Trip to Cambodia part. 3

Our second island hopping destination was Koh Rong Samloem. After arriving to Saracen Bay by a speed ferry we started to look for a place to stay. It was much more quieter beach than Otres and we actually had to walk a while before we found some desk that looked like a proper reception.

If you're travelling outside of the actual high seasons there's no need to book every accommodation beforehand. There's always some free dorm bed or room at somewhere. At least if you aren't that picky about standard frames or luxury services. 

This longer voyage was a bit safer than the earlier boat ride to Koh Ta Kiev.

     

We managed to book us a double bed from a dorm which was kinda wide open. So, the space itself was again all open and also a little breezy (as it were air-conditioned) 'cause there wasn't any doors etc. When going to sleep we just pulled down the tarp (suom. pressu) to block the rain for coming straight to our drying clothes. And regardless of all the nightly voices and unknown crackles I slept strangely good during our entire trip. Thanks to the refreshing weather of Southeast Asian climate.  

Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute.

- Josh Billings

At Samloem we could finally read some books and properly ease up our pace for few days. Before this we had only fled from horrible hucksters and looked up to some monumental sights of Angkor. Now our main task was to take it easy and enjoy some early morning swims and overall silece.

As usual our stay lasted for 3 days. So, we had already learned by now that 2 nights it's enough at one place. Within those days we had yet again just enough hours to explore the beach and to do what we liked. And what comes to food I think that we ate the most disappointing meal in Sacaren Bay. There might be several reasons for that but I bet that the biggest one is that all the dishes they served at restaurants, were modified to tourists. I mean that they had adjusted the flavors and reduced a lot of the spices.

For us foodlovers it was a real pity 'cause we had some high expectations for them. But in the end we flushed our deeply sorrow with few drinks and hoped for better luck in the future!       

My favorite spot was in that particular hammock.

And remember guys not to get sunburn over your body. It's not nice and your body is your temple.

From the island we took another speed ferry ride to the shore and headed to the bus station from where we continued towards our next destination, the city of Kampot.

God gave me a great body and it's my duty to take care of my physical temple.

- Jean Claude Van Damme

Trip to Cambodia part. 2

From Siem Reap we took a night bus to the coast. Though the drive lasted overnight it wasn't that bad 'cause the bus was filled with sleeping berths. And just to make clear, there wasn't any seats. Only places where you could lie down and try to make yourself feel comfortable.

Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.

- George S. Patton

At this point you might be thinking about the space in the bus or how roomy these "sleeping seats" really are? Is it actually possible to sleep in those kind of busses? When booking the tickets, there were both single and double seats to choose from. We shared one double seat and could just straighten our legs. So, there were barely enough space for smallish people. And only for that reason it might be a bit too small (confined) for those who are taller than regular human beings.

And yes you can sleep in the busses if you're not that sensitive for noices or bumpy roads etc. I slept maybe only half a night, but the all in all the trip went well. It took 10 hours to get from the inland to Sihanoukville. Our first tasks was to find a ride and some nice little bungalow by the beach. As usual the bargaining took a while, but 'cause of our expertise we managed to get us a cheap ride to Otres Beach.

It didn't take that long to go swimming from our little "porch".

After arriving to Otres we started to find out the prizes of different accommodations. At the end we chose a place called Chez Paou from where we got a private bungalow with a fan and a mosquito net. Both of those were kinda standard equipments in most of the places.

There were one common bathroom which we shared with the other fellow travellers. It turned out to be a good thing 'cause we were both terrified by bugs and insects. During the entire trip I also noticed that it's much nicer to sleep in a room which isn't all white from top to bottom. The darker the walls are, the less you can actually see what's lurking you from the ceiling while you're sleeping.

We stayed at Otres for 3 days and in that time we got to learn that there were no place to hide from the hucksters (suom. kaupustelijat). So, to get rid of them we took a long boat to an island paradise named Koh Ta Kiev. There were no running water or electricity grid and that's why the power was on only at certain time in the evenings. This place were just what we needed. Far away from the fuss and expecially from those not-so-nice-vendors.

Life is a travelling to the edge of knowledge, then a leap taken.

