Hey all! So to give a quick update....
This week I am moving apartments! I really like the apartment I live in now, but the rent is pretty high and the location isn't very good. I live too far away from my work and every place I go to. It's the kind of thing you wouldn't know when you're apartment hunting, but after two months living here (OMG I just realized it's been 2 months from yesterday!!!), I know I'm not happy with the location I'm living. So I will be paying less than half the rent I am now and moving in with my good friend from work! It is a real house and not an apartment so that will be a nice change. I'm so happy and relieved to be saving money on rent and moto rides to school.
The most amazing thing about this whole experience, aside from the final result of moving into a better place, is just how easy this is all turning out to be. I just broke my lease, and the family who owns my apartment complex didn't even say anything. I mean, I'll lose my security deposit, but still you think they would have at least forced me to uphold the month advance notice to move out. But, nope, she didn't even blink an eye! I've never had so little hassles with a landlord in my life! Plus, the people I'm going to be living with have already been so chill and welcoming.
I think the biggest shock of this whole experiences' ease has been my own internal thoughts. I'm already packing and it seems incredibly easy to just pack up and move everything I own. Completely the opposite of the stress I felt packing to move here two months ago. Somehow it seems as though I have less stuff now than what I came with, but I know that can't be possible! It's just a mental thing, I think. I can already see how much I've changed and relaxed. I decided to move on Saturday, began packing Sunday and told my landlord the same day. I'll be sleeping in my new place by Thursday. The person I was even a few months ago would have been an anxious mess at all this sudden and drastic change. But the vibe of this country--extremely mellow, relaxed, "no problem"--is rubbing off on me more than I thought. It's a really new and really amazing feeling for me.
Anyway, off to pack some more. Will update more soon! :)
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Laos Adventuring!
Hello everyone! Long time no see! Well, I'm pretty sure it's only been about a week, but it really feels like so much longer. A week in Laos kind of makes time stand still. I forgot what day it was, never knew the time, barely made it to any planned destinations... but in the best way because Laos was so relaxing and absorbing. I went with my friend from work and her two friends from back in Australia. I'm still a little bummed I wasn't able to make it Siem Reap due to massive flooding, but I'm so thankful I made the choice to go to Laos. All in the pursuit of crossing destinations off of my bucket list! Officially have been to Don Det/4000 Islands, Vientiane, and Vang Vieng. And who knows where else on the way. There are so many more places I have to see in Laos. I'm hooked!
Let me break it down since, as I think I sort of explained, time just ran together on this trip!
Day 1: Spent traveling by bus from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Don Det, Laos. It was a 12-hour bus ride made 14+ due to the heavy rain and lack of roads. There were so many times the bus just had to stop to find a route around the mud, puddles, cows, and mud. It was sort of the bus ride from hell... although, in retrospect, it wasn't the worst bus ride to come! Eventually, we made it to some sort of city in Southern Laos and got off the bus. Then we took a mini-van and then a ferry to Don Det, which is an island among the 4000 Islands of Laos. Oh, I didn't mention stopping at the border between Cambodia and Laos. It was a sort of shack and we were in pitch black. It took about an hour but I guess, for a border crossing, passed without much incident. I only mention it because I still don't understand why the Australians I was with had to pay $40 for their Laos visas and I, as well as the other Americans on the bus, had to pay $41!!! It shouldn't surprise me, really. I shouldn't even use that word anymore because nothing should ever surprise me, living in Asia.
Day 2: Finally in Don Det, we rented bicycles and decided it would be such fun to bike around the island and to the next island to see some sort of waterfall and some sort of dolphin beach. Well, I guess it WAS fun, but it was mostly just muddy. The roads (why do they bother calling them roads?! They are NOT roads, they are dirt piles that are sort of smoothed out!) were pretty muddy and getting a really crappy, rusty rented bike through super deep puddles was quite the task. My chain kept popping off even when we were on relatively solid ground! It was ridiculous! We did make it to the waterfall and it was beautiful. Well, it wasn't really a waterfall because the river was so high. It was more like a rapid river. But beautiful and "danger-rious" (as the signs read) all the same. After that excursion we laid around a nice restaurant, got massages, and relaxed. It is so absolutely wonderful to do nothing for hours on end! It would take me a long time to get sick of it.
Day 3: This was the day of all days. We hit the road (or more like hitched a ferry, then the road) to Pakse, a city a bit farther north. After about 4 hours of a drive, we made it there and spent the day in the markets. Then we joyous embarked on a VIP sleeper bus to Vientiane. The bus was confusing at first. We kept walking farther and farther back wondering when we would see our double beds. We could only see single beds. When we reached the back of the bus, we realized the beds we had been passing were, in fact, "double" "VIP" beds. I think I could just barely lay flat on my back without my arm hanging off the side of the bed for lack of space. Which I could have dealt with for one night. Except that the "double" "VIP" beds were for two people. So Shae and I climbed the "ladder" and got into our "bed" for arguably the worst night of my life. I couldn't lie on my side because we were on the second level and there was no railing, so every bump (do I need to mention this was the bumpiest ride I've ever been on?) I almost fell off and down from the top bunk. It was almost funny.
