Don't Fear the Siem Reaper

At 5:55am, March 11, I boarded the train from Bangkok to the border town of Aranyaprathet where I would cross into Cambodia. I had read online to watch out for scams at the border.  From the train station, tuk-tuk drivers will take you to a building where you can pay a hefty sum of money to fill out your visa application.  Or you can do what I did, and what you should do, is if they drop you off at this building, avoid it altogether and walk to the actual border and exit Thai immigration. Once you've gone through Thai immigration, it is then that you pay $20 for your Cambodian visa at the official Cambodian office.

I found myself going through customs with two Australians, a man and a woman in their forties. They were very friendly and together we figured out going through the procedures together. After crossing into the Cambodian border town of Poipet, I ended up in a minibus with them and six other foreign travelers. I really liked everyone in the minibus, but man did some of them complain. When we had to wait about 15 minutes for the minibus to come, when it ended up being around $2 more than we were promised to take the minibus, when the air conditioning didn't work, complain, complain, complain. I would find this to be a reoccurring theme in my travels where I would meet some really cool foreign travelers and then would find myself grow increasingly more irritated by as they complained about every little thing. At one point the Australian lady expressed her dislike of Cambodians, "the whole lot of them." We had barely been in Cambodia an hour and had only dealt with immigration officials, ticket sellers, and bus drivers, that's hardly a representation of an entire country's populace.

Besides that though, the minibus ride was fine and I arrived in Siem Reap in mostly good spirits. I stayed at the Garden Village Hostel where I got a single room in a bamboo hut for $3 a night. Not a bad deal. The next day I hired a tuk-tuk driver to visit some temples. Since I'd been to Siem Reap before I had seen Angkor Wat and all the main temples. So I tried to see some less visited temples. I visited Banteay Samre and a few other temples and realized I had seen them all before. Oh well. I spent the rest of the day hanging around Siem Reap eating food and getting fish foot massages (where you put your feet in a tank of water and fish eat the dead skin off it).

For me, being in Siem Reap and visiting the temples elicited the same feeling I experience when I watch an engaging film in a room full of people having loud conversations or talking on cell phones. Lots of charm surrounded by lots of noise. It's a nice town infested with tourists.

Tourists aren't necessarily bad though. I did meet some cool people. That night I hung out with a Cambodian staff member of the hostel and we played a game of pool against two German travelers. I later ended up having some beers with them and two other Swedish travelers. They had been in Siem Reap for a while and had some interesting insights. During our game of pool one of the German guys leaned next to me and told me to pay attention to how the Cambodian staff members played pool. They were incredible players but would always perform badly at the end of the game because it would be rude to beat guests. We all ended up going out to Pub Street later in the night, the main hub of Siem Reap nightlife, but by that time I was pretty tired and I had to catch a bus early the next morning for Pnomh Penh so I didn't stay out too late. Siem Reap had been good but I was looking forward to getting to Pnhomh Penh where I would meet my friend and fellow KBC bandmate Nate Klink and hopefully stray some from the tourists spots.

The Farang Way

When I arrived in Bangkok during the weekend of elections therefore so establishments weren't serving alcohol. Little drinking occurred in those first couple of days but there was lots of city exploration. Haven and I took a ferry down the river and walked around back-alleyways. One night we even ended up hanging out with some Vietnamese people who had been living in Thailand for awhile. It was a funny interaction with Haven speaking broken Thai and me trying to remember Vietnamese.

On Tuesday we caught a minibus to the coastal city of Sri Racha and from there took a ferry to the island of Koh Si Chang. Ko Si Chang is a small, quiet, and beautiful island. There's no nightlife to speak of but that was fine with me. The landscape is incredible, the people are very friendly, and there are few farangs (foreigners). Haven and I spent most of our time eating awesome food and riding on motorbikes shooting videos (Haven was also a film major).

