Cute Cambodia!

Cambodia is great!!!!

Absolutely wonderful people, even though very very poor.... And even though they do try to sell you postcards and bracelets and scarfs and books and whatever else you may need....they do it in a nice, kinda genuine manner... For the first time in months, when a vendor approached Blondie, she did not fee the need to scream at him or to run away or to be a rude bitch....it was a good feeling!

Cambodia was great from the first impression!!! And that's how it remmained till the end!

Blondie will definitely not go back to Vietnam, but she definitely will to Cambodia!!!

It's a country where, if you are not careful, you can easily get a lot of wrinkles!!! It's simply impossible not to smile back at people all day!!!

It is also dangerous for the wrist twists and forearm cramps - cause you have to wave back at the kids waving at you and shouting "Hello" everywhere and all the time!

The average monthly salary is $50 - 80 and it is extremely difficult to live of it, even in such a cheap country as Cambodia...but despite all that, people just smile.... we should definitely import some of those genes to Poland!

As to men - well, they Asian...however, in comparison to Lao and Vietnmese males, Cambodians have the most masculine traces of all three nations....if I had to, I would probably be able to find one or two guys, who could be considered somehow handsome.....of course, I never dared to do so!

If you are in Cambodia and want to support a local community, get a manicure in a village in a middle of nowhere!!! It's real fun! Blondie and her two travel mates, did their bit in Mondulkiri, a remote eastern part of Cambodia. It's cool when this local woman is giving you a manicure, while the rest of the village is applouding!

Phnom Penh - the home to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum - a shocking evidence of the Khmer Rouge crimes on Khmer people...

......

It is as well a good place, if you are after cheap genuine and not so genuine designer clothes!!!! In Psar Tuol Tom Pong, called Russian Market you can find hips of Columbia, Gap, Lacoste, Burberry and all the other clothes! They say that they are genuine bits coming from the numerous designer factories, which are based in Cambodia....

You can get a Lacoste Tshirt for $6, Levi's jeans for $12, Columbia wind jacket for $10.....so, if they are genuine or not...I don't know....

South of Cambodia is interesting! You have Kep, a seaside town with great seafood! Yes, indeed, Blondie had a huge squid salad and loved it...! in Kampot there is not much to see, except for pepper plantations, which Blondie didn't see....don't even know why...well, do, cause she spent 5 days in a hammock in Rabbit Island! It's a little island with again, great seafood-fish with giant teeth and prawns with starring eyes, hammocks on the beach and nothing else to do that read and chill! Although, at times it tends to be dangerous...especially in the storm...

One evening Blondie with some people had a nite swim, playing with the glowing plankton on the water - it is so beautiful, as soon as you move the water those millions of little fluorescent stars start glowing, it's like you are a water fairy making them to glow...! enough of the fairytales..

So, during the swim there came this crazy fierce storm with lightenings and deafening thunders and once it was quite in the sea, the crazy swimmming peole decided to seak the shelter in the beach bar....as Blondie's bungalow was just next to the bar, she went in to change.

And, there...suddenly the crazy thunder stroke just next to the bungalow!!! it was so sudden and laud that the poor girl dropped her panties and stood there shocked and naked....!

The she quickly, with the speed of light, changed and ran to the bar...she figured, if to die, it's better in a group than alone. There was a sigh of relief when the people saw her - apparently the thunder indeed struck just next to the bungalow......well, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, huh?

After forcing herself to leave the island - seriously, those lazy places suck you in...,

this finger is not aiming for Nico's......

Blondie made her way to Battambang, a small riverside town, home to the best-preserved French-period architecture in the country...according to Lonely Planet....so Blondie did some cycling there...cyling all day in the burning heat and sweaty, sticky humidity is a serious fun...Then, she decided to take a break and stopped in a little local roadside cafe for a coffee....and there, she got hooked up to a movie on TV...firstly, she hadn't seen a tv for quite some time, and besides they were showing this amazing, terribly lame movie, about vampires and ghosts in 15th century on some strange English island...it might have even been Ireland...anyway, the movie was dubbed in Khmer (Cambodian language) but subtilted in English, therefore highly entertaining! So, 1,5 hours and 3 coffees later, the movie was coming to the end - eveyone died except for the baby, the vampires and ghosts were after - when this crazy storm hit the place!!! So, due to the fierce rain and wind Blondie got stuck in the little local cafe for further 1,5 hrs and 2 coffees....

The followind day, after having so much fun on a bicycle, Blondie opted for a motorbike....She rode around the local temples and had a little accident, when the stupid cow instead of getting off the road, decided to charge straight at the poor blond girl....luckily, both cows survived...!

