The Day in Japan

So I wrote this while I was in Japan, but didn't have an opportunity to post it until now. I'll write about the final leg of the journey a little bit later. And be on the look out for pictures...while it will probably take me a while to get them all up somewhere (likely facebook), i'm gonna start working on it soon!

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By something magical, I found myself in Business Class from Bangkok to Tokyo. Or perhaps Premium Economy is a better descriptor…I got the same food as passengers in economy, but my seat was AWESOME. It turned into a bed. Like, it laid out flat and even had a massage feature built in. It’s funny, because I have always complained that I never get bumped up, my flights are never overbooked so I can volunteer my seat—and this is the second time with JAL that I’ve ended up in a seat that’s much nicer than what I paid for (especially since my ticket was less than $900 round trip!). I think Someone was listening to my complaints and has decided to answer my prayer, haha. Unfortunately, the flight from BKK to Tokyo wasn’t a long one (less than 6 hours), so I didn’t get to take as much advantage of the situation as if it had occurred on that obscenely long flight from Tokyo to JFK (or vice versa). But, beggars can’t be choosers. I’m totally psyched that I got such an awesome seat, and without having to miss my flight or pay a disgusting amount of money or anything like that.

And I tried to keep the good karma coming: there were two friends who were traveling together but got seats that were separated by the entire middle section. One of the girls asked the guy she was sitting next to whether he would mind moving so that she and her friend could sit together but he refused. So the other girl, who was supposed to sit next to me asked me (or rather, asked the stewardess who asked me), and since it was simply moving from an A seat to a K seat (both windows), I readily agreed. The girls were SO grateful, and it really was a minor inconvenience for me (I have no idea why the guy refused—I ended up sitting next to him, and he did seem a little bit…off…). But yeah. Maybe that little kindness will lead to me finding myself in another snazzy seat on the hugely long flight (can you tell that I’m looking forward to it? L)

I am currently sitting at a table in a Hard Rock Café in Narita. I know, I know—I should be soaking up the Japanese culture, and, by extension, the food, but I’ve eaten lots of Japanese food on this trip and I think it’s kinda cool to eat at a Hard Rock Café in another country. I think this is the only other country I’ve eaten at one of these…or maybe in Australia too. I did order an “Oriental Chicken Sandwich,” whatever that means! I got approximately 4 hours of sleep last night, and being that it’s currently 11.30am, I have 7.5 hours more until my flight departs for good old JFK. I’m starting to feel the exhaustion, which is less than ideal.

Sorry to sound my own horn, but I am really proud of myself. I managed to get out of the Tokyo/Narita airport (thank goodness, because it’s pretty dull and empty) and make my way to Narita, which is much closer to the airport than Tokyo is (Tokyo is about an hour away by train, maybe a bit more). Finding my way to the train departure platform was not too difficult, but that is where the easiness for me ended. There were two different train “brands” and I could not for the life of me figure out what the difference was. I don’t know if they made different stops or had different prices or what. But I figured out the price and station order for one of them and decided to just go with it—so I bought what I hoped was a ticket to Narita station, from one of the little automated vending machines, because the line to speak with a counter agent was too long for my early morning patience. Even getting through the stupid little gate was a challenge for me—but I managed. Then I was trying to figure out which train I should take. All trains for this particular company leave from the same platform, whether they’re going to the other terminal of the Narita airport or heading out toward Tokyo. What I couldn’t figure out was whether or not they ran on a circular route, or whether it actually did matter which train I boarded. This was especially confusing because the train that was coming next was going to “Narita Airport” (isn’t that where I am?) and the next one was going to a station that wasn’t listed anywhere that I could see…so where did that leave me? I opted to NOT take the train going to Narita Airport (good job me!) and to get on the other one, figuring that if it went somewhere crazy I could just get back on it going the other direction and try again. Fortunately, it did not go somewhere crazy, it went right to my station.

As we pulled into the Narita station, my heart sank. It was a combination between an industrial area and a residential area. I could see nothing that looked promising for occupying me for the next 10 hours, let alone to feed me (because it was breakfast time and my stomach was complaining angrily). I walked down the platform (in the wrong direction first) and up to the station, and followed signs that said taxis and buses. It did not look promising once I exited the actual station. There was one little café surrounded by approximately 10 hair salons. I have no idea why there were so many hair salons, but they were everywhere. It was still early, about 8.30am, and the area looked dead. I walked a bit hoping to find life, but to no avail. So I headed back to the little café and decided I could at least get a coffee before going back to the airport. I thought of how the immigration officers would be really confused by the fact that I left the airport at 7.45am only to be back at 10am. I took my time in the café, ate a cinnamon roll and drank a coffee, and then decided that there must be more to Narita if I just walked a bit more. So I wandered over to the bus stop, hoping that some of the signs would be in English, or that I could determine something useful from them. Nothing.

But I refused to give up. I had heard that taxis were ridiculously expensive so I was determined to avoid using them. Plus, where would I tell them to take me? “Umm, excuse me, could you take me…somewhere interesting?” I feel like that would not have been helpful, or even successful, given the language barrier. The extent of my Japanese is “konichiwa,” “ichi ban,” and “arigato.” Not much, obviously. So I walked, and walked, and walked. And there was still nothing except hair salons (why?!?!) and industrial stuff. I walked back to the station on the opposite side of the road, thinking that maybe I could find some information inside that would give me inspiration.

As I exited the stairs back in the station I looked out and I saw…PEOPLE and RESTAURANTS and STORES. Of course, it was all in the direction contrary to the signs for taxis and buses, but there it was: life. The city. Suddenly, things didn’t seem so sad anymore. I took some random pictures, the ultimate tourist, and then wandered down a street and came across, what do you know, a bus stop. With some information in English. I located a schedule for a bus that was running to a shopping mall that I had read about on JAL’s website, and stood in what I hoped was the line to board it. It was. I got onboard an air-conditioned bus that went directly to a huge shopping center. Consumer that I am, where else would I go?

