*Bangkok 1*
*Bangkok 2*
*Bangkok 3*
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
The Final Leg of the Journey
Well, here I am, alive and well, in my bedroom in St. Andrews, Antigonish, Nova Scotia. I have been here for just over a week. Colleen is currently jaunting through the Irish country side with her mom.
I figured I'd write this final note, for those interested, about how our South East Asian trip concluded. Some e-closure.
It's a bit late, but would you expect anything else from me?
Well, in our last installment, we were about to embark on the "Shit road from hell" between Siem Reap, Cambodia, to the Thai border at Poipet. Let me elaborate. The distance itself is not so bad, but rumour has it that the corrupt Cambodian government is accepting cash from the local airlines to not only fail to maintain the road, but sabatoge the hell out of it by dumping large piles of gravel in the middle of the road and creating winding, torturous detours. It can take up to 6 hours on a big, bulky bus. We opted for a share taxi -- we threw our names in at a travel agency in Siem Reap and hoped they'd find some other people to join us. We ended up departing in the wee hours with a girl from New York, who had been volunteering for a month in the country (with an orphanage sponsored by World Vision -- our money does go somewhere afterall). The road was indeed in disrepair, but not as bad as the horror stories. Our nimble Toyota Camry weaved around some of the crappier bits that would have made life miserable on a bus, and we made it in no time.
The contrast between Thailand and Cambodia, once we hit the border, was mind-boggling. Thailand is by no means an economic world power, but when contrasted with the poverty and corruption of Cambodia, it felt like we had just arrived at a pier in New York City. Air-conditioning, paved roads, and recognizable food.
We made our way back to headquarters at Pla's apartment in Bangkok, swapped the smelly clothes in our backpacks with beachwear in our luggage, and were quickly off to the Bangkok airport to head down to Koh Phi Phi, via Phuket. After landing in Phuket airport (after our amazingly cheap $25 flight, taxes in), we made some small talk with some fellow Canadians, and found ourselves with some travel companions for our island paradise adventure. Having arrived late, we stayed in a very strange ancient hotel in Phuket town (think of the big scary place in The Shining), and hopped a boat the next morning to Koh Phi Phi.
Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee... I know...) was absolutely stunning. Turquoise water, giant limestone cliffs, and gleaming white sand. A smaller satellite island, Koh Phi Phi Don, served as the beautiful set of the shitty DiCaprio movie "The Beach" back in the day. During our week stay, we enjoyed buckets of Thai whiskey, island hopping excursions, Muay Thai boxing, scuba diving (in 29 degree water!), and great food. We did have to deal with some rain, but it was to be expected during 'rainy season.'
We returned to Bangkok, sunburned and full of sand, and did a one-day shopping blitz, loading up on souvenirs and fake designer clothing. We were then off to London, via a one hour stop-over in Abu Dhabi (in 45 degree desert heat).
London was fabulous. Such a historical city. We stayed with our good friends Kate and Andy (Kate of St. FX and "Silent Letter" fame). We arrived in the evening, and shared a giant bottle of duty-free middle eastern vodka with our gracious hosts. The next day we walked about London, snapping pictures of all the standards -- Big Ben, Parliament, Thames, Buckingham, etc. One amazing and historical landmark after another. The city was expensive as hell, so we mainly just took pictures outside these things rather than pay the highly unreasonable admission fees. We did make a pilgrimage to Abbey Road studios, and took the obligatory photo at the famous crosswalk. Though, it is actually a normal and busy street, so the photo-op turned out to be quite stressful. I'm sure the locals love it.
Soon thereafter, I parted ways with the gang, as Colleen's mom arrived at the airport hours before I took off.
Landing in Halifax was such an amazing feeling. Over the past year, I had been through many a customs, stamping my passport and learning how to say "beer please" in the local language. Well let me tell you, I was never so happy to see the sign, "Welcome to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada," adorned in the red and white. Tear-evoking stuff. My family were there, and we hit the road to Antigonish.
I've been spending my time catching up with old friends and family, taking it more than easy. Colleen returns to Canada on the 8th, and she'll be doing the same. Then, it'll be off to Halifax, were I'll be taking a journalism degree at King's, and Colleen will be getting her Master of Marine Management at Dal.
What a year!