The last stop for Blondie was in Siem Reap, a gateway to the Angkor Temples and a very, happening town...Very touristy but very pleasant with a good, positive vibe, SR is also a home to numerous internation NGO's (non-government charity organisations), therefore many Westeners live here. Blondie happened to couch surf with Tracy (Au) and Marc (Fr) volunteering in SR. They talked, ate, drank great mojitos, and danced away till the dawn!!! Great time in Siem Reap!

And, let's not forget the temples......you would like to say - only pictures can describe, but saddly the pictures can't show the real beauty, mystery and the feeling you get when you stroll through those hundreds of years of history, fulll of Buddhist monks taking picture with you, as when we were there, there was three-day Buddha's birthday party!!!

Attention: do not confuse - this is a Dutch, not French flag...

After celebrating the Dutch Queen's Day, dancing it away, Blondie took 2 hours of beauty sleep, and then at the crack of dawn, she left Cambodia for Indonesia.............

:-((( & :-)))

Lao Lao...

Hello hello there, long time no hear and I admit the guilt...:-((( and do apologize sincerely!!!

So - Laos - officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic...
To get from Sapa (north of Vietnam) to Luang Prabang (north of Laos) it took Blondie three whole consecutive days in buses and/or minibuses....believe her or not, it was little fun!
* Day 1 - Sapa - Dien Bien Phu (35km from the border) the distance of 231km took 9 hours in a minibus....not only was it nightmarish 9 hours of a drive in a crazy bumpy dirt road - meaning that Blondie was suffering the never-ending bumps on the very back seat...but also a sweaty heat in the bus, as the dirt road means an overwhelming piles of dirt flying around so opening the windows is not an option...
However, moreover, the 9 hours Blondie endured sandwiched between a constantly kissing and hugging Australian couple and a lovely Vietnamese woman, who insisted on sleeping, putting most of her body weight on Blondie's side...now, the tricky thing was to actually move her as she would wake up...and, when she woke up she insisted on throwing up...:-) so poor little Blondie didn't really know whether it was better to have her sleeping or awake....well that was the first day...
* Day 2 - Dien Bien Phu - Muang Khua - maybe another 230km...(?) - another 10 hours...this time a chicken bus, but not too crowded. The journey started at 6:00 am, after 30 min drive we stopped for 30 min break...in the middle of nowhere, cause as it was explained - we had to wait for the border crossing to open...no comments, huh? Some 2km from the crossing we got off the bus and had to walk as the road was inaccessible! blocked by the pile of rocks that had to be cleared by the construction workers, but those guys would only start working at 11:00 am...









So we walked, and then had to wait another 2 hours for the bus to pass.....and so, finally we set off...but didn't get too far as soon after we stopped again as this time...there was no road at all!!! but, thank God, there were three diggers and some 10 workers, building the road!!! so we set there, in a burning heat, supplies of food and water running low, waiting for the road to be build for us!!! and so, some 4 hrs later...



voila - the road was there and we were on the go again!!! simple as it was!!!

* Day 3 - Muang Khua - Luang Prabang - big, empty chicken bus - 6 hrs drive - no interesting events on the way....you could say boring...well, Blondie was grateful for that!
So, not to ponder and elaborate too long on Loas - let's put it in short - Laos is a really nice country with pleasant, if not a bit reserved people, but if you want to visit it, do hurry up!!! the extend of deforestation and burning going on all over Loas is alarming! Wherever you go, you can see and smell freshly burned wood and huge areas of cut down forest! In few years time, there will be nothing left there...
And, it is a problem when Chinese build their dams and block the free flow of water in the Mekong river....the water levels in the Mekong is so low in Laos, at least at the moment - and the dry season is not helping, but it's mostly blamed at Chinese... - is so low that almost all river routes are closed as inaccessible. That's it for Blondie's Mekong cruising on a slow boat....buuu..
Luang Prabang - very pleasant little town, although as someone rightly described it - a bit like a museum...but the night market is wonderful for souvenirs and food! and the best fruit shakes in Laos!!!
Vang Vieng - tubing is shit - read very very slow and looked really boring - in the Mekong with almost no water, so Blondie decided to skip it and have just a swim...and if you enjoy the company of crowds of drunk, shouting teenagers then this is definitely the place for you!!! Blondie is too old of an ass for that so left after 2 days!
Ponsavan - Plain of Jars - there is absolutely nothing in the little one-street town of Ponsavan, but Blondie managed to meet with Ann, met earlier on in Luang Prabang, and Ben and Harry - UK lads met in the bus and all of them had a great nite sitting on the street and drinking Lao beer and Lao Lao (local killer whiskey) with the locals, who also played some local music on the guitar and a drum - impromptu made from a bucket and a plate....after it became too late for the noise they were making, the party moved to the local karaoke bar.....that was a blast!!!



