Saturday, February 28, 2009
My Southeast Asia Adventure - Introduction
Some of you have been complaining that I don't update my blog enough. Well, you all are going to be sorry you complained, because the following is what can only be described as the most obnoxiously detailed description of a mere 9-day journey. If I were to print it out and bind it into a book, one would probably be able to kill a horse with it. So I hope you have about an hour to kill reading this, not to mention a hot cup of coffee sitting next to you. I will do my best to tell you which pictures correspond to their respective blog entries. Enjoy.
The Journey from Bangkok to Siem Reap
The first leg of our journey begins upon arriving in Bangkok around 2AM Saturday morning. Bangkok's main airport is really top-notch: it was built fairly recently to accommodate the booming tourism industry and unlike certain airports (like Detroit metro for example) its layout actually makes sense. Plus, it's architecture is just plain cool to look at.
After passing through immigration, we hitched a taxi over to Hua Lampong Train Station, a facility which is really a blemish on the rest of the city of Bangkok. It's run-down and full of beggars and otherwise poor people waiting for a cheap train to wherever life takes them. The trains themselves are extremely basic: wooden benches and windows that (thankfully) slide open with no regard for safety. The train leaves at 6AM, so the girls grabbed a couple hours of sleep while I stood guard over the backpacks. At 6AM the train arrived, and we were off on our 6 hour ride to Aranyaprathet, a small town on the border between Thailand and Cambodia.
Aranyaprathet is a lawless territory. It is one of the shadiest places I have ever, and (most likely) will ever, visit. The journey we were undertaking is not uncommon, so many tuk-tuk drivers were waiting for us at the train stop. For future reference, a tuk-tuk is like a motorcycle that has been retrofitted to serve as a taxi. They are extremely popular in Thailand and Cambodia, and other places too I'm sure. Anyways, the driver takes us to a tour agency not far from the station. They tell us that they can get us a Cambodian visa for 1200 Baht, which took me by surprise because A) tour agencies can't issue visas and B) I have only heard of people getting them either online through the Cambodian government or at the border. Additionally, that was an exorbitant price to pay for the visa.
So I call the guy on this saying that random tour agencies aren't legally authorized to issue visas, ESPECIALLY when the tour agency isn't even located in the country that it is issuing a visa for! The man gets a little pissed that I called shenanigans, and he angrily takes away the forms we had been filling out. He piles us into the back of a tuk-tuk and we are driven about 10 feet to the building next door.
Lo-and-behold, this building is the Cambodian consulate, which we couldn't see before due to a strategically placed wall covered in fauna. Here, they only charge 1000 baht, and being the consulate, they are indeed authorized to issue visas.
It turns out that the "tour company" was just a bunch of guys dressed in nice clothes scamming people out of an extra 200 baht. They would have the people fill out the necessary forms, and then take their passports and 1200 baht to the consulate next door and purchase the visas for 1000 baht. Now 200 baht is only about 6 dollars, but in Thailand and Cambodia it goes a long way. So we successfully avoid this scam and move on to the border crossing. The border is really shady as well, but it's easy to avoid the shade and remain where the light is if you just don't talk to anybody who isn't a westerner. Our border crossing went fairly smoothly, and we eventually hitched a taxi to Siem Reap, the town just outside of Angkor Wat park.
The road from the border town of Poiphet to Siem Reap is very very bad, in that it is largely unpaved and very bumpy. The reason is because there is only one airline that flies a route between Siem Reap and Bangkok: Bangkok Air. They have been bribing the Cambodian government for years to keep the road unpaved to discourage anybody from taking the land route to Siem Reap. Then they charge huge amounts of money for their tickets. Most flights cost us around $60 or $70 USdollars, but this one cost us about $175. But we were unwilling to waste an entire day taking the exhausting land route back the other way, so we took the hit and flew back to Bangkok a couple days after arriving.
Pictures
(Be sure to read any comments in the pictures so you know what is going on.)
More Pictures
After passing through immigration, we hitched a taxi over to Hua Lampong Train Station, a facility which is really a blemish on the rest of the city of Bangkok. It's run-down and full of beggars and otherwise poor people waiting for a cheap train to wherever life takes them. The trains themselves are extremely basic: wooden benches and windows that (thankfully) slide open with no regard for safety. The train leaves at 6AM, so the girls grabbed a couple hours of sleep while I stood guard over the backpacks. At 6AM the train arrived, and we were off on our 6 hour ride to Aranyaprathet, a small town on the border between Thailand and Cambodia.