- D.H. Lawrence

We booked single beds from the treehouse which was a dorm styled bungalow. And 'cause we didn't know what to expect we're kinda cautious. Will there be some nasty creatures with eight legs or more? Can we sleep in 360 degrees open space with no walls around us, in a treehouse over 3 meters above the ground? All went partly ocay and we managed through the night. But why only partly? Well, I had ants on my bed when we first checked the treehouse. Luckily we had earlier bought some mosquito repellent (actually two kinds of repellent) which worked just fine to those little bastards.

Then I must say that though the island itself was awesome and the night in the treehouse was memorable, the place (Kactus) where we stayed was a bit too (how would I put it) peaceable. If you know what I mean. But enough of that. While waiting for the sunset, we ate dinner and got some new ideas for our travelling plan. One new city to go to. Be aware of that this is what may happen to you too if you've the guts to start a conversation with other fellas plus you have glass of rum in your hand. But due to this we got to see another side of Cambodia. Another city with its own history.

They say that G&T helps against the mosquitos.

I can highly recommend this paradise for those who aren't afraid of the sea and all the waves. If you last through the boat ride you gonna have unforgettable time in this island. But better to plan your visit soon 'cause there are rumours about casinos and actual roads.

We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon.

- Konrad Adenauer

Trip to Cambodia part. 1

People asked the question why and we're like why not? So, despite everyones suspicions we decided to go to a place which had a fascinating but at the same time really outrageous history.

We planned a roughly plan for the upcoming 18 days and went through it once more before we took off one sunny Monday afternoon. At first we wanted to see the hidden temples of Angkor and to see them we headed to Siem Reap. To the city where the world largest religious monument where once built.

All glory comes from daring to begin.

- Eugene F. Ware 

To get to the temples we hired a Tuk Tuk driver for the day and bought ourselves entrance tickets or Angkor-Passes how they're actually called in the ticket office. And because we're staying in the city for 4 nights we had allowed us a plenty of time to see all the most famous spots in a good peaceful pace. We took the 3-day passes which costed $62 apiece. The last thing to do was to check that our knees and shoulders were covered (for respectable manners) before they stamped our tickets at the gate.

Views from our (private) pool. The hotel itself located in a little calmer area far enough from the Pub Streets fuss. 

The first days at temples were a bit cloudy and even after all efforts we couldn't see any amazing sunset or sunrise. But there was so much more to see than just those things. Such as the gigantic Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm the temple surrounded by jungle, the corridors in Preah Khan and many more. 

And all these things I'm going to tell up here are going to be only a short glimpses about our trip. You can ask me anything you want, but I'm not writing down every single details, timetables, names or prices. It would take days so I don't have time to do so.

The temples were well hidden in the jungle and because it wasn't yet a dry season, we got see water in some of the basins and moats.

Waiting for the sunrise at 5am with few other tourist at Angkor Wat.

The only thing missing at the moat of Angkor Thom was crocodiles.

All in all the temples were definitely worth seeing and the city of Siem Reap was nice. I had some of my favorite dishes in there and it was more likely to get food with glass noodles over there than any other places we visited. Like we afterwards learned, most of the restaurants where we tend to eat offered only "yellow" egg noodles which I can't eat, unfortunately. In those cases I just chose some rice dish and it was completely fine.

Ruins at Preah Khan.

And for those who yet don't know I've a head of Buddha on my sleeve. And even though I've had it for a few years now I had never thought that it would get me in to situations like this. More or less in abroad! To a situation where I'd have to hide it from the others just because it might be disrespectful for them. For their culture and religion. And yes I've to admit that it felt a little awkward, expecially when we saw some monks.. at least I tried to cover "it" for a second and wear some t-shirts or scarfs everytime possible. "This is me, take it or leave it. I'm here on a holiday, not to violate your belief".

Some familiar faces at Bayon.

So, luckily in Cambodia I only needed to cover my skin when visiting the temples just like any other woman in there. The only problem happened when we're in Thailand where it was almost (kinda) illegal to have Buddha tattoos (specially the heads). You could see the bans in here and there, but because we noticed the very first signs at the airport we had no choise than "smuggle" my dear piece of art through the passport controls and keep it hidden the while being in Bangkok. "This is me, take it or leave it. I'm here only for a few days with a friend of mine, I want no harm". 

People forget years and remember moments.

- Ann Beattie