Laksa for Breakfast, Beer for Brunch

Khmer Country....for a communist country its pretty chilled

guy_di — Sun, 4 Jul 2010 12:55:00 GMT

Hi Guys,

Oh what a Mission! Sorry we have been trying to update you but the email in Cambodia didn't work last night and Foreigners arn't allowed to buy phone cards.

Run down on whats happened since-its been a long two days!

Hotel we stayed at on Khao San Rd was as noisy as being in the Bar! We were doing Thai Karaoke in our sleep.

Our last day in Bangkok was awesome. We were walking down the street looking for a market and two ladies came over and asked us if we needed help. They ended up giving us all these tips and getting us on a govt Tuk Tuk and telling the driver where he must take us and that the whole afternoon would just cost $40 Baht ($1.80).

So for the next four hours the driver just took us to places and waited for us. He took us to amazing temples and we met friendly locals that told us the history of each buddha (apparently the one we were staring at arrived in bangkok in 1800 on a boat that didn't have anyone driving it! The burmese then invaded and tried to destroy the buddha and lit the temple on fire-but the buddha would not burn.)

The friendly local also informed us that the govt had made petrol free for Tuk Tuks to try and encourage tourism for the day-thus why the driver didn't mind driving us around all afternoon!

Yesterday we got up at 6 am and caught a mini van to the cambodian border. 4 hour drive. When we got close to the border the driver stopped and made us wait 1.5 hours so we would buy food at this place and buy their version of the Cambodian visa. Me and Guy declined having read about this practice but the rest of the vans bought into it! They ended up spending an extra $10 US.

Anyhoo a long hot day got worse when we got to the Cambodia border. Imagine a hot market of dirty crims and everyone trying to make a buck and unfriendly authority people everywhere. Got to first check point and I was told I couldn't go any further coz I didn't have a Thai Deaparture card. I was like well Im departing can you give me one? The lady just said no-I freaked out but luckily found a little recipt in my bag that was it -I am so greatful it wasn't chucked! No one told me it was soo bloody impt!

Anyhoo thinking the ordeal was over we walk in the sum for a bit through the crowds and find the next check point-The Cambodian Visa check. It was quite scary trying to avoid not saying what my occupation was and we were with a New Zealand writer who also wanted to avoid listing that. Of course we ended up having to "bribe" the officer with a extra $200 Baht ($6)- but this was pretty standard and we weren't going to argue!

Phew that was over and we continue to walk thinking yay we are in Cambodia! But then we found ourselves in another room where they either let you into Cambodia or not. It had a tree growing out of it and was ridiculously hot. We Waited in line for ages, they took a photo of us and then eventually stamped us in!

And people at work complain about our reception!

Scariest thing we've done in a while but after that its been great.

We got in a shared taxi with a Holland guy and started the two hour journey to Siem Reap. It was amazing! Rice paddies as far as the eye could see. You could see where rain was in the distance and when you drove into it it was like a monsoon and then sun again.

The driver was lovely and told us a lot about the place.

We arrived at our $10 a night accomodation and its been fabulous. The room is air conditioned and had hot water. The staff and people are amazingly friendly and the food is great. Last night I had fresh spring rolls full of tomatoe and cucumber for $1.50. We hadn't eaten anything all day but a bag of chips.

Everyone wants to help you and no one pushes you into things like Bangkok. Here it seems no means no!

We went to the night market and bought up a storm-I think me and Guy are the toughest bargainers out-they are truly shocked by our offers and then we walk away and they accept the deal haha.

But yea Siem Reap is amazingly safe. We were walking in the dark dirty streets and no one bothered us, everyone is friendly and happy. The communists obviously do some things right!

Today we are going to the 8th Wonder of the world- Angkor Wat! It will take two days to see most of it so we should probably go and find sum fresh fruit for breakfast.

Miss you all and love you lots

xxxxx

Bangkok...... No red shirts.

guy_di — Thu, 1 Jul 2010 12:50:00 GMT

We arrived safely yesterday and have finally got to email. Its been a crazy few days!

