Bangkok

Bangkok, Thailand 30.11.2014

We crossed the Thai border from Poi Pet Cambodia on the 27th of November. The journey from Siem Reap took ten hours with the bus and at the border we got a two week visa for Thailand. Everything was simple and at the border the staff was friendly. We were prepared to have to line for at least two hours but ended up waiting only about half an hour at the Cambodian border and one hour at the Thai border. The area between the two borders 'no man's land' was weird with all its casinos. Lot of beggers were situated in the area. The bus took us to Khaosan Road in Bangkok.

We booked a hostel from Bangkok in advance. We almost got it right but for the joy of walking with backpacks in a new metropole in the night time, we walked a circle for an hour. First impression was pretty bad because of the scams and taxi/tuk-tuk drivers who aren't helping at all by lying just to get you on the ride. Happily we didn't have to take any transport (or paid for anything) and succeeded on finding our way. The next day we walked in the neighborhood and made some people spotting. You truly can find everything here. Food is delicious and even just walking in the streets give you such a satisfaction with all the scentes in the air. Kaosan Road was a true turistic area as you can imagine. But easy to find souvenirs and restaurants.  We spent actually the first day searching for a city map. There are many maps in the end of roads and every time we got close to one someone would come over and ask where are we going. They didn't sell these maps themselves and tried to offer a tuk-tuk drive to the point where they say they sell maps. Of course we didn't accept the offer but we decided to walk to the spot they told. These were all private travel agencies or tourist information points as they call themselves. Finally we decided to find the Tourism Information Agency of Bangkok and found it. There we got free city maps and lot of brochures of possible activities and cities. Also infos about buses and trains. The staff spoke perfect English and was so friendly! After this visit everything started to roll.

Yesterday  we woke up early and headed to the snake farm by walking to the Central Railway Station and taking the metro. The metro is ridiculously easy and tickets are cheap. The snake farm tickets costs 200 bahts = ~5 euros and was so fun! After our snake experiences before we thought this would be a good place to try to understand snakes better. The farm is maintained by the Red Cross and is established to develop antitoxics.

There was pleanty of info about snakes, their venoms and nature. Both an outside and indoor terrario and also a perforformance about snake handling (1h). During this performance they presented some of the snakes and we got pretty scared. The freakiest was looking at two Monocled Kobras getting pissed off with each other. The second freakiest was taking a Burmanese Python on our shoulders. Totally worth the entrance fee.

Afterwards we drived around Bangkok with its skytrain and realized how big the city is. Skyscrapers continue as far as one can see. They say Bangkok begins only when you step out of Khaosan Road area. In the evening we drove aroung the center with local bus that was a really nice thing. Bus 53 works perfectly as a sightseeing bus crossing i.e. the flower market, Chinatown, the Central Railway Station, Khaosan Road etc. We went to the train station and bought tickets to Trang, the South. We chose this place after visiting the tourist office.  We hope it will be worth the 15 hour train trip in a 3rd class vagon! :D

Cambodia - Phnom Penh & Siem Reap

Siem Reap, Cambodia 23.11.2014

We left Kep Friday the 14th of November and arrived to Phnom Penh after a six hour bus drive. We came by a local bus so we had loud karaoke show on the bus that itself was an experience. Phnom Penh was busy and hectic after the countryside.

We spend one day walking around all the city. We visited the Olympic village and its future plans that seemed utopistic. Huge construction works going on. We also visited the Old Market, the Central Market, the Orussey Market and the Night Market that is open only on weekends. We didn't buy so much because it must fit in our backpacks but we bought hammocks for just 2$ each. The Night Market was nice because it was in addition to a market place for clothes also a place to meet and eat together. It was full of local food vendors. We ate lot of things for just 3$. The Orussey Market was the cheapest, The Central Market the most expensive. The Old Market has lot of fruits and foods, especially the fish part is worth seeing with all its living creatures.

One day we spent on getting acknowledged with Cambodian not-so-nice part of history: the Khmer Rouge time (1975-1979). We visited the Tuol Seng prison (S21) and the Killing Fields. During these years one to three million Cambodians were killed. That's one third of the population. We saw things that we wouldn't think possible and even less so little time ago, less than 40 years ago. We wonder how it affects people nowadays because many people that are in charge for what happened are still in some good position in the hierarchy. We also wonder the responsibility of the Western countries because the legacy with imperialism and Vietnam war. There is no buildings left in the Killing Fields, just mass graves on the ground. The main attraction is the story told during the walking tour. In the middle lays the memorial stupa filled with bones and skulls of more than 9'000 people. Pretty shocking and sobering.

We left to Siem Reap on Monday the 17th. The bus drive took six hours and was quite terrible because the bad condition of the roads. And because our driver had to surpass every vehicle on the road. We stay in a hostel out of the centre and enjoy the peace of a smaller town. This is probably the most touristic city in Cambodia because of the magnificent Angkor Wat temple. We have been relaxing and getting to know the city that is quite small. A nice river goes round the center and the feeling is almost European with all its cute little bridges. The main attraction is Angkor Wat and the other temples. They were built in 900ac-1200ac when the Khmer kingdom was blossoming. We spent one day from sunrise to sunset (4am to 6pm) visiting temples and still saw just a part of them. Amazing architecture and well maintained structures. One exciting part of the mystical temples was nature taking over them. Huge trees and jungle growing on these ancient remains. We truly felt like being in an Indiana Jones adventure. Less exciting fact was the hundreads of tourists around Angkor Wat. 

