Well, spring is here in Seoul.
The weather is warm, and there are beautiful flowers everywhere. Also, I've just recently had to teach Unit 3 to my sixth grade students, entitled "I like spring", and its really boring to teach (and probably to learn as well!)
The week before heading to Japan, Bobby and I decided to explore the cherry blossoms that Seoul had on display. First we went to Changgyeonggung Palace, which we'd been to, but wanted to visit again. The cherry blossoms were great and there was a big fish pond with giant fish.
On date night, I took Bob to Yeouido Park, behind the National Assembly of Korea. It was incredibly croweded. We're talking tens of thousand of people. It was worth the throng though. The trees were lit up in many different colours that night, and the road was closed off for people to walk along, and for cotton candy vendors (with the cotton candy machine attachd to the back of their moto) and dried squid vendonrs, and for performances and bands. We caught a really great jazz band dressed up as clowns, and followed them down the street for a while. The only problem was trying to get a taxi or get on a bus when we decided to leave. It took forever!
Last week the subject teachers in my office decided to take Wednesday afternoon off to go out for a movie and then for dinner. I was very fortunate and they treated me to both. We watched Slumdog Millionaire (which I'd already seen), at the CGV theater near Bulwang Station. Korean movie theatres are odd. Firstly, there is assigned seating, which you are expected to sit in, even if you're the only people in the theatre. Secondly, there is a variety of weird things that are offered at the snack bar, such as dried squid. We then went out for dinner at an Italian restaurant near Bob's school. When you eat a meal in Korea, you order a few dishes of different things, and then everybody shares. Same goes for the drinks. One coke was ordered, and we just passed around the glass. It's very odd, but a good system, because you can try basically everything you want.
On Monday, my package of Easter presents arrived from home. It was heavy, and the worst day possible to arrive, due to the major storm happening outside. There were gail force winds, and my umbrella repeatedly turned inside out until I gave up on using it. The rain was pooling on the ground; there was so much of it.
Today is Wednesday, and my favourite day of the week, by far. To begin with, the week is almost over. Also, its my shortest teaching day, and we have date night tonight.
I'm trying to blog more often, which is difficult. But I'm trying!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Tokyo for Easter!
So we decided to go to Tokyo for Easter weekend, to see the cherry blossoms. It took me a bit of convincing to get Bob back on another plane, but as I'm sure he'd agree, it was well worth it. Bob had a holiday on Friday, April 10th, and I asked for the afternoon off, and we were set.
We flew out at 5:30 pm from Incheon on Friday, and landed in Tokyo at 8 pm later that night. The plane ride was good, and not as nerve wracking for Bobby as he'd expected. We ate sushi on the plane ride, and sampled some Asahi beer.
Do we look scared?
Bob and his dinner:
Sushi served on the plane:
Trying the shrimp:
Tokyo immigration was insane. We waited in line for over an hour, just to hand over our passport for 5 seconds, have our picture taken and our fingerprint scanned.
We passed through and collected our luggage like the seasoned pro's we've become.
Does he look happy to be off the plane?
These pictures cost us about 20 minutes in line at immigration:
We then caught an Airport Limousine from Narita Airport into the Tokyo city centre, for $30. The drive took about 80 minutes, and it was fascinating to see Tokyo lit up at night. Driving on the opposite side of the road took a little getting used to, too. Tokyo is amazing to see. The city planning that it involves blows my mind. There are intricate roadway systems, all layered above rivers. Skyscrapers were everywhere as well, which is quite different from the architecture in Seoul.
The bus dropped us off at Shinjuku Station. Lights and tall buildings were everywhere. It was about 11 at night when we got off the bus, and started to follow the crazy directions to our hotel that I'd printed off the website. Japanese people are so friendly, and go out of their way to help you. They also are not intimidated by using their English, as we'd grown accustomed to in Seoul. This was a very refreshing experience.
We arrived at the Tateshina Hotel around midnight, to a very friendly front desk operator, who answered all my questions very efficiently. Our room was tiny. Bob had to stoop to get through the door, and the built in bathroom was cramped to say the least.
Is he a giant or is that room tiny?
