Cam Bo Di A... Angkor What?

Just living in Thailand and already leaving the country. Since my weekends consist of 'only' 4 days a short weekend trip to Siem Reap in Cambodia to see the temples of Angkor and some of the countryside is in order.
After researching where to leave, lots of online information and wrong information at the bus station we finally got confirmation that we do not have to make our way across town to Mo Chit Bus terminal after all since there are a few busses a day going directly from Ekkamai to the market near theThai / Cambodian border.
Bus leaves at 8 am and surprisingly all 6 of us get there on time. Sweet 200 Bath later we are on our way to Cam Bo Di A. The bus is packed to the brim with a few short stops along the way and the bus driver almost leaving us in nowhereland. We still manage to jump on an already moving bus and get taken along, they take their scheduling seriously. Luckily we have seats already since there are people standing throughout the bus now. But it's never full until it's really full. There is an ID checkpoint before the border and a few people need to get out, why is an unknown. Lucky that wasn't us.
Heard a few sad stories about that border market, in class, actually. Since Cambodia is Thailand's poor neigbor they do receive substantial aid from the West. Apparently a lot of the clothes donated to Cambodia by charities are being carted into Thailand and sold for profit there on the border market. Gives you a sense of the desperation in the country.
At Aranyaprathet /Rong Kluea market there is a bunch of Tuk Tuk drivers wanting to drop us to the border, since the heat is scorcing we get on the far overpriced Tuk Tuk's. It's a few minute drive and as expected they drive us to a Visa office by the border for priority Visas. The border is just a few meters ahead so as recommended by everyone else no Visa office is needed. Leaving Thailand is a breeze and so is getting into Cambodia. 20 USD (or 1000 Baht which is more) + 100 Baht, a few forms and a passport picture later we hold our Cambodian Visa in hand. Well that was easy.
Between the borders, in nomansland there are a few Casinos for the Thais to come gambling, since it's illegal in Thailand. Well just creating a market there.
There is a waiting area right behind the border for a free shuttle bus to the bus station for onward travel. There is a transportation mafia in Poipet on the Cambodian border so onward transportion from there costs considerable more than usual. A busride that takes 3 hours, 1 hour more than it should and stops at roadside shops so you could spend your money, costs $9 and only leaves once full. A full taxi is $48 and takes 2 hours. Well since we are a bunch of people we might as well splurge and get a taxi. Haggling the price down is impossible, they stay put. Mafia that's what they call it.
The drive to Siem Reap is nice. After a lengthy fuel stop, gas for the cars, Angkor beers for us. Roads are great, although you are sharing the two lanes with Mopeds, Tuk Tuks, oxcarts, bicycles, pedestrians, cows and everything else the most disturbing are the speed limits. It could be faster. But the scenery is to be enjoyed. Although we do have a blind passenger taking the Taxi with us. There's a tiny lizard hanging onto the window and we cheer to it with our Angkor Beers.
Once we get to Siem Reap half the streets are flooded. Seems like we missed days and days of torrential rainfall were pretty much everything was closed and under water. Lucky us, it's wonderful sunshine now and the rain is quickly evaporating. Our Taxi turns into a tiny sideways road and we need to move to a Tuk Tuk to continue our journey. There's really no need for that, but what you oughta do. A Cambodian jumps in the Tuk Tuk with us, tells us a few stories and wants us to hire him as Tuk Tuk driver for the next day. Aaaah, why not. He speaks good English and the price sounds reasonable and is willing to pick us up at a crazy 5am to go so Angkor at sunrise. It's only later that we find out that pretty much everyone in Siem Reap speaks acceptable English and the price was slightly inflated. And every Tuk Tuk driver would pick you up at any day and night to make a bit of money. It's kind of what you do in Siem Reap when there's no other job to be had. You drive a Tuk Tuk and hope that you can chauffeur around tourists. Regular price for the Tuk Tuk is $ 15 for a full day, more when there is a long distance to be covered. Quite competitive if you ask me.
Our Hostel welcomes us warmly and with plenty of tips what to see and do and on a whim we decide to go see Angkor Wat at sunset. Since we are cutting it close on time, there's a bit of a rush but we still make it there. Tickets for Angkor Wat - the whole temple area- are $ 20 for one day with cheaper options for longer tickets. But you can actually use your ticket the one day for sunset and the next full day as well. And... you do get a ticket with your picture on it. Pretty sweet.

