New Change

Hey all,
Not sure how many of you still read this as I am no longer in Asia and seeing most of you back home! Decided to change names of this blog as this is definitely NOT the end of my travels (as some of you know, I'm heading to Europe in December and who knows where afterwards!) so, will try to keep this updated on various going-ons in and out of Toronto and elsewhere.

West Coast

Finally arrived back in Canada last week. I must say, there was a reverse culture shock upon arrival. I really looked forward to returning home but as I landed I immediately wanted to go back to Asia, how contradictory. Parts of me want things not to change so drastically at times...
However, things have slowly returned back to "normal", I've gotten used to paying a lot for food, transport, drinking from a tap again, breathing fresh clean air, not sweating at 9AM, having a peaceful night's sleep, the longer days here (it gets dark at 10!! not 6), not seeing stray dogs everywhere.
Vancouver is one the loveliest cities, it has mountains you can take a bus to, ocean, beaches, mild weather, great outdoorsy activities. I guess the only complaint I have is that everyone is so damn healthy! Why does everyone have to eat organic foods and ride a bike?? Anyways, I suppose I will turn into one of them once I move here. Made a spontaneous decision to go to Squamish (1.5 hr of Vancouver) and book myself a climbing lesson. I think this is the best place for climbing in Canada! I'm really looking forward to it!

Goodbye Asia

Am in my final hours in Asia and it's really starting to hit me now! My trip is over! I feel really really sad that I have to confront all the realities of home in Canada but really happy to see family again. But this past year has given me more motivation to travel more, be more active and to work overseas again (but maybe not in the near future). I can't even describe how wonderful the experiences I've had were and I'm sure all of you will be so sick of hearing about it after a while!! But I encourage all of you to take some time and do it, it'll really change your perspective about so many things... I may sound a bit New Age guruish now but oh well! Anyways, goodbye Asia! It's been a good year! Hello Canada!!

Homeward bound

Finally making my way slowly back to Canada! Looking back on the last year, it's really been a whirlwind, at times I felt like time was slowly creeping by but the last few months have just zoomed past me. I want them back! Not that I'm not looking forward to seeing everyone again, but the past year has been so amazing.
Am now in Macau, it's such a pretty Asian city, full of Portuguese architecture, cobbled streets and large gaudy casinos. Will see some family I haven't seen in almost 10 years! It will be a shock for both sides when we meet again. On Monday I head to Hong Kong for the last leg of my Asian travel before heading to Vancouver.
The past month I've been travelling around Laos. It's really a quiet spot in the noisy bustle of SE Asia. And it's worth a visit, full of things for everyone to do. There are beautiful areas with rolling hills, large limestone karsts overgrown with jungle and lots of rivers (for various activities, transport on speedboats, slowboats, long boats, swimming and tubing - basically in Vang Vieng you can rent an inner tube and float down the Nam Son river and pull yourself over to any bar that you fancy and in the meantime you can also throw yourself off rope swings!). In the north it's really untouched by tourism, many towns are trade towns between Laos and China. Not the most picturesque of towns but they are good jump off points for various treks into the jungle. We did one in Vieng Phouka to see these mysterious 400 year old ruins possibly left by the Burmese. It was really cool to see these old ruins just grown over and walking and discovering a little wall as you walk along. We also were invited to this housewarming party of this Laotian family where most of the guests were pretty drunk at about 2 in the afternoon, too much Lao Lao for them.
Travelled south after the north and took a slow boat from Huay Xai (where we had a great steam sauna and massage courtesy of the Laos Red Cross) to Luang Prabang, a beautiful lush city. We toured the sights, saw a waterfall, saw some wats and went bowling. Yes, it's the only place open after midnight. Then to Vang Vieng for the tubing, only one day for me but 3 for Jan! It is good fun and you have great scenery. Then to Vientiane and then to ThaKek, our last stop in Laos. We had intended to see the largest cave in Laos but found out too late that it would take maybe 3 days there and back as it's really remote. So we tried to find our own caves but since it's rainy season, most of them were flooded in. But we did see a pretty awesome cave Nam Aen Cave, it's a huge cavern with stalagmites everywhere, it was beautiful. Then we headed to Thailand where we intened to hitchhike but had no luck as every Thai person was laughing at us and then slowly driving off... what a tease. Took a full day of buses to head back to Bangkok. Enjoyed the last few days with Jan before he headed to Amsterdam and I headed to Macau 12 hours later.
Had some interesting and annoying company at the airport who I picked up while watching the soccer game. Was quite glad to get on the plane away from him!

