Cambodia - Siem Reap, Phnom Penh

Because my Thailand visa was going to expire April 1st and I didn't want to be deported, it was necessary for me to go to the immigration office and pay some amount of money or leave the country. I chose the latter and went to Cambodia.

I want to say something that's off-topic and disturbing and could be false, but nonetheless interesting. I heard that it's possible to go to Cambodia, buy one round in a bazooka, and shoot it at a cow and blow it to smithereens all for $250. That's just what I heard, and I didn't pursue it after that.

Anyway, my girlfriend, Ning, and I rode the bus to a city inside the border and stayed the night there. The next morning, we took a taxi (tuk tuk; there aren't any metered taxis in this city) to the border.

I want to go into detail on how to get a visa just because I had such a frustrating time getting mine. Before even getting out of the tuk tuk, Ning and I were approached by four or five men wearing shirts and ties and looked pretty clean. They asked if we needed visas, and I said we did, but that we would go to the consulate. I previously read in a guidebook that these exact people will "help you out" in getting a visa even though you can get it just as easily by yourself and avoid paying these guys for their services. So I told the guy to take us to the consulate so we can get our visas alone. He happily agreed, but said he would go with us. When we got to the consulate, we filled out the paperwork and paid the fee of $40 each. We then proceeded to taxi back to the border. What we didn't realize until later is that there's a little logo in the upper right hand corner that reads "20 USD". We got ripped off! Not only does the guy who's dressed nicely want our money, but also the (shady) guy behind the desk wants it. Lesson: Acquire the visa beforehand at any Cambodian consulate (not at the border) to avoid this headache.

After we crossed the border and entered a different country, I thought the network of people who rip foreigners off was left behind. Boy, was I wrong. After I got my passport stamped and was waiting for Ning (she was in a long line for Thai citizens), a guy standing around asked me where I was going. I told him I didn't know even though I did, just so I could be left alone for a second. He then told me that I should tell my girlfriend to move from the Thai line to the foreigner line because it doesn't matter which line Thais use. I paused, looked at him, and said, "How do you know I'm waiting for my girlfriend?" He replied, "I just know." I realized he knew of our coming into Cambodia before we even got there! When Ning finally got her passport stamped, we talked about whether we should take a 500Thb taxi (with the guy standing around, and another couple that would be in the car with us) or a 600Thb bus. At this point, I just wanted to get where we were going (Siem Reap) in the shortest amount of time with the least amount of trouble, so we chose the taxi. The driver said there's no need to pay for a Thai massage when you could get a free one in a taxi in Cambodia. He wasn't kidding. The roads (mostly dirt) are so bad there with so many potholes that the bumpiness in the car felt like a cheap massage from a crack head.

Five hours later, we finally got into Siem Reap where we found a guesthouse and ate. The next day, we went to Angkor Wat, a magnificent temple that's Cambodia's main attraction. It was absolutely amazing; arguably, one of the most impressive man-made things I've ever seen. What was most amazing to me is the temple's extensive decoration on each and every stone. And because it's so massive, there are an uncountable number of stones. It's mind boggling to think of how much time was spent constructing this temple.

After our half-day visit to Angkor Wat (which is not nearly enough time), we took a bus to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. There's a lot to do in Phnom Penh including visiting the killing fields, museums, and markets. Because we were short on time, we decided to only go to the large market and walk around before going to the airport. Cambodia had the cheapest stuff I've seen yet. When I asked how much t-shirts were, I expected to hear a ridiculous price, which I would then in turn have to commence bargaining. But instead, I heard "$2". I got a "North Face" backpack that would sell in stores for about $150 for $12. I asked the person "how much?" with no intention of buying it. But when she said "$12", I couldn't respond with anything other than "OK, yeah, I'll buy it". Again, there was no need for my negotiation techniques.

When we arrived at the airport to fly back to Bangkok, we were unpleasantly surprised to find out that we had to pay an additional $25 passenger surcharge for each of us, which made the airfare 60% more expensive. When we were waiting for our (delayed) flight, I emailed my sister so she would know what time I would be back in Bangkok. I was too late in letting her know of my last-minute trip to Cambodia, so she had a miserable night, albeit memorable, in Bangkok looking for her brother. As it turned out, when Ning and I got back to Bangkok and my condo, my sister was there safe and sound, and we were happy to see each other.

Ko Si Chang and Si Racha

Early in March, Jake, Joe, and I decided to take a weekend vacation. We agreed we would go to Ko Chang, a beautiful island off the coast of eastern Thailand. When we were ready to leave we found out that the last ferry to the island from the town on the mainland leaves at 5 pm. It was about noon and the bus takes five hours so making the ferry was next to impossible. So instead, we decided we would go to Ko Si Chang, an island a lot closer to Bangkok, and Si Racha, a fishing town that is also the home of the original "Sriracha" hot sauce that's so popular in the US. You'd be surprised to know that you never see the Sriracha sauce anywhere, even in Si Racha. Thais don't eat it because they prefer other ingredients to make their food spicier.

Ko Si Chang is an interesting island that caters to few tourists of whom are mostly Thai and some Chinese. The island's main business is for fishing, so the seafood soups were absolutely delicious (for me, best in Thailand so far). It seemed as though Jake, Joe, and I were the only farang (foreigners) on the island, which I thought was a good thing. We were able to meet some very nice people but the nightlife was almost nonexistent. On Saturday night, the most bumping place on the entire island was a local karaoke bar where the three of us made up half the crowd. But we made sure we had a good time– we sang the Spanish version of Hero by Enrique Iglesias, which was hilarious.

Ko Pha Ngan

Feb. 19-25

Home to the infamous Full Moon Party, Ko Pha Ngan is an island situated off the coast of Thailand in the Gulf of Thailand. Getting there by flight and ferry caused less headaches as other people traveled by train or bus and then ferry which took a considerably longer time to get there. I planned my trip so I'd be there for six days, the first three for getting my scuba license and the last three for partying. The process of getting my Open Water Diver's Certificate was fairly easy. Although expensive ($420), it was and will be worth it. It's an awesome experience that I'll do again, in Thailand and its neighboring countries.

The full moon party was very crazy and fun. It's similar to Ko Samet in that there are a lot of bars along the beach, but different because it was wild. I can remember one event that is still so vivid in my mind. In front of one bar on the beach, a couple workers stood atop tables separated about 10 meters each holding the end of a giant rope. Another worker carrying a bucket of lighter fluid then began to drench the rope with it. Then they swung the rope in circles to form a game of giant jump rope. You'd think who in their right mind would start jumping. Well, it turned out that there were many people who didn't hesitate a bit before going out and start jumping. At times, groups of four or even eight would run out and not even complete one single jump before getting smacked with the flaming rope. It was interesting because when you watch, you don't know if you should laugh or worry as the (drunk) people scramble in the sand to escape the flames. And for those who jumped well (getting in like five successful jumps), the workers would speed the rope up more and more until their destiny of getting close-lined by a blazing rope was fulfilled.

Overall, Ko Pha Ngan was fun. I would go back for the full moon party, just not anytime soon. If I want a quiet beach vacation, I would stay on the other side of the island where you access it only by boat. Although better in other regions of Thailand, the diving was still awesome.