Ko Samui: Ending our SE Asia trip on an island paradise

Very little could have gotten me to say goodbye to the magnificent city of Bangkok after only one day. One of these things was the promise of a paradise on the tiny island of Ko Samui in the South China Sea. So we begrudgingly packed our bags for the final leg of our SE Asian adventure.

We hopped in a taxi that got us straight to the airport without hitting any of Bangkok's notorious traffic. In just an hour, our little plane had deposited us at one of the most beautiful airports I had ever seen. We were ferried from the plane to the terminal via a golf-cart-like bus with big open windows. There was lush vegetation all around the tarmac and for the first time ever, I found myself wishing my camera was easily accessible rather than stuffed at the bottom of my bag before we had even left the airport. Weird.

More open walls greeted us at the main terminal, which looked more like a cabana than anything remotely connected to the typical Kafkaesque hell of an airport. As we waited for our bags, we were greeted with a warm sea breeze and butterflies fluttering around the topiary plants within the "terminal."

A taxi took us to our beachside hotel with the very Thai-sounding name of Bill's Resort on Lamai Beach. It was about a half an hour journey, which seemed long for such a tiny island. However the lack of any main streets certainly added to the time. Jon and I were looking out the window with the faint hope of finding an English language school where we could drop off our resumes, and avoid the bitter winter that waited for us back in Korea.

We had big plans for Ko Samui. After out blitzkrieg vacation of three SE Asian countries in ten days, we planned to continue our "do-and-see-everything-we-can" momentum with an elephant ride up to a waterfall. There was a large Buddha on another side of the island too. But once we reached our little bungalow that was just a two minute walk from this pristine shore, we decided the only thing we wanted to do was lounge on the sand, eating the fresh pineapples that vendors provided at regular intervals and watch the jade-green waters of the South China Sea. We spent a little time in the pool and jacuzzi that were just alongside the hotel restaurant, which offered great ocean views.

Happily, our beach time was leisurely, with no instances of "missing time" where five hours evaporate at the blink of an eye. Instead, the slow pace of island life engulfed us and the hours stretched on for what seemed like much longer. We watched the vendors walk to and from, with their elaborate pineapple carving stations, coolers filled with ice cream and hangers filled with brightly colored fluttering beach dresses (after three times, I finally gave in and bought this cute blue dress decorated with elephants).

Our dinner was probably the worst we had had during our time in SE Asia. After the fresh herbs, coconut drinks and banana flowers of Vietnam, the delectable amok coconut curry of Cambodia and peanut-y comfort food of pad thai in Bangkok, our overpriced pizza and too-sweet fruit shakes couldn't quite hold up.

We had just one more morning and half an afternoon to spend on the beach for our final days. Again, time was kind to us by not rushing along too quickly. Our dreams of elephant rides and Buddha adventures were dissipating, but we were perfectly content on our beach loungers, listening to the sounds of the sea, marveling again at the jade-green waters.

Getting into the taxi to go back to the airport was one of the hardest things ever. We had seen the blizzard-like conditions that awaited us in Korea on the news in Bangkok, and also had to begin teaching winter camps the day after we got back. We were hoping just a little that maybe the flight would be canceled, buying us another day or two of tropical weather and beach time. Alas, the flight wasn't even delayed (until we reached Bangkok where we had a 2 hour delay, ugh). And so we bid farewell to this lovely little piece of paradise, with hopes of returning again one day.

The Bangkok Blitz Part 2: The city where a 150-ft golden Buddha isn't even the most impressive thing you've seen today

One day in Bangkok is somehow longer than most. After avoiding a catastrophe that would have lost us several hours of our single day here, we explored the Grand Palace as quickly as we could without dropping dead of heat stroke. Our next stop was the magnificent Wat Pho temple.

Once again, the array of bright colors and intricate designs assaulted our senses. As a former art history student, I just wanted to sit and take in all the geometrical patterns that adorned these chess pawn-shaped buildings that were unlike anything I had every seen before. Sadly, I tore my eyes away and continued on the way.

Just when I was certain that Bangkok could no longer overwhelm me with such a sensory attack, we arrived at the interior of Wat Pho, home of the golden reclining Buddha. Words failed us as we gazed up at this massive,150 foot long, 50 foot high Buddha. Our eyes were simply unable to see the entire thing at once, much less appreciate the artistry of each detail. The feet and eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl, while the bottoms of his feet show the 108 auspicious signs of the Buddha. The moment was lost a bit by the hordes of tourists who gazed upon Buddha with us, pushing and shoving their way to the place where the best photo ops were. From everything I know about Buddhism, I just don't think Buddha would approve of anything in the room. But it was nonetheless, breathtaking to behold and one of the most amazing monuments I've ever seen in my years of travel.

