Friday 28 June 2013

The mind-boggling idea of Teleportation.

The hardest thing about travelling is deciding where to go next.

For the past two days I've been contemplating, to the point where I can actually feel the synapses in my brain explode with information passing between them about where to go after Australia. Oh that's right, I forgot to mention, I'm in the Land down Under...

I have been thinking a lot about Romania, and how much I love it. I tell people all the time.  Most of the people I keep repeating myself too as if I were a broken record player don't even listen to me any more because they've heard me talk about that beautiful country so many times. I don't know why I have the sudden urge to go back to România though. Am I still seeking something that I might have left behind on the lands soils', or am I wanting to relive an experience that I once felt whilst I was there months ago? Whatever it is, I know that I will be back there one day.

The other idea that I have been stressing on is India. India, India, India. My main intent for coming to Australia was to save money for India.  I have a one year working holiday visa here in Oz, and I'm 'planning' to stay the full year then leave after. I wrote 'planning' with punctuation marks simply because my plans always change. So, what ever I write on here just take it with a grain of salt and put it on your corn. But, yes, India would be fantastic.

As of right now, I still have to make a rough sketch of what I want to do in Australia - what I'd like to accomplish. I have already written that I'd like to save money to continue travelling, but, I think I want to save up money for a van and travel up north to Darwin from Perth as well. I am currently working at Vanya's cafe in North Freo, or North Fremantle to those that don't live here. Realistically all I want to do is see a Kangaroo in the wild.

What else have I done in Oz?

- Eaten Vegemite (I don't mind the taste) ✓
- Eaten a Pie ✓
- Tried Kangaroo ✓
- Seen an Emu ✓
- Been bitten by a spider and survived ✓
- Seen sharks, jellyfish, stingrays ✓
- Have somewhat understood a new language (Australian) ✓

With respect to the last check mark, I continually have to ask people to translate and pronounce things slower for me to understand their Australianisms.

Flashback to Cambodia.

Phnom Penh, what a surprise you are indeed.

Coming from the 4000 Islands in Laos bound for Cambodia's capital city was an adventure, as always. We were supposed to arrive shortly after 7:00PM, but 12:30 is close enough, right? We were supposed to only be at the border crossing for less than one hour, but two and a half is close enough, right? There was supposed to be air conditioning and nice comfy seats just like the brochures promised but what arrived was close enough, right? As I have said throughout Asia, the "joy's of Asian travel". When we arrived there was of course tuk-tuks awaiting ready to grab and call to us like a school girl at a J Biebs concert. I never had accommodation pre-booked as per usual, and I just ask any traveller around me if they know of any good hostels/guest houses and I tend to tag along with them. So, I met Kiya.

Border Crossing with Laos and Cambodia

We found a nice gentleman who would escort us for well over an hour and a half to find accommodation through Phnom Penh. Apparently if you arrive after 5:00PM it's extremely hard to find somewhere to sleep, let alone half past midnight. We roamed the streets, driving through tiny alley ways with the tuk tuk driver as he shouted out to any guesthouses if they had a room in the Khmer language. At about 1 o'clock we found a hotel for $25.00 a night. You learn certain 'tricks of the trade' while travelling. For example: You always tell the Tuk Tuk drivers you reserved a room at a guesthouse that you just searched up in your travel book, a.k.a 'South East Asia on a shoestring'. The reason for it is if you don't tell the tuk tuk drivers this, they will take you to their friends guesthouse and get paid a commission for bringing you there. Pick a guesthouse that is in close proximity to others so you can walk around and find the best deal. This though did not work for us on our first night of Cambodia. We told the Tuk Tuk driver about this hostel we 'reserved', he scoffed obviosuly hearing this many times and flat out told us we didn't reserved, he caught us. But of course, not to break face, we insisted he take us there. We arrived, they had no room. Then the next place had no room, nor the next or the other's following after that. There was at one point, no lie, a time when the Tuk Tuk driver looked at me and said that we may have to consider sleeping in his Tuk Tuk with him for the night... Would make for an interesting night, no? Let me remind you

Tuk Tuk:
 

 + three grown men?!?!

We opted out.

Phnom Penh was filled with many-a-nights staying in Belle Indochine. A spark ignites in my eyes when I reminisce about Belle Indochine. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Belle-Indochine/393738680709888
The room was immaculate, the host's were beautiful, the price was reasonable. If I were to ever move to PP, then I'd be living here. 

A word of advice from myself:
  • Don't go on the Super Disco ride at the Theme Park in Phnom Penh.If you want to almost be hurled out of a spinning, bouncy vortex of doom then by all means, go on it. If that's not your cup of tea, just trust me.
  • Every Tuk-Tuk driver will ask if you want Marijuana, boom boom or a mixture of the both. Honestly everywhere you look there will be a police officer close to the Tuk-Tuk drivers. Think about it, once you buy from the Tuk-Tuk drivers, the cop arrests you, you pay the cop money and the cop gives a percentage to the Tuk-Tuk driver. Just simply say that not all foreigners smoke or want boom boom 24/7. 
  • Get blind massages in Cambodia.
A day before my 20th birthday I went to the Killing Fields. Words cannot describe the intensity while walking through those fields. The audio tour guides voice was so informative and to the fact, but the tone of which it whispered information into my ear was a nonchalant, soothing voice. I believe that one must see these things that have happened in history never to forget them.

On my birthday I had what I like to call the 'Asian breakdown'. It's when all the chaos, hectic lifestyle going on around you finally gets under your skin and buries its way into your bone marrow causing you to, in all context of the word, break. From the constant beggars with missing limbs, hassling of the tuk-tuk drivers, smells, sights, history both good and bad, people trying to sell me everything from  fried crickets to tires, heat and humidity penetrating your skin hours on end, I broke down. Oddly enough, I miss all of that. I guess one can get accustomed to a certain way of life if around it for long enough.

From Phnom Penh, I travelled up North to Siem Reap famous for the vast area of Angkor Wat. This is something I've always wanted to see and experience since I've heard of it's existence. I remember researching about this place when I was bored at school, just trying to take in all the history that was created here. I do hope that I will see these temples again.

From Siem to the beaches to the less-known beaches of Cambodia - Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island), Kep, Kampot.