These 3 days I spent in Vung Tau: the first day it was still
raining (it never stopped since last night). All the streets were flooded so I
stayed inside and bought a detailed road atlas of Vietnam. Its not the newest
edition, but it has every town and quite a lot of roads on it so thats what I
need. This day I would just call a day of eating: a long breakfast prepared by
Mai, a lunch of 1.5 hours at grandmothers, a snack at 3, dinner, dessert and
of course fruit during the entire day!
The next day it was better: the weather was good, I was
allowed to make breakfast (French toast), we went for a drink with a friend of
Mai, went for a motorbike ride along the beach, played with the smallest cousin
Tin (and the rest of the cousins while dinner was being prepared or after
dinner) and of course ate a lot. In the evening we had a skype appointment with
my mom about the progress of Trams ear and just an update of my travel and the
family. My mom couldnt get the webcam, nor the microphone working so it became
an MSN session with my webcam on
The next morning we would have breakfast with
the friend of Mai, but I overslept and apparently she doesnt dare to wake me
up. At 8 I finally woke up and we went to have breakfast just the two of us
Afterwards we went to pick up grandmother, Tin and one of the twins (cant
remember the names but I think it was Thui or how it is spelled) and went to
church. It was a holy day and thus a special ceremony: we arrived half an hour
before it started and couldnt even stand inside. There were so many people! I
made a rough estimation afterwards and I think it was close to 600 or 700
people! Imagine that in Belgium And imagine what a devotion that gives when
they all start to sing or speak together In Belgium this is never synchronised
as some people say the words fast and others say it slow but here it stays
understandable; the experience was incredible however I didnt understand a
word besides Chuà and Amen. After that it was time to have lunch but we still
stopped over at Lois place for a drink and to say hi. Lunch existed out of
soup, everyone got a normal sized bowl except for me. They put a bowl out of
which the soup is normally served in front of me with a spoon and chopsticks in
it. I thought it was a joke but when they all started and signed that I had to
start too, well I ate as well Luckily I was very hungry so I could finish it
all, you should have seen their faces when I did. However this wasnt such a
good idea as now they expected me to eat even more! For dinner I got 5 servings
of rice and a lot of spring rolls, fish balls, fried fish, steamed fish,
vegetables, fried shrimps (yes there was a lot of food) Between lunch and
dinner I went to get some pants made and to buy my boat ticket to HCMC for the
next morning. There was still some time before we would go to church again and
we took Tin to the playground (Ive never seen a kid that is afraid of a swing,
it made me laugh) After the playground we took a walk along the beach to eat
an ice-cream and then we went for a snack; yes time to eat again. Then we went
to church which was an open-air ceremony and Xuan had to play the keyboard
while May (their mother) was singing. There was a lot of music and we even got
a paper with the lyrics so after rehearsing the songs a few times I could sing
along. This really impressed Mai and I had to sing before dinner :(. Time for
another skype appointment, this time my dad was home and for some strange reason
it worked this time
I woke up early this morning and went back to the student
restaurant across the street for breakfast; the menu is pretty strange: they
have a menu but everything I asked was unavailable so I just pointed to a pot
and when he said the name I found out that it was not on the menu. The people
are very friendly here and the meals are definitely good value! My day started
good and I went to the book store without the trailer, I found a map and took
of to Vung Tau. If everything goes well Ill be with the family tonight! I
loaded the trailer and by 8 am I was ready to leave I was very happy that they
drew me a map last night because the city was pretty tricky and there were some
hills (every hill I only went up once!!!) After an hour driving mostly uphill I
was out of the city and to celebrate I stopped at a bar for a fruit shake. The
girl who owned the place was very friendly and I got a delicious passion-fruit
juice (she understood me wrong ). With that I also got some water; it turned
out I drank more than a liter there but it just felt so good: almost frozen
bottled water and she kept refilling :P. When I wanted to leave she gave me a
remember me present: a passion fruit! I was happy and the next hill felt like
nothing. In the descent of that hill I passed a woman and child on a motorbike
who kept driving besides me for an hour! It was nice because the traffic was
busy and she made sure they didnt hit my trailer again She didnt speak a
word of English though so it was a strange silence with some gestures and names
of a city once in a while. Anyway I was quite happy that she left because that
meant that I could take another break ;-). This time there was a delicious cold
coconut waiting for me! So lovely!!! I checked the map and I noticed that I was
good on schedule, I would definitely reach Vung Tau tonight, this taught gave
me new energy and I went even faster. I couldnt really go full speed because
of all the traffic: busses, trucks, motorbikes and everything else that goes on
a road was racing past or I was racing past them! By 3 pm I reached Ba Ria,
which is the last city before Vung Tau; only 25 km left but then I ran out of
luck The rain was very heavy and the wind was in the wrong direction :(. I
first had a drink, but it was still raining; I went for a meal and after that
it was over so I continued. Now I was driving as fast as I could because the
clouds were looking bad, really bad. Only 5 km further it started to rain
again, I had the choice to stop again but it would probably keep going for the
rest of the evening. So I tightened the plastic cover over my trailer and just
got wet Totally soaked I arrived in Vung Tau and my mobile wasnt working
anymore; luckily I still remember the streets and I soon arrived at Mais apartment.