Aranyaprathet is a lawless territory. It is one of the shadiest places I have ever, and (most likely) will ever, visit. The journey we were undertaking is not uncommon, so many tuk-tuk drivers were waiting for us at the train stop. For future reference, a tuk-tuk is like a motorcycle that has been retrofitted to serve as a taxi. They are extremely popular in Thailand and Cambodia, and other places too I'm sure. Anyways, the driver takes us to a tour agency not far from the station. They tell us that they can get us a Cambodian visa for 1200 Baht, which took me by surprise because A) tour agencies can't issue visas and B) I have only heard of people getting them either online through the Cambodian government or at the border. Additionally, that was an exorbitant price to pay for the visa.
So I call the guy on this saying that random tour agencies aren't legally authorized to issue visas, ESPECIALLY when the tour agency isn't even located in the country that it is issuing a visa for! The man gets a little pissed that I called shenanigans, and he angrily takes away the forms we had been filling out. He piles us into the back of a tuk-tuk and we are driven about 10 feet to the building next door.
Lo-and-behold, this building is the Cambodian consulate, which we couldn't see before due to a strategically placed wall covered in fauna. Here, they only charge 1000 baht, and being the consulate, they are indeed authorized to issue visas.
It turns out that the "tour company" was just a bunch of guys dressed in nice clothes scamming people out of an extra 200 baht. They would have the people fill out the necessary forms, and then take their passports and 1200 baht to the consulate next door and purchase the visas for 1000 baht. Now 200 baht is only about 6 dollars, but in Thailand and Cambodia it goes a long way. So we successfully avoid this scam and move on to the border crossing. The border is really shady as well, but it's easy to avoid the shade and remain where the light is if you just don't talk to anybody who isn't a westerner. Our border crossing went fairly smoothly, and we eventually hitched a taxi to Siem Reap, the town just outside of Angkor Wat park.
The road from the border town of Poiphet to Siem Reap is very very bad, in that it is largely unpaved and very bumpy. The reason is because there is only one airline that flies a route between Siem Reap and Bangkok: Bangkok Air. They have been bribing the Cambodian government for years to keep the road unpaved to discourage anybody from taking the land route to Siem Reap. Then they charge huge amounts of money for their tickets. Most flights cost us around $60 or $70 USdollars, but this one cost us about $175. But we were unwilling to waste an entire day taking the exhausting land route back the other way, so we took the hit and flew back to Bangkok a couple days after arriving.
Pictures
(Be sure to read any comments in the pictures so you know what is going on.)
More Pictures
Angkor Wat
The entire reason for us going to Cambodia was to see Angkor Wat, a series of temples (around 40 I think) ranging in size from small to huge. And I have to say, everything we endured on the way to and from Cambodia was completely worth it. Angkor Wat is simply amazing. We left for the temples around 5:15AM so that we could catch the sunrise over the main temple. Unfortunately, I was not able to get any good pictures of the sunrise itself, but I got some really great shots of all the temples we went to.
The amount of people who were there before sunrise was staggering. But despite the all the people who came to visit, the place didn't lose its authenticity. And by that I mean that it didn't feel like some inane gimmick whose sole purpose was to draw in money. The temples were very tranquil, very surreal. I did my best to capture this in some of my pictures, but I still don't think anything but one's own eyes will ever do it justice.
Pictures
More Pics
More Pics
We hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day. He picked us up in the morning and chauffeured us around to all the temples. He was a really nice guy named Tana, and he charged a reasonable rate. He was very friendly and very professional, always exactly where he said he was going to be and always on time. We spent a little less than 20 dollars per person for a full day of him taking us around to places as well as a ride to the airport the next day.
