The bus terminal in Pakse is just a few minutes walk from the FoRest Hotel where I stayed. The bus leaves for Vientiane at 8.30 pm. This will be a 10 hours of night ride with sleeper bed. Vientiane is the Capital of Laos. I only stayed in Vientiane for one night as I found that there was nothing much to see.
Days of wonders and nights of tales. I have learned a lot of the history, cultures, food, languages and the people of Cambodia and Laos during my travel. Seeing is believing. Experience touches the heart. Travelling is to gain knowledge that are unable to obtain from books.
The road to Luang Prabang was not that smooth. The driver stopped twice during the 6 hours journey. Eventually we reached the Northern bus station at about 4.15 am feeling pleasantly drowsy. We walked around the station trying to find a tuk tuk driver to take us to the city, at the same time trying to fight against the urge to sleep. I shared the tuk tuk ride with the 2 young Taiwanese girls, a European couple with each paying S$3.67.
I reached the Villa (a home that was converted into a hotel) at 4.55 am but the gate was locked. Though there were lights from the moon and stars, but the road was quiet and I couldn’t see anybody within the vicinity after the tuk tuk left. I got a bit uneasy and pressed the gate bell repeatedly for a few minutes. I also made noises at the gate. Out of nowhere a fat man appeared quietly from my behind and told me not to make so much noise. He spoke with a slow and low voice saying that the people in the house were sleeping.
Got to know that this fat helpful young housekeeper of the Villa. I could have woke him up (from he sleep in the small house opposite the Villa. He opened the gate and gave me the key to a room. I jumped into the king size bed and slept throughout till 10 am.
The Villa is in a good location where the Dara wet market is just within walking distant. Further down, I could see the main street where there are many restaurants and bars. There is also a night market.
There is also the long Mekong river where you could take a boat river.
This is one of the well-preserved wonders of the world. The word “Wat” as in Thai means temple and “Angkor” means city. This Temple City is a must visit if you are in Cambodia. The place is rather big and far from the city. I will advise that you join in a tour group than to visit the place on your own. In this case you will be more appreciated of what you are seeing as the guide will explain to you the touching history. This makes your money worth.
There is only one central place to get the entrance ticket as they need to take your photo and paste it onto the entrance pass which is not transferable. You will need at least 2 days to see a significant part of the place. I got a 3-day pass (US$62) but I only booked a 2-day tour (US$28) from the hotel. I could visit the place on the 3rd day with the tuk tuk but I didn’t.
Waiting for the sunset
I took a bus from Battambang to Siem Reap and stayed in a hotel that is next to the Art Center night market. The hotel is only about 10 minutes walk to the busy and noisy Pub Street. I paid S$21 for a single room a night with nice breakfast. The young lady at the reception counter speaks perfect English. She helped me to arrange a 2-day tour to Angkok Wat and a one-way mini bus ride to the border of Laos. It was a pleasure stay in this Angkor Orchid Central Hotel.
This is the Cambodia – Laos border. The immigration counter is just a table in a small restaurant. The immigration officer will collect cash in US dollar and issue Visa to those who require it to enter Laos. I do not require the Visa but I paid US$10 for the girl to take me over with the motor bike. The rest of the backpackers took a slow walk from Cambodia to Laos, about 2km.
I took a 6 hours bus ride from Phnom Penh to Battambang. When the bus reached the “bus terminal”, tuk tuk drivers rushed toward the alighting passengers trying to sell their services to take the passengers to the city, which is about 20 minutes ride. I was shown with pictures of many hotels and finally I decided on the Royal Hotel that has a roof top bar and a Jacuzzi. I had a room by myself for 2 nights for S$42.
I made an appointment with the young tuk tuk driver to show me around the next day for S$17. I tried the bamboo train in the morning and visited the killing bats caves in the afternoon.
I reached Phnom Penh at about 2.30pm. Cambodia is one hour behind Singapore. I met this old Singaporean man at the airport while I was searching for tourist information. He said that was his first time in Cambodia and asked me how to get to the city. He further asked me where he could get a hotel to stay, what places could he visit and where to find girls. He even asked me how much would the girls charge for a night. I wander. Do I look like a GSO?
I told him I have booked a hotel through the Internet and if he likes, he could come and stay in the same hotel. He paid for me a SIM card at the airport. He said he doesn’t need the SIM card as he cannot read English and does not know how to use the Internet. I walked him to the bus stop.