However I forgot the floor and number I decided to try and make my way to the
grandmothers place and after checking out 2 wrong streets I arrived. At first
they were angry at me for arriving wet and they were pretty worried (as always)
but then they were happy to see me and I could take a shower and change. They
called Mai and a nice meal was prepared, a very, very nice meal; I ate as if I
hadnt eaten for days. Then I went on the back of Mais motorbike and we
arrived at the apartment again. I would be staying here for the next few days
Today
I cycled from the village where I stayed to the border, which isnt very far
but it was my last day in Cambodia and I wanted to take it easy. I was lucky
because it was the highday of the holidays so everyone had time After barely 5
km of cycling I was invited for a drink and something to eat at some locals
home. They gave me sticky rice with meat and nuts inside And then we had a
nice conversation about the holiday and the local customs while having some
tea. It was very interesting but I had to get going again if I wanted to make
it to the border. 15 km further a tuk-tuk driver drove next to me to train his
English. He is a very nice guy and after 5 km of talking, he invited me in his
home. I could see how they prepared the meal for the monks for the holiday. It
was very interesting and like any cooking event I got to try all the food which
was really nice. I learned a new recipe for pumpkin and pork Meanwhile the
entire family was preparing themselves for the temple: they had a shower,
changed in their traditional clothes and then the tuk-tuk was loaded. I was
getting interested in the ceremony so I asked if I could join, he said there
was absolutely no space on the tuk-tuk but if I wanted I could cycle with him.
I left the trailer there and of I went, following the tuk-tuk through the rice
paddies and the dirtroads, some beautiful scenery and the usual kids that say
hi. This time I got even more weird looks like: what is he doing here? but
then in a very friendly way. At the temple I had to follow him and just do
everything after him Then he showed me around the temple and even introduced
me to the head-monk :o. I was honoured! After the first 3 songs of traditional
music and dancing I left (it was already past noon and I only did 25 km thus
far). But the experiences I had were totally worth all the delay! At around 4
oclock, I arrived at the border and checked in at a local guesthouse. Ready to
go to Vietnam the next morning!
9th of October 2010
I woke up without any reason at 5 am while
thinking that it was already 8. My mobile is broken due to the heat under the
plastic of the trailer. And that is my only personal source of time besides my
laptop. Luckily the border opens at 6 am so after having breakfast and checking
out the environment I loaded my trailer and set of for Vietnam!!! The border
passing went smoothly until one of the guys told me that he had to check my
luggage. He doesnt know how carefully balanced I loaded the trailer this
morning? Anyway I took my small bag and went back in for the security check;
when I came back out, there was nobody around so I quickly put the bag back on
the trailer and drove off At first
sight it looked still the same, but after 15 km, the differences became clear:
the people live completely different. I entered the territory of the Cao Dai
religion but that is not all, you can see that they are better of here: they
have machines to work the land, they have electric scooters which are getting
pretty popular, people are constantly working, Today I wanted to reach Ho Chi
Minh, but for that I needed a map. I entered a lot of bookshops, gas stations,
supermarkets but nowhere I could find a map of Vietnam. In a bar where I
stopped I could take a glimpse at the map and saw that it would be better to go
to Bien Hoa instead of Ho Chi Minh City. This way I would avoid the totally
crazy traffic of the big city and I would take a shortcut as well To find the
road to Bien Hoa was more tricky than I would have ever imagined: I knew that
Vietnamese arent good at directions but this was really bad. I took 3 times
the wrong turn from the main road and when I got to the city before Bien Hoa I
arrived at the same hilltop for 4 times and from all directions there is a sign
careful slope of 10%. A bridge is difficult with a trailer but a steep slope
is just dying! Ill have to get used to that if I want to go to Hanoi Anyway
at 15 km from Bien Hoa it started to rain so I took a brake and went for something
to eat. I had a delicious grilled chicken! After an hour the rain almost
stopped and I continued to my destination. Once in the city I went for dinner
in a student restaurant: the perfect spot to get information in a country where
barely anyone speaks English. They advised me a hotel which I would have never
found (everything in Vietnamese only) but I have a phrasebook and after 5
minutes I got a cheap room. Well I paid slightly more than a normal Vietnamese
but that is because they arent allowed to house foreigners At the restaurant
I also got directions to a book shop where they should have a map and
directions to Vung Tau. I was pretty tired and had a long ride to Vung Tau
tomorrow so I went to bed early after calling my cousin (it was her birthday today).
Yesterday I was quite tired and couldnt get up at the time
I wanted to; instead of getting up at 5, I got up at 7.30 No problem there,
after getting breakfast and arranging the last things in Phnom Penh, I took off
at 8.30 with my nice, fully loaded trailer! After 5 km the first problem was
there: its a holiday and a lot of people were heading out of the city so there
was traffic jam. It didnt take long before a minivan hit the left wheel of my
trailer which got quite a hit! The trailer still went on smoothly so not that
big a problem Another 5 km further, they were repairing the road which means a
lot of potholes and small stony roads. Definitely not the ideal road to go on
with a trailer. But my trailer is built well and it could stand all the holes that
I couldnt avoid; ok I had to push a little harder on the small stones. Then
there was a bridge so I had the 4 things that arent very good for my trailer:
bridge (pretty tough to push), potholes (pretty bad for my wheels), stony road
(pretty tough to push) and getting hit by a car (not good for my wheels
either)! 20 km further the road works were finished and I took my first break:
my body welcomed a cold sprite and I refilled my water supply. The next 30 km
to the boat went smooth with a stop for eating and refilling my water Behind
the ferry is a town with some guesthouses, the last guesthouses for another 65
km. I was in doubt: it was now 1.10 pm; should I play safe or keep going? I
decided that I already had enough bad luck for the day so I kept going. I
stopped at a few temples on the road and 35 km further I stopped for the day.
Its now 5 am and I am awake after not much sleep. Yesterday
I ended up in a village about 30 km from Svay Rieng and 100 km from Phnom Penh.
Since there arent any guesthouses around I wanted to stay at the temple. On
the way to the temple some people asked where I was going and they offered me a
place in their house. However before sleeping I had to join them to drink some
rice wine (it was only 5 oclock). Then I told them that I wanted to look for
internet because it was my birthday and my cellphone died during the day so I
cant call home. I searched the entire village but to my surprise there was no
internet bar or no rich guy who has internet Then back to the house where I
had to eat something, apparently it was double feast today: It is a Buddhist
holiday and a Falang is staying in the neighbourhood. The food was good and
after an evening walk through the beautiful rice fields with a nice sunset due
to some clouds, we went upstairs. The house is quite big for the standards here
and completely covered in metal plates so I wont have to worry about rain. We
watched a summary of a game from the premier league and then some monks came
over to practise their English. Soon it was 8 oclock and that is very late
over here: the housewife had already prepared the beds. My bed is a big straw
carpet with a mosquito net, a little bit hard but sure it will do for tonight.