Nearing the end

Hello all! It's been a really long time. Spent the last few weeks exploring the rest of Vietnam (along the coast) and then headed into Laos via the new Dien Bien Phu border crossing. Spent some time in rock climbing and doing some little hikes in these countries. Am now stationed in Vang Vieng for a few days as it's so beautiful here and also the tubing aspect has hooked Jan. It's a really cool concept, floating down the river in an inner tube and then stopping by bars along the way. Also there are these huge rope swings which I'm too chicken shit to try... but it looks really fun.
Only about 2 weeks until I return to Canada and I'm so looking forward to it! Life is Asia is good fun in the sun but am craving home cooked meals and my own bed! and of course seeing everyone back home as well!

Vietnam - HCMC, Phu Quoc and Nha Trang

Have been in lovely Vietnam for the last week and a half. Arrived in humid and hectic Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC, Saigon) where we soaked up some culture, ate lots of baguettes and met a really strange local Vietnamese, German speaking woman who ended up inviting us for watermelons and then breakfast in her dilapidated home. Very sweet but a tad off kilter. She gave Jan a flute when we left. But shows how much loneliness can affect someone's mind. But after hearing lots of negative reports of the Vietnamese from other travellers, I cannot say the same. I really like the people here, they are by far (so far) the nicest people I've met, and they don't seem to scam you as much if you just don't question the prices from the start. It seems to work a lot better.
Caught an awful minibus to Rach Gia to get to Phu Quoc Island from HCMC, and ended up too early and had to sleep on a park bench. That's twice I've been a bench bum. Ended up staying Phu Quoc for about a week. Lots of relaxing, didn't get to see that many beaches as we kept on getting lost on the dirt roads. Only successfully found one other beach than ours. Really rough waves and rainy weather in part due to the season and also the horrible cyclone that ravaged Burma affected out weather. Finally parted with Phu Quoc and then decided at the spur of the moment to bypass HCMC quickly and move onto Nha Trang via sleeper bus. Arrived here and did a full day of biking and Jan spotted many boulders he wants to climb tomorrow. Off to Hue soon!

Thailand

Hello everyone! it's been a long time. Ended a wonderful month in Kampot and was quite sad to leave although very excited to move onto new adventures. Met with Heather for a whirlwind tour of Cambodia and Thailand in 2 weeks! Madness! But, we managed to do quite well. Saw the major sites in Cambodia, headed by bus over to Bangkok. Then flew into Phuket and arrived in time for the start of Songkran, the Thai new year. It was also a water festival and a lot of watergun spraying was involved! It was mad in Patong, but we stayed in a quieter beach Kamala. We also did a day trip to Raya Island which was beautiful. White sand beaches with clear blue waters! Then headed to Chiang Mai for the rest of the water festival and it was even crazier there! There's an old moat that's now a canal and a lot of water was used from there to douse everyone. I was pretty soaked for about the whole day. We should have some of those festivals in Canada during the summer. Heather left shortly after that to more adventures in New Zealand.
Met with Jenny a fellow traveller from Burma and chilled for a bit before she left for China. Finally met with Jan. Then we headed to Krabi for 5 days. It was a lovely place, great to relax, the pace was slower, people are nicer than in the cities, great landscape. I even tried rockclimbing a little bit! A bit scary but I had good teachers!
Now back in Bangkok and headed to Vietnam on Wednesday!

Goodbye Kampot!