Just kidding (mostly). I figured a mall was the best place to kill hours though, because people wouldn’t be creeped out by the random person sitting around for an extended period of time, and I could always check out the items that Japan has to offer (though Japan is EXPENSIVE. This is my conclusion). Malls always have a Starbucks or some other such coffee shop type place where you can people watch for extended periods of time without getting yelled out (and this mall is no exception). So yes, here I am at the mall, just hanging out, eating lunch, and making my next plan. I’ll probably head back to the airport around 3pm and hopefully they’ll have a gate for my flight because this morning when I checked in with JAL’s connection desk to get my boarding pass for the flight tonight, there was not yet a gate. *sigh*

I’ve been spending a lot of time with airports recently. Last night I was in the Bangkok airport for 6 hours, JOY. It actually wasn’t too bad, except that I was annoyed because I could not check in (or drop off my bags, since I had already checked in online) when I arrived—the JAL counters were not populated by JAL employees, and would not be until 7.30pm (it was just before 5). I walked around randomly and taxi drivers kept approaching me offering to drive me somewhere, which was weird because I was NOT on the arrivals floor, AND they’re not supposed to solicit customers inside the terminal. I filled in a couple of post cards that I had and mailed them, and then it was finally time for me to be able to collect my boarding pass. Only, they only gave me one, for the flight from BKK to NRT. I guess it was because the next flight was almost 24 hours later, but I’d never had to collect my connecting flight’s boarding pass after the original check in. I was a little bit concerned that I would not get a good seat (and remember, this is the disgusting flight) but when I actually went to the connection center in NRT the seat I had chosen was already there, except she asked me if I wanted a window or an aisle when I had already selected my seat online. It was kinda strange, but all is well. I have a window seat that will hopefully be bearable for the long journey ahead.

My Last Day

So this is it, my last day in Thailand. The hotel has given me until 4pm to check out, so I'm doing a final load of laundry and packing up all my things. My flight to Tokyo leaves tonight at 10.30pm, and then I'll have a 13 hour layover in the airport. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to actually leave the airport and check out Narita...because sitting for 13 hours at my gate sounds like less than fabulous.

Bangkok has been pretty cool. I've really done little more than shop (there are lots of temples here, but I was pretty templed-out after Angkor in Cambodia), and that's just fine because there are SO many malls and markets and craziness. There's an aquarium in the basement of one of the shopping centers, and I went there this morning. It was really nice and I took some pretty cool pictures I think. They had this 4-D movie that you could watch, and it was pretty cool because not only were you watching the film in 3-D, but there were points when water or air would be blown on you, or little things would tickle your ankles or your seat would vibrate--some people even screamed when it first happened because it was totally unexpected. But yeah, that was pretty nifty.

On Monday, I went to one of the shopping centers and explored even more. Centralworld is the largest mall in South East Asia, so it takes some time to get through it all. I went to a specialty tailor shop and considered having a dress or shirt tailor made for me...but the guy was a little too eager and made me slightly uncomfortable. I have his card, and he told me to give him a call the next time I came to Thailand (haha). I went to one of the department stores that is pretty prolific here, called ZEN and searched for a particular tie for my uncle. Eventually, I found one suitable. I then went to the movies (and paid like $4!) and saw The Orphan. CREEPY. That night I went to one of the more famous night markets, Patpong. It was quite the interesting experience...there are stalls and stalls of people hawking their wares (and for really exorbitant prices--you have to bargain hard to get something close to a legitimate price for a t-shirt and other sundry items) and on either side of the lanes of stalls are "go-go bars," or what I would call strip clubs. There are little men (most of the time, sometimes it's women) standing outside the bars/clubs with "menus" asking the men (mostly, sometimes they stop the women walking by too) to come inside and experience what they have to offer. It's really wild because the people selling their items are totally indifferent to what's going on around them; some of them are even there with their kids hanging out, eating dinner, and trying to attract the tourists. And yet, step 3 feet to the side and you enter a sleazy, dirty world. It was kind of a strange experience, and definitely made me a tad uncomfortable. Some of the names of the bars were hilarious, so much so that I considered taking photos, but they were also rather explicit, so I decided against that option.

I really have loved my time in Thailand, but this use and abuse of women really troubles me. There's this truly bizarre set-up in which the government is ostensibly trying to cut down on the sex industry in the country (pornographic websites are illegal and even the films and TV are edited to a greater degree than anything in the US--for foul language and sexual content), and yet there are these clubs where you can pick your woman for the night and "massage parlours" where you can choose your "masseuse." And if you get over-charged in one of these encounters, the tourist police are there to help you! So the government knows that this garbage is still going down, and pretends (?) to want to stop it, but isn't, really. I have seen so many poorly matched couples walking down the streets, in the malls. 60 year old unattractive white men with beautiful 30 year old Thai women. It makes me so sad. Fortunately, I have not seen teen aged girls walking around with these disgusting older men, but 30 years is still quite an age gap! It's truly a strange feeling, loving a place for its beauty and its kind people, and yet feeling so distressed by much of the status quo, but feeling like there's nothing I can do in my time here. What good would it do for me to approach those stinky old men and give them a piece of my mind? None, unfortunately. In fact...it would probably be a really bad idea on my part. So yeah, there's these two faces of Thailand, and one of them is so beautiful and lovable, and the other one breaks my heart. And you can see them both so clearly in Bangkok.

All right, now that I've completed my little tirade, I'll continue in the break down of what I've been up to. On Tuesday I went to one of the other shopping complexes, Siam Paragon. I ate lunch and then discovered that there were lots of little stalls selling gifts and such, many of which had competitive prices (I felt like I'd been ripped off at Patpong, even after bargaining down to half the asking prices!). There was also a CANAL in the mall. Yes, a river, complete with live fish and bridges from one side to the other and live plants. It was pretty incredible. Only in Thailand, I swear. I went and saw ANOTHER movie to kill a couple of hours before I was going to head to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar and Joe Louis's Puppet Theater, but unfortunately, the movie was longer than I anticipated and I missed the Puppet Theater! :( I was really tragecized by that disappointment. BUT, it just means that I have to come back, and since that is seriously on my agenda, we're good to go.