After seeing so many picture of Angkor Wat and it being heralded as one of the 7 Wonders of the World and praise about the colors at sunset my expectations are quite high. And it is beautiful. Not as breathtaking as I imagined (my fault for having too hight expectations) but still pretty impressive sight. The concept of the amazing sunset is somehow wrong as the sun goes down in the wrong direction to get those great pictures they print in the magazines. The area is still open or so we think and we make our way inside Angkor Wat. It is really quiet and a few steps in we are the only people within sights. Make for nice and funny pictures without any other people in the backdrop. And that at Angkor. We explore the whole area until we reach the more or less inner sanctum of Angkor Wat and realize there was a reason we were the only people in the area. Angkor Wat has closed already but noone told us that. Security is asking us to leave but for $ 5 per person they would let us climb up Angkor to get a better view of the sunset. Sky is pretty purple by now and looks amazing. The offer is tempting but who wants to support corruption? So the security escorts us out, we are still cheeky enough to stop for pictures in the changing light. Angkor Wat all to ourselves, aaaaaaah.
The colors are great so sunset is a great experience at Angkor after all.
Lots of more pictures and back to the Tuk Tuk theres kids all over trying to sell things. Everything is ONE DOLLAAAAA! I have no idea yet how often I would be hearing that over the next days.
We let them drop us off near the Night market for some much needed food. It's past 7 now and we haven't really eaten since we left Bangkok early morning. Cambodian BBQ is on the menu. It's a great show they put on with flipping the meat on the open grill but the portion is tiny. Not what as needed after that day. And the cocktails kick in rather nicely.
Since 3 of us have a very early start tomorrow to see the sunrise we head back while the others, that are too lazy to get up for sunrise start shopping through the night market. It's gonna be a short night but here's to hoping it's all worth it.

Staying close to 'home'

The 10 days following the Chiang Mai trip passed rather fast and uneventful. There were tons of classes to catch up on with assignments and homework. Ooooh, the excitement.
The week was also filled with lots of issues from banking to insurance on all the other stuff so I spent many hours completing and sending around paperwork. Thanks god for e-mail, otherwise that would have been an utter nightmare.
The more exciting part were all the going out and partying that I managed to cram into these busy days. Afer all you need a good balance between work and play, right? There were several nights out drinking in Silom Area, the famous Patpong nightmarket with its pubs and the gay street Soi 4 that serves the cheapest buckets of cocktails South of Khao San (as far as I know).
We had a nice 'family' dinner at Indus, an Indian restaurant in Klongtoey to welcome Markus, Laura's boyfriend. Indian food is quite a change to the ubiquitous Thai fare and they served all my favorites there. And of course the company was great.
Some people from our university rented out the Penthouse on the 24th floor and held a huge party open for all students. 400 B with all you can drink. Not a bad deal if the alcohol would have been better. But if you only live a few floors below you can always byob. The party somehow went on until they switched the music off and the lights on, it was a nice way to spend a Saturday Night.
Tough luck we had to rise early on Sunday morning for a compulsory cooking class, as part of our Thai Language course. It is cruel to schedule that on a Sunday morning but at least the outcome was delicious. Apart from Pad Thai we did some other dishes that we did not get the chance to cook in Chiang Mai so it wasn't a total loss. The Tom Yam Kum we did was delectably spicy and I got to try Tub Tim Krop, a dessert, which I would have never ordered otherwise since it doesn't look that appealing if you don't know what it is. But I recommend everyone to try it at least once. I started to like it a lot.
Monday and Tuesday I mainly spent with getting my non-functioning Laptop repaired. While waiting around and talking a walk to pass the time I managed to stumble upon 'Soi Goethe' where a german language center is located. They even have a separate dictionary for swear words Thai-German. A good buy if you spend longer here. There's also german fairy tales translated into Thai, never expected to see that. Just a stone throw away I discovered the Austrian Embassy. Leave it to my countrymates to manage a building in the middle of Bangkok adjacent to a wild jungle looking like empty plot of land. Nature calls!
After all the frustrations what better to brighten your mood then... YES... more party nights in Silom! What exactly we saw and experienced I won't detail here, but you can imagine we made the most out of the night, and yes Bangkok's got crazy shit on offer. 4 am half-suicidal Tuk Tuk rides through half of Bangkok are just minor experiences in the grand scheme of Patpong (don't take your kids, it's definitely R-rated).
I also managed to cram some Cambodia trip planning into the busy week and we'd be off Friday morning.
So I spent the Thursday evening with some lovely Finnish people (surpriseee) and packing for the trip.
Next update is from Cambodiaaaaaaa!