Day 4: When we woke up from our "night of sleep," we were in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, located in the northern part of the country. We quickly boarded into a car to be driven to Vang Vieng, which was our final destination. So approximately 28 hours from the time we left Don Det, we were in Vang Vieng! We met some really cool people along the way and ended up staying in a lovely guesthouse with them. We hit the town, which is a big backpacker stub in Southeast Asia. It was so weird seeing so many white people! It was so amazing to eat a hamburger that tasted almost Western! It was so confusing that despite the tourist draw, hardly any Lao people in said tourist industry in the town spoke English!
Day 5: Today was the big day to go tubing. Look up tubing in Laos on youtube for videos that give you the idea. It was sort of like Floatopia but even crazier! We rented tubes, hopped on the Mekong and floated from bar to bar all day. It was so much fun meeting all these interesting backpackers, drinking from ridiculously large buckets, and soaring through the air on swings and slides. Every time I found myself climbing a platform to get to a jumping point, destined for the rocky and dirty Mekong waters strong with the wet season's current, I thought to myself, why are you doing this? One wrong move and you could be destined for the jagged rocks! But I had to jump, of course! Needless to say I am bruised and scratched like I've never been before from exclusively awkward landings. Thank goodness for the men at each bar that stand at the water's edge with intertubes tied to ropes to pull in us crazy people who plunge into the rapid waters! A couple of times I missed the bar I was aiming for and the current pulled me down all the way to the next bar! I wish I had more pictures from tubing, but I wasn't about to bring my camera since I was soaking wet and muddy all day. You buy this little bags to keep your belongings dry in the water, but since you're in Laos you can't be surprised when they don't work at all and your Kip is soaked. I think tubing would illegal in anywhere but Asia (you know, in places with laws!), but I also think it was one of the most fun and crazy things I've ever done! I loved meeting other backpackers since, as an expat, I usually stick with other expats. I am definitely not a backpacker, but it was fun to live like them for a few days. I also ran into someone that I knew from Semester at Sea! He was on my voyage and recognized me! I love that I haven't seen someone in over 2 years and I can run into them in Vang Vieng, Laos. The world is a pretty cool place.
Day 6: Another day of tubing, although a little less insane since we drank a few less buckets and sort of knew the lay of the land. This time I tried to jump off as many swings and slides as I could! This one really long tile water slide about destroyed my body and that's when I called it a day. Tubing and being out in the sun all day just wears you down. I haven't been this physically drained, even now, days later, in forever.
Day 7: We decided to sign up for a tour and went kayaking. I realized as I was handed the paddle that I, in fact, had never been kayaking before, and began to freak out when I saw the current speed and the rapids of the river I was supposed to plunge in to. Luckily, Shae had experience and steered our kayak to safety (most of the time) in between rapids. We went tubing through a cave and also hiked to a cave where there were Buddhist statues. It was a really famous cave (called Elephant Cave) because it is a site of religious significance. In the cave there is a natural rock that really resembles an elephant. The whole area is called the Elephant Village and one finds elephants on nearly every imaginable object. It was cool to see, although by this point in the tour, we were all so tired from kayaking, paddling a tube through a pitch black cave, and hiking to said Elephant cave. After the cave, we kayaked to one of the tubing bars, had a beer and rest, and kayaked for what seemed like years to the stopping point of the trip. Kayaking in the pouring rain? I don't recommend it. But, I can now say I am a fully experienced kayak-er, right? That night we had a blast in the little town on our last night in Vang Vieng.
Day 8: The next morning we left in a van, back to Vientiane where we would fly home to Phnom Penh. No more buses for us! I had been looking forward to exploring Vientiane for a night, but when we got there it was not only deserted, but somehow completely full. It was a while before we found a guest house with vacancies, and when we did we paid more for the night then we had for all our accommodation COMBINED for the entirety of the trip! It was the most expensive city (waaaay more expensive than Phnom Penh), but for what reason I'm not sure since as I said it seemed completely deserted. Things sort of picked up after a pedicure and a trip to the night market. But the people weren't interested in bargaining and seemed annoyed at yet another Westerner's presence. It's confusing as to why this place draws so many tourists when, to me, it was like a smaller, less interesting, more expensive version of Phnom Penh. Maybe other travelers like that it is less developed than our cities in Cambodia, but, personally, if I'm going less developed, less English, please give me lower prices! I think I'll have to do more research to figure out the place. It was truly beautiful, though, and was more French than Cambodia. The baguettes were to die for! But overall I just found it puzzling....
