Phnom Penh, Cambodia (September 2014)
My first stop on my 3.5 month-long vision quest. Phnom Penh ended up being my least favorite place in Cambodia. The main highlight for me was The Killing Fields, although “highlight” seems like an inappropriate word to use. I think soul-shattering would be a better phrase. The Killing Fields self-guided audio tour was really well done. It included interviews with people who experienced the horror of it first-handed. For anyone that doesn’t know, The Killing Fields consisted of various isolated sites in Cambodia where soldiers of the Khmer Rouge (a ruthless totalitarian dictatorship that ruled from 1975 to 1979) would take prisoners and murder them in cold blood. Then they would often be buried in mass graves. However, the killing field just outside of Phnom Penh is the most infamous. To give an example, there was a tree in the area called “The Dead Tree” (if I remember correctly). It was called this because Khmer Rouge soldiers would quite literally swing babies by their legs into these trees, and smash their skulls against the tree. Horrific, horrific stuff. There was also a prison within Phnom Penh, called S21, which was also known for various atrocities. Khmer Rouge soldiers would often take prisoners directly from S21 to the killing field outside of Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh was also the only city I traveled to in my 3.5 months that I felt unsafe walking around in just after sunset. The only other thing that I liked about Phnom Penh was that its central market was pretty awesome. Really good food for really cheap prices. Besides the above, I didn't really care for Phnom Penh.
Sihanoukville, Cambodia (September 2014)
Considering the fact that Cambodia has only a
very small coast, Sihanoukville is about the only beach town you can go to in
the country. Despite the filthy old men hanging around with their Cambodian "girlfriends" (I use that word euphemistically; the underground sex tourism industry is unfortunately alive and well in many parts of SE Asia), Sihanoukville was a
great place to relax and catch some rays – not to mention great, cheap seafood.
I once ordered a marlin steak, scallops, vegetables on the side, with three beers…all
for $6. You can’t beat that! Sihanoukville was the first time I had been
on a “tropical” beach in 7 months, so you know I spent essentially all of my time
on it!
Kuta Kinabalu, Malaysia (October 2014)
There really isn’t much to say about Kuta
Kinabalu. There is nothing that special
about it. Uh…it’s a port city?
It’s
not a BAD city per se, but there is just nothing to do or see, really. Nothing
special about it. To be fair, I came to Kuta Kinabalu with the intention of not doing anything. There were some boating activities that were available, but they didn't appeal to me enough to take me away from straight up chilling. So, I spent my two full days there pretty much just hanging
around the hostel, because by this point in the trip, I really just needed some
time to recharge. I do, however, want to
give big kudos to the restaurant around the corner from my hostel. The manager was an exceedingly genial elderly
man who kept me fed for those two days.
Thanks, genial elderly man. You
were so nice and your restaurant’s food was so good!
Semniyak, Bali, Indonesia (October 2014)
The trip from Probolinggo to Semniyak was quite possibly the worst part of my 3.5 months of travel.
Have you ever seen "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" with John Candy and Steve Martin? It was kind of like that, but a lot less funny.
I took a train from Probolinggo to Banyuwangi, which is on the east coast of Java island in Indonesia. From the train station, a five minute walk brought me to the harbor where I took a ferry. From the western harbor of Bali island, I took a small van to Denpasar City. From Denspasar I took a motorcycle cab to Semniyak. I literally used four different forms of transportation in less than 24 hours for the same journey.
But that's not all, so please allow me to elaborate. The train was fine; I had absolutely no problems. A conductor on the train asked me if I was headed to Bali, and I replied in the affirmative. He said I should talk to a friend of his who worked as a travel agent. I got the impression that whoever this "friend" was was probably going to charge me an exorbitant price for whatever services he was going to offer, so I politely took the card, but I already knew exactly what I had to do and how much everything should hypothetically cost. Out of curiosity, I asked what his friend charged for transportation, and he gave me a price that was much higher than I had read on-line. I smiled and said, "Thanks."
