It's been a long time since I've been able to update this log because I couldn't log in on my own website in Vietnam. I'll try to write down my adventures from the last 1,5 month, forgive me if it's not complete. O, and don't forget to take a look at my pictures, they are all made last Januari when Niek, my boyfriend, visited me in Thailand.

Folow up Cambodia

I've visited Ankor Wat and it's surrounding temples and I must say it's most impresive! It's a huge area with over more then 100 temples, and of course I didn't visit them all, just the most popular ones. You can buy a 1 day ticket for 20 US $ or a 3 day ticket for 40 US $, I bought the latter but I only used 2 days, after that I had seen enough and I was tired.

Ankor Wat itself was the first temple I visited and I loved it, it's huge and the history about it is really facinating (you can read this in every guidebook of Cambodia) but it's not my favorite temple. My 2 favorites are Bayon with it's over 54 gothic towers and over 200 smiling, gargantuan faces of Avalokiteshvara (an ancient king) and Ta Prohm, because it's the most 'natural' site wich is hardly renovated. Ta Prohm is wellknown because of the large trees that grow in and on the ruines, a most impresive sight! When I return home I'll finally put my digital pictures on this site so you can see what I'm talking about.

The first day I rented a bycicle, but that wasn't a succes, you have to cycle 8 kilometers before you're in the park, and the park is so huge, that it takes you forever to go from 1 temple to the other. And a mountainbikeseat isn't comfertable at all if you're not used to it, believe me! So the next day I rented a motorbike with driver who drove me where-ever I wanted for just 6 US $ per day.

After 1 day recovering from all that walking and climbing (yes, some of these ruines you'll have to climb) I departed Siem Reap to go to Phnom Penh by expressboat. This was a very pleasant trip over the Tonle Sap lake and Tonle Sap river, wich gives you a good impression of the normal life in Cambodia, only the price was a bit high, 22 US $. But I do prever traveling over wather then land because of these bad roads there!

Phnom Penh is mostly known off it's Killing Fields and the history of the Khmer Rouge (altough all of Cambodia was the victim of this regime). I did visit the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Museum, what used to be the the Security Prison S-21, a centre of detention and torture. It's not a happy or beautifull place to visit, but I believe it's a good thing to learn about human history, even the worst pages of our history! When I visited these places I was realy moved and tears came in my eyes, all this violence and crazyness and it's only 25 years ago. I can recomend everybody to read more about the history of Cambodia, especially the regime of the Khmer Rouge, it's something I never realized before I went to Cambodia.

Altought Cambodia has been through a lot off terrible times, the people are still positive and friendly. The motordriver who took me to the Killing Fields invited me to his own house for diner and it was a special experience. The neighbourhood he lives in is very poor and I would call it a Ghetto. The people live there illegaly in their own build 'houses' and a foreigner is an attraction, so a lot of people came to see me, the 'white female'. Diner was prepared by his girlfriend (some kind of soup with vegetables and rice, very nice) and served on a platform where you sit on the floor, the food is placed in the middle to scoop on your own plate and the local wine is shared in 1 cup that goes around. The men eat seperate from the women, but probably because I'm a foreigner, I could eat at the men's table (als because my driver was the only one who could speak English). He invited some friends and he as my translator I could speak with them, some of them lived during the terrible regime of the Khmer Rouge and most of them lost a relative or sometimes they where the only one who survived....

I didn't stay long in Cambodia but it left a strong memory in my mind I'll never forget! I love the friendly people, the only thing what I don't like are the roads, but I'm sure this will improve in the coming years.

I'll be back soon to write about Vietnam.

Love,
Linda
posted by Linda Meijer at 11:26 AM
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Right now Linda is travelling through Vietnam and she's not able to log in to her website to keep her log updated. As soon as she arrives in another country with acces to her website, she will update the log!

Some pictures have been uploaded in the pics-section of the site; check them out!

Michael
posted by Linda Meijer at 12:03 PM
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Wauw, this country is so different then Thailand... After 4 times (total of 5 months) in Thailand, I have to get used to it, but I love this new experience.

It started when I was at the border, waiting in the line for the immigration service, where they check your passport and visa. It was very busy and hot, it took me at least 45 minutes and I was lucky! A group of men they forced there way in the line, leaving 20 meters of people behind them, and I told them to line up at the back, as you should. They told me that they were waiting in the next line for 1 hour and that was the wrong line for them so they entered our line, but they were lying, because I saw them coming, just a few minutes ago. Even if they were wright, the polite thing to do is ask is you could step in the line, don't you agree? There was a security officer a few meters aways and I told him what was happening, another guy (Cambodian, probably a helper at the border) told the security officer that it was no problem and that was it... I can't stand it if something is happening that isn't wright, but what can I do in this case? I didn't understand why, untill these guys were in front of the line and gave the official there some money, 100 bath (around 2,5 $), so they just bought their way in the line!!! The officials are corrupt and can be bought for just a few dollars... welcome to Cambodia. I know this isn't the case only in Cambodia but this is the first time I saw it.