I fell asleep immediately but at about 10 oclock there was some very loud
music at the temple! They partied from 10 till 2 and kept me from sleeping
What was even worse was that the closings of the window kept opening; there was
a cold heavy wind coming in and I left my jacket and sweater downstairs After
hitting it pretty hard a couple of times it stayed closed and I could sleep
again, until the roosters started at 4.15 am. I always thought that they should
announce the sunrise but that is only at 5.30! Stupid animals
Anyway, after breakfast I will be leaving for the border
today which is about 70 km from here. The next country is coming close.
Yesterday was a good start of a great adventure!
a story about a guy trying to get a bicycle and a trailer
while having some fun. I got a friend who normally lives in Phnom Penh but is
now working in Belgium. Her family still wanted to meet me and help me on my
quest. The first 2 days I went looking for a good bicycle, the choices are tuff
since there are a lot of bicycles in Phnom Penh. Most of them are crap; some
seem to have potential but lack credibility; others have credibility but seem
too old. I was going to try a Chinese mountain bike when Thyas brother brought
me to a Giant shop. The new mountain bikes were a bit too pricy for me, but he
had a second hand Trek which looked great! Thyas older brother and I were
getting closer and he took me out to see Sorya mall with on top a skating rink.
We didnt go skating though, but it was pretty fun looking at the guys
performing some tricks. Then it was time for dessert and yes he knows where to
go, I just had to hop on the back of his motorbike and soon we were racing
through the streets of Phnom Penh. We were not very lucky since it started to
rain really bad as you can see on the picture; a real mousson rain The rain
wouldnt stop so he drove through some small alleys (with plastics hanging
everywhere to protect against the rain) and before I knew it I was back at the
guesthouse. A really good guesthouse btw, if you are ever going to Phnom Penh
and you want a clean, cheap guesthouse with friendly staff: go to ORussei
market, go down the road next to Capitol guesthouse (107street), follow this
road and just after the first crossing there is a pink/orange building on your
right hand side This is a good guesthouse.
Now the next goal was to find a trailer; not the easiest
task. To get one delivered from America or Europe costs 300$ shipping only +
250 $ for the trailer itself. Way too pricy so no option I drew some
schematics about what I wanted and downloaded some pictures from the internet.
With this and Thyas brother as a translator we went to some workshops. All of
them looked at me as if I came from a different planet and said that they
couldnt make it Then we went to a place where they have thousands of
bicycles; all junk that they are giving a second life. Maybe there would be a
trailer for sale We werent lucky I would have to make it myself and then
bring it to a welder, for that I could use the motorbike workshop on Sunday. On
Saturday I went looking for materials to see what I could use; the materials
here are different from home. For example, they dont have aluminium, which I
would normally use to make the thing lighter But they did have a wheel from a
shopping cart, which I could use for the attachment to the bicycle. This would
take care of 2 options for rotation! All I found for material was steel, so I
knew the cart would be pretty heavy I still had one problem: what to do about
the wheels. Then I stumbled across the carts that they use for the motorbike.
The size is about what I need and well, the design is pretty similar Some
minor adjustments and it should be ok!
So instead of using the workshop on Sunday we went to check
out the street where they make these carts; maybe there would be someone who
could make my design We didnt find anyone to make my design but we found a
pretty cheap cart without the small fat wheels for 35$. Across the street there
were 26 wheels with a bigger opening so they would fit on the axis but they
use normal bicycle tires. I bought them for 20$... It was getting late so I
would come back the next day. The next day I found a workshop where someone
spoke English and I explained him what I wanted. He helped me really well and
modified the newly bought cart to my wishes! While he was doing it he said:
why didnt you let me make it from scratch? this almost freaked me out: did I
finally find someone who was willing to make it now that it is too late? He
would have made the thing for 20$ and then I would have to buy the axis with
wheels for 25$ so that would safe me 10$ + the 25$ that he charged me now to
modify it Anyway it was too late now His men did a good job and I was even
allowed to help, I made the attachment to my bicycle and could go wild while
cutting of a bar from the original cart Now I still needed tires and I would
be set to go! I bought the tires for 10$, not the cheapest one but Japanese
ones so that I wouldnt get a puncture that easily I was proud of the
result!!!
Another thing I had to do in Phnom Penh was to get my visa
for Vietnam, for this I first checked some prices in different travel agencies
and Excellent tours on 107 street offered a closeby and good rate. I asked them
for a normal 30-day visa, the normal means that it will take 2 days; you can
also take an express The next day in the evening I went back and my visa was
ready however they had a 15-day visa! How could I ever cross Vietnam by bicycle
in 15-days? So I said that I needed a 30-day visa and I needed it fast: my visa
of Cambodia was running out and it would take me at least 2 days to the border
Another word of advise: when you want to use your Vietnamese visa for the
fullest, you need to give them the date of entry when you are applying for your
visa. Vietnam is the only country around here where that is necessary Anyway,
she recognised that it was her fault so she would fix it and said I could come
back in two days in the evening. This was not possible for me, so I said I
needed it the next day in the evening After playing a little cat and mouse
game it was ok and I could come pick it up the next day at 5 pm.