Jars....well...it's always nice to see some more prehistoric stones...

Vientian - pleasant, if not very pretty city but sleep and dead as heaven on Saturday night (love this! as quoted Leonard Cohen here)
Then came some lone motorbike rides on the deserted roads around the Konglor Cave (central Laos) with stunning views and very dangerous dogs, chickens, piglets, goats and children running out to the road just as you drive past......and this is the very place where hundreds of thousands
of butterflies die each year in the motor accidents....the little beautiful but silly creatures always fly right at you!!! Blondie is guilty of murdering five....:-((((



And some more riding in Bolaven Plateau...and some lone swimming and reading and chilling the divine waterfalls...ahhhh....if only My Lion could have been there with Blondie....it would have been just perfect! but was pretty good anyway...
And, last but not least - Four Thousand Islands - Si Phan Don...well....this is the place where you do absolutely nothing and don't fell guilty about it cause there is nothing to do there!!! So your whole days are filled with eating, reading in a hammock, drinking fruit shakes and beer Lao, swimming in the Mekong and chatting to people.....the lazy heaven for few days.....highly recommended after months of stressful traveling!

And, from there it's just a little jump to Cambodia!!!

Hanoi and bye bye Vietnam!!!

From Hoi An, we continued to Hanoi, with a short stop in Hue, where there is not really much to do or see, but Blondie couch-surfed there with Simona, a very nice Italian NGO employee, so all in all, had a nice time.
So, Hanoi is a home of Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Ethnology Museum of Vietnam and the Hoan Kiem Ho - Lake of the Restored Sword..The story behind the name is a Vietnamese variation on the Arthurian legend of Excalibur.
In 1418 Vietnam was once under attack from its powerful Chinese neighbour. Le Loi, a wealthy landowner from Thanh Hoa province (you'll find a street with his name in every Vietnamese city or town)looked to heavens for assistance. The tortoise (I truly love those creatures!!!)of Hoan Kiem lake answered his prayers by presenting him with a magic sword that flashed lightnings from its blade. Sword in hand, Le Loi saw off the invaders. Once the Chinese were defeated and gone, the tortoise swam to the surface of the lake, the sword promptly leapt from Le Loi's scabbard and vanished to the bottom of the lake....yeap....here you go, a bit of Vietnamese legends and believes...
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is a real fun on the other hand! I mean, don't you dear make fun of it when you're there -it's like visiting Queen of England or Pope...There a numerous security checks, you can't bring in your camera, and then you march to the mausoleum building through the squares and alleys, ordered in pairs, like in an army or kindergarten and the security is watching you. You have to have decent clothes of course! There is no way you can get in if your knees or arms are not covered and your head is! The whole arrangement is just so funny!!!
Next stop was Ha Long Bay and a 2 day cruise around the bay...Nothing special, considering the very Irish weather...I bet the views would be stunning if you actually saw them...we saw mostly thick fog...
And now, we are in Sapa, where experiencing equally Irish weather, just colder, as it's mountains after all...and considering that I have one fleece and one pair of long trousers, which just washed yesterday - I am not warm here...!!!!
Laos here I come!!!!!!!! soon!!!!!!

Travelling trough the bloody Vietnam...

