it only cost $1 so I thought I'd give it a try. It turns out I was wrong and it scared the crap out of me. It was a roller coaster ride on a small steel platform suspended by chains in each corner which amplified the effects of the video.
Can Tho - 13 April
Yet another miserable bus ride. I can't travel like this. I kept thinking about how much I enjoyed having the company of fellow travelers but wished I could travel in between our stops on my own by motorcycle. That's probably the perfect trip for me.
The border crossing into Vietnam was no issue. We passed a lot of bridges throughout the Mekong Delta. We did a "home stay" which to me looked more like a guesthouse but they showed us how they make some of their food and as expected it was better than most restaurants. The hosts took us for a little walking tour around the village but I enjoyed watching the sunset over the rice paddies with Jack from a tower in the compound.
They had a pet dragon fish that I tried to get a picture or video of but he was elusive. I put a long piece of grass in the water at one point and he thrashed about violently and scared me a little but unfortunately this only worked once. Our host said a bite from one of these could take your finger right off and after I looked one up online, I believe it. We played more card games at night and I was glad this was becoming a bit of a routine for our little group.
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - 14 April
We started the day off with a boat tour to a floating market on the Mekong River near Can Tho. It's mostly a wholesale market where farmers bring there goods down the river to sell to shop owners that sell the goods (mostly fruits like watermelons and pineapples) in town.
All the boats had these straight shaft propellers that could kick up out of the water. I'm sure some people get nicked by them by accident.
People were constantly trading fruits and vegetables between boats
There were even concession boats with drinks and snacks
Fresh pineapple cut in a unique way
Bus ride...I'm glad I'm finishing in Saigon instead of continuing with everyone to Hanoi because I've reached my breaking point with these buses. In addition to the misery, I don't like that you're isolated from the people and areas between the cities and tourist sites. In all fairness, it's mostly my fault because I usually am exhausted and hungover, but either way I've had enough. I was pretty impressed with some of the infrastructure in Vietnam that is noticeably absent from Cambodia.
We took a cycle tour with some cool rickshaws in Saigon where the passenger (only one) rides in front. There were many near collisions but it was good fun. Along the route, we saw the French and U.S. headquarters during their respective wars, a famous Catholic church and the French post office which is built in a colonial style and one of the more beautiful buildings in Saigon. I don't know if there are any famous or beautiful Vietnamese buildings but they weren't part of the tour. I didn't see anything like what Bangkok and Phnom Penh have to represent their rich histories but perhaps you'd see more of that in Hanoi.
This is the brake lever. Not sure why it's not mounted on the bars but I'm sure there's a good reason.
Vietnamese puppies for sale
Former US Embassy during the Vietnam War
Interesting bush
T-72 tank that busted open the gates of the US Embassy at the end of the Vietnam War
Notre Dame Basilica
The bricks are all from French, not Vietnamese, donors
Saigon Central Post Office. Next to Notre Dame and another example of French architectural influence.
Oddly enough, Benjamin Franklin was one of the men who was recognized on the facade of the building
Ho Chi Minh supervising the work of the communist postal workers
Trinkets
Rice art
Bullet planes
Across the street to Notre Dame
Bitexco Financial Tower, the tallest building in Vietnam
Communist advertisements (or propaganda?)
The Vietnamese language is interesting because it uses Latin characters, a legacy of Portuguese Catholic missionaries in the 16th century and French colonial rule. Historically, their language was represented by Chinese characters representing an entire word instead of the Khmer or Thai style alphabet.
The shower in every hotel I stayed in throughout southeast Asia was pretty bad. Not the "it might electrocute you" bad that I experienced in Guatemala, but either they didn't have a curtain and flooded the bathroom, only had a hand wand, no water pressure or any number of other issues.
We went out to the pub street which I didn't think was very good and drinks were overpriced. Not only that, either they weren't the same price as listed on the menu or had different ingredients altogether and this was business as usual for them. We stayed out until 0400hrs which was more than enough for me. I met a guy name Ryan from Atlanta (he was wearing a Braves hat) who was traveling the world for a year serving as a Christian missionary through One World Missions and only had to raise $16k to do so. Since a majority of the places they went had small Christian populations, most of what they did was teach English. Either way, it sounded like a pretty good deal.
Saigon - 15 April
After three hours of sleep it was time to hop on the bus for the 1.5 hour ride to Cu Chi. Unfortunately I wasn't able to sleep again and I finally figured out it's probably a combination of poor suspension on the buses with terrible road conditions.
The beauty of some of the buildings is masked by the rats nests of electrical wires
Sunny was our tour guide and he's from north Vietnam and used odd phrasing throughout the tour such as the communists "liberated the south" and was proud that his people had killed many American Soldiers. Needless to say I didn't enjoy his commentary and felt like his rhetoric was a regurgitation of communist propaganda but I guess those who are victorious get to write the history. The tunnels were pretty cool but I couldn't get past the comments Sunny had made. Unfortunately, I was the only American and the only one who had any clue that there was another (more factual and with far less bias) side of the story omitted from what we were presented.
Some of the booby traps on display
One of the entrances to the tunnel system
The Vietcong made shoes out of old tires
The tunnels
Tapioca root that the Vietcong ate during the war
Amish, Giselle and I had lunch at the Saigon Skydeck which was a fitting end to my trip. The rest of the crew caught a night train north through Vietnam while I slept on the chairs in the hotel lobby to wait for my flight first thing in the morning.
Saigon to Charlotte - 16 April
I got a taxi to the airport at 0230hrs which was unnecessarily early. Despite what the internet and the Vietnamese said, the Saigon Airport is not open 24 hours so I had to sleep on a bench outside until 0400hrs. I was able to sneak 200ml of aloe vera lotion through all of the security checkpoints in Saigon, Hong Kong and Chicago. I enjoy the little victories of getting one over on TSA and all the other security people in airports. I had lunch with a young guy (only 21) named Sid at a bar in Chicago who was on his way to be a sea kayak tour guide for the summer in Seward, Alaska. He had a girlfriend at Appalachian State and was confident they would get married someday. The last leg the United staff at the gate counter tried to make me check my bag but I threw it in the overhead bin anyways. Another little victory... A final note. Nearly all of the pictures with people in them were taken by the great people I traveled with. It also provided me with some self awareness and my lack of pictures with people in them. Hopefully I can improve this in the future.