Our flight left around 5PM so we had some time to kill. We walked around Siem Reap for awhile, and lounged by our hotel's pool for a couple hours. I was in the pool while the girls were off doing god knows what when I heard the two kids who were also in the pool talking French. I was intrigued because they were very dark skinned and almost looked Mexican, and French people very rarely appear this way. So I started talking to them and it turns out that they were actually half Canadian, half Cambodian. Their mother was a Cambodian woman who fled the country during the genocide of the Khmer Rouge. She fled to Canada, ended up in Quebec, learned French and married a Quebecois man. They were visiting the woman's family, and it was her first time back in her home country in almost 30 years. She didn't speak any English, but she was obviously a very nice woman and clearly had very mixed emotions about being back. To use her exact words: "Je me sens perdu" - I feel lost. I was very happy to have met them.
Pictures of Siem Reap
(This album is half Siem Reap, half Phuket. Pay attention to comments for which is which.)
The amount of people who were there before sunrise was staggering. But despite the all the people who came to visit, the place didn't lose its authenticity. And by that I mean that it didn't feel like some inane gimmick whose sole purpose was to draw in money. The temples were very tranquil, very surreal. I did my best to capture this in some of my pictures, but I still don't think anything but one's own eyes will ever do it justice.
Pictures
More Pics
More Pics
We hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day. He picked us up in the morning and chauffeured us around to all the temples. He was a really nice guy named Tana, and he charged a reasonable rate. He was very friendly and very professional, always exactly where he said he was going to be and always on time. We spent a little less than 20 dollars per person for a full day of him taking us around to places as well as a ride to the airport the next day.
Our flight left around 5PM so we had some time to kill. We walked around Siem Reap for awhile, and lounged by our hotel's pool for a couple hours. I was in the pool while the girls were off doing god knows what when I heard the two kids who were also in the pool talking French. I was intrigued because they were very dark skinned and almost looked Mexican, and French people very rarely appear this way. So I started talking to them and it turns out that they were actually half Canadian, half Cambodian. Their mother was a Cambodian woman who fled the country during the genocide of the Khmer Rouge. She fled to Canada, ended up in Quebec, learned French and married a Quebecois man. They were visiting the woman's family, and it was her first time back in her home country in almost 30 years. She didn't speak any English, but she was obviously a very nice woman and clearly had very mixed emotions about being back. To use her exact words: "Je me sens perdu" - I feel lost. I was very happy to have met them.
Pictures of Siem Reap
(This album is half Siem Reap, half Phuket. Pay attention to comments for which is which.)
Phuket
The journey from Siem Reap to Phuket went fairly smoothly. Phuket is a large island just barely off the coast of southwestern Thailand. Its baby blue waters and abundant palm trees make it one of the most tropical places on earth. Unfortunately, it is slowly becoming more and more commercialized, but it was nonetheless amazing.
After taking two flights and an hour-long taxi ride, we arrived around midnight and found a cheap guest house to crash at. Patong beach is infamous for being a giant frat party, and we wanted to avoid that, so we spent the whole next day on Kata beach, which many people said was one of the best on the island. I spent most of the day in the water body surfing and just enjoying the perfect temperature, and I paid for it for the rest of the trip. I was delivered the most severe ass-kicking by the sun that I ever had. I didn't even look like a lobster; I looked like a strawberry. Several days later I began to peel and a masseuse commented that I looked like a snake.
Pics
(This album is half Siem Reap, half Phuket. Pay attention to comments for which is which.)
Later that night we were walking along the beach as the sun was setting when we ran into some friends of mine from Korea who were also visiting, and for reasons that will become apparent soon, I think this was the most fortunate part of the trip for me. They told us they were going to Phi Phi island (the place where the movie "The Beach" was filmed) and told us we should come too. Phi Phi is actually 2 islands and you have to take a 90 minute ferry to get to them. Laura and Megan also knew a couple of the people rolling in this new bunch whom they were anxious to see, so we booked some tickets and the next day we were off to Phi Phi.
Pics
After taking two flights and an hour-long taxi ride, we arrived around midnight and found a cheap guest house to crash at. Patong beach is infamous for being a giant frat party, and we wanted to avoid that, so we spent the whole next day on Kata beach, which many people said was one of the best on the island. I spent most of the day in the water body surfing and just enjoying the perfect temperature, and I paid for it for the rest of the trip. I was delivered the most severe ass-kicking by the sun that I ever had. I didn't even look like a lobster; I looked like a strawberry. Several days later I began to peel and a masseuse commented that I looked like a snake.