On Saturday morning, we woke up very early, and headed out to Shinjuku Gyeon gardens, to see the famous cherry blossoms. It was amazing. The park was beautifully landscaped, the sun was shining, and people were just arriving to have picnics under the flower-laden trees, so it wasn't crowded yet. The Japanese style gardens are definitely something to be seen. There were also huge carp swimming around in the ponds, and a shrine in the back corner of the park. Everything was pink and green and beautiful.
Bob with a Cherry Blossom Party in the background:
Aren't we cute?
Shinjuku Gyeon Park:
After the park, we ventured into the maze of the subway system. We bought a day pass for only $10, which is cheap by Japanese standards. We rode to Asakusa Station, to see the Sensoji temple, with its giant red paper lantern. It was very croweded and touristy, so we didn't stay long.
I'd lost Bob for a bit, but then I found him:
Riding the Rails:
On the way to the Temple:
At the Temple:
Paper Lanterns:
Next we hoped back onto the subway system and headed to Tsukiji Station, to see the Tsukiji Wholesale Fish market. Early in the morning they have a famous tuna auction, which we missed, but we still walked around and took some great pictures, and bought some cool bamboo cooking utensils.
At the fish market:
Buying Dinner:
And Desert:
After the fish market we rode to Tokyo Station (where we ate ice cream cones from a vending machine) to see the Imperial Palace Gardens. It was very pretty here, and there were more cherry blossoms. We sat in the park taking a breather from our busy morning, and I wrote some postcards to send home. There was a very pretty bridge and a temple where we took lots of pictures.
We got a little turned around:
Bob loves the cherry blossoms:
At the Imperial Palace Gardens:
From here, we decided to walk to Tokyo Tower, which we could see off in the distance. We made it half way there before our legs gave out, and we decided to take the subway for the rest of the way. We didn't go up the tower, for time and money sake, but we explored the base, before hitting up a convenience store for some more well deserved ice cream and some sake.
Tokyo Tower:
At this point we were completely done for, and decided to head home to relax. We sat in our small hotel room watching Japanime for about an hour before walking back out to Shinjuku and all its bright lights. We walked through the adult entertainment area, passing so many casinos and slots, searching for something to eat. We were dead tired, and Bob gets a little grumpy when he's not fed on time, so we were on a mission, but that didn't stop us from taking a zillion pictures of this crazy and busy place. We finally found a little Italian restaurant where we had a quick dinner, before heading home and crashing.
Intersection at Shinjuku:
Bobby in Tokyo:
Maureen in Tokyo:
Shinjuku Area:
More Lanterns:
No idea where we are here:
The next morning we checked out of the hotel, and walked to Shinjuku Station, where we were to catch our bus in 2 hours back to Narita Airport. We figured we had enough time to walk to Meiji Jingu Shrine, and we're glad we did. We had our giant backpacks on, but the walk was quick and well worth it. The shine was set in the middle of a huge forest in the middle of the city centre. It was very peaceful, even though you could see skyscrapers popping up behind the trees. There was a Japanese wedding ceremony happening at the shrine, and many women dressed up like Geisha were walking around, minus the face paint. We stayed for about 30 minutes before making the hike back to the Station.
Told you it was small:
At the Meiji Jingu Shrine:
Us at the Shrine:
Bobby at the Shrine:
Overall, it was a whirlwind tour, but since the flights were only $270, it was well worth it, and we would definitely recommend it to anyone. My aunt Carol had been singing there just the previous weekend, and it was a shame we missed her.
We arrived home around 7 pm on Sunday, were we ordered a pizza and watched a movie, before falling into a sound sleep. School this past week was tiring, but I'd do it all again if I had the chance.
We flew out at 5:30 pm from Incheon on Friday, and landed in Tokyo at 8 pm later that night. The plane ride was good, and not as nerve wracking for Bobby as he'd expected. We ate sushi on the plane ride, and sampled some Asahi beer.
Do we look scared?
Bob and his dinner:
Sushi served on the plane:
Trying the shrimp:
Tokyo immigration was insane. We waited in line for over an hour, just to hand over our passport for 5 seconds, have our picture taken and our fingerprint scanned.
We passed through and collected our luggage like the seasoned pro's we've become.
Does he look happy to be off the plane?