Hello Boys and Girls!!!
Blondie is a bad girl, who just can't stay consistent and regular with her blog...despite her utmost attempts, of course! But, since forgiveness is an integral part of friendship (and love, btw)...well, thank you for that!
We are currently is Sapa, a hill station in north-west Vietnam, which is also our last significant stop in Vietnam...Thank God!!!!
Well, to short and sweet - we did not like or enjoy Vietnam!!!
Over last 3 weeks, we have traveled south to north, all along the coast of South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin...Vietnam have thousands of miles of coastline and beaches, but they are just OK...not particular splendid, nor clean, and despite the temptation Blondie didn't get herself to immerse her pale, and then lobster-red burned body in the local waters...maybe that was, after seeing people in Nha Trang, swimming in the sea along with the rubbish...nappies, pieces and peels of fruits, papers, plastic bags etc...
The highlight of central Veitnam was Hoi An, lovely little town full of old French buildings, which weren't really renovated and being covered with some grass and plants growing on and out of the walls, and being also close to collapsing, those building are absolutely lovely and give Hoi An this special feel and atmosphere of long past past still hanging there in the air...air full of classical music! Hoi An Old District, the heart of the town, has a network of speakers that play the same classic pieces, all at the same time all around the area. The town is divided by a river, which makes a lovely walk along the banks, even though you need to put up with "boat Madame??? boat, cheap boat!!!" de javu from Varanasi...
And, best of the best -Hoi An is famous for tailor made clothes and shoes....
And, Blondie resisted bravely for good few days the temptation, but after all, being only a blonde, fragile female, she have to give in....got a lovely silk blouse - which will go very nicely with black trousers for work...(hahaha...if she ever will get any serious work!)and a summer dress, and cause she didn't have any matching shoes for the summer dress there was no option - she had to get a pair of sandals...;-)))))
So, Hoi An was a gem indeed!
Since it was just a modest shopping, we also had time for some serious stuff! We rented a moped and drove into a wild! Through the rice paddies - so green that you feel dizzy...through little villages full of kids shouting their hellos every few meters...through old Chinese cemeteries scattered around randomly, it seems..... Wonderful experience, though the traffic is a true jungle...when driving in Vietnam, you need to have eyes all around your head! They drive, walk and cycle at you from all directions, not really looking around...they just go ahead leaving paying attention to others...and they, when they all do that - you end up being the one paying attention to everyone and everything! but, nonetheless it is fun!
And, all women drive, and walk, all covered - toes to their heads! shoes, socks, long pants, long tops, elbow-length gloves, mouth masks, sunglasses and hats...they look absolutely unreal in a 35C deg heat! They don't want to go black with the suntan...this would indicate their lower class routes and denote social inferiority, that they are anxious to avoid. For the same reason you can not buy here facial cream, lotion, deodorant that is not whitening...
And, for the same reason (social status, not suntan :-)) man wear absolutely disgustingly long nails!!!!and it really doesn't make a difference whether they are dirty or clean...they are so long, that every time I see it, I want to puke!seriously! But this apparently signifies that that man doesn't do any manual labour, which is cool for them and makes his a "desirable cookie"....
I love experiencing and learning all those cultural differences...even though it makes me sick at times ;)))

Good Morning Saigon...

We are in Saigon(Ho Chi Minh City officially now).
And in terms of culture, customs and everyday life, it is somewhere between Delhi and Kuala Lumpur,which not too bad if you are starting touring Asia, which is piece of cake when you have been to India before.
Crazy busy, but not crazy dirty, the traffic is horrific - you can not imagine the number of motorbikes that flood the streets after dawn - but as least there are traffic lights (although only some people follow them and only sometimes...). Almost nobody speaks English (and that was really surprising, especially in Saigon) but everyone seems to be selling something to tourists.
And, if in Varanasi you could hear "boat Madame? very cheap boat!" every ten meters, in Vietnam you hear like 100 times per day "motorbike Sir? where you go? motorbike!". Yes indeed, there is no difference between sir and madame here and yes, they don't walk!!! You can hardly see anyone walking at all!!! and when you manage to hand-signal ask for directions, they always say "far, far, motorbike", even if it turns out to be couple hundred meters away...The physical activity of locals is confined to exercise the chop sticks...and you can't even justify it with heat, as even though it is hot,it's nothing like in India, for example.
Anyway, Vietnam is also a paradise for broth-lovers, which is me!!! Obviously, I won't even dare to compare it to my Mummy's lovely cooking, but still. They have it here is a beef version, not chicken as I know it, and by us it's basically called beef noodle soup...(but this name does nothing to the locals and usually you need to point your finger at a soup, noodles, beef, meat balls, prawns and/or anything else you want to be added to your soup). And, they eat it everywhere and all the time, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper and snack...
and, no matter where you eat it, which is mostly on a street or little local stalls, you don't get sick! (so far, thank you my gens for my tough stomach - touch wood though...)It tastes good - again, if you like broth - costs you $1 - $1.50, and as we figured it, Blondie can survive on 2 a day...cheap, nice and healthy! despite that, no weight loss observed so far...:-((((((((((((((
And, in Vietnam you cool yourself with amazing iced coffee!!! There is only a choice between iced black or white(not easy to explain, as the word "milk" definitely doesn't sound like milk in Vietnamese at all...)but it is gorgeous...thick and creamy, with a full coffee aroma in a nose and the palate...and it is really refreshing...so, Blondie's diet now consists of beef noodle soup and iced coffee...(and occasionally yogurt to top up the calcium levels, washed out by occasional bottles of beer...) And, it might be probable that the condensed milk in the coffee compensates for any possible weight loss resulting from the only-broth intake...

to be continued....in the evening...

