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Published: November 28th 2008
.....WOW!!! It's being almost a month in Khmer land... time went by really fast.... I ran down all the way from North to South of Laos - 27 hrs in total to cross to Cambodian territory....I left that beautiful piece of heaven: Luang Prabang, totally recovered, full of energy, and with lots of different kinds of paper to continue working on this little project: making envelopes, postcards and little paintings for selling to other travelers on the road....
....I had heard few impressions about Cambodia from other travellers but overall i did not have a clue what to expect....I took the first bus from Luang Prabang (North Laos) to Vientiane (Lao Capital 11 hrs); which is one of the most scenery and amazing bus rides, fortunately i got my Cambodian Visa the same day, then took another bus from Vientiane to Pakse (South Laos 11 hrs)....I continued with a Tuk-Tuk to the South bus station only to find out that there was nothing looking like a bus station, let alone buses, the only transport available was an overcrowded truck with two benches, all in the name of adventure!!!, this ride to the border took another 5 hours with a valuable
Lesson ;-) : There is no such thing in these countries as "My space & your space"...this is everyone squeezing, touching, pushing, etc.... It was very eventful, in every stop we made, we had sellers coming over with all kinds of food, mostly on a stick, boiled eggs on their shell, chicken, grasshoppers, sausages, beef with an orange color sauce on it to any other kind of suspicious meat, mangos peeled in a lotus flower shape, etc....I did pass on the grasshopper offer though :-) !!!....
....Later on I couldn't stop staring at an old lady in the truck while she started taking a lot of small white plastic bottles from her purse, first she takes out a piece of banana leaf, then she grabs another bottle and spreads something that looked like a white cream, then another thing that i assume was tobacco, she continued opening bottles and spreading different kinds of white & black creamy/jelly texture things on it and finally she wraps it all around and put it in her mouth then she bites on a strange green fruit in the process....WOW!!! what a cocktail woman!!! ....The funniest thing is when i reached out to her
to help her getting off the truck, she gives me this big smile....Her mouth is all red from chewing buddha knows what!!! & her teeth totally black, i wish i had my camera ready to capture that moment...it was so priceless :-)
Cambodia in General I have to admit that i was totally ignorant about Cambodian history, so i decided to inform myself and learn a little bit about this country. En bref, i learnt that Cambodia was once the heart of the Khmer empire which ruled what is now Laos, Thailand & Vietnam....
....The Cambodian communists rebels called
"Khmer Rouge" led by Pol Pot implemented a very bloody revolution in the world
"Year Zero" from 1975 to 1979, during these 4 years monks were murdered and wats destroyed, money was abolished, cities abandoned, about 2 million of Cambodians specifically the country's educated people were tortured to death or executed, other people died of mistreatment, malnutrition & disease. Fortunately, the Vietnamese stepped down in the city and overthrew the Khmer Rouge, whom fled to the jungles bordering Thailand where they continued their guerrilla war through the 80's with support from Thailand & China and indirect support of
United States. Apparently,
The Khmer Rouge trial is still in process, after many false starts due to many powerful interests....
....The vibe in this country is absolutely different, i believe it has to do a lot to the fact that Cambodian people have struggled through years of bloodshed, poverty and political instability. It is quite obvious the presence of corruption in the country, i know this is something happening everywhere in the world but here corruption is a big issue to the point of stating that " their so called democracy is more of a kleptocracy" kind of government with the richer getting richer and the poor getting screwed....
....Cambodia has 15,000 million people - interesting enough 40%!o(MISSING)f them under the age of 15...This is definetely a country full of contrasts and contradictions..... the stunning Angkor Wat Temple is, of course, their symbol of nationhood and fierce pride, they even have it in the Cambodian flag, it is the name of the national beer, many hotels & guesthouses are called Angkor Wat, etc. ....The city "Phnom Phen" is caotic, polluted, and sometimes scary specially around the S-21 ex-prison and some of the markets, here the vibe is dense!!!!,
it is easy to tell that this city has been to hell and back, in the other hand, there are malls, skyscrappers, luxury hotels, highly designed bars & restaurants, renovated mansions either belonging to the government "Cambodia People's Party", a NGO or an Embassy....
....After crossing the border with Laos my first impression was a strange place called Strung Treng, i decided to move on the same day and went down to "Krati" where i stayed in a little guesthouse owned by a proud Cambodian guy, who was very grateful that travelers stopped by his village.....I went to the market to get a taste of the country's fruit, which are delicious & juicy....
....When i arrived to the city, i met my friend Matteo from Australia who was
with a british teacher, so i ended up sharing the room with him. I met Matteo in Laos 2 months ago, then we went to Nong Khai in Thailand where he performed some nice jamming sessions at the guesthouse's bar. This time he happened to pass through from his trip in Ho Chi Ming, Vietnam, so it was really nice hanging out, renting bikes and riding around the city, exploring the dark markets, going to the stadium to cheer for Laotian & Cambodian soccer teams, crossing the streets while dodging cars and the massive amount of motorbikes...I always felt like the "frog game" in Atari that tries to go from one side to the other one without getting smashed :-) ....