I didn't miss the night bazaar, however. I arrived just at the right point in time, as all the vendors had finished setting up and such. It's interesting to me that Patpong is so recommended as compared to Suan Lum. Suan Lum was SOOO much nicer. It was much bigger, with way more variety. It was also much hotter, as it's not entirely open air. Some of the vendors have fans blowing around their stalls, but it's still so hot that it's difficult to breathe, and the walkways are quite narrow. I only wandered around a bit because I had already spent so much money in Thailand and didn't really want to tempt myself with more silk or purses or handcrafted items. Because I knew I would buy them.

As I was leaving, I saw that there was this weird thing called "fish massage." There were people sitting inside this room that had a huge pool in the middle filled with fish, and they had their legs inside the pool and the fish were...well...attached to them. Apparently, this is something that is really good for the skin, as the fish nibble away dead skin cells, and it makes them happy because they get all kinds of nutrients. I stopped and watched for a bit, then headed toward the MRT, but stopped. Where and when else would I be able to get a "fish massage?" I walked back to the fish massage place and took a seat with my legs dangling inside the pool. Within seconds, my legs and feet were covered in little fish, sucking on me. It was such a weird feeling, very ticklish. I'd have to shake my feet every 20 seconds or so, because the sensation would become too much for me to handle. It was quite hilarious, as there was a couple from Spain sitting next to me and the wife was having a hard time with the fish all over her as well. The husband was totally into it, but she and I were commiserating about the strange sensation. They'd just come back from Krabi and enjoyed their time immensely (another stop to add to my itinerary for the next trip, hehe). It was nice chatting with people in English (because my Spanish would have been disastrous), and they were very friendly.

After my fish massage, I went back to the hotel. It was about 10pm, and I walked home from the skytrain station. Again, Bangkok is so interesting--it's sketchy (truly, there's no way to deny it), and yet somehow, safe. I'm really a fan, in case I have yet to mention that...

Today, as I said, I went to the aquarium in the basement of Siam Paragon. Quite enjoyable. I ate lunch at an "authentic Mexican grill" (I couldn't resist), which was quite an experience. The food wasn't too bad, but it certainly was NOT authentic! After lunch, I walked back to the hotel, and here I am, preparing to get the last touches together to head downstairs and check out, then off to the airport (at which I'll spend the majority of the evening...thank goodness they have restaurants and shopping and more!). I'll try to write while I'm in Tokyo, but if not...my next entry in this blog will be from the US of A!

And back in Bangkok...

I'm back! In Bangkok! While I didn't get to do my 14 hour train ride from Surat Thani to Bangkok overnight, I did make it back to Bangkok on a 50 minute flight with Bangkok Airways. I am pretty much convinced that this is my favorite airline EVER. The waiting area at the airport in Samui, the gate from which we departed, was filled with couches and pillows and tables and cute little rattan armchairs. AND there was free wi-fi and snacks and drinks. I've never seen an airline treat its customers (all of them, regardless of travel class) so well. And the Samui airport...WOW. There's this walkway to the departure gates, before you go through security, that's lined with restaurants and shops and even a spa. It's called "Samui Park Avenue" or something along those lines. It was ADORABLE.

So yeah, I took this super fast flight again, this time into Bangkok. I collected my bag and walked out to get a taxi to my hotel. I think this hotel just opened in May, so people are really confused when I tell them that I'm going there. Thankfully, I had the address in hand, so even if the name of the hotel was not familiar, the address was locatable.

This hotel is pretty awesome. It's huge--like 23 or 25 floors, and all of the rooms are like little condos. I have a fridge, a stovetop, pots and pans and plates and silverware, and a WASHING MACHINE. I will return to the US with clean laundry, which I personally think is awesome. There's also a really nice LCD TV and a couch in the living room. The room is huge, and everything is so new and clean. I'm a serious fan. The location is on a little alley (soi in Thai) off one of the main roads in Bangkok, Sukhumvit. This main road has tons of huge shopping malls, and the BTS skytrain system. Traffic can get really bad in Bangkok, so this metro train above the city is incredibly useful. I walked from the hotel to the nearest station, and went to one of the HUGE shopping centers. I say "one of" because I walked from one station (the main one, Siam) to another and between them there were at least 3 gigantic centers. These are not malls like I've seen anywhere...they are ginormous and have 50+ restaurants, multiple cinemas, and crazy amounts of stores. They are kind of indescribable.

I had dinner in one of them, CentralWorld, though I wasn't actually looking for these huge malls with pricey designer wear, but the smaller stalls that I had seen lining the street as my taxi took me to the hotel earlier in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate these myriad stalls that I saw previously...though I have not given up hope. My plan for tomorrow is to visit one or both of the night markets in Bangkok. One of them, Patpong, is apparently rather sketchy, situated right in the middle of a red light district. It has apparently cleaned its act up in recent history, but there is maybe still some seediness left over. But it's also supposedly a must-see for tourists, so I'm gonna head there despite its less than stellar reputation. The other market, Suan Lum Night Bazaar is supposed to be classier, so I definitely plan to check it out as well.

Anyway, I wandered around the huge monstrosity that is CentralWorld (I think it's the largest shopping center in South East Asia) and then continued on the Skywalk to another BTS station to take the train back to the station nearest my hotel.

I spent the rest of the evening relaxing...and doing laundry. I've been trying to come up with a plan for tomorrow, and checking in for my flight back to the US (though I am apparently only able to check in for the flight from Bangkok to Tokyo...which is REALLY frustrating, because the 45 hour flight from Tokyo is the one I really want to be able to choose my seat for!!). It's been a quiet day, and I am seriously already trying to figure out when I can come back here. Anyone want to do a two week trip with me in January? Tickets are under $800, round trip...!

