One more week to go...

We have now been residing for a couple of days in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We both agreed on that we desperately needed a place to relax for a couple of days since we more or less have been on constant move since we left Hoi An in Vietnam (wonderful place by the way). For the past three weeks we have been travelling every other day, if not every day, for 8-12 hours with bus/train/scooter/minivan/boat from the middle of Vietnam, up to the north of the country, across the mountains into Laos, through north of Laos into Thailand. Phu. It has been major intense (even if it doesn’t sound intense sitting on your ass for most of the time). But it is, especially on these roads were you every other hour have a near-death-experience. One big advantage with sitting on your ass for long periods it that you learn a lot. I mean, I have listened to like 63 different radio documentaries that I downloaded and therefor I am more up to date with our world than ever before. Also, I have developed great patience. Nothing can go too slow or take too much time anymore, I have gone through it all. Bring it!

BUT we have met so many characters, seen so many different and mind blowing sceneries and been in so many different (weird/funny/relaxing) situations so the intense travelling for the past weeks have ALL been worth it and I am every day grateful for this trip that we have been able to do. I have a lot of stories to tell, but cannot tell them all here (also because I have lost all inspiration to write on my blog, this will probably be my last travel post). We have been properly scammed a few times along the way, especially at the border between Vietnam into Laos. But it was hysterical in a way. A crazy Lao officer shouted “HEALTH CHECK HEALTH CHECK” while waiving what looked like a plastic toy in front of our eyes “to measure our body temperatures” for a fee and there was absolutely no way for us tourists to avoid it.

The best means of transport here in Asia has been the 2-day boat ride through the Mekong river in Laos, making our way into Thailand. All the slowboats in Laos are different, since they are privately owned (the families actually live in them). The ones we had were good, I mean, they are super simple with old car seats placed out in rows etc, but it was a welcoming change from the hectic and insane bus trips. Slooowly travelling up the river, listening to podcasts and music for 18 hours in total, looking up at the jungle scenery while the boats sometimes dropped the locals off in the middle of nowhere where they apparently lived. It was cool. At one point during the boat trip we had Thailand to our left side and Laos to our right side, and the difference was so enormous. Simple bamboo huts in Laos while concrete houses, proper electricity cables and developed roads in Thailand.

So after the 2-days boat ride and 5 hours bus ride to follow we finally arrived in Chiang Mai three days ago. We didn’t have our accommodation sorted because Internet in Laos is non-existent. But no problemo, we just needed to take out some cash in baht and then we would go and look for something. Went to an ATM and took out 100 euro in Baht. The ATM kindly charged my credit card, but decided not to give me the actual cash. Great. So after expensive phone calls to the Thai Bank (with whom I didn’t understand a word of) and my bank in the Netherlands we had to go to the police station in Chiang Mai to fill in a report (in case our insurance needs it or it turns out I was skimmed). Great first hour in this city. Today we had our second encounter with the Thai police on our motorbike, we had to pay a fine for not being able to provide them with an international driving licence (which was in our room 500 m away, but of course that didn’t help). Well well. Otherwise Chiang Mai has been a wonderful place to spend some time in.

Tomorrow we are off to Pai in the most northern part of Thailand, then it’s back to Chiang Mai for one night and after that we need to take the night train to Bangkok because WE FLY BACK on Saturday. Whaaat. But it’s ok. We are cool about it. No biggie! It’s going to be nice to see our family and friends, and I can’t wait to sit behind an office desk again 40 hours per week. Oh yeah, I feel inspired! No problem!

Well, we desperately need to fill up our bank account again so it’s time to come back home. And it is a fantastic thing that both me and Erik have work to return to, what a blessing actually. Our biggest concern when we come back is when we can get a cat, and what we will name it. 

Looking out at fishing bay in Halong City, Vietnam

Hoi An, Vietnam. Such a pretty place but our camera sucks in the dark.

Streetfood bbq in Hanoi, Vietnam

Luang Prabang, Laos.

Kuang Si Waterfalls, Laos.

The slowboat on the Mekong.

My level of glamour during the past...5,5 months.

A cave of some sort.