Haven's former English teaching partner/roommate and fellow Goshenite, Julian works at a resort on the island along with his girlfriend Vaughn. Julian was gone most of the time we were there but he returned on our last day on the island. He showed us around the resort where he works. It's an amazing secluded place with bungalows, zip-lines, cave exploration, and cliff jumping. And it's nearly empty. We saw very few guests there which was honestly nice for me but probably bad for business. Part of Julian and Vaughn's work at the resort is to help promotion and marketing so maybe soon it will be less vacant.

The only sore spot about the island is that it's surrounded by what appears to be one hundred or more huge cargo ships. It gives the island a somewhat erie feeling. It's tropical paradise engulfed by monstrous industrial machines. At night when the ships' lights are on it seems like the island is in a constant threat of siege.

Haven and I took a bus back to Bangkok. My last night in Bangkok was spent on Khaosan Road, known as the "backpacker ghetto". The street is filled with cheap accommodations and lots of pubs. I wanted to experience it just once because it seemed like a backpacker hub I should at least know about.  It's basically a bunch of street vendors, some young, hip Thai people, some beggars, and a butt-load of drunk farangs running into each other and creating sometimes interesting and sometimes painful (and many times both) interactions.  I did talk to a lot of cool people that night but I was happy when I finally escaped the madness.

This next morning I left Bangkok for Cambodia via train. It was great hanging out with Haven in Thailand. I'll be seeing him again in little over a week when we embark on a motorbike trip in Northern Vietnam.

Bangkok, Passed Midnight or My First Travel Mistake

After 27 hours of planes and airports I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand around 11:30pm, about an hour later than was originally scheduled.  I had made plans to meet my friend Haven who had just finished a school term teaching English. My original plan was to take the Skytrain from the airpot downtown where I would meet Haven. I had told him I would meet him around midnight, however by the time I had made it through customs and gotten my luggage it was around 12:30. The Skytrain closes at midnight so I needed to take a taxi into the city.

I went to a pay-phone and tried calling Haven. However, after talking with some Thai officials it soon became apparent that he had mistakenly left out a digit in the phone number he gave me. Luckily, I was able to access the internet in the baggage claim and left him a Facebook message saying I was going to catch a taxi to the train station, hoping to God he would check the internet this late at night.

I went outside the airport and was approached by a man asking where I was going. I told him the "Central Station." He said, "Ok, I know," and helped put my luggage in the back of his car... which was not marked as a taxi. Never take an unmarked taxi car. You would think that after living in Southeast Asia for one year I would know this, but people do stupid things when they're flustered. (Travel Tip #1: If you find yourself in my position in Bangkok, take a metered taxi. A metered taxi should cost around 250-400 baht or around $10 give or take.) Once this car had driven me about 15 minutes away from the airport it stopped in a remote area where apparently the taxi "office" was and where my driver told me the price of the trip. It was $100 to take me into Bangkok.

I told him absolutely not, I was not going to pay him $100. I didn't even have that much money on me. However, since they had driven me to the middle of nowhere I couldn't just get out and call another cab. I ended up paying him that amount of U.S. currency I did have on me, $40.

So which train station did I want to go to? The "Central Station." The driver told me there are two train stations in Bangkok. Did I know the name? I did not. All I knew is that it was the station where the Skytrain went to.  The driver said, "OK," not too assuredly.

It was around this time that I began thinking I had really screwed this trip up.  For some reason I had thought I could just go to Thailand and things would work out. For one, I didn't even know if Haven had gotten my Facebook message or if he thought I had gotten a hotel and therefore went back home to bed. It was around 1:30am, one and a half hours after the time I said I would meet him. Two: I didn't even know if I was going to the right station. Three: I was paying way much money way too soon, at this rate could I make it two months in SE Asia? I kept trying to think of a Plan B. Were hotels even open now? I had no idea. I knew nothing about Bangkok. I had not planned ahead to say the least. (Travel Tip #2: Buy a book about the place where you are traveling to, it is always worth it.) Worst case scenario I would have to sleep on the streets in Bangkok.