Spent my last days in Kampot, they were really a wonderful farewell to this lovely town, by far my favourite place in Cambodia. Said my farewells to all the kids and the kitchen staff who I've spent most of my days with for the last month. It was really bittersweet. I'm looking forward to all the adventures over the next months but I'm sad that I won't see these really wonderful people for a long long time. Helped bake two cakes for the staff and the kids which they loved. They did a goodbye dance for me which to me also seemed like they were singing in their own way (these are all deaf/mute kids). I was really really touched. They also wrote me a card in English which none of them know very well at all let alone Khmer which also made me cry. Also went to the blessing ceremony of the new arts centre site in Kampot which hoepfully will be finished next year. It was lovely, singing at the site at sunset with Bokor in the background. Had many dinners with the director, Katie and her husband Hallam and their adorable baby boy Benjamin. Food in Kampot is really delicious.

Yesterday finally made it to Bokor hill station, site of the abandoned French resort. The whole place was surrounded by thick mist, you couldn't see further than 100 metres down. Very ambient setting for creepy buildings. The creepiest and coolest place was the casino. You can see how splendid it used to be back in the day, huge rooms and the beautiful mosaics and tiles still remain.

However, a lot of the building is falling apart and quite dangerous if you're not careful! The place is like a maze with half levels and staircases everywhere. Very creepy. Very "Shining" like place. The area is soon to be developed into a new resort for the rich, heard that Raffles is interested... very unfortunate as fewer people can afford to go there after. Not sure what they are going to do with the old buildings.

Anyways, back in Phnom Penh today, Heather arrives tomorrow!

Khmer weddings and gourmet food

I was invited to my first Khmer wedding last night! I have seen these loud gaudy gatherings before on the streets and always wanted to be a part of it just because it's such a huge spectacle! So, I got into some fancy clothes (only one dress and I needed to wear pants under it for decency sake), which was a nice change from being frumpy all day long, and loaded myself into a crowded car and sped off to Kep (30 minutes away). We drove into these rice fields and ended up in a loud gathering at the main house in the fields.
Already the music was blaring and guests were filtering in. Upon entering the party area, you greet the bride and groom who are wearing really beautiful traditional Khmer dress, and then you pass under a yellow and pink heart. Then, you mill around, go to a random table with your friends and then start eating. The food was really good, many courses, I was quite happy. The music was not making me so happy, we were right next to the speakers and they were turned up pretty high so my ears were ringing by the end of the night. The women are all dressed to the nines, they had on really flashy party dresses, they had so much make up caked on and all of them had their hair done. I looked like quite the dowdy madam with a brown summer dress and flip flops and only blush. The general ambience is not unlike a typical Chinese wedding minus all the loud singing and Khmer traditions. But I definitely don't want either.
Also, this weekend was a gourmet weekend.. I'm treating myself as this is my last weekend, at yummy baby back ribs which are as good as home, really good brie and black forest ham on baguette and garlic/pepper crab fresh from the sea. My tastebuds were in heaven these few days! Spent my last day at Rabbit Island today.. likely won't see that island for a long long time. However, I don't have much luck there, first time I broke my sandals, second time I got a spine of a sea urchin stuck in my foot and today I got stung by a jellyfish which was sooo painful. However, I still love Rabbit Island.

Kampot among other things

Started volunteering at Epic Arts cafe last week after a rushed arrival into Kampot, Cambodia. So far things are excellent, a great change to work with really nice people and with an actual project and goal. Actually I'm mostly helping out in the kitchen which is great, I haven't cooked in 7 months! and doing some brushups on the cafe. But the staff are wonderful and it's a great organization that integrates the disabled and deaf through the arts. A really great concept. Here's their website www.epicarts.org.uk, they are trying to build an accessible arts centre in Kampot, so if you have some extra change please consider donating! During the slow hours, I'm learning some Khmer sign language and I think I'm more conversant in that than in actual Khmer. All in all, I'm very happy staying here for the next month as I know the following months will be just travel travel travel!
After leaving Myanmar, I've been devouring books on the country, political situation and talking to people in the cafe about it. My trip really stirred something in me, the situation is so well hidden that I didn't really sense the horrible situation while travelling there. I knew generally what human rights abuses occurred but when I was there, I was quite afraid of address these issues for fear of causing trouble with the locals. In a way, it's a vicious cycle because the government plants informants throughout but eventually because people are afraid, they start to close themselves off in speaking about these matters... so the government is more effective because of the fear they have instilled. The government has really done a good job at hiding many things from foreign eyes. I hope to return someday and really explore the country off the beaten track and actually talk to some people there about the situation...albeit covertly!