After disembarking the train, I went to office of the train station and spoke with the sole employee working there. I asked him where I had to go to get transportation across the strait to Bali, and then to Semniyak. He told me the harbor was just a five minute walk away, but the price he gave was still quite a bit higher than the one I had read on-line. I told him as much and he made some excuse. So, I walked to the harbor and was called over by two guys standing by the entrance of the ferry terminal. Neither of them were dressed in any sort of formal work attire as one might expect, but they said I should wait for a bus there that would be loaded onto the ferry and then take me all the way to Semniyak. They gave me the same price as the officer inside. It sounded fishy, so I went over to a parking attendant for the ferry terminal. When I told her what I was trying to do and what the two guys and officer had said, she rolled her eyes. She said that they basically had a scam going with the long distance buses, and that I should just buy a normal ticket for the ferry, and there would be transport just outside of the ferry terminal in Bali. I could see as I was talking to her that the two men in front of the entrance to the terminal were shamefully walking away. Caught in the act!
I bought my ferry ticket and boarded.
The ferry was supposed to take 20 minutes, but if I remember correctly, it took about an hour. This was because boat and ship traffic was backed up at the harbor.
After eventually disembarking from the ferry I walked outside and was soon met by two more guys trying to get me to pay the same exorbitant price that the two other guys from before. I brushed them off and found the transportation that the parking attendant had been talking about. When I walked up to the van, there was an older French woman who was clearly irked. I asked when the van was leaving for Denspasar, and an attendant said, "When this van is full." I looked around, and there were only a few other people waiting. After about an hour and a half, another couple of ferries had arrived, and enough people had come so that we could take off. In the hour and a half we had to wait, I befriended an Indonesian businessman who got me a lower price on the ticket for the van ride (foreigners are charged more...), for which I was very thankful! Because most of Bali's islands only have 2 lane highways, traffic was pretty terrible, so it took us a few hours in slow moving traffic to get to Denpasar, which is the main city on Bali. At this point in the journey, I was about ready to crack and break out in a fit of screams. Luckily, I held it together until we were let out in a transportation hub in the middle of Denpasar. However, I needed to get to Semniyak Beach, so I asked a motorcycle cabby to take me and negotiated a price that I thought was still too high. Seeing no cheaper option, he took me right to the front of my hostel.
Needless to say, after that journey I was both done with traveling across land in Indonesia and done with their multi-leveled corruption within the tourist industry.
Huay Xai, Laos (September 2014)
Huay Xai was simply the destination of our two-day boat that started in Luang Prabang. We just spent the night here before taking a bus to Chiang Mai, Thailand. The highlight of the night was the owner of our hostel, who also doubled as its manager and front desk employee. She was probably in her 70s and spoke English really well, and boy was she sassy! Our Russian friend, Roma, could be a bit cheeky at times, and this old lady showed him what's what with her sarcasm. She made us laugh a lot and asked us to refer to her as "Mother". She said her child (can't remember if it was a son or daughter) married an Australian national and lives there, so if I remember correctly, one reason she learned English was so she could communicate with her grandchildren. So cool!
Ko Samui, Thailand (October 2014)
Have you ever seen "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" with John Candy and Steve Martin? It was kind of like that, but a lot less funny.
I took a train from Probolinggo to Banyuwangi, which is on the east coast of Java island in Indonesia. From the train station, a five minute walk brought me to the harbor where I took a ferry. From the western harbor of Bali island, I took a small van to Denpasar City. From Denspasar I took a motorcycle cab to Semniyak. I literally used four different forms of transportation in less than 24 hours for the same journey.
But that's not all, so please allow me to elaborate. The train was fine; I had absolutely no problems. A conductor on the train asked me if I was headed to Bali, and I replied in the affirmative. He said I should talk to a friend of his who worked as a travel agent. I got the impression that whoever this "friend" was was probably going to charge me an exorbitant price for whatever services he was going to offer, so I politely took the card, but I already knew exactly what I had to do and how much everything should hypothetically cost. Out of curiosity, I asked what his friend charged for transportation, and he gave me a price that was much higher than I had read on-line. I smiled and said, "Thanks."