I'd been staying at the bar till pretty late so I left at 11.30 on my cycling trip of today. The goal: some caves about 13 km away but I wouldn't go the normal route: I first went to the market to buy my parents a gift. Then I went to the railway station, which has a special design. The railway is currently not used by any trains but quite a few locals use it as a road to their home so I followed them. The trail ended at the last house, but I still had to go a few kilometers further so I drove over the railway. It's quite bumpy that I have to say but for the rest it's something different: you get to see the countryside from a total different angle. A bit later my ass started to hurt and I saw a top of a temple sticking out of a small village so I went there. The temple was rather nice and I had a talk with some of the monks before leaving. They said that the caves weren't really worth a visit and that you have to pay an entrance fee for it so I decided to just run around and see how far that would take me... It went pretty well and soon I was 20 km from Kampot, I looked on the map and saw that it was only 10 km further to the delicious crabs!
I got a lot of energy left so off I went, over some dustroads past a few nice mountains on the way to Kep! About 4 km from Kep it started to rain really heavily so time for a drink, I talked to some locals to find out which shop sells the best crab and how much it costs about because they are known for their rip-off. He told me that a Kg of crab should cost between 12000 and 15000 riel (3 to 4 dollar) and the best are the locals, the restaurants don't serve 'fresh' crab. He says they catch it in the morning and then leave it in a box with ice, that's not fresh! For us that would be really fresh but I took his advice and bought a kilo from the local people. Asked them to cook it with the special Kampot pepper and I also wanted some rice and sauce with it. So after selecting which crabs I wanted (still alive), I waited for the crabs to be ready... They didn't have a chair nor table so I had to sit on the border while I could look at a beautiful sunset! A kg of crab is actually quite a lot (5 crabs) and after 2 crabs I was pretty full so I asked for a plastic bag and took them on my way. I was barely on my bicycle when it started to rain again; I had no time to stop for shelter since I saw that it would last pretty long and it was 4.30 (2 hours before sunset) while being 30 km from my guesthouse.
Back in Kampot I finished the other 3 crabs and went for Khmer desert: a lot of sweets in coconut milk and sirup, topped with some chopped ice and condensed milk, hmmm!
Today the 28th of september I called my grandmother to wish her a happy birthday and for the rest I went for a short tour up north the river into no-man's land. There I sat down to write these lovely reports of the past days. Hope you enjoy it!
Tomorrow I'll leave at 7.30 to Phnom Penh... There I'll get my bicycle if everything goes well!
I woke up full of energy today and went out to find a
mountain bike and breakfast. Soon I was set to go and left for Fishing Island;
as the name explains this island is full of fishermen To get there I had to cross the very interesting old bridge, the bridge has quite some history and has been rebuild in 4 different styles as you can see on the picture.
I took some random roads
throughout the island and soon got stuck: the path was only used in dry season
I think but then I estimated that the water from the creek would not be that
deep. I emptied my pockets and just drove through, it was a bit deeper than I
expected and I had to stand up on my pedals to make sure that my backpack would
not get wet. The only thing of my bicycle sticking out of the water was the
seat and the handle bar Refreshing is the correct word for this. A bit further
I got stuck again, but it was stuck with a wonderful view! The creek in front
of me was a bit deeper so I didnt give it a try, I saw some boys at the other
side and signed that I wanted to get there but didnt know how. The boys signed
that I could just ride through the dried salt fields and some more creeks. 10
minutes later I caught up with them and they lead me to a small village of salt
farmers. Balance after 30 minutes: completely soaked but for the first time nor
from the sweat nor from the rain, lots of beautiful sceneries and friendly
people. The boys invited me in for some tea and I dug out my Khmer phrasebook
to start a conversation.
Time to get going again as I continued my tour around
the island I spot a very small hut in pretty bad shape, it was going to rain
and I felt sorry for the one that lived there. The first drops were already
falling and I really appreciated it, a nice breeze an even better view, some
kids were running through the rain while shouting hello! Hello! Bye bye!
Hello! and they went in the hut that I just described. It wouldnt help them
much for shelter: the plastic on top was full of holes and badly attached so
one side was completely loose. A bit later the mom came past and she told me to
get in since it was starting to rain quite hard. Out of respect for her and to
make sure my backpack wouldnt get too wet I went in, as I though it didnt
help much. The hut was in a really bad shape and I saw that it really was a
house, I had to sit on her blanket (= bed) supposedly for my comfort but I
liked it because this way I could keep it dry As soon as it was over I thanked
them with words and some candy and took off before it would start again. After
2 minutes it started again but this time I kept driving regardless the many
invitations into their huts until I saw a waterproof house. Perfect for
shelter! I got some honey on a stick and some tea. Hmm delicious, this is what
I call fresh honey Now it was time to go and climb the hill of the island,
(only 40 meters high) but it gives very nice views if the sky is clear. It was
misty now I drove around for another hour before heading back to Kampot.
24th of september was a transport day from Sihanoukville to
Kampot. Since I still wasnt feeling very well and had a very nice room in
Sihanoukville I left quite late: I took a shared taxi at 11.00. The ride to
Kampot takes about 2 hours and we arrived at 4 pm. For those that are wandering
how that is possible, let me explain: A shared taxi is a car (Toyota camry)
that waits until its full before it leaves. Full means 6 passengers + the
driver. So I waited and waited until more people showed up, finally there were
4 others and the driver was satisfied. The others first treated me for lunch
since they didnt ate yet, aint gonna say no to food Once we arrived in
Kampot I asked to go to Bodhi villa, a backpackers place about 2 km north of
town. I just arrived there to hear that it is full for the rest of the week. I
wasnt in the mood to hop around guesthouses all the time so I just asked the
driver for a clean and relatively cheap place. In the evening I went for a
stroll down the very charming town towards the river where there is an amazing
sunset. The town consists of a lot of colonial style buildings who are rotting
away.
I also checked with the tour operators if I could do a two
day trekking to the Bokor national park with the famous bokor hill station. The
price was pretty overwhelming so that was out of the question. A one day tour
was still in debate however also pretty expensive for what it is. I told myself
that I would check out a different guesthouse tomorrow and rent a bicycle to go
to the countryside.