You know you're in Bangkok when a gigantic 150 foot long golden Buddha isn't the most impressive thing you've seen today. We finally tore ourselves away from the glorious Wat Pho to continue our blitz through this crazy, wonderful city. After a quick lunch and some real fruit smoothies to cool us down in the blazing heat and swampy humidity, we tried to get in just one more temple, the Wat Arun or Temple of the Dawn.

A quick ferry boat ride through Bangkok's river, the Chao Phraya and we arrived at the Temple of the Dawn. It just started to rain as we boarded the boat, which made the humidity even more unbearable. Wat Arun, which looked quite impressive from across the river with its multiple prang-shaped towers, was simply glorious upon closer inspection. From the gargoyle-esque characters that surrounded the tower, to the intricate flower designs on the exterior, to the sound of chirping birds and small bells chiming in the slight breeze, everything here seemed simply sublime, peaceful and perfect.

 

Jon climbed the incredibly steep stairs as I sat down below, listening to the bells and trying to memorize the shapes and patterns on the outside walls.

We left the temple by four or five o'clock, returning to the hotel to cool off, hydrate and start packing our bags again. We had barely even scratched the surface of this phenomenal place, and added to our list of "must-return" destinations. The following day, we were leaving early for our flight to the island paradise of Ko Samui!

The Bangkok Blitz Part 1: The Tuk Tuk Touts

Bangkok is one of those cities that could take weeks to properly explore. Because of our work schedule - having to return to Korea for the dreaded "Winter Camp" - we had just one day. Wow. So we decided to do the Bangkok tour, blitzkrieg style.

The first thing that was against us, apart from time,  was the weather. Bangkok in the winter still means temperatures in the high 90s with the most oppressive humidity I've ever experienced. But we set out anyways into the polluted steam bath that is Bangkok.

The only words I can use to properly describe the city are "sensory overload." We had so little time to take it all in and that only exacerbated the this feeling of overwhelming. We made our way to the Grand Palace, only to be sidetracked by two spectacular temples that weren't even on our map. This is a city with so much spectacular art and architecture that these unbelievably gorgeous buildings didn't even merit a small dot on our city map.

After our brief but enjoyable side trips, we finally reached the Grand Palace. Just as we pulled out our map to verify our location -making sure that somewhere behind this enormous compound, there wasn't some larger, grander palace - a friendly Thai man began to talk with us. He asked the usual questions about where we were from, how long we were staying, what we wanted to see. We told him we were just heading to the Grand Palace. He looked at us, and said, "Oh, but don't you know? The palace is closed this morning. It is Lucky Buddha Day!" He then charted out a path on our map to take us to some of the city's other treasures. He recommended we go by tuk tuk, a kind of motorized rickshaw, and told us not to pay more than 60 baht ($2) for a ride. "If they try to charge you more, you tell them, 'I have Thai friend and he tell me not to pay more than 60 baht!'" The previous night, it had cost us 200 baht to get back to the hotel from our restaurant.

Just as the man smiled and walked away, as if in perfect synchronization, a tuk tuk driver approached us, told us again  that the Palace was closed, then looked at the route our new Thai friend had marked for us. "For this, I charge you 60 baht!" says the tuk tuk driver. At this point, some alarm bells started going off in my head. Why was he charging us such a reasonable rate, after what we had paid the night before, without even haggling? I was getting uncomfortable with the bit of pressure to get in his tuk tuk. And, Lucky Buddha Day? Jon and I had celebrated Buddha's birthday in April of the year before, and it was now January. Even with the lunar calendar year, it wouldn't come around again so soon. I also noted our new Thai "friend" had stopped walking and was looking back at us. I looked at Jon and could tell he had the same growing distrust. So, I told the tuk tuk driver that we were just going to go look at the Palace, take some pictures and then maybe go for the excursion, without any intention of coming back.

As we walked along the perimeter, the driver followed us a bit but finally relented. But even as he retreated, the other tuk tuk drivers lined up all around the palace shouted at us: "No palace! Is Lucky Buddha Day today!" "Palace is closed!" We listened to them all the way up to the Palace entrance, muttering to ourselves. "Wouldn't it be so funny if the palace wasn't actually closed?"