ELEPHANT

So, today I rode on an elephant. And that is all you need to know.





RIGHT. As if I could write just one sentence and be content. If only...

So last night, I was talking to my mother and I was retelling the story of my bus ride in Cambodia from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, and I realized that I forgot a KEY piece of that story. You see, not only was there a mis-communication about the time that it would take to get to Phnom Penh, but the bus attendant made some pretty amazing announcements as we took off from Siem Reap. The name of the bus company that I was traveling with was Mekong Express. But the attendant's accent, it came out "Mekong Espray Buuu." I was actually listening to her thinking how I would spell it all out so you could understand what she sounded like. Anyway, she was making an announcement about the facilities of the "Mekong Espray Buuu," and she told us that the bus had a toilet so that we "don't need worry by your travels by Mekong Espray Buuu toilet." I actually laughed out loud when she said this because what she was trying to convey was so hilarious and the way it was being said was even more so. It brought me so much joy. So now you're all caught up on THAT important piece of information...LOL.

Today was the big day. The BIG day. The day of the elephant. In Thailand, elephants are symbols of good luck, and they're apparently pretty common. Well, I've been determined to ride an elephant in South East Asia, and I was successful today. I went "elephant trekking," which basically entailed me riding on a little seat on the back of an elephant as it wandered random trails near a waterfall in the interior of Samui. At some point we stopped to water down the elephant, which I was glad for, because it was hot and the elephant had to be feeling it. He also decided to take his trunk and blow air at me randomly...I do not know why. And my little driver guy just kinda laughed and shook his head the elephant. I had JUST gotten comfortable being on the back of this elephant in my little seat with a "seat belt" when the little man who was "driving" my elephant got off of and told me to sit on the elephant's neck. So I climbed down from my little seat and RODE ON THE ELEPHANT'S HEAD!!! It was ridiculous. And I was kind of freaking out (internally, of course). The guy took tons of pictures and the elephant kept trekking and I kept fearing that I was going to fall off into the river. Now, you would think that this must be something that they let everyone do, actually RIDE the elephant. But no. Only me. For some bizarre reason, I was the only person I saw that was allowed to get out of the seat and sit on the elephant's head (and there were several other people trekking with me). In fact, the other tourist people were taking pictures of me on the elephant's head and congratulating me on my prowess (haha). That was kinda awkward.

So yeah. Of course the driver man kept asking me if I had enjoyed myself and if I liked the pictures he had taken, and when I responded in the affirmative, he not-so-subtly suggested that I tip him well--haha. But I did. Because, well, he let me ride on the elephant's head. Like no one else. And he had taken lots of pictures of the occasion. As well as checked out the other photos that I had taken on the camera, which I thought was a little weird.

Once my elephant adventure was finished, I walked over to the waterfall (on foot) to take pictures, and stopped at the little kiosks that lined most of the path. It was on my way to the waterfall that I had my second (yes, second) awkward encounter with random Asian men who insisted that they have their photo taken with me. I think they were Chinese, but I can't be sure. This happened to me before when I was in Cambodia (and those guys were Chinese as well, I'm pretty sure), at one of the temples. Though those guys kept their distance from me as I smiled awkwardly for the camera with them. The one today actually put his arm around me and gave a "thumbs up" sign for the camera. I was like, "what the heck is going on??" I have no idea why these men are so fascinated by me...there were definitely other white people around, and i can't be the first white female they've ever seen. I know I looked quite a sight in my elephant trekking garb (which was basically just black capris and a flowered tunic with my floppy hat on my head), but it's not like the other white people were all decked out either...Can anyone explain this truly strange phenomenon?? So yeah. That was weird. I took my photos of the waterfall and then decided that I was ready to head back to the hotel, lest other random Asian men accost me for photo ops as well.

I got back to the hotel just before 4pm, when the shuttle for Lamai leaves. I ran to my room, changed my shirt, and made it to the shuttle. Unfortunately, in my rush, I forgot that I had removed my wallet from my purse for the elephant trekking. 15 minutes into the 20 minute ride to Lamai, I realized that I had no money for dinner, souvenirs, water...anything. Because it's a scheduled shuttle, there was nothing I could do. I had met a rather friendly Thai family who were also on the shuttle from the hotel and I considered being pathetic and asking if I could borrow some baht, but decided against it because it seemed sketchy, even for me. :)

I got out at Lamai and wandered the streets for the 2 hours, frustrated because I could buy nothing. :( Random dudes kept "introducing" themselves to me, and when I shook one guy's hand, he wouldn't let go--which was again, awkward. And again, people never thought I was from the US. Do people from the US never visit this country? I am so confused by this.

I caught the shuttle back to the hotel and went to the restaurant and had this delicious Thai dish with chicken, pineapple, and veggies in a tart sauce. It was so yummy! Then I decided to go for a swim and I realized that there was a thunderstorm in progress. I say "realized" because there was no thunder sound and no rain. Just silent lightning streaming across the sky, over the ocean, and tons of clouds. It was beautiful. I tried to capture some photos of the awesomeness, but the night was so black and I was STRUGGLING to time the photos to get the flashes. After about 20 minutes, I ended up with like 5 decent photos and decided to go stalk this frog I had seen earlier and take pictures of it. Found it.

Now I'm back in my hotel room packing my things because I leave for Bangkok tomorrow at 1pm. I'm excited to be able to explore the city a little bit, especially the famed markets. Hopefully I'll end up with some more awesome (-ly cheap) souvenirs.

Samui is beautiful, and I'm already trying to figure out when I can come back. I was talking to one of my friends, Henry, last night, and I'm hoping that we can converge our schedules on a trip back here. :) I can dream, anyway.

The Sky is Smiling Sunshine in Samui

When I last left you, I was about to begin the second half of my journey to Phnom Penh. Which went off basically without a hitch.