The drive from the airport into Bangkok takes around 45 min to an hour. Especially at night it was difficult to tell how far into the city I was. At one point we stopped at a red light and looked over and saw a red-head with earbuds in looking out into the traffic. I frantically rolled down the window and yelled out "Haven!" I opened the car door and Haven saw me. I can't remember the last time I've been more overjoyed and relieved to see a familiar face.  The taxi pulled to the side and we got my luggage out. Haven had decided to go to an internet cafe after waiting for me at the train station.  It was then he saw my Facebook message and came back, catching me just in time.

My trip could only get better from there.

New Name, New Places, and Some Familiar Faces

From August 21, 2010 to July 19, 2011, I lived in Hanoi, Vietnam. It was an incredible year to say the least, one I will remember for the rest of my life. Of course I wasn't in Hanoi the whole time; I would occasionally travel to nearby cities and I also made trips to Cambodia and China. However, my experience, while incredibly immersive, was also primarily static. Most of the time I was grateful for this because I was gaining an understanding of the city of Hanoi and the people who live there that I wouldn't have if I had been a backpacker passing through. But there were definitely times that I craved to do some more extensive traveling.

Ever since leaving Southeast Asia I've been itching to go back.  After saving up extensively while living on a shoestring budget, I've finally pulled together the means to return and travel. In March and April I will be backpacking through Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. I'm incredibly excited. I will documenting my travels through pictures, videos, and of course, this blog.

You may recall that this blog was once called "Life in the Year of the Tiger and Cat" (among other things). Since I'm not going to just continue tacking on zodiac animals ("Life of the Year of the Tiger and Cat and Snake") I've changed the name to "The Disoriented Outlander." Please let me know if you think of a better name. My travels start March 1. Keep an eye out for blog posts!

Nathan Morrow

"And in the end the love you make is equal to the love you take."

Tomorrow I will leave Vietnam, the place I've called home for he last eleven months. I feel like I should write a blog post before I leave, but truthfully I'm not quite sure what to talk about. I guess in these sorts of circumstances, it is easiest just to make a list of what I will and won't miss. 

What I Won't Miss:

Cockroaches in My Room.
Although honestly, by the end of my stay here I had become cool with the roaches. One night I woke up to see a roach chilling by my bed. I was about to kill it, and then shrugged it off. It's just a bug. Besides, by this point I've eaten grasshoppers so hanging out with another type of bug is no big deal. So I guess scratch out "cockroaches" and put in "rats".  Because, I'm not cool with rats yet.

Cool Young Moto Dudes.
These are the young motorbike drivers who never wear helmets, speed through traffic lights, and hold down their horns. Suffice to say, they irk me quite a bit. That being said, one time a cool young moto dude rode past me super fast. I automatically started getting angry until I realized that the guy was actually a good friend of mine. Life is different on the road.

Not Understanding Anything.
This is a double-edged sword. Sometimes it's cool not to understand anything because then you don't have to listen to other nearby people's conversation. But other times, it is of course very frustrating.

Riding Motorbikes:
Sometimes. Riding motorbikes can be great but sometimes when it's raining or cold, I wish I could take another mode of transportation. (OK, I could. But I'd rather not take the #3 bus to work)

Things I Will Miss:

The Food.
There is a great variety of awesome food in Vietnam. From pho to bun, nem to nem chua, thit cho to thit ran. I hope to try and make some Vietnamese food back in the states but I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to eat dog for awhile.

The Places:
Hanoi is great for a while. But there are tons of other great areas around Vietnam. Probably my favorite place to visit is still Cao Bang.

Riding Motorbikes:
Can be great fun a lot of the time.

Karaoke/Bia Hoi/Street Stalls/Cafes

Lots of Other Things I Can't Think of Right Now

And of course...

The People:
I can not even begin to touch on all the great experiences I've had with all the wonderful people I've met here in Vietnam. So I'll just leave you with a short video. Thank you to everyone who has supported me this last year. I hope to see you back in the states. And to everyone in Vietnam, thank you and I hope to see you in the future. Hen gap lai.

Hosting My Family

It's only about a week until I leave Vietnam and it's really starting to hit home that this great past year is coming to an end. But I'll save the introspective ending blog for another time because I still have to talk about this past month when my parents and aunt came to visit me here in Vietnam. I won't be delving too deep in all the emotions and observational aspects that occurred, mainly because I have a lot to cover and I'm also currently sick.  Therefore, for the time being, I will just cover all the main things that happened.