Pics
(This album is half Siem Reap, half Phuket. Pay attention to comments for which is which.)
Later that night we were walking along the beach as the sun was setting when we ran into some friends of mine from Korea who were also visiting, and for reasons that will become apparent soon, I think this was the most fortunate part of the trip for me. They told us they were going to Phi Phi island (the place where the movie "The Beach" was filmed) and told us we should come too. Phi Phi is actually 2 islands and you have to take a 90 minute ferry to get to them. Laura and Megan also knew a couple of the people rolling in this new bunch whom they were anxious to see, so we booked some tickets and the next day we were off to Phi Phi.
Pics
Koh Phi Phi
The girls were originally hesitant about going to Phi Phi, but meeting our friends made them want to go, and I am so extremely happy that we went because our first day/night on Phi Phi island was probably the best part of the trip for me. We got off the ferry and headed over with our friends to their hotel; they had reservations but we did not and we wanted to try to get a room in the same hotel. Unfortunately, it was booked full and was too expensive anyway. Luckily, some random westerner who lived on the island saw us looking lost and gave us some suggestions for good guest houses, as well as some good restaurants and bars.
So we got our room and headed up to the observation point, which is basically the top of a very large hill that overlooks the two main bays of the island. The view was incredible and we were able to catch the sunset from up there before heading back down. None of the pictures I took really came out that well, so they don't even come close to doing the island justice.
Pics
After sunset we all headed out to a Thai restaurant that our random western acquaintance had suggested, and after a half-hour wait we were able to order food. This restaurant was the most amazing place on the island -- we got a HUGE amount of food and lots of beer for about 5 dollars per person. I haven't eaten so much food in a very long time.
After eating we headed out to a...well, I'm actually not really sure what to call it. I guess I would call it an outdoor nightclub on the beach on the northern bay. They were doing random party games when we got there, like limbo and jump-rope, but this being Thailand, they couldn't just play the usual boring games. They decided to break out the fire. The jump-rope was on fire, the limbo stick was on fire, and I nearly got singed by both, but that's what the alcohol is for right? After each successful pass under the limbo stick you walked by a guy who would pour rum into your mouth from a bottle as you walked to the back of the line. Same deal with the jump-rope, except this came only after avoiding catching your clothes on fire when you failed to jump over the rope.
Pictures
(Sorry for the poor quality, these were all taken by Megan on her camera, which is just a crappy point-and-shoot.)
After these shenanigans came the music, and we just danced on the beach to trance and techno with lasers shooting every direction. When you got tired you walked down to the water and take a breather. We set up some chairs in the water so that we could sit and the waves could wash up on our feet. Since we were on an island with minimal light pollution, the stars were out in full force over the bay. Right before leaving, we took a quick dip in the bay. I couldn't even remember the last time I went swimming under the stars, all I knew was that it had been far too long.
From there we went to a place called Tiger Bar, which was right next to the restaurant we ate dinner at. The girls aren't real big partiers so they went back to the hotel room to sleep while me and my other 4 friends had a few more drinks and club-hopped for a couple more hours. By the end of the night I was exhausted but exhillarated.
The next day we left and headed back to the Phuket airport, where we caught a plane back to Bangkok.
So we got our room and headed up to the observation point, which is basically the top of a very large hill that overlooks the two main bays of the island. The view was incredible and we were able to catch the sunset from up there before heading back down. None of the pictures I took really came out that well, so they don't even come close to doing the island justice.
Pics
After sunset we all headed out to a Thai restaurant that our random western acquaintance had suggested, and after a half-hour wait we were able to order food. This restaurant was the most amazing place on the island -- we got a HUGE amount of food and lots of beer for about 5 dollars per person. I haven't eaten so much food in a very long time.
After eating we headed out to a...well, I'm actually not really sure what to call it. I guess I would call it an outdoor nightclub on the beach on the northern bay. They were doing random party games when we got there, like limbo and jump-rope, but this being Thailand, they couldn't just play the usual boring games. They decided to break out the fire. The jump-rope was on fire, the limbo stick was on fire, and I nearly got singed by both, but that's what the alcohol is for right? After each successful pass under the limbo stick you walked by a guy who would pour rum into your mouth from a bottle as you walked to the back of the line. Same deal with the jump-rope, except this came only after avoiding catching your clothes on fire when you failed to jump over the rope.