These pictures cost us about 20 minutes in line at immigration:
We then caught an Airport Limousine from Narita Airport into the Tokyo city centre, for $30. The drive took about 80 minutes, and it was fascinating to see Tokyo lit up at night. Driving on the opposite side of the road took a little getting used to, too. Tokyo is amazing to see. The city planning that it involves blows my mind. There are intricate roadway systems, all layered above rivers. Skyscrapers were everywhere as well, which is quite different from the architecture in Seoul.
The bus dropped us off at Shinjuku Station. Lights and tall buildings were everywhere. It was about 11 at night when we got off the bus, and started to follow the crazy directions to our hotel that I'd printed off the website. Japanese people are so friendly, and go out of their way to help you. They also are not intimidated by using their English, as we'd grown accustomed to in Seoul. This was a very refreshing experience.
We arrived at the Tateshina Hotel around midnight, to a very friendly front desk operator, who answered all my questions very efficiently. Our room was tiny. Bob had to stoop to get through the door, and the built in bathroom was cramped to say the least.
Is he a giant or is that room tiny?
On Saturday morning, we woke up very early, and headed out to Shinjuku Gyeon gardens, to see the famous cherry blossoms. It was amazing. The park was beautifully landscaped, the sun was shining, and people were just arriving to have picnics under the flower-laden trees, so it wasn't crowded yet. The Japanese style gardens are definitely something to be seen. There were also huge carp swimming around in the ponds, and a shrine in the back corner of the park. Everything was pink and green and beautiful.
Bob with a Cherry Blossom Party in the background:
Aren't we cute?
Shinjuku Gyeon Park:
After the park, we ventured into the maze of the subway system. We bought a day pass for only $10, which is cheap by Japanese standards. We rode to Asakusa Station, to see the Sensoji temple, with its giant red paper lantern. It was very croweded and touristy, so we didn't stay long.
I'd lost Bob for a bit, but then I found him:
Riding the Rails:
On the way to the Temple:
At the Temple:
Paper Lanterns:
Next we hoped back onto the subway system and headed to Tsukiji Station, to see the Tsukiji Wholesale Fish market. Early in the morning they have a famous tuna auction, which we missed, but we still walked around and took some great pictures, and bought some cool bamboo cooking utensils.
At the fish market:
Buying Dinner:
And Desert:
After the fish market we rode to Tokyo Station (where we ate ice cream cones from a vending machine) to see the Imperial Palace Gardens. It was very pretty here, and there were more cherry blossoms. We sat in the park taking a breather from our busy morning, and I wrote some postcards to send home. There was a very pretty bridge and a temple where we took lots of pictures.
We got a little turned around:
Bob loves the cherry blossoms:
At the Imperial Palace Gardens:
From here, we decided to walk to Tokyo Tower, which we could see off in the distance. We made it half way there before our legs gave out, and we decided to take the subway for the rest of the way. We didn't go up the tower, for time and money sake, but we explored the base, before hitting up a convenience store for some more well deserved ice cream and some sake.
Tokyo Tower:
At this point we were completely done for, and decided to head home to relax. We sat in our small hotel room watching Japanime for about an hour before walking back out to Shinjuku and all its bright lights. We walked through the adult entertainment area, passing so many casinos and slots, searching for something to eat. We were dead tired, and Bob gets a little grumpy when he's not fed on time, so we were on a mission, but that didn't stop us from taking a zillion pictures of this crazy and busy place. We finally found a little Italian restaurant where we had a quick dinner, before heading home and crashing.
Intersection at Shinjuku:
Bobby in Tokyo:
Maureen in Tokyo:
Shinjuku Area:
More Lanterns:
No idea where we are here:
The next morning we checked out of the hotel, and walked to Shinjuku Station, where we were to catch our bus in 2 hours back to Narita Airport. We figured we had enough time to walk to Meiji Jingu Shrine, and we're glad we did. We had our giant backpacks on, but the walk was quick and well worth it. The shine was set in the middle of a huge forest in the middle of the city centre. It was very peaceful, even though you could see skyscrapers popping up behind the trees. There was a Japanese wedding ceremony happening at the shrine, and many women dressed up like Geisha were walking around, minus the face paint. We stayed for about 30 minutes before making the hike back to the Station.