The roads in Cambodia are terrible, most of it is just a dirtroad with rocks, our minibus became a 'discobus', that is what the driver called it, to much noise and you can't sit still ;-) After a few hours on this bus, your bud will be num.

The countryside is mostly ricefields, with houses of dried leaves, most of them don't have electricity. Cows are used to help on the field, tractors are not common, it's so much less developed then Thailand! Now I'm in Siem Rep and this is a town, but you can't compare it with your average town, it's relaxed, not really big and it has a village atmosphere. Besides the Ankor Wat, there isn't much to see around here, but I like it anyway.

Tomorrow I'll visit the Ankor Wat, can't wait! Most people who saw it are really impressed. I tell you all abou it the next time I'm online.

Bye,
Linda

posted by Linda Meijer at 12:17 PM
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It's been a while, but I've been on a (almost) deserted beach (on Ko samed, yet another island) without internetacces. And I don't have much to tell now, because all I did was reading, reading and reading. My bungalow was 15 meters from the beach and sea, but I've only been there 4 times... I loved to sit on my porch, reading and enjoying the view. In the evening sometimes I would meet nice people to chat with, have a beer or play a game, so now I'm totally relaxed, ready for Cambodia!

I'll leave to Ankor Wat, Siem Rep, in Cambodia tomorrow, can't wait to be on the road again, really traveling. I don't plan to stay long in Cambodia, maybe a week or so, but if I like it... My visa for Vietnam starts the 21st of Februari, but I can extend that visa, so you never know how much time I will spent in Cambodia. Especially the Ankor Wat and the Killing Fields will be impressive, both in a different way.

I'm not sure I'll be able to be online a lot, but I'll will if I can. Till then,

Linda
posted by Linda Meijer at 3:06 PM
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Yesterday my bf left, he went back to The Netherlands, and now I'm on my own again. It will be strange the first few weeks to be all alone again, and I'm sure I'll miss my bf, but he'll be waiting for me at home and that is a good thing to know!

Our last week we spend on Ko Chang, an island near the Cambodian border and we had a great time, except for the fact that I got ill for a few days, and after that my bf... I had a fever, headache, I was dizzy and felt just terrible! I'm glad it went away pretty soon, but still our last days together where different then we would wanted them to be.

Ko Chang is very nice, but the water (once again) wasn't really clear, and that was a shame because normally you should be able to do some good snorkling there. There arn't that many tourist, more travelers, and that is a big plus! Because we didn't feel to good, we didn't explore the island, we staid at only 2 different beaches, White Sand that is supposed to be the most popular but not to crowded and Lonely Beach wich is beautifull and very relaxed. I wanted to go to shipwreckdiving and Niek, my bf, wanted to do a trekking in the jungle, but because of our illness.... it's a shame, but I might be back there again. Especially for that shipwreck, it's a verticale shipwreck and I think that must be great.

On our way from Bangkok to Ko Chang, we shared the mini-bus with 3 Dutch people, 3 guys traveling together (and others of course). With them we had a good time, we went out together (well, there isn't that much of a nightlife...) and after me and my bf left to another beach, we saw them again in the Jah Bar on Lonely Beach. Maybe I'll meet them again because they will also go to Cambodia and Laos. Frank, Kunda and Daan, it was nice to meet you! Keep in touch.

Here in Bangkok I'll arrange the visa for Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos and hopefully, I'll be able to get my digitale camera fixed, so I can (finally!) show you some pictures from my adventures. I did take 'normal' pictures and I'll ask if Michael (the creator of this website) can scan some of them so they can be shown on my website here. The visa might take a few workingdays so I'll have to find a place to spend them, probably on a island again...

I'll keep you informed, till then!

Linda
posted by Linda Meijer at 7:34 AM
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It has been some time (again), but we were busy doing the touristic things. We staid for 3 days, 2 nights in Hua Hin, but I'll never forget out time there! On the 17th of Januari me and my bf were together for 7 months.... and I forgot all about it! But Niek didn't, he spoiled me rotten with a beautiful white-gold necklace and a lichtbleu topas in a white-gold setting! I was realy suprised and did not now what to say, he is so sweet!

His feet where recovering realy well and I also found out that I couldn't extend my Thai touristvisa from Hua Hin, I (we) had to go to Bangkok and so we left sooner then we planned. Hua Hin is nice, but not much nightlife, except for the girlybars.... And it's more expensive then I'm used to in Thailand.

