Laos 老挝
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Category Archives: Backpacking
Battambang 马德望
I took a 6 hours bus ride from Phnom Penh to Battambang. When the bus reached the so called “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 a 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 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. The famous Cambodia Circles is in Battambang but it was closed during the New Year season.
Killing Bats Caves
The Bamboo Train
Battambang is a small place but worth a day visit if you are travelling from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. The bamboo train is an eye opener for US$5 a person. The killing bat caves are a must to visit.
Phnom Penh 金边
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 with a swimming outside of the room.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
While we were waiting for the Tuk Tuk to take us to the killing fields, one of the guests was reported dead by his roommate. When they carried his body down from the second floor, his face was pale and his body looked frozen. Both of his hands and mouth were open. I got the feeling that he was choked to death.
It was a sad day to see someone died in the morning and later visited the sites where more than a million people were killed and buried. We also visited the old prison and saw pictures of people being tortured.
Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me – The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality………… Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886).
Greece 希腊 (Athens 雅典)
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 Greece. 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?
Cappadocia 卡帕多西亚
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.
Ankara 安卡拉
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.
Istanbul 伊斯坦布尔
There is a fire burning in my heart,
I have to cool it before I could start.
There is an excitement growing within me,
I have to stop it before I am not me.
First arrival in Istanbul got me so excited to see such a beautiful place. The Topkapi Palace, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia Museum and Basilica Cistern are just within minutes of walk from the place I was staying. The Tram station is also nearby. Actually I walked most of the time instead of taking the tram.
Yes! I joined the free walking tour.
Met up with the local people.
There are armed soldiers and military vehicles around the tourists area.
This is the train station.
You could take a boat ride.
The place where I stayed provide breakfast with a nice view.
The local food
Pamukkale 棉花堡
From Canakkale I took the bus to Pamukkale (S$38). This was a long and tiring 8 hours ride and the bus stopped in Denizli instead.
At the bus terminal, I approached a policeman to ask for direction and finally I landed up in a small and cosy hotel (S$31) with a mixture of Turkish and Western buffet breakfast
The next morning, I went to the bus terminal and took the mini bus (S$1.58) to Pamukkale.
When I got off the bus, someone from a nearby travel agency approached me asking whether I would like to join a day tour of Pamukkale for S$54. I told him I would consider about that.
After about 10 minutes of walk, another man approached me asking me to join his tour for S$36, which is one third cheaper that the earlier approach. His group had 2 Canadians, 2 Indians, one Korean and 2 Singaporeans. Without second thought, I joined in the tour.
Later I found out that the middle age Singaporean couple is a pilot and a teacher. I also saw 3 young Malay Singaporeans while waiting for the tour.
This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a natural site for hot springs. The place is rather small but it had some remarkable spots, such as the Roman Spa and Roman Theatre.
Pamukkale means Cotton Castle in Turkish
Canakkale 恰纳卡莱 / Troy 特洛伊
From Istanbul I took a 46 seater air-con coach to Canakkale for S$27. This is an interesting 6 hours trip where we were served a few rounds of drinks and biscuits in the coach by an uniformed coach attendant pushing a small foldable trolley. It’s like the service in the plane. Very impressive!
Upon reaching the harbor, the coach just drove into a ferry. In fact there were 3 coaches and other vehicles in the ferry. It took about 30 minutes to cross the sea. I heard that they are going to build a bridge so that the coach could drive directly from Istanbul to Canakkale.
When I was on the coach, I caught up in a conversation with my seat partner. He gave me direction as where to alight from the coach and how to locate the hotel that I have booked from Agoda.
There is the Trojan Horse replica that was used in the movie “Troy”.
The next day, I took the mini bus (S$2.70) to the ancient city of Troy. The entrance fee into Troy was S$11.25. This is a must visit place in Turkey but there is physically nothing much to see except the wooden horse and stones. Spending an hour is more than enough. I will suggest that you watch the movie Troy and read something about the place so you will appreciate the visit more.
On the way back to the hotel, I went to the market and bought a watermelon. I shared the fruit with the three locals I met.
Turkey 土耳其
太阳在天空呼唤, 欢迎到这里游玩.
我正在路边迷茫,谁愿成我的旅伴.
太阳可是在加班, 阳光照耀在路上.
从六至晚七时半, 向外来游客诉玩.
太阳你真是麻烦, 快召月亮来接档.
星星你也快出来, 有你路已足够亮.
我要向太阳告狀, 这几天你可好狂.
把我晒成了肉干, 这可没什么好玩.
我请水神来帮忙,下点雨给我清凉.
等候海风快到来, 为我指出一方向.
这几天我在路上, 从白天走到傍晚.
初到这神秘地方, 也不能说太冤枉.
然而这是土耳其, 拥有神奇的力量.
心中充满了希望, 感觉到人间天堂.
这次土耳其之行的经历也太丰富了!
Share with all on some of the pictures I have taken during my trip to Turkey. Turkey is a big country and you can spend more than a month travelling around but I only stayed there for 12 days. From Istanbul I took the coach to Canakkale, Pamukkale, Cappadocia, Ankara and back to Istanbul, with stops of a few days in each place. The weather was very hot when I was there in August. The days were long and I was almost “burnt to death”. This made me wrote something about the sun.