Greetings from the airport

People, if you have to travel, do it via Singapore airport!!! It's amazing, this is the first airport I have visited so far, that I didn't mind waiting for my flight at all!!!
There is a swimmingpool with a bar at the rooftop...and cactus garden, orchid garden, butterfly garden, bamboo garden...
After Blondie visited all the gardens, she got a 15min foot and calves massage (!!!) and now she has to rush to the gate, cause the plane to Ho Chi Minh City is leaving soon! Although, if they cancelled it or delayed, she wouldn't mind at all!!!
See you in Vietnam!

Back in Asia

Blondie was very very naughty and didn't keep her blog up to date.....apologies to all diligent readers!!!
The rest of India-Nepal saga will be updated asap, which means definitely this month!!! Promise!

But now, welcome to Malaysia!!!
Kuala Lumpur is a sticky hot and stormy place right now.
After a long trip from Dublin, through London to KL, Blondie arrived in the land of skyscrapers, orangutans and some best diving spots in the world!!!
An the London airport, she met Tim, an English diving instructor, and so she was getting tonnes of diving information and tips all the way to KL, with an 8-hour break for sleep! Air Asia is a budget airline, just like Ryanair, however it's used for long haul flights, and this is not fun! The seats push back by maybe 2 inches (not sure how much is an inch, but still, it's like nothing!!!) so you spend 12 hours sitting straight like in the army! with a crying baby in front of you and one behind you....that's why as soon as Blondie arrived to KL, she felt like coming back home straight away!
Anyway, she was very proud of herself, as this time, her backpack was 10,9kg!!!
Anyway, the next day was better. She experienced a monsoon rain, standing 40 minutes at a bus stop, waiting for the rain to stop. However, every time the rain seemed to ease out, it immediately was picking up on speed. You have no idea with what speed it can rain here!!!!
After few sticky days in KL, and a great time with Maria, Blondie's CS host (Couch Surfing) and her extremely comfy bed, Blondie was ready to travel to Cameron Highlands, a lovely peaceful highlands in the north par of peninsular Malaysia.
On arrival, she was picked up by the guesthouse, Father's Guesthouse and brought to a lovely hostel on a hill. Since all the rooms were taken, she ended up in a dorm, which at the beginning didn't look that appealing, but later turned out to be a very quiet and comfy place to sleep - earplugs and eye-mask work magic!!!
The following morning, Wed, Blondie went out for a full day trip to Malaysian jungle, to see the biggest flower in the world - Rafflesia, or sth, then she visited the tribal village of Orang Asli people, who still hunt using blowing pipes and poisoned darts, she saw carnivorous flowers and wild orchids, she strolled through rolling hills of tea plantations....paradise...
Then, all happy and content, after lovely hot shower, and quick laundry - it's a must after a day in a jungle..., she set out for a dinner in a local restaurant, with some freshly made friends....the lovey day was ending with a spectacular sunset and delicious chicken curry...
And then, the world collapsed, the blood left her face pale and breathless, as she walked into the dorm discovering that her backpack was not where she left it...actually, it was nowhere...
A guy from the neighboring bed asked if everything was OK, and Blondie said that, she's not sure but the reception probably took her bag as a deposit, as she didn't make it to go there and pay for the previous nite...but the guy just went: "hmmm, don't think so, they don't really do that. But this evening there was a burglary in the hostel and few people got their stuff stolen...."
Only thanks to her powerful personality she managed to keep on her feet and not to collapse...
Then, the rest followed, the police report, the despair, disbelief, beer and cigarettes for comfort, and then she just laughed, as she refused to cry on this occasion...
And it's great to meet good people in bad times. She met Paulina, who turned out to be Polish and a great help, she donated a bag and a use mobile to Blondie, as an instant help, as well as a sea of words of comfort!
So, Blondie was now left with:
*almost all clothes and all shoes - as "luckily" she did her laundry (!!!) - how ironic...
*sleeping bag-liner and pajamas...
*and a little backpack.....
*money, credit cards, camera, mobile, ipod, passport went out for dinner with her, so they were safe...

What did she lose?
* 4 months of her life in India-Nepal in her diary - fuck fuck fuck!!!!!
* 6 month supply of Malarone and contacts
* other medicines, penknife, guidebook,
* original Malaysian Gucci sunglasses for $3.00
* all chargers, which is shit!

So, Ladies and Gentleman, nowadays, Blondie is traveling as light as no one ever did!!! Forget her 10,9kg! Anyone dares to challenge that? For 6 months? Hahaha, didn't think so!
There is no need for words of sympathy - almost recovered from the initial shock!!!
Now, she is preparing to go shopping soon, in Ho Chi Minh City!!!! And this time, fully justified, with no guilt! Sweet!!!!!!!!!
Talk to you soon!