Day 9: Which is today. Wow. Weird! Today we flew home on a lovely Vietnam Airways flight. I highly recommend them, it was one of the most pleasant flights I've ever had! It feels so good to be back home in Phnom Penh and in my apartment. I think I was at a turning point, going on two months living here, and I was hitting a slump. But the second I entered Laos, I missed Cambodia. I really love it here. I love being an expat and hated being a tourist. I love Khmer food! And Khmer people! And my apartment and my space! It isn't until you leave a place and come back that you can know what it means to you. And a place isn't home until it's home in your mind. When I was in Laos, I kept thinking, "I can't wait to get home." So, I guess I can officially call this home now. I loved Laos and want to go back and explore more cities, but I appreciate Cambodia and it's technologies, roads, infrastructures, food and people all the more for visiting it's neighbor.
Pictures from the trip are on facebook! There aren't many since I was in the water most of the time, but the ones I did take I am pretty proud of. It really is a beautiful part of the world, where I live. :)
Let me break it down since, as I think I sort of explained, time just ran together on this trip!
Day 1: Spent traveling by bus from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Don Det, Laos. It was a 12-hour bus ride made 14+ due to the heavy rain and lack of roads. There were so many times the bus just had to stop to find a route around the mud, puddles, cows, and mud. It was sort of the bus ride from hell... although, in retrospect, it wasn't the worst bus ride to come! Eventually, we made it to some sort of city in Southern Laos and got off the bus. Then we took a mini-van and then a ferry to Don Det, which is an island among the 4000 Islands of Laos. Oh, I didn't mention stopping at the border between Cambodia and Laos. It was a sort of shack and we were in pitch black. It took about an hour but I guess, for a border crossing, passed without much incident. I only mention it because I still don't understand why the Australians I was with had to pay $40 for their Laos visas and I, as well as the other Americans on the bus, had to pay $41!!! It shouldn't surprise me, really. I shouldn't even use that word anymore because nothing should ever surprise me, living in Asia.
Day 2: Finally in Don Det, we rented bicycles and decided it would be such fun to bike around the island and to the next island to see some sort of waterfall and some sort of dolphin beach. Well, I guess it WAS fun, but it was mostly just muddy. The roads (why do they bother calling them roads?! They are NOT roads, they are dirt piles that are sort of smoothed out!) were pretty muddy and getting a really crappy, rusty rented bike through super deep puddles was quite the task. My chain kept popping off even when we were on relatively solid ground! It was ridiculous! We did make it to the waterfall and it was beautiful. Well, it wasn't really a waterfall because the river was so high. It was more like a rapid river. But beautiful and "danger-rious" (as the signs read) all the same. After that excursion we laid around a nice restaurant, got massages, and relaxed. It is so absolutely wonderful to do nothing for hours on end! It would take me a long time to get sick of it.
Day 3: This was the day of all days. We hit the road (or more like hitched a ferry, then the road) to Pakse, a city a bit farther north. After about 4 hours of a drive, we made it there and spent the day in the markets. Then we joyous embarked on a VIP sleeper bus to Vientiane. The bus was confusing at first. We kept walking farther and farther back wondering when we would see our double beds. We could only see single beds. When we reached the back of the bus, we realized the beds we had been passing were, in fact, "double" "VIP" beds. I think I could just barely lay flat on my back without my arm hanging off the side of the bed for lack of space. Which I could have dealt with for one night. Except that the "double" "VIP" beds were for two people. So Shae and I climbed the "ladder" and got into our "bed" for arguably the worst night of my life. I couldn't lie on my side because we were on the second level and there was no railing, so every bump (do I need to mention this was the bumpiest ride I've ever been on?) I almost fell off and down from the top bunk. It was almost funny.
Day 4: When we woke up from our "night of sleep," we were in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, located in the northern part of the country. We quickly boarded into a car to be driven to Vang Vieng, which was our final destination. So approximately 28 hours from the time we left Don Det, we were in Vang Vieng! We met some really cool people along the way and ended up staying in a lovely guesthouse with them. We hit the town, which is a big backpacker stub in Southeast Asia. It was so weird seeing so many white people! It was so amazing to eat a hamburger that tasted almost Western! It was so confusing that despite the tourist draw, hardly any Lao people in said tourist industry in the town spoke English!
