My first stop was Bangkok, a vibrant city full of hardworking people. The lives they led are pretty good as I don't see many beggars lying around. My friend Cuthbert brought me around shopping during the first day, and there's so much to see and buy. But we wouldn't want to bring loads of stuff to Cambodia later, so we simply bought some toys for our friends. Travelling around such a busy city was made easy by Cuthbert, who had been here for a few months and picked up quite important phrases in Thai. And we started to think that we got blended into the city when people came talking to us in Thai language. Well, Singaporeans don't have a unique look and are only distinguishable when they speak Singlish.
On the 2nd day, it happened to be Buddha Day. A stranger just came to us, gave us a note of the itinery for the day, and we coincidentally hopped onto a tuk tuk who drove us around to those places with just a small fare of 20 baht ($0.80sgd). The temples had many buddha statues and donation boxes around them, and it was quite a sight. Then before we headed to the Thai jewellery export, a lady coincidentally told us how we could buy the jewelleries and sell them back in Singapore (she still specified Peninsula Plaza as the hot market). Personally, I really felt a bit drama how we were led to places and people who spoke volumes of 'scam' when we didn't even intend to go to those places at first. But we just acted like dummies and didn't buy anything, so we only spent a bit of money for the transport.
There was a place where we were faked into paying for some corn to feed pigeons. Crap. The locals simple threw corn into our hands and pigeons flocked around like we were vultured. The next thing, we were ordered to pay 150 baht for the feeding. Sucks. Well let's move on. We reached the grand palace pretty late and so we didnt pay for the entrance fees in. And certain buses were free that day, and we managed to save some of our transport fees. Singaporeans, the usual style.
The final day in Bangkok, we brought some friends to a praying hall, and it was nice spending some time with thai people. I asked one of them about the place to buy a toy, and guess what, they really drove me there. It just explained how hospitable they can get. And yes, they brought us to a lovely retro place for dinner, where Cuthbert obliged with a 甜蜜蜜 song.
Next, the much awaited border crossing to Cambodia. Early morning the next day, we went to Bangkok train station to take a 5 hour long train to Aranyaprathet. Quite a nice ride with lots of sceneries of Thailand, be it rain or shine, countryside or city. We saw locals which were given tough treatment by the officers and they left to stand by the end of the trains because they were on good seats. And the officers knowing we were tourists really took care of us.
Touching down on the land, we were taken to a Cambodian comsummate where we were assisted in writing the arrival form to Cambodia. And given that we were Singaporeans, we did not have to pay for any visa. But the sucky part is when the guy wanted us to give some tips for them. I just hate remembering the extortion look. And given that I had already read up on this, I was rather disappointed that we still fell into the trap. But that's life. Experience it.
The customs in Cambodia really wasn't a professional one. The officer took more than 5 minutes flipping through my passport trying to find my extension stamp. And when he found it, he reported that I needed 6 months availability for my passport. Any kid would know that the difference from now until November is 7 months. I rebuked back and they got their calculations right.
We avoided the touting of kids and youngsters for trips to Siem Reap and joined a Hong Kong and Canadian traveller in a taxi to our destination. The Canadian named Neo Armstrong was already away from home since January and will be travelling around until July before he goes back to find a job. Compared to us, ang mohs really do not hold back when they do things. Kudos.
We parted with Neo and settled in a simple guestroom with Jason, our new found Hong Kong friend.
He too took the train from Thailand, would settle in Siem Reap for a few days before going to Phnom Penh and back to Thailand for the Songkran 'Water' festival. Cuthbert, Jason and Neo made me look old because they were all around 6-7 years younger.
I have been wanting to visit Ang Kor Wat for quite some time. And I really suggest reading up a bit on the place before you go. There are really lots of majestic temples having a one-day visit ticket is just not enough. We rented bicycles and roamed around the whole day visiting temples. Gosh, I realized I'm really old cause I couldn't catch up with them youngsters. During every station, kids would flood us with souvenirs to buy and their '3 for 1 dollar' ranting really had a hypnotic effect. And it's pretty sad to think that kids have been forced to make money when they should study and play hard.
The next day, we took a tuk tuk, followed by a motorbike and then a boat to see the village life. Wow. Eye opener it was. Kids roamed around naked, cows were working hard in the farms, it really brought us back to the simple life we were deprived of in Singapore. Kids still surrounded us with notebooks and pencils, hoping that we would buy from them. And it was really sad when we came back from our boat trip, they were still waiting at the bank. I didn't buy in the end because I will never get to use it. But I loved the smile of a young girl who told me how happy she was studying in her school and playing in the village with her friends. I always feel that contentment is a blessing. My friend did tell me that it's because they haven't seen the world. So their craving for more isn't triggered by their senses yet. Quite true. But I shall find the answer for that someday.
I'm back. And I realize that my future holidays shouldn't be simply be going to resorts to enjoy myself in gluttony. Experiencing their lifestyles seem more fruitful. Well, will plan out my next trip soon.. but not so soon.
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Interesting trip! Initially thought you only going Cambodia. I love bangkok, not becoz of it's a shopping heaven, but I like the ppl there, their spirit of loving the King, the country and their religion.
Cambodia seems nice too but I nvr been there before! Sound you really enjoy your trip. Hope you would share some tips of being a backpacker. And how you plan your trip to Cambodia.
Yes Bangkok is nice too.. but luckily I came back early.
Well for backpacking.. i'm still a beginner but wherever you want to go, print out the map and info on the place. Now most ATM can draw money so no problem. And also learn a bit on the common phrases you will use in that country. Like 'how much','why so ex?','do you want to pick up a fight?' etc..
Just kidding. Just be alert of your belongings wherever you go, and girls.. dun go alone.
nah every body tell me gal dun go alone..this is y i nvr been to cambodia and vietnam before!
i saw pictures u taken from cambodia! angkor wat! i love those historical places and buildings..but right now i dun hv any fren have same interest with me. They mostly like shopping and city tour...
backpacking seems fun! =)
haah then i should have jio u for this one.
going backpack alone for girls is a bit too much lah. all the backpackers which are girls at least go in a small group. but i did see one german lady in her 40s going alone lah.. well if you are brave enough, there is nothing u cant do la.
actually im not against shopping but sight seeing should really be why you are travelling lah..
nvm next time let me know where you want to go, if i can i will join u. backpacking is for people who dun mind sweating out all day, and so far the girls i know just seem to hate it when they sweat. haha.
Fen, interesting and enriching trip i suppose. =)