Krysta
Krysta Banwell-Gutteridge Joined: February 23rd 2006
Logged in: May 2nd 2011
Logged in: May 2nd 2011
I'm just getting settled back into life in Canada now, so wait patiently for the last few blogs. Especially Myanmar...that was quite an 'interesting' couple weeks...
Travel Blog Posts
Just out for a stroll
SCENE 6:14am Halloween morning. A deserted street in Vientiane, Laos: “You go wrong way!” “What? Huh?” “You go wrong way!!! “How do you know where I’m going?” “You go to bus station, yeah?” there’s a sly smile on my stranger’s face while he takes another drag from his rolled smoke. I can tell he loves spotting a foreigner. “Umm. Yeah, okay then, bye!” I continue on my way, seriously lacking the caffeine to deal with touts at this early in the morning. “You go wrong way! Come. I drive you. Only tee dollas” “No thank you, I know where I’m going, goodbye!” I sauntered away on my knowing heels. Or rather, my knowing flip flops. “You want northern bus station? It that way 5 kilometers.” He is pointing in the direction I just came from, ... read more
The jumbo. Such a great way to get around if you're too lazy to walk!
My Dad: "So Kryst, is Laos a country, or a city?" Me: "Are you serious? ....yeah, it's a country..." It's a country alright, but without much of a capital. With 200,000 people, you'd hardly know it was a city at all. In fact, the only pictures I managed to take were mostly of signs. And not that I find that incredibly boring, but there weren't many sites to try out my 'self portraits' on! The bus from Bangkok wasn't that bad...only 13 hours. However I was shocked at the Friendship Bridge (Northern Thai/Lao border) when I learned that Canadians had to pay $42 for a VISA, while most other people only had to pay $30-$35. And we all know how 'thrifty' I've become, so I was upset, to say the least. I thought Canadians were ... read more
Glad it wasn't ME!
It's October 24th and I've finally found a bus willing to take a group of us foreigners through the flooded regions of Western Cambodia to the Thai border of Poipet. The bus is three hours late to depart from Siem Reap. We all wait patiently on the bus which grows more humid and rancid with each passing second. All our packs occupy the back seats of the bus, as none of us will risk putting them under the cabin, for fear of them being submerged in dingy river water during the trip. At 10am, we finally leave the centre of the city, eager to make up for lost time, and dreading the most certainly long voyage ahead of us. It only takes us 30 minutes to reach the first part of the flooding. We're all surprisingly ... read more
In the temples...
The history, the temples, the "Bar Street"...Oh MY!!!! Siem Reap is one of those places that you need to see for yourself, because no amount of pictures can do these temples justice, and no video clip can capture the pure heart breaking chill of a small child cursing at you for not buying his crap. The leisurely 6 hour bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was blissfully uneventful. When we arrived, about 50 moto/tuktuk drivers swarmed the bus door and yelled with all their might for our patronage at their guesthouses. You couldn't even move through the throng of people and when they began going after my pack, the old rugby days quickly came upon me and I wrestled my way through the mass of flailing arms and guesthouse signs. Having wisely thought ... read more
The Royal Palace-up close & personal
I was SO happy to have finally reached Phnom Penh, I would have slept in a barn if it meant getting some rest! Luckily I didn't have to though... Through my host organization I arranged to stay with an expat who lived right in the city, named Marylin (from the UK). She picked my tired ass up from the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) and took me back to her place on the back of her motto. I think I've become so used to riding these bikes that I might have to get one when I come home! EK! Streets of Toronto beware! Marylin lives in a plush apartment building, all gated in and protected from the slums which surround the area. It's such a HUGE contrast of living standards between the expats and Khmers. Compared ... read more
leaving on our first boat
**Warning: If you're an animal rights activist, don't look on page 2 of the pictures** I had the option: an 8 hour bus ride, or three days thraveling through the Mekong Delta stretch. Hmmmmm.....quick decision! Boat trip! From the back packers district in Saigon, myself and 20 other foreigners (ranging from every age and country) boarded a small bus to be driven out of the city and 3 hours South to the first stretch of river. It was Wednesday October 11th, and I expected to be in Phnom Penh. Cambodia by Friday night. Nothing to it! The first day, we headed to My Tho which is the quiet riverside capital of Tien Giang province. My Tho is a ridiculously poor town (which is strange because it's the closest city on the Mekong to HCMC and ... read more
Reunification Palace
**Don't forget to click to page two for the rest of the photos from this blog. If you don't see me with a Royal Canadian Mountie, then you need to find the 2nd page of photos!!!** Other possible titles for this blog entry: "Madame Saigon" "Death by motorbike" "Why don't you honk your horn a little louder?!!" "Addicted to Vietnamese coffee and daiquiries" "Uncle Ho" "Good & Bad times with Communism" "The not so quiet Canadian" But I had to settle on what I heard the most often: "You want motabike madame???" Everywhere you walk in Vietnam, no matter how busy the streets or deserted the back roads of the beach town, there's ALWAYS someone there to offer you a ride. A good thing if you're concerned about being stranded somewhere...a tad annoying when you ... read more
bags for sale!!!
Why I keep taking buses is beyond me. Frankly, they irritate me, but in most countries they’re the only way to get around. My next one took 7 hours: from Saigon to Dalat, in the highlands of Vietnam. Dalat is 1500m above sea level, and is home to roughly 130,000 people. It’s a quiet area with beautiful mountains, jungle and hardly any foreigners. Its cool temperature made it a welcome retreat from the humidity of the city and with its numerous lakes, waterfalls, and forests, I was looking forward to some serious exploring. I was in Vung Tau during the huge typhoon that hit this area, and by the time I arrived in Dalat, the rain was still evident in the flooded roundabouts, but that was the only remaining evidence of the storm that caused thousands ... read more
yummy Vietnamese coffee!
6 days of Japanese translating had been as much as I could endure. I said goodbye to Yusuke as he left on his Mekong Delta trip and I departed for the Southern coast of Vung Tau, aboard a local mini bus. In Japan, honking your horn is polite. Ie, thank you for letting me in the lane, thank you for backing up to let me through the small alleyway etc. However, in Vietnam the horn is used as a battle cry. Up and down each and every road, the one commonality is the sound of perpetual honking. “I’m coming! You better get out of my way!!!” “Hey! Watch it! I’m driving here!” (and those are my polite interpretations!) You would think that a 3 hour bus trip wouldn’t be that painful, after all, I’ve ridden across ... read more
The Red Canyon
Now I must admit, I wasn’t planning on heading to Mui Ne or anywhere else for that matter for a couple more days. I got into Saigon on Friday Sept. 22nd and was planning on enjoying the city sights, doing all the highlights and THEN taking off for the countryside. However, I met a very cute J boy who happened to be utterly lost without my help in translating, and come on…twist a girl’s rubber arm, we went to the beach together for three days;) So, that means I’ll write about Saigon at the end of my time in Vietnam! Mui Ne is 200km NE of Saigon on the coast of the South China Beach (it took more then 4 hours by bus…). The beach was full of white sand, but unfortunately the water itself was ... read more