Told you it was small:
At the Meiji Jingu Shrine:
Us at the Shrine:
Bobby at the Shrine:
Overall, it was a whirlwind tour, but since the flights were only $270, it was well worth it, and we would definitely recommend it to anyone. My aunt Carol had been singing there just the previous weekend, and it was a shame we missed her.
We arrived home around 7 pm on Sunday, were we ordered a pizza and watched a movie, before falling into a sound sleep. School this past week was tiring, but I'd do it all again if I had the chance.
Vacation Days 8-16: Cambodia
Day 8: Saturday, February 21 - Ho Chi Minh to Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville
On this day we took a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was a very tiny plane, reaffirming Bob's phobia of flying, and actually scaring me a little too. The plane had very few seats, and the wings actually had propellers. We felt pretty nervous flying around in this plane.
When we landed we were bombarded with touts for taxi drivers and tuk tuk drivers. We quickly got frustrated with bargaining and being harassed, so we decided to sit down and have a Flurry in the Dairy Queen at the airport, where a rather industrious tuk tuk driver approached us, and with whom we ended up buying his service.
The deal was he'd drive us in his tuk tuk for $5 into town, where we would then meet his "friend" who would drive us to Sihanoukville (our destination for the day, involving an 6 hour drive). For some reason, this sounded like a good idea.
So the tuk tuk driver leaves the airport, and we enter into the most sketchy area ever. Phnom Penh is a very poor and non-industrialized city. He ended up driving us down an desolate, run down alley, which was completely deserted, save for the 2 scary looking characters on motos. Here we would wait for "5 minutes" for his "friend" to arrive. I was scared for my life. They were actually very friendly and made all sorts of chit chat, but I was too nervous to talk much back to him.
Turns out his friend arrived not too long after this, and it was a legit operation. Only 1 company is allowed to offer taxi services at the airport, so we can to leave the airport to meet his friend in the taxi with the different company. I doubt I'd ever do that again though.
The drive to Sihanoukville was incredible. There were palm trees and naked children running around everywhere. We had to slam on the breaks on no less than 2 occasions to swerve around giant lanky white cows, that were wandering all over the place, with no keepers and no restraints.
We arrived at Mick and Craig's just as the sun was setting in Sihanoukville. Sihanoukville is a party town located on the beach on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. It was hot, and there were all sorts of restaurants, selling incredibly cheap drink, right on the beach. We drink like drunkards for under $5. We slept well that night, and the hostel only cost us $5 each.
Day 9: Sunday February 22 - Lazy Beach
The next weekend we woke up early, and headed to the beach in our bathing suits carrying all our stuff. We had to meet at the Seahorse Guesthouse to catch the boat to Koh Rong Saloem Island, home of Lazy Beach.
Our bags floated to the boat in a dry box, where the 4 passengers had to swim. It was only Bob and myself, and a Swedish couple going to the island.
The boat was supposed to leave at 12 pm, but the crew were loading new grass sections of roof on the boat, which took about 1.5 hours, the entire time we were waiting on the boat.
The water was incredibly choppy, and the boat continually rocked. Bob and I started to feel a tiny bit sick, so he jumped off, and swam back to shore to rest on dry land, while I toughed it out on the boat, getting very very sunburnt, little did I know.
Soon we were on our way, and the water was rough. We were sitting on the deck of this small boat, fighting through the waves. The driver and his helper kept giving us a knowing smile as we clung to the sides of the boat, riding the waves. I got feeling really sick.
After about 2 hours on the open ocean, we arrived on our private island, Lazy Beach.
Day 10 & 11: Monday, February 23-Tuesday, February 24 - Koh Rong Saloem, Lazy Beach
Lazy Beach was incredible. The weather was beautiful, and the food was great.
There were ten grass huts on the island, each holding a maximum of 4 people, and then staff quarters and a grass hut restaurant. There were about 25 people total on the island. We had our own private grass hut, right on the beach.
We relaxed and read our book in the hammocks, and enjoyed great food, and their signature drink the Lazy Sunset (2 shots of Malibu rum, pineapple juice and a splash of grenadine). We went swimming and lazed on the beach throughout the day. This was the most relaxing time of my life.