The first weekend we visited Ha Long Bay, which is Northwest of Hanoi. The trip included a boat tour through amazing rock formations jutting out of the water. In the bay, there are many small floating houses where fishermen (and women) live. We also visited a cave which was pretty spectacular. The only downside was that there were tons of people walking through the cave so there was really no time to stop and look around. We stayed at Cat Ba City on Cat Ba Island. While the island itself was lush and green and pretty, the city was somewhat crowded and noisy. Note to future travelers: if you like peace and quiet, when coming to Ha Long Bay be sure to stay in one of the many little bungalows on the smaller islands.

The next week we flew to Cambodia to visit the Angkor ruins around Siem Reap. It was interesting to see the differences between Cambodia and Vietnam. Cambodia seemed much more small and quite. Of course, we were only at Siem Reap and just came from the second largest city in Vietnam. The ruins were--surprise!--also very spectacular.

However, while the ruins were very cool, after seeing them for a couple days I got kind of ruined out. I was glad when on the last day we did a change of pace and visited a floating village. All the village houses were on stilts because every year the lake nearby floods and the villages become like the houses we saw in Ha Long Bay. Also, the day before we had visited a museum that showed the deadly affects of the landmines used during the era when the Khmer Rouge were in power.

But the best part of the trip was going out for dinner with my family and my friends and host family. I let my aunt take all the pictures for those occasions, so once I get them from her I will have them posted.

All in all, it was a great time and I enjoyed being the tour guide for my family in Hanoi.

Saigon

Earlier this month I went to Ho Chi Minh City with Bryn to meet up with some of our SALTer friends who are currently working in Cambodia, Michael and Liz. Despite my last post ranting about the vices of being a tourist, we were unabashedly tourists on this trip. We stayed in District 1, a tourist corner of the city, ate at the tourist joints, and even went with a tour group full of other foreigners to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. I guess some times you just have to give in to tourism.

Despite this (or perhaps because of this, I'm not sure), it was a really great time. Michael and Liz are really cool people (Michael also went to Goshen College) and we had a great time hanging out. The first full day there we checked out various museums and the Independence Palace (now called the Reunification Palace) where in 1975, a tank from the North Vietnamese Army crashed the gates, signalling the dissolution of the South Vietnamese government. The palace was huge and lavish. It featured a dozens of different rooms and areas, including a movie theatre. It was easy to see how this palace would have been the antithesis of everything North Vietnam stood for.  I wish I could have taken picture, but stupid me forgot my camera. But here's a picture pulled from Wikipedia:

The next day we went on a tour to see the Cu Chi Tunnels located about three hours away from Saigon. These tunnels are a very impressive underground network where guerrilla fighters lived and hid during combat. It was also the base for operations during the Tet Offensive.  Our tour guide was a very interesting man.  He was a very good tour guide in retrospect. However, during the tour he would be prone to rambling about strange cultural observations or highly personal information about himself. But on the other hand, he did have a pretty crazy life story. He is half Vietnamese and actually fought during the war on the American side because his father was a Filipino ambassador in the U.S. during that time.  After the war was over, he stayed behind and spent four years in a re-education camp. He offered a very welcoming perspective since while he said he respects and loves Vietnam, he knows for a fact that a lot of what the current Vietnamese government says what happened is--in his own words--BS. He was able to level criticism of both the American and the Vietnamese side and also tell personal accounts about his experiences with the tunnels. 

As for the tunnels themselves, they were very impressive. And small. We had the chance to go through a section of about 100 meters and it was a very tight fit. Pretty crazy when you consider that this section was enlarged some for tourists to go through.

We spent the rest of the time in Ho Chi Minh City, exploring and going to different restaurants and parks. One day we talked with some Vietnamese English students in a park. It was a cool time, although I think prefer Hanoi to Saigon. Saigon just felt a little too Western. However, it was a great place to retreat to for a weekend.