Cambodia: from ruins to paradise

The busride to Cambodia was crazy. The bus left three hours later then it was supposed to, broke down three times. While sitting on the street, watching the guys fix the bus with some water, I already realised: I think I love this country. It was the first time on my trip that something went wrong. The Asians nowadays really know how to adapt to the foreigners. But I like the craziness more.

Phnom Phen is a weird city. There was a festival going on so all the shops were closed. It was like a ghost town and the first tuktukdriver right away warned us for people mugging you. So I stayed in Phnom Phen for a day, just to see the killing fields.

I met some cool people from Argentina in the hostel where I was staying. With them I went to the killing fields and toulsleng; the school prisons. The Killing Fields were really impressive. Walking there everything seems so peaceful. But what happened there is one of the most horrible stories I've ever heard. The Cambodians had a long history of violence. About 2.5 million people died during the Khmer regime. Innocent men, children, women, even baby's. They call Pol Pot the hitler of Cambodia. He wanted to kill everyone whom he think had contact with foreign countries. Our tuktuk drivers dad died during this time. Then I realised this country is still recovering from all of this.
Toul Sleng was even more impressive. Pol pot thought there is no need for education so he closed the schools and turned them into prisons and torture rooms. They kept everything the way it was, you can even still see the blood on the floors. Seeing all the pictures of the people getting abused was horrible. It hits you in the face, but it's a piece of history you really need to know about before travelling around this country. Because it happened only 30 years ago.

After Phnom Phen to Siem Reap. I met someone from Holland in the place where I was staying, so we decided to go cycling like real dutchies the next day. We rented a bike for one dollar for the whole day! And we got a free bottle of water. My bike was so cute. It had a purple bell and a blue basket. :)

Angkor Wat was beautiful,  but the fact that we went cycling made it much, much cooler. We did the tour that most people do in three days, sitting inside a tuktuk, in one day. We saw all the temples, but we didn't climbe them all though.. and at some point you've seen enough ruins. But still it's beautiful. Glad I've seen Cambodia's pride!

The next day we decided to go to the floating villages. The people living there are really poor. They live on the water so they don't have to pay tax and they live from fishing.  I had mixed feelings about it. It was interesting to see how they live, but they try to get money from you in many ways. Alot of money. I wanted to buy some rice for the school children but they asked 45 dollars for the whole bag. We just left after that, I really wanted to give something but this was not feeling good. All and all, still an impressive village to visit!

The beach! Haven't seen one during my trip so I was really looking forward to sticking my feet in the sand and taking a dive in clear blue water. Also my friend Evert from Holland was coming to visit me. I was so happy to meet him here. Sihanoukville serendipity beach is a quiet party beach right now, in high season it must be packed. Everything is so cheep over there! I went a night out and I had spend only four dollars...

Enough party on serendipity, time to relax at Koh Rong island. The atmosphere here is so chilled out, and the Cambodian people are so cool!!!
On the first night there was a birthday party going on the beach, right next to our hostel. It was a birthday party for a two year old baby. This wasn't a birthday party with clowns and "broodjes knakworst." They were playing really loud Cambodian party music and everybody; foreigners, Cambodian were dancing, jumping, having a good time. I loved it!!!
After that there was a huge bonfire on the beach and we went swimming in the dark to see the plankton lid up. It was amazing!! What a great first night. 

                                                               

                                                                I.am.in.paradise.

Laos - the highlights of my trip

Luang prabang is a beautiful city among the river with a few temples and many monks coloring the street with their orange gowns. The first day when I arrived I decided to be alone for a while, because while travelling, you're actually never alone. You'll always meet great people along the way. That's what makes travelling by yourself so good. But now, I really needed some alone time. So I rented a motorbike and went to the waterfalls.  It was a great ride, driving through the lao country side. People ask me if it safe.. don't worry, I never drive fast and I wear a helmet. I always ask beforehand if the roads are good. Besides, people over here drive much safer than in Holland, believe me! It looks like it's one big chaos, but there is a system, and it works. They drive very slow and hunk the horn when they pass. Works for me, although I mostly bike through areas that are quiet, with just a few cars or motorcycles passing by.

The waterfalls in luang prabang are beautifull! I jumped in the waterfall from a tree, got a great action picture too! The fish over there bite your legs, so no chilling or swimming in the water for a long time unfortunately.  As I was alone and with the bike I didn't had to leave with a group to go to the tuktuk driver that's waiting. I could go whenever and wherever I wanted to. That's the best way of travelling. So I sat down by the waterfalls,  read my book, with the sound of the water falling in the background. Being alone felt great.

The next morning I decided to wake up early to see the caves. I had the bike until 12.00 and it would take me an hour to get there.I left at 8.00 to be sure I had enough time. It was a great feeling again, but the whole adventurous feeling didn't last for long.. because I had to take my wallet out every 5 minutes to actually see the cave. And it wasn't so impressive too.. 5000 kip to park the bike, 15000 kip to go with the boat, 20000 kip to see the cave, 2000 kip to go to the toilet, 5000 kip to use a flashlight in the cave..!? I mean, where does it stop? It's still not a lot of money (10.500= €1,-) but it's definitely a sign of tourism having a negative effect on Laos and the people.

Later that day I walked into a library and I saw people teaching English to monks and highschool children. This was the time to really give something back to Laos and the people (instead of my money), so I signed myself up to volunteer the next day. It was great, the children were so grateful and I could practice my teaching skills again. I remembered how much I love teaching, and they appreciated it so much!

I stayed in a very nice hostel where I met some people from Holland and Germany. We chilled at Utopia bar and ate some really good and cheap food on the nightmarket.

After a few days in Luang prabang I went to Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng is al about partying and tubing. Went tubing twice! Floating in the water, playing volleyball at the bars, dancing, float your way to the next bar. Great fun! Except the fact that my camera got wet during tubing... but surprisingly enough a really sweet girl from England just gave me her camera because she wasn't using it anymore... how generous is that! So I don't have a lot of pictures of Vang Vieng but I was very happy I could make pictures after that!

Besides tubing I went on a day trip with a group of girls. We  climbed a cave and jumped from trees in the beautiful blue lagoon. 

In the evening I went on stage and sang in this little pub together with an other guy, whom played and sang very well!

From Vang Vieng off to Pakse with some English friends I met along the way. Pakse seems boring but biking around is great over there. Many beautiful and amazingly huge waterfalls.  I went the first day with some  girls, but we literally saw NOTHING because it was raining so much.. it was alot of fun though.. 4 girls on a road trip together. After all, we had a great laugh.
I was lucky to go there the next day again with two guys, one from England and one from Australia. I had met them before in Vang Vieng. They are travelling around on the motorbike. I am so jealous! I mean, that's total freedom! It was worth going there again, because this waterfall was definitely the most beautiful one I've seen on this trip so far.

Last destination in Laos: 4000 islands. What a great place to chill out in your hammock,  listen to music, enjoy the sunset.. Did you know that there are actual dolphins in the Mekong river!? It's true, you can spot dolphins at 4000 islands! You can see them coming up every few minutes and you hear the sound of them breathing above the water. It's always heartwarming to see animals in the wild. Especially somewhere where you would least expect it.

I could write a lot more about Laos, but these were definitely the highlights of my trip! Laos has everything and even more than I saw coming. Khob Jai Laos, now off to Cambodia!