In the mornings we went snorkeling, and saw thousands of beautiful and friendly fish, as well as sea urchins, sea slugs, and a cuttlefish which could change colours. We swam through something called sea lice, which felt like tiny little electric shocks, as well as black squid ink.
One of the days we went on a 20 minute hike through the Cambodian jungle (complete with monkeys) to another beach, with not a living soul on it, or any signs of habitation. The sand was pristine white, and the water was clear and blue. The tide was going out, and we had to save a star fish from drying out, which was quite the episode.
Our first night in the grass hut was crazy. There is no power on the island, so they must run a generator for lights, which they turn on at sunset and keep running until 11 pm, and after that, the only light you have was from a flash light, if you were smart enough to bring one (yay Bob!).
So it started when we saw the gecko on the wooden wall of the hut. He was huge and beautiful. He was orange and covered in little blue spots, and big! The gecko in the Geiko commercial was tiny compared to this guy. He became a regular visitor in our hut.
Next, I went into the little concrete bathroom attached to the back of our hut. I walked in, and looked down. The floor was covered in ants. Millions of teeming ants covered the floor. I almost threw up. I hate ants, especially in numbers such as these. I'd never seen so many in my life. We washed them down the drain, which was a long process, considering their numbers. Well, Bob washed them down the drain, while I hid in the bed covered in the mosquito netting. The island operator seemed to think that a recent rain must have ruined their nest (yuk!) and they were looking for a new home.
So after the ant problem was solved, and the gecko had gone to bed, we thought we would too, and we did. But not for long. We woke up in the darkness, with only our little flash light, to a fluttering noise. We had no idea what it was, until we saw it, from behind our protective covering and our personal Savior, the mosquito netting. It was a bat. A giant, Cambodian jungle bat, about the size of my forearm. I somehow managed to open the window next to the bed, through the mosquito netting, and the bat left us alone in peace.
The peace didn't last long though. After we'd (somehow)fallen back to sleep, we were awoken once again, but this time to a rustling. A close by, terrifying rustling. Turns out a rat, a giant Cambodian jungle rat, had climbed into my bag, (my zippered-closed bag), and was munching on my Lays potato chips, which I had with me even though we were instructed not to have any food in our rooms. But come on, the bag was zippered, and I can't buy those chips in Korea! We scared the rat away and went to sleep, for good this time.
The next night I was afraid to go back to sleep, understandably, but our friends never showed back up. But of course, I got sick. Very very very sick. I had to keep leaving the protection of the mosquito netting, and stumble through the dark, into the previously ant-infested bathroom (aka my greatest nightmare) to use a toilet that you had to flush by pouring water into it from a garbage can full in the dark corner. Worst night ever. Which leads to the next morning.
Day 12: Wednesday, February 25 - Taxi from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap
The next morning, I was still sick, and we were nearing the end of our Imodium and gravol. I had to get back on the rickety boat, and take another 2 hour trip to the mainland, whilst feeling very sick.
From there, we took another taxi, for $110, from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap, which took all day. I won't go into detail, but the first half of the taxi ride wasn't pleasant, and we had to make several bathroom stops. Bob was slightly sick as well, so we had to ration what was left of the Imodium.
The drive itself was beautiful. There is no industry in Cambodia, and people seem to live in shacks that are raised above the ground. We swerved around more cows as we sped along, and drove through some dirty and poor looking towns. Cambodia is a beautiful country, and the dirt is red, just like in PEI.
We found our hotel quickly, and checked in and went promptly to bed.
Day 13: Thursday, February 26 - Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia.
We woke up early, and felt much better. Our hotel room was beautiful, and exceptionally cheap. It was huge, and marble, and had beautiful wood finishings, and a pool, and the lights worked past 11 pm!
We hired a tuk tuk driver for the entire day, for the low price of $17, and headed to Angkor Wat national park. We were so excited, and riding around in a tuk tuk is really fun.
Angkor Wat was amazing, and we found it hard to believe we were actually there. We first headed to the main Angkor Wat temple, and looked around for about an hour. You're allowed to pretty much walk on anything you want, and go anywhere you want. We took thousands of pictures.