Our travel plan in Asia starts to be clear. We leave to Thailand next week and head to Malaysia for christmas and new year. We travel there by land.

Cambodia - Kep / Previous Saint-Tropez of the East

Kep, Cambodia 13.11.2014

After the last writing we stayed on the island for another four days. In total we spent ten days on the island. During the last days we experienced the seafood barbeque, plankton night-swimming and enjoyed the beach life. 

We left to Sihanoukville early on Saturday the 8th. We tried to get to Kep on the same day but the bus was full, so we booked the first bus next morning. We found quickly a nice guesthouse probably because we were carrying our backpacks. There was big festivities going on in the city because of the Water Festival. Lot of Cambodian people all around the country. Sihanoukville is kind of big and really turistic. We spent there one day and we had enough of it.

The bus arrived to Kep Beach after a three hour drive. It looked really cute with a nice boulevard next to the coast. We first tried to find a hostel by walking but after 2km with backpacks at noon we had to take a tuk-tuk. The driver was really friendly and took us to a cheap and really nice place. We have been here now for five days. The next day we noticed that Kep is really small. There is practically nothing in addition to the Crab Market, national park, travel agencies and guesthouses. And distances are quite long. It's easy to move around with tuk-tuks or by renting a bike or a moped.

We tried the crabs and they were really good. Especially the ones with Kampot pepper. One day we just drove around the area with a moped. Nearly 100km. We visited the caves with bats, the salt fields, Angkaul beach and the butterfly farm. It was so fun! Just driving and looking at changing sceneries. We tried driving a moped for the first time but happily there is not so much traffic so it's kind of relaxed here. I wouldn't try it for the first time in Phnom Penh..

We have been trying to do nothing and one day we succeeded. We watched tv-Animal planet and got even more an overdose of snakes. In Finland it feels like a documentary but here it's reality show. The sunsets are amazing.

Today we visited the national park that is a 8km walk. During the day we didn't see any special animals, only beautiful butterflies and lizards. But the jungle was so wonderful with its big trees!

On the walk back we checked some of the ruined colonial French villas. They are just abandoned and nature is taking over. Some of the villas are owned by rich generals waiting to get the best price. Seems to be taking time.

Tomorrow we head back to Phnom Penh. It'a nice to go back to the city :)

Ps. Rendez-Vous with snake nr 2...

Holiday in Cambodia

Koh Rong Island, Cambodia 6.11.2014

We arrived in Phnom Penh after a 30-hour travel. We were really tired but got some energy from the nice warm air that welcomed us while stepping out of the plane. We took a tuk tuk ride to the hostel which we had booked online.

We spent only two days in the city and mainly rested. We visited the Russian market. It is the cheapest market to find clothes, shoes, souvenirs. One must bargain on every item. But our objective was the beach. We booked a bus trip to Sihanoukville and left the same day with a boat to Koh Rong Island. We left early in the morning and the bus trip took five hours. The boat took another two hours. Once arrived we were really happy because the beach is wonderful. White sand and crystal clear water. There are no roads or cars on the island. Mainly there are guesthouses, bungalows and restaurants.

On the island there is nothing to do which suites us perfectly. The east coast where the ferrys come is the busiest and most alive. Lots of party places too.

Sunday we decided to check the east side of the island and trekked through the jungle following a path. It took about 50 minutes and was quite a hike. We saw a monkey and big butterflies. We ended up to a 7km long beach which was even more beautiful. No loud music or other people just the sounds of the jungle behind the beach. On the other end there was a village and on the other just one guesthouse with bungolows with no electricity or running water. We decided to walk back, take our backpacks and come to a seaview bungolow for a couple of nights. We took a boat from the west side to the east and after some technical problems we arrived for the sunset on Long Beach.

When it became dark everything felt extreme and was really exciting. The bungalows had open windows and were located between the jungle and the sea. There were huge spiders on the roof, biggest was the size of a plate. There were also really big geckos in the roof, about 40-50 cm long. In the night we heard geckos, monkeys, squirrels, birds, rats, lizards... Monica didn't sleep so much. Johannes either. But it was worth it.

The next day we walked the beach from end to end and back, total 14km. The village on the other end was small and called Sok San village. There was one luxury resort at the start and then a really poor village next to it. We had lunch there and talked with the owner that he is looking forward to the high season. We were the only ones there that day.

In the evening the generator stopped to work because the gasoline was finished. It had been so windy for a couple of days that the guesthouse didn't get any supplies in. The boat service doesn't run with windy / stormy weather. The second night was better than the first. But the morning was ... breathtaking. Johannes woke up around 7am and went to the bathroom and saw a black tail going behind the door. He jumped out and then he saw it was a snake. It quickly went to a hole in the corner of the bathroom. We both waited behind the mosquito net if it would come out but it was too scared. We went to check if it was still there and we saw its head constantly. We started packing our stuff and for a couple of hours it stayed there in the corner. We left the bungalow and told the staff that there is a snake in our bathroom. They were excited and went quickly to get it out. They even got a video of it. And they discovered that it was a 120cm long King Cobra.

