Day Two at the Temples

June 25, 2011

Before heading to Angkor today I went into town to have a look at the local market. From the guest house it’s just a relaxed ten minute walk along the river. The market is very similar to those I’ve seen in Thailand. Incredibly cramped and everything is for sale. As my need for souvenirs is pretty much covered I was mostly looking for food and interesting photo opportunities. The Khmer food has been a bit of a disappointment so far.

Bangkok to Siem Reap, the Journey's second Part

June 24, 2011

At Mochit bus station I get a ticket for a bus leaving at 9:00 am to Aranyaprathet, the border town on the Thai side. It is a first class bus but the main difference between first and second class is usually the travel time. Both feature air-con and uncomfy seats.

I’m interested in a quick arrival as I have a contact expecting me at the border between 12 and 2pm. Sounds a bit like taken from a movie but it’s just the arrangement I have with a Siem Reap guest house. They offer this service free of charge and it’s a good way to clear the biggest trouble spot on the journey, the Cambodian site of the border.

The bus leaves with a slight delay and that the driver is stopping at a servo to fill up is not really helping with getting to the border quickly. I have a look at the map, estimate the travel time and see that I’ll be at the border close to 2pm.

Just minutes before that time we reach the bus station in Aranyaprathet. From there to the border it’s another 5km and my sources recommend taking a tuk-tuk. To my surprise all the Thais stay on the bus and I find out that the bus is going to Rongklua market which is directly at the border.

Now the bus company doesn’t want to take all the income from the tuk-tuk drivers so

First Angkor Impressions

June 24, 2011

When I woke up this morning I realized that I slept 12 hours straight. Feeling much better now. I got myself some breakfast and then went back to the computer to take care of some stuff for Andy. His webhosting company is still incapable of unblocking some IPs so after waiting for an hour I decided that it was time to see some temples. The guest house organized a tuk-tuk for me and off we went.

Cambodia

June 23, 2011

I made it, 30 hours after checking out of my bungalow on Koh Tao I arrived at the guest house in Siem Reap. My means of transportation were the back of a ute, a ferry, a coach, a train, the subway, Bangkok’s public buses, another coach, the back-seat of a motorcycle and finally a taxi. More details later, in dire need for food and sleep now.

Koh Tao to Bangkok, the Journey's first part

June 23, 2011

The day before my departure was an uneventful one. I did some final travel planing and tidied up my stuff, getting rid of gear I never used in hopes to make my backpack a bit smaller and lighter. It’s the third time I did that in Thailand but every time I end up with a heavy and bursting backpack not much later. No idea how that’s physically possible, must be some special backpacker law of physics.

Koh Tao accompanied my evening beer with a nice sunset. After all that time on the Aussie east coast I saw the sun rising over the ocean countless times but never did I see it set there.

In the morning I have to leave my room at 10:00 which is quite early for Thai standards. I asked them if a later checkout would be possible and was told I’d have to pay 100B per hour. Considering that the bungalow cost me 500B for the whole day that’s a blatant rip-off.

They do offer to store my backpack though and as I trust them I gladly accept. Carrying 20kg of luggage on a 35°C day is something

Is Thailand a safe Country?

June 22, 2011

The Thai tourism industry is at a weak point at the moment. The devastating Tsunami in 2004, the political unrest in 2010 and ongoing bombings in the deep south scared a lot of people away. Yet those are not really strong reasons to avoid Thailand. Tsunamis hit other countries as well, the protests are long over and staying clear of the unrest in the south is easy enough. That being said, Thailand is still a developing country.

About to leave

June 21, 2011

For the last couple of days I mostly rested my lazy bum on the beach and when I moved it, it was to go to the restaurant, to the 7-eleven (ice cream and cold drinks) or the massage house. As much as I enjoy doing that it is unfortunately burning my funds much quicker than expected. For the rest of my time in Asia I have another adventure on my list: Cambodia.

Thoughts on Thais

June 20, 2011

One of my favourite places on Koh Tao is a small food shop on the main road. It doesn’t look like much but they serve really nice and authentic Thai food. By my experience those places often have the best deals, the food is good and the prices are low. The regular restaurants catering more for westerners usually have mediocre food for two or three times as much money. Anyway, I don’t just like the place for the food but also for the friendly people.

Slacking around

June 18, 2011

When the diving was finished Hiro and I moved to the southern part of the island to have a couple of relaxed days. We got ourselves a bungalow overlooking Shark Bay. Getting to the beach was a bit of a pain in the lower back but the view from the veranda was very nice (it was one of the huts on the hill). All in all I’m a bit disappointed by Koh Tao.

Advanced!

June 16, 2011

Day 2 of the diving course started deep. The boat took us out to the diving site and we went down to 28.4m. At a depth like that the colour red almost vanishes, making an object that is red at the surface appear black. The pressure is at 4 bar which means that a plastic bottle full of surface air is flat like the Netherlands. We just stayed for a couple of minutes at this depth and continued the dive in shallower water.