25th of September was a rainy day, I found a nice
guesthouse: blissful. The room is very basic but there is a mosquito net and
the sheets are clean, they have wifi, a video room and a dutch girl behind the
bar. I didnt do much because of the rain and took my time to do some research
about whats next: the bicycle trip! In the evening I treated myself with a
nice pasta on the riverside, while I was enjoying my beer I met another dutch
girl. She was interested in accompanying me to the monthly concert of the
traditional Khmer music school for disabled and orphaned children (I got the
flyer from the tourist office). So of we went looking for the school, when we
arrived there it was completely empty so I checked the date again: 25th
7.30 pm thats now. We looked around but besides some kids playing hide and
seek there was nobody around Finally someone showed up who spoke some English
and told us that the flyer is from June! Why does the tourist information gives
me a flyer from june! As far as I know I cant time travel yet and I have quite
a lot of travelling experience Anyway instead of a concert we just went for a
drink and talked a little. She advised me to go and check out the crab at Kep
which is supposed to be really good. She also told me that the tour to Bokor is
quite bad: a lot of car and waiting in different places, way too small lunch
and not enough time to walk around and see everything
first of all sorry for the late update but I didn't really feel like writing something so...
During these days I've been busy for the school and some cycling: in the morning I got on my mountain bike and drove into town for breakfast. After that I had a drink in a bar/hotel where they had internet access and then I asked to let my laptop there while it was downloading. It was never a problem as soon as I mentioned that it was for the Goodwill school. Then I got on my bicycle again and went for a ride of mostly about 3 hours along the beach or into the hills with the quaries... Totally exhausted and sweaty I went back to my guesthouse for a shower and then picked up my laptop and went to the school. They have two 'good' pc's: a 2.2 Ghz processor with 512 Mb of memmory, which should be able to run windows xp pretty smoothly... But that is not the case, the pc's are running badly: one of them simply stopped working after one month while the other one had no sound.
For the rest they have a 220 MHz pc with 64 Mb memmory and a few laptops which all are not working...
I'll have some work, because they had some requests of which I never heard and had no clue how to do it. Most of it was a software list and all pc's had to run xp. The two 'good' pc's wheren't that hard but I had to do it slowly because they wanted to learn how to do it. And they only have one windows xp cd so we had to wait a lot. The last day when I came there for the finishing touch I got to hear that one of the screens exploded. So we took the screen from the old pc and that is working now. The laptops are way beyond fixing: one of the laptops' screen isn't working, the other one has an ancient model of a hard drive of barely 1.5 Gb and the keyboard has a lot of characters missing. They said it's ok when I told them that that's not worth fixing.
Lundy (the one that teaches computer class) was really satisfied and he can now install windows + the software that I put on the pc's.
thursday in the evening I had a conversation class, which means that I had to teach them how to make small conversations. The first group were kids of 17 till 21 years old and it went pretty well however the girls were really shy and didn't dare to ask a lot of questions. With the necessary laughter the class ended. The second class was identically the same however with smaller children: 5 till 16 years old, their pronounciation is a lot better and they listen very carefully. After half an hour the class was suspended due to a power cut in town. I was left in the dark classroom without any means of light and bumped into almost everything while making my way out the door. Overall the experience was amazing! The children are so respectful, I will never forget this school!
I completely support the project, I've been there for quite a few days, sometimes without appointment so I know the way they work. They teach the children English, computer, Khmer, ... but most important is that they teach them values. In a school in Cambodia morals are not taught, but this school takes that task: they teach the children to think about their future, to clean up the littering, to create a sustainable environment,...
so today I had to get up at 6.30 which really hurt after the beers of last night, but anyway I told them I would be there and it is an hour drive from the guesthouse. On the way I had a delicious breakfast, it was rice with grilled vegetables, crispy pork and steamed tomatoes. I wanted to get another one but time was running out so I continued, after 5 minutes I got of the map so I was going with my memmory. From time to time I was doubting and I didn't think I would make it but then I saw the house and I was still 5 minutes early. These 5 minutes I used to drink some ice tea and to sweat, I was as wet as 2 days before but this time it wasn't from the rain... The youngest boy lead the procession as we followed trail after trail but then it seemed that we were further than he had ever been so I asked and they said he'd been here once before. The oldest now took the lead but the road was broader so we could walk next to each other, he also put some music on: the most popular English song here in Cambodia, I know you want me from the pittbuls. I know it by heart by now and still have 2 weeks of Cambodia left... We stopped at an old structure that was overgrown by nature and they explained it's one of the remains from Pol Pot. Seems like nature is finally trying to grow over the cruelties...
We continued past some rubber and tree plantations while they were treating me all kind of fruits and explaining me some herbs that they use in their daily life, I had to repeat the Khmer name and then adapt their pronounciation of the English name. It was a nice walk and back at my bicycle another meal was awaiting our presence. I wasn't allowed to pay anything, they said it was an honour to talk to me and guide me around the hills, it was a bit uncomfortable but they are oh soo nice!
On the way back I stopped to take a picture of the men beating the stones, this scenery is everywhere in Sihanoukville province. In the afternoon I went to another beach and in the evening I got a very nice spot for sunset and met some local students who were enjoying their sunday fishing.
the 17th was a rainy day so I didn't do that much: I practised my photoshop skills in the morning and downloaded some software for the school. In the afternoon I was tired of sitting still and getting wet in these temperatures is not so bad so I went mountainbiking and after 10 minutes I was soaked! I got a lot of strange looks while I was passing by... In the late afternoon it stopped raining and I stopped at a beach to get a drink and a swim: I was already wet so it didn't matter anymore. Not such an interesting day but it was relaxing.