There are children at each temple that follow you around trying to sell you stuff. When you tell them they should be in school, they say such things as "School in the morning, please buy a bracelet", which I had to prevent Bob several times from doing such. They were adorable, and its hard not to cave, but they (or better yet their parents) must realize that selling knick knacks is not a good career choice, and they should be in school anyways. Everything you read says you shouldn't encourage them by buying stuff from them, but its hard.
After Ankor Wat, our tuk tuk driver took us to the Bayon, which was my favourite temple by far. Its the temple you may have seen on National Geographic programs, which all the faces covering it. It was incredible, and I have no idea how it was built. To get into these temples, you had to climb the most steep stairs you could imagine, most of which are falling apart.
After this temple, heat stroke hit me, and I felt horrible. My sickness from the day before came back, the >35 degree weather had been taking its toll, and I hadn't been drinking enough water. My face went a weird mixture of deathly white and tomato red patches, and Bob decided to find the tuk tuk driver and take me home. We spent the evening watching Animal Planet in our hotel room, with the A/C cranked. After a while, I stared feeling better, and we went to the mall next to the hotel for some Cambodian fast food before calling it a night.
Day 14: Friday, February 27 - Angkor Wat Continued
We slept in a little, and left for the parks again with the same tuk tuk driver, who was so friendly, and very inquisitive about our lives.
Today we were feeling better, and explored many more temples. We saw the Terrace of the Elephants, the Terrace of the Lepar King, Preah Khan, Bob explored Neak Peah temple while I waiting with the tuk tuk driver and drank water, Pre Rup, and then finally, Ta Prohm. These temples took us all day to explore. Ta Prohm was my favourite. Its the temple you may have seen in the movie Tomb Raider. It was famously left to the jungle to take over. It is falling down, and has giant tress growing throughout it, basically into the temple itself. Amazing.
Day 15: Saturday, February 28 - Siem Reap Hotel
This morning we took advantage of the pool, and went swimming all morning. We then had to go back and shower, and check out of our hotel room. We then spent the afternoon reading in the hotel lobby, before our favourite tuk tuk driver took us to the Siem Reap airport. This time the plane was bigger, and it wasn't AS stressful for us, although Bob still didn't have the time of his life.
We flew from Siem Reap, back to Hanoi, where we had a brief stop over, before boarding another plane to Incheon, South Korea. We were home in Yeonhui-dong by 7:30 in the morning on Sunday, where we slept into the afternoon, and then did laundry for the rest of the day.
Overall, we had a fantastic trip, and would do it all again in a heartbeat, except we'd pack more Imodium.
On this day we took a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was a very tiny plane, reaffirming Bob's phobia of flying, and actually scaring me a little too. The plane had very few seats, and the wings actually had propellers. We felt pretty nervous flying around in this plane.
When we landed we were bombarded with touts for taxi drivers and tuk tuk drivers. We quickly got frustrated with bargaining and being harassed, so we decided to sit down and have a Flurry in the Dairy Queen at the airport, where a rather industrious tuk tuk driver approached us, and with whom we ended up buying his service.
The deal was he'd drive us in his tuk tuk for $5 into town, where we would then meet his "friend" who would drive us to Sihanoukville (our destination for the day, involving an 6 hour drive). For some reason, this sounded like a good idea.
So the tuk tuk driver leaves the airport, and we enter into the most sketchy area ever. Phnom Penh is a very poor and non-industrialized city. He ended up driving us down an desolate, run down alley, which was completely deserted, save for the 2 scary looking characters on motos. Here we would wait for "5 minutes" for his "friend" to arrive. I was scared for my life. They were actually very friendly and made all sorts of chit chat, but I was too nervous to talk much back to him.
Turns out his friend arrived not too long after this, and it was a legit operation. Only 1 company is allowed to offer taxi services at the airport, so we can to leave the airport to meet his friend in the taxi with the different company. I doubt I'd ever do that again though.
The drive to Sihanoukville was incredible. There were palm trees and naked children running around everywhere. We had to slam on the breaks on no less than 2 occasions to swerve around giant lanky white cows, that were wandering all over the place, with no keepers and no restraints.
We arrived at Mick and Craig's just as the sun was setting in Sihanoukville. Sihanoukville is a party town located on the beach on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. It was hot, and there were all sorts of restaurants, selling incredibly cheap drink, right on the beach. We drink like drunkards for under $5. We slept well that night, and the hostel only cost us $5 each.