Pictures
(Sorry for the poor quality, these were all taken by Megan on her camera, which is just a crappy point-and-shoot.)
After these shenanigans came the music, and we just danced on the beach to trance and techno with lasers shooting every direction. When you got tired you walked down to the water and take a breather. We set up some chairs in the water so that we could sit and the waves could wash up on our feet. Since we were on an island with minimal light pollution, the stars were out in full force over the bay. Right before leaving, we took a quick dip in the bay. I couldn't even remember the last time I went swimming under the stars, all I knew was that it had been far too long.
From there we went to a place called Tiger Bar, which was right next to the restaurant we ate dinner at. The girls aren't real big partiers so they went back to the hotel room to sleep while me and my other 4 friends had a few more drinks and club-hopped for a couple more hours. By the end of the night I was exhausted but exhillarated.
The next day we left and headed back to the Phuket airport, where we caught a plane back to Bangkok.
Bangkok
I freaking love this city. Bangkok is one of the most amazing and lively places I have seen. We spent both of our days in Bangkok in a part of town that is famous for housing backpackers like ourselves. The area is called Koh Sahn, and it is really incredible. During the day we passed time by visiting huge outdoor markets which sold everything from food to clothes to bootleg DVDs. At night, we visited bars playing live music and got drinks from street vendors.
On Thursday night we met up with one of Laura's friends, who lives and works in Bangkok. He and his friend took us out to dinner and then showed us around town a bit. We stopped for awhile in Bangkok's Chinatown, which was amazing. There were so many lights and street vendors that I thought I was in Korea again. After driving us around for a bit we said our goodbyes and parted ways.
On Friday, Laura had to head back to the airport to catch her flight home. Megan and I spent the day lounging in coffee shops, eating delicious Thai food, and spending some time catching up on emails and such. We also got a two hour Thai massage for about 15 dollars. Soon thereafter, we caught our bus to the airport and spent the night at a nearby hotel. The next morning we were on our way home, and the trip was over.
On Thursday night we met up with one of Laura's friends, who lives and works in Bangkok. He and his friend took us out to dinner and then showed us around town a bit. We stopped for awhile in Bangkok's Chinatown, which was amazing. There were so many lights and street vendors that I thought I was in Korea again. After driving us around for a bit we said our goodbyes and parted ways.
On Friday, Laura had to head back to the airport to catch her flight home. Megan and I spent the day lounging in coffee shops, eating delicious Thai food, and spending some time catching up on emails and such. We also got a two hour Thai massage for about 15 dollars. Soon thereafter, we caught our bus to the airport and spent the night at a nearby hotel. The next morning we were on our way home, and the trip was over.
Some Notes About The Trip
Nobody should be under any illusions about what these countries are like. For tourists like us, they are places of wonder and adventure, like the kind that you dream about when watching things blow up in James Bond movies. But for many of the people in these countries, abject poverty is a way of life.
I fully expected to see some pretty depressing sights while travelling around the region, and indeed I did - pregnant women on the side of the road begging; children wandering from tourist to tourist asking for money; kids helping their parents run a small roadside business when they should be in school. But despite their circumstances, the Thai and Cambodian people are, for the most part, very friendly and welcoming.
I can easily say that this was by far the best trip I have ever taken, but not just for the obvious reasons. As an amateur photographer, I did my best to capture all facets of our journey, not just the tourist aspect. I hope you will read to comments I have written for the photos, and I hope even more that you will gain a little appreciation for what these people go through every day, just as I have.
I fully expected to see some pretty depressing sights while travelling around the region, and indeed I did - pregnant women on the side of the road begging; children wandering from tourist to tourist asking for money; kids helping their parents run a small roadside business when they should be in school. But despite their circumstances, the Thai and Cambodian people are, for the most part, very friendly and welcoming.
I can easily say that this was by far the best trip I have ever taken, but not just for the obvious reasons. As an amateur photographer, I did my best to capture all facets of our journey, not just the tourist aspect. I hope you will read to comments I have written for the photos, and I hope even more that you will gain a little appreciation for what these people go through every day, just as I have.
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