We tought it wouldn't take us much time to go to Bangkok, it's only a 4 hour drive (by bus, but by train aswel), but it took us almost another 4 hours by public bus to go where we wanted in Bangkok! The traffic here is terrible! Sometimes you don't move for 10 minutes or longer... the whole city is blokked this way, and we went at rush-hour. When we finally arrived it was to late (22:00) to ask around about my visa-extension and the next day, we slept too long... we woke up after officehours. And then we found out that it was a Friday, so we had to wait until Monday to get my visa extended... another 3 days in Bangkok we rather spend on a beach...

We did have a good time, went to the Bangkok Zoo, took a river (klong) cruise and we went to the cinema, but as we are staying on Kao San Road (backpackersstreet, cheap), we are realy bored here right now, we can't wait to leave tomorrow to Ko Chang, aonther paradise island (yes, I arragend my visa today)! The cinema was a nice experience, we went to Siam (part of Bangkok) en there you have a "Gold Star Cinema", what means that it's realy super- deluxe! It cost us 300 bath each (around 6 US dollars), but you had a waiter, the seats are unbelievable, you can lay down if you want just by stretching your legs, I want one for at home! My English isn't good enough to describe what an experience it was, and that in our travel clothes! When we arrived on Kao San Road again I met Peter, a German guy I met last time I was here, he just arrived a day earlier, nice to meet him again! I was suprised that he recogniced me, with my new hair and glasses...

Niek is leaving Thailand on the 29th of Januari, so we only got 1 week left together here, and then I don't know what my plans will be after that, I'll see.

Take care,
Linda
posted by Linda Meijer at 2:11 PM
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Right now we are in Surathani (again), and we're on our way to Hua Hin, but we'll take the nighttrain so we've got a few hours to spend here. So I fill you in on mine (our) last adventures.

When we left Bangkok we went to Phuket on the nighttrain (via Surathani), not to the most populair beach (Patong) but to Kata beach, and we didn't like it at all! It was to developed, a lot of 5 star resorts and also a Club Med. Not many young travelers, mostly families and older people. We wanted to move to another beach on Phuket but we were afraid that we would be dissapointed again and that's why we made the desicion to move to Ko Phanang, Niek had never been there. So back to Surathani and then the nightboat to Ko Phanang, this boat is a lot slower then the expressboat but it's cheaper and it's saves you the cost of a hotel. I heard terrible stories about it, but I thought it's a very relaxing way to travel, you can sleep and when you wake up you still have a whole day at your destination.

The first beach we went to was Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai, that's on the Northeasternside of the island, very nice and quiet but a bit expensive so after 2 nights we moved to Ao Si Thanu (Eastside of the island) and that was just perfect! Also very quiet but a lot cheaper and the bungalow was great, a big room, a nice bathroom and a huge veranda, just a few meters from the beach! On the 9th of Januari we went to a tranceparty in the middle of the 'jungle', especially Niek enjoyed that very much because this was his first trance-outdoorparty in Thailand.

We staid on this beach for 4 days and then we went to Kao Sok National Park to enjoy the beautiful nature there, but unfortunatly Niek had some blisters on his feet that got infected, so he couldn't go trekking as he wanted to. The nature is beautiful there but if you can't go on a tour, then it's boring, because there is nothing else to do. The first night when we arrived, the place were we booked a room was full, so we slept in the room of a waitress there (she didn't spent the night with us!), not what we expected but there would be a hut the next day. And we did get a nice hut, 3 meters from the ground, very basic and something totaly else then I am used to. Especially the sounds of all kinds of animals made it an interesting experience. But still we would leave the next day (today) because Niek couldn't go trekking, that night we wanted a quiet night reading a book in the hut. At around 9:30 pm we saw some ants near our bed and we wanted to get rid of them so we sprayed a repelent, we shouldn't have done that.... in a few seconds the whole hut was filled with at least hundreds of ants (not the small ones), and I allmost ran out of the door, first hiding in the bathroom. I don't mind animals or insects too much, but if you see an invasion of so many ants, it gave me the creeps! We took our stuff and went back to the reception, explaning that we had an 'antproblem', so the waitress offered her room again, but we didn't like it there, too noicy. So after an hour Niek went back and saw that all the ants where dead, the nest was destroid and we wouldn't have any more problems withs ants there. He cleened the place up (I was still shaky) and after 2 hours we went back to the same hut and slept very well afterall!

This morning we left Kao Sok and so now we are back in Surathani, waiting for the nighttrain to Hua Hin. We're going there because there is entertainment and there is a beach, so if Niek's feet still hurt we can allways do something else there. He has to stay out of the water for around 6 days, and I know from experience that's terrible if you're on holiday!

I'm sure I missed some nice anacdotes, when I remember, I'll fill you in.

Hope you're all doing fine, till next time,

Linda

posted by Linda Meijer at 9:09 AM
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