Now we are back on the east side and this feels luxury. We are enjoying the beaches, the sea and the sun. and food is good and cheap. Just relaxing :)

Yesterday night we went to a midnight swim with another couple from New Zealand. We met them when we were having a barbeque meal on the beach. We drank few drinks together and decided to go and see if there is some plankton that shines in the water between 11pm and 1am. We were lucky! It was almost full moon so at first we couldn't see it. But when swimming we saw all these tiny shining points. It was like swimming in the sky with million stars.

Now we will probably stay on the island for a couple of days more and then head to the south. The visa is valid for 30 days so we still have three weeks time.

Beijing

Koh Rong, Cambodia 5.11.2014

We arrived in Beijing in the late morning of the 24th of October by train from Ulan Bator. The journey took 30 hours. The most interesting part was changing the rails of the train vagons because in China they use a different distance between the rails. This process took about six hours. The border control was pretty quick and easy. The view after the Gobi desert changed totally into mountains and rivers that was very beautiful. We got to see some countryside of China.

Beijing Railway Station was not so busy in the middle of the day. We had googled our hotel and headed straight to the metro. It was simple to use the metro and the metro stops were written also in our letters. In every station there is a security control. Once in our supposed right metro station we started to walk towards the hotel. Quite soon we realized that we hade googled the hotel too broadly. We had no idea where we were. Everything was huge and continued everywhere. We only had the address on our letters but we should have had one in Chinese letters. Taxi drivers can't read our letters. After three hours of walking with our backpacks one taxi driver called the hotel himself to find it. He took us to the hotel and we were totally in the wrong place. Our hotel was the cheapest but located near to metro station Shilipu on the east side of Beijing. There should have been English speaking service but there was not at all. The first feeling about the city was that it is huge. Just something too big. In the area of the hotel there wasn't any other tourists or hotels so it seemed a real Chinese suburb. We were starving so we went looking for a restaurant. Any of them had an English menu. We chose the one with most people and a menu with pictures. Smiling works internationally and the food was great.

Before arriving to the city we contacted Yob, a Dutch friend living there now for last few years. In the evening we went to meet him. We were excited of finding the area and the place we were supposed to meet after the hectic morning "orientation gone bad". But we found the place right away and enjoyed some Chinese brewed beers with our friend. After this the city seemed a little more okay. We spent the whole Saturday with Yob and went to a music festival in Dirty Monster Club out of the center. There were nice Chinese bands and also some expats too. Locals didn't speak English. Great experience.

We planned a trip to the Great Wall on Sunday but we slept late. And weekends are the busiest time there so we postponed it to Monday. Instead we went to the Hutong areas, Lama Temple and Tianamen Square. Lovely shopping places in the hutong areas. The Temple was huge and something nice  and quiet in the middle of the city. We arrived in Tiananmen before 5pm and just as arrived something startes to happen. Lot of guards started to push all the people away to close the street. Even the locals seemed not to know what was happening. The guards just shouted to us in Chinese. We thought some politically important persons would come out or pass the street. After maybe half an hour souldiers came out and took the Chinese flag down from pole. That was it all about. Hundreads of people were looking and taking pictures. The road in front was totally stopped. It had eight lines. Sunday was different beacuse the air pollution was at lower level. Since our arrival there was really bad smog and the top of buildings disappeared even on a sunny day. You can feel the pollution in your lungs. But when the wind came from Siberia all the smog went away and the whole city looked different.

Monday morning we woke up early to get to the Great Wall. We took the metro in the rush hour and it was something unbeliavable. In the day time the metro was so easy. In the morning we waited like 25 minutes and five trains before getting in. Monica took the earlier and Johannes the next after. We couldn't fit in the same. People were pushing more people in but it was unuseful. The vagons were already so full.

We thought of going by train to Badaling (takes only one hour, costs 6 yuans) but it was sold out. So we asked the staff how can we go there and they had a little book where they showed instructions to tourists because they couldn't speak any English.

The bus leaved from Xizhimen and there are fake bus signs next to the metro station. We took the bus 877 that goes straight to the Wall. They say some companies take tourists also to other stops and make them pay extra. We ended up in the right place and in the bus there were only two other tourists. Other were all Chinese. A Chinese wanted a selfie with us. The bus was pretty fast and went straight to Badaling. That part of the Great Wall there is from the 13th century but is reconstucted well. Three kilometers are open to public. The Great Wall was beautiful but not as like in pictures it was crowded and the area before entering the wall was full of shops and loud music. Peacefullness was far from there. We walked to the hardest part and there weren't so many people. The Great Wall was worth visiting.

After the visit we headed back to the hotel and took our stuff to the airport. This flight to Kuala Lumpur we had booked in advance from Finland but we bought online from AirAsia a flight straight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Travelling was long but the night flight with Malaysia Airlines was really good. Finally we arrived in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. It was +32 degrees.