The 18th I got up with a lot of energy at 7 am so I went for breakfast in town (everything is sleeping and closed until 9-10 am). I drove randomly up some dirtroads and around until I hit dead end after dead end. I was getting tired and thirsty so it was really nice when I heard: 'hey mister, you want beer?' If I wanted a beer, of course I did, I had been driving for 2 hours in the hills and it was bloody warm. The people at the shop/bar/restaurant were very friendly and we started a basic conversation in their best English. Since we got stuck pretty soon, we both took our phrasebooks (mine = english-> Khmer, theirs Khmer -> English) and pretty soon we were teaching each other. Time flew by and they asked if I wanted to join them for lunch, I gratefully accepted the offer and together with the boys I started eating. Every person got 2 plates of rice and there was a bowl of soup with some bitter vegetable stuffed with pork, there was a plate of fried fish and there was this meat that isn't meat (gebakken boterhamworst). The girls were allowed to eat the leftovers as soon as we were finished. Our conversation was so nice that they invited me to come back tomorrow morning (8 am) to go somewhere. I didn't understand where they wanted to take me, but they were so friendly and didn't look like people who would rip me off that I decided to come back. In the evening I went to town and found some different beers than pils, I found stout which is a nice variation. Back in the guesthouse I couldn't sleep because of the music which is always very loud until 3 am, the internet wasn't working and beer is just 0,25 $ put this together and you know that I was at the bar...
This morning I stayed in bed a little longer since there is
literally nobody awake before 9 am and that also means that you cant get breakfast
within a radius of 4 km. When I woke up, I left for the port. Halfway I passed
a nice beach so I took a rest there while enjoying a piece of true paradise! I
walked along the beach before taking a rest in one of the hammocks with of
course a view on the paradise! I even fell asleep for a bit and woke up from
the sound of kids playing. They were rope skipping with a rope made out of a
lot of rubbers (elastiekjes), excellent for taking some pictures as you can see
below. Then I continued to the port of Sihanoukville, which is a big
containerpark and doesnt allow curious visitors like me. I went to a very poor
neighbourhood/ suburb (similar to what you see in movies about big
South-American cities). It was nice biking around the bad roads and I ended up
at a deserted quarry with lots of great mountainbike trails! Oh I had fun
driving around and I kept passing the same road to go up so the locals from
there were really looking strange at me
Time to go back, take a shower and go to the school where I
would start volunteering. I got a tour around and got introduced to the
problems they are having and the possibilities for me to help them out. Most of
it is PC related so its not really a problem Tomorrow Ill go back to fix
some of the pcs and to give some pc training.
this morning I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep so I drove around the beaches and into town where I found a phrasebook. Finally I found one and it isn't even a very good one: it's one from 1991 and it has no phonetics but some kind of English way of pronouncing it which mostly is wrong. I already changed a lot of the pronounciation and now I can say a few sentences in Khmer. Geared up with the book I went to a local non touristy restaurant and it took me only 5 minutes to order a noodle soup with everything on it. I had to specify the type of noodles, the meat, whether or not I wanted soyabeans,... It tasted great so with a happy tummy I went back to the guesthouse. It was only 8 am and everything around here was still closed so I couldn't leave for my trip yet.
Luckily there is internet and I studied some photoshop basics and tried them out. By 9.30 the bicycle shop finally opened and I returned the bad bicycle, went a bit further to another rental and got a good one. I also got a map of the neighbourhood with it so I was set for a trip to the waterfall. The guy at the rental gave me bad instructions which cost me a detour of 5 km through the hills but with a brilliant view on the port. Half an hour later I was so sweaty that I stopped for a fresh coconut and started a conversation with the locals (now that I have a phrasebook I better use it), they declared me crazy that I was going to the waterfall by bicycle: that is at least 15 km further he said. He even offered to take me there for just 2 dollar but I was determined to stick with the bicycle. After about an hour cruising through the oh so beautiful countryside and protected forest I arrived at the waterfall. It was huge which should be visible on the pictures...
I found a nice shelter with a hammock and view on the waterfall where I relaxed for an hour. When I got up I felt like reborn and jumped around some rocks to get better views on the waterfalls (there are more than one). For anyone who is going to Sihanoukville and can appreciate a nice waterfall you definately have to go there! The entrance fee is just 1 dollar and you should be able to arrange a motorbike with driver for about 7 or 8 dollar. On the way back I stopped for lunch in a local restaurant where I got treated like a king: I asked for some local dish with round rice noodles. The size of the plate was definately ok and then I got a big bowl of soup, some tea and a beer with it. Another interesting conversation with in the end the entire neighbourhood (at least 30 people came to look how I was enjoying my meal and trying to talk to them).
The ride back went a lot faster since I took the shortest route now, It was only 4 o: clock so I did some research about what to do tomorrow. I found a volunteering school and I went to the manager of the school to see if she has some kind of job for me. She wasn't there so I hanged around in town, I got a snack at this restaurant then main course at another one and then dessert at yet another one to kill the time and of course to enjoy the food. I went back to see the manager and we had a nice talk. I have to go to the school tomorrow to fix some pc's and to see what else I would be interested in... Sounds like fun to me.