PS- All of my photos were mysteriously deleted from the memory card in my camera... so you'll have to wait for Colleen to return to home soil and upload all of her photos (which were all better than mine anyway).
I figured I'd write this final note, for those interested, about how our South East Asian trip concluded. Some e-closure.
It's a bit late, but would you expect anything else from me?
Well, in our last installment, we were about to embark on the "Shit road from hell" between Siem Reap, Cambodia, to the Thai border at Poipet. Let me elaborate. The distance itself is not so bad, but rumour has it that the corrupt Cambodian government is accepting cash from the local airlines to not only fail to maintain the road, but sabatoge the hell out of it by dumping large piles of gravel in the middle of the road and creating winding, torturous detours. It can take up to 6 hours on a big, bulky bus. We opted for a share taxi -- we threw our names in at a travel agency in Siem Reap and hoped they'd find some other people to join us. We ended up departing in the wee hours with a girl from New York, who had been volunteering for a month in the country (with an orphanage sponsored by World Vision -- our money does go somewhere afterall). The road was indeed in disrepair, but not as bad as the horror stories. Our nimble Toyota Camry weaved around some of the crappier bits that would have made life miserable on a bus, and we made it in no time.
The contrast between Thailand and Cambodia, once we hit the border, was mind-boggling. Thailand is by no means an economic world power, but when contrasted with the poverty and corruption of Cambodia, it felt like we had just arrived at a pier in New York City. Air-conditioning, paved roads, and recognizable food.
We made our way back to headquarters at Pla's apartment in Bangkok, swapped the smelly clothes in our backpacks with beachwear in our luggage, and were quickly off to the Bangkok airport to head down to Koh Phi Phi, via Phuket. After landing in Phuket airport (after our amazingly cheap $25 flight, taxes in), we made some small talk with some fellow Canadians, and found ourselves with some travel companions for our island paradise adventure. Having arrived late, we stayed in a very strange ancient hotel in Phuket town (think of the big scary place in The Shining), and hopped a boat the next morning to Koh Phi Phi.
Phi Phi (pronounced pee-pee... I know...) was absolutely stunning. Turquoise water, giant limestone cliffs, and gleaming white sand. A smaller satellite island, Koh Phi Phi Don, served as the beautiful set of the shitty DiCaprio movie "The Beach" back in the day. During our week stay, we enjoyed buckets of Thai whiskey, island hopping excursions, Muay Thai boxing, scuba diving (in 29 degree water!), and great food. We did have to deal with some rain, but it was to be expected during 'rainy season.'
We returned to Bangkok, sunburned and full of sand, and did a one-day shopping blitz, loading up on souvenirs and fake designer clothing. We were then off to London, via a one hour stop-over in Abu Dhabi (in 45 degree desert heat).
London was fabulous. Such a historical city. We stayed with our good friends Kate and Andy (Kate of St. FX and "Silent Letter" fame). We arrived in the evening, and shared a giant bottle of duty-free middle eastern vodka with our gracious hosts. The next day we walked about London, snapping pictures of all the standards -- Big Ben, Parliament, Thames, Buckingham, etc. One amazing and historical landmark after another. The city was expensive as hell, so we mainly just took pictures outside these things rather than pay the highly unreasonable admission fees. We did make a pilgrimage to Abbey Road studios, and took the obligatory photo at the famous crosswalk. Though, it is actually a normal and busy street, so the photo-op turned out to be quite stressful. I'm sure the locals love it.
Soon thereafter, I parted ways with the gang, as Colleen's mom arrived at the airport hours before I took off.
Landing in Halifax was such an amazing feeling. Over the past year, I had been through many a customs, stamping my passport and learning how to say "beer please" in the local language. Well let me tell you, I was never so happy to see the sign, "Welcome to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada," adorned in the red and white. Tear-evoking stuff. My family were there, and we hit the road to Antigonish.
I've been spending my time catching up with old friends and family, taking it more than easy. Colleen returns to Canada on the 8th, and she'll be doing the same. Then, it'll be off to Halifax, were I'll be taking a journalism degree at King's, and Colleen will be getting her Master of Marine Management at Dal.
What a year!
PS- All of my photos were mysteriously deleted from the memory card in my camera... so you'll have to wait for Colleen to return to home soil and upload all of her photos (which were all better than mine anyway).
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