Brunei was random-extreme Muslims but at the same time very liberal with their opinions. Though alcohol is baned and a guy wouldn't talk to me when I tried to buy chips... Random country anyhoo. It was like a big jungle (as its next to Borneo) but with Italian style villas.. The paper was very interesting and expressed quite western views towards terrorism etc..

Bangkok is crazy-it really doesn't sleep!

Our first night was in a nice hotel but it was quite a while away from everything and the traffic is nuts! It had a roof top pool with a garden and we had a nice big room with our own bath and shower. I was paranoid about bugs and in the middle of the night I jumped up and screamed thinking there was a tarantula. Needless to say there was no bugs...I scared guy good though!

Anyhoo traffic is lame and crazy! It takes about an hour to get anywhere by taxi-there just seems to always been an endless traffic jam. And they drive crazy-they create lanes when its busy and yet still drive at full speed.

The city is massive. Everything is done on a big scale, big roads and big billboards. ANd yes big malls-too big!

We have already taken the sky train, taxis and a Tuk tuk. Well a Police man actually got us off the Tuk Tuk laughing because we asked to go like an hours drive away.. apparently tuktuks arn't made for an hour on the motor way.

We went to MBK (big mall) after our flight (we hadn't slept much on the plane and then stayed up tip about 2 am your time) and it was just too crazy to buy things. There are so many of the same shop you don't buy anything coz you think you'll get it cheaper somewhere else..a nd then you're too tired to keep going.

Buy yes some things are cheap and others are pretty average. You can find stores like Levis and versions of things like andrea biani or just jeans which you might save like $10 in but then you might come across a store (like I did yesterday) and find none of the handbags are over $10! I bought one for $4 US but don't worry I'll buy more! I was too tired at the time to continue on my mission. Anyway we ended up eating Thai mall food coz we couldn't be bothered finding a place. Lonely planet fails to mention that while there are heaps of great places to eat etc.. you have to find them!

Taxis have taken a bit of our money but thats ok as we shouldn't need to use them anymore now we are in the tourist mecca.

You can buy a croissant for like 14 B (50c) and water is 7B (25c). SO Im loving 7 Elevens!

ANd low and behold not all Thai people speak english and if they do its usually not fluent. Me and guy are getting very good at saying "no" "thank you" and train.

WE have now made it to Khao San Road. The Tourist mecca and yes everything is easier! Its quite comforting to see other tourists that look as lost as us. But yea heaps of bars, food places, massage parlours and yes internet cafes! YAy!

WE have booked our bus for tomorrow morning to Cambodia. WAs very easier-lets just hope it arrives!

The place we are staying at is near here (Khao San region) and its slightly dodge.. we get our own shower which is a plus but the bed looks grubby and there are a few leaks.. Plus theres a Thai restaurant outside our only window. But o well it was cheap-bout $10 US and we were too sore with our packs on our backs to keep tramping onwards.

On the brightside I think its too small for a tarantula.

NOw I think we are going to go chill-no more traffic jams! We are going to try and find the real markets and get sum fresh fruit.

Hopefully we can now focus on shopping without the jetlag.

Love you all and miss you.

Thanks for all your help and money hehe (jen you and kevins baht helped us a lot yesterday in our tiredness!)

xxx From di and guy (we will try and get a sim card and call soon)

Introduction

guy_di — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:24:00 GMT

In just less than 5 days myself (Gman) and Di will venture off for 7 weeks covering 3 countries; Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. So we thought it would be appropriate to be new age and soooo Gen Y by starting this wee blog. We hope you enjoy it as much as we will enjoy updating all the neato experiences and crazy shenanigans that will unfold over the trip and we do hope to update date it as much as possible. So sit yourself somewhere comfortable yet vulnerable and follow us as we break our western mindsets and become overwhelmed by the culture and beauty of SE Asia.

Next post will hopefully be in Bangkok

Peace and Love

Guy & Di