Upon my arrival in Phnom Penh, I exited the bus with the little ticket that one of the bus boys had given to me back in Siem Reap in order to collect my bag. I looked at the table stacked with bags belonging to passengers and noticed that I didn't see mine anywhere. He was pointing to a bunch of different bags, none of which were mine. I started to get a little bit nervous, thinking that it would serve me right if my bag was missing, for not double checking and watching it get put on the bus. And just when I was beginning to feel despondent, the boy came back with my bag, and a big smile lit up my face.

And just like that, the tuk-tuk drivers descended. They were all calling out to me, asking if I needed a ride (which I did) and I just looked at one and nodded my head, mumbled the name of the hotel I was staying at, and he pulled out his permit/license thing to show me and grabbed my bag and started heading toward his tuk-tuk at fast clip. While I had been collecting my bag, a harsh wind had picked up and the sky looked like it was going to storm quite heavily, so the driver put my bag inside the cabin and started to "batten down the hatches" (is that how you spell that phrase???) by pulling down these little shade things on all sides of the cabin. Then he put on several layers of (presumably) waterproof clothing and got on his little bike and drove me away.

We made it to my hotel with little trouble (it didn't get too stormy, though the wind was blowing up a lot of dust), and I paid the driver after he told me that I could decide what the fare was (how weird is that?) and then he asked if I wanted a tuk-tuk driver for the next day, to see the sights of Phnom Penh. I told him that I didn't have any plans, but he could give me his number and name and I would call him if I decided to venture out in the few hours before my flight the next day. Unfortunately, I didn't end up calling him because I only went to a spa that provided free transport, and then to the airport via taxi.

I ate dinner in the hotel's restaurant that night and called the front desk to schedule a taxi to the airport the next day. I ended up going to a local spa that had connections with the hotel and free transportation because I thought that a hot stone massage would be good for my sciatica that was acting up, presumably from the very hard beds. The spa was very nice and the people were very friendly, but the massage was just not up to the quality standards that my Massage Therapist in CA has established...I had told them that I had lower back pain, thinking that they would focus on that area with the stones, but to no avail (though one of the girls, because yes, there were two--it was a "four hands" massage--was really sweetly trying to talk to me in English, but knew like 4 phrases and used them up and then tried to say that she wanted to talk to me, but had no English and asked if I spoke Khmer...which I obviously do not, unfortunately). So I left with the same lower back pain that I had entered with. What a waste. :(

I was then driven to the airport (after stopping back at the hotel to grab my luggage...the people at the hotel thought that I was living in Thailand, despite my American passport, and told the taxi driver this and he was fascinated by it, but it was really weird because I never said that I was living in Thailand, but they assumed that I was for some reason...) and checked in for my flight to BKK, after which I would be flying to Samui. I was impressed with the Phnom Penh airport. It looked very new and was clean and bright and spacious, despite its small size. They had a dairy queen, which i thought was HILARIOUS. And required photo documentation.

The plane that I took from PNH to BKK was not nearly as nice as the one from KUL to REP. It was probably 20 years older and very...multi-lingual. Why on earth would I describe a plane as multi-lingual, you may ask? I am not referring to the attendants (though they spoke in both Thai and English), I am referring to the plane itself. The tray table told me about my life jacket in both Thai and English. The bathroom thanked me for wiping off the basin in Bahasa Melayu and English. And the overhead sign informed me whether or not the lavatories were occupied in SPANISH and English. Why on earth this plane had Spanish translation, I will never understand...But it did at least lead me to chuckle. And I once again got an entire row to myself after my seat kept reclining of its own accord, and I moved to a different row.

The Bangkok airport is amazing. I think, anyway. There are plenty of restaurants, shops (including pharmacies and a medical clinic that does not merely specialize in quarantining people), and it's very bright, open, and spacious (apparently i'm a fan of bright, open, and spacious), and easily navigable. I was concerned about the timing of getting my bag from the Cambodia flight and making my way to the departures area of the airport from the international arrivals area. I needn't have worried.

It took a bit to get my bag, but customs was a breeze and getting to the departures floor was a snap--there were escalators and elevators all over the place and signs in english indicating where I needed to be. There was no line for the check in, and the lady at the counter asked me where I wanted to be seated. I was even able to go buy a SIM card and chapstick and eat dinner, all with 1.5 hours remaining. Then I was able to visit the little lounge, from which I last wrote to you all.

The flight was delayed by about 20 minutes, but no worries. The plane was so nice (go Bangkok Airways)! Another really new one, bright and airy (again, my favorite things). And I managed to be seated in the one row of the entire plane that had an empty middle seat. Quite the fortunate situation. And that flight was rapid. We arrived in Samui after 45 minutes (take off, land--basically) and there were these cute little trolleys that took us from the plane to the terminal. Bags were already circling the baggage claim and my came out right away. I walked to the taxi area, and discovered that my hotel was an hour from the airport. I had anticipated something of the sort, but it was already 10.30 at night and I was ready for my bed.

The drive was long and dark and winding...and the driver was asking why I was alone, which made me a little bit nervous. I had been thinking on previous (particularly late night) taxi rides how you're totally trusting a random stranger to get you to a destination that you are likely not even familiar with yourself, so you can't even tell if you're being taken in the wrong direction--that's certainly the case for me in all these countries!! (I actually watched a movie last night that dealt with a crazy taxi driver that was kidnapping people in his taxi and killing them...not so inspiring since I'm sure I have many more taxi rides to go...) So I was getting a little nervous, and I think maybe he could tell, because he kept asking me if I was ok (which was pretty sweet--he might have also been concerned because the road was a bit bumpy and the shocks in the car weren't so great so he was concerned that i might be getting car sick, but either way, concern is always good).

Eventually we got here, and I paid him an exorbitant amount, and checked into my room (read:villa). The room is great. There's a fabulous king sized bed and a TV and a desk and the bathroom has a separate shower and jacuzzi bathtub. There are robes and slippers and pool/beach towels. And the hotel has two pools and a swim up bar, a spa, a restaurant, and a private beach with access only for hotel guests. The price you pay for all these goodies at an affordable price is being in the middle of nowhere on the South Coast of Samui. Of course, Samui is not so huge so it's hard to be seriously in the middle of nowhere, but this resort is close.