After disembarking the train, I went to office of the train station and spoke with the sole employee working there. I asked him where I had to go to get transportation across the strait to Bali, and then to Semniyak. He told me the harbor was just a five minute walk away, but the price he gave was still quite a bit higher than the one I had read on-line. I told him as much and he made some excuse. So, I walked to the harbor and was called over by two guys standing by the entrance of the ferry terminal. Neither of them were dressed in any sort of formal work attire as one might expect, but they said I should wait for a bus there that would be loaded onto the ferry and then take me all the way to Semniyak. They gave me the same price as the officer inside. It sounded fishy, so I went over to a parking attendant for the ferry terminal. When I told her what I was trying to do and what the two guys and officer had said, she rolled her eyes. She said that they basically had a scam going with the long distance buses, and that I should just buy a normal ticket for the ferry, and there would be transport just outside of the ferry terminal in Bali. I could see as I was talking to her that the two men in front of the entrance to the terminal were shamefully walking away. Caught in the act!
I bought my ferry ticket and boarded.
The ferry was supposed to take 20 minutes, but if I remember correctly, it took about an hour. This was because boat and ship traffic was backed up at the harbor.
After eventually disembarking from the ferry I walked outside and was soon met by two more guys trying to get me to pay the same exorbitant price that the two other guys from before. I brushed them off and found the transportation that the parking attendant had been talking about. When I walked up to the van, there was an older French woman who was clearly irked. I asked when the van was leaving for Denspasar, and an attendant said, "When this van is full." I looked around, and there were only a few other people waiting. After about an hour and a half, another couple of ferries had arrived, and enough people had come so that we could take off. In the hour and a half we had to wait, I befriended an Indonesian businessman who got me a lower price on the ticket for the van ride (foreigners are charged more...), for which I was very thankful! Because most of Bali's islands only have 2 lane highways, traffic was pretty terrible, so it took us a few hours in slow moving traffic to get to Denpasar, which is the main city on Bali. At this point in the journey, I was about ready to crack and break out in a fit of screams. Luckily, I held it together until we were let out in a transportation hub in the middle of Denpasar. However, I needed to get to Semniyak Beach, so I asked a motorcycle cabby to take me and negotiated a price that I thought was still too high. Seeing no cheaper option, he took me right to the front of my hostel.
Needless to say, after that journey I was both done with traveling across land in Indonesia and done with their multi-leveled corruption within the tourist industry.
Huay Xai, Laos (September 2014)
Huay Xai was simply the destination of our two-day boat that started in Luang Prabang. We just spent the night here before taking a bus to Chiang Mai, Thailand. The highlight of the night was the owner of our hostel, who also doubled as its manager and front desk employee. She was probably in her 70s and spoke English really well, and boy was she sassy! Our Russian friend, Roma, could be a bit cheeky at times, and this old lady showed him what's what with her sarcasm. She made us laugh a lot and asked us to refer to her as "Mother". She said her child (can't remember if it was a son or daughter) married an Australian national and lives there, so if I remember correctly, one reason she learned English was so she could communicate with her grandchildren. So cool!
Ko Samui, Thailand (October 2014)
I really only spent one day on Ko Samui. It's an island that's basically just one big holiday resort. There were a lot of families and couples from mostly Europe, Russia, and Australia. The beach was beautiful, don't get me wrong. But nothing special about Ko Samui besides that.
Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Tao were two islands just north of Ko Samui, and in my opinion, they were much more suited to a young backpacker such as myself. I'll write about my experiences there in the near future.
Phuket, Thailand (October 2014)
Phuket is the largest island belonging to Thailand. We had been told to, at all costs, avoid the dirty, seedy Phuket City, and make our way elsewhere. We went to a small coastal resort area in the northwest corner of the island. There was no traffic and practically no noise at all except for the waves hitting the beach. We went swimming and ate some yummy seafood, and that's about it! From Phuket, I flew to Malaysia.
Ko Pha Ngan and Ko Tao were two islands just north of Ko Samui, and in my opinion, they were much more suited to a young backpacker such as myself. I'll write about my experiences there in the near future.
Phuket, Thailand (October 2014)
Phuket is the largest island belonging to Thailand. We had been told to, at all costs, avoid the dirty, seedy Phuket City, and make our way elsewhere. We went to a small coastal resort area in the northwest corner of the island. There was no traffic and practically no noise at all except for the waves hitting the beach. We went swimming and ate some yummy seafood, and that's about it! From Phuket, I flew to Malaysia.
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