As we got closer, a random lady in a baseball hat tried to sell us a ticket to the allegedly-closed palace.

We finally reached the entrance and the ticket booth with bated breath. It was packed with tourists and most decidedly not closed.

To be continued...Giant Gold Buddhas, River Ferries and The Temple of the Dawn still to come.

The Floating Villages of Tonle Sap

When we first got our Intrepid tour itinerary, I was somewhat disappointed to see that most of our time would be spent in Cambodia. Now, that our time in the country was fast coming to a close, I didn't want to leave to continue on to Thailand. Cambodia exceeded any possible expectation I could have had. There was the undisputed highlight and wonder of the world, the magnificent Angkor Wat. Even the tourist town of Siem Reap was charming and lovely. Phnom Penh was another unexpected delight. Then there was the delicious cuisine and the super-friendly people, especially the children. For a country that has suffered so much unspeakable horror, the children were happy and sweet and seemed to have little knowledge of what had gone on before they were born.



So we were on the last leg of the Cambodia part of our trip. We sadly left Angkor and Siem Reap on a minivan to get to a boat that would take us across the Tonle Sap Lake to the town of Battambang. With my stomach still a bit sick from the previous day, I was relieved that there would at least be a bathroom on board for the 4-5 hour trip. When I actually saw what boat we were taking, with its "bathroom" that was nothing more than a small hole in the floor, I was a little less happy.



Our boat was not very big at all. Worse, we had to carry all of our luggage with us because our van couldn't meet us at the other side. So there were 12-14 of us, slightly cramped with as many suitcases and backpacks in the narrow aisle of the boat. Once the boat started moving, it really felt like we were on a Disney jungle cruise ride. There was a narrow path between the reeds and long grass that you could touch it if you reached outside of the boat.



Tonle Sap is a freshwater lake in the middle of the country that actually swells and shrinks each year. It can expand to 16,000 square km (10,000 square mi) during the summer monsoon season. In the dry season, it is just about 2,700 square km (1,700 square mi). We were just barely able to take this boat trip. When the lake shrinks too much, a minibus drives the tour from Siem Reap to Battambang in just a couple of hours. But whenever they can, they take the tours via the lake, since it obviously provides a much more unusual and memorable experience than a couple of hours on a bus.





There was a slight tourist-y feel to some of the villages we saw, particularly the first one that was closest to Siem Reap. First, there was a tour boat in front of us. (I didn't really consider the boat we were in as a "tour boat.") And this city was the largest with more people and buildings. No one seemed too surprised to see a bunch of westerners with their cameras snapping photos. But, there was still an authenticity to the experience. It certainly didn't seem like they were putting on a show of any kind. Just that they were carrying on their everyday lives as usual, ignoring the big boats of people.


The villages got smaller as the trip went on, and while each time we saw a new one was slightly less exciting, the villages themselves seemed to be more authentic and less accustomed to visitors. We watched children run out of their floating school to wave at us and yell "Hello!" There were even two little boys that mooned our boat as we floated by. But most of the kids seemed happy to see a boat of foreigners, waving madly, some even running after our boat for as long as they could.



Not all of the trip was so pleasant. There was the aforementioned hole that led me to stay dehydrated during the trip (and it could get HOT on that boat, especially as we slowed down to look at the villages). Of course, there was the heat. The boat did have a canopy, but as we turned in different directions, you could have the sun beating right down on you. There was also the 5 minutes or so where our boat got caught in some brambles underneath. After a minute or two of sheer terror of being stranded in the middle of a fricking Cambodian jungle river, we pulled free and continued on our way.



Apart from those discomforts, it was really lucky we were able to take the boat. By using it to travel all the way to Battambang, we saw more than the tourist boats that just float out for a few hours, then head back to Siem Reap. Probably the most lasting impression of these villages was both the abject poverty of some of the people living within (particularly the villages further out from Siem Reap), but also how even these places can't avoid the encroachment of modern technology. In the middle of out tour, we saw three or four huge cellular towers, and this picture above is one of my favorites. It shows one of those classic, and almost cliche juxtapositions of the old and new. There's the traditional barge house, looking rather rickety, with the hi-tech satellite dish hung on the outside porch.



And so ended another day of wonderful adventures in Cambodia. We had another traveling-in-a-third-world-country moment as the van for our hotel met us on the other side in Battambang. There was just one van to seat all thirteen of us, so we crowded in Turkish dolmus style, sitting on laps and standing inside the car, as it drove us to the city of Battambang.