Magnificent Myanmar

Sorry, long time no post. Am ending my 2 week (actually more like 12 day) whirlwind trip in Myanmar/Burma. It's been full of surprises, sore bums, long bus rides but definitely a wonderful time. I didn't really know what to expect coming here, just knew roughly about the political situation, the isolation from the rest of the world. Arriving here, I noticed how antiquated many things were, ie. cars, bridges, helmets, due to the embargos that have been placed on this country. Many of the things they have seem to be hand me downs from western countries from long ago (we saw a war helmet from Nazi Germany, with the swastika and everything).
It was my first time travelling alone but it has been so easy to find people to travel with, I met a Canadian as soon as I got on the plane, and we were travelling together until Mandalay. Our first shocker of an introduction to Yangon, was a crazy Hungarian who decided to jump from the 2nd floor of the guesthouse (Motherland Inn 2) through the plastic roof onto hard concrete. Of course he then collapsed (maybe due to a concussion, possible fractures... he has serious mental issues) and all the people at the guest house just rushed to help him. Madness. Not sure what happened to him, I will find out tonight.
Then headed to Kalaw the next day to start our trek to Inle Lake, endured a 17 hour winding bus ride (in the middle of the night... rivalling the crazy driving before dawn in Tibet).. and was dropped off a 5AM on a quiet street. Good thing there was an enthusiastic lady who greeted us and showed us to a lovely guest house (Eastern Paradise). We did some wandering, ate some Shan noodles which are my favourite here, and then started on our trek the next day with 2 Basques, and the following day 2 others who were at the guesthouse in Yangon, an American and an Aussie. Slept in a village house the first night, really good food and quiet and the next night in a monastery. That was one of the great experiences in Myanmar, young monks chanting us to sleep and then waking us up at 5:30AM. Then we were all blessed by the chief monk and given a bracelet for travel protection.
We finally arrived in Inle Lake which was lovely and refreshing after 3 harsh, hot days in the hills. As soon as we got there we had to plan to leave because of our tight schedules. Found out no buses to Mandalay as it was graduation weekend and all buses were full... then had to hire a shared taxi for the next day. Did manage some sightseeing on Inle Lake but it was quite touristy.
The road to Mandalay was awful and the driver was totally sketchy, he was swerving many times for no reason, hitting random rock piles, chewing betel constantly and had a bottle of rum next to him. I think I fell asleep out of pure fright, I just didnt' want to see him drive anymore. Arrived in Mandalay late at night, tired, windblown and dirty. Mad rush the next day to see Sagaing, Inwa (which was good, except for the scam of the horse carts which didn't stop if you wanted them to) and Amarapura. The U Bein bridge at Amarapura at sunset is easily my top favourite things in my travels. It's as beautiful as they say it is. Ahhhh, it was worth the long trip there.
I then boarded a minibus the next day to Bagan, the ancient city with hundreds of pagodas/shrines. The minibus was a nightmare, so crowded, I was sitting on top of the petrol tanks, people were falling all over my seatmate, a Spaniard photographer. However, arrived safely at the New Heaven Inn, which was really heavenly. Lovely porches, hot water showers, lovely staff. Went for a sunset at the Shwezigon Paya. Met a German guy who was at the Motherland same time as I was. Next day did mad scramble on bikes to see as many pagodas as possible but I was pooped by 1PM.. the heat and sun are unbearable at that time. In the evening picked up Tim, (Aussie) and went to see the sunset by the Irrewady (Ayeyerwaddy) and had tea with monks by the Shwezigon near our hostel. It was really lovely, the monks were so excited to play with our cameras and just to talk to us. And the chief monk was so welcoming. It was a nice change from the money grabbing vendors all over Bagan. Had a wonderful sunrise the next day overlooking many of the major pagodas in Bagan. It is an amazing sight... it rivals Angkor in my opinion. There are just spires and spires and just when you think there aren't any more.. you'll see another in the horizon. Really amazing.
Arrived in Yangon this morning after a 14 hour bus ride from Bagan. A bit more comfortable than the minibus, but I won't be clambering to get on another bus anytime soon. I'm looking forward to doing nothing, no more sightseeing just relaxing. Although that will have to wait after Bangkok.. which is another mad city!
Will need some serious R&R in Kampot.