This little fellow decided to keep me company on the boat. Thank you for not killing me!

Chilling at a resturant in Pak Beng, Laos, before going on the second boat the day after.

Visting the local market in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Had a half day cooking lesson in Chiang Mai, located by this amazing organic garden. 

Masterchef! Unfortunately my Pad Thai was close to uneatable, put too many shrimp babies in I think...

From Cambodia to Vietnam

Time for a blog update, wohoo. Time is going so damn fast now (I mean, already close to a month already in Asia alone and only a month left before we go home, eh, what?!). A quick Cambodia summary:

• Visited the Killing fields and Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh which was incredible heavy. Did not take any pictures while there, it just did not feel right. We were both deeply affected by our visit. A powerful visit, hard to describe it differently. You will learn a lot about Pol Pot’s regime and the Red Khmers thanks to the well-organized audio tours. Phnom Penh in general is a nice city, if not a bit chaotic and not-so-very-charming if you are only visiting for a few days, but has a big expat community.

• Managed to offend two young Cambodian girls in Sihanoukville due to a misunderstanding, resulting in me feeling like a proper horrible human being and later crying my eyes off.

• Visited the paradise island Koh Rong, popular among both tourists and mosquitos! Still not “too” popular among westerners, therefore rather unspoiled. But there are plans to build an airport there (noooo) so it is just a matter of time before it will turn in to Cambodia’s version of Thailand’s Ko Samui.

• When returning to Sihanoukville Erik and I managed to get food poising on the exact same moment, completely beating us down for three full days (and revealing a whole new challenge in trying to preserve the romance in our relationship).

All in all, an impressive visit in Cambodia, with a lot of beauty and challenges. We have been in Vietnam for almost a week now, and I have to say that this country makes my heart skip an extra beat. I can’t really put my finger on what is so incredible with this country (bearing in mind we have only visited Saigon, Mui Ne and Da Lat so far), but it is very beautiful, more green and lush comparing to Cambodia and also more developed in the urban areas. 

Unfortunately there seems to be no way for me to escape it- we will most probably do a lot of scootering here as well (to Erik’s delight!). Might be a bit dangerous, but it’s the cheapest and most fun way to get around in a city and around.

I also cant believe we will be going home in a month. I have a lot of mixed emotions right now. Sometimes (especially when sick in food poising) I get proper homesick, but then for Sweden and my family (and the Swedish fooooood) and not for the everyday life in Amsterdam. On the other hand I quiver by the thought of coming back. Everything will be the same for everyone else and with work, not much have changed while everything has changed for me. I am not saying that I have seen the light or something during this trip, dont be silly. Of course you are the same person, but as with so many other people I think that Erik and I will forever suffer from the famous travel bug, feeling like we will never feel “rooted” anywhere if you know what I mean…So what now? Am I just supposed to start working and actually care about a random office career? I just want to fill my days with taking care of animals, surrounded with gorgeous nature, living a stress-free life while sipping on a lot of wine. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that ;)

Four more weeks to go and we’re going to try to enjoy every second of it!

Taking a Tuk Tuk to the Killing Fields in pouring rain, cosy!

A cosy time by the beach at Sihanoukville...we thought! (oh how naive!)

Phnom Penh

Following pictures are taken in Koh Rong...paradise!

First time I witnessed a halo around the sun!

 A paradise island also for the mosquitos, aoch!

Accomodation was a step up in Saigon!

Love the colourful crazyness in Saigon/HCMC!

First Vietnamese meal (fail though!)

Lovely rooftop bar in Saigon

Ce chi tunnels (Erik looks a bit too happy, haha)

Rain season! 20 min of pooooouring rain every day :) Afterwards the air is breatheable again

War reminant museum in Saigon

So many well taken care of puppies everywhere <3

Filling up the petrol in a typical little local station

Bangkok, Siem Reap and Ankor Whaaat?

I am happy that we started off our little Asia adventure in familiar Bangkok, since we were there only 1,5 year ago, if only for three nights. At that time, we only had 10 days holiday and we were really on “holiday mode” and not on a “travelling mode” at all, we just wanted to go to our beach at Koh Chang haha. We did not discover anything of Bangkok then, it was such a culture shock (first time in Asia). This time we told ourselves that we need to toughen up and just throw ourselves out there. I think we succeded! For one thing we actually saw more then just one road, haha. 