Right now the guesthouse changed into a giant party but most of the people are stoned so I don't really feel in the mood to join them. Maybe I'll have a drink in a bit.
today I changed city: I went to Sihanoukville, THE beach of cambodia and that you can see. I entered tourism again; there are so many western people here... I checked in in a guesthouse for 1.5 $ a night with free internet, it's pretty cheap... They also have free internet which is the reason why I could update my blog again. When I arrived here after a comfortable busride the first thing I did was get a bicycle so I could explore the neighbourhood. The beach that is really closeby is not really nice and way too touristy but there is a beach about 4 km away that is quite relaxing so I'll check that one out in a few days. Then I arranged a ranger to guide me around the national park tomorrow and I headed for a late lunch. At the market they serve big dishes for almost no money. After exploring some more and updating the blog I started talking with some people from Ireland which was pretty fun, then I made some phonecalls to Belgium and went for dinner. After dinner I met some local cambodians who kept refilling my glass of beer and treating me delicacies from around here. Some of which were really nice! Now it's about time to go to bed however nothing seems to be open before 9 am so I can sleep long...
yesterday evening I got a phonecall from the tour arranger in town that there were 2 more people interested in a trip and asked if I wanted to join. It concerned a trip to a 'wonderfull' waterfall as he called it. I took a look at the pictures and agreed to join. So in the morning I woke up early to find a local breakfast which I found next to the guesthouse: rice soup with chicken. It wasn't really chicken, it was a mix of chicken skin, chicken fat and chicken intestines. The liver tasted quite good, but the fat, the skin and the feet I left in my plate while enjoying the rice and vegetables. I bought a sandwich for lunch and then I got picked up to go to the boat. The speedboat that he told we would be using was actually a small plastic boat which barely fit 4 persons with an engine attached to it. It went faster than in looked and soon we were jumping over the waves while wishing that he went a bit slower. We passed the same type of boat filled with at least 10 locals and wondered how they could fit. After an hour my ass and belly were happy that we arrived and we walked over the rocks passed the waterfall. There we went for a swim and some floating in the stream. The guide signed that it was about time to go to another waterfall closeby; it was a very beautiful one of at least 30 meter high but there wasn't that much water comming off. When we turned around we saw two more waterfalls of about 5 meter high, 20 and 40 meter wide. One of them had very clear water while the other one had the same sandcolor as the river we came from. When we asked whether we could go to the one with clear water he said he didn't know so we tried. After crowling under, over and between rocks we made it to the one with clear water. The water was very cold and had a lot of force.
We hanged around for about 3 hours before returning to the boat. On the way to the boat we saw a path leading to the mountains so we took it and ended up at a small, but nevertheless beautiful temple with a great view. The way back by boat was even bumpier than the way to get there: I had to hold on to not hop over the edge. Another great trip!!!
In the evening I wanted to call my grandmother to wish her a happy birthday but my luck ran out: the internet of the entire area was out.
today I went kayaking since I couldn't find anyone to go on a trekking with me . There are not that many tourists here besides the sex tourists... I don't want to go on a trekking with them... The concept of the kayaking was pretty easy: cross a river, go through the mangroves to a small river comming from the mountains, leave the kayak and start climbing up towards some rapids for swimming. This all under the all-seeing eye of a cambodian who can't speak nor hear... After crossing the river he let me know that he was tired and wanted a rest, ok the river was pretty wide but still... He knew his way around the mangroves pretty well and soon I lost all sense of direction. Then at once around a corner there was a small river comming down a mountain and after avoiding some rocks he parked the kayak and led the way up the mountain. Now I had a pretty hard time to catch up, he jumped from one slippery rock to the other! great sense of balance but I couldn't do it, I always had to find some place to hold on to. It was sooo beautiful! Finally a place without trash and it was so quiet, that's the advantage of someone who can't speak. I enjoyed a little swim in the rapids. Then we had to go back and again he was so fast on the land so I used a little more speed on the kayak. This time upstream and there were waves now which made it pretty difficult to go and the kayak got a lot of water. In the middle of the river he got out of the kayak and told me to do the same, luckily it was only half a meter deep. We emptied the kayak and continued. It was high tide so we could go trough the maze of creeks to make a final tour. A great trip, but kayaking at 35 °C makes you sweaty...
Another travelling day: the plan was to get
up pretty early, leave with the cousins to Mo Chit BTS station and then go to
Ekkamai where I could get on a bus to Trat. It went pretty smooth: I woke up at
5.30, left the house at 6.45, took the bus at 8.30 and arrived in trat around 2
pm. The busride was really comfy: it was only 1/3 full so I got plenty of
space, there was free water, cookies and coke, I got a blanket and I could
sleep pretty well. Once in Trat, some people were arranging a taxi to the
border so I changed my plans and went with them. The e-visa that I got a few
days before, works perfect and is pretty cheap compared with all the extras
you have to pay the officers if you dont have a visa. So if you ever want to
go to Cambodia,
check out the e-visa! I got dropped of at a nice guesthouse where I am still
staying: they have free wifi but it aint working and I am not allowed to fix
it There is also a nice swimming pool and they have a good banana pancake for
breakfast. I found a bicycle to rent for the next day and I got pretty tired so
I went to bed early.
The 11th of September
After a good night sleep and a morning swim
I picked up the bicycle and went to the mangroves: they have the second largest
mangrove forest of Asia here! I got some
directions where to go, how vague they are I still managed to get there through
deserted land. It was beautiful but damn hot and I got to the mangroves all
sweaty! I went on the elevated walkway but it wasnt quiet: I was being
followed by a group of Chinese who (as always) make a lot of noise and pose
everywhere. After a while they finally went on another route and I could enjoy
the quietness of the jungle. There were spiders, crabs and birds everywhere.
When I was on the watch tower I heard a big splash and when I turned around I
saw the splash. I asked the locals what it was and they signed it was a
crocodile that caught a fish. I went to take a closer look and yes there was a
crocodile, but I didnt see any fish. I was happy to be on the elevated walkway
and to be sure I quickly got away. I finished the walk and went on my bicycle
again. This time I took a detour through the fishermen village, a lot of
children said hello and it cheered me up. I tried to hire a fisherman and his
boat to go through the mangroves, but that was more difficult than it seemed.
Apparently during noon they prefer to take a nap instead of making some money. No
problem, I just kept on driving through the deserted land and made another
detour so that I didnt have to go the same way back. On the way I met a bunch
of boys who were picking shells and then washing them so I stopped to look and
they invited me to join them. I helped them a bit and then they started a fire.
