You never quite know what you will find when you enter a new country. Will the people speak English? Will they be nice? How will I get the new currency as fast as possible? How do I get from point A to point B? As I emerged from the airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia I was immediately at ease...and in love!
What I found was warm, smiling faces. The people speak a better version of English than I had found in Thailand. And they actually prefer that we use dollars instead of the Cambodian Riel. As I road in the taxi to the hostel (my first big city experience in Southeast Asia) my eye spotted more motos then cars, no discernibly agreed upon traffic directions, hundreds of smiling faces and a city that could use a face lift.
After settling into the Top Banana hotel we blessed our passports and sent them off with the guy from the hotel to have him get our visas for Vietnam. This is by far the easiest way to get this process taken care of but it is not without hesitation that we entrusted this stranger with our prized possession. I will end the anticipation, everything worked out perfect!
In the evening I took my first tuk-tuk ride around the city with Jill. A tuk-tuk is a motorcycle with a sort of carriage behind it. It is all open air this time of year so you can feel the night air in your face. It was one of those truly wonder struck moments you are lucky to have when traveling in foreign countries. We asked the driver to just drive us around to the hot spots. Mind you this is 7pm on a Tuesday night but it was as if nobody had a thing to do the next day because there were hundreds of people out and about enjoying themselves, their families and celebrating the coming Cambodian New Year!! We drove along the river, passing the Royal Palace all aglow in it's nightlights. We passed a major commercial area alive with vendors. What struck me most is how curious the locals were about us. Everyone kept looking into the tuk-tuk as they passed us to have a look. Always with a smile of course!! Unlike what I found in southern Thailand the locals have a seemingly genuine interest in who I am, where I am from and practicing their English. I was in awe of my new surroundings. I knew right away that this was a country that was going to make a lasting impression.
Needless to say, I could not be happier to be in Cambodia!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Ko Phangan & Ko Tao, Thailand
From the beautiful island of Ko Lanta on the Andaman Sea side of Thailand we journeyed across the Thai peninsula where we boarded a 3 hour ferry to an island on the Gulf of Thailand. Once again the journey was just as much fun as the destination.
As we haggled the price of the ferry in a tour agency we met up with 3 guys...an Italian, a Malaysian and an American from Boston. All of us were heading to the island of Ko Phangan for the worldwide phenomenon known as the full moon party. This party begins at sunset, lasting through the sunrise the following day as well as into the next afternoon. The ferry to Ko Phangan would get us in at around 6pm so we would have just enough time to find a hotel, shower and get the party started. It was agreed that we would just begin the party on the ferry with (horrible) Malaysian rum! Ah, the beginning of the end.
The party takes place on a beach that faces east, "Sunrise Beach". There were thousands upon thousands of party goers with no less than 20 DJ's from around the world playing techno music. I wouldn't say that this is my favorite scene but we had an amazingly fun time. Drinks are served in plastic buckets with about 10 straws. Our drink of choice for the evening was Red Bull and vodka. Hey, I am 31 years old now. Without the infusion of mass amounts of caffeine there would be no way I would make it to sunrise!! We walked up and down the beach, danced, drank, went for a swim at sunrise and generally laughed all night long. Good times. As the sun rose we hit the sack but we were certainly in the minority. This is one mental party!
From Ko Pgangan we hopped a ferry to the island of Ko Tao. This was more of a rest and relaxation island. We decided to go upscale a bit because it was Jill's 30th birthday!!! It was a nice break from the low budget backpacker hotels we had been staying. There was a pool that looked out into the gulf so we ended up wasting many many hours just hanging in the pool. A wonderful week. We were joined by a few friends from the US which was great. It's always nice to make new bonds withe people that you will see again back home.
It was sad to say goodbye to the guys as well as the lovely beaches of Thailand. That being said our next stop is Cambodia. Does the excitement ever end?
As we haggled the price of the ferry in a tour agency we met up with 3 guys...an Italian, a Malaysian and an American from Boston. All of us were heading to the island of Ko Phangan for the worldwide phenomenon known as the full moon party. This party begins at sunset, lasting through the sunrise the following day as well as into the next afternoon. The ferry to Ko Phangan would get us in at around 6pm so we would have just enough time to find a hotel, shower and get the party started. It was agreed that we would just begin the party on the ferry with (horrible) Malaysian rum! Ah, the beginning of the end.
The party takes place on a beach that faces east, "Sunrise Beach". There were thousands upon thousands of party goers with no less than 20 DJ's from around the world playing techno music. I wouldn't say that this is my favorite scene but we had an amazingly fun time. Drinks are served in plastic buckets with about 10 straws. Our drink of choice for the evening was Red Bull and vodka. Hey, I am 31 years old now. Without the infusion of mass amounts of caffeine there would be no way I would make it to sunrise!! We walked up and down the beach, danced, drank, went for a swim at sunrise and generally laughed all night long. Good times. As the sun rose we hit the sack but we were certainly in the minority. This is one mental party!
From Ko Pgangan we hopped a ferry to the island of Ko Tao. This was more of a rest and relaxation island. We decided to go upscale a bit because it was Jill's 30th birthday!!! It was a nice break from the low budget backpacker hotels we had been staying. There was a pool that looked out into the gulf so we ended up wasting many many hours just hanging in the pool. A wonderful week. We were joined by a few friends from the US which was great. It's always nice to make new bonds withe people that you will see again back home.
It was sad to say goodbye to the guys as well as the lovely beaches of Thailand. That being said our next stop is Cambodia. Does the excitement ever end?
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