Yesterday, I did absolutely nothing. I took out DVDs from the front desk, swam in the 65m pool in the shade, ate at the restaurant, and that was about it. I've been having serious back issues (sciatica...YUCK) which have made it painful to walk, sit, or lie down. Yesterday was pretty terrible on the pain scale, but today has been better. I've moved around some more and I took the shuttle to Lamai Beach and walked through some shops and had dinner there. For some reason, all these random guys kept asking me if I was British or Canadian when I would respond to their greetings with a "hello" and a smile. There were at least 5 guys who asked me this--they never thought I was American. Do I have some kind of anti-American accent that I didn't know about? I also discovered that the trains on Sunday are booked, so I am going to have to fly back to Bangkok rather than take the train. Which is unfortunate because the train would have been way more adventurous, and means that I will have completed 14 take offs and landings since I set off on this adventure, almost a month ago (personally, i think that is just absolutely ridiculous).

It was nice to see a little more than my secluded resort paradise, paradise though it is. The people here are so sweet. One of the waitresses at the restaurant seems to really like me, and is always waving at me when I walk by. There's also a dog that wanders around the property that has taken to me. She'll come and lay by my table when I'm eating. She doesn't beg--she just sleeps--and then when I get up, she follows me around the property. When I went back to my room after lunch today, she tried to come right inside my villa! I felt bad closing the door on her, but she got over the rejection pretty quickly, haha. ;)

Tomorrow, I am scheduled to go elephant trekking to a waterfall. God-willing, I will not be stopped by back pain (I actually bought some muscle relaxants and pain meds at a Thai pharmacy, so that should help...)--I am insistent that I will RIDE AN ELEPHANT on this trip (though my mom recently informed me that I have already ridden an elephant. I have no memory of this, but she insists that it occurred, many moons ago).

I'll try to catch up again tomorrow evening, but if not, when I get to my hotel in Bangkok, I'll have wi-fi in my room, which will facilitate my communication.

Welcome to the Land of...Smiles (again?!?!)

So I've departed the Kingdom of Cambodia. And I have arrived in the Land of Thai. Or Thailand, at it is more commonly (and accurately) known. There's probably a bunch of stuff to catch you all up on, but since I'm sitting in the airline lounge (I've NEVER been able to wait in an airline lounge--but this place is crazy! Free wi-fi, snacks--like good ones--drinks, and comfy chairs and soothing music. Just what I need after my hour long flight from Cambodia, haha) waiting to board my flight to Koh Samui, which will commence in approximately 15 minutes, there isn't a lot of hope for me to properly update you at this junction. But I guess I'll get started...?

Monday (? my days are getting so confused. I'm pretty sure it's Wednesday today but i was convinced that it was Wednesday on Monday which was obviously not accurate, so who really knows) night I DID make it to the cultural dinner/dance that Choeum (the proper spelling of my tuk-tuk driver's name) promised me. We were supposed to meet in the lobby at 7pm, so I was downstairs at 6.45 in order to pick up my bus ticket (I was leaving Siem Reap for Phnom Penh by bus the next day, around noon) and then waited to see Choeum's smiling face. And waited. And waited. At 7.15, I had given up hope and decided that he had forgotten or something (I wasn't going to stress about it because it wasn't like I had given him tons of money to do this errand for me), when I saw him waving frantically at me from the front door. It turns out that the hotel doesn't let tuk-tuk drivers into the lobby, so he had been waiting for me since 6.45 but never saw me come down (I wasn't sitting directly in front of the lobby door) and at 7.15, got worried about me so decided to brave the lobby staff! I climbed into the tuk-tuk, resigned that I was going to miss dinner, but oh well, and off we went to this place that Choeum had chosen for me. We made it in plenty of time, as it turned out, and I ate a lot of fruit for dinner (I am getting to be so DONE with south east asian cuisine--I jump at the chance to eat sushi, even!).

The show itself was quite good. Some of the costumes were exquisite, and the simplicity and yet specificity of the dances was lovely. I took many pictures, though they aren't fantastic shots. There was a little bit of confusion when I arrived because I had not purchased my own ticket (I'd never even heard of the place), but Choeum had done it for me, at a special rate and in a special seat (he told me that he told them I was a very special guest so that I could be closer to the front, isn't that cute?). So, as I was saying, the show was good. It lasted about an hour, and I enjoyed the music that accompanied the routines as well. It reminded me of a luau that my mom and I had gone to in Kauai, except it was...Khmer. Lol.

I went outside the building when the show was over and Choeum was waiting faithfully for me as well. He asked if I had had my picture taken with the dancers, but I told him no because I felt too silly. The truth was that I wasn't sure who I could get to take my picture because there were so many hordes of people around trying to get their own photos taken. He said I should have done it and that then I might have been discovered and they would train me to do the dances and the shows. AS IF. But it was a pretty entertaining thought.

He offered to take me to a market or around Siem Reap, but it was about 9pm and I was ready to go back to the hotel. I don't feel safe alone at night in Siem Reap--not because of the adults, but because of the children. How sad is that! The kids that inevitably surround me as soon as I exit the tuk-tuk make me too nervous, so I opted to go back to the hotel, which was fine because I had been really ill in the afternoon. Actually, I had been so ill that I was considering whether or not I needed to go to hospital--I was really dizzy and couldn't focus enough to read a book...the letters didn't make sense to me. Upon reflection, it seems likely that I was simply responding to the fact that it was 3pm and I hadn't eaten all day long...whoops. But yeah, I went back to the hotel.