While we were waiting for the bus, 5 young people approached me and asked how could they get to the city. I wander. Do I look like a tourist guide? These 20+ Chinese young people are working in Singapore and came to Cambodia for holiday during the weekend. I asked all of them to take the public bus 3 with me to the market centre. On the bus, we realised that it was the first day of the New Year in Cambodia and the public buses are free for all. We saved 53 cents each.
The old man decided not to stay in the same hotel with me because I was staying with 9 other foreigners in a room and he couldn’t bring girls into the room. He stayed in a hotel not far from mine and paid S$45 a night. Well, I paid S$8 a night for a bed in a dormitory and a swimming outside of the room.
The Killing Fields are the sites where collectively more than 1.3 million people were killed and buried by the Communist Party of Kampuchea during Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the Cambodian Civil War (1970–75).
Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me – The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality ….. Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886).
I took the 2 days one night tour of the Mekong Delta.
酒神喝醉了, 海神去航海.
雷神放暑假, 我该怎么办?
闪电在睡着, 风神又不来.
太阳管天下, 我快要疯掉!
到达雅典, 天气仍然如土耳其那样炎热
听说古希腊神话的十二主神能够帮助人们解决问题
雖然如此, 在不同的時代人类不斷為了適應其文化演化而變化
现在我们已经變成了神通广大
求神不如求己
无论天气有多热, 被晒到有多黑
我仍然在雅典逗留了六天
I joined the free walking tour on the next day when I reached Athens. For the next few days, I revisited those places that the guide had showed us.
I got confused with the Parthenon and the Acropolis till I asked my friend Mr. G and got to know that the Parthenon is an ancient religious temple the Athenians built for the Greek goddess Athena. The Acropolis is the high hill that the Parthenon was built on. In short, the Parthenon is a temple and the Acropolis is the hill the Parthenon is located.
When you are in Greece, you should visit some of the islands. There are travel agents who will customize island hopping according to your needs but I found these packages are not within my travel budget. Instead, I took the train to the harbor and take pictures of people onboarding the ships.
I tried to strike up a conversation with the young butcher in the local market but didn’t have much luck as I do not speak Greek. Somehow he understood my body and sign languages and posted for me to take pictures. What a wonderful encounter for the trip!
I booked the backpacker that comes with breakfast. I took 2 hard boiled eggs from the mini buffet table and filled up the water bottle when I left the breakfast room. I just need to have another late lunch or earlier dinner for the day, which cost less than S$20. This is the way I control my budget.
Here is the other side of midnight in Greece. Do you consider this an graffiti art or vandalism?
The whispers in the morning
Woke me up
Of me sleeping light
I helplessly sigh
Even though I have time
I quickly walked up
Of seeing the hot air balloons
On the mountain side
Sound of my heart beat
Travelled thr morning light
Of me leading myself
Finding for a good site
The sun unwillingly woke up
And birds flying up high
Of hundreds balloons floating
What a beautiful sight
I was a cave man in Cappadocia because I stayed in a cave. Most of the hotels here are built in or near to caves. In fact, the whole city is surrounded by caves.
I shared the cave with a few people. There is no fan, no air-con and no window but the place is cooling.
I got out of the cave and started to explore the place for a few hours.
I took the Green Tour and visited the underground city and other places.
The guide took us to a restaurant (pay for your own drink and food). The tour ended up with a soak of our feet into the water.
I took the midnight bus from Cappadocia to Ankara. I though I could save the cost of the hotel stay and sleep in the bus. However, I just couldn’t get a good sleep in the bus. When I reached Ankara at 7am, the hotel was kind enough to let me check-in early. Till then I managed to sleep for a few hours.
Breakfast is included in the room rate. For dinner, I went to the nearby food store and had some Turkish food.
The hotel that I stayed is a bit off the city. When I asked the hotel staff for the nearby places of interest, he pointed me to Anitkabir which is about 20 minutes of walk from the hotel.
This is the colonnaded tomb for the former president, Kemal Ataturk, with a marble hall, turrets & museum.
There was a change of guard when I was there.
I took the bus and went to visit the ancient castle. The place is built on a rocky hilltop, offering panoramic views of the city in all directions.
I continued with my journey and saw many interesting buildings.