Day 9: Sunday February 22 - Lazy Beach
The next weekend we woke up early, and headed to the beach in our bathing suits carrying all our stuff. We had to meet at the Seahorse Guesthouse to catch the boat to Koh Rong Saloem Island, home of Lazy Beach.
Our bags floated to the boat in a dry box, where the 4 passengers had to swim. It was only Bob and myself, and a Swedish couple going to the island.
The boat was supposed to leave at 12 pm, but the crew were loading new grass sections of roof on the boat, which took about 1.5 hours, the entire time we were waiting on the boat.
The water was incredibly choppy, and the boat continually rocked. Bob and I started to feel a tiny bit sick, so he jumped off, and swam back to shore to rest on dry land, while I toughed it out on the boat, getting very very sunburnt, little did I know.
Soon we were on our way, and the water was rough. We were sitting on the deck of this small boat, fighting through the waves. The driver and his helper kept giving us a knowing smile as we clung to the sides of the boat, riding the waves. I got feeling really sick.
After about 2 hours on the open ocean, we arrived on our private island, Lazy Beach.
Day 10 & 11: Monday, February 23-Tuesday, February 24 - Koh Rong Saloem, Lazy Beach
Lazy Beach was incredible. The weather was beautiful, and the food was great.
There were ten grass huts on the island, each holding a maximum of 4 people, and then staff quarters and a grass hut restaurant. There were about 25 people total on the island. We had our own private grass hut, right on the beach.
We relaxed and read our book in the hammocks, and enjoyed great food, and their signature drink the Lazy Sunset (2 shots of Malibu rum, pineapple juice and a splash of grenadine). We went swimming and lazed on the beach throughout the day. This was the most relaxing time of my life.
In the mornings we went snorkeling, and saw thousands of beautiful and friendly fish, as well as sea urchins, sea slugs, and a cuttlefish which could change colours. We swam through something called sea lice, which felt like tiny little electric shocks, as well as black squid ink.
One of the days we went on a 20 minute hike through the Cambodian jungle (complete with monkeys) to another beach, with not a living soul on it, or any signs of habitation. The sand was pristine white, and the water was clear and blue. The tide was going out, and we had to save a star fish from drying out, which was quite the episode.
Our first night in the grass hut was crazy. There is no power on the island, so they must run a generator for lights, which they turn on at sunset and keep running until 11 pm, and after that, the only light you have was from a flash light, if you were smart enough to bring one (yay Bob!).
So it started when we saw the gecko on the wooden wall of the hut. He was huge and beautiful. He was orange and covered in little blue spots, and big! The gecko in the Geiko commercial was tiny compared to this guy. He became a regular visitor in our hut.
Next, I went into the little concrete bathroom attached to the back of our hut. I walked in, and looked down. The floor was covered in ants. Millions of teeming ants covered the floor. I almost threw up. I hate ants, especially in numbers such as these. I'd never seen so many in my life. We washed them down the drain, which was a long process, considering their numbers. Well, Bob washed them down the drain, while I hid in the bed covered in the mosquito netting. The island operator seemed to think that a recent rain must have ruined their nest (yuk!) and they were looking for a new home.
So after the ant problem was solved, and the gecko had gone to bed, we thought we would too, and we did. But not for long. We woke up in the darkness, with only our little flash light, to a fluttering noise. We had no idea what it was, until we saw it, from behind our protective covering and our personal Savior, the mosquito netting. It was a bat. A giant, Cambodian jungle bat, about the size of my forearm. I somehow managed to open the window next to the bed, through the mosquito netting, and the bat left us alone in peace.
The peace didn't last long though. After we'd (somehow)fallen back to sleep, we were awoken once again, but this time to a rustling. A close by, terrifying rustling. Turns out a rat, a giant Cambodian jungle rat, had climbed into my bag, (my zippered-closed bag), and was munching on my Lays potato chips, which I had with me even though we were instructed not to have any food in our rooms. But come on, the bag was zippered, and I can't buy those chips in Korea! We scared the rat away and went to sleep, for good this time.