80 students watching how Pad Thai is made

Tub Tim Krop

A huge portion of homemade Tom Yam Kum

Thai German swear word dictionary



'Jungle' in front of the Austrian Embassy



In my next life I have to work for the Embassy too, nice ride

Patpong Night market

Japanese Dinner

Vorarlberg, Steiermark & Tirol partying up Silom

Chiang Mai Day 5, cooking /eating, cooking/eating, cooking/eating, eating, eating....

Thailand is famous for food. Thai restaurants are all over the world and well loved even by those who've never set foot in country. I for my part indulged in Thai food long before I knew I'd be spending so much time in Thailand at one point. And cooking classes in the North of Thailand are famous and supposedly better (and cheaper) than the ones in Bangkok. Since we got the good package deal it would have been almost a crime not to get the cooking class. Just buying the dishes in a restaurant would almost run to the same price so great value there.
The cooking school we'll be spending the day at is called Thai Cottage and they pick us up with a Van to get to the cooking school that's in a garden of a private house in inner Chiang Mai. Nice area. From there we choose our dishes we would like to cook today and set out to a local market for grocery shopping with our little wooden baskets. Hopping around Thailand we could feel like Little Red Riding Hood buying food to satisfy the big Wolf (methaporically for the grrrrreat hunger).
It starts with an explanation of all the main ingredients used in Thai food which is incredibly helpful for me, since I've eaten all the stuff but mostly had no idea what it was. We go through the spices, veggies and other stuff and other baskets magically fill up in the meantime.
First up is a chicken coconut soup and I guess it's the best dish of the day (or maybe I was most hungry, that's possible too). On we go with Pad Thai, Spring Rolls, Green Curry Paste & Green Curry and Bananas in Coconut Sauce as dessert. Sounds delicious. Well it was!
I don't want to go into too many details on how we prepared it, for sure there's recipes online. Just making an offer.... if you feel like you would have some great Thai food prepared by yours truly, I'll be happy to oblige if you provide the proper ingredients.
Some more strolling through Chiang Mai and the markets, dinner stop (take out) for the late night flight and back 'home' to Bangkok.
I could describe all the tastes with fantastic vocubalary but if you wanna have those, you can just turn on the Food Network. Simply.... just enjoy the pictures of gloooorious Thai fooooood!

Chiang Mai Day 4: Rafting, Riding, Roping

So the Action packed day is about to start. Woop! Woop!
We arranged with the Travel Agency to leave out all the boring stuff and just get more of the action. So a day with ziplining, elephant riding and whitewater rafting is ahead.




Elephant family


We are sharing the Minibus with an Australian family with 2 cute kids and seems they booked quite a bit of a different itinerary. And seems we are in the their itinerary. So essentially we are getting all we booked with more thrown in, all the boring stuff we wanted to avoid, but hey, if it's a free add-on. 

Orchid Farm

The day starts with a visit to a Butterfly and Orchid Farm. There are almost no butterflies to be seen but the orchids are pretty. That's all to be said about that pitstop. Guess just a regular tourist trap that's included in all itineraries in this direction. But at least it doesn't cost extra and nobody forces you to buy anything.



Check out the unchewed banana collection in there ;)




Next up is another really exciting event. Bamboo rafting. Woohoo! Sit on a bamboo that sloooowly makes it down a river. Left and right there's

Bamboo rafting

 plenty of greenery to be seen, nice sight but the one in China was more exciting. Once down there they lift the Bamboo rafts with a truck out and deliver them back up to where it started. The road is so muddy you would easily sink in above your ankles. But we get such a 'comfy' pick-up truck to take us back. And then... a nice elephant ride. Over a swing bridge we go and jump on our elephant taxi. It's bumpy up and then and it's freaking hot but the elephants are soooo cute. There's even a baby elephant tagging along behind his 

Sturdy bridge ?!

mummy, holding the tail and carefully watching what's happening around. And the hungry ones eat small bananas out of our hands. We even get to switch from the top chairs to the neck of the elephant. Which is even hotter, sitting right on the skin but that ride is exciting, especially when it goes down a steep slope. Holding on tiiiiiight!



Double zipping

And then the waiting game starts. There's a nice buffet lunch but we need to wait and wait for other minibusses to show up and then wait some more for the Ziplining to start. Seems they are taking everyone there together, makes sense since they need a few people on the platforms to get you all across. Since we are about 20 people now ziplining it takes a long time to get everyone geared up, walked to the start and from platform to platform. The ziplining itself is great fun. The scenery is not as nice as in Belize, it's freaking hot and one of the guides accidentally totally bumped in my back, telling us how important breaking is when you are going too fast but not doing it himself. Ah well, the fun makes the pain go away. You can even do double ziplining. Rapelling is still not my favorite thing to do, but hey, they do all the work so essentially you just have to sit there. The waiting though sucks. For everyone to move around from platform to platform. Gives you plenty of time to get soaked in your own sweat. Last zipline goes over the river. Which is really sweet. I could have gone some time longer.

Really happy that Whitewater Rafting is next on the schedule. Wooohooo! To get there it takes a long, bumpy ride in a pick up truck but it's scenic and fun. And glad that after all the sweating we are getting drenched in the waters now. There's some waiting again as the rafts are just being brought by trucks as well. Seems they don't have too much equipment around. Talk about Just In Time Delivery. The life vests are mandatory, unfortunately mine is waaaaay too big and once in the boat I am barely seeing out of it. After a short introduction on what to do at which commando we take down the river on two rafts. Getting soaked within the first few seconds in the easy rapids feels fantastic. It really doesn't get much better than this. Even 

Waiting....

when the rapids get a bit stronger the guide on the boat knows exactly where to steer and when we need paddling. Easy enough. We dive underneath the rapids a few times but luckily never turn over and at one pond in the river can even get out to float alongside the boat. Sweeeeet! That is over waaaaay to quickly. I want more and more and more of the rafting. So sad it's over. We get on the pick-up again drive through beautiful scenery and get the choice. Seeing a hilltribe, walking to waterfalls or do both. Since the Australian family is tight on time, they are getting picked up that evening, and we are not keen on hilltribes we just opt for waterfalls. The Hilltribes are on the 1000 things to see before you die list but I hate the idea of going to a village and gawking at people. Kind of like a zoo, just with humans. And I did hear some sad stories about that too, so don't necessarily want to support that cause. Interaction should be minimal, well down to the exchange of money if you buy something there. If anyone's been, comments are appreciated. The waterfall is relaxing. Lots of water pressure almost throwing me over the edge so off to a quieter spot to enjoy. Bumpy ride back to the starting point and off to Chiang Mai we are. What a great day, can we do that all over again (only the exciting part that is).


Yeeha



Shower and then dinner in Chiang Mai and some more 'shopping' at the Night Market. It's more like window shopping only for me. Udo puts on a nice fashion show for us with the suits he had made there. Elegant I can say!  

3 Ladies walking home alone we are taking the shortcut, which leads us by the Chiang Mai Pub Street more or less. It's fairly quiet but disturbing nonetheless. Maybe just because it's so quiet you notice all the young Thai girls and boys waiting around for tourists to buy them a 'drink'. Sad sight actually. As soon as one white man enters the bar there's at least 5 women jumping on him hoping to get at least a drink out of it. And every one is in on the action. Little boys selling flowers etc. That's a scene we would like to leave as quickly as possible. Massage parlors and little corner bars, all practically empty line the way. But as women you are way safer than alone man walking around.


cozying up in the Pick-up truck



Back at the Guesthouse the small Iguanas are crawling all over the ceiling, somehow especially in front of our room. Just talking about the fact to be careful that one may fall down on top of your head, one actually does just a few cm of Laura's head warranting a nice scream and a laugh.

Last day in Chiang Mai tomorrow and cooking class is on the schedule. Get your hunger on coz this is gonna be deliciosoooo!