Day 5: Today was the big day to go tubing. Look up tubing in Laos on youtube for videos that give you the idea. It was sort of like Floatopia but even crazier! We rented tubes, hopped on the Mekong and floated from bar to bar all day. It was so much fun meeting all these interesting backpackers, drinking from ridiculously large buckets, and soaring through the air on swings and slides. Every time I found myself climbing a platform to get to a jumping point, destined for the rocky and dirty Mekong waters strong with the wet season's current, I thought to myself, why are you doing this? One wrong move and you could be destined for the jagged rocks! But I had to jump, of course! Needless to say I am bruised and scratched like I've never been before from exclusively awkward landings. Thank goodness for the men at each bar that stand at the water's edge with intertubes tied to ropes to pull in us crazy people who plunge into the rapid waters! A couple of times I missed the bar I was aiming for and the current pulled me down all the way to the next bar! I wish I had more pictures from tubing, but I wasn't about to bring my camera since I was soaking wet and muddy all day. You buy this little bags to keep your belongings dry in the water, but since you're in Laos you can't be surprised when they don't work at all and your Kip is soaked. I think tubing would illegal in anywhere but Asia (you know, in places with laws!), but I also think it was one of the most fun and crazy things I've ever done! I loved meeting other backpackers since, as an expat, I usually stick with other expats. I am definitely not a backpacker, but it was fun to live like them for a few days. I also ran into someone that I knew from Semester at Sea! He was on my voyage and recognized me! I love that I haven't seen someone in over 2 years and I can run into them in Vang Vieng, Laos. The world is a pretty cool place.
Day 6: Another day of tubing, although a little less insane since we drank a few less buckets and sort of knew the lay of the land. This time I tried to jump off as many swings and slides as I could! This one really long tile water slide about destroyed my body and that's when I called it a day. Tubing and being out in the sun all day just wears you down. I haven't been this physically drained, even now, days later, in forever.
Day 7: We decided to sign up for a tour and went kayaking. I realized as I was handed the paddle that I, in fact, had never been kayaking before, and began to freak out when I saw the current speed and the rapids of the river I was supposed to plunge in to. Luckily, Shae had experience and steered our kayak to safety (most of the time) in between rapids. We went tubing through a cave and also hiked to a cave where there were Buddhist statues. It was a really famous cave (called Elephant Cave) because it is a site of religious significance. In the cave there is a natural rock that really resembles an elephant. The whole area is called the Elephant Village and one finds elephants on nearly every imaginable object. It was cool to see, although by this point in the tour, we were all so tired from kayaking, paddling a tube through a pitch black cave, and hiking to said Elephant cave. After the cave, we kayaked to one of the tubing bars, had a beer and rest, and kayaked for what seemed like years to the stopping point of the trip. Kayaking in the pouring rain? I don't recommend it. But, I can now say I am a fully experienced kayak-er, right? That night we had a blast in the little town on our last night in Vang Vieng.
Day 8: The next morning we left in a van, back to Vientiane where we would fly home to Phnom Penh. No more buses for us! I had been looking forward to exploring Vientiane for a night, but when we got there it was not only deserted, but somehow completely full. It was a while before we found a guest house with vacancies, and when we did we paid more for the night then we had for all our accommodation COMBINED for the entirety of the trip! It was the most expensive city (waaaay more expensive than Phnom Penh), but for what reason I'm not sure since as I said it seemed completely deserted. Things sort of picked up after a pedicure and a trip to the night market. But the people weren't interested in bargaining and seemed annoyed at yet another Westerner's presence. It's confusing as to why this place draws so many tourists when, to me, it was like a smaller, less interesting, more expensive version of Phnom Penh. Maybe other travelers like that it is less developed than our cities in Cambodia, but, personally, if I'm going less developed, less English, please give me lower prices! I think I'll have to do more research to figure out the place. It was truly beautiful, though, and was more French than Cambodia. The baguettes were to die for! But overall I just found it puzzling....
Day 9: Which is today. Wow. Weird! Today we flew home on a lovely Vietnam Airways flight. I highly recommend them, it was one of the most pleasant flights I've ever had! It feels so good to be back home in Phnom Penh and in my apartment. I think I was at a turning point, going on two months living here, and I was hitting a slump. But the second I entered Laos, I missed Cambodia. I really love it here. I love being an expat and hated being a tourist. I love Khmer food! And Khmer people! And my apartment and my space! It isn't until you leave a place and come back that you can know what it means to you. And a place isn't home until it's home in your mind. When I was in Laos, I kept thinking, "I can't wait to get home." So, I guess I can officially call this home now. I loved Laos and want to go back and explore more cities, but I appreciate Cambodia and it's technologies, roads, infrastructures, food and people all the more for visiting it's neighbor.
Pictures from the trip are on facebook! There aren't many since I was in the water most of the time, but the ones I did take I am pretty proud of. It really is a beautiful part of the world, where I live. :)
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