The next night I was afraid to go back to sleep, understandably, but our friends never showed back up. But of course, I got sick. Very very very sick. I had to keep leaving the protection of the mosquito netting, and stumble through the dark, into the previously ant-infested bathroom (aka my greatest nightmare) to use a toilet that you had to flush by pouring water into it from a garbage can full in the dark corner. Worst night ever. Which leads to the next morning.
Day 12: Wednesday, February 25 - Taxi from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap
The next morning, I was still sick, and we were nearing the end of our Imodium and gravol. I had to get back on the rickety boat, and take another 2 hour trip to the mainland, whilst feeling very sick.
From there, we took another taxi, for $110, from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap, which took all day. I won't go into detail, but the first half of the taxi ride wasn't pleasant, and we had to make several bathroom stops. Bob was slightly sick as well, so we had to ration what was left of the Imodium.
The drive itself was beautiful. There is no industry in Cambodia, and people seem to live in shacks that are raised above the ground. We swerved around more cows as we sped along, and drove through some dirty and poor looking towns. Cambodia is a beautiful country, and the dirt is red, just like in PEI.
We found our hotel quickly, and checked in and went promptly to bed.
Day 13: Thursday, February 26 - Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia.
We woke up early, and felt much better. Our hotel room was beautiful, and exceptionally cheap. It was huge, and marble, and had beautiful wood finishings, and a pool, and the lights worked past 11 pm!
We hired a tuk tuk driver for the entire day, for the low price of $17, and headed to Angkor Wat national park. We were so excited, and riding around in a tuk tuk is really fun.
Angkor Wat was amazing, and we found it hard to believe we were actually there. We first headed to the main Angkor Wat temple, and looked around for about an hour. You're allowed to pretty much walk on anything you want, and go anywhere you want. We took thousands of pictures.
There are children at each temple that follow you around trying to sell you stuff. When you tell them they should be in school, they say such things as "School in the morning, please buy a bracelet", which I had to prevent Bob several times from doing such. They were adorable, and its hard not to cave, but they (or better yet their parents) must realize that selling knick knacks is not a good career choice, and they should be in school anyways. Everything you read says you shouldn't encourage them by buying stuff from them, but its hard.
After Ankor Wat, our tuk tuk driver took us to the Bayon, which was my favourite temple by far. Its the temple you may have seen on National Geographic programs, which all the faces covering it. It was incredible, and I have no idea how it was built. To get into these temples, you had to climb the most steep stairs you could imagine, most of which are falling apart.
After this temple, heat stroke hit me, and I felt horrible. My sickness from the day before came back, the >35 degree weather had been taking its toll, and I hadn't been drinking enough water. My face went a weird mixture of deathly white and tomato red patches, and Bob decided to find the tuk tuk driver and take me home. We spent the evening watching Animal Planet in our hotel room, with the A/C cranked. After a while, I stared feeling better, and we went to the mall next to the hotel for some Cambodian fast food before calling it a night.
Day 14: Friday, February 27 - Angkor Wat Continued
We slept in a little, and left for the parks again with the same tuk tuk driver, who was so friendly, and very inquisitive about our lives.
Today we were feeling better, and explored many more temples. We saw the Terrace of the Elephants, the Terrace of the Lepar King, Preah Khan, Bob explored Neak Peah temple while I waiting with the tuk tuk driver and drank water, Pre Rup, and then finally, Ta Prohm. These temples took us all day to explore. Ta Prohm was my favourite. Its the temple you may have seen in the movie Tomb Raider. It was famously left to the jungle to take over. It is falling down, and has giant tress growing throughout it, basically into the temple itself. Amazing.
Day 15: Saturday, February 28 - Siem Reap Hotel
This morning we took advantage of the pool, and went swimming all morning. We then had to go back and shower, and check out of our hotel room. We then spent the afternoon reading in the hotel lobby, before our favourite tuk tuk driver took us to the Siem Reap airport. This time the plane was bigger, and it wasn't AS stressful for us, although Bob still didn't have the time of his life.
We flew from Siem Reap, back to Hanoi, where we had a brief stop over, before boarding another plane to Incheon, South Korea. We were home in Yeonhui-dong by 7:30 in the morning on Sunday, where we slept into the afternoon, and then did laundry for the rest of the day.
Overall, we had a fantastic trip, and would do it all again in a heartbeat, except we'd pack more Imodium.
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