Last time we actually thought that we lived by famous koh san road but eeeh, apparently not, we discovered that we didn’t even visit Koh San road last time we were here, we were strolling up and down Soi Rambuttri like two idiots last time thinking we were at famous Koh San. Jesus. Okey but this time we actually did visit Koh San (don’t really understand the fuss), we walked around in new blocks, walked to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho (sooo pretty, gotta love the Reclining Buddha) while on our way there at least 5-6 men shouted at us “you know its closed until 1 hee!?”. We read about this before, that people will stop you and tell you Wat Pho is closed so that you will do something else (which benefit them) instead.

We are travelling here during the low season which entails lower prices, less tourists but SO HOT weather. And then we are not only talking about high temperatures but the MOIST. It is around 85 % luftfuktighet  (eh, whats the English word? Moistyness feels very wrong). Erik handles the heat better than me, maybe because I have more fat to process especially around my hips haha.  After each time I’ve been outside I can literally squeeze out 1 liter of sweat from my clothes. I can drink 4-5 bottles of water and not even have to pee because I sweat it all out! Very practical come to think of it.

Two days ago we took the infamous land crossing between Thailand-Cambodia. Both of us were a bit anxious about this trip, because the Internet and Lonely Planet warn tourists that this is one of the most scammed areas in the south east Asia region. And sure, when we stepped out of the bus by the border hordes of men was telling us to “Go this way visa”, which was the completely other direction than what the big sign “Passport control” showed. Well, if we just ignored the people without an official uniform and just follosed the signs it was a fairly smooth process. We took the 8 hour direct bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap with Nattakan which was brilliant. We got breakfast, water, ice coffee, juice and lunch on board and the same bus waited for us after the visa procedure. Amazing!

We both love Siem Reap, a perfectly sized city with friendly people. Yesterday we visited Angkor Wat, which everyone do if they visit Siem Reap. For 15 dollars you have your own TukTuk driver for the day who waited for us by every temple. I first thought we could just walk around there without a driver or a bike but helloooo am I an idiot or what. It is so massive there, several kilometers between every temple. The Ankor Wat itself was the most impressive temple, so massive. We went to the top of the temple (the worlds largest religious building) and here is were travelling in low season comes in hand, because we waited in the queue for like 3 minutes and during high season one can wait for 40 minutes which is insane. We are both really happy to have visit Angor Wat but honestly, 1 day was enough for us. Many people buy a 3 day pass and I can just not relate to that (feels like a sin to say that out loud).

Tomorrow we will take a minibus to the capital Phnom Penh which takes like 6 hours. Looking forward to PP and another crazy intense city. There we want to go more in depth about Cambodias tragic history, visit the Killing Fields among other things. It would feel wrong to be in Cambodia or in Vietnam for that matter without gaining more knowledge about events that still shapes and shakes the people,

Oh, so pretty, eeeh not. Tourists tourists tourits everywhere :) Here at Grand Palace

The very beautiful Reclining Buddha

A sweaty couple at Wat Pho

So THIS is apperently Koh San Road. Woops.

The moment before an intoxicated Erik eat 1/3 of a scorpion

The face of Regret.

Phone quality- really happy we bought a camera before this trip. Here going through border control and getting a visa on  arrival.

This for us on the bus was a major luxury, haha 

TukTuk through Siem Reap

First Cambodian meal! Travelling for me is ALL about the food, yuum.

In Ankor Wat

Monkeys in Ankor Wat, showing their teeth to idiotic tourists coming to close. This picture was zoomed in, believe me.

The moment my pants ripped in half and we had to run to the closest market stand. Second pair in 3 days, no joke! I am apperently no Lara Croft ;(

Trying to take an "authentic" photo in Ankor without the hord of tourists is difficult. And this is even low season. 

Our take on an "authentic"photo where no other tourists are visible :P

Wow!

Such cool and magical place! A favorite :)