Kampot: ....After 5 days in the city, i was very much looking forward to move on and check out the countryside, so i decided to head to Kampot located in the south of Cambodia on a lovely riverside setting with aging french style buildings with a ghost feeling to it....I stayed in Bodhi Villa, a guesthouse owned by a nice couple from Australia, the place had nice floating bungalows and a cool dorm, it was quite small and outside the town center which made it ideal for getting to know people & hanging out....I rented a bicycle and went exploring, met a young Cambodian guy on my way to one of the Pagodas (temples), who took me to meet his english teacher, a very kind monk that invited me to share a coconut, then we rode together to some faraway mountains where we found bamboo
floating cottages with view to the ocean, so peaceful just to sit there, watch the fishermen getting their catch, & have some delicious fruit....on the way back we got soaked to the bone, went to his house in the village and ended up having a great lunch together.....
....Another day i decided to take the bicycle to
Kep: 24 kms from Kampot, the scenery was very green and beautiful, it was great riding through amazing rice paddy fields, saw kids riding cows and buffalos, another guy walking his massive pink pig, little kids yielling "Hellooooo", it was a very funny ride, it took me about 2 hrs to get there in a slow pace....
....Once i arrived to Kep, i went straight to the little beach, i met a nice Cambodian guy who explained to me that people have been fishing some many crabs without control that there is almost nothing left in the ocean (Kep is popular for their crab market)....I stayed few hours loving the sound of the ocean and the cool breeze, then i started my trip back to Kampot after fixing one of the tires that blew off :-) ....I got showered from heaven
again.....two days on a road, it felt really good!!! :-)
Bodhi villa was a great place to be, i remember one night going to their small dock on an amazing clear night and experiencing a sense of awe when looking to space and becoming speechless at the massive amount of stars....This was by far a magical night....
Siem Reap: Siem Reap is the town that serves as the gateaway to exploring the temple ruins of the Khmer empire designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and the 8th world wonder. I did the big circle tour by bicycle, left the guesthouse at 5am and came back after sunset so i spent about 12-13 hrs in total....Riding the bicycle through the temple ruins was very easy & enjoyable...
I spent about 17 days in Siem Reap...the first two weeks i dedicated all my time to work on my postcards, fortunately, the room i stayed in had good space and a perfect table to work on...I came out of the room only to have lunch and dinner, i dedicated many hours and felt very happy to spend my time letting a little bit of creativity out....the last week
here i decided to stop working and get to know some people so i started playing soccer with the Cambodian guys in the field inside the guesthouse, here i met a very nice dutch guy, then i ended up meeting many dutch people and hanging out with them for the last week....We also went to visit an orphanage that had a beautiful show every night (Khmer traditional dancing performed by orphans
from 6 to 18 years old), all kids dressed in traditional cambodian dresses, singing and dancing, it was a great night, they were all very playful and loving....
After Siem Reap, i took the bus to the border in Poipet, then to Bangkok...I spent 2 days in crazy Bangkok when i realized they stamped my Visa for only 1 month (normally i was suppossed to get 2 months), i started thinking what to do and worrying a bit because i needed enough time in Thailand to do the volunteer and take the courses at Lahu Village, i was about to go to Laos again to ask for a new visa, when i decided to trust my guts and changed the train ticket and just continue moving north to Chiang Mai in Thailand, I was ready to accept my destiny.....Once in Chiang Mai i went to the i immigration office and they stamped me really fast for 2 months, i was so happy, i thought it was going to be so difficult, but it was really easy, plus i didn't have to pay at all ;-)
I stayed in Chiang Mai for 1 night, met Javi, a really nice guy from Barcelona in the train, he entertained me with tons of stories about his crazy city and lilfestyle, we laughed alot and the 15 hours train journey didn't end up being too bad...
Now i am in Pai 4 hrs north from Chiang Mai, i am volunteering at TACOMEPAI 5 kms from town, working in a Premaculture (sustainable living) Yon lifestyle farm, right now i am helping out to get things ready for the festival that is going to take place from Dec 11-13 at the farm, so i am making signs out of bamboo to advertise the event, i have also been painting birds made out of bamboo and some dry leaves as sign posts....It is very cold here, i am slepping with socks, pants,
and sweater because it gets crazy at night....The town is really nice, lots of hippies and Rasta men, live music, and the film festival going on now....
I will stay at the farm for about a month until the Thai-Yoga Massage courses start at Lahu Village in January 7th...For now, i will be riding my bicycle, working with bamboo, and loving life....
Besos y abrazos gigantes ;-)
Andres
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marisol
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delicia asiática!
maeeeee...pareeee yaaaaaa! me siento como una mongolitaa encerrada en mi apartamentoooo. animate y comete unos grilloss nos sabenn tan mall..al menos en méxico los saltean con chilis y limónn. te extraño pitufín pervertidoo. Parecés un personaje de cohelo trepando la quinta montaña! jajjajjajaj y cada Blog que leo, te siento más grandee, más maduroo,más cercano al mundo y a tu interior. Osea, cada vez sos un mejor partidoo grrrrrrr. Te amo muchooo y te dejo porque ya me excité imaginandote naked pintando sobrecitos. Muakkkkkkkkkkkkkk. take caree!