Choeum asked what time I was leaving the next day and I told him I needed to leave the hotel around 11.45. He looked really disappointed and he told me that he had a client that he was picking up to show around the temples from another hotel at 8am. I told him not to worry, and that I was glad that he had a customer, but he kept trying to come up with ways that he could come back and take me to the bus: could I leave earlier? could I leave later? I told him not to stress, and he asked if he could send someone that he knew, that he didn't want me to go with just one of the guys who waited for tourists. I told him I would go through the concierge and that all would be well. I gave him money for the ticket for the show and for the ride, and he tried to refuse it, saying that what I had given the previous day was more than enough to cover it. I refused his refusal, and he was very grateful. Such an awesome guy--he had told me how he sent money home to his family in the rural areas, and he was such a polite and courteous and helpful and respectful man that it felt good to be able to do something nice for him.

I got in touch with my mom again, and told her my plans to leave for Phnom Penh the next day. I was a little bit worried because my back had gotten messed up from the beds (at least, I think it's because the bed was hard as a rock--worse than the mattresses in Papua--can you believe how I am constantly just falling apart on this trip?!? It's UNREAL!) and I would be spending 5 hours of my afternoon on a bus of questionable quality. But the decision was made, and I would just have to tough it out.

I got up for breakfast and scheduled with the front desk a tuk-tuk to take me to the bus station. After breakfast, I went back upstairs and packed the rest of my things in preparation for departure (I also ordered a salad because my mom had given me a lecture about failing to eat at proper intervals, and I knew there would soon be a five or six hour interval in which I would not be eating). When I went downstairs with my luggage, the driver was waiting for me. He was friendly and kind, but not as awesome as Choeum. We got to the "bus station" (a strip of dirt that had several buses to various locations all lined up in various positions, surrounded by peddlers of various sundry items), and I paid him, with a fairly generous tip. He was apparently then ingratiated to me and waited to make sure that the bus people had received my baggage properly and allowed me to board the bus before wishing me luck on my journey and bidding me farewell.

I waited for about half an hour for everyone to board the bus and get their bags put underneath (I never actually saw my bag get put on the bus, which was INCREDIBLY foolish of me) and we were off at exactly 12.30pm. I settled in for a long ride, but then the bus attendant came on and said that we would be arriving in Phnom Penh in 3 hours and the bus would make one stop. I was overjoyed. That had cut my anticipated travel time in half.

Unfortunately, we made it to our 15 minute stop in 3 hours, not Phnom Penh. Oh the trouble with translation! I opted to stay on the bus, for fear (again) of being hounded and then cursed by the children. Then we were off again...

Well--looks like my flight to Koh Samui is now boarding--so I best sign off for now, and then hopefully I'll continue my update either late tonight (though that's not so likely) or tomorrow.

talk to you soon!

The Temples of Angkor

When I first decided that I wanted to go to Cambodia, my reasoning was a combination of wanting to meet the people who have endured so much in their country and in their lives...and a desire to see one of the man-made wonders of the world, the Temples of Angkor. And both of these desires have been fulfilled.

Yesterday was the big day, the day to take a tour around all the temples (well, not all of them...you couldn't possibly see every single one in a day or even 3). The tuk-tuk driver that had taken me to get my pass and to get a sunset view of Angkor Wat met me in front of the hotel at 8.30am, and we drove to Angkor Thom. Because this guy, Twum, is so AMAZING, he packed an icebox full of chilled bottled water and cool, wet towels that I could use throughout the day. I don't think they're required to do that, haha.

So, as I was saying, he drove to Angkor Thom which is where the Terrace of Elephants and the Bayon are located (and tons of other stuff, whose names I simply cannot remember). On our way to the Bayon, we passed this hill which elephants climb at sunset to get a great view of the temples and the complex. The plan was to head there at sunset and for me to ride an elephant up the hill (!). I went to the Bayon first. It's this huge ancient building that had a library and all kinds of crazy things. There are all these towers that have the heads of Buddha with varying progressions of a smile on his face, depending on the direction that he's facing. And if I remember correctly, this is where the common, everyday experiences of the people are depicted on the walls of the temples. There are lots of stairs and you can climb them and get some great views of the courtyard and other nifty stuff. There's also a moat that surrounds the temple, but because this is apparently not the wet season, there was not a lot of water in it. Twum told me that in October, it would be filled with water and serve as a proper moat for the temple. There were people riding elephants around the complex (I had heard about this, but the idea of climbing a hill at sunset was just extra appealing to me), and while I considered it, I decided to wait for my sunset excursion. I spent about 2 hours (though it felt SOOOO much longer in that sweltering heat, and with a headache that I had developed the night before) wandering the various temples and ruins in the Angkor Thom complex. I also tried to take pictures of signs so that I would remember what each temple was...because after a while, the decaying sandstone does start to look a little bit alike...

Twum was determined for me to see as much as possible with my one day pass, so he next took me to Preah Kahn, which was not even on the itinerary I had suggested to him. But it also was beautiful. It used to be a university and was absolutely HUGE (north to south, 800 meters? and east to west, 900 meters?). It's one of the largest temple complexes, second only to Angkor Wat. A local boy who wanted to be my guide for the temple (though when I told him that I could not pay him, he changed his mind) told me that the doors of each chamber were so small because it would force the visitors to bow to the king, who could be anywhere in the complex (or something like that...and I cannot verify the veracity of his stories). I wandered around Prea Kahn for about an hour (and as I was walking back to meet Twum, I saw this herd of water buffalo hanging out in the river/moat area around the temple. I know it's totally random, but I was SO excited to see those water buffalo checking out the water and eating the grass. They were pretty hilarious and they kept looking at me, even though I was definitely not the only one taking photos of their exploits!), but at the end of it, I was feeling quite ill and told Twum that I would like to go back to the hotel and rest for a few hours during the hottest part of the afternoon. Because he is so patient and so awesome, he agreed and drove me all the way back to my hotel.