The roof was broken down to make a grill and the shells were fried on top. The
boys had some sauces with them and I got a private servant who taught me how to
see when the shell is ready and which sauce goes with which shell. Different
sizes have different taste It was delicious but I think I will have some digestion
problems in a few days
At night I went to Paddys bar, apparently
the place to be if you are not looking for sex tourism and more into
ecotourism. A couple of English speaking locals can arrange any kind of trip
for you. I had a nice chat and some cheap drinks 50 cent for a 33 cl beer
The 6th of September Patchara
had to apply for her visa again so we got up early and left for the center. We
were there before opening hours, but there were already quite some people
queuing. When the application was finished we went to siam museum,
once we were there we found out that it is closed on Monday After a quick
brainstorm about what to do, we decided to go to wat Arun (aka the temple of
dawn), a ferry brought us there and up the temple we went. We got hungry so we
went looking for a restaurant, on the way to the restaurant we saw an arrow
pointing to another wat. We still had some time so further on we went, exploring
the western bank of Bangkok.
We passed a temple for king Taksin. A ferry brought us back to the eastern bank
where we had some dessert and then met up with Kamrob to go home.
The 7th of September we went
again to siam
museum, this time it was open and well it was worth it! One of the best museums
Ive ever visited: it is interactive, every room has a different theme and it
uses state of the art technology. We had quite a laught and enjoyed doing all
the different suff such as controlling a story by hitting on a drum, dressing
up in traditional clothes, pretending to present the news in black and white,
posing in an old car, We spend a couple of hours there and then finished our
trip with a refreshing drink.
The 8th of September we went for
a swim and relax at the intercontinental hotel but first we enjoyed dim sun for
lunch. Damn it tasted amazing! The swimming felt nice too and after the
swimming I quickly enjoyed the yakuzi kept at a constant temperature of 42 °C
and a massage shower. Too bad there was no time to try out the sauna and
vapour-bath, but thats ok. On the way back we stopped to buy Milo, a little doggy. They also bought diapers for the
dog; its so strange to see him run around with a diaper. He could barely walk
and he doesnt like to pee in it so he tries to get it off when he has to go
and then he just goes on the carpet :(.
The 9th of September
Today
we took the songthaew to the supermarket together with the cook. I needed new
sandals because they were breaking down. And yes, there were sandals, they even
were in sale! We saw an ice-skating rink in the mall and wanted to go, but we
were not wearing the right clothes so we first went back home to change. On the
way home we met up with Patcharas mom to have lunch The ice skating was really
a lot of fun and Patchara is getting better at it, the funniest was that it was
full of really good skaters and then we were trying to avoid falling. In the
evening we had to pass by the vet for Milo, he
had a bad cough and needed a check-up
This morning we woke up late and didnt want to get out of the way too comfy bed, but then we wouldnt be able to go swimming so... The pool was rather cold but in a city as Bangkok that is quite ok. After swimming we enjoyed a little work-out in the fitness centre and by the time we were done, we got picked up by Patchara and her mother. We had a small lunch at Paragon and then went for a tea/ dessert buffet in another fancy hotel. Afterwards we went to check in at intercontinental (yes the hotel from the lunch buffet the day before). At night Patchara joined us to go clubbing, pretty interesting to see how the Thai dance while enjoying a cocktail. After a while we wanted to go back but we couldnt reach Kamrob (the driver), we looked around in the street, at nearby parking lots, Patchara called her mom who then also tried to call Kamrob without any success. As a final attempt we walked to the back of the club where we found the car with a sleeping Kamrob inside. I hope he didnt get punished for it, I found it pretty amusing. Halfway we took a taxi to our hotel where we enjoyed a night in the comfortable beds.
Saturday 4th of September
In this hotel breakfast was included, it was about the same size as the lunch from 2 days before but then with breakfast dishes. I enjoyed it to the fullest, 2 hours later I was really full and wanted to go swimming but I was too full for that. So I decided to take a rest and then I could go swimming! You can already imagine that lunch was not necessary In the afternoon we went to MBK so that Kevin could finish his shopping and then we went to Piampongsant residence for dinner. Kevin freshened up and then we brought him to the airport, I got a room at their home for a few days so I went back with Patchara.
the 17th was a rainy day so I didn't do that much: I practised my photoshop skills in the morning and downloaded some software for the school. In the afternoon I was tired of sitting still and getting wet in these temperatures is not so bad so I went mountainbiking and after 10 minutes I was soaked! I got a lot of strange looks while I was passing by... In the late afternoon it stopped raining and I stopped at a beach to get a drink and a swim: I was already wet so it didn't matter anymore. Not such an interesting day but it was relaxing.
. There are not that many tourists here besides the sex tourists... I don't want to go on a trekking with them... The concept of the kayaking was pretty easy: cross a river, go through the mangroves to a small river comming from the mountains, leave the kayak and start climbing up towards some rapids for swimming. This all under the all-seeing eye of a cambodian who can't speak nor hear... After crossing the river he let me know that he was tired and wanted a rest, ok the river was pretty wide but still... He knew his way around the mangroves pretty well and soon I lost all sense of direction. Then at once around a corner there was a small river comming down a mountain and after avoiding some rocks he parked the kayak and led the way up the mountain. Now I had a pretty hard time to catch up, he jumped from one slippery rock to the other! great sense of balance but I couldn't do it, I always had to find some place to hold on to. It was sooo beautiful! Finally a place without trash and it was so quiet, that's the advantage of someone who can't speak. I enjoyed a little swim in the rapids. Then we had to go back and again he was so fast on the land so I used a little more speed on the kayak. This time upstream and there were waves now which made it pretty difficult to go and the kayak got a lot of water. In the middle of the river he got out of the kayak and told me to do the same, luckily it was only half a meter deep. We emptied the kayak and continued. It was high tide so we could go trough the maze of creeks to make a final tour. A great trip, but kayaking at 35 °C makes you sweaty...