And here's a video of part of the boat trip. You might have to go onto my Blogger site if you're reading this from Facebook, it doesn't seem to import the videos :-(

Angkor Wat: Day Two

After an exhausting first day in Angkor Wat, mostly from the oppressive humidity, we had a 4 am wake-up call on day two so that we could watch the sun rise. Of course, I prefer sunsets to sunrises and found myself feeling ill all day long, just like I did after our sunrise viewing at Mount Nemrut in Turkey.

We were among the first to arrive and were sitting just by the reflecting pool for the optimum photo-op of the temple and rising sun. Jon was getting restless and cranky over the early wakeup, and the feeling of being herded with hundreds of other tourists, so, on my suggestion, he borrowed a flashlight and set off on his own Indiana Jones-like adventure inside the mostly-deserted temple. As I watched the sky gradually lighten (sunrise always seems to take much longer than it should), taking a new picture every minute or so, he came back and guided me through the deserted halls. We got back in time to see the sun break over the towers and then met up with the rest of our group again.

We were pleasantly surprised that most of the crowds didn't make their way into the temple when they were finished watching the sunrise. It was probably the extended bathroom break we took just afterwards that helped us out. So we found ourselves mostly alone in the cavernous halls with our wonderful Intrepid group and guides. Again, an amazing Indiana Jones-esque experience of intricate wall friezes, vaulted archways, big holes that were once swimming pools and some unbelievably steep steps that I never would have climbed without the fear of getting left behind the group and therefore, lost forever in Cambodia.

The early wakeup also had the added benefit of slightly cooler temperatures. The humidity wasn't too bad yet and the temps were probably just in the 80s. It was so nice to walk around this amazing place without the discomfort and stickiness of sweating profusely.

After the leisurely tour around the main temple, we headed to a restaurant with one of the best locations on the planet, just across the causeway and with a magnificent view. We had another delicious Cambodian breakfast - fresh fruit, banana pancakes and some coffee.

We had just one more temple after seeing the main one. This one was called "The Ladies Temple" and was about a 40 minute drive away. If I wasn't in full temple-hopping gear, I might have gone back to the hotel. The 4 am wakeup and possibly some undercooked kangaroo (or crocodile, or maybe ostrich) meat from the night before left me feeling woozy, and now that midday was approaching, the 95 degree temperatures with 100% humidity had returned (and it still boggled my mind that we were visiting in WINTER).

The temple was worth the trip. My camera also decided to die at this point (so the pictures you see here were taken by Lynda and Jon, some of our wonderful Intrepid tour mates, were nice enough to share their pictures with me.) The temple was again just a bit different from the others. The carvings were so intricate and the color of all the buildings was a rusty reddish color.

We made it back to the hotel after the long schlep here and were finally able to enjoy some quality time in the pool. We ordered our meal to the poolside, slept and swam. It was great to have some time to actually relax, something that got just a bit pushed aside on our 10 day sprint through three Southeast Asian countries.

Angkor Wat: The Lost City in the Jungle, Day One

My vacations this year had already brought me to one Wonder of the World, the Great Wall, and now on our sixth day of the tour, we came to the second. It's so difficult to capture the wonder-ous-ness of these places in words. But there's a tingle you can feel in your body and a sense of awe that takes over. There's the incredible craftsmanship that went into the building, which was constructed in the 12th century, a time when Europe was still in the Dark Ages, and the incredible jungle scenery surrounding it. But also, for two days, I was able to feel like Indiana Jones and it was fantastic.


The most famous building (above), the one you see in all the postcards, is of the Angkor Wat temple and it is magnificent. However, the complex of Angkor Wat is huge and consists of dozens of temples spread out over 400 square km of land. Each temple has its own "theme," so to speak. Some focus on preserving the architecture and stone carvings (like Bayan and the Ladies Temple) from the jungle growth while others let nature take its course, even if it means some of the temples suffer from invading tree roots and such.


Bayan in Angkor Thom was the most architecturally impressive, but also the least enjoyable. The crowds were a bit crazy and we were led around by our tour guide at a little brisker pace than we wanted. He was probably trying to escape the tourist hordes too. So while the Buddha faces hewed into the rock were great fun, it was a bit of a relief to move on to the next temple. Also, it was at least 35 C/ 100 F with about 95% humidity, so being pressed in with so many people was that more unpleasant.