I spent the next few hours in my room, with the A/C on, trying to get some sleep and rest myself up for the evening adventure. Twum had agreed to come back at 3.30 and we would head out to Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider was filmed!) because that was the temple I was most interested in seeing. So we left at 3.30 and drove to Ta Prohm. It was AMAZING. It was by far my favorite temple. It's totally being taken over by nature--there are literally trees growing out the walls and ceilings of buildings and it's crazy. Everything is so lush and green. And the people who are working on its preservation and restoration have done tourists a great service by creating a planked walkway throughout the temple so that you don't have to mount crumbling ruins to get around. It was simply awesome. I spent an hour there, and I walked all over the temple area, everywhere that I was allowed to be. I think I took the most pictures here because it was just so cool to see chunks of ruined sandstone around trees growing out of the walls of the temple...I don't know--there's probably not a way to describe it properly except for a person to see it. Hopefully my pictures will help give you a glimpse of how cool it was! :)

After Ta Prohm, Twum wanted to take me to another temple, but as he was driving there, he realized that it was 5pm (I had spent quite a while in Ta Prohm) and the temples all technically closed between 5 and 5.30pm. He was worried because he knew I wanted to do the elephant ride, so he asked me whether I wanted to continue on to this temple or to head back to where the elephants were. I opted for the elephants, and Twum graciously conceded.

We got to the elephant ride area, and there were tons of people, all gathered around the ticket selling area. I went up and tried to join the "line" (though I was certainly hindered by the gross amount of people trying to convince me to buy something from them and the fact that the clump of people clamoring for a ticket could hardly be described in such genteel terms as "line"). Anyway, when I finally reached the women handing out the tickets, and said that I wanted a round-trip elephant ride, they said that they were "finished." DEVASTATION. I was SOOO set on getting that elephant ride, and the tickets had been completely sold out! I think this happened because they know they can only do a limited number of loops because the complex closes at 5.30pm. I looked at my phone and it was 5.24. I was so disappointed that I didn't even climb the hill to take pictures of the view or the temple. Seriously, this was the devastating portion of the day because I had been so set on doing this (those of you that I talked to about the idea before I even left know that this is the case). I guess I'm gonna have to ride an elephant to a waterfall in Thailand. Hopefully, that won't be "finished."

As I walked back to find Twum, I was again surrounded by a mass of people trying to sell things. I've noticed that I am targeted more than most other people, and I think it has to do with the fact that I am a single white female. If I come back to Cambodia, I will do it with at least one other person...just for the safety factor. Anyway, the adults had given up on me, but the children--oh, the children--were insistent and followed me chanting their prices all the way to my tuk-tuk. This little girl that could not have been more than 6 years old yelled something in Khmer at me as I climbed into the tuk-tuk, even though I had told her repeatedly that I was not going to buy from her and made no indication to the contrary. When Twum heard her, he got a surprised look on his face and shook his head. Earlier in the day, I had seen a little girl following a couple, chanting something and then she screamed really loudly at them in Khmer and stomped her foot. She wasn't selling anything, and then she ran into one of the nearby temples. I looked at her and she didn't approach me, but I could feel her staring at me from the edge of the temple, so I avoided making eye contact with her, the better to avoid her fury.

It's really wild to me because it's the children here who are hostile and unfriendly. The adults, the ones who would have lived through terrible things and seen many of their family members senselessly killed, are patient and smile a lot. I really don't know what to make of it. Everything that I've read says that you shouldn't buy things from the children that are peddling their wares because the money is inevitably going to someone else. But they're so insistent, and even a little bit frightening (I can't help but feel that they're screaming some curse against me), that I don't know what to do. I try to be gentle and patient and friendly when they surround me, but still I incur their wrath when I refuse to buy. And I certainly can't buy something from everyone...

After that little adventure, I asked Twum to take me to Siem Reap proper (my hotel lies outside the city itself) to a restaurant called the Red Piano, made famous when Angelina Jolie dined there while filming Tomb Raider. There's a tomb raider cocktail "inspired" by her that they sell. On the way, he stopped at a little memorial for the killing fields from Pol Pot's regime. There's a class case filled with the bones of people who were killed by the Khmer Rouge. I would have taken a photo, but it seemed insensitive, especially since Twum was standing there explaining it all to me. I didn't want to be rude. There were also some photos of prisoners that had suffered and of the head honchos of the regime who are now dead or in prison. It was pretty intense.

Then we drove to downtown Siem Reap. Even here, two little boys came up to me demanding that I give them money and I just tried to ignore them and went into the restaurant. Maybe that's not what I should be doing...but I just can't figure out the best solution. The restaurant was open air and very cheap, which I was grateful for. Things in Cambodia are certainly adding up! I ordered some kind of pasta and was given a HUGE serving of it. I couldn't even finish half of it. Twum came back at the appointed hour, and one of the boys saw me leaving and demanded money from me again, even after I had climbed into the tuk-tuk (Ok, want to know something creepy? I just remembered that I had a dream about this exact moment like a week before I left for Indonesia...WEIRD). Twum had to ask him to leave me alone. Again, it's so awkward...

On the way back to the hotel, Twum ran into a friend who had lent him a Spanish book. Yes, a Spanish book. Twum is teaching himself Spanish--this guy is awesome. He asked if I would mind waiting while he returned the book, and I said no problem. Then we continued on our way. When we got back to the hotel, I told him that I would like to see a cultural show with traditional Khmer dancing the next night (tonight) and asked if he knew of a place. He said he did and that he would arrange a reservation for me so that I could be in the front row and get good photos. Hopefully he'll come through on that. He's coming tonight at 7 to pick me up. I paid him for the last two days of service and gave him a generous tip. He definitely earned it and was very grateful.

This morning was a late morning--I got up at 9am and went to breakfast. Then I decided to go next door to this bookshop and souvenir store. I spent WAY too much money there, but I wanted to take home some things made in Cambodia, so I bought a couple of scarves, some purses, a book, and some keychains. I think I'm nearly finished with the souvenir purchasing stuff. And there's only Thailand left anyway...

So tonight will be the cultural dance/dinner and tomorrow I leave for Phnom Penh. I still need to arrange my bus ride there, but the concierge should be able to do that without problems. Then, the day after tomorrow, I leave for Thailand. It's my last week in South East Asia already...