Angkor Wat

Had a fantastic week in Siem Reap. I've finally seen the sights I've longed to see in Cambodia. It really made up for the shitty last few weeks I've had here. The sight of Angkor Wat is really spectacular. It's actually more amazing from afar, when you're in the actual temple, it's just a huge mass of stone with many carvings and it's hard to see the immensity of the temple. However, this week was not just about Angkor Wat, we saw basically all the temples in the complex, so, I'm a little templed out. Although looking at centuries old temples is quite amazing. I think my favourites are the Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider was filmed.. it's very touristy, with Japanese/Chinese tourists clicking away and not really caring about the temple, but it really is the coolest place in the park. Imagine, gigantic trees just growing out of the massive stone blocks and crumbled temples everywhere...), and Banteay Srei (Pink Citadel, it's so pretty). The best way to see all these sights is by bike though although you have to look out for crazy tour buses passing along the way.
On Friday, met up with fellow volunteer from Nepal, Sophie. It's really great to have someone familiar travel with you! Anyways, went back to the temples again, enjoyed a sunset at Angkor Wat. Then next day had a crazy picnic.. everyone should definitely try these suncooked small clams, they are a so hard to open but it's worth all the nailbreaking work. Yum.
I'm back in Phnom Penh now, and it's really nice to see all the other volunteers again, caught up on the news here. Seems more people are discontented with Cambodian office.. surprise surprise! Booked my ticket for Burma, I'm heading out on Thursday provided I get my visa on Wednesday.. fingers crossed!

Projects Abroad no more.. now what to do?

After weeks of fighting with management and having really nothing to do here in Cambodia except pretend to be a volunteer while being a tourist, I've decided to quit Projects Abroad! I'm now free.. but with all this free time (6 weeks until I meet a fellow travel buddy in Cambodia), I now have to plan something useful with my time. Initially I was set on going back to Kampot to chill and explore the south coast at a leisurely pace. But now I have this crazy idea to go to Myanmar! I know most people would advise against it but I think it'll be an amazing trip! Ah, the options!

Farmer for a day

Came back yesterday from a small village 2 hours outside of Phnom Penh. Stayed with one of the staff's family in a village of ~4500. We (me and another Khmer project volunteer) were to experience a true farmer's life for a few days. A lot of complications arose from the start, mostly because of a lot of inefficiencies of the staff. I could go on for hours on this subject, but I'll just keep it short. So we took a tour of the town instead in the evening and talked to many of the schoolchildren who wanted practice their English. However, it got a bit tedious after 20 kids asked you the same questions over and over again with no regard to your answers. The most interesting question they posed was '"Are you married?" not quite sure what they want from that question. But the children were all really sweet and adorable and I enjoyed having a one way conversation with them.

The next day we went to the ricefields and our host, Sophan arranged for us to help harvest a fellow villager's ricefield. It was hot and hard work! And I also managed to cut myself with the scythe.. but I survived.

It was really nice just to be out of the city and live a totally different life in the village. The people are so friendly, honest and warm. At night, things got a little noisy with the rowdy dogs, but it was nice not to hear traffic streaming across your window. All too soon, we had to leave (trip was cut short unexpectedly because my fellow volunteer couldn't hack the village lifestyle). It was a long, dusty and painful moto ride back into Phnom Penh. I'm going to Siem Reap in 4 days!!

Kampot, Kep, Rabbit Island = lost

Did some travelling outside of Phnom Penh finally last weekend. Decided I needed the lie on the beach and just veg for a whole weekend. Had a long ride from the city to Kampot, an old resort town of the French colonials. It was a bit of a disappointment initially coming into a pretty boring bus stop area and staying in a not so ambient guest house. However, we discovered some of the charm in the evening as we dined by the riverside. Kampot was definitely more laidback than the hectic (not as much as Kathmandu though!) pace of Phnom Penh! We were also a bit disappointed because we weren't able to visit Bokor Hill Station (a Khmer Rouge stronghold in the 70's... supposedly very "atmospheric") because the Prime Minister was going there that weekend... so, our plans for the next day were shattered! Fortunately since I'm an easygoing girl, found some other activities for the next day which included cycling to a cave. Unfortunately, I am also a very poor navigator as many can attest to, and ended up lost on a straight highway. How that happens, beats me. But lost we were and 2.5 hours later, ended up in a really remote area where the cave was. The cave is called Phnom Chnnok, and it's really cool. There's an 7th or 8th century shrine there that's in really good condition because it's been sheltered by the cave.
These little boys took us around and showed us the animal figures in the rocks and then took us out in an obscure way which involved jumping and climbing over rocks.
After this much longer than expected bike trip, headed to Kep to meet another volunteer and eat a great crab meal! Perfect birthday meal! Next day headed to Rabbit Island, and pretty secluded island, 1/2 an hour from the coast by a slow boat.
Arrived there, got a bamboo bungalow and then explored the island. Got lost yet again, and had my sandals disintegrate on me (resorted to binding them with twine.. felt like i was a pioneer traveller) and 3 hours later got back finally to our hut. I was ready for the beach after that. Lazed around the rest of the weekend, great fun.
But very little vegging for most of the weekend. Really memorable weekend though... and I'm 27 now!!

Cruel cruel world

Today we went to visit the S-21 and the Killing Fields of the Khmer Regime. S-21 is the centre where approximately 20000 "enemies"of the regime were tortured, interrogated and subsequently killed. Upon arrival to the centre, the building is unassuming as it used to be a high school. Only the barbed wire and iron corrugated fence belies the terrible acts committed within. Entering the compound and the first building, you encounter terrible rooms like the one shown here. These were the torture rooms and when the building was raided, they found corpses on these beds in various states of decay and evidence of the torture they had were evident.
I didn't want to take any pictures of those bodies and faces of victims because it didn't feel quite right to do so. I was pretty emotionally overwhelmed, I can't understand how people could do this to one another and even to little children as young as 3! They surely cannot be enemies of the state! In the next building, there were the cells where inmates were kept, I had to leave the room because it was very creepy, claustrophobic and I just had really bad vibes in the area (yes, it might be all psychological, but I really didn't feel comfortable). There were also hundreds upon hundreds of photos of the victims. There were accounts of people finding loved ones ' pictures on the walls after the centre became public. I cannot even imagine the feeling of finding out that your husband, mother, father, child suffered in this horrible place.
In the afternoon, we went to the Killing Fields (Cheong Ek) where the mass graves were found. There were ditches where the bodies were discovered and supposedly more are still buried there. You also came across pieces of clothing from these corpses which I found very grotesque and slightly disrespectful to the dead. You would hardly believe this pristine, quiet area hides so many tortured souls.
People can be so cruel to one another.

Goodbye Nepal...

Cannot really describe what an amazing time I've had in Nepal. I have done so many unexpected things, met so many wonderful people and have been so happy there. Sitting here in an internet cafe in Phnom Penh, I'm really missing my life back in Nepal, it really felt like home for the last 4 months. I miss the seeing the mountains everyday, my walk up the hill to HRDC, smelling incense early in the morning, daal bhat everyday, even the honking of the horns. I really wished it wouldn't end as I know that things won't be the same the next time I visit. But I could not have asked for a better ending to my time in Nepal, I've had a wonderful last 2 weeks that I will not forget and many more wonderful memories of my visit there. I heart Nepal.