We passed through some really cool elephant terraces, where the trunks were used as a decorative column, on our way to the next temple of Preah Khan.


Preak Khan was much, much less crowded than Bayan. The architecture was less stunning but the ambiance was better. The lack of tourists really made you feel like you were an explorer in the jungle who had just stumbled upon this wondrous ancient place (which, btw is actually how Angkor Wat was "rediscovered" in the mid-1800s when a French explorer published his travel notes about the place). The dilapidated state of the temple - which is on purpose - really added to the experience of wandering through the lost city in the jungle.


By now it was midday and we were drenched from the humidity and all the climbing around. Our excellent tour planned well by letting us go back to the hotel for a leisurely lunch (in that it took them over an hour to serve us) and a quick dip in the hotel pool, a shower and change of clothes and we were off again to the Ta Phrom temple, aka the Angelina Jolie.


Yes, this is the temple where they shot part of the Tomb Raider movie. And here was where you could really see the battle between nature and civilization. There were so many gnarled trees that had broken through the walls of the temple and become intertwined with them. Many of the temple's preservers wanted to knock the trees down to save the buildings, only to realize that if they did so, they would also destroy the temple. Here's a video clip of one part of the temple. You can hear all the birds/weird bugs in the background. So jungle-y.





In what felt like an Indiana Jones movie plot, we had to rush through Ta Phrom to make it to our last temple before sunset, or the consequences would be dire. Actually, we just planned to watch the sunset from there and needed to move along or miss it. Soon we were at another spectacular temple, with several other tourists. We sat with some other members of our tour and chatted with a cute, whip-smart Cambodian girl who was trying to sell us some tour books. We finally relented after she aced a geography quiz given to her by an Irishman from the tour, when she correctly answered "Bern" for the capital of Switzerland. She nailed all the other answers, and was even able to greet us with an "Annyeong haseyo" when we told her we were living in Korea.



Finally, after the long day, we had a fantastic dinner with some tour-mates at a Cambodian barbecue place, where we ate crocodile, kangaroo, ostrich, prawns, and some less interesting chicken and beef. We then made our way back to the hotel for as much sleep as we could get before the four a.m wake-up call for tomorrow's sunrise over the temple of Angkor Wat.

On the road in Cambodia

The long drive from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, the closest city to the temples of Angkor Wat, was more enjoyable than I was expecting. One of our scheduled stops was at "spider town," where we politely declined the fried tarantula but were surprised at how tasty the fried crickets were. They were doused in oil and if you closed your eyes, you might have thought you were eating a potato chip. That was of course, only after our guide, Haing, pulled the feet and head off for me. We also were introduced to the wonderfully-strange-looking lychee berry. (You peel off the spiky skin before eating the juicy white fruit inside, then spit out the pit.)


One of the highlights of the tour came when we stopped along the side of the road to view some traditional Khmer stilt houses. Apparently these houses, despite being along the Cambodian highway don't get many visitors, so several people came out to look at the foreigners. They were very friendly, and smiled warmly as we greeted them with a "Su-az-day" (Hello). One of our tour mates, Lynda from Australia, gave stuffed kangaroos to an adorable cute little boy and his sister. The kid was radiant, with a beaming smile that I will never forget, at such a wonderful gift. We liked to imagine that he'll be telling the story of the sweet Australian woman who gave him a toy for years to come.



When we arrived in Siem Reap, our guide Haing (whose family lived in the town) took us out for a night on the town, Cambodian-style. We visited a kind of carnival where all the locals hang out. They had fair-style games like ring tosses, and the prizes were things like a (warm) can of beer or bottle of (imitation) coke. Jon went for a ride on the bumper cars, which did not seem to function properly. The smells of meat roasting on a stick were all around us. Haing bought us some fried frog, which he pocketed for everyone to try at the restaurant where we were having dinner.



Dinner was again delicious and unbelievably cheap. The roasted frog was ok, but a little difficult to eat. I again indulged in that wonderful coconut curry and a fruit smoothie for the extravagant cost of $10 or so. While we ate, we were treated to a performance of Apsara dancers. It was very different from any ethnic dances (like belly dance or flamenco) I had seen. The movements of their hands and feet were carefully controlled and so elegant (check out the 10 second video clip at the bottom). The costumes consisted of elaborate headdresses and beautifully decorated dresses. It was a